BRILLIANCE (British Isles) June 19-July 2,2018 REVIEW w/lots of photos

OMG, the Silent Party was one of the FUNNIEST things we have ever done!!! That picture you got of Hubby/Mike - that cracked me UP!!!! I would HIGHLY recommend this - not only to participate, but just to go watch...!!! :)

And the chewy octopus at Giovanni’s - that became almost legend on our sailing. EVERYONE was talking about - it became the code word on the ship - “Don’t get the octopus!” We probably heard this a dozen times onboard! :)

Well folks, I have a problem. I've got a client event tonight, a full day's appts tomorrow with reunion to attend in the evening, then another full day's appts on Sunday so I have to leave this review hanging for a couple of days until I'm freed up (Sunday night). Thank you for your patience... work gets in the way of my travel/blogs!!

In the meantime, here's some intro photos to my adventures in Edinburgh when I get to it on Sunday....

Edinburgh Castle

St. Giles Cathedral

On the Royal Mile

The view from Calton Hill

Scott Monument

Loved your picture of Edinburgh Castle. When we were there we actually found my DH's relative in the book that lists service men killed in WW1. He was actually from Ireland & was the 1st. Irishman to die in that war. We loved Edinburgh & all the history. Look forward to more of your review.

Day 3 - Edinburgh

Let's start with the compass for today

So finally here's a big day I've been really looking forward to, and one of the highlights of this sailing for me, is to step foot on the Royal Mile and visit Edinburgh castle.

First things first... I determined early on that this would be a DIY day for me. A key to this was a great heads up by Steve on our roll call regarding the Lothian X99 bus. This is a new service started by the Lothian Bus company just this spring. There are two areas where cruise ships tender, and RCL uses Queensferry which is a good 40-45 minutes away by vehicle. There is absolutely no way to cheap out here to get to Edinburgh... it's either a tour, private car hire, taxi or the Lothian X99.

https://www.lothianbuses.com/timetables/cruiselink-x99/

For those of you who remember my Jewel review last Sept, there's also an X99 bus in Athens (diff bus company obviously) that I totally do not recommend for many reasons. Scroll over to that review and the Athens day to see the massive issues with crowding, safety, smelly armpits, you name it!! Before putting the cart before the horse, let me get back to today and my planning with regard to DIY....

Edinburgh is hilly and has many steps/hills. Also there are several monuments that require some strenuous climbing (ie. 300 steps). If you are mobility challenged it's likely a really good idea to consider a tour which picks up/drops off at the cruise pier. I'm guessing I walked a minimum 7-8 miles (prob 10) on this day, up down 300 steps at 2 monuments, plus dealing with the elevation and stairs walking through Edinburgh as I go through this review... keep that in mind.

So here's my map... there are several tourist maps on-line, however I found this one the clearest and turned out quite reliable for a simple internet tourist map. I've circled the main sites I visited... note the red arrow & "diamond" at St Andrews Square where the Lothian Bus drops off cruise passengers and takes them back as well. The red line is the Royal Mile which stretches from Edinburgh Castle to Holyrood Palace.

And I couldn't forget my paperwork.... my castle entry ticket. While some cruisers purchased the Scotland "Explorer Pass" on line (A one-time fee which allows you entry into several castles all over Scotland), I was advised pre-cruise by Sondra, the cruise lecturer, not to bother. It turned out from what I saw in Scotland I didn't need the Explorer pass, and I saved a whopping 5 pounds lol! The key is the Explorer Pass allows you to skip the line at the Edinburgh Castle gate... if not, the castle ticket you buy on-line is timed and you have to arrive during the time slot you book, else you'll face 1-2 hour lines. If you want, you can also get into the no ticket line at the castle... I DO NOT recommend this. Pictures later of how many people were there when I left the castle and you'll see for yourself.

So below you see at the top the bus schedule I found on-line, my Castle ticket, as well as tender ticket #1.... YES!!!

