British Isles port and tour review

My husband and I just returned from a wonderful cruise aboard Celebrity's Silhouette. We planned the trip and private tours with another couple. Unfortunately, they had to cancel at the last minute due to a medical emergency. The good news is that our friend is doing well and had travel insurance. The cruise was round trip from Amsterdam.

We arrived in Amsterdam two days before the sailing and took the train from the airport to Centraal Station. We walked the short distance to the Doubletree Hotel where they were kind enough to let us check in early. We were very happy with the hotel location, room, and food available in the Executive Lounge. We spent two very active days in Amsterdam including visiting the Anne Frank House and the Rikjsmuseum. As others have said, it is important to make advance reservations for Anne Frank. I met quite a few disappointed people who could not go inside. We liked Amsterdam but were turned off by all of the people who were smoking. It seemed like we were constantly walking behind someone who was smoking something. On embarkation day, we walked ten minutes from the hotel to the port. (We made a practice trip earlier in the day without luggage in order to find the easiest path.)

Port reviews to follow.

Look forward to reading your port review.

Keith

Inverness/Loch Ness

We had an 8 hour private tour with Scottish Highland Tours.( https://www.highlandtours.info/) We loved seeing Urquhart Castle and enjoyed the views of the loch. Cawdor Castle is nice, but it is really just a large house. I have seen more impressive homes in Newport. The gardens were beautiful though. We also visited Culloden Battlefield, Clava Cairns, and made a quick stop at Fort George.

We enjoyed the day, but it was not a guided tour. The car was a small 5 seat cab. Had our friends been there, we would have been cramped. The driver worked very hard to please us by stopping for photos but he did not accompany us into any attraction or provide commentary unless asked.

Edinburgh (overnight stay)

Day 1: By getting in line early for tender tickets, we were at the Newhaven pier by 9:15 AM. We had arranged an 8 hour tour to St. Andrews with Edinburgh Cab Tours. (http://www.edinburghcabtours.com/about/) We had a wonderful day with Andy as he is an outstanding guide. He is personable and a wealth of knowledge. The vehicle was spacious and comfortable. Among the places we visited were the University of St. Andrews, Royal & Ancient Golf Club and the Cathedral ruins. We also went to Falkland and a lovely fishing town. Even though we had rain in the morning, it was one of my favorite days of the trip.

Day 2: This day was on our own. Tender tickets were not required before 8:00 AM, so we left the ship around 7:30. We decided to take the public bus to the Royal Mile but needed exact change of 3.2 GBP total for 2 people. We made the short walk to the "ASDA" store and purchased candy to obtain the coins. The bus to Princess Street took about 30 minutes. There was lots of time to leisurely walk up to Edinburgh Castle before our entry time of 9:30. There was a long line to get in so we were glad we had purchased tickets in advance. Upon the advice of guide Andy, we immediately went to the top of the castle to see the crown jewels. That was a great idea because the room is very small and most people work their way up to it. My husband loves history so we spent about 2 hours at the castle before working our way down the Royal Mile. Because of the Fringe Festival and Tattoo, the streets were crazy busy with tourists and performers. It was fun!

We found a taxi at the stand near Parliament and went to see the Royal Yacht Britannia. The taxi cost around 8 GBP. Even though my husband is not a big fan of royals, he enjoyed the tour almost as much as I did. The yacht is docked at a large shopping complex called "Ocean Terminal." It took us around 20 minutes to walk back to the Newhaven pier. We later learned that there was a free shuttle we could have used.

Liverpool

My husband does not like group tours but I convinced him that we should take a Busy Bus tour to North Wales. (http://www.busybus.co.uk/wales-from-liverpool-cruise-terminal) It was a good decision. We had comfortable transportation, adequate time to see the sites, and no forced shopping stops. We loved Conwy Castle and beautiful Snowdonia National Park. It was great to eat fish and chips in the quaint town of Betws-Y-Coed before we visited an amazing aqueduct. Our guide, Alan, and the driver worked very hard to provide a great experience.

