smilesntravels

23 hours ago, maggieq said:

@smilesntravels would love to hear your feedback of royal Princess. That would be a backup to our first choice  on ha koningsdam for 2025 Alaska.  First pick would have been the discovery if they were going to glacier bay like they are this year.  Thanks!

I will try to post something, or at least write a review.  I would have picked the Discovery, but I believe they're just doing RT's.  Since this will be our first Alaskan cruise, I thought it would be better to do one way, so therefore the Royal it is!  I read a lot of reviews on at least a couple of sites.  Some aren't great of the Royal, but most are.  That's probably true of most cruise ships, though (good and bad reviews.)

1. My husband and I are going on our first Princess Alaska cruise this August.  While I haven't sailed Princess yet, I already know that I don't want to go on the Caribbean.  It's an older ship.  We'll be on the Royal- not brand new, but not too old.

Also, we've sailed on HAL twice.  I suppose we're a bit younger than the typical age, but we enjoyed both cruises!  The service, and food are terrific.  We went on the Nieuw Statendam, which is the sister ship to the Konigsdam.  It was beautiful!  The food choices were abundant and the Dutch cafe, we loved.  HAL might not have as many activities as RCL, but with an Alaskan cruise there isn't as much time to just relax, enjoy multiple sea days, etc.

Thanks again for all of the responses and tips.  With the short planning time, the cruise happening during the Olympics and husband stubbornly not wanting a balcony cabin, we decided to cancel this cruise.  I was very much looking forward to it, and now we'll do Alaska instead.  Hopefully next year for the British Isles, with more planning time and info about the ports!

Alaska is one of a few states that I haven't been to, and we'll have less ports to plan for, plus we'll go the week the Olympics end.  And we will get a balcony.  Any tips?  LOL, just kidding.  🙂 

14 hours ago, jones721 said:

Hi,

 

Haven’t logged into cruisecritic for a while but thought I should now start planning my next cruise - same one you are on. I’m from the UK and there are 9 of us on that cruise, all from UK. I live 45 minutes from Portland (was there yesterday on a sailing trip with the children in my class and it’s a beautiful coastline). Yes, I teach too so stuck to school holidays as well.

 

I have done this cruise now almost every year since the 2012 Olympic year (excluding Covid years). Usually with Princess but that one was with Cunard and went with my mum. She is a huge sports fan and managed to watch most things she wanted - even leaving dinner in the restaurant one evening to go to eh golden Lion pub to watch Usain Bolt and then back into dinner again (set dining)!! Cunard cancelled the normal entertainment in the theatre on the first night and screened the opening ceremony in there. I have to say, it was very special watching in there on the big screen with lots of other nationalities (even though I personally watch very little of the Olympics). Queen Victoria doesn’t have a large outdoor screen so most was shown in the pub. I would imagine that Princess will show stuff outdoors.

 

Regal was my daughter’s wedding ship in October 2021 so it has very special memories for us. My mum (she’s 86) is a huge Liverpool fan and I had to go and drag her away from the Liverpool match on the outdoor screen to come to dinner on the wedding day - so I know they show a lot of popular events outdoors (sailing from the UK, show most of the UK football matches outdoors so guessing Olympics will be shown somewhere - or cabin).

 

We often book inside cabins and, has been mentioned before, I get a better night’s sleep in there. We have a midship deck 8 balcony on this cruise as they are classed as obstructed cabins (the midship ones don’t have an obstruction) and priced not much higher than insides. But, you have to book early for those. I am more than happy with an inside cabin though.

 

I didn’t realise that July 26th was the first day of the Olympics this year too so don’t know what my mum will have to say about that (it’s a surprise, so she doesn’t know that she is coming with us yet). Hoping she won’t prefer to stay at home!! 😬

 

Regarding the weather: we always take either this sailing or one of the two following sailings as I am also stuck to UK school holidays. Weather has been mixed and certainly much cooler once you head north and into Scotland. However, we have also had beautiful weather and I have been in the pools and jacuzzis on every cruise, weather hasn’t stopped me. Recently, we had a heatwave in the UK that lasted weeks and we have very little aircon here and had had no rain for weeks and weeks. I was so looking forward to boarding the ship, going in and out of aircon and using the pools… The weather broke the day after we boarded and it rained almost the whole of the cruise and was not very warm!!! The Americans on board thought this was normal and didn’t believe the beautiful weather (and lack of rain) we had had beforehand! Last year, I had to lend an American my sun cream because the first port was Guernsey and she had booked a cycling tour of the island and there were no clouds and beautiful sunshine all day! She hadn’t brought any with her thinking she wouldn’t need it.

