Jump to content

Greenock, Scotland


Grumpy100
 Share

Recommended Posts

Does anyone know how far it is from the port in Greenock to the city.

Does the cruiseline supply a bus to the city? We are doing the British Isles on the Crown Princess in May.

 

The town of Greenock is a 10 min. walk from the pier. Glasgow is 25-30 miles from Greenock. Most people have said they take the train to Glasgow. There are taxis at the port to take you to the train station or you can walk to it. If the cruiseline does provide transportation, it would be called a "On Your Own" type of tour.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

The town of Greenock is a 10 min. walk from the pier. Glasgow is 25-30 miles from Greenock. Most people have said they take the train to Glasgow. There are taxis at the port to take you to the train station or you can walk to it. If the cruiseline does provide transportation, it would be called a "On Your Own" type of tour.

 

Is there anything to do in Greenock???

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Is there anything to do in Greenock???

 

I haven't done it myself, but there are tours offered by locals and have been mentioned on here very favorably.

 

http://inverclydetouristgroup.co.uk/

 

There is a "Contact" section on that web site and I guess if you asked them that question, they would be glad to tell you.

 

Other than that, I wouldn't know. The town itself is pretty small.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I haven't done it myself, but there are tours offered by locals and have been mentioned on here very favorably.

 

http://inverclydetouristgroup.co.uk/

 

There is a "Contact" section on that web site and I guess if you asked them that question, they would be glad to tell you.

 

Other than that, I wouldn't know. The town itself is pretty small.

 

 

I did two of the tours with this group when I was there in the spring of '09. We had an excellent time at this port.

 

When we arrived in Greenock we had a very nice greeting with bagpipers etc. When we went in the cruise terminal the tourist group representatives were right there. We signed up for the castle tour in the morning and the city/church tour in the afternoon. In between we went back onboard the ship and had lunch. The afternoon tour we opted to get off at the city center for a pint at a local freehouse (where we discovered the arrival of our ship had made the front page of the newspaper--nice) We had time for a little shopping and an easy stroll back to the ship.

 

The sailaway from here was the best of the entire cruise. The band...the pipers....the people waving flags...they really made you feel welcome here and in a way it was sad to leave.

 

They do not get many ships in this port but I hope someday I can visit again on a cruise.

 

Rochelle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did two of the tours with this group when I was there in the spring of '09. We had an excellent time at this port.

 

When we arrived in Greenock we had a very nice greeting with bagpipers etc. When we went in the cruise terminal the tourist group representatives were right there. We signed up for the castle tour in the morning and the city/church tour in the afternoon. In between we went back onboard the ship and had lunch. The afternoon tour we opted to get off at the city center for a pint at a local freehouse (where we discovered the arrival of our ship had made the front page of the newspaper--nice) We had time for a little shopping and an easy stroll back to the ship.

 

The sailaway from here was the best of the entire cruise. The band...the pipers....the people waving flags...they really made you feel welcome here and in a way it was sad to leave.

 

They do not get many ships in this port but I hope someday I can visit again on a cruise.

 

Rochelle

 

 

Rochelle - On the tours that you signed up for were they free and could you walk to all of them. I was interested in the castle one and the coastal scenery. Please advise. Thanks. Nancy

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rochelle - On the tours that you signed up for were they free and could you walk to all of them. I was interested in the castle one and the coastal scenery. Please advise. Thanks. Nancy

 

Nancy,

 

I am not exactly sure what you meant by 'walk to all of them' but I will try to explain.

 

When we docked we were right in from of the port building. As we were exiting the ship we were greeted by some fanfare, bagpipers etc. We walked the hundred yards or so into the building.

 

Once inside there were some information areas, currency exchange, and vendors. The Inverclyde tourist group had some tables set in the middle where you could get local information, maps or sign up for the free tours.

We signed up for the castle one for the morning and the church/city hall one in the afternoon.

 

When it is time for your tour it is right outside the exit doors and onto a tour bus.

