British Isles Cruise Tour Reviews

I recently returned from the August 16th British Isles Cruise on the Caribbean Princess. The cruise was very intense in that we only got two full sea days, so we were pretty exhausted by the end. A lot of our fellow cruisers continued on the 17 day second part from Southhampton to New York. We were happy to be going home instead.

I did want to just tout a few of the tours we took. I planned everything through our very active Roll Call here on Cruise Critic. All tours went extremely smoothly, the guides were fantastic. We saw things that that the Princess Excursions didn’t get to see and experience. My tour groups were Cruise Critic people and we all got along great and saw each other on other tours in other ports.

There are four tours that I want to give a shout out to. All the tours guides were waiting for us as we got off the ship even if we were early. We had great vehicles. And they were very aware of when we needed to return to the ship.

1. Tourdublin.ie: Our guide was Dick Shaw and he was very knowledgeable as we toured Trinity College, St. Patrick’s Cathedral. He took us to a fabulous pub in the countryside and we all enjoyed a great Irish lunch. We visited Powerscourt House & Gardens and he gave us the tip that we didn’t need to pay for admission to see the Gardens since we got a good look of them from the café on the terrace.

2. Great Scot Tours (Gordon Ross). Our guide was Gordon’s friend, David Frooth. David was dressed in his kilt and was a joy to tour with. We were picked up on time at the Greenock port and got a fantastic tour of the Loch Lomond area. We toured the magnificent Stirling Castle with David as he pointed out things we should see. He then drove us to Edinburgh and dropped us off within a ½ block of where we had dinner reservations (a few businesses away from the entrance to the Tattoo. After the Tattoo we all met up at the designated corner with his big red umbrella and he led us to where he parked the car nearby and got us back to the ship by 12:30AM (which we believe was the first group back from the Tattoo). I know we beat all the Princess busses which arrive between 1:30 and 2:30AM

3. Shorexcursions.co.uk: This company is run by Nigel Newell and he was our driver. We were sort of in a caravan with his son and wife driving two other vehicles. He had a fantastic route out of Invergordon, with many scenic stops. We saw the Falls of Shin and Dunrobin Castle. The falconry show at Dunrobin was great and we entered through the “back stage” and saw all the birds of pretty up close and personal. We also got a great tour of Clynelish Distillery. Nigel seems to know everyone in the area.

4. Overlordtour.com: Normandy was the highlight for me and my husband. Our tour guide was Oliver. He was very knowledgeable and passionate about the history of D-Day. We were first brought to Omaha Beach and experienced what our men went through. Visiting the Cemetery next was very solemn. Oliver had maps and photos to illustrate everything he was telling us. He brought us to what looked like a deserted farmhouse and we wondered why we were there. It turns out to have been the rallying point of our paratroopers. Oliver had photos of that day showing where the Rangers actually stood in front of the farm buildings. It was very emotional.

All these guides were so accommodating and courteous. I would highly recommend these companies and these guides in particular.

The other tours we took went well, but we were in larger vehicles (coaches and mini-coaches). I like the 6-8 passenger tours better. Fiona was great from ecoach.ie. She got our bus going first out of the port of Cobh and we were the first bus at Blarney Castle. We had the place to ourselves and easily got to the Blarney Stone with no crowds. When we left the line was almost an hour long wait. Frank on busybus.co.uk was very cheerful and had us doing “spot the black sheep” game all during the tour of Wales we took out of Liverpool. Bryan on odysseycoachtoursco.uk was very funny after we toured the Giants Causeway out of Belfast. I must add that we were on of the other Odyssey Coach busses that had a very hard to understand guide with a bad audio system and no air conditioning. So we changed busses and were happy after that.

Hope I was helpful in my report. Just remember to have all tickets, pre-paid admissions, emails necessary with you when you go out for the day on your tours. Meeting with your group a half hour before the time to meet-up with the guide off the ship is plenty of time. Keep aware of sudden time changes in port arrival and departure times. Bonnie

great report Bonnie...