 

Ireland almost always rains or drizzles. Scotland often does too. Le Havre should be warm and sunny, same with Portland. however, I live on the south coast and am waiting for this summer to arrive - it hasn’t yet!!!!!!! Edinburgh (my favourite) normally cool but one year sunbathing weather. It might also be the Edinburgh fringe (I think it starts beginning of August) so the city will be bustling and lots of street entertainment.

 

Anything you want to know about ports, let me know. And you might find yourself sitting next to my mum watching the Olympics!!!

 

Tracey

 

 

 

 

Hello!  I can't believe you've done a British Isles cruise almost every year since 2012.  How nice!  You must know the Regal well.  Did your daughter enjoy having her wedding on the ship?

I do have questions, but have been on the computer so much and am mostly reading and not actually planning anything, lol.  So you meant that you'll be on the 7/26/24 sailing?  Great.  That's funny that your mom watches the games, but not so much you.  I never miss them, but made an exception for this trip.  I meant to ask others... are there many places/bars on the ship that will have tv (hopefully the Olympics) on?  Since we booked an inside, I think I'll be depressed sitting in a small dark cabin to watch them a little bit, instead of having the view of the ocean passing us by.  I don't mind an obstructed view either.  We had a partially obstructed view on HAL once.  It's just nice to be able to step outside and get fresh air, and see the water now and then without having to run upstairs to see where we are.  Yes, I know there are ship cams.  I just haven't been in an inside cabin yet.  Oh well :(.

Okay one question for now- many have given me tips on what to see in Edinburgh, or more like the busses.  I have no idea still if that is something we just buy when we get off the ship, buy a ticket for the bus, then go?  Is the Edinburgh Castle something not to miss?

Thanks!  More questions later, maybe 🙂 

Vicky

10 hours ago, insidecabin said:

The X99 shuttle  bus is £12 for an  all day ticket and that includes the tram all day as well.

 

For anyone thinking about the train.

The up hill walk through the woods is as high as the rail(red) bridge.

Can you explain a little bit more what you mean?  If we buy an x99 shuttle bus ticket, that is good for all day, with the tram?  So, we wouldn't need to buy the HOHO ticket I suppose. 

Was that sentence about the train, referring to your next sentence about the uphill walk?  And are you saying that is not a good choice??

12 hours ago, Ranchi said:

Tendering in to South Queensferry you will have a number of options: Princess tour ($$$ but you may get the expertise of a guide & perhaps quick/ included entry into, say the castle;) Get a shuttle bus into Edinburgh ( run by Lothian Transport I think it’s about £12 single - but you can check that.) You can then plan your day & wander yourself. One point, although they have bus priority lanes the journey can be slow.  The option we picked was rail from Dalmeny station - a short uphill walk from the tender drop off. I think we were £9 return last summer. Fast, quite frequent and no hold ups. There is a signposted footpath. If you have walking difficulties then I would not suggest this. 
once in Edinburgh a trams day ticket is about £3.50 (I think) 

Hi Ranchi, thanks for the information.  I've gotten so many tips on this post!  I keep reading posts, but never write anything down.  Is taking the bus and/or train into town something we can purchase when we get off the ship, or do we need to buy/plan that in advance?

Karatemom, and others who have posted, is the Edinburgh castle something not to be missed?  I hadn't planned on doing this cruise until a couple of weeks ago, or so, and it will be our first time to Scotland.  Also, what is the Royal Yacht Britannia?  I saw your post about getting an excursion.  That's something we might do, but I also want one port where we just walk around, see a sight or two, and just relax at a restaurant/pub and watch a bit of the Olympics.  I suppose we could do that after going to Edinburgh castle?  Then maybe we wouldn't need the HOHO option.  Decisions, decisions...

