ASiuta

Thank you, omc329.  I was just wondering whether I needed more than that!  Raincoat, a couple of layers of sweaters, etc I have packed, but not a HEAVY coat, etc.  Looking ahead it appears as if we are going to have LOTS of rain everywhere and cold (cool ?) weather.  Hoping that I don't freeze my tushy off and that I at least see some sun!  

15 hours ago, omc329 said:

It is the out of  Dublin that will cause the issues. Some of it may have been because we were the first and they simply didn't seem to know what they were doing. Southampton folks are being handled differently than the Dublin folks.

 

The two ports I would be concerned that you may get off the ship late because of immigration are Southampton, (oddly, NOT Belfast or Scotland), and then again in Cobh. We were notified for Southampton that we were to meet at 6:45AM. LOTS of folks complained about that timing, and it was later moved to 7:15AM, (?). But then we had to sit around for 45-60 minutes or so until immigration boarded and got around to us. By then they had established that the Princess tours were getting messed up because of the delays, (They were in a different holding area than us), and they changed the way they were processing us, simply taking our passports as we walked out. Again, this was ONLY they Dubliners. The LeHavre folks were kept in the theater and Southamptoners had none of this nonsense.

 

The Cobh immigration was done much the same way, but only for the Dubliners again. And again, we had a late start, ending up well behind the tour groups making our day much less than we had planned both because of additional wait times at Blarney and the late start of the day.

 

I would advise anyone NEVER to book out of Dublin IF the main port is Southampton. If you have already booked out of Dublin, plan for the issues, (unless they kindly decide they are causing too many hassles the way they are handling it all!). It would be much easier if they would just keep the passports for processing instead of taking them, giving them back, taking them and giving them back. I wouldn't be surprised after all the issues and delays if something else is worked out. I would be curious to know if it gets better.

 

As for the ship, we had no issues with the ship's maintenance. Frankly, we were so tired and worn out from all the long days, I don't think we would've noticed much.

 

One note, they had a great group come on in Dublin the first of the 2 days when we embarked and they did one show only around 4PM. It was great! The one they got in Edinburgh, not so much. I walked out on that one. Watch for early shows like that where they come on board just long enough for a short show. Unfortunately, with the long port days, you often miss those kinds of shows. 

What was the date of your cruise?  I am assuming that your port of embarkation was Dublin and that you are speaking from personal experience.  Please advise.  We have private tours booked in both Southhampton and Cobh and would like to know if we need to notify the guides now that we will be late getting off the ship.  If you could give me an idea as to just how late you got off, it would be appreciated.  And sounds like it is VERY cold there!  Just how many layers did you wear??  Still in packing mode so have time to add!  Thank you!

7 hours ago, Diver2014 said:

We’re on Crown Princess right now doing British isles and our ship excursions have been fabulous. We haven’t had any problems. We embarked last Saturday in Southampton.

We are on the June 9th sailing out of Dublin.  I am reading with intent how this is all "going down"!  We have private tours booked in each city except going to Normandy with a Princess tour.  I am very interested in knowing more about the "immigration face to face" and collection and re-distribution of passports".  Any information you can share about this shall be appreciated.  Thank you!  PS - is the ship really in as much disrepair as some of the recent reviews now lead us to believe???  Just curious as to your take on this.

17 hours ago, Marilyn Johannes said:

Can I ask who you booked your independent tour to Stonehedge and Salisbury?  We are looking for a tour like this but have only been able to find the Princess excursion. Tried TripAdvisor but there isn’t an availability on Saturday August 17. We too are embarking in Dublin. Thanks

Tours by Locals.  We are using them in almost every port.  Just us and a driver!

21 hours ago, amrmsr said:

Just an update. We are embarking the British Isles cruise in Dublin for Dublin round trip on 8/20. We booked Stonehenge from Southampton via Princess and they adjusted the excursion time to allow for customs. The notice I received said those on Princess tours would receive updated excursion timings. I initially freaked out thinking we would miss the tour but when I checked my booking the start time was adjusted. 