Thanks for sharing! Sounds like you had a wonderful time!

Thanks so much for sharing! I am busy making plans for our British Isles trip next July and this was very helpful. I think we will skip those overpriced, crowded ship excursions and do it ourselves.

When you stopped in Cork, did you get to see Kinsale as well or just Blarney Castle? Did you get into Cobh at all and see what that village is like?

Thanks so much for sharing! I am busy making plans for our British Isles trip next July and this was very helpful. I think we will skip those overpriced, crowded ship excursions and do it ourselves.

 

When you stopped in Cork, did you get to see Kinsale as well or just Blarney Castle? Did you get into Cobh at all and see what that village is like?

Our Butler tour was booked online and we were the first bus at Blarney Castle , everyone had plenty of time to see all of Blarney Castle and kiss the stone...and shop...and we had lunch and quite awhile in Kinsale...it was Sunday and very busy with locals ...Cork is very nice and since we had seen the Heritage Center while on the land tour we skipped that and went back to our ship. The sail away on port side was nice in Cork. Ship docks right at The Heritage Center.

I posted a few comments for you on The Ring of Kerry roll call...if you do not see it and want that info let me know at jtamchay at yahoo dot com.

Our Butler tour was booked online and we were the first bus at Blarney Castle , everyone had plenty of time to see all of Blarney Castle and kiss the stone...and shop...and we had lunch and quite awhile in Kinsale...it was Sunday and very busy with locals ...Cork is very nice and since we had seen the Heritage Center while on the land tour we skipped that and went back to our ship. The sail away on port side was nice in Cork. Ship docks right at The Heritage Center.

I posted a few comments for you on The Ring of Kerry roll call...if you do not see it and want that info let me know at jtamchay at yahoo dot com.

Would you say that a balcony on the port or starboard side would be better? Our cruise next summer on the Ruby goes clockwise, Cork... Dublin, etc. Thanks for your comments.

Would you say that a balcony on the port or starboard side would be better? Our cruise next summer on the Ruby goes clockwise, Cork... Dublin, etc. Thanks for your comments.

It is a matter of preference...our first choice is usually Port.

We also went clockwise and after we left Belfast on August 22 we cruised through the North Channel (overnight in the dark)...continued through The Sea of The Hebrides in the daylight and through The Minch past Cape Wrath and through Pentland Firth...into the North Sea and arrived Edinburgh on August 24.

I am going to make a leap of faith here that on that sea day, August 23, the starboard side of the ship might indeed have better views of the shoreline in Scotland but I can also say that probably no one was sitting on their balcony all day watching the ships progress.

Our choice in choosing a balcony is to be able to go out when we want, dressed as we like (sometimes in our robe) and going to an open deck is not what we usually do. We have gone to a higher deck like a Skywalkers to watch the scenery.

Whatever decision you make be sure you do not book a guarantee as you may not get the side of the ship you actually want...also any kind of upgrade might change things for you as well....we always select the cabin we want and live with our decision.

Nice reviews from my fellow cruise mates. It is true this is a very port intensive cruise and we chose to have a partial obstructive view room E404 and glad we did. We just wanted to see if it was raining so we knew what to wear. We had spectacular weather and used the raincoat only once in the almost 3 weeks we were gone. Had enough of a view for us and saved a boat load of money. No upgrades as the ship was full.

We too used several private tour companies only using Princess for Kinsale town tour (waste of time and money as far as I was concerned) Dublin transportation and Edinburgh transportation. Tattoo. NOT TO BE MISSED! We used Timberbush and had a great tour before arriving for the tattoo. We opted to eat lunch at the cafe at Stirling castle which gave us an extra hour or so at the castle. A nice perk. Ate dinner at The Hub at the base of the tattoo entrance and i thought the food was very good. Only negative was our return driver knew how to get to Greenock but NOT the pier. Needless to say we were a tad nervous but all turned out well. Shore excursions with Nigel for Lock Ness was great with Jacobite Queen cruise looking for Nessie. Overlord for Normandy was also someone I would recommend although a few thought it too too long to get to the beaches (about 2 hours) but it is what it is! If you want to see the beaches all tours are going to take that long to get there and we saw a couple sites that the Princess buses did not. We also used international friends for a day trip to Cotswolds which was wonderful. I would recommend you request a van wi ALL seats facing forward. Ours did not and we had to sit backwards. Not fun.

