cat4569

I used aboutcorktours in Cork and Dublin - there is a lady there who arranges private tours with taxi drivers. very flexible on what trip you want, and prices were fairly reasonable. They offer tours anywhere in ireland i believe.

Yes you or your other volunteer were probably the ones that mentioned the shuttle. But when Princess did the regular shore presentation the day before (not the night one that the local people did) they did not mention shuttle and indeed said it would not be there. They unfortunately schedule the local Celtic Connections people at 9pm when there are shows and dinner so it is unfortunate that they do not broadcast them on the tv.

They were a little late getting out the tenders, plus they realized they parked too far back so they had to move the ship. I have been on many princess cruises in the past and there is often a wait for the tenders when you go in the morning. If you go and get your ticket at the time of docking or shortly after there is usually a wait though this time I think the wait was probably 15 minutes longer than normal since they did not even start the tenders out till around half hour after docking. It is also a fairly long ride for the tender - about 10-15 minutes I would say on the tender boat. So even if things are working perfectly you are likely not getting out there till at least 30 or 45 minutes after docking and that is assuming you got there early for a tender ticket. Problem is everyone comes between 8-9 to get out so that is what causes the backup. I think they had 5 or 6 tender boats operating once things got moving.

It has been my experience that if they are late with the tenders, they prioritize their ship excursions getting off since they have to get them back at certain times. So if they are late or disorganized with tenders that messes things up for private passengers. Either way between the tenders and the bus it's probably going to be between 1-2 hours before you are actually in Edinburgh from the time you leave your cabin.

I had seen the post earlier which was from 2014. I don't think I recall seeing a more recent post in the last 3 years so it was very unclear to me whether the shuttle service was working. I had communicated with some taxi drivers in Edinburgh and they did not tell me about it - they said the only option was the train which was the gist of what the shore excursion person on Princess implied. The bus service seemed too efficient and too organized to be some fly by night operation. If you are depending on the service I would check before but I would bet that they are there for most of the big ships. Princess specifically mentioned they discontinued the service in May which was not true. Alot of people waiting for the tender had no idea there was a bus service as they were planning on taking the train until I had told them about it having learned about it from another passenger.

Just off the princess cruise and wanted to let people know at least for my cruise last week there was shuttle for 10 pounds or 15 euros/dollars into Edinburgh that drops you off in Charlotte Square. A man was there selling tickets for hop on hop off bus or you could also walk to castle from there.

Princess was very cagey about whether was a shuttle bus. At the talk they said it was discontinued, but then on one of the pamphlets they said there was a shuttle, and the local person they brought onboard said there was indeed a shuttle. At the one talk they made it seem like you could either take train and walk 103 steps up or else book their overpriced excursion. Their "on your own" shuttle to Edinburg was $65 a person! But there was indeed a shuttle for a quite reasonable priced which I think everyone who intended to take the train took since they saw it was so easy to do.

The buses leave right from the pier and leave as they fill up. They leave every half hour from 1-5 out of Edinburgh back to ship. very efficient.

I would also warn people the tenders take a long time in Edinburgh. We were down there at time of docking at 8AM and were like number 300 for the tender. People who got there 8:30 were like 600 for tender. We had to wait 45 minutes for tender and tender takes 15 minutes. So we were not out till like 10 o'clock. I would recommend to plan accordingly in Edinburgh or else get down the dining room at like 7:30 or before to get off the ship. Even then, they did not start letting people off till 8:30 since they were a little disorganized with the tender.

I just got back from this cruise. We used About Cork Tours (Janice is booking manager) in both Cork and Dublin and they were excellent. We had a private tour for 7 hours in Cork for 330 Euro and 6 hours in Dublin for 280 Euro. You can tailor the day as you like and it was such a great experience. In Cork we went out to West Cork and saw scenery and small towns. In Dublin we went out to Wicklow and saw the main sites of Dublin.

In Dublin, we used Belfast City Tours and had Michael Doyle who was also excellent. it was 120 pounds for a half day tour up the coast in a London black cab. Again another excellent tour. Alot of people go to Giant's Causeway. Titanic Belfast is also a nice attraction but you can just take a taxi from the pier to see that.

