Review: Caribbean Princess British Isles with Kirkwall, 25 May 2017, and Winchester.

Review: Caribbean Princess British Isles with Kirkwall, 25 May 2017. Pre-cruise Winchester.

I am a British ex-pat who has lived in the US since I married in 1971. I love the planning part of our cruise adventures! We booked a year in advance and I’ve been happily e-chatting on our roll call, organizing the meet and greet, making arrangements for tours, and planning a pre-cruise stay and post cruise family times in the UK. In the last few years I have had two knee and one hip replacement that causes “leg fatigue”. We enjoy small group independent tours and with nine ports this adventure has lots of “moving parts”.

Memories of family visits with cool rainy early-summer days certainly influenced some of our excursion choices. This cruise gave us the opportunity to revisit some places and explore new ones. We discovered on previous Northern European cruises that arriving a few days early allows us to recover from jet-lag and get used to lower elevations —we live at 3,900 ft in southern New Mexico; this time we chose to stay in Winchester.

Booking early

I’ve learned over the years to book the cruise and cabin that we want when it becomes available, using future cruise credits, then wait for any offers and price changes. When we saw that our favorite cabin E731 was available we booked and since then have had a major price drop and increased OBC. We do not use a travel agent.

After reading CC reviews I knew that I wanted to go on the VIP tour with Orkney Aspects that includes a Taste of Orkney light lunch. We booked this in mid June 2016! As they required pre-payment we made sure to include the amount in our travel insurance.

The other thing that we booked early were our flights. We had accumulated points on American Airlines and used those to book business class seats on the El Paso to Dallas to London flights as soon as they were available. As the Dallas to LHR leg was on British Airways we chose to pay for seat selection so were not waiting until check-in time. Our return flights would be in economy on Icelandair from Manchester to Denver, for a short stay with our son, followed by Denver to El Paso on Southwest. These flights give both of us two checked bags on each airline.

We booked a two night stay at Winchester Hotel and Spa for their Heritage Package. http://www.thewinchesterhotel.co.uk/hotel-special-offers.html

As we are visiting family near Manchester post cruise we purchased a two-for-one card and booked advance first class rail tickets from Southampton when made available. https://www.crosscountrytrains.co.uk/

Arrangements were made with Smiths for Airports to take us from Heathrow to Winchester and then Winchester to Southampton cruise terminal.

Along with others on our roll call we planned do-it-on-our-own days in Belfast and South Queensferry. For Belfast we pre-booked Titanic Experience tickets and arranged for a taxi pick-up with FonaCab —just couldn’t get those rainy days out of my mind! We had previously been to Edinburgh several times and decided that an easy day would be good at that point in the cruise so planned on a wander around South Queensferry, lunch at the Ferry Tap pub, followed by a visit to Hopetoun House using MacKenzies taxi service. http://hopetoun.co.uk/house-and-grounds/visit-the-house-and-grounds/

Packing

You would think that after living in England until I was 21 yrs old and visiting family every few years, that I would know how to pack for this trip —not so!!!! With nine days from leaving home until our first at-sea day it was a challenge. UK weather can be very variable even within the same day so layers are critical. We decided on 5-6 “outfits” of pants and short and long sleeve tops that can mix and match on many levels. Our outer layers are fleece vests and jackets with breathable waterproof anoraks. Inner layers are either short or long sleeve light-weight tops and cardigans. Shoes are waterproof leather walking shoes, mesh athletic shoes, slip-on sandals, and walking sandals. We do attend formal nights; DH wears, slacks, white shirt, and tie etc —and sometimes a light weight black jacket; I wear Chico’s Travelers shiney outfits with bling. We use packing cubes (ebags) to keep luggage organized and simply transfer them to the cabin storage.

