mamalovestraveling

Thank you so much😀

Hello,

Thinking about spending a night around Kent to visit the Canterbury Cathedral next summer. What else is there to explore?

The next day we would like to visit the White Cliffs of Dover before embarking on the cruise.

Are there any other must see sights not to be missed in that area?

Would love to stay in a manor for that night somewhere around Canterbury and Dover unless you recommend staying at the coast line.

We will be staying two pre nights in London and were also contemplating visiting Canterbury Cathedral and the white Cliffs of Dover on the way to the cruise on embarkation day but not sure if that can be done? Ship is leaving at 5pm, so we want to make sure we have plenty of time not to miss the boat.

Any feedback you can share is much appreciated!!!

Hi,

I understand that we can purchase Oyster Cards at Heathrow for the adults, but how do kids (btw 5-10 years) pass the ticket booth without being able to swipe a card to enter and exit?

Once in the city, how do we pay for the ferries?

I also read that you always have to swipe your card before exiting a bus, is that still current?

I did do research but apparently still confused ;)

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the great help, we will book a tour for 5 hours.

I fear we will be coming back exhausted from the British Isles cruise with all the tours we have booked :cool:.... but at least happy and richer with memories.

Thanks for all the great feedback, so helpful!!!

Thanks for the info. I contacted them and they charge 35 Gbp/hour.

However they have not really recommended much other than taking a look at their leaflet.

By the time we reach Greenock, we are just looking for a 4-5 hour tour max. We plan to spend 1 1/2 hours max at Glengoyne.

Where should we tell the driver to drive around next? We do not want to visit Stirling castle, much rather spend some time around Trossach/Loch Lomond.

Any recommendations ?

Thank you :D

Hello,

We have decided to "take it easy" in Greenock.

We want to visit Glengoyne distillery for a 1 - 1 1/2 hours tour and would love to see some of the rolling hills / beautiful scenery.

Maybe a tour that takes not more than 5-6 hours in total. Not planning on visiting Stirling castle. What area /stops should we include for the scenery? Is there perhaps a half day group tour out of Greenock? Any local cab companies you can recommend?

Or anyone else you can recommend that you toured with? All the tours I found were full day tours or out of Glasgow, which we want to skip if possible.

Thanks for your feedback!

Thank you so much for all this super information and advise.

We are staying around Convent Garden. We would be hiring a driver. I would love to go inside to Windsor Castle and the church.

And then watch the changing of the guards. Our date would be a Friday.

We won't see any changing of the guards in London itself, since we already booked other time stamped entrances to other places so I wanted to combine that. Since Windsor is higher on my list than Stonehenge, I guess, we should maybe skip Stonehenge on the way to Southampton after reading all your feedback.

I did not want to visit Stonehenge on the way back , since we will be exhausted after the cruise and I am sure all we want to do at that point is have a smooth ride back to the airport before boarding the plane. But now, I am considering moving Stonehenge towards the drive from the ship to the airport.

Only thing is, we have to be at the airport at 12pm for our flight later that afternoon.

Would it then even be doable to visit Stonehenge after disembarkation?

Thanks again for all your amazing advise!

I would have said that both in one day, embarkation day is too much. Is this also the day you are flying in as well? Or are you coming out from a London hotel?

Do one or the other, both need enough time to make the diversion worthwhile , as neither is on the direct London to Southampton route. What time have you got to be in Southampton for embarkation?

We are coming from a hotel in London.

I checked and the last group embarkation time starts at 345pm. I was hoping we can be there around that time, already factoring in traffic. But maybe I am wrong about traffic?!

Hello,

We are planning on a private transfer from London to Southampton.

We figured we can stop at Windsor castle and Stonehenge before arriving in Southampton for the embarkation.

We were advised this would not be doable, however the ship doesn't leave until 6pm.

Our thoughts were:

• leave 830am London - Windsor (stay for the changing of the guards)
  
• leave 1130am Windsor - Stonehenge
  
• spend 1 hour max at Stonehenge and then off to the cruise terminal in Southampton.
  

Shouldn't that give us plenty of time for embarkation?

Any thoughts whether this is doable or should we skip Stonehenge completely? Stonehenge is not an absolute must as Windsor is for me:D :D, but we figured, since we are in the "area", we would visit it. Who knows when we will be back?!

Thanks for any advise you can share!

oops, the THANK YOU was left behind... I hit the submit button too quickly

Great, I will email them right away. ;)

Hello,

Wow, I cannot believe how many tours we want to do on our upcoming British Isles cruise.

Can you recommend a private driver guide for Invergordon? We would like to go to Dunrobin area vs Loch Ness.

Thank you!!!

hello,

we usually try to avoid group tours since we are traveling with 2 kids.

we are planning on several private tours and are not sure if we should spend the extra $$ on a private tour in Cobh or just take the train to Cork, a taxi to Kinsale and then back to Cobh to wander around on our own before heading back to the ship.

if we did a private tour, we would stop in Cork, Kinsale, Old Head, Garretstown Beach and Timoleague. we like coast lines and nice villages. not sure if visiting Old Head, Garretstown Beach and Timoleague is worth spending the extra $$. there are other ports where we have so much on our list that i would not scratch anything off the list, but in Cobh (and surrounding areas), we are a bit unsure.

what are your thoughts on that?:confused::confused:

thanks,

yv

Hello,

We decided against doing parts of the Ring of Kerry private tour because it would just make for a long day in car.

