ihearttotravel

7 hours ago, Pirateskigirl said:

We were told at 12n today that we are no more longer stopping in Le Harve, France due to a workers strike at the port.  😒 They have substituted a stop at the Isle of Portland to replace it.  Everyone is very disappointed in this change.  I would not want to be working the guest services desk today.  I think 25% we’re getting off a Le Harve to fly out of Paris.  

Oh nooooo.... I'm so sorry to hear this. Thank you for letting us know.

9 hours ago, Bestbubba said:

We have an aft balcony, no shade, deck 15, today it's too hot on the balcony.... Didn't expect this in May in Scotland, global warming or just lucky? 

Also a heads up, when we got off the ship this morning, in the terminal there was a sign advertising return coach to Glasgow £10pp, a bargain! Not sure how much the train is but it's definitely going to be much cheaper than Princess. 

Very helpful as we are on the Aft as well... I'd be okay with a warmer than usual day 🙂

55 minutes ago, Pirateskigirl said:

Another great weather day. We had a group of 6 on the Discover Scotland tour of Stirling Castle, Loch Lomond and The Trossachs.  We had a 16 passenger van, so we could be more mobile.  Our guide Scottie was fantastic. He was a fountain of information. They provided goodie bags with water, shortbread, chocolate and caramel for everyone. We even got to visit a couple of Highland Cows(pronounced Coo). You can feed Honey & Hamish for 1£.  We stopped in Caldwell(?). We had an hour for lunch and a walkabout. Several had some excellent Scottish pies. We got to Stirling Castle a little before 2pm, had 90 minutes to explore. Clear day, so we had excellent views of the surrounding area and the Stirling bridge and William Wallace monument. I recommend the ice cream served at the truck outside the castle. Yummy. 
Our driver took us through Glasgow and gave us a wee tour on the return to avoid traffic and we were back on board before 5pm. While I am typing the bagpipes are playing the last arrivals on to the ship.

 

l’m a bit tired and I am looking forward to the sea day. 

We have a Private tour scheduled with George Martin w/ Go-Go Scotland Tours that is similar and our first stop is Stirling Castle, so I will be having that ice cream! lol... Do you remember the name of the place/town where you fed the hairy coos? I realize there are some breathtaking views and so many sights to see in such a short amount of time, however for some reason I'm thinking the day will be ruined if I don't pet & feed one of those pretty cows somewhere along the way.

3 hours ago, Pirateskigirl said:

Yes it was originally Cobh but another ship was in that dock and we got docked a Ringaskiddy. This port is a working port, so you have to  get on a Princess provided bus to the entrance of the port for private tours. We were on a Princess excursion, so we were picked up at the end of the gangway.  They provided a FREE shuttle to Cork  City Hall continuously.  They had a private ferry for 13£ each way directly from Ringaskiddy direct to Cobh. It was from 8am-3:30pm. Left at the top of the hour to Cobh, bottom of the hour to Ringaskiddy. I didn’t do it, so I have no details. Kudos to Princess, the Cork shuttle worked great. We got all this information 2 days before.  

Thank you sooooo much! This is incredibly helpful information and I am excited to share it with those on the 5/27 Roll Call. You reporting the events of your days on board is helping so many of us that have never been to the British Isles... I appreciate you!! 

3 hours ago, Pirateskigirl said:

Definitely layers. So far, we have had fantastic weather. Partly Cloudy mid 60s.  I packed shorts and short sleeves. I’ve only worn my UK twice. Once at Giant’s Causeway and Greenock.  Yes, the locals were out and enjoying the beach and water. We’ve been really lucky, so far.

Sorry, what is "UK"?  

7 hours ago, Justpackingmybags said:

As a Brit, anything over 20C is shorts weather 😎😆 (that’s 68F)

In theory July should be at least that. And it sometimes is for, ooh maybe, a week, 

Layers. Definitely layers. And a sneaky pair of shorts just in case.

Thank you! I'm pretty hot natured so I will pack some! And have you ever seen it get warm up to lay out by the pool on sea days? I will take a swimsuit in case I'd need it, but just curious!

Also, could you tell us more about Ringaskiddy? Did your originally itinerary list Cobh but you ended up there instead? I'm asking b/c there are a lot of questions/confusion on where we will dock on 5/30 as the Cobh port website has us scheduled to be in Ringaskiddy instead. Princess c/s reps. say they believe it should still be Cobh. Those on the Roll Call are concerned about excursions booked with vendors other than Princess... where to get picked up, etc.