Please advise what your new start time is.  We are doing a Dublin to Dublin as well and have received the same notification, however, we have scheduled an independent tour in Southhampton.  (Stonehenge and Salisbury).  Knowing that Princess tour passengers will be going through immigration first and that we are independent, just curious what time your tour is schedule to depart so I can alert our guide.  Thank you!

I just contacted them as well.  VERY responsive.  A little more expensive than others, but they have good reviews.  I will be booking with them.

1 hour ago, Kay.redmann said:

I am very excited about my upcoming British Isles cruise on August 16th (88 days but whose counting lol). I have signed up for the princess ship excursion " London On Your Own SOU185A | LONDON (SOUTHAMPTON)" I know most on these boards don't do ship tours but can anyone tell me where the ship tour typically drops everyone off in London, the online description says: "Your day starts with a scenic motorcoach ride from Southampton dock to bustling Central London, where you will disembark at Park Lane. This is a wonderful jumping off point for your independent exploration." I have googled Park Lane and it looks to me to be near Buckingham Palace but I am not sure???

 

I am having fun dreaming of what to do in London while I play with Google Earth and would love to have a possible starting point....thanks!

I hope that you are not doing a round trip Dublin cruise, as Princess has just notified us that anyone embarking in Dublin must go through an immigration process in Southhampton that doesn't commence until 7:00 am (even though we dock at 5:00 am), and to not book any independent tours that start before 8:30.  I trust that they will do their best to get passengers off the ship who want to spend the day in London first, however, if you are boarding in Dublin, I would suggest contacting your Travel Agent or Princess first.

44 minutes ago, dani negreanu said:

Not posting from experience ... but I've booked this company (Ireland by taxi) upon recommendations from our roll call. The emails and confirmations were great. Will know for sure 14th June.... 

https://irelandbytaxi.com/

 

Thank you!  I have just contacted them.  

3 hours ago, DrivesLikeMario said:

Although taxis are readily available at the airport, they aren't so easy to get at the port.  There might be a few waiting but it's much better to book them in advance. 

I can highly recommend Tommy's Taxis.  We used them twice before for a private day tour and also for an airport to ship transfer.  They are very, very reliable!  If Tommy says he or one of his drivers will be there, they will!  You can email them at:  tommystaxitours@hotmail.com or call 086 8394474.

Thank you!  I agree about booking in advance!  I have just emailed them!  

We are interested in pre-booking a taxi or car service to Dublin airport upon disembarkation in Dublin rather than taking the ship's transportation (bus).  If anyone has had a good experience with either or can tell me whether there are taxis readily available at the port, it would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you!

Interested in booking a private taxi or car service from the port of Dublin to the airport.  If you have had a good experience with a particular company, please advise.  Also, if you have found taxi service readily available at the port upon disembarkation, please let me know your experience.  Would prefer either of these to taking the ship's transportation (bus) to the airport.  Thanking you in advance for your response!

I tend to be a bit skeptical when it comes to shore excursions--will the guides herd us like cattle? Will we have enough time at each stop? BUT I also hate the thought of missing out on going to places that are further afield (I'd absolutely love to go to Positano or Amalfi when docked in Naples) and I'm a little nervous at the thought of trying to get there/back to the ship on my own.

 

SO...my question is, has anyone ever done one of the excursions from Naples that visits Sorrento, Positano, and Pompeii in one day? If so, is it too exhausting? OR--is it easy enough to get a bus to Amalfi or Positano on your own? (Bonus points if you can make a case for staying in Naples.)

 

Basically, I have absolutely no idea what to do with my day in Naples, and I just don't want to miss out on anything big.

We did a private tour with Roma Limo going to all three spots. The original plan was to go to Pompei first thing in the morning and then drive to Sorrento for a short while and then spend the afternoon in Positano. Well...that day the private tour guides at Pompei decided to go on a mini strike! Had we taken a ship's tour going to Pompei only in the morning, we would have been out of luck. Our driver took us to Sorrento first, Positano second (where we had time on our own to walk thru the town, go tyo the church and beach, have lunch and do some shopping - stopping for a granita before meeting our driver, too) before going to Pompeii which was then open in the afternoon. It was a good experience. Glad we did it. Wish we had more than just a day to do it. This trip - going only to Capri on our own.

