Dublin Port Logistical Questions

How soon after the scheduled arrival time have passengers been able to get off the ship in Dublin? I know it depends on many factors, but I just want an idea of how Dublin operations are going. We will be on the Royal Princess, but those who have done other cruise lines can chime in, too, since the dock workers are likely the same.

Are there usually plentiful taxis waiting?

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We were just in Dublin on the Royal Princess.

I believe our dock time was 11am and I think people were getting off then.

Royal Princess provided free shuttles to downtown. We were told to meet in a dining room at 11am to get numbers. We got there shortly before 11 and were numbers 665 and 666. It took close to 1.5 hours before our numbers were called. We arrived downtown shortly before 1pm. I believe the shuttle trip was about 30 min. NOT happy!

I can't answer the taxi question because we DID take the shuttle....and even if I had noticed if taxis were around....we got off an hour and a half after docking.

YIKES were you at the tender port?

When were were there we just walked off got the shuttle & on our way

but we were on a smaller ship

We just got off the Royal yesterday, the shuttle was $8 each way, you preordered tickets. It was not free. We had a relaxing lunch on the ship instead of trying to exit at 11 with the masses of people. I think we got off around 12:30 and hardly any wait at all by that time. Shuttle drops you at North side of Merrion square.

We spoke to a couple that hired a cab to get to downtown Dublin, taxis were readily available at the pier. Taxis are 15 to 20 £ each way. Or you could try Uber.

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Ok, thank you guys. Uber shows about the same fare. Sunsetbeachgal, that’s good to know it’s each way instead of unlimited trips like they offered in Venice. We are there 2 days, so it’ll be interesting to see if it’s any different. We will likely need to do a taxi or Uber day 1, though, because we need an early start.

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Ours was definitely $8 each way, we bought round trip so received four shuttle tickets. But our itinerary did not do Dublin overnight.

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For those who were on the overnight Dublin cruise in May, how late did the shuttle run on Day 1?

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YIKES were you at the tender port?

 

 

When were were there we just walked off got the shuttle & on our way

 

but we were on a smaller ship

It was treated like a tender port, but it was not. That was what we did to walk off the ship and on the shuttle.

We just got off the Royal yesterday, the shuttle was $8 each way, you preordered tickets. It was not free. We had a relaxing lunch on the ship instead of trying to exit at 11 with the masses of people. I think we got off around 12:30 and hardly any wait at all by that time. Shuttle drops you at North side of Merrion square.

 

We spoke to a couple that hired a cab to get to downtown Dublin, taxis were readily available at the pier. Taxis are 15 to 20 £ each way. Or you could try Uber.

 

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We were in Dublin May 28. I just double-checked my patters and it was complimentary at that time. I wonder why they started charging!?

We were in Dublin May 28. I just double-checked my patters and it was complimentary at that time. I wonder why they started charging!?

Someone on our cruise just posted all of the Patters on the Princess forum, I went back and checked and it definitely was$8 each way. You got a good deal, they must have started charging starting with our sailing .

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It was treated like a tender port, but it was not. That was what we did to walk off the ship and on the shuttle.

maybe they were staggering disembarking for the shuttles ??

Sounds strange though

We did the June 30 Royal Princess cruise with 2 days in Dublin.

We took the Princess shuttle bus on Day 1. I recall they said the last bus would be either 7 or 9pm (was not planning to return so late, so did not pay much attention). For sure it was not 6pm (so early) or 11pm (so late).If you miss it, you can hail a taxi as we saw them in the city center.

For those who were on the overnight Dublin cruise in May, how late did the shuttle run on Day 1?

 

 

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Just came back from June 30 Royal Princess cruise to BI with overnight in Dublin. Thought to share our transfer experience with you. Between our group of 15, we have taken different ways of transfer to and from the port. First of all, the port is just next to the pier where we docked. We could see it clearly when we were having breakfast at the Horizon Court on Deck 16.

Day 1:

1. There was a form in our cabin to fill out if you wish to take the Princess shuttle bus ($8 one way; no longer free starting peak season). They asked you to return the form 2 days prior. But we did not decide to take the shuttle till the night before, so we just went to the Excursion Desk before they closed and purchased one-way tickets only.

2. Our ship docked very early at 5am, but we only assembled at 8am to leave the ship. So I cannot answer how soon after it docked you can exit, as it was too early. I remember we just walked off the ship, and was not like a tendering process to receive tickets in the dining room. The shuttle buses were parked right there waiting for us. The ride to city center was 30 mins due to heavy traffic in rush hour. After being dropped off at Merrion St, we walked about 15 mins to Trinity College, and just made our 9:30am time-stamped tickets for the Book of Kells. So allow ample time if you have a scheduled tour waiting.

2. At the end of the day, some of our group decided to return to the ship early around 3pm (to watch the World Cup!), so they got taxis from the taxi stand opposite Trinity College. I saw taxis on the streets too. Their ride in non rush traffic was 15-20 mins and cost 12euros only. We heard that during rush hour, it would take 30mins or more, and the fare could be 15-20 euros.

3. The rest of us went to Grafton St for shopping (Great summer sales!). We decided to take the shuttle bus back at 5pm and just purchased the ticket at the bus stop. They had a hand held device to swipe your Cruise card so you did not need any cash. The ride back was 30 mins as it was rush hour traffic again.

Day 2:

1. I paid attention to the taxi situation this morning (forgot to do that on Day 1). At 8am, there were about 5-6 taxis at the pier waiting. The demand was not great either as there was no line up and people could get the taxi easily. When these taxis left, maybe you needed to wait 5-10 mins for one or two more taxis to come in.

2. Some of our group wanted to go the Gael and Guinness. They enquired the taxi rate was 40 euros. So they decided to walk to the tram stop to take the tram instead. The walk was about 25 mins (all flat surface and there was pedestrian curbside after you exit the port area. The tram fare was only 3 or 4 euros. (To the city centre would be even less than 2 euros). But you need to buy ticket from the kiosk at the station.

3. For the rest of us, we took a Princess excursion to Powerscourt Gardens and we waited the Princess Theatre before boarding the shuttle bus right outside the pier. The transfer process was very smooth and great if you just want peace of mind without any planning on your own.

Hope this information is useful to anyone planning your Dublin transfer to the city center.

Thank you! This is indeed very helpful :-)