England, Scotland, Ireland oh my

Looking for some basic info

We are doing the ports listed below.

Of these which are easy to do on your own and which do you recommend tours. I know there are variances but generally speaking.

Thank you

Guernsey

Portland

Cork

Dublin

Belfast

Kirkwall

Invergordon

Edinburgh

Thank you

Looking for some basic info

 

We are doing the ports listed below.

 

Of these which are easy to do on your own and which do you recommend tours. I know there are variances but generally speaking.

 

Thank you

 

Guernsey

Portland

Cork

Dublin

Belfast

Kirkwall

Invergordon

Edinburgh

 

Thank you

Here is my detailed review which includes these ports. The tours are laid out pretty well.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=221137

Looking for some basic info

 

We are doing the ports listed below.

 

Of these which are easy to do on your own and which do you recommend tours. I know there are variances but generally speaking.

 

Thank you

 

Guernsey

Portland

Cork

Dublin

Belfast

Kirkwall

Invergordon

Edinburgh

 

Thank you

Here is my detailed review with pics from our Silhouette cruise this last August. (CLICK HERE) We did Guernsey, Belfast, Dublin, Cork, Invergordon/Inverness and Edinburgh. Amazing cruise.

Feel free to e-mail me with questions after you read it. E-mail address is at the bottom of every page.

Thank you both!

I have so much reading to do. This is awesome

Thank you again

hello MikenKim

can I ask which ship you're on and I can give you specific advice about Edinburgh. There are 4 ports which serve Edinburgh and they all offer different options for DIY-ers. BTW, as mentioned in one of the reviews the Celebrity ship that didn't tender one of the days in Edinburgh was actually at Newhaven.

Thank you so much!

We are on NCL Jade. I haven't been able to find a lot of info on the website. I think this is a new itinerary for them so info is slow on coming out.

Kim

I had a look at the NCL website and you'll be at Newhaven, Edinburgh which is tender port. It is about 3 miles from the city centre and you can easily just jump in a bus or taxi to take you to the main sights. I started a thread which showed some photos of the tender dock at Newhaven. Unfortunately the photos are quite poor and I will be updating the thread sometime to improve them.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2231904&highlight=newhaven+edinburgh

Edinburgh has a compact city centre and is walkable. Many tourists like to visit the Castle and walk the Royal Mile, or take a hop-on hop-off bus to get an overview then focus on the places they liked best.There are 5 different lines and it's best not to pre-book.

In one of the reviews the Royal Yacht Britannia is mentioned and that is walking distance from the port. Another of the reviews was based on travelling to Edinburgh from another port in Scotland so that will not be entirely relevant for you. The tattoo is another issue altogether. Performances are in the evening at the Castle entrance and although cruisers having a late night / overnight in Edinburgh. However your itinerary doesn't seem to include this.

There are very many threads about Edinburgh on these boards so if you do a search you will find lots of ideas. There's also the official Edinburgh website

http://edinburgh.org

In 2012 we used Explore Orkney for a tour in Kirkwall: http://www.exploreorkney.com/index.php

It was a great tour very similar to the tour they now have for cruise ship passengers. DH and I have been to many places all over the world and, to me, the Orkneys were one of the most fascinating places we ever visited. This is a family owned company and they that great pride in their home place. If you decide you want a tour book early as tours fill up fast.

<<<Karen>>>

You can do Cork yourself if you dock in Cobh. As there is regular public transport and the town itself is interesting. It's more difficult to do so if docked in Ringaskiddy.

Sent from my SM-N910F using Tapatalk

When we were in Cobh last month we got a private tour from a very friendly and very knowledgeable cab driver Michael Twomey. He took us to Charles Fort and the fishing village of Kinsale. He gave us suggestions of what to visit, but he allowed us to choose where we wanted to go. It was a wonderful tour, and he gave us plenty of time to do whatever we wished. He recommended a great pub for lunch, too. It was the best tour of our 25 day Regal Princess cruise.

We did the BI cruise in July. I can give info as to what we did in 3 ports;

Cobh - a day tour to the Ring of Kerry with munsterbus - excellent

Guernsey - We were pleasantly surprised at this port. We took a 3hr walking tour with Annette Henry she was awesome! Completely different from any other tour we have ever taken.

Belfast - We took a day tour to Giants Causeway with Elegant Irish Tours - excellent

We totally enjoyed each of these tours. I highly recommend them.

Hi! I wrote a trip report after our British Isles cruise that may answer some of your questions. It's linked down below in my signature under "Trip Report" in green. Hope this helps! You'll have an amazing time!

Can you send me contact info for your driver in Cork

to sue@bedke.com Thanks

Hi! I wrote a trip report after our British Isles cruise that may answer some of your questions. It's linked down below in my signature under "Trip Report" in green. Hope this helps! You'll have an amazing time!

I'm just reading your trip report and it's a great read! We are going on that same cruise this summer.

My main questions is what ports can we get off and find local transportation/DIY it? What ports are a must to book an excursion with?