Thanks again for all of the responses.

7 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

Just don't call it a lake!  It's a loch. 😉

For some reason, there is one lake in Scotland.  The Lake of Menteith.

Alright!  I think my fingers typed the word 'lake' without giving it a second thought. 🙂 

12 hours ago, fruitmachine said:

I'd be interested to see what those that have been along the shores of Loch Ness in a coach think, but - having driven this more than once in a car - I noted just how little you can see from the road.  Trees and bushes obscure the view for most of the route.

 

If you want to get a good view of the hills and scenery, then a cruise on the loch is going to be much better.

Thank you, fruit.  We thought it would be much better going on the lake itself.  So many of the tours/excursions include just a drive by or a stop to view it.

Thank you for the responses.  Yes, it is Loch Ness.  I guess I'll just go with the Loch Ness cruise, along with a couple of sights, minus Cawdor Castle.

Does anyone know, or have an opinion if we'd be rushed for time doing the one hour cruise plus the HOHO bus?  Or, if it would be scenic taking the bus after the cruise?  Thanks again.

Hi- My husband and I will be on the Regal Princess this July 26th, and are trying to book excursions as we just booked the cruise last week.  I've gotten a few tips in other posts but haven't found what I'm really looking for.

If any of you know from experience or live in the area, maybe you could suggest something?  We'd like to do an excursion from Invergordon that has this:  a cruise on Lock Ness along with sightseeing that preferably includes Cawdor Castle.  It would be great to see the castle belonging to the thane of Cawdor from Macbeth 🙂 .  Just about all the tours I find that include several interesting sights, only include a drive around Lock Ness (with maybe a stop to take pictures.)  I can't find any that include Cawdor castle, plus a cruise on Lock Ness.  Urquardt (sp?) castle is included with a lot of the tours and w/o knowing a lot about it doesn't sound super interesting.

I have found one or two that include Lock Ness cruise and either a distillery, and/or Inverness Castle.  Is Cawdor castle and the gardens worth seeing?  I could just pick the tour I just mentioned.  Or,

Do any of you recommend taking the train/bus into town from the ship, doing a single one-hour Lock Ness cruise and follow it with a hop on hop off bus just to see the area and a few sights?  Thanks so much, in advance!  I've been to a lot of Western Europe, but it will be a first time for both of us to Scotland.  Yay.

On 6/2/2024 at 9:51 PM, MCARAB1 said:

deluxe and premium deluxe balcony cabins both show a “twin/double” loveseat that serves as a bed for a 3rd person IF the cabin shows for 3 or if 4 will also have a pull down bed near the balcony sliding doors which definitely makes it tight to move around in the cabin at bedtime 😉

We originally had a deluxe balcony booked which showed the loveseat but changed to a Premium deluxe “sunset “ aft balcony. Hoping for some nice weather for 1 or 2 days at sea to enjoy the balcony.

Yes, I saw that also.  Deluxe balconies show a loveseat, but regular balconies don't.  I don't know what cruise you'll be on.  I've never tried an aft balcony.  It could be nice!

7 minutes ago, Pirateskigirl said:

The X99 with the HOHO add on worked great for our on our own day in Edinburgh.  Even though the castle was listed has sold out for the day we were there. The HOHO has a set number of tickets each day. Just ask when booking when you get off a Queensbury.

Thank you.  I think you're the one that was posting daily from this cruise just last week, or so!  I did see some of your posts.  Very nice.  I just haven't had a chance to go back and read more.

About the HOHO- you said a set number of tickets and just ask when booking when you get off at Queeensferry.  Are you saying not to book the HOHO in advance?  Or book in advance, and ask what?  So from the port, take the bus in to town then find the HOHO bus?

3 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@smilesntravels

 

This may be too late for you....but are you open to other options? or request a move over about the same timing?

The fares for Iceland/Greenland on July 26 are ridiculously low on an older ship with many insides, ocean views, and balcony cabins available.

 

I do hope you are able to put everything together so that you can begin to pack and get excited about your voyage.  

