sjf

Thanks all. Very useful info. Particularly good to know we have the option of Llandudno Junction for visiting Conwy castle.

Thanks all. Some interesting ideas. 

Did anyone do a 'destination experience' with the cruise line?

We will have a day in Holyhead in early September (ship docks 7am - 5pm). I have been scouring the net but I am not finding much of interest to do on our own to fill the whole time. I considered taking the train to Conwy to see the castle, but the trains are not very frequent. Can anyone suggest a plan? Thanks in advance!

Thanks for your suggestions, Sarnia 432.

I'm not finding much at all for Holyhead. 😞

All the above 

We are sailing on Ambition on 29th August, British Isles and Ireland. I like to plan our port days ahead of time, but there is no sign yet of what ship's excursions will be available. The website says we get info nearer the date. Can anyone let me know how much longer we will have to wait??

If anyone has any hints or suggestions of what we might do in the following ports, I'd be very grateful.

Kirkwall

Lerwick

Holyhead

Cobh

St Mary's

St Peter Port

Portsmouth

Newcastle

We were on this cruise with you last September but I don't think we met. I'm enjoying all your beautiful photos though, and hearing how you planned out your days. Thanks for taking the time to put your review together.

No

On 8/3/2019 at 4:17 PM, WeeCountyMan said:

 

An hour ?

Just "up the road" for us !!!

Even better!

We just got back today. Arrived at 10 past 2. Very slow embarkation. We had afternoon tea, which was nice. However, for future cruisers, lunch was available for those who arrived earlier.

Disembarkation was brilliant. We carried our own suitcases off and it was a breeze as we were parked at the port. The whole process took about 10 mins.

Anyway, thanks to all of you who responded to my query.

Many thanks for all your responses. I'll look at booking privately from outside the Aquarium.

Hi

We are thinking of booking this ship tour. It says you will be returned back to the pier at the end of the tour. I was wondering if it is possible to be dropped off in the city centre, as the tour finishes at 11.30am so plenty of time left to do more sightseeing.

I contacted RC via the Live chat and they could not answer the question. If anybody out there has done this excursion, I'd be grateful to know if you think that was an option. Seems crazy to come out of the city, only to have to turn round and waste time and money getting back in. 

Or if we pick up a duck tour privately, what is the best way to get into the city?

Thanks for any help.

Thanks for the replies. Seems it'll be safer to grab a bite of lunch somewhere before checking in.

Looking forward to being able to board at Rosyth, not much more than an hour from home! ☺️

We are setting off next week on a 5-day Scottish Islands cruise on Balmoral. This will be our first time sailing with Fred Olsen. Our tickets say we can board between 2.30 and 3.30pm. On cruises with other lines, we normally board about mid-day/1pm and start the trip with lunch onboard.

Do you experienced FO sailors think we need to stick absolutely to the times they have given us? Could we check in a bit earlier? Would lunch be available?

Thanks for any info.

On 3/4/2019 at 7:13 PM, sddsddean said:

Just to confirm Carol's description...

Thanks, Simon. Ideally, we'd have liked a couple more stops. The 9/11 Memorial is one of the few places we visited on our previous (and only) trip to New York.

Still can't make up my mind what we should do!

On 3/3/2019 at 5:32 PM, 138east said:

Schwartz Travel is very popular.

Thank you. I'll look into that.

Thanks, 138east. As it's the end of our cruise, we can't be hopping on and off buses with our luggage. Its the luggage that is the problem.

If anybody out there has previously done this Royal Caribbean shore excursion at the end of their cruise, we'd love to know what your thoughts were, We'd particularly like to know if any stops are made. The website only refers to 'driving past' many of the main sights, and we'd rather not be confined for 4 hours shortly before a long flight back to UK.

Many thanks.

If anybody out there has previously done this Royal Caribbean shore excursion at the end of their cruise, we'd love to know what your thoughts were, We'd particularly like to know if any stops are made. The website only refers to 'driving past' many of the main sights, and we'd rather not be confined for 4 hours shortly before a long flight back to UK.

Many thanks.

I found a Viarail train from Montreal to Quebec City  for $30 CAD (price for seniors) by booking in advance an economy escape ticket. Very reasonable for a 3 hour + journey. I like the train better than the bus as I can read without getting travelsick!

Thank you.

Thanks for all the info. Very helpful.

We'll be in Picton on 14th March. Have booked a private small-group wine tour. Our instructions are to take the shuttle to the Picton i-site to meet the van.

Has anyone been here before? Do you know how long the shuttle ride is and whether you have to wait long to get on the shuttle?

We will be staying pre-cruise at the Comfort Hotel Perth City which is 200 Hay Street in East Perth.

Obviously we could take a taxi to the port, but as it's quite far we wondered if we could do it on public transport. I even read you can take a ferry down the river to Freemantle, but maybe that wouldn't work as we'll have luggage with us.

Does anyone have any help or advice on what might be best?

Thanks in advance!

Thanks for the info. We are from UK. Will probably try to buy a souvenir or two at each stop, but don't want to go mad at the first stop and then find nicer, cheaper stuff in the days that follow.

Thanks.

Another day trip option from Perth that we've been thinking about is to see the Pinnacles. We'd go with a tour company. Any recommendations? Is it worth the long drive?