Waterford, Ireland

We will be in Waterford in September for the first time and had a question. Has anyone taken the excursion that included a visit to where the Waterford Crystal is made and if so what did you think of it?

Keith

We will be in Waterford in September for the first time and had a question. Has anyone taken the excursion that included a visit to where the Waterford Crystal is made and if so what did you think of it?

 

Keith

Was in Waterford a couple of years ago,but did not go to the factory...went out into the countryside and walked around the town...not into Waterford Crystal,and as an aside...found crystal that was much nicer and cheaper although I did not buy any all through Ireland.IMHO..it is higher because people pay to have the "I have Waterford Crystal"..this I learned from a shop in Dublin.The people that did the tour I would say I heard 50/50 as to whether it was worth it(we were on a small ship).No matter...enjoy your time there.

We have toured it twice, first time on a ship's shorex, 2nd time we just took a local bus from the main street of Waterford (took 15-20 min IIRC) and got off at the Crystal Factory and took the tour on our own. The 2nd time the tour seemed longer and more detailed - when we asked one of the staff organizing the tours, we were told that the cruiseship tours are often abbreviated on busy days. Also, if you go on your own, although you may have to wait for half an hour or so for the next tour to start, you can use the time to browse through the showrooms/shop and, unlike on the ship's tour, you have all the time you want or need to make your selection of purchases. Furthermore, it goes without saying that doing it on your own is much less expensive. Check the Waterford Crystal Factory website for more info.

I would highly recommend that you not only go to the displays at the factory but do the tour. It takes about an hour or so but the whole process of making the glass, blowing, casting and especially the etching and carving are worth the time you spent there. In some locations you stand right next to the person who is do the delicate grinding/etching.

Even if you don't care for glass, the artworks on display are fantastic.

Thank you all for the feedback. My wife and I now plan to take the tour of the Waterford factory based on the comments you have provided.

Thanks again.

Keith

Keith-

Sounds like you are on Serenity #6321 with us. Are you going to go to the Waterford Factory on your own. We prefer to do that rather than go on the Crystal Tour which ends up using up most of the short day. Any other idea that you plan to do in the other ports? We have not made any arrangments yet, but want to avoid being part of a big bus tour. Thanks les20

Les, while we are frequrent cruisers of Crystal, on this particular cruise we are going on Seabourn. We will be back on the Serenity early next year. Have a wonderful cruise.

Keith

I went to the Waterford factory a few years ago and loved it. After you tour, you will understand the cost of the glass when you observe the quality control. I have a lot of different types of crystal, but the Waterford pieces that I bought in Ireland are unique because the factory was personalizing pieces when we toured there plus offered a free gift with purchase that was very nice (a small shamrock dish that you can use to hold nuts or whatever). So our vases, etc. are engraved with our names and the year. The Waterford crystal can be pricey, and we might have been able to buy some of the pieces a little cheaper here in the U.S., but the memories of buying there plus the personalization made it really special for us.

Have a great trip,

Donna

There is a local walking tour about 1 hour that is offered 2 x daily in front of the Waterford museum in town. You don't book in advance, just show up. The tour guide is a hoot and gives an interesting history of the town. I think it was $15 each. Rick Steve's mentions it in his guide book. The Waterford Factory tour is breathtaking see the craftsmen quality which I loved, but enjoyed the walking tour much more and then the tour of Reginalds Tower - a round building where the walking tour ends that dates back to the 900's and is still in use.:p

We just returned from our cruise the other day and did do the Waterford tour. We enjoyed seeing how the Crystal is made and did enjoy the Waterford tour. The downside that we experienced was traffic getting from the cruise ship dock to the terminal. A trip that the tour guide says used to take 10 minutes took around 90 minutes. Like other parts of Ireland, Waterfod has been experiencing an economic boom and a significant increase in immigrants and their road system can not keep up with this explosiion in population.

Keith

We visited Waterford in June 2017...We joined a Cruise Critic group on a tour of the area around Waterford. The tour was booked through South Ireland Travel southirelandtravel.com Our tour guide, Eamonn, met us at the pier and we were off in a nice mini van. Our first stop was in new Ross which has a long connection with the Kennedy family. Then it was off to visit a restored Abbey. It was then time for a stop for scones and tea at a colorful riverside restaurant. After that, we pressed on to the historical town of Kilkenny. The highlight of this stop was the Kilkenny Castle. We also managed a stop in a colorful local pub to sample some good Irish beer !!! Our tour guide did an excellent job of explaining everything to us. Eamonn is a retired Policeman and knows the area well. He thoroughly enjoyed showing us around the beautiful Irish country side for almost eight hours. I would highly recommend this tour for anyone visiting Waterford. You can contact Eamonn Coady directly at sales@southirelandtravel

John Hildebrandt Palm Coast Fl