Cruise lines for July or August 2019 British Isles cruise

I am starting to research cruise lines for the British Isles for either late June, July or August 2019. We are limited to those times since I am an educator. I am looking at Princess and NCL primarily. I would prefer an all British Isles experience but I did see that there are a couple of lines (I think RCL and Celebrity) that begin in Southhampton and then do ports in Spain, which I love, and some other Mediterranean areas. We are both in our early 60's and in good health, so a port intensive trip is fine with us. I would also like to spend at least two days in London, preferably pre-cruise. This is the earliest I have ever begun to plan, since we usually get the "travel bug" after the holidays. Thanks in advance!

go to the top of the page to FIND A CRUISE

put in the dates you want & British Isles

Pick the one that suits your wants/needs & budget

Thanks, I appreciate that. I also wanted to get feedback from others to see if they had a preference for either cruise line and/or itinerary.

If you want a British experience as well as a British cruise then you could try P&O Oriana end of June doing British Isles. Or look at Cruise and Maritime or Fred Olsen which both do round Britain trips. All older, smaller ships but would be a bit different.

We have cruised several times on both Princess and NCL. Both are good, in general I would say that Princess is more formal (with formal dress nights, traditional dining option, afternoon tea served in dining room, etc.) and NCL is more casual (freestyle dining, no formal nights, no tea, etc.). Princess does more traditional production shows and "old style" music (big band, Beatles, 50's and 60's music, etc.) and NCL is more modern and also has dance parties like the White Hot and Glow Parties. Both do the usual Bingo, Newlywed Game Show, and you can find something to do pretty easily on either. My family has enjoyed both cruise lines.

A cruise is really about the destination and logistics like airfare, hotels, and shore excursions, and if it works with your schedule and budget. I would look at both itineraries carefully, for example the Princess British Isles cruise goes to Le Havre France and NCL does not, while NCL goes to Wales and I believe another England port like Portsmouth (?). Both sail out of Southampton (Crown Princess and NCL Spirit) while the NCL Pearl sails out of Amsterdam. Princess offers you the additional option of sailing out of Dublin or Le Havre.

It often simply comes down to price. Consider fares, any perks offered and their value to you, and the daily service charge (they are similar but I think NCL's is a bit higher). Get an estimate of airfare costs to the different ports on those dates, and hotels (for me that is a lot of research in itself). Overall I can recommend both Princess or NCL.

I looked into this a bit as like you I work in a school so can only travel during the summer. I booked Princess so far. I was going back and forth with NCL, but my husband wanted to do the LeHarve port to see Normandy. Their itineraries are similar so you might want to look at each port and see which appeal to you. Princess also has a lot more dates available, where NCL has just 2 options. We also just got back from a NCL cruise to Bermuda and although we loved Bermuda, NCL wasn't that great for us. We sailed once before on Princess and think we will be sticking with them for the British Isles one.

We booked the British Isles cruise for next summer on Princess. They offered everything we want and we really liked the last couple of cruises we did on Princess.

sharonann24,

We're booked on RCL Brilliance of the Seas for the July 18, 2019 - 12 night cruise. This is one of their smaller ships and will be just the right size for this cruise.

The cruise starts in Amsterdam and sails around the British Isles with stops in Scotland, Wales, Ireland (overnight in Dublin) and England. We're doing two days pre-cruise in Amsterdam, a wonderful city to visit, and four days post cruise in London.

Whatever line/cruise you choose will probably give you memories you'll share for the rest of your lives!

Happy cruising!!!

We’re booked on the July 8, 2019 Celebrity Reflection...

They just tweaked the itinerary a bit...and now it goes from Amsterdam to Cork...Dublin (2 days)... Liverpool... Belfast...Cherbourg...Le Havre... Dover...Bruges... and back to Amsterdam...12 nights altogether... and, IMHO, a great cruise line... less crowded ship than you’d get with Princess or NCL...

If you wanted to visit London before or after, it’s really not hard to get there from Amsterdam (or vice versa)...