Unlike my Jewel sailing with CL Diego who prioritized D+'s as well as PNs and suite guests down to tenders, I confirmed with both Mario & Amit that they have too many C&A to prioritize everyone, so I was on my own to get tender tickets on my own. They were being passed out at 6:45am up by the WJ. Waking at 6:30, I quickly got dressed and headed up there... You can be the only one in your group of ten to go, you just ask for ten tickets and they'll give them to you.

So I was all set to go. All I had to do was have a quick breakfast at the DL and get cleaned up for the day ahead.

Brilliance was just reaching her tender point as she moved into place. Here's a look outside from the DL at the Queensferry Bridge.

This is where I first noticed the scenery... other than the small townships along the shore, the fields of green and landscape is beautiful. It gave me a very small glimpse of possibly tomorrow's trip into the Highlands, however I digress! Edinburgh was the full focus today.

I took a walk around top deck 12 to get a better glimpse of where we were.... there's the first tender of the day heading out, and my que to get back to my room as by the time they are all set up ashore, they'll be calling the for the first tender tickets.

No joke, I headed down to deck 4 to my cabin and as I was doing my final preparing to head out (10min?) I could hear CD Abe on the speakers out in the hallway... I stuck my head out and they were calling for the first tender! I booked it out of the room and got to the tender no problem.. simply a walk across the Centrum floor and down the stairs... this is another major plus to have a cabin close to the Centrum on any floor, especially on the lower decks if you have an INT or OV... super convenient to get out, and better yet when really tired extremely easy to get "home" after a long day.

Looks like RCL also contracts the local tenders as well to get more people off quickly, a great thing so as not to create a delay

Off we go!.... next stop South Queenferry tender pier.

I was in the first group of cruisers to get on shore, so it was very sparse there at about 7:40am! However the RCL signs were out and the photographers were on their usual mission to stop absolutely everyone they can for a photo.

The bagpipe band was out greeting us at the pier... nice touch! Brilliance looks very nice out there in the distance under the bridge

And just at the end of the pier in plain site is a Lothian Rep handing out bus pamphlets and schedules.... the bus was right there at the curb. You would need to be blind to miss it as it was right in front of your face. Super easy. It's a double-decker (would you expect anything less in the UK?) so I headed up top so I can watch the scenery as we went along.

Hey Cindy... I hope you find this review! There you are up front, I'm sure of it. If I had met you earlier I would've come and sat with you. Cindy's from Belgium and has done a review or two of Euro sailings here on CC as well.

I was the 6th or 7th person in total on the bus at that time. The bus schedule said 8am and sure enough maybe a minute after on my watch it was moving off. The bus was very close to capacity... perhaps the odd seat available. The next bus would be 8:30 so getting the first tender ticket and ensuring I was on this first bus was key.... you will see shortly when we get to the Castle photos.

Scenery through the outskirts and into the city was gorgeous, passing through various communities along the way

Soon we were into the city and driving by St John's Church on Princess Street and long the Princess Gardens, with full views of the Castle and buildings up the hill in the distance. We turned inward away from Princess St to get to St Andrews Square. Here's a shot of the Royal Society of Edinburgh Building as we drove within the streets of Edinburgh... not a tourist attraction, however it's of note

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Society_of_Edinburgh

And finally, after about 40 minutes, we were being dropped off at the exact point as mapped out, across from St. Andrew's Square. This was a great service and very comfortable..... the cost?

A whopping 6 pounds return. Yes, an excellent value.