So to come back we could just go on the 92 back to the town? how long does it take to see the museum?

Anyone know if there is a citibank atm at heathrow?

My travel companion has walking difficulties and we decided not to bring out transport chair. We are booked on private taxi tours. Does anyone know how far is it in each port to the area where the taxis are?

Ports are Cork, Dublin, Greenport, Intergoten, Liverpool, LeHavre.

If you had to do one castle in Scotland on the BI cruise which would you do and why? We are at Intergoten, Greenock and Edinburgh. We are not big castle people but possibly would be interested in a really great castle. Like we enjoyed Versailles. Any main castle in Scotland that is a don't miss? Seems like alot of people like Stirling.

We just don't like going to castles where all you see is rooms and the tour guys talk about history, etc.. I like that but my travel companions don't so.

Would anyone say any of the castles are on the ordinary of Versailles or the famous castle in Bavaria Germany (King Ludwig one)? Or do the Scottish castles not compare to those? I always feel like after those castles all others are disappointments and look very similar but would be interested to hear of any thoughts on any ones in Scotland that are truly awesome.

For the British Isles port, does anyone know if there are bank ATMs either at the port terminal itself or shortly nearby? Ports are Cork, Cork, Guernsey, Liverpool, Intergoten, Greenock, Edinburgh and LeHavre.

We are interested in doing the loop bus as well as Occupation Museum. Can you take the bus to go to the Occupation Musuem? Is the museum right in the town when you get off the tender or do you have to take a taxi there anyway?

Not sure what to do in Edinburgh and whether to go to Edinburgh Castle or Holyrood. We want to go to the Queen's ship and walk around town. We are not big castle people so would be interested in thoughts on Edinburgh and Holyrood and what people's experiences were.

Does anyone know what time the Princess transfers start leaving for the ship on arrival out of Heathrow? We arrive 8AM but we want (for obvious reasons) to stay in the secure area of airport as long as possible so we don't want to o to the Princess area just to sit around for 3 hours. If ship leaves at 5PM, does anyone know what time they start transporting people to ship? On arrival have people immediately been transferred to pier as I imagine most people arrive 8-10AM from the US.

We just don't want to be hanging out in insecure areas of the airport longer than we need to.

Do you need pre-booked tickets for titanic? Has anyone ever gone and been turned away? What about for the gaol? Is the gaol worth going to?

the taxi tour companies may accommodate - I am doing the same trip but in reverse but I am not going all the way up to giant's causeway - i am going to the atrium coast for a few hours then back to belfast for titanic and may get dropped off by driver at titanic. you could try one of the black cab taxi companies to see if they would pick you up at titanic. we are using belfast city tours - there are others, like value cabs, paddy's, etc. who may pick you up at titanic. I also think titanic is not far from downtown belfast so even if you had to walk you could meet driver at a mutually agreeable point.

Alot on the various tour companies have many reviews on trip advisor or on google reviews. I think all of them are generally really good so you can't really go wrong with any of them. there's not alot on here in general except if you search past postings for specific companies. Also some of the companies have Facebook pages. Companies also vary on deposits too, with some not requiring it while others requiring small deposit. I encountered some that want a full deposit which I would not be willing to do (but fortunately most do not require anything more than a small deposit if any).

Paddy's offered me a quote of 260 GDP for 1-4 people for the 7 hour tour in June so they must charge more for more people.If they are giving you 2 cars that is a pretty good price but if only one car it may be really tight since the cars are designed for 4 people. Derry Blue quoted 240 GDP and Belfast City tours was I think 180 or 190, while Value Cabs is 170 GDP for the full day. We booked with Belfast City as they were cheaper, had good reviews on trip advisor and were willing to do a customizable half day tour instead of the full day since we have seen some of the sites before. I usually get a response a few hours after I email even though I am in US so so far they have been very responsive and willing to adjust trip to whatever we want to see. Paddys seemed very set in their iterniary and we wanted to customize it more since we have seen some of those things before; in any event I never heard back after I asked about customizing it. There are a bunch of tour companies that are part of a group -Paddy's is in that group - I am using their sister company in some of the other ports.