Thanks so much cor the feedback. I really like the Princess itinerary the best because I want to spend a couple of days in London Pre Cruise. We have sailed both NCL and Princess and have enjoyed both experiences. We were in the Haven on both of our NCL cruises, the last one was this July’s Baltic sailing. I have to admit it did spoil us! That would be the next decision!

sharonann24,

 

We're booked on RCL Brilliance of the Seas for the July 18, 2019 - 12 night cruise. This is one of their smaller ships and will be just the right size for this cruise.

The cruise starts in Amsterdam and sails around the British Isles with stops in Scotland, Wales, Ireland (overnight in Dublin) and England. We're doing two days pre-cruise in Amsterdam, a wonderful city to visit, and four days post cruise in London.

Whatever line/cruise you choose will probably give you memories you'll share for the rest of your lives!

Happy cruising!!!

I am booked on this cruise as well! Can’t wait:-)

Honestly I would have booked NCL, but I cannot deny the attraction of another pre cruise Amsterdam visit!!! One of my favorite cities! And apparently this cruise has dramatically increased in price as well!

Kerri

We loved our British Isles cruise on Princess. I see that now they have several choices. Our cruise was on the Royal Princess.

We did a 'British Isles'* cruise on Princess a few years ago and really enjoyed it. To my mind, Anglesea was a waste of time - but I think it is included so that the 'Wales' box can be ticked and people can see Snowdon. We visited places I had not been to before, and revisited some I already knew :)

* It also went to Dublin and Le Havre, neither of which are British.

Did princess BI in July. Excellent. Great food entertainment ports. Esp loved Guernsey-which I didn’t know much about. We took the bus to the small. It very good ww2 museums. Lovely place.

We have also done Southampton to Rome. Enjoyed seeing Portugal and placeswe don’t normally go via land. I probably liked the one way better for the variety. But BI was great esp if you are interested in Irish or Scottish history. Coastline in Ireland is beautiful. Esp giants causeway area in N Ireland.

We are booked on a British Isles cruise on Celebrity in August 2019. While I've never been on that cruise before, I've only ever cruised Celebrity to Europe and LOVE it. The ship departs from Amsterdam, and goes to all great ports, such as Inverness, Cork, and Belfast. We plan on staying 3 days in London first, then taking the train to Amsterdam the day before our cruise.

August 13, 2019 - Celebrity Reflection - British Isles

May 2017 Celebrity Sihouette - Russia and Scandanavia

October 2015 Celebrity Reflection - Mediterranean

We took Princess last summer on the itinerary that included an overnight in Dublin. We loved it. My regret is that we spent just three nights in London before our cruise. I wish we had stayed there longer. It takes me a day to adjust to the time difference. We're going back next month and are staying in London for five nights. I'm thinking it's still not long enough, but we're on a 15-day trans-Atlantic cruise and did not want to be gone too long.

Be sure to check Princess's EZAir for your airfare. We scored a very good deal last year and an even better one this year.

We did a Princess and an NCL (Pearl) in Alaska - this year (back to back type thing). Everyone said to us before going that Princess was the better - we found it the other way round. Pearl is doing the British Isles for a few cruises next summer - I would go again on her any day. NCL Pearl was superb! One of the best ships we’ve ever been on! Looking at an Eastern Med on her in 2019 (we live in British Isles [emoji23])

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

We’re booked on the July 8, 2019 Celebrity Reflection...

They just tweaked the itinerary a bit...and now it goes from Amsterdam to Cork...Dublin (2 days)... Liverpool... Belfast...Cherbourg...Le Havre... Dover...Bruges... and back to Amsterdam...12 nights altogether... and, IMHO, a great cruise line... less crowded ship than you’d get with Princess or NCL...

 

If you wanted to visit London before or after, it’s really not hard to get there from Amsterdam (or vice versa)...

Not really a British Isles cruise though. Nowhere in Scotland or Wales

If you go on the British Isles Cruise in August, you will be able to go to the Edinburgh Tattoo.

I have taken Princess 12 day and 8 day British Isles cruises.

We did the Princess British Isles cruise in August 2010, and loved it so much we are going back in 2019( August for the Tattoo again). We really liked the Princess itinerary which includes St Peter Port and Le Havre. You’ll have a great trip whatever you decide.

Sent from my iPad using Forums