Help with Inverness tours for LochNess and Castles Aug 14 on Infinity

I need input for private tour companies in Inverness who pick up at the port. We are traveling on Celebrity Infinity in August 2013 and will be in port Weds the 14th. I know it is early but I have sent 2 emails to shoreexcursions requesting availability and price of their Loch Ness/Castles/Inverness tour for our party of 6 (it looks perfect on their website) but have no response. The company is still on FB as indicated but there are no current entries. Has anyone used this company or can you make other recommendations?

Thanks, Carolyn

I need input for private tour companies in Inverness who pick up at the port. We are traveling on Celebrity Infinity in August 2013 and will be in port Weds the 14th. I know it is early but I have sent 2 emails to shoreexcursions requesting availability and price of their Loch Ness/Castles/Inverness tour for our party of 6 (it looks perfect on their website) but have no response. The company is still on FB as indicated but there are no current entries. Has anyone used this company or can you make other recommendations?

Thanks, Carolyn

Hi Carolyn,

Is this the company you contacted? If so, strange that you received no response.

www.shorexcursions.co.uk

There is also another company of which I am aware but have not personally used that does excursions from the port:

http://www.invernesstours.com/tours-from-invergordon-cruise-ships.html

Hopefully, one of the regional experts will chime in. :)

I love the loch region of Scotland ... so majestic. I am certain you will find a tour to meet your needs. Good luck!

jill

Thanks Jill, Yes, that is the company. I used their form first, then a direct email but no luck. Maybe someone from there will see this thread:)

Your other link looks interesting..I will contact them..and keep watching my inbox. Thanks again.

I need input for private tour companies in Inverness who pick up at the port. We are traveling on Celebrity Infinity in August 2013 and will be in port Weds the 14th. I know it is early but I have sent 2 emails to shoreexcursions requesting availability and price of their Loch Ness/Castles/Inverness tour for our party of 6 (it looks perfect on their website) but have no response. The company is still on FB as indicated but there are no current entries. Has anyone used this company or can you make other recommendations?

Thanks, Carolyn

Hi there!

We booked them back in November with a confirmation online. He was going to visit him mum and offline. However, I have just recently emailed him for payment arrangements and no response. We have a large rollcall and several of us have booked vans. I believe another "leader" of a van has not heard from him either. I'd feel better if I at least heard by email all is ok

You might want to try Exquisite Scotland. Their tours are customized to your specifications. And if you have 6 people, they are exceptionally reasonable.:D

Lynn

Hi there!

 

We booked them back in November with a confirmation online. He was going to visit him mum and offline. However, I have just recently emailed him for payment arrangements and no response. We have a large rollcall and several of us have booked vans. I believe another "leader" of a van has not heard from him either. I'd feel better if I at least heard by email all is ok

I hear you. I would be concerned too as the inability to communicate with clients doesn't sound too encouraging, IMHO. If you don't hear from him soon, it might be beneficial to check-out some of the companies mentioned above by the local experts.

jill

I need input for private tour companies in Inverness who pick up at the port. We are traveling on Celebrity Infinity in August 2013 and will be in port Weds the 14th. I know it is early but I have sent 2 emails to shoreexcursions requesting availability and price of their Loch Ness/Castles/Inverness tour for our party of 6 (it looks perfect on their website) but have no response. The company is still on FB as indicated but there are no current entries. Has anyone used this company or can you make other recommendations?

Thanks, Carolyn

Someone on the Caribbean Princess, August 4, British Isles mentioned they had contact with Nigel from http://www.shorexcursions.co.uk and he will be back Jan 28. You should he from him after that.

Thanks to all you great CC friends! I did hear from Nigel today, with his apologies. He has been out of the country visiting his Mum--as you said...will be back Jan 28..ready to proceed. I also had a very quick response from Taxitourexperience. So along with your links, I have choices and feel better about the situation.

Carolyn

We used Nigel last year on our British Isles cruise. Yes, he was slow to communicate and at times had me worried as I was the one arranging the tour. However, everything worked out fine. Nigel is a "booker". He sets up tours with various tour guides. George was our guide. Had a new Mercedes van ( 8 people total) and was just great. We did the Loch Ness/Cawdor Castle tour. Nigel was one of the few tour operators that did not want payment until the day of the tour. Others wanted cash up front with no guarantee of refunds if you cancelled for some reason. I can see their point but it was quite a bit of money with no guarantee that THEY would be there.

