cruises around England, Scotland, Ireland

[june1]

I am just beginning to research this so in order to save time, I hope to use you experts on this forum. Which cruise lines have a circuit around Great Britian and Ireland? Many seem to include the Baltic and we've been there. Thanks in advance for any suggestions. June1

[minke]

Princess certainly do a round GB&I cruise with only one stop included in France. several smaller lines also go to smaller ports than the big ships can get in to. We did the cruise on Marco Polo (older ship) run by Transocean tours (German but cruise ex UK at Tilbury London) this year in early Aug, but several versions are available through the year. Enjoyed it with many smaller porst on west coast Ireland + Orkney Is etc. Others to consider are Fred Olsen, Saga (if over 55) & Swan Hellenic, some of the small luxuary ships also do GB cruises.

[haggis]

Hello June. DW and I have done this cruise twice on the Golden Princess. We would do it every year if it were possible as both cruises were incredible with the company we had with us. Would point out that the Edinburgh Tatoo only runs during the month of August and really this is one of the highlights on this trip. Round trip from Southampton if your planning to arrive in the UK at Heathrow, is hassle free with plenty of information on these boards. Whatever you choose, have a great trip.

Jimmy

[insidecabin]

This year you have at least these, there are aslo some that do Iceland rather than norway and include UK ports.

 

NCL Jade for one date, May 31

Crown Princess, various.

HAL prisendam is doing some.

P&O artimis

Fred olsen

 

Nothing with Celebrity this year.

[jocap]

:)We did the Jade round Britain earlier this year and had a wonderful time even tho' the weather was poor (something to do with El Nino and the jet stream.). It's the same itinerary this year, and we're tempted to do it again and this time take some trips further inland. The cruise includes France, England, Ireland, Scotland, Netherlands and Belgium. The ship is very informal, and whilst it suited us perfectly, it was not the right ship for some because of this(no dressing for dinner, set times and places etc.). Happy choosing!-jocap.

[nancy anne]

RCCL has a 12 night cruise on June 22 that does England, Scotland, France, Ireland and Norway

[MississippiMom]

I know this thread is quite old, but my question is similar, so I thought I would tack it on to see if I received any replies.

 

I've spent the past week researching the many options for a Summer 2012 Alaska family cruise, and had narrowed it down to two different itineraries and two cruiselines. Then at dinner last night, my DH starts talking about how he would rather take the children (will be 18, 11 & 10) on a European cruise in Summer 2012. Let the research begin . . . again. ;)

 

We do not want to do the standard Mediterranean routes, because a couple of those countries are places we would like to do as a land vacation somewhere in the distant future. Ideally, we would love to cruise around Ireland & Scotland, but if that isn't a reasonable option, it looks like the Baltic route is "winning."

 

Any thoughts on what major, family-oriented, cruiseline might be in the Ireland/Scotland area, if any. I could only find Ocean Princess, and the reviews did not make it look appealing.

 

Thank you!

[insidecabin]

We have just come off a Costa northern Europe trip that was very good value.

 

Very international/continental so could be good for the kids and different cultures

 

Crew and enough english speakers to not be totaly isolated.

 

Standard family option tend to be RCI. Jewel leaves from Harwich

 

Caribbean Princess does a round britain

 

 

NCL sun does the baltic from Copenhagen and a round UK in Sept

[rdhnd]

I am booked on the Caribbean Princess on 8/1/12 for a 12 day tour of the isles along with a stop for Paris. Princess seems to be the only line doing this run Come and join us

 

RDHND

[june1]

We were on the Crown Princess August 2010 around the British Isles. Highlights were Edinburgh Tattoo (a don't miss-outstanding), beautiful Antrim Coast of No. Ireland ( have already toured Ireland), Guernsey. We spent a few days prior to cruise in London and a few days after in Bath where we went to Stonehenge (Wow!) and HOHO bus with luggage in Oxford and wished we'd had more time there.

[MississippiMom]

I am booked on the Caribbean Princess on 8/1/12 for a 12 day tour of the isles along with a stop for Paris. Princess seems to be the only line doing this run Come and join us

 

RDHND

 

I noticed that a lot of the cruises are longer than 7 day, but I just don't know if we can get away with that from a work perspective. It would be easier to justify the high airline prices, if we were going for a longer trip.

 

I'll have to check out Caribbean Princess' itinerary.

 

Thanks!

[MississippiMom]

We have just come off a Costa northern Europe trip that was very good value.

 

Very international/continental so could be good for the kids and different cultures

 

Crew and enough english speakers to not be totaly isolated.

 

Standard family option tend to be RCI. Jewel leaves from Harwich

 

Caribbean Princess does a round britain

 

 

NCL sun does the baltic from Copenhagen and a round UK in Sept

 

I did notice that Costa had some amazing itineraries, but I have to admit that line scares me. Between the smoking allowed in cabins & balconies, and the more European food, I am just not sure.