So while my very first impression of the specific inner town area was seeing the Castle and Scott Monument form the bus as we drove by, it was here at St. Andrews Square which was the first place I was to visit in person as I crossed the square. Later in the afternoon coming back to the bus, this park was very well attended by locals hanging around, having an ice cream or snack from the local cafe, however this early in the morning I was walking amongst locals dressed for work.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Andrew_Square,_Edinburgh

Here's the Melville Monument which towers in the center of the square at 140' high.

https://ewh.org.uk/iconic-buildings-and-monuments/the-melville-monument/

Kitty-corner to the bus and through the square, you're only a block up from Princess Street, one of the main corridors for traffic/buses through the city. At this point was also my first look at the Scott Monument... more on this later as I climbed to the top at the end of the day before heading back to the bus

I took note... opens at 10am. I was hoping perhaps they'd be open now so that I would visit while I was here and still have time to get up to the castle, I'm glad I didn't stop here.

I refocused to my initial objective of getting up to the castle entrance very early so that I wouldn't have to deal with lines or any other delays. Just past the Scott Monument is "The Mound" and the Scottish National Gallery. Here you can make your way across the grounds towards the Royal Mile.

I thought this was interesting and thoughtful.... a Braille map for the blind of the city. This was located at the foot of the Gallery as I walked by

I mentioned the steps and elevation, yes? This is likely only about 1/10th of the elevation to get to the castle gate. If I were to turn around here to show you a picture of where I'm heading, it would be of "The New College", University of Edinburgh across the street.

Trudging up the hill I go as it winds up towards the Royal Mile.... Finally I made it!

In hind site, it's wasn't that long of a walk at all from the bus (maybe 20min total?), and I was there just shy of 9am. Opening time is to be at 9:30am.

I looked around and thought to myself whether I had transported into one of those movies where everyone in the world is dead and I was the only human alive....

Ghost town!!! I was very surprised. I went for a walk down the mile a bit and around to check the closed stores.. Many buses and many people were all of a sudden starting to gather and make their way up to the castle gate. I headed right back to where I came from. I was at the very front of the security gate itself speaking with one of the guards, he was really helpful in giving me a few tips of where to go and what to quickly see right away before the crowds took over... which he said would be immediate.

He wasn't lying.... here's the crows within 10 minutes of opening.... yes, basically the same picture as 20 minutes ago, not photo-shopped!!! So I was super glad I had planned the tender/Lothian bus the way I did along with getting up here early. I was ready to go!

The security gate is located just before "the Esplanade", and they finally allowed the public through it was another walk up to the actual Gatehouse, where the staff separated into separate lines groups along with those with timed tickets from those without.

Here's a rare photo of the gate... I'm the first one in line with zero people in front of me.

The ticket booth and audio guides are just inside the gate and to the right. On the Edinburgh castle ticket website you can also pre-order a souvenir guide you can pick up here to follow along while you're in the castle. In hind site, I would not have bothered because you can buy this guide anywhere on the grounds at any time for the same price.... I would've purchased it upon leaving.

Another rare photo... the Lang Stairs with no one on it. Just as I took this photo, a staff member walked up with me and we chatted. Like the guard below, he said I should likely go view the Crown Jewels first, as the display rooms are relatively tight and it's shoulder to shoulder in there when there are tours.

At the top of the stairs looking back, my first glimpse of St Margaret's Chapel and Mon's Meg... However I was heading the opposite direction with the staff member. Love this photo! Again note.... zero people.

I want to mention now before I forget that I met the most awesome locals on this sailing, whether in Dublin, Guernsey, Dover or here in Scotland. The Scottish are super friendly and helpful. Say hello and speak to them if you need help... they're the best! I thanked the staff member for getting me up there so quickly ahead of everyone and entered the Scottish Crown Jewels building

I didn't know what to expect as I hadn't done much research here, however I was disappointed. It's a maze of displays with audio in each room describing the displays you are seeing and reading about. For those of you who have visited Disneyland and rode the Indiana Jones ride or It's a Small World, this is kind of like that if you had a 1/2 hour wait to snake your way through the lines from room to room to get to the Crown jewels display room. I can see the value ion that if I really was in a line-up.