 

On each tour there was some walking necessary but not too much . I believe a person with some mobility issues would be okay. If someone was in a wheelchair then I would say that this is not suitable.

 

The tours are indeed free. If you would like you can make a donation at the end that goes towards offsetting the cost of the petrol. Knowing this I had made up two goodie bags from home (maple cookies, Canadian pins and little notebooks with the Canadian flag in each). My intent had been one bag for the volunteers for each tour. As it turned out I just gave them at the volunteer tables and they were able to share them with everyone.

 

When I returned at the end of the day a volunteer I had not met was looking for me and greeted me with a big hug. Apparently it had been 30 years since she had one of those maple cookies and she LOVED it.

 

I will never forget that lady-- actually all the volunteers were all quite memorable.

 

After our first tour we went directly back to the ship and had lunch onboard. After the afternoon tour we stayed in town, went for a beer and had a leisurely stroll back to the ship through a mall (if you like shopping) and along the waterfront.

 

As I said before, the send off they gave us was wonderful. The tours were informative and the volunteers ( mostly retired folks) really love their community. The whole day was definately a highlight of our cruise.

 

On our trip there did not seem to be many signing up for the free tours, but I would still get off the ship early and sign up just in case there is more interest on yours. My guess is that we did not have more than 15 people on either tour but the buses could have held many more.

 

Hope this helps answer your questions. If not feel free to ask away.

 

Rochelle

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Nancy,

 

I am not exactly sure what you meant by 'walk to all of them' but I will try to explain.

 

When we docked we were right in from of the port building. As we were exiting the ship we were greeted by some fanfare, bagpipers etc. We walked the hundred yards or so into the building.

 

Once inside there were some information areas, currency exchange, and vendors. The Inverclyde tourist group had some tables set in the middle where you could get local information, maps or sign up for the free tours.

We signed up for the castle one for the morning and the church/city hall one in the afternoon.

 

When it is time for your tour it is right outside the exit doors and onto a tour bus.

 

On each tour there was some walking necessary but not too much . I believe a person with some mobility issues would be okay. If someone was in a wheelchair then I would say that this is not suitable.

 

The tours are indeed free. If you would like you can make a donation at the end that goes towards offsetting the cost of the petrol. Knowing this I had made up two goodie bags from home (maple cookies, Canadian pins and little notebooks with the Canadian flag in each). My intent had been one bag for the volunteers for each tour. As it turned out I just gave them at the volunteer tables and they were able to share them with everyone.

 

When I returned at the end of the day a volunteer I had not met was looking for me and greeted me with a big hug. Apparently it had been 30 years since she had one of those maple cookies and she LOVED it.

 

I will never forget that lady-- actually all the volunteers were all quite memorable.

 

After our first tour we went directly back to the ship and had lunch onboard. After the afternoon tour we stayed in town, went for a beer and had a leisurely stroll back to the ship through a mall (if you like shopping) and along the waterfront.

 

As I said before, the send off they gave us was wonderful. The tours were informative and the volunteers ( mostly retired folks) really love their community. The whole day was definately a highlight of our cruise.

 

On our trip there did not seem to be many signing up for the free tours, but I would still get off the ship early and sign up just in case there is more interest on yours. My guess is that we did not have more than 15 people on either tour but the buses could have held many more.

 

Hope this helps answer your questions. If not feel free to ask away.

 

Rochelle

 

Thanks Rochelle that was the information that I was looking for. I did not know if they were free or not. I would definitely give them a donation for their time and effort. Thanks again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

;) Hi Grumpy. We will also be cruising on the Crown May 22, 2011. We are looking for more Cruise Critics who like to do tours with local travel agents beyond those offered by the Tour Desk. Are you in contact with any of the other Cruise Critics and their threads? Reunited Sisters

Link to comment
Share on other sites

;) Hi Grumpy. We will also be cruising on the Crown May 22, 2011. We are looking for more Cruise Critics who like to do tours with local travel agents beyond those offered by the Tour Desk. Are you in contact with any of the other Cruise Critics and their threads? Reunited Sisters

 

Reunited Sisters, you must go and join our busy roll call. There is a lot of great tour information on there. :) We're on the May 22nd as well.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In response to Rochelle - obviously you have not been to the port of Greenock recently - the terminal has had an amazing make over - a lot of money has been spent to make the terminal very attractive. No longer does Inverclyde Tourist group have tables - there is a dedicated information area where information regarding their tours is displayed on a plasma screen along with other local information. There is also internet access. The vendors are also very good - what a transformation - very upmarket!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did two of the tours with this group when I was there in the spring of '09. We had an excellent time at this port.