 

I think that we (including the children) would all enjoy the mixture of cultures on board, though.

 

What made you select Costa? And have you traveled with them on other itineraries?

[Me 2]

Cunard Queen Elizabeth around Britain sailing from Southampton 27 July 2012 for 11 nights visiting Edinburgh, Invergordon, Kirkwall, Greenock, Liverpool, Dublin, Cobh and St Peter Port ;)

[phabric]

We have done 2 - 7 day cruises 1) Scandinavia Interlude 2009, Norwegian Fjords Interlude 2010 with Princess. When you have a fixed amount of time for vacation these were perfect as we added a few days to make it about 10 days.

 

We did the Norwegian Fjords Interlude on the Ocean Princess. The Ocean has everything that the bigger ships have but a smaller version of it. It only has 1 diningroom, no Anytime dining paid restaurants, lounges/bars, small casino, stores, small pool/tubs, buffet, pizza, hamburger, spa, gym, library, no big kids area, they used the game room. It was very easy to get around the ship. The staff gets to know you. It only has 670 passengers compared to 3,000 on the bigger ships. We found it more relaxing than our 11 other cruises. Deck 5 had padded wooden deck chairs and most of the time we were the only passengers on that side of the deck.

 

We are booked on the Ocean for the 8 day Ireland & Scotland Interlude Aug 17, 2012 - Dover, Guernsey - Channel Island, Waterford -Ireland, Dublin -Ireland, Glasgow - Scotland, at sea, Edinburgh -overnight - Scotland, Dover,With only 1 sea day, we will be very busy. This cruise is leaving out of Dover which is a small dock (use to be a train station) so it is easy to embark and disembark.

[jarand]

We just returned from the Princess British Isles cruise and loved it. Departs from Southampton, Edinburg, Inverness, Orkney Island, Glasgow, Belfast, Dublin, Holyhead Wales, and Guernsey. We stayed 8 days afterward and toured Bath, Stonehenge, the Cotswolds, and London. Fantastic trip.

[insidecabin]

I did notice that Costa had some amazing itineraries, but I have to admit that line scares me. Between the smoking allowed in cabins & balconies, and the more European food, I am just not sure.

 

I think that we (including the children) would all enjoy the mixture of cultures on board, though.

 

What made you select Costa? And have you traveled with them on other itineraries?

 

Round UK in 7 days is not practical if you want some ports.

Princess used to do 10n but added 2 nights and LeHarvre(Paris) to make them more attractice, for some reason Americans seem to love the idea of Paris even though it is 6hours on a coach.(similar with Berlin so watch those 2 sucker ports in northern europe).

 

Anyway Costa Magica, this was a first Costa for us.

 

We try to do a few trips a years so can takes the odd risk and travel late so grab bargains.

10n for £399($640) + €60($86) service, this was cheap enough to give it a try.

Local(3hr) port so no flying also keeps costs down.

We knew the ports so were happy we could get off the ship enough days if we did not like it that much.

 

This fitted a gap we could use and at a price that it would have to be realy bad for us not to get value out of it.

 

If we only cruised once a year we would probably not have taken the risk but having done one we will do others when the prices/itineraries work(with close eye on ship reviews).

 

Food OK but not a lot of variety at breakfast or lunch european style but always found something we liked

Only Pizza on buffet at night we had 6:30 dining but never missed not having anything later filled up every night at dinner, bar snacks come round lounges late and a couple of late buffets set up in the main lounge.

 

Main dining ok, not special, 7 couse, appetizer, soup, pasta, main, salad, cheese, desert we tended to miss some and double up on others since the portions were aimed at you eating all 7. Special request are possible we had two curries made, so it is probably possible to have stuff you like if menues not to your liking.

extra, veg, meat, jacket or chips no problems so you don't go hungry unless very fussy.

 

Evenings were very lively, people were taking part in the events so dance floors full with people doing crazy stuff. Shows tried to be language agnostic and mostly worked, everywhere is open till 1:30am unlike a lot of ships that die after 11:00pm this was buzzing.

All age groups around and loads of families, kids stay up at night and encouraged to join in, only the casino is off limits to under 18 and that was not enforced that hard.

 

All the staff speak english allthough the italian officers/management not overly visible/friendly.

 

We met a few of the brits on board some were Costa fans and had done loads many first timers taking advantage of the deals, some were never again some liked it enough to keep it on the list.

 

No hard sell like you get on the american main stream ships.

 

In hindsight, you need to research the ports, Costa and the English host were not proactive in suppling information, shuttle buses expensive when local option are cheap and available. We allready new most ports so it did not effect us.

 

 

This was the second first time tryout this year, we did Azamara earlier, and we do get a buzz out of the unknown adventure. Some of our previous trips on ships we know well were becoming a bit boring(same food, shows etc) so only work if we have good company.

 

Reading a few reviews again, does seem to be a love hate split.

 

Costa pricing varies a lot depending on where you live.