Hang in there and all will go well. Here's a link to our photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/gkappesser/BritishIslesCruiseMay2012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNyG_4OT786O8wE&feat=directlink

<<<Karen>>>

Glad you heard from Nigel. Reading this thread I was getting worried. I booked him for August.

Gary, your pictures are fabulous. I almost don't have to take the cruise now. Yeah, right! Do you have any special recommendations?

Thanks,

Marilyn

 

Hang in there and all will go well. Here's a link to our photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/gkappesser/BritishIslesCruiseMay2012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNyG_4OT786O8wE&feat=directlink

 

<<<Karen>>>

Thank you! Your photos are wonderful! How was the weather in May? I am going May 24 on Princess and wondering how cold, how rainy it may be. From your photos, it looks cool but clear.

Chloe1500 and marilynfaye-

You are correct. It was cool, cold and windy in the Orkneys. In 2012 the British Isles in general had a cold spring with a lot of rain. We were lucky and only had rain part of the day in Dublin and Belfast. In Dublin we spent time in the museum (Natural History, I think it was) where there was a fabulous gold jewelry exhibit. The items were found in burials in Ireland. In Belfast we visited the new Titanic Museum. We walked around Belfast first and since it was raining when we came out of the museum we just went back to the ship.

<<<Karen>>>

P.S. Gary says "thank you". These pix were shot with a Panasonic ZS8

We used Nigel last year on our British Isles cruise. Yes, he was slow to communicate and at times had me worried as I was the one arranging the tour. However, everything worked out fine. Nigel is a "booker". He sets up tours with various tour guides. George was our guide. Had a new Mercedes van ( 8 people total) and was just great. We did the Loch Ness/Cawdor Castle tour. Nigel was one of the few tour operators that did not want payment until the day of the tour. Others wanted cash up front with no guarantee of refunds if you cancelled for some reason. I can see their point but it was quite a bit of money with no guarantee that THEY would be there.

 

Hang in there and all will go well. Here's a link to our photos: https://picasaweb.google.com/gkappesser/BritishIslesCruiseMay2012?authuser=0&authkey=Gv1sRgCNyG_4OT786O8wE&feat=directlink

 

<<<Karen>>>

Great pictures! Thanks for posting the link. And happy to hear to your report about the Tour. Another question..how did you handle your day in Dublin? I have read "everything" is close to City Centre so can do the City on our own with the help of a taxi to Trinity College and use of the HoHo bus. But..is it necessary or possible to purchase admission tickets on line ahead of time? Carolyn

 

It was cool, cold and windy in the Orkneys.

We took a British Isles cruise in June, 2004, which included Orkney. I have never been so cold in my life. My husband let me wear his ski jacket. I don't even know why he had it with him. It was JUNE !!!!, but I was so grateful he did. Cold wind aside, it was a fascinating place.

Marilyn

Glad you heard from Nigel. Reading this thread I was getting worried. I booked him for August.

 

Gary, your pictures are fabulous. I almost don't have to take the cruise now. Yeah, right! Do you have any special recommendations?

 

Thanks,

Marilyn

Hi Marilyn, I had that one email from Nigel apologizing and explaining that his mother was ill--that he would be back Jan 28. Since then I've sent at least 2 emails and not heard a word. Just checking to see the status of your tour. Don't know if I should pursue his Loch Ness/castle tour or forget about it. Are you all set?

Carolyn

Hi Marilyn, I had that one email from Nigel apologizing and explaining that his mother was ill--that he would be back Jan 28. Since then I've sent at least 2 emails and not heard a word. Just checking to see the status of your tour. Don't know if I should pursue his Loch Ness/castle tour or forget about it. Are you all set?