We always carry a small bag of OTC meds and supplies so that we are not searching for sometimes-needed items in port. Another quart size bag holds our cabin kit of binder clips for drapes, highlighter for Patters, post-it note pad, a few large paper clips, wall magnets, etc for life onboard. We enjoy having maps on the cabin wall of where we are going so they are packed with our cabin kit. For this trip we used the Collins Pocket maps. They also have an excellent discovery map of Edinburgh.

Some dollar store items that we additionally pack are a collapsible laundry container and an 8 1/2 x 11 ins foldable tray. They take up little space and help to organize our cabin.

I am admittedly fussy about tea and coffee. I don’t function well until I’ve had a good cup of PG Tips in bed. As Princess no longer allows even auto shut-off tea kettles I had to rethink how to get that in the morning. On our last cruise I discovered that part of the problem with room service tea was the size of the cup, as well as the temperature of the hot water, and it tasted much better in our larger double layer mugs. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B004KXWEAM/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This year I took these single serve coffee filters and k-cups to get a rich cup of coffee https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087SPTLC/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1

How did it all work out?

Winchester was a lovely choice for a pre-cruise visit. Smiths for Airports was right on time at our meeting place in Heathrow and whisked us off to the fairly modern Winchester Hotel. After a nap in our US-size king bed we walked into town to attend Choral Evensong at the Cathedral. http://www.winchester-cathedral.org.uk/ The Manchester attack had occurred the previous evening so it was good to pray in that glorious place. The first night’s dinner was part of the hotel’s Heritage package and we chose freshly prepared Shepherd’s Pie to start our British adventure; a breakfast buffet was also included and had a wide range of foods. The next morning we took the bus into town to find the old city mill which operates at 11:00 am. We then walked along the river-side to the cathedral. When we arrived a tour of the crypt was about to begin so we quickly got tickets and followed the guide down under the cathedral. Afterwards we wandered around the main area to find Jane Austen’s grave stone which is in the cathedral floor and then ate lunch in the refectory. We still had places to explore and headed uphill to visit the Great Hall and then back to our hotel. That evening we met cousins for an excellent dinner using locally sourced foods at Chesil Rectory. Thankfully they picked us up as I don’t think my legs could have gone much further. The next morning we packed, picked up the wine for our cabin from the nearby Co-Op store, and were promptly picked up by Smiths for our ride to Southampton.

Porters greeted us at the cruise terminal and took our luggage away. Embarkation was very streamlined and after a short wait we were aboard quite quickly. Sadly I did not record details of dinner that night. The rest of the cruise we were in the Coral dining room for the 5:30 seating. We were told by the Maitre D’i that we could be served until 5:45 / 6 pm but observed that empty tables were being used (maybe from anytime dining) at about 5:45. That night we experienced the wonderful new Princess bedding and slept deeply. The duvet was too hot for us so the next day we had our steward Alvin replace it with a blanket.

One of our cruise traditions is to have a light breakfast in the cabin on early excursion days and with nine ports we had lots them. The large mugs definitely made for a better cup of tea! One morning I requested three carafes of hot water so that I could also make coffee using the filter/k-cup method — worked perfectly! The major change to our breakfast routine was that we could now order using the Princess at Sea app. It has a place for comments so one day I requested my favorite Bircher Muesli , on another hot oatmeal, and to my great surprise the wonderful waiter Pedro smilingly delivered it.

We awoke the next day to blue skies and sunshine as we arrived at St Peter Port on Guernsey and drank tea on the balcony. Guernsey is a tender port so we had selected a Princess tour to have a guaranteed departure time. Several years ago I had read the “Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society” book about the German Occupation of Guernsey so when we saw a tour based on the book being offered we jumped at it. Our guide was the excellent Sylvia Brouard who took us in a 1954 bus along the tree and flower strewn lanes to see gun emplacements, cliff top meadows, and the beautiful coast line as she connected the fictional story of the occupation to real events. One of our stops included sampling the traditional Guernsey bread “gauche” served with the local butter and a welcome hot drink. The restaurant was close to a Martello tower from Napoleonic times. Sylvie dropped us off on-time at 1:30 pm to what should have been one of the last tenders of the day. Sadly we waited for over 45 minutes with no shade until our turn came —the problem was that we were there at one of the lowest tides of the year and only one tender at a time could be loaded. We got back to the ship at about 2:45 and “flew” to Skywalkers for our Meet and Greet. Several other folks were in post hot-excursion mode! About 60 people attended as well as three of the senior staff. A good time was had by all. It is always terrific to meet folks who you have corresponded with on-line. That evening, the first formal night, we were scheduled for our first meal ever at Sabatinis. I do not recollect what we ate but it was a delicious meal.