[sunshine nana]

We just returned from 12 nights on the Crown Princess from Southampton. It was a fabulous cruise, Highlights were Normandy D-Day Beaches (great for kids), St. Andrews golf course if you have any golfers, London pre-cruise, Snowdonia mountains (don't take the train excursion, too much fog) and Guernsey (Occupation Museum). The problem I saw for the teens and pre-teens was that the weather was too cold to use the pool most days. We did the Baltics two years ago and the weather was much warmer!

[Grumpy100]

We just got back from the Crown Princess in June and we loved it. It was very port intensive so you need alot of energy.

I would avoid Costa we took a trip on that cruise line to Norway. We loved the cruise ship and Norway but the cruise line caters to the Europeans and they were the rudest people in the world.

[sabbrina]

Between the smoking allowed in cabins & balconies, and the more European food, I am just not sure.

 

Please can you explain the difference between European food and US food as you see it? It will help with my planning.

 

Thanks

[DeloreanGirl]

I noticed that a lot of the cruises are longer than 7 day, but I just don't know if we can get away with that from a work perspective. It would be easier to justify the high airline prices, if we were going for a longer trip.

 

I'll have to check out Caribbean Princess' itinerary.

 

Thanks!

 

Aside from a 3-day Royal Caribbean jaunt from Southampton to Ireland, the next shortest one I believe is the 8-day Princess cruise that covers Ireland & Scotland (leaving out of Dover or Southampton). It's in August of both 2011 and 2012. We were almost about to go on that, but for a little bit more, we got 3 stops in each country plus the bonus Paris stop on the 12-night British Isles cruise. It's a stretch for our vacation days, though, so I know what you mean.

[Me 2]

With all this talk of sailing around Britain DH and I have just booked ourselves on Cunard Queen Mary 2 from Southampton to Cherbourg, Cobh, Liverpool, Greenock and South Queensferry on 12 September 2011 :rolleyes:

[insidecabin]

Aside from a 3-day Royal Caribbean jaunt from Southampton to Ireland, the next shortest one I believe is the 8-day Princess cruise that covers Ireland & Scotland (leaving out of Dover or Southampton). It's in August of both 2011 and 2012. We were almost about to go on that, but for a little bit more, we got 3 stops in each country plus the bonus Paris stop on the 12-night British Isles cruise. It's a stretch for our vacation days, though, so I know what you mean.

 

 

No ship goes to Paris it is 200km from the coast

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Le+Havre,+France&daddr=Pariis,+France&hl=en&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=14.410453,39.418945&geocode=FWI58wIdmaUBACl9iyGVIy_gRzESrzOveobBWw%3BFSZ-6QIdXuQjACkPt-IGH27mRzFglIxow4ILBA&mra=ls&z=9

 

If the stop is at the end think about stopping short and flying back from Paris.

 

 

The other thing for Aug cruises try to go to the Tattoo

[MississippiMom]

Please can you explain the difference between European food and US food as you see it? It will help with my planning.

 

Thanks

 

Sorry, I didn't mean to lump it all in a category like that. Maybe, I should have stated that I was concerned about Costa having less Americanized food than a Princess, NCL, RCCL or Carnival cruise ship.

 

My DH and I have taken land-based vacations (without children) to Mexico, Jamaica, Bermuda, Australia and New Zealand, and their food tastes different than what we are accustomed to at home. We can adjust, and always find something to our liking, and we understand that ingredients, seasoning and methods of cooking vary from country to country, just like it might from region to region in the U.S. However, our three children aren't quite as flexible, and I'm not sure that I would want to spend thousands of dollars and then worry about whether or not they will find anything that they might like to eat. I know it may sound silly to some, but sometimes a mom would kill to find a plate of chicken fingers and fries or a slice of cheese pizza for their child.

[caripoo]

We are booked on Caribbean Princess for next August (had to do August for the tattoo) and chose the last one in August, so as not to get into to much Olympic trouble. We are flying from the US to Shannon 5 days prior to do the west coast of Ireland...the cruise only gets the east coast.... then we will stay in London 4 days after cruise...again avoiding the Olympics!!! Celebrity is now doing British Isles next year, but not in August. With the new smoking policy going into effect on Princess we are super happy about that for next year!!!:):)

[DeloreanGirl]

No ship goes to Paris it is 200km from the coast

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?saddr=Le+Havre,+France&daddr=Pariis,+France&hl=en&sll=53.800651,-4.064941&sspn=14.410453,39.418945&geocode=FWI58wIdmaUBACl9iyGVIy_gRzESrzOveobBWw%3BFSZ-6QIdXuQjACkPt-IGH27mRzFglIxow4ILBA&mra=ls&z=9

 

If the stop is at the end think about stopping short and flying back from Paris.

 

 

The other thing for Aug cruises try to go to the Tattoo

 

Sorry, it's LeHavre but I'm so used to saying Paris because it's such an awesome added bonus (if you're willing to make the trek)! :)