I have been on ships arriving to Ashdod when we were cleared on the ship but we still had to wait for quite awhile due to security issues at the port.

 

If there is a security issue at the time for arrival the process is not so quick. That was our experience on one of our visits.

 

Another time it was very quick.

 

Things are not always the same as we all know. World events play a role in this including security issues within countries and that includes Israel.

 

Keith

Keith,

Thank you for all your informative posts! We will be sailing on Crystal Serenity in September and spending one day in Ashdod and two in Haifa. When you sailed this itinerary, did you overnight at a hotel in Israel? If so, which night? Did you use Guided Tours Israel or another tour operator? We are looking at private (just us, tours). Looking to finalize our itinerary and maximize our time. It appears as if you are very knowledgeable both of Israel tours and all things Crystal! Thanking you in advance for your reply.

Just got back from Silhouette last night. We were supposed to dock in Stockholm at 9:00 on June 18 and overnight there. Due to gale force winds, we didn't start transiting the archipelago until 14:00 finally docking in Stockholm shortly after 19:00. We watched some of the transit from our balcony (it was still cool and rainy) and the channel is extremely narrow. Much too dangerous for a large ship in strong winds.

As stated above, we missed one full day in Stockholm on this cruise. Free shuttle buses were provided by Celebrity as soon as we docked for passengers to go ashore in the evening. Many passengers did. We did not as we were staying in Stockholm. I always suggest to others to arrive in the departure port a day or more early and do the same at a disembarkation port, just "in case" the last port has issues. This was also crucial on this past trip for us, as all of our luggage was "lost" until just hours prior to embarkation in Amsterdam and we arrived three days early!

You may board at any time after 11:00 or 11:30 but know that you will have to stay in the common areas until about 1-1:30. Doors are actually closed leading to staterooms prior to that. On our June 7th Baltic cruise this was the case.

We have used AT&T and Verizon packages on X ships before. Cell and Text service is fine, but the cell at sea signal is too weak to push data, so no email, internet, facebook, etc. Internet on the ship is log in log off if by the minute or you can opt for the pricey unlimited. Service speed is adequate for any purpose except video chat or video streaming. Slower than most land-based internet, but adequate for email, facebook, etc.

Thank you for your response. Just want to check email a few times and have the ability to text. Really don't want to pay for internet service on the ship when we are only at sea two days out of twelve and should be able to get internet when in port if necessary. From your experience will we be able to check our email using AT&T? Thanks again!

I have not used the AT&T cruise package. I use ship Internet. Even though it's still a bit pricey it seems like a far better deal than AT&T, especially since Internet it's now high speed. You can use the wifi for calling, sending text messages and FaceTime.

 

Where and on what ship is your cruise.

Celebrity Silhouette Baltic Cruise.

Has anyone used the AT&T package available for phone, text and data roaming that is available?

Looking to do this rather than book a package thru Celebrity directly and wondering whether It is worth it or not! Looking to do this today.

Thank you for any advice or insight!

FYI: Silhouette's Bistro on 5 is becoming Sushi on 5 on next cruise, June 7 sailing. This is also annual President's Cruise where Celebrity CEO will be on board.

 

I'm on board now. Ask me any questions you may have.

 

Rob

Thanks for posting this. Any other quiet area suggestions as an alternative to Buffet on embarkation day? Also, names of the Captain and the Cruise Director?

We have a very tour intensive cruise with late day return tours and early morning wake up calls. That being said, any shows that we shouldn't miss (if we can stay awake?!)

And anything else you care to share now!

Thanks!

Hope select dining works better for you then it did for us. First day of a triple b2b we had a note stating we could only reserve at 530 and 830.

If you don't want to make reservations each day while on board, you can go to the Celebrity website and book a time for Select Dining each day in advance. I know on one hand, it defeats the purpose of going to dine when you want to, but if faced with a long line and you know you don't want to have dinner too early or too late, this may work better for you. I looked at our Baltic itinerary and booked reservations for every night based on what time I thought we would want to have dinner. The way I look at it, it just takes one more thing off my list while juggling a tour intense itinerary. Maybe this will work for others as well.