All in all we had a great trip staying in London afterwards for 5 days at the Crowne Plaza which was top notch. Saw The Book of Mormons which was hilarious! Stayed at Premier Inn in Southampton 1 night before boarding and it met all our needs. Chose breakfast ans dinner add on which worked out very well.

Princes....excellent service and met our needs. Food could have been better but then many were complaining so we didn't feel so bad. This was our 4th cruise with Princess and quite honestly our first negative about them.

Now planning our next cruise!

Nice reviews from my fellow cruise mates. It is true this is a very port intensive cruise and we chose to have a partial obstructive view room E404 and glad we did. We just wanted to see if it was raining so we knew what to wear. We had spectacular weather and used the raincoat only once in the almost 3 weeks we were gone. Had enough of a view for us and saved a boat load of money. No upgrades as the ship was full.

 

We too used several private tour companies only using Princess for Kinsale town tour (waste of time and money as far as I was concerned) Dublin transportation and Edinburgh transportation. Tattoo. NOT TO BE MISSED! We used Timberbush and had a great tour before arriving for the tattoo. We opted to eat lunch at the cafe at Stirling castle which gave us an extra hour or so at the castle. A nice perk. Ate dinner at The Hub at the base of the tattoo entrance and i thought the food was very good. Only negative was our return driver knew how to get to Greenock but NOT the pier. Needless to say we were a tad nervous but all turned out well. Shore excursions with Nigel for Lock Ness was great with Jacobite Queen cruise looking for Nessie. Overlord for Normandy was also someone I would recommend although a few thought it too too long to get to the beaches (about 2 hours) but it is what it is! If you want to see the beaches all tours are going to take that long to get there and we saw a couple sites that the Princess buses did not. We also used international friends for a day trip to Cotswolds which was wonderful. I would recommend you request a van wi ALL seats facing forward. Ours did not and we had to sit backwards. Not fun.

 

All in all we had a great trip staying in London afterwards for 5 days at the Crowne Plaza which was top notch. Saw The Book of Mormons which was hilarious! Stayed at Premier Inn in Southampton 1 night before boarding and it met all our needs. Chose breakfast ans dinner add on which worked out very well.

 

Princes....excellent service and met our needs. Food could have been better but then many were complaining so we didn't feel so bad. This was our 4th cruise with Princess and quite honestly our first negative about them.

 

Now planning our next cruise!

Why was the Princess Kinsale tour a waste of money? We are thinking about booking this tour. What would you recommend instead?

Thanks.

Why was the Princess Kinsale tour a waste of money? We are thinking about booking this tour. What would you recommend instead?

Thanks.

The castle part of the tour was interesting but by the time we got Kinsale we had less than an hour in the town and it was VERY crowded. We had already gone to Blarney so that's why we picked Kinsale. IMHO the tour was not worth the money they charged.

The castle part of the tour was interesting but by the time we got Kinsale we had less than an hour in the town and it was VERY crowded. We had already gone to Blarney so that's why we picked Kinsale. IMHO the tour was not worth the money they charged.

Thanks for that. I would actually like to just spend time in Kinsale on our own, taking time to wander the town and get some lunch. I hear that it is an hour from where the ship docks. Are there any taxis available at the dock?

Nancy completely agree with your assessment of the food, disappointed would be an understatement.

The ship was a floating hotel for us as we were off the ship so much of the time.

Kinsale...I could have skipped this town without blinking an eye...it was Sunday, the locals were out and about...streets were crowded and other than the fish and chips at Dino's this was a total bust for us. Yes it is a quaint harbor town but haven't we all seen cute harbor towns.

