First time travel to Western British Isles / Scotland

We are in the process of researching and planning a trip to Scotland, Ireland, England, and Normandy.

As it looks a cruise / land tour looks the best.

We agree with advice given on making sure to select an itinerary which is overnight in Dublin.

However, we would like to ask anymore info on any wonderful excursions (private tours for the day) , advice on Normandy, etc.

Don't pass up taking a look at the ports of call forums:

Britain: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=146

France: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=593

Lots of good info there.

Once you decide on and book a cruise, join the Roll Call for it. There you will probably fin people booking private tours and looking for others to fill the vehicle

Normandy is not to be missed so if that will be possible based on your plans I highly recommend it.

A terrific source for tours as mentioned is the roll cal for sharing them and getting ideas and the ports of call board and also other sources such as Trip Advisor.

Keith

As mentioned, Trip Advisor is another good source of info.

We've finally booked the cruise. We're doing a Cruisetour in July 2019. The tour includes 4 days land in Ireland, and then we embark in Heathrow.

My question is....did you do the Edinburgh Military Tattoo? If so, did you book directly online, or does Princess offer this as an excursion?

Thanks,

We've finally booked the cruise. We're doing a Cruisetour in July 2019. The tour includes 4 days land in Ireland, and then we embark in Heathrow.

 

My question is....did you do the Edinburgh Military Tattoo? If so, did you book directly online, or does Princess offer this as an excursion?

 

Thanks,

Princess does offer the excursion to the Military Tattoo at various prices. You can also book directly.

Thank you

Booking Tattoo tickets directly and arranging private transportation will save you lots of money compared to a Princess excursion. When we did the BI cruise in August 2013 we booked the Tattoo tickets on line the day they opened for sale to the public (early December if I remember correctly) and got excellent seats.

Do you recall the section you purchased seats in? Also, private transportation suggestions would be appreciated?

We did not go to the Tattoo in Edinburgh on our cruise last summer. I decided the distance and time were not worth it. On our cruise, the excursion was while the ship was docked in Greenock. The people who booked excursions on their own got more for their money than the ones who booked through Princess. Their excursions, though, started much earlier in the day--taking in Loch Lomond, Stirling Castle, and other stops along the way. Realize that it's usually a two-hour drive back to the ship from Edinburgh. On our cruise, road construction made it even worse. According to the people who went on our cruise, they did not make it back to the ship until 2 a.m.

Do you recall the section you purchased seats in? Also, private transportation suggestions would be appreciated?

It was section 9 facing the castle (premier seats on the Tattoo seat map) and we were in the row directly above one of the entrances/exists to the field so we had an excellent view of the performers at all times. We were on a Princess ship that docked in Greenock on the day of the Tattoo so our roll call organized a day tour with Timberbush Tours (a couple of vans) to Edinburg, then a group dinner before the Tattoo. It was a long but wonderful day and we returned to the ship well before the big Princess buses got back after 1 am.

Thanks....will do!

Don't pass up taking a look at the ports of call forums:

 

Britain: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=146

 

France: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=593

 

Lots of good info there.

Thanks, this helps a lot!

It was section 9 facing the castle (premier seats on the Tattoo seat map) and we were in the row directly above one of the entrances/exists to the field so we had an excellent view of the performers at all times. We were on a Princess ship that docked in Greenock on the day of the Tattoo so our roll call organized a day tour with Timberbush Tours (a couple of vans) to Edinburg, then a group dinner before the Tattoo. It was a long but wonderful day and we returned to the ship well before the big Princess buses got back after 1 am.