Sooo grateful that you are reporting this information and that I stumbled across it! We are on the 5/27 British Isles cruise and I am currently trying to pack and also firm up plans for transportation from the port to several cities... So I've read that I 60-70 degree weather is "Sweatshirt Weather" and to pack to dress in layers while on excursions,,, In addition to these layering pieces I can add or remove, I'll also have a rain jacket and a medium weight jacket... but would I have any need for shorts? 

Hi! This cabin turned out to be really great for us and very quiet a majority of the time... a few times during our 10 night cruise we could hear people dragging their deck chairs from one side of the ship to the other up above us... but that was pretty much it. 

The room was in good condition at the time, 2 years ago, I’m sure it’s still great!

enjoy your trip!

Cecilia's is about a 15 minute ride from the cruise port. It is close to the airport and very close to the pier for the Jumby Bay boat. There is no resort in the vicinity. It is on the water but is not a major beach area. Very nice though, excellent lunch.

Thsnk you so much, thus helps me a lot! What public beach do you recommend where we can get a chair and umbrella with a bar close by for drinks? The quieter the better, no jet skis, Etc

Harrison's Cave in Barbados

I will check that out! How much time do I allow for this? I'd like some beach time too if possible... Is it far from the port?

Any suggestions for a great/romantic lunch spot? Our 20th anniversary is that day!

 

If this is your itinerary...you're not. You're just stopping at Princess Cays. The 7 ports includes the port you leave from.

 

I actually pay attention to this because I am not a fan of Princess Cays and avoid it on my itineraries. I specifically picked my Eastern Caribbean trip last year and my Southern this year because they go to Grand Turk instead.

Oops, yes you're right! I got this tripped mixed up with my 2017 cruise!

I'm confused; I thought this itinerary went to EITHER Princess Cays or Grand Turk? There were only 6 stops on this when I went last year.

 

That being said, I cannot recommend enough booking a private tour with Calabaza in Barbados. We went snorkeling with the sea turtles - Gina and her crew are fantastic and it is just the best day.

Nope, it's both. We have 7 ports.

We have enjoyed (as have others; they have excellent ratings on TripAdvisor and reviews here on cruise critic):

 

• Segway on Antigua https://www.segwayantigua.com/v2/: a first for both of us and we had a blast. You aren't in traffic and we drove along a beautiful deserted beach and then up to an old fortress. If I can do it, anyone can!
  
• Serenity Tours on Saint Lucia http://serenity(no space)tvl.com/: we've taken 3 different tours with them over the years - all excellent with fantastic guides.
  
• I know you said no swimming but these are standout snorkeling trips:
  
  • Sail Calabeza in Barbados http://sailcalabaza.com/
    
  • Power snorkeling at the Great Wall in Grand Turk - I don't remember who we did this with but it was amazing.
    

Thank you so much! These are great suggestions. Swimming and snorkeling are out b/c I can't swim... I've read about the submarine Excursion in Barbados. We may do that- anyone have experienced with that?

We have done those 10-night itineraries in the Caribbean many, many times and I've blogged about most of them. Though we usually did things on our own, you can browse by island/beach using the labels on the right side of the website view at this address to get some ideas:

 

http://pescadoamarillo.blogspot.com

 

There are lots of photos of the islands, too.

 

They are wonderful islands and such a pleasure to visit.

Appreciate it soooo much!!! This is our first big Caribbean cruise, and it also happens to be our 20th wedding anniversary. I want it to be special, not sure when we can go back!

It's unusual. La Bussola used to close on a Tuesday (Le Bistro was closed on a Monday. Makes sense.) Most of Antigua is actually open on Sundays.

 

Suggest you investigate Cecilia's or Catherine's Cafe. Cecilia is a retired Swedish model and is close to the airport on Dutchman's Bay and Catherine's Cafe is run by a French couple down by Nelson's Dockyard. It would be a longer taxi ride but the location is wonderful, as is the food.

We are wanting to eat Lunch at Cecilias then lounge on the beach... What beach or day resort is close to this restaurant? We'd want drinks, lounge chairs, & an umbrella. Also, how far away is this from the cruise port? (Sorry, I realize this thread is old... Can't find anything new mentioning Cecilias!)

Please report on this when you return!!! have a great trip!