I glanced at the few displays, but quickly went through the rather long labyrinth of rooms and displays, getting to the waiting room to the crown jewels to unfortunately discover that no photography whatsoever is allowed!!! GRRRRR. I hate that.

Here are some media photos inside the room (Google images)

https://www.google.ca/search?rlz=1C1RNVH_enCA559CA585&biw=1600&bih=794&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=-BRMW7G-CdLb9APYmZrACg&q=edinburgh+castle+inside&oq=edinburgh+castle+inside&gs_l=img.3..0l2j0i8i30k1l2.12327.19628.0.19733.27.18.2.7.7.0.166.1385.15j3.18.0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.27.1466...0i67k1j0i30k1j0i24k1.0.V8m06pG4VWw#imgrc=0FKLDUU0gcqeoM:

There are plenty of amazingly great photos on-line of the insides of the castle residences, the king's and queen's room, armour, weapons, etc... quickly click this link and you'll instantly see what I mean

https://www.google.ca/search?rlz=1C1RNVH_enCA559CA585&biw=1600&bih=794&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=-BRMW7G-CdLb9APYmZrACg&q=edinburgh+castle+inside&oq=edinburgh+castle+inside&gs_l=img.3..0l2j0i8i30k1l2.12327.19628.0.19733.27.18.2.7.7.0.166.1385.15j3.18.0....0...1c.1.64.img..0.27.1466...0i67k1j0i30k1j0i24k1.0.V8m06pG4VWw#imgrc=0FKLDUU0gcqeoM:

Leaving the Crown Jewels building, You end up in the same square as the National War Museum, simply a gorgeous and thoughtful display and tribute to all those who have fallen over the ages, well worth a visit when there.

So my visit so far has been inside the castle, I was really looking forward to walking the grounds and checking out the views. Shall we?

Gorgeous!

I went up to take a look at St. Margaret's Chapel, the oldest surviving building in Edinburgh from the 12th century

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Margaret%27s_Chapel,_Edinburgh

And also a look at, of course, the famous 549 year old medieval bombard named Mon's Meg. This thing weighs 6 1/2 tons! and shoots 386lb cannon balls. Yep, this will deliver a good thumping.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mons_Meg

Note the tourist on the left sticking his/her head in.... this gives you a great perspective of the size of this cannon, The diameter of the barrel is 20 inches.

There's plenty more to do and see here. Leaving the main castle square I took my last photo of the chapel & the Mon's Meg area

Heading down and around the corner there are many other worthy exhibits and displays to discover including the Regimental museums and Prisoner's of War.

Edinburgh is a 110% must-see must-do visit when visiting Edinburgh, line-ups/crowds or not. Plan accordingly. In retrospect, I would read and learn more than I had before this visit, and I would want to spend more time there ... not on a port day, but visiting on land. I feel this would be well served all morning or all afternoon (ie. 3-4 hours) rather than the approx 2 hours I just spent there.

Here's the Edinburgh Castle main website and ticket purchase on-line, everything you need to know is here

https://www.edinburghcastle.scot/discover

Time to go.... the last look from the gate

And so you're wondering about line-ups and crowds? walking out of the gate and along the Esplanade, they had crowd/line-up control out there.

Heading out of the castle, I found steps leading down to the Grassmarket.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grassmarket

Besides being a historic market place, it also has darker history of executions, with an interesting memorial, especially the shadow of the gibbet (the apparatus where the men were hung) on the paving stones

Today it's bustling market with a few eateries and well known pubs

There's the Covanteer's Memorial on the ground.

Great architecture is all around you here. This is the end of the Grassmarket before I turn the corner and head for Greyfriar Kirk

A couple of blocks down from the Grass Market is the Greyfriar Bobby Memorial. As the story goes, he was a Skye Terrier known for spending 14 years guarding the grave of his owner until he died himself in 1872. Bobby is to Scotland what Lassie is here in North America

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Bobby

Bobby's grave is located right in front of Greyfriar Kirk, another one of the oldest surviving buildings in Edinburgh circa 1600.