Before we returned to the Silhouette, we walked the short distance to a statue of the Beatles in Liverpool. It was a fun place to take a photo.

Belfast

A driver from Belfast Famous Black Cab Tours (http://www.belfastblackcabtours.co.uk/index.php) met us at the pier to take us to see the the political murals and the Peaceline. The car was a comfortable traditional English black cab. The approximately 90 minute tour was interesting. We did not realize the amount of animosity that still exists between the Protestants and the Catholics.

The driver left us at the visitor's center where we obtained a local map. We walked all over the area including City Hall and the Titanic shipyard. It was a little eerie to stand on the site where Titanic was built and view the Silhouette in the distance. A shuttle bus from the visitor's center took us back to the ship at the end of the day.

Dublin

A shuttle bus that charged 10 euros per person took us from the ship to Merrion Square North. We had pre-purchased tickets to the Book of Kells so Trinity College was the first stop of our day long walking adventure. We were admitted immediately and enjoyed the historical information in the lobby area. Only 4 pages of the manuscript are on display and they are rather difficult to see. They are in a single glass case that everyone crowds around. After viewing the Book of Kells, we went into the library. What a wonderful surprise to see such a beautiful room. It looked like something from Harry Potter!

We spent the rest of the day walking all over the city. The ship was in port for 12 hours so we had plenty of time to explore. We walked 13 miles that day!

Cobh/Cork

We were very surprised when Paddy from Butlers Bus Tours (http://www.butlerstours.com/) picked us up for a half-day tour to Blarney Castle and Cork in a 17 passenger bus. There was definitely plenty of room for my husband and I! Although we had not planned to kiss the Blarney Stone, we decided at the last minute to do it. We waited in line for around 40 minutes. The gardens were spectacular yet we saw few visitors there. After we left the castle, we took a driving tour of Cork and Cobh with a few stops along the way. Paddy was an excellent guide who made sure that we didn't miss anything. We were most impressed by his kindness in helping tourists who were separated from their groups. The tour was well worth the time and cost.

We were docked within a few minutes walk to most points of interest in Cobh. I did not know that Cobh was formerly known as Queenstown and was the last port of call of Titanic. The town also has a monument to Lusitania because survivors and victims were brought there following the tragedy. There is certainly a lot of history there. St. Colman's Cathedral is a beautiful church that is close to the pier. Cobh is a wonderful cruise ship port.

Zeebrugge (Bruges)

Because we had onboard credit to use, we booked the "Bruges On Your Own" tour from the ship. I wish we had chosen the 20 euro per person shuttle instead because the ship's tour only gave us 3.5 hours in Bruges. However, we made the most of the time and saw a great deal. The town is gorgeous with canals, lovely buildings, and churches that rival those in Rome. We loved seeing Michelangelo's "Madonna and Child." Although we did not take a canal cruise, we spoke with several people who enjoyed the experience. We had a wonderful day there.

Thanks for posting your review. We were on a Princess ship doing many of the same ports last month.

Thank you for your port review.

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Nice review....thanks it was a great cruise and we met many fine people

Thanks so much for posting. I'm looking at a similar cruise (and having a tough time deciding) so this helps a lot.

Anything you liked or disliked about the Silhouette?

Thank you all for your kind words. We had a great time on the Silhouette. The only thing we disliked about the ship was that we found the sea days to be too quiet. I only saw one cooking class over three sea days. We went to a Captain's Club wine tasting, 2 lectures, and the obligatory art auction, but we did not find a lot else to do. We had seen most of the movies on the "On Demand" in the cabin TV so we did a lot of reading. They gym is nice and has an adequate number of machines. The food was very good and we enjoyed most of the shows. To be fair, most people enjoy sea days but my husband considers them a waste of time!

Not much to do and and time (and quiet) to sit and read sounds wonderful to me, as long as it's not too many days at sea instead of ports.

The three sea days were spaced after Amsterdam and between several consecutive port days. They were well timed to give everyone a rest! .

Thanks for your review. We will be visiting a few of the same ports in June 2018 on the Eclipse.

Sue