Due to the tender delays the ship had a late departure from Guernsey and we went to bed not knowing how it would affect our arrival in Cobh. I felt vibrations through the night and awoke at 7 to us being close to Cobh. Our excursion today was with ecoach and we left, only slightly late, in drizzle for Blarney -thankfully we had bought our lightweight knee-length LL Bean raincoats! Ian, our guide explained that there is no V in the Irish language but that bh is pronounced as V. We arrived at Blarney before the crowds that came later in the morning and had a walk around the Arboretum area and the Sisters Garden, visited the sheep, and then had coffee and a scone at the Blarney Woolen Mills. ( One huge change that we saw in the British Isles since our last visit in 2013 was the availability of good speciality coffees — all cafes we visited had large espresso-type machines even for serving black coffee as an Americano.) The drizzle gave way to sun and we were off to Kinsale for our lunch stop. We headed to Dinos restaurant for their fish and chips then strolled around town. The tide was out so we did not get to see a very picturesque view of the harbor. On the way back to the ship our guide drove through Cork and a little of Cobh. I could just imagine all the people sailing for the US from there for better lives.

Tonight would be our first day with our MDR waiters Zosimo and Peng who quickly learned our names and likes. We found the menus to be varied and food well prepared. There appeared to be a noticeable reduction in the amount of salt used during preparation and it was commented on by the waiters when we requested lower sodium meals. For the first time we were able to eat in the MDR without pre-ordering meals.

For Dublin we shared an excellent excursion with four other CC-ers using Beautiful Meath Tours. http://beautifulmeath.com/county-wicklow-tour/ Our guide, Derek, first drove by the River Liffey and gave us time to take photos at the Famine Memorial http://www.visitdublin.com/see-do/details/famine-memorial#53.347933|-6.250194|16. He took us over the hills and moors to see peat bogs, lakes, and stunning scenery on our way to Glendalough. Then on to the original Avoca mills to see hand weaving and have lunch. After lunch we went to Powerscourt Gardens and wandered at will. It was a glorious day with an A+ guide.

Belfast lived up to my imaginings of pouring rain! As we entered our berthing area we could see the Titanic dry dock and buildings. Raincoats came out again and we took a prearranged taxi with CC friends to the Titanic Experience. It was a public holiday and the “museum” was very full, even with timed tickets, and it was difficult to see the exhibits and get much out of it. There is a taxi -phone in the entrance area and we used that to get a taxi to our next stop The Morning Star pub restaurant https://www.themorningstarbar.co.uk/ where we had a delicious meal with local beer and cider. Then taxi back to the ship for the Irish folkloric show.

Greenock was family day when we met my Aunt and her Sister-in-Law for a trip by car and the Weymss Bay ferry to Mount Stuart House https://www.mountstuart.com/ on the Isle of Bute. It was a cool rainy day with intermittent sun so raincoats again. We had arranged for a tour of the fascinating Mount Stuart that timed with the ferry. We were there at the height of the Rhododendron season so the gardens were beautiful. Lunch of homemade soup and bread was had in their cafe to warm us up. My Dad had recuperated from surgery during WW2 on Bute and we were able to see the house where he stayed. It was too rainy and chilly to stay out and about so we were back at the ship by about 3:30. A wind came up at about 4 that blew the clouds away and we had a glorious evening sail down the Clyde. I spent many summer holidays south of Greenock so it was wonderful to relive memories.