My belief is that it is a filler of time to a day long tour that puts the emphasis on Blarney and when that is completed they need somewhere else to take you.

Nancy loved your review and good comment about not wanting to sit backwards all day in a van

Good also to be certain that the van/mini bus has AC and that it is working...we had many days that were warm.

Bonnie,

May I ask how many were in your group with Great Scot to the Military Tattoo?

We were looking at Timberbush, but they are not accepting bookings until February. As tickets go on sale shortly - it would be nice to know we have transportation as we start buying our tickets.

Right now we have 32 people signed up for the private mode of getting to the Tattoo. I've got an email into Gordon Ross, but haven't heard back yet. So I was curious if you had a large group with him or not.

Thank you for any information you can share.

Bonnie,

 

May I ask how many were in your group with Great Scot to the Military Tattoo?

 

We were looking at Timberbush, but they are not accepting bookings until February. As tickets go on sale shortly - it would be nice to know we have transportation as we start buying our tickets.

 

Right now we have 32 people signed up for the private mode of getting to the Tattoo. I've got an email into Gordon Ross, but haven't heard back yet. So I was curious if you had a large group with him or not.

 

Thank you for any information you can share.

Hey Deb

Gordon Ross's dad just died. He's really got a lot on his plate right now. Give him some time and he will get back to you.

Hey Deb

 

Gordon Ross's dad just died. He's really got a lot on his plate right now. Give him some time and he will get back to you.

I realize that.

I had contacted Gordon Ross months ago regarding the tattoo, but the someone in our roll call had been to the Tattoo before and so I never followed up. Gordon Ross emailed me yesterday, telling me his father passed away, and wanted to follow up on what our roll call was doing.

I emailed him back, but knew someone on here had used him - so realizing he might be busy with other things, thought I would search who it was and see what information I could find without bothering him right now.

Thanks.

I realize that.

 

I had contacted Gordon Ross months ago regarding the tattoo, but the someone in our roll call had been to the Tattoo before and so I never followed up. Gordon Ross emailed me yesterday, telling me his father passed away, and wanted to follow up on what our roll call was doing.

 

I emailed him back, but knew someone on here had used him - so realizing he might be busy with other things, thought I would search who it was and see what information I could find without bothering him right now.

 

Thanks.

Sorry. :( Thought I was helping.

No! LOL. I'm sorry, I guess sometimes I forget it can sound cold since it is the internet.

I think it was nice of you to share, to be concerned about him. At least I took it that way. I just didn't want to look like I was being impatient waiting to hear from him, so offered the whole back story.

Honestly. Any help is good help. :)

Bonnie,

 

May I ask how many were in your group with Great Scot to the Military Tattoo?

 

We were looking at Timberbush, but they are not accepting bookings until February. As tickets go on sale shortly - it would be nice to know we have transportation as we start buying our tickets.

 

Right now we have 32 people signed up for the private mode of getting to the Tattoo. I've got an email into Gordon Ross, but haven't heard back yet. So I was curious if you had a large group with him or not.

 

Thank you for any information you can share.

There were 6 people in our group. I don't believe they can handle 32 people! So sorry to learn about Gordon's dad passing. Bonnie

There were 6 people in our group. I don't believe they can handle 32 people! So sorry to learn about Gordon's dad passing. Bonnie

He wrote me back and said he could - he would let me know today what the rate would be.

Some in our roll call have voiced concerns regarding a bigger vehicle vs the smaller ones, how close they can get for exit time.

Thank you for the information. It sounds like overall we can't go wrong with service / guide with Timberbush or Great Scot.

We had a 16 passenger van with Timberbush on the August 16 cruise. With Britain's law of how many hours a tour driver can drive, we had a driver/guide going to Edinburgh and a driver on the return. Timberbush has their office in Edinburgh so they were able to switch drivers for the return trip. We were able to start off earlier than some of the other tours because of this.