Carolyn

Carolyn:

Funny that you post today. Someone on my roll call contacted me the other day. She had a Loch Ness/castle tour arranged with a different guide who has just contacted her to say that he was retiring and was cancelling their tour. She wanted to know about my arrangements. (We've actually booked his Highlands Experience tour.) Anyway, I emailed him to see if he could accommodate her, but have not heard back. It's only been a couple of days so I wasn't worried until I just read your message. We have him booked for Sunday, Aug 18, btw.

He was at his Mum's in November, as well. I'm going to give it a little time before I think about making other arrangements. He really has gotten good reviews.

Post here if you hear from him. I'll do the same.

Mairlyn

Thanks Jill, Yes, that is the company. I used their form first, then a direct email but no luck. Maybe someone from there will see this thread:)

Your other link looks interesting..I will contact them..and keep watching my inbox. Thanks again.

I, too, contacted shore excursions by email twice and have received no response--even used 2 different email addresses and still no response. Their tours sounded interesting and I asked about a private tour referencing their info. about smaller groups--but no answer yet. Please post on this thread if you find a way to contact them or discover info. about the company. It doesn't make me feel terribly secure to do business with them when they don't answer email. Sherry, Caribbean Princess, docking at Invergordon June 9, 2013.

Thank you! Your photos are wonderful! How was the weather in May? I am going May 24 on Princess and wondering how cold, how rainy it may be. From your photos, it looks cool but clear.

Our British Isles cruise was May 26th last year and we got *very* lucky and had sunshine 90% of the time! It wasnt every truly "cold", but bring a light jacket anyway. You never know, the weather is truly finicky out there!

Also, there are many fantastic Loch Ness excursions to pick from through the fantastic Jacobite company. Our day was truly outstanding. (In case the other excursion you were looking at falls through.)

Here is a link to my Inverness/Loch Ness day if it helps any:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=34187442&postcount=120

We are cruising in august to the British Isles and always book private excursions in the past on our Med. cruises. We have never before had to pre pay for the private excursions. I am a little concerned with all the private tour companies or at least all the ones I have viewed their websites they require at least 50% up front and many have a no cancel clause for refund. August is a long way out and a lot can happen.

Have anyothers encountered this? Are there companies that don't require this? Also I am having the same problems with no response from a lot of the tour companies I have sent emails to.

I will keep searching but suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do not mind paying a deposit but no refund is not acceptable to me.

Kandy

We are cruising in august to the British Isles and always book private excursions in the past on our Med. cruises. We have never before had to pre pay for the private excursions. I am a little concerned with all the private tour companies or at least all the ones I have viewed their websites they require at least 50% up front and many have a no cancel clause for refund. August is a long way out and a lot can happen.

 

Have anyothers encountered this? Are there companies that don't require this? Also I am having the same problems with no response from a lot of the tour companies I have sent emails to.

 

I will keep searching but suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I do not mind paying a deposit but no refund is not acceptable to me.

 

Kandy

I have organized 4 private tours for our August 16 British Isles cruise. All of them want cash on day of the tour. One has requested 80GBP at the start of the tour and the balance at the end of the tour.

I too have sent messages to Nigel on Feb 11 and 13 and still have received no response. We want to do the Loch Ness tour on June 12th.

I used the website's form. info@shorexcursions.co.uk

It's frustrating....

Susan

Blue Ribbon Cruiser would you send or post the companies that don't require deposits or email me at kandydipprey@ yahoo.com .I would really appreciate . Kandy

Blue Ribbon Cruiser would you send or post the companies that don't require deposits or email me at kandydipprey@ yahoo.com .I would really appreciate . Kandy

Yes, I would like that info too please. Would be great if you would post them. I had to put a 50% deposit down for a Belfast tour and another gal on our cruise was required to leave 20% with payment required 30 days before the actual tour date for one in Scotland. Am still looking for a private tour in Inverness.

Thanks, Carolyn

Also, there are many fantastic Loch Ness excursions to pick from through the fantastic Jacobite company. Our day was truly outstanding. (In case the other excursion you were looking at falls through.)

 

Here is a link to my Inverness/Loch Ness day if it helps any:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=34187442&postcount=120

Hi Emily, I do have Jacobite on my fallback list. I know you had a wonderful day with them but I would prefer having a tour that comes right to the ship:)...Carolyn

PS I refer to your cruise review constantly. Big, big help.