Sea Day hooray! Partly sunny skies and no raincoats….We had scheduled massages and planned to rest and relax. What I had not expected was that we sailed fairly close to the coastline and had terrific views of Skye as we sailed through Little Minch, and finally The Minch, between the Hebrides and Skye. Our wall map came in handy to see where we were. That evening was the second formal night which we did attend.

Orkney was the highlight of our cruise. Our guide Anne and driver Donald were waiting for us at the dock and off we went into Kirkwall for a guided tour at St Magnus Cathedral with time for a stroll in the area. We went into the small but interesting city museum that opens early when ships are in port and had immaculate restrooms. Our next stop was Scara Brae, a neolithic village, on the coast https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/skara-brae-prehistoric-village-p247671. It was quite windy. We then drove along Scapa Flow, heard about it’s role in WW2, and saw lots of cattle and sheep in the fields. Our included Taste of Orkney lunch was at the Birsay Bay Tea room http://www.birsaybaytearoom.co.uk/#_=_ We enjoyed every bite and left with boxes of cakes we could not manage at the time. The smoked salmon was divine :) Now that we were full we headed for Maeshowe which involved stooping through a short tunnel into the chamber http://www.orkneyjar.com/history/maeshowe/. My knees were tired by the time we reached the Ring of Brogdar so I waited in the parking area with the driver and viewed from the distance. https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/ring-of-brodgar-p669061 Our final stop was a quick photo op at the Standing Stones of Stennes https://www.visitscotland.com/info/see-do/the-standing-stones-of-stenness-p669071 An amazing day with another excellent guide. We were piped out with young dancers — truly lovely.

Our next port was Inverordon and we arrived to sunshine but put rain gear in the back pack just-in-case. We were amazed to see oil derricks being refurbished in the channel to the harbor. Our excursion was with Dougie of Highland Tours https://www.highlandtours.info/quintessential-scottish-highland-tour.html The gorse and broom were in full bloom so everywhere we went had bright yellows flowers in the hedgerows. An early stop was Millionaires View — a wow moment. We drove through tunnels of trees and over hills to the Falls of Shin and it’s new visitor centre. http://www.kyleofsutherlanddevelopmenttrust.org/current-projects/falls-of-shin-community-project/ They opened a little early for us to pick-up lattes and head on the road again —it was the only place we encountered midgies. Our next stop was Dunrobin Castle for the amazing Falconry exhibition at 11:30 am where we had front row seats. We had a quick snack in their cafe and then headed to our 2 pm Balblair distillery guided tour https://www.balblair.com/ by way of Dornoch and saw lots of seals on the sand bars and swimming in the loch. It was intriguing to see how single malt whiskey is made and sample it —it had a lovely floral aroma but was fiery as it went down! Definitely small sips for that one. At some point in the day we stopped at Dornoch Cathedral and viewed it’s beautiful stained glass windows one of which was in memory of Andrew Carnegie who grew up in the area —it’s other claim-to-fame is it where Madonna married. http://www.undiscoveredscotland.co.uk/dornoch/cathedral/index.html We had a lovely day with Dougie and were so glad we chose this particular tour.

We had not planned to go into Edinburgh from South Queensferry so had a lazy morning anchored in the Firth of Forth watching the tender go back and fro under the bridges; it was another cool but sunny day. At about 11 we disembarked as there was no longer a line for the tender and made our way along the harbor front to the interesting small local museum and lunch at the Ferry Tap pub. A CC friend guided us to a gift shop at the end of the main street that had hand-painted glass of the standing stones in Orkney —just what we needed for our travel art collection. We had arranged with MacKenzie taxis for a pick-up outside the Ferry Tap to take us to and from Hopetoun House for the enthusiastic 2 pm guided tour. A wedding was taking place there so we got to see many guests in Highland dress and the bride and groom being piped into their reception. The house and lands are used for filming parts of the Outlander series http://hopetoun.co.uk/estate/outlander-at-hopetoun/ Having a quiet day is often a good thing on such a port-intensive cruise.