 

When we arrived in Greenock we had a very nice greeting with bagpipers etc. When we went in the cruise terminal the tourist group representatives were right there. We signed up for the castle tour in the morning and the city/church tour in the afternoon. In between we went back onboard the ship and had lunch. The afternoon tour we opted to get off at the city center for a pint at a local freehouse (where we discovered the arrival of our ship had made the front page of the newspaper--nice) We had time for a little shopping and an easy stroll back to the ship.

 

The sailaway from here was the best of the entire cruise. The band...the pipers....the people waving flags...they really made you feel welcome here and in a way it was sad to leave.

 

They do not get many ships in this port but I hope someday I can visit again on a cruise.

 

Rochelle

 

Rochelle, I completely agree. The stop in Greenock was delightful and the Interverclyde Tourist Group provided some excellent FREE tours. We took the city tour; had a wonderful lunch at the James Watt Free House; then re-boarded the ship to watch a local group preform in the Princess Theather. Click on

to see a video of the stop in Grennock. I would certainly recommend this rather then going into Glasgow. It was a grand experinece.

 

Ron

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I feel there may be a misconception about the distance between Glasgow and Edinburgh. Glasgow is west coast and Edinburgh is east coast. The distance is over 50 miles.

 

http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=d&source=s_d&saddr=Glasgow,+Scotland&daddr=Edinburgh,+Scotland&hl=en&geocode=FRtxVAMdOQq__ynrzlYgVhWISDEeUe8FuIPmcQ%3BFWC7VQMdsFzP_ykjJpilALiHSDEnF-d8exTyZA&mra=ls&sll=55.865627,-4.257223&sspn=0.227712,0.724411&ie=UTF8&ll=55.856817,-3.806763&spn=0.911052,2.897644&t=h&z=9 Satellite image on Google Maps

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 months later...
Rochelle, I completely agree. The stop in Greenock was delightful and the Interverclyde Tourist Group provided some excellent FREE tours. We took the city tour; had a wonderful lunch at the James Watt Free House; then re-boarded the ship to watch a local group preform in the Princess Theather. Click on
to see a video of the stop in Grennock. I would certainly recommend this rather then going into Glasgow. It was a grand experinece.

 

Ron

 

This answers my question as well. We were looking into 'hanging out' in Greenock instead of Glasgow. Seems adorable! Thanks for the info!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just returned from our cruise and our stop in Greenock was very enjoyable. We went on the free tour with the Invercylde tourist group and enjoyed it very much.

 

We will be on the Ocean Princess next August. The ship stops in Glasgow - Greenock from 7am-6pm.

 

Can you tell me about the tour you took? Where was this tourist group? Was there transportation offered by Princess to get to Glasgow?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We just returned from our cruise and our stop in Greenock was very enjoyable. We went on the free tour with the Invercylde tourist group and enjoyed it very much.

 

We are headed to the Tattoo mid-afternoon. Is it possible to walk around Greenock in a couple of hours? Can you tell me more about the free tour?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We will be on the Ocean Princess next August. The ship stops in Glasgow - Greenock from 7am-6pm.

 

Can you tell me about the tour you took? Where was this tourist group? Was there transportation offered by Princess to get to Glasgow?

We used the Invercylde tourist group and is a group of local volunteers that give you free tours of either Gourock, Greenock or a castle a few miles away. They are 2 hrs. long and just ask that you make a donation to cover fuel cost. You can find them on-line. Look on previous post for the exact e-mail address.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 8 months later...
Nancy,

 

I am not exactly sure what you meant by 'walk to all of them' but I will try to explain.