If you have 32 signed up for the Tattoo, why not make 2 vans of 16 passengers. It is much easier to get 16 passenger on & off the van than 32 especially after the Tattoo when there are 9,000 persons all exiting the one entrance at the Castle. Smaller vans or mini coaches can use the smaller roads so you are able to see more of the countryside. Our driver/guide was able to get close to the Castle for drop off and pick up. The larger coaches and Princess coaches were much further away, another reason to use a smaller vehicle.

Our group ate at The Hub Café before the Tattoo. They have a set Tattoo dinner. 2013's cost was 25GBP/pp for a 2 course meal - with a choice of 3-4 starters, 3-4 main meals, a bottle of beer, wine, soda, tea, coffee. I emailed them about the dinner and they send me the menu choices once the chef decided for 2013. You did not have to decide your choice until the day of the dinner. A deposit per person was needed to hold the reservation. As mentioned in another post, The Hub Café, was an excellent spot as we were able to join the Castle's entrance line midway. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed their meal there. I don't know if they do individual reservations or just groups during the Tattoo. They did have a few groups on our night and reservations fill up.

We used Great Scot for our Edinburgh port.

Check out our Roll Call on the Caribbean Princess August 16, 2013, post #2965 for the list of private tours which Roll Call members used for this cruise. All the tours were highly recommended from other Cruise Critic users.

We had a 16 passenger van with Timberbush on the August 16 cruise. With Britain's law of how many hours a tour driver can drive, we had a driver/guide going to Edinburgh and a driver on the return. Timberbush has their office in Edinburgh so they were able to switch drivers for the return trip. We were able to start off earlier than some of the other tours because of this.

 

If you have 32 signed up for the Tattoo, why not make 2 vans of 16 passengers. It is much easier to get 16 passenger on & off the van than 32 especially after the Tattoo when there are 9,000 persons all exiting the one entrance at the Castle. Smaller vans or mini coaches can use the smaller roads so you are able to see more of the countryside. Our driver/guide was able to get close to the Castle for drop off and pick up. The larger coaches and Princess coaches were much further away, another reason to use a smaller vehicle.

 

Our group ate at The Hub Café before the Tattoo. They have a set Tattoo dinner. 2013's cost was 25GBP/pp for a 2 course meal - with a choice of 3-4 starters, 3-4 main meals, a bottle of beer, wine, soda, tea, coffee. I emailed them about the dinner and they send me the menu choices once the chef decided for 2013. You did not have to decide your choice until the day of the dinner. A deposit per person was needed to hold the reservation. As mentioned in another post, The Hub Café, was an excellent spot as we were able to join the Castle's entrance line midway. Everyone seemed to have enjoyed their meal there. I don't know if they do individual reservations or just groups during the Tattoo. They did have a few groups on our night and reservations fill up.

 

We used Great Scot for our Edinburgh port.

 

Check out our Roll Call on the Caribbean Princess August 16, 2013, post #2965 for the list of private tours which Roll Call members used for this cruise. All the tours were highly recommended from other Cruise Critic users.

Hi! Thank you for all the tips.

Our roll call was following your's to see how things played out. We were interested in Timberbush - but they are not accepting any reservations until February. I know the Tattoo is far off still, but since several of us are buying tickets in a few weeks - we were concerned about waiting and then not being able to secure transportation. So were looking at Great Scot. They both got good reviews from your roll call and the one right before your's.

We are hoping to book The Hub. It hasn't released their 2014 schedule yet. But we are watching for it. It is nice to hear it was well received.

I will ask Gordon about two smaller vehicles vs one large one. One other person in our roll call expressed similiar concerns with exiting after the Tattoo. Not sure how many employees/drivers he has to pull from. But can't hurt to ask - thank you.

Hi! Thank you for all the tips.

 

Our roll call was following your's to see how things played out. We were interested in Timberbush - but they are not accepting any reservations until February. I know the Tattoo is far off still, but since several of us are buying tickets in a few weeks - we were concerned about waiting and then not being able to secure transportation. So were looking at Great Scot. They both got good reviews from your roll call and the one right before your's.