 

 

I did see that cruise!  I don't really want to go on an older ship, and with that many sea days I would be very sad not having a balcony to sit out on.  Also, hubby won't want to take more than two weeks off.  And it will be hard to leave our cuckoo cats for over two weeks with a pet sitter coming once a day.  They eat probably eight times a day!  Otherwise, this would be a great cruise to take! 🙂 

1 minute ago, azbirdmom said:

You're welcome!  It does look like they have a tour with an option of a cruise on Loch Ness, it's this one https://www.shorexcursions.co.uk/loch_ness_5.htm

 

And this is what I saw on that page:

 

If at this late date you are able to book a tour with them I have no doubt that they could customize something that will work for you!

 

That was quick!  Thanks for this link, also.  You, or someone else gave me the link for a place that just offers the Lock Ness cruise.  So many choices.  

Yes, maybe for a cruise this length it would have helped to book a little sooner.  I did click on some of the links and it seems tours are available.  Along with work, I'm going to be busy the next couple of weeks trying to put everything together.  Hubby doesn't do any of the planning.

I see people that either never travel, or take cruises, then on here I see people where it's normal for them to have taken at least 50 or so!  This will be my sixth 🙂 .  Hopefully more to come.

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

I have done 15 days to Hawaii in an inside cabin.  Location is everything.  Also, you could ask for another desk chair (store in closet) if you feel that you needed more chairs.  Princess did no favors in doing away with Ocean View cabins.  It's either an inside or a regular balcony, neither of which have a sofa

 

The deck below Lido aft is a nice location, although still pretty high up.  Benefit is the door that opens out to the aft deck.

I didn't know they did away with OV cabins! I figured it was maybe just for this ship.  W/o a balcony, I wouldn't mind just getting an oceanview.

I think our cabin is somewhat aft, and fairly high up but not right under the buffet or pool deck.  Thanks for letting me know that I can ask for another chair.

7 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

I would highly recommend that you check the Ports of Call boards for more insights into the areas you are visiting:  https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/148-british-isleswestern-europe/ Lots of valuable advice from locals and those who have done this cruise before.

 

You had asked a question about Dublin.  We ended up doing the HOHO on our own.  They will have people selling the these tours after you get off the tender in Dun Laoghaire and the tour ticket includes round trip train transportation to the first stop.

 

We did several tours on our own including the fabulous one from Invergordon that I mentioned earlier.  Edinburgh is very easy to do on your own too.  We took the Princess shuttle into the city center and walked from there to the Titanic Museum.  Actually if we had checked a map earlier we could have just walked from the ship to the Museum as it was just as far (around 2 miles one way).  If you go to the Titanic Museum get tickets right away, in fact I'd do it right after you dock.  Admissions are timed and we had to wait an hour to enter.  We learned we were lucky, sometimes you have to wait a lot longer.

 

So much to see and do on this itinerary, it's definitely memorable but exhausting!

Thank you again for the info!  Since I like to read, but not write things down, I'm not remembering all things everyone had told me.  I was thinking I probably should look at the ports of call boards that you mentioned.

The link for the Invergordon tours that you shared, and maybe someone else, look good.  The only thing is, it doesn't look like they include the 50-60 minute Lock Ness cruise.  I'll have to look into it further.  🙂 

Yes, it sounds like a busy cruise and a bit tiring.  

5 hours ago, MyriamS said:

I would highly recommend checking independent tour providers before booking directly with Princess. Many companies have day tours that are designed for cruise ship passengers: they pick you up at the port 30 min after arrival, return you to the port about 1h before departure and refund you in case the ship does not dock that day. They are also vastly cheaper than the Princess excursions: our independent Giant's Causeway tour cost us 30£ while a close equivalent with Princess was 200$. While I'm willing to pay a premium for an official excursion, five times the price is just too much for me. 

I agree, thanks.  We've done a little of both for past cruises- ship sponsored ones and outside companies.  I think it depends on what's offered, the difference in price, and if it's the first port in a long cruise or one where it would be very difficult to rejoin the ship.  Not that that's ever happened to me, and I don't want it to!  I think it's a little gamble to take a non-ship sponsored excursion, which most of the time pays off.