 

When we docked we were right in from of the port building. As we were exiting the ship we were greeted by some fanfare, bagpipers etc. We walked the hundred yards or so into the building.

 

Once inside there were some information areas, currency exchange, and vendors. The Inverclyde tourist group had some tables set in the middle where you could get local information, maps or sign up for the free tours.

We signed up for the castle one for the morning and the church/city hall one in the afternoon.

 

When it is time for your tour it is right outside the exit doors and onto a tour bus.

 

On each tour there was some walking necessary but not too much . I believe a person with some mobility issues would be okay. If someone was in a wheelchair then I would say that this is not suitable.

 

The tours are indeed free. If you would like you can make a donation at the end that goes towards offsetting the cost of the petrol. Knowing this I had made up two goodie bags from home (maple cookies, Canadian pins and little notebooks with the Canadian flag in each). My intent had been one bag for the volunteers for each tour. As it turned out I just gave them at the volunteer tables and they were able to share them with everyone.

 

When I returned at the end of the day a volunteer I had not met was looking for me and greeted me with a big hug. Apparently it had been 30 years since she had one of those maple cookies and she LOVED it.

 

I will never forget that lady-- actually all the volunteers were all quite memorable.

 

After our first tour we went directly back to the ship and had lunch onboard. After the afternoon tour we stayed in town, went for a beer and had a leisurely stroll back to the ship through a mall (if you like shopping) and along the waterfront.

 

As I said before, the send off they gave us was wonderful. The tours were informative and the volunteers ( mostly retired folks) really love their community. The whole day was definately a highlight of our cruise.

 

On our trip there did not seem to be many signing up for the free tours, but I would still get off the ship early and sign up just in case there is more interest on yours. My guess is that we did not have more than 15 people on either tour but the buses could have held many more.

 

Hope this helps answer your questions. If not feel free to ask away.

 

Rochelle

I have bumped this as we were in Greenock Aug 2011,did not know about cc then, and this is a really good description of what the local people put on for us.

I was up really early before we docked so saw the whole arrival performance, they do really put a lot into a ships arrival and departure pipes etc.

Think old movie ship departures the dock and that side of the ship were just crowded.

ps. you do have to go through security everytime you leave and return to the ship, both on ship and port. For instance we went off to look at town, came back to port for tour, our bus had a problem was delayed approx 1 hr so we went back onto ship for lunch, back off for tour, DH has 2 artificial hips and always beeps.We had a giggle about it but if the queue was long it could be annoying.

The tour was very good even though it had to be shortened.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

Greenock is one of the most interesting ports of call on the Princess Cruises Uk cruise - but the company, and the people who supply tours are not in the slightest bit interested in promoting the town. They are much more interested in driving you miles away to Inverary and Culzean (which are much more profitable) than taking you to equally interesting local sights.

 

Greenock has some of the most spectacular views in Scotland - and you can almost walk to them from the Cruise Terminal!!!! A taxi from the terminal to Overtoun, will cost about $10, and this is what you get. The walk is on the flat and goes round in a circle and takes about 2 hours, past the ranger centre and through the regional park.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KHvlfjR0Fpk

 

There is a national wildlife park and ranger center at Cornalees (15 minutes) which organises environmental projects for children. . . . and its free. Princess Cruises don't want you to know about that either.

 

http://www.clydemuirshiel.co.uk/countryside-rangers/environmental-education/

 

Or about the fact that there are Castles and country houses to visit much closer than Culzean and Inverary - these two are less than 20 minutes from Greenock

 

http://www.finlaystonehouse.com/

 

http://www.kelburnestate.com/

 

Oh and the it costs you $10 or so to get a train ticket from Greenock to the centre of Glasgow with trains every 20 minutes. The journey takes about half and hour. It's quicker than the tour bus which costs $69.00

 

It's a rip off. . . . . . .

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...