Again there is a lot of history here

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greyfriars_Kirk

The cemetery encompassing the grounds is interesting in itself, with many tombstones dating back to the same time as the build of the kirk itself. Check this out.... 1580

There's an area of this cemetery this is now off limits. The locals and tour guides will no enter here, as they fully believe it's haunted. I heard a story of one old time guide from years ago how he would feel fingers go through his hair when he stood at the gate.

I stuck my arm in through the gate to get an unobstructed photo... hmmm.... nothing happened. I guess the spirits thought I was alright.

Leaving Greyfriar Kirk, I headed directly straight up towards the Royal Mile... it was a short 3-4 block walk.

My next site of attention would be St Giles Cathedral

Upon entering, there's a small table there with a representative helping visitors. A rooftop tour is offered. Note, a "photo permit" is required!! 2 pounds. And yes, I did see guards/representatives watching and enforcing those who did not buy a permit when they walked by without stopping to pay.

I was blessed to have arrived during a mass, and a live boys choir performing once the mass when completed.

Gorgeous building and worth a visit while you're in the Mile.

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The Royal Mile itself has a vibe and life of it's own. A good portion of it is pedestrian only, and has many performing artists out on the sidewalk along the way.

It's lined with many great shops and plenty of pubs/eateries. You need to find somewhere to buy Whiskey? Well you're in Scotland... it's like finding a Starbucks in the USA!!!

You'll find every type of whiskey in here to fill your heart's (and liver's) content!

Bring lots of money... do the conversion folks... those are not pesos ... YIKES!

Great atmosphere and now midday it's very busy

I mentioned shopping... linens, tweed, lamb's wool... The Royal Mile is THE place. How about kilts? There are several high end boutique stores along the mile for men. You don;t see this at home everyday

And of course what is more famous than a local lamb's wool or cashmere scarf from Scotland? Not bad prices for cashmere... however my GF is a really high-end brand girl so her gift from this trip was from this store... A "Pringle" scarf. Pringle is the highest end brand couture in Scotland (think Armani, Gucci, Dolce & Gabbana, etc here in North America). One scarf (not two) for 89 pounds... ouch. Well, on their website they're up to 190 pounds.

Gentlemen.... hate to say it, the Pringle was a hit.

I just had to buy myself a tweed Scottish brim hat that you'll see me wear in my photos, I wore it throughout the three days we toured around Scotland.

I had made my way up the Royal Mile to North Bridge Road, then veered over the bridge to get to Calton Hill. Calton Hill is the headquarters for the Scottish Government with the Scottish parliament and Holyrood palace close by. There's also several other iconic monuments here.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calton_Hill

This is the Nelson monument

It's 290 steps to wind your way all the way to the top. Along the way there's a few humorous reminders when you're huffing and puffing

The view at the top is totally rewarding! If you were to zoom in to the top right of this photo, you can make out the back half of brilliance waaaaaaaaaaay off in the distance and p[art of the Queensferry Bridge. That's prominent Princess Street right in front center leading away, with Edinburgh Castle visible

Remember the photo of the Lecturer on board, Sondra, in a previous post where I showed a Greek looking structure? Well, here it is on Calton Hill in Scotland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Monument_of_Scotland

The Royal Observatory is closed and under renovations

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From atop the Nelson Monument, it's easy to get a glimpse of Holyrood house, the official residence in Scotland of Her Majesty the Queen. I had no plans of visiting here at all as I originally thought I would have no time, however seeing it's proximity and realizing things were have been much closer walking distance than anticipated, I headed down to street level to see if I can get a closer look. I estimate in about 15 minutes I had found my way to Calton Road by cutting through the Old Calton Burial Ground, which I had no clue at the time has a history on it's own (I should've known by the amazing grave stones and structures)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Old_Calton_Burial_Ground

https://www.google.ca/search?q=old+calton+burial+ground&rlz=1C1RNVH_enCA559CA585&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjXi7Tq1KPcAhXFITQIHWeRAjIQ_AUICygC&biw=1600&bih=745

Time was short, so I did not wander slowly through here, wanting to get to Holyrood house. I continued motoring along until I reached the goal, first seeing the Queen's Gallery. Note the street to the left, with people standing at the gate....