Sailing next week and trying to find out more about Tony's at Dickenson Beach, do we just tell the taxi driver we want to go to Tony's ? Has anyone been there recently to share info ?

Would love to know this as well!

Antigua, Turks, Princess Cays and St Thomas for beaches. Train in St Kitts is fairly unique amongst the Caribbean. Swim with turtles in Barbados. Any excursion to the Pitons and volcano and mud baths in St Lucia...

Otherwise - definitely make use of the port of call forums here - that's where you'll find port specific info: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=587

And your roll call, to see what others on your sailing have planned...

Enjoy.

PERFECT! Thanks!

We are doing this 10 day cruise to the Eastern Carribean in late October... We are visiting Princess Cays, Turks and Caicos, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, Barbados, St. Thomas, and Antigua. I've been to the first two places and know what to expect, but not the other islands... Which of the others have "must see" attractions and/or "must do" experiences? And which are best for just lounging on the beach? We are into "once in a lifetime" type experiences and also "doing what the locals do." We probably won't be interested in snorkeling or doing any fishing or boating excursions as we live on a lake and use our boat constantly. We want to either explore awesome things on an island or get food and drink service from our lounger on the beach. Suggestions?

We were on Dolphin deck cabins 29 & 31. Great cabins and location but the soot was a huge problem. Our room steward even put towels down in front of the door so he weren't tracking it in on the carpet.

"Useless" is just our opinion. Others find them more than adequate. It simply depends upon how important your balcony is to you. The side balconies on Regal/Royal are less than four feet deep (depth depends upon how you measure), the useable depth is closer to 40 inches.

 

Many only use the balcony to have a cup of coffee or a glass of wine a couple of times. Some say they are very comfortable sitting facing each other. Others disagree.

 

Here's a video of a balcony cabin to help you decide.

 

 

Those cabins under the skywalk are slightly larger (emphasis on slightly).

This is great! thank you!

Look at the picture of the rear of the ship. No privacy. You'll see that cabins on Marina deck are fully exposed, anyone standing at the rear of the lido deck can see the entire balcony. Noise can be an issue too.

We have Dolphin 730 booked, but 728 is still available... Wonder if one is better than the other? A big partition separates 730 and 731... Would we hear vibration from that? Looking at the picture provided, the balcony looks a tad bigger on 730...?

Soot can vary. Have you ever looked out behind the ship? Did you see a plume of smoke? That's soot.

 

Whether you get soot can depend on the design of the aft part of the ship. Crown type ships do not have exposed balconies. Regal/Royal do. The more exposure, the more soot.

 

Soot depends on the environment. Which way is the wind blowing relative to the ships motion. If the wind is blowing in the direction of travel, then there will be more soot falling on the ship. If the wind is blowing away from the ship, there will be less soot. If the wind is blowing from the side, less soot.

 

Temperature and humidity also affect soot.

 

All of those factors, and more, will affect the degree of soot any ship will experience. They also explain the differences in soot reports. Some cruises will have soot and others will not.

 

We look at it this way. All the balconies on Regal/Royal along the sides are unusable due to their size or their location under the sky walks. We know if we book one of these, we won't be able to enjoy the balcony. If we book an aft, at least we have a chance of an enjoyable balcony.

WOW. Thank you! This is INCREDIBLY helpful to me... I've never been on this particular ship, so feeling like a balcony is a must for a 10 day trip to the Carribean, and then hearing that side balconies are useless on this Princess validates my decision to KEEP the aft cabin I booked on the Dolphin deck.

We were on Dolphin deck cabins 29 & 31. Great cabins and location but the soot was a huge problem. Our room steward even put towels down in front of the door so he weren't tracking it in on the carpet.

Did you see soot blowing in the air or was it just on the deck and chairs? I'm wondering if the soot distribution is worse at night while we're sleeping and the ship is picking up a little speed?

Personally, I would prefer Baja or Dolphin since those have the most cover. I would not consider any suites on Royal/Regal other than the aft owners suites. The penthouse suites have such small balconies as to be unusable. We had an aft owners suite on Regal Dolphin and, while there was some soot, it wasn't an issue.

Thank you so much, when I first looked, that cabin was all that was left, however Dolphin Aft 730 opened up and I reserved it... I have until July 11th to book it, so if anyone thinks this cabin is a bad idea, let me know before then!!! Thank you!