Here are the companies we are using for our upcoming cruise as well as other companies that were responsive to us. If anyone knows of companies for Liverpool or LeHavre please let me know.

Cork: AboutCorkTaxiTours offers tours at I think 380Euro for 8 hours in both Cork and Dublin. They also do shorter tours pro rata. So far they have been fantastic and very responsive. You an tailor the tour how you want it. In addition, I saw if you are looking for the big bus thing butlers, ecoach and Paddywagon offer reasonably priced tours like I think it is about 50 euros per person for Blarney and Kinsdale.

Dublin: We are using abut cork again but there is also another company AboutDublinTaxiTours that was like 50 Euros an hour. Also for big bus tours Paddywagons' offers a tour to Dublin and countryside.

Belfast: We booked with belfastcitytours, which is offering us a half day tour. Derry Blue is another company that seemed good. There is also a cab company called value cabs or value taxis that offers tours at a price of about 25 euros an hour.

Greenock: We are using Interclyde taxis which is the company that is the only licensed taxi for the pier at a rate of 30 pounds an hour. You can book online through an app or through email or they will also have a line at the pier

Intergoten: We are using Scotland taxi tours which is 40 pounds an hour and is also the taxi company that is at the pier. In addition i found some other companies like Around LochNess taxi tours that seemed good. Alot of other companies were much more expensive - Scotland and AroundLochNess taxi tours were the most reasonably priced and had good reviews online.

Liverpool: We found it hard to find a private tour here - most were around 500 pounds for the day. We will probably use busy bus at 49pounds per person for a bus tour to North Wales. There are also alot of Beatles tours.

Edinburgh: We are doing it on our own as well as hop on hop off bus as I am told that taxis cost 25 euros to the pier from city. I came across edinburgh's black cab taxi who gives transfers of 20 euros each way plus 85 euro for tour for 2 hours or 185 for 4 hours. He was very responsive and if we end up going on a tour we will try to book with him.

LeHavre: Again another port where it is hard to find a tour. We may do radio taxi at 60 euros each way or else book a cruise ship tour. We already have done Normandy and Paris. We took Normandy tour before on cruise ship and it was good seeing all of the major sites though it was like $200 US a person.

I also recently came across another company value taxis or value cabs I think it is called that offers giant's causeway for 210 pounds, atrium coast for 150 pounds, etc. They had a lot of private hire taxis available plus an app if you want to be driven to a certain place and want to get a driver. I think the regular taxi tour around belfast is like 25 pounds an hour.

Like I mentioned, there were some companies that were trying to charge 300-400 pounds for an all day tour. You can definitely get it much less - probably the best is about 180-200 pounds for all day tour.

Busybody is the main tour company out of Liverpool and Holyhead. I have had difficulty finding private tour companies - most were charging 500 pounds for an all day tour for 3 people which is much higher than other ports. I probably will go with Busybody.

Scotland taxi tours is at the pier that day - they have many cars - you don't need to prebook.

There are just so many castles in Scotland. We are going to Greenock, Intergotten and Edinburgh. If we did a castle, particularly in Greenport or Intergoten, which one is the best one/most impressive?

Does anyone know if you need timed tickets to see the goal or the titanic? Also, are taxis available at these places and how far are each from cruise port? Thanks

I booked a 4-5 hour tour out to see Antrum Coast (not Giant's Causeway). They are very flexible in what you want to see and how long you want to stay out plus they have good reviews on trip advisor. it is **************************. They offer a bunch of set tours plus you can ask to see specific things.

I booked with Belfast city tours and they so far have been fantastic Derry Blue Badge tours also seemed good.

I emailed Paddy tours and got a reply within 2 days and I thought it odd because they went on about how they only want you to book with people you know because it causes tension with driver and guests because people start arguing where people want to go. That seemed like a weird email. Also, when I emailed back for more info I never heard back so I just booked with Belfast city tours. Either of those or Derry Blue are reasonably priced, though Belfast was cheaper and slightly more responsive.