At the gate, you can get a great look at the Palace. This property is sealed tight, with only one guarded entry/exit point through the gallery after paying your entry ticket. I was able to grab a great photo here

Heading into the gallery is a Royal Shop, a cafe and the ticket center.... with a line-up about 15 people deep. I noted the prices, looked at my watch, and immediately decided not to even try to enter as I had maybe about 1 1/2 hours before I needed to be on one of the final Lothian buses back to the ship. This will be another reason to come back to Edinburgh someday for another visit. The official Holyrood House website and on-line ticket purchase is here

https://tickets.royalcollection.org.uk/palace-holyroodhouse/palace-holyroodhouse/2018

I following the wrought iron fencing to what looked like a less traveled area where the 20-25 tour buses and other vehicles were congregated, and likely figured this would be a main gate where processions and fanfare were held when the Queen was in town. It's definitely a grand entrance in to the property

My walk estimate back to the Scott Monument was about right as I wished to end up very close to the Lothian bus pick up spot to end the day. I had about an hour to visit here as I reached the base of this impressive structure

The Scott Monument is the 2nd largest monument in the world dedicated to a writer, Sir Walter Scott

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scott_Monument

You have a choice here.... 95 steps to the 1st viewing level and museum for 6 pounds, or for 2 more pounds you get to go up the entire 287 steps to the very top.

Up the first set of stone stairs, 95 steps, to the first level viewing platform is a small mini-museum of sorts with a couple of displays. It's here I brought home my souvenir penny. The "museum" itself is very basic with not a whole lot to it, the main feature of this visit is the structure itself and the amazing views of the city

The detail of the architecture is stunning

I found the entry to the upper part of the spire. Noting how small the entrance was, I wondered how two people (one going up/one coming down) could possibly fit

Well for the first 100 steps or so you can squeeze through with each by one person pressing themselves into the stone structure and standing on the thinnest part of the stair. As you get to the top two spirals, it becomes the thinnest set of medieval stairs I have ever climbed... only one person fits, and you have to turn sideways for the last 10 steps or so.... very claustrophobic

However once up there the views are awesome!

Money shot... the best close-up of the Castle from here

The opposite way you see Arthur's Seat on Table Mountain. You also get a great view of this area from Nelson's Monument which I didn't show where you can see all the people following the hiking trails up to the view points. In fact, the Table Mountain hike is surprisingly ranked on TripAdvisor the #1 thing to do on Edinburgh.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arthur%27s_Seat

The Scott Monument is 200ft high with the top platform I estimate at the 170'ish level... you're waaaaaaaaay up high here!

Well, it was time to get back and I was set to get one of the last three shuttles back according to my bus schedule. I made my way down the monument knowing the bus was only a few blocks away at St Andrews Square, taking my last look back at the Scott Monument before heading up and away from Princess Street

You can see now that midday St Andrews Park is being enjoyed by many locals as I make my way across the park to the bus stop

The bus was there waiting to take on passengers, and my timing couldn't have been any better as within 5 minutes were were on our way back to Brilliance. The bus turned down Princess Street and I had another look at the Scott Monument, Princess Street Gardens and also my last look through the bus window at the Edinburgh Castle way up on the Hill

40 minuter later, and a pleasant drive back, the bus pulled up into South Queensferry and the tender pier. Many thumbs up to Lothian and this service for cruise passengers

What a great review with fantastic info. My DH and I are doing this cruise next June, so I will definitely use a lot of this info. Thank you so much.

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