 

We are hoping to book The Hub. It hasn't released their 2014 schedule yet. But we are watching for it. It is nice to hear it was well received.

 

I will ask Gordon about two smaller vehicles vs one large one. One other person in our roll call expressed similiar concerns with exiting after the Tattoo. Not sure how many employees/drivers he has to pull from. But can't hurt to ask - thank you.

I had inquired from Gordon of Great Scot for a van for the Tattoo, since it is the same driver for the whole day, his tours started later due to the British driving law.

For The Hub Café, I emailed them for their menu and kept following it up and they finally had settled the menu choices and I received a copy of it.

For the Tattoo, the stands are in a U shape, the open part is the Castle, each section has a entrance with a walkway beside the parade ground to the stairs for that section, there are stairs at the end of each row, the rows are one long row of seats, all the entrances lead out to a walkway behind the stands, to the main and only entrance for the Castle. Hope you can understand. There are port a potties.

We were told to try for the sections near the end of the U as they are the closest to the main entrance, we had section 12, row N, last seat of the row and 15 seats towards the middle, with great views. Do not get seats near the very top of the stands (thinking you would get a better view), encase it is windy or raining there is no protection from the weather. The show goes on rain or shine. We had perfect weather, I just wore a windbreaker spring jacket. I suggest bringing a plastic grocery bag type to sit on encase of rain or if had rained before so you are not sitting on water for the 90 minute show. We had bought sweat jackets, rain jackets and were prepared for all types of weather.

I joined the Friends of the Tattoo, joint membership to order the tickets in November before the public can order them in Dec. With the joint membership, you are able to order up to 8 tickets each. I ordered all of our 16 tickets and we split the cost of the membership between us. Everyone send me a cheque to cover the tickets and The Hub Cafe. I asked everyone, if they wanted a programme and I order them at the same time. The tickets were send out in the spring and it included one voucher with the number of programmes ordered ( voucher can be handed in to anybody selling programmes at the Tattoo). I would suggest looking at seats at the end of a row for easy exit. try to get seats close to each other so you can try to stay together.

When we exited the Castle, about where The Hub Café was, the people of Edinburgh gathered to see the fireworks so we also had to make our way through them.

We had a Wednesday 9pm show. I don't know the day for your port, if it is a Saturday, try for the earlier show, then you have no worries about getting back on time. No show on Sundays. Princess had many coaches going and there were long lines getting back on board.

For the cost of what Princess was charging each person, just for transportation and Tattoo ticket, we each had an all day tour (had to purchase on our own Stirling Castle ticket, and lunch), Tattoo ticket, a 2 course meal, a programme (per couple), and all tips..

I started a Thread on British Port of Call - "Easter Dates in Britain", check out post #14, I gave a small review of each of the tours I took.

Check the embarkment Princess Patter, they list the ship's schedule and I found that a few port times had changed and Princess never advised us of them.

Jo (jtamchay) from our Roll Call started making inquiries with Timberbush in Sept 2012 and was able to reserve a 16 passenger coach. Maybe they have changed the way they do the reservations.

If you are going to be in London when the staterooms at Buckingham Palace are open, it is WORTH going to see. There are two different tours, daytime - self guided, evening - limited number of people, a guide, Buckingham Palace souvenir book, champagne at the end (we did this one).

http://www.royalcollection.org.uk

Check the embarkment Princess Patter, they list the ship's schedule and I found that a few port times had changed and Princess never advised us of them.

 

Jo (jtamchay) from our Roll Call started making inquiries with Timberbush in Sept 2012 and was able to reserve a 16 passenger coach. Maybe they have changed the way they do the reservations.

I did see on your roll call that you had Timberbush booked in October of 2012. So they did seem to change their procedure this year, saying they won't be reviewing their plans until February. I do have to admit I find that uncomfortable as we were planning to buy tickets in two weeks. I know how popular the Tattoo is, and I really don't want to purchase tickets and not be able to arrange transportation.

Once again, you have been extremely helpful. I will check out your Easter Dates in Britain thread for more insight.

Thank you so much!