1 hour ago, VaCruzers said:

Just so you know, balcony cabins do not have a sofa unless perhaps the suites do. Standard and deluxe balconies only have the one chair at the desk. Hope that makes you feel better about not getting the balcony.

Thanks.  I did see in some pictures that deluxe balconies do have a small sofa.  

42 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

Princess has a Glasgow on Your Own tour from Greenock and Edinburgh on Your Own tours from both Greenock and South Queensferry. According to the Princess tour descriptions, the drive between Greenock and Glasgow is approximately 45 minutes each way, the drive between Greenock and Edinburg is approximately two hours each way, and the drive between South Queensferry and Edinburg is approximately 45 minutes each way. Princess is inconsistent on their pricing - I found Greenock to Edinburg listed at $94.95 per person  and South Queensferry to Edinburg listed at $124.95 per person. I'm sure you can arrange your own transportation for less if you're comfortable doing that.

Cobh is a little different in that there are things to do in Cobh if you don't want to go to Cork. There is a small maritime museum right at the dock in Cobh with some interesting information, including information about the Titanic. Cobh was her last port before leaving on the trans-Atlantic sailing.

That is interesting- the pricing.  Since you seem to have a lot of info about the area, I said that I was thinking of just walking around/hop on hop off bus/pub in one of the ports.  I don't think you mentioned which one would be better to do that in?  If both stops (Glasgow and Edinburgh) you recommend doing a tour, then okay 🙂 .

9 minutes ago, NavyVeteran said:

The ship docks in Greenock - not Glasgow. I don't think there's much to do to walk around in Greenock. If you haven't been to Scotland, I would recommend planning something for both Greenock and South Queensferry - either a ship excursion or a private excursion depending on your preferences.

Thanks for your response to this post and a previous post, Navy Veteran.  One thing, I know it docks in Greenock but that's the same with a lot of ports... Cobh for Cork, Dun Laoghire (sp?) for Dublin, South Queensferry for Edinburgh, right?

So, I meant Glasgow to walk around in and not walk around right where the ship docks.  You recommend tours for both of those ports?  We definitely want to do a tour for Invergordon to go to Lock Ness and probably not see the monster, but still go for a cruise on the lake.  I figured in either Glasgow or Edinburgh walk around the city, do a hop on hop off bus and go to a restaurant/pub for local food/drink and watch an hour, or so of the games.  Two months until our trip so now I'm rushing to figure it out 🙂 .

15 hours ago, SomewhereGirl said:

 

I was traveling solo, and the bed was made up as a queen so really took up a lot of the room.  If you are concerned about not having the extra space from the balcony, having the bed separated into twins can really open up a room when you can walk between the beds.  The bed direction is different in interior and balcony cabins.

 

This tour had some incredible views of other lochs and the Highlands: 

Sightseeing Day Tour of Scotland from Glasgow Greenock - Busybus

There are other companies.  I think Loch Lomond was much more scenic than Ness.  Sadly, it's the one day I didn't realize I had left my camera on the ship until it was too late.  😭  Some nice fellow passengers were kind enough to send me pictures after the cruise.

Thanks for the info!  I was starting to be 'okay' with having an inside cabin, but I'm not.  It looks like there's one chair and the bed.  So if I want to come back to the cabin for a little while to watch the Olympics, no sofa is what it looks like or if we want a quick room service meal then the two of us would have to eat it in bed?

So, is Glasgow considered the highlands?  I was thinking it was a little further north, starting around Invergordon?  Since we haven't been to Scotland yet, I was thinking Glasgow would be one port where we could not do an excursion and maybe walk around and go to a pub for some local food and watch the games?  I did click on your link!  I saw that Busybus also has a good excursion for Holyhead.  Would you recommend not just walking around in Glasgow (port) and doing an excursion, instead?  Maybe we could just walk around in Edinburgh instead.  