We are now wondering if we should pre book a private tour or just get off the ship and hire a local cab for the day in Cobh port.

We would like to see Kinsale, Garretstown (beach) and possible Timalogue along with a stop in Cork.

We are basically looking for transportation and not so much for a tour guide in those places as we just want to wander around and enjoy the towns and scenery along the way.

Has anyone experience with walking off the ship and taking a local cab in Cobh? Are there typically enough cab's in the port?

What have you paid approx for a 7 - 8 hour tour/taxi?

Any feedback you can share is much appreciated! :D

Thanks for the feedback!

I emailed them (City and Causeway) already, but never heard back. I will try it again.

Our son really wants to cross the bridge...he has been talking about it ever since he saw the pics/videos.... Hmmmm.

Hello,

I am inquiring about a private tour in Belfast to see the Giant Causeway and because we want to cross the rope bridge and group tours do not offer that.

I was told that that is no longer possible because you now have to pre book a certain time to cross the bridge and the private tour organizer cannot guarantee the time slot.

Have you used anyone in the last year (since they implemented pre booking the time slot) that can guarantee the crossing when organizing a private tour?

Also we would like to drive along the coast way or parts of it, since this is another reason we are paying for a private tour. Yet again, they say they cannot do that. We are willing to pay a little extra even though group tours are so much cheaper.

Maybe we have not found the right company yet.

Any recommendations you can share?

Thanks,

Yv

When we were there in Sept. we just went up to a cab driver and made arrangements for a private tour. We had a wonderful time, and he worked out a tour based on our interests. We were going to skip Charles Fort because we've been to many forts in the U.S., Canada, and Europe. However, he suggested that we at least take a look at it. To our surprise, it was a wonderful experience. I took over 100 pictures, and we really enjoyed our time there. The town of Kindle itself was just what we expected--a charming old seaport where we wandered the narrow streets. We had a delicious lunch in a pub he recommended where we tried the local brew that we liked better than Guiness! If you'd like his name I'd be happy to provide it.

----> Hi Fritz,

Can you please advise the name / contact info of the local driver?

Thanks,

Yv

Thanks so much for your quick feedback. We will go with the later flight and avoid the mad rush in the morning. Do you happen to know when they want you out of your cabin typically?

Yv

Hello,

We are currently looking at a flight leaving LHR 11am to Germany on British Airways on a Friday morning in August.

We are planning on booking a private transfer from the ship to the airport.

The Royal Princess arrives at 5am in Southampton. We plan on walking off with our luggage, but know it can be chaotic with elevators etc.

Do you know from own experience if we can make the 11am flight and not be worried and stressed? What time would we have to meet our driver at Southampton cruise terminal? The later flight does not leave until almost 2pm and we would lose 3 hours in Germany.

Thanks for any insight you can share!

Yv

Thanks for the advise, I was not aware of that. I wish I knew about that on my last cruise :).

Thanks everyone for your helpful feedback, I really appreciate it.

Thanks everyone for your feedback!!!!!

I agree, I always have to have some kind of sea sickness meds with me and I always do... but sometimes, I just cant stomach it even with the meds.

Here is to hoping for smooth sailings :)

hello,

i hope you can give me some feedback on a norway fjord cruise.

i would only be able to secure a balcony all the way in the back of the ship if we go with 14 days emerald princess in august.

AUGUST 2016 -- 14 days - EMERALD PRINCESS: leaving from southampton- stavanger-flam-olden-trondheim-honningsvag-tromso-lofoten islands-alesund-bergen-southampton)

or

MAY 2016 -- 7 days - KONINGSDAM HOLLAND AMERICA: leaving amsterdam-flam-sogne fjord-stavanger-kristiansand-oslo fjord - oslo - amsterdam.

we did the baltic last may 2015 and fell in love with the oslo fjord which now triggered us to wanting to do a norway cruise.

but now i am nervous about getting sea sick on the 14 days Emerald Princess cruise since it goes all the way up to the north cape, or am i mistaken about that? please tell me i am :cool:.

obviously a 14 days cruise is allowing us to see so much more,but if that means, i could experience bad sea sickness, i would much rather book the Koningsdam in May. maybe i am way off with my thoughts....

ps. i did a cruise on azamara mediterranean in october last year, and would have paid to get off the ship because i was horribly sea sick on two rough sea days.

any feedback/experience you can share, is much appreciated! :)

Hello,

We are eyeing out a North Cape/Norwegian Fjords cruise on Emerald Princess in August.

I tend to get really sea sick, but kinda have it under control with medication/supplements.

They do have a balcony all the way in the back or all the way in the front available in our price range. Which one would you recommend?:confused:

Thanks!

Hello,

It seems that I am not able to join the earlier group tour at the Vatican mid October due to the train arriving just shortly before the tour starts.

I am reluctant to book the afternoon tour, because that cuts it "very" close to the ships all aboard time (or my comfort zone).

I was set on doing a "smaller" group tour, but now might have to opt for a self guided audio tour. Has anyone done that at the Vatican/Sistine Chapel? I know there is a great value for a tour guide, so I would be willing to pay for a guided group tour and just leave 15 mins earlier to make my way back. I like to leave an hour buffer in between all aboard and arriving at the "ship". But if you have had great experience with their audio guided tour, I would just book that and enjoy the afternoon strolling through parts of Rome.

Any feedback is much appreciated!