Thankfully we had our second sunny sea day and once again I was surprised at the visibility of the coastline. After packing I treated myself to a pedicure/leg massage and felt ready for our last full day excursion in Le Havre.

We awoke to a sunny breezy day and disembarked to try to locate the Overlord Tours bus. It was not with the other tour buses but was outside the gate. Security was high. The drive to the American Cemetery took over 90 minutes and was primarily on major roads until we got into the D-Day beach area. It was strange to see signs with the names of places we know from films and history. Once we were at the cemetery we had time to walk the grounds and visit the expansive museum with multi-media displays. We were there a day before the D-Day remembrances and many enactors were present on the grounds; a service was also taking place with speakers such as Newt Gingrich. Most poignant for me were the crosses for those “known only to God” . https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/normandy-american-cemetery#.WUrMVBIrI3E Everyone was promptly back for our visit to Omaha Beach with detailed information about the landing. Our guides walking pace through the day was too fast for me and I trailed behind —too many places in a relatively short time. The reason I had chosen this excursion was to also visit Bayeux. We had a quick lunch in the nearest cafe then began exploring. The Battle of Hastings was a pivotal event in British history and I was anxious to see the Bayeux Tapestry. It was amazing. This is the best English-language website I have found about it https://smarthistory.org/the-bayeux-tapestry/ We had no time to see the cathedral or wander around; I could have spent all day there. Our last stop was Honfleur that my legs were too fatigued to enjoy. After another way too quick-for-me walk into the harbor area we sat and had a glass of local cider and headed back to the bus. The area was full of people on a national holiday and while pretty it needed much more time to really enjoy. In retrospect a private excursion would have been a better match for us.

As we left Le Havre the captain announced that we would have a stormy night and that our berth location was accordingly changed in Southampton. I don’t recollect too much bouncing as I was quite tired. Disembarkation was easy as we left at 8:30 am after the airport buses; porters were waiting with carts just before the luggage area in the terminal and we had one pick up our bags and locate a taxi to take us to the train station. The cruise part of our adventure was at an end.

I’m sure I’ve forgotten things so please ask any questions you may have.

Phenomenal review. Sounds like a wonderful time. We take this cruise next summer and will be referring to your review and links as we plan our adventures. Thank you so very much.

Enjoyed the very well-written review. Thanks!

One item I did miss out is that you can now request Future Cruise Deposits using the Princess at Sea app. Worked beautifully xx

Oh my goodness what a fantastic review. We are planning to do this exact itinerary in 2018 and like you we already have a cabin held and are hoping the price comes down, as in significantly!!

I will be looking at all of your tours they sound great!

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Will be a useful guide for our British Isles cruise also on the Caribbean Princess this Sept. Thank you for sharing your experience.

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Thanks for a very informative review! We will be following a few of your footsteps in September.

What a wonderful review! This cruise is on my bucket list. Thank you for sharing.

Thank you so much for taking the time to write your review. We will be doing the same cruise at the end of August. We will be staying in E730 and are very excited about the itinerary and the cabin.

Did you check out any of the new/updated spaces?

What did you think of the buffet?

Did you venture into Steamers or Planks for any meal?

How was the sea day entertainment on board? Did they have lots of activities?

Did you check out any of the new/updated spaces?

What did you think of the buffet?

Did you venture into Steamers or Planks for any meal?

 

How was the sea day entertainment on board? Did they have lots of activities?

We looked at the new chic spaces but that is all. There was little time on a very port intensive cruise for us to do a lot onboard. We ate on land for lunch most days.

We only had a snack and drink at the buffet -- it appeared to be more spacious than previously.

The sea day Patter was full of activities -- the Maitre D'/chef competition and Galley tour were on the last one. For us it was lovely just to get up without an alarm, have breakfast in the MDR, have a massage, read, nap, and watch the coast go by. On the last sea day you will need to pack.