15 hours ago, jenjens1023 said:

It was a wonderful cruise. We had some hiccups but everything worked out. Rather than docking in Cobh we docked in Rigaskiddy. Princess provided shuttle buses into Cork as well as ferry transportation to Cobh. We docked in Dun Laoghaire instead of Dublin and the train station was closed for repairs. It should be OK by the time you get there. Once again, transportation was provided into Dublin. We had to skip Orkney because of high winds  (not safe to dock) and because France was on strike we skipped Le Havre and went to Portland, England, instead. It was a lovely little seaside town with a great D-Day museum. 
 

The crew was wonderful, entertainment was well-done, and food was tasty. We had the plus package. It was nice not to think about things like paying for drinks and tips but we rarely made use of the two premium desserts per day and only west to one of the two fixed price restaurants.

 

you asked about bidding on a room. I have no problems with staying in an inside cabin and have done it a number of times but two weeks before this cruise I decided to try. I didn't know my husband had also placed a bid! Because our days were long and busy and nights were cool, we didn't make a lot of use of the balcony but it was nice to have all that light and scenery. 
 

If I can figure out how, I will include a few of my favorite pictures. A modern interpretation of Saint Mungo, the patron state of Glasgow; the kelpies; Holyhead Harbor; Cobh; and the School of Divinity, New College, Edinburgh.

 

Feel free to ask any additional questions.

Hi- it sounds like a great cruise.  Nice review and interesting pictures!  Too bad about missing those two ports.  If we miss Le Havre, I'll be pretty sad.  For years I've wanted to do this cruise and also want to see the Normandy beaches.

I know you went to Ringaskiddy, but shuttles are provided to both Cork and Dublin?  Also, can you tell me if there's the pub type restaurant on the Regal?  It's one of the casual dining?  When I go to the Princess website, it doesn't list the casual restaurants for each ship.  That's what I'm going to miss w/o the balcony, the scenery and I don't mind a little bit of cool air.  I've never had an inside cabin and it looks like balcony get some sort of sofa, and insides don't.  We've always had a little sofa on other cruiselines w/ balconies.

Since you just got back, was it too cool to get in the pools?  I don't think we'll have much time to do that anyway, but am just wondering.  Did you need anything warmer than windbreakers for excursions, or nighttime on the ship?  Was the scenery from the ship when coming into the ports worth having the balcony?  Thanks again!

On 5/30/2024 at 8:48 PM, MCARAB1 said:

You might want to book sooner than last minute if you’re looking for any excursions as many of them are already booked including many non-Princess options but you can probably find some independent tours at some of the larger ports.

Thanks.  We just booked the cabin last night (inside 😞 ).  As far as the excursions and everything else, I'm working on it!  

On 5/29/2024 at 11:25 AM, azbirdmom said:

We did a private tour last year with our friends and visited Loch Ness but didn't take a boat ride.  We did pull into the parking lot where the big tour busses park (before they arrived) and I noticed creatures on the side.  I soon shouted "Hairy Coos!".  There were a couple of Highland Cows, the ones with the long hair over their eyes, and they are so stinking cute.  Our tour guide / driver gave us some of the weeds that were growing around us and we hand fed them.  One of the highlights of the day.  We also took a drive along the Loch for a while and it is a lake, but it is very scenic.  Great gift shop across from the Loch!

Those cows look adorable!!  And the drive around the lake sounds nice.  It seems most of the tours don't allow a lot of time at the gift shop, or to get a quick bite to eat.  Hopefully I'll find one that sounds good with a decent amount of time to explore and walk around.  

On 5/29/2024 at 10:30 AM, SomewhereGirl said:

 

I did a 12-day British Isles on the Emerald in a inside cabin.  I was solo and was only able to do it because I got a great deal.  Saving money on the cabin freed up funds for all the excursions on the port intensive (only 2 sea days) cruise.  I also had an inside on a high deck with pretty quick access outside just one deck above.  Inside on a very low deck might have been a very different experience.

Also, Loch Ness is just a lake (a loch).  It's nothing particularly special but Urquhart Castle was kind of cool if you like castle ruins.

 

 

 

Thanks!  You didn't say how the inside cabin was, though.  Hubby really wants to see Loch Ness, and since we have three stops in Scotland it will be nice to see the Highlands.  I think I saw someone else mention that Urquhart Castle was great to see.