The only show we went to was Piano Man. As we had early dining and early starts to the day we were usually asleep by 9 pm! Our days were very full.

Our next cruise is LA to Hawaii so will get to experience life onboard -- a huge change from our usual port intensive adventures.

Fantastic review Alaskanb - Thanks for posting it.

Wondering.. how do Kcups work with the filters? Do you just remove the foil top from the Kcup and set it in the filter?

Fantastic review Alaskanb - Thanks for posting it.

 

Wondering.. how do Kcups work with the filters? Do you just remove the foil top from the Kcup and set it in the filer?

Just take off the foil and dump the coffee in the filter. You do get a fine deposit at the bottom of the cup but not a problem for us. I found them to be the right size for our thermal mugs. I order cream from room service with breakfast. Clean-up is a bit messy as I wasn't sure how the ships drains would handle the grinds -- I erred on the side of caution and dumped most of the grinds into a small ziplock bag then rinsed filter in sink.

I used the filters in the UK with ground coffee and left them with my brother.

Thank you for your well written review. We will be doing the BI itinerary in September so appreciate your tips.

Were the seas that rough?

Were the seas that rough?

Not at all.

What a great review. Was on this cruise also and sat and smiled the entire time remembering what a great trip this was.

Thanks!

Steve & Vicky

What a great review. Was on this cruise also and sat and smiled the entire time remembering what a great trip this was.

 

Thanks!

Steve & Vicky

Please add anything in that I may have forgotten. Makes me smile just to think about it too. :)

What an excellent review! Great job!

I do have a question though - we're also taking BA home and I'm wondering how you liked their business class seats? Were you in the 2 paired together or the 2 that face each other? I really prefer AA's and Delta's business class but BA has the only non-stop flight home and I've only been in World Traveler Plus (2x) and Economy (1x). We also have paid the seat selection fee of $127pp because it's not worth the risk for us to not be seated together.

What an excellent review! Great job!

I do have a question though - we're also taking BA home and I'm wondering how you liked their business class seats? Were you in the 2 paired together or the 2 that face each other? I really prefer AA's and Delta's business class but BA has the only non-stop flight home and I've only been in World Traveler Plus (2x) and Economy (1x). We also have paid the seat selection fee of $127pp because it's not worth the risk for us to not be seated together.

We were very happy in the BA business class seats. Ours faced each other. We had lovely service.

We were on the Caribbean for the TA in April and had no problem using our thermostatically controlled tea pot. My wife likes Starbucks VIA so she had her fresh cup each morning. We had heard on earlier cruise blogs (on here) that Princess was not allowing them but have taken at least four cruises since then and used it on each ?

We were very happy in the BA business class seats. Ours faced each other. We had lovely service.

Thank you! That's so good to hear. We originally had the 2 seats together, but it looked so squished so I changed them to what you had. I think it'll give us a little more room. Thanks!

We were on the Caribbean for the TA in April and had no problem using our thermostatically controlled tea pot. My wife likes Starbucks VIA so she had her fresh cup each morning. We had heard on earlier cruise blogs (on here) that Princess was not allowing them but have taken at least four cruises since then and used it on each ?

My auto-shut off tea kettle was confiscated on the Star Princess in June 2016. Princess specifically stated no tea kettles or coffee makers on their website under prohibited items

• Hookah and Water Hookah Pipes, candles and incense, strike-anywhere matches, clothing irons/steamers, heating pads, hot plates, kettles, coffee makers, toasters and other electronic cooking appliances.
  

As with all your reviews this one is excellent and shows the amount of effort you put into your research - the same as when we did the Baltic with you several years ago.

If only everyone would do the same and share their research and experiences.............

Very well written review, especially like the links you've added. We leave for our BI cruise in August. Looking forward to escaping the 100 degrees days at home to the unsettled weather of the U.K.

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