British Isles Trip Review w/Pics: A Thesis :)

[trbarton]

FYI...About the plugs in your stateroom. I read another post where their was a power spike in their stateroom that fried the motherboard in their laptop. Because of this I carry a surge protector power strip which I remove in the morning and put away in a drawer.

 

I find a iPad a must as I leave it out as a night light using the Apple App that I downloaded.

 

If you use room service you can write other things that you want on the order tag like "poached eggs" and you will get them. I also learned that when I circled the 7 am on the 7-7:30 am section that I got my food at 7 am.

 

For Le Havre France I took a taxi to the train station and took the train into Paris, Easy to do. I met some other people from our cruise and we went together. Once in Paris we took a hop on and off bus that went to all of the major sights in Paris. Just made sure to allow enough time to get to the train station to get the train back to Le Havre in time to be on the ship before sale-away.

 

Look at photos below you will see how I was able to plug a night light into the bathroom. What I did was to go to a large hardware store and mentioned that I needed an adapter to plug into a non-polarized plug which is in the bathroom. They took a plug adapter and gave it to the key person who cut and filed one side down and for a $1.60 I had an adapter that worked which I keep together for other trips.

 

Non Polarized Plug in bathroom

 

Nightlight in bathroom...I had an adapter made to work in to socket

 

Another tip of things to bring is refrigerator magnets to use on the wall to hang your various papers. See my photo below.

 

Clips on wall...Magnetic Clips bought at pharmacy.

 

Tom:)

Edited July 6, 2013 by trbarton

[23madi23]

thank you so much for this review! I'm leaving for the same trip to the British Isles in less than two weeks and I couldn't be more excited! Since all other British Isle reviews are the cruise with the Orkney Islands instead of Liverpool, your review helped me a lot in planning my trip. Thanks to you, I get to go to the Titanic museum in Belfast! I always refer back to your review when talking about my trip and what I'm looking forward too. Hopefully I can write my own review when I return. Great job, loved it!!

[melody hounddog]

thank you so much for this review! I'm leaving for the same trip to the British Isles in less than two weeks and I couldn't be more excited! Since all other British Isle reviews are the cruise with the Orkney Islands instead of Liverpool, your review helped me a lot in planning my trip. Thanks to you, I get to go to the Titanic museum in Belfast! I always refer back to your review when talking about my trip and what I'm looking forward too. Hopefully I can write my own review when I return. Great job, loved it!!

 

Have a great trip and please do post a review when you get back. I would love to read it. We are doing this trip next summer.

[DeloreanGirl]

I would like to say a 'HUGE' thank you DeloreanGirl for posting your cruise review. I was hooked from the beginning and have spent the last two evenings when I got home from work, logging on to CC and continuing to read the review from where I'd previously left it :)

I must admit you have me seriously considering doing a British Isle cruise myself after reading your review, where I had never, ever thought of doing one. Living here in the UK I thought I wouldn't find it that interesting and why when you have such a choice of cruises, would you holiday at home? I take it all back, I would love to do this cruise!!

Thank you, thank you x

 

Wow, thank you so much for the nice comment!! I just went on a Pacific Coastal and saw San Francisco for the first time (despite being a Californian my whole life) so I know what you mean by seeing different parts of your own country!

 

It's a phenomenal cruise (I'm sure I've written that line many times in various comments over the past year) but we just loved it SO much. We got home and were ready to pack our bags and move to the UK (still want to - our house is now Anglophile'd out). :)

 

You have some fun looking cruises coming up. We loved Freedom, it's a fun ship!

[Uniall]

Thanks for posting this report. I'll put it to good use next Spring on the Ruby Princess

 

John

[seacrystal]

Wow, thank you so much for the nice comment!! I just went on a Pacific Coastal and saw San Francisco for the first time (despite being a Californian my whole life) so I know what you mean by seeing different parts of your own country!

 

Emily,

 

Your thesis was wonderful. I printed out every page at work and have been reading for enjoyment at night while making notes for our planned British Isles cruise in August 2015. Funny thing is we are also booked for the Vancouver to LA Wine Country Coastal next year and would love to read another "thesis" from you on that cruise as well. I love your writing style which makes for easy reading. BTW, when is your baby due?

[DeloreanGirl]

Emily,

 

Your thesis was wonderful. I printed out every page at work and have been reading for enjoyment at night while making notes for our planned British Isles cruise in August 2015. Funny thing is we are also booked for the Vancouver to LA Wine Country Coastal next year and would love to read another "thesis" from you on that cruise as well. I love your writing style which makes for easy reading. BTW, when is your baby due?

 

Hi seacrystal!

 

Thanks for the sweet words! I was 11 weeks pregnant during the Pacific Coastal cruise so I sort of schlepped my way through it very groggy. It was a great cruise with neat ports but I didn't end up writing a Trip Report. I figured it was a popular enough cruise with enough reports out there that there wasn't much input on my end to add to it. There were other great Pacific Costal reviews already written and it was such a last-minute cruise that we sort of "winged it" in every port. It's a great itinerary, though, and one that I would take again! We had great weather and never once used an umbrella (rare!)

Here are photos, if you're interested: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201027981569264.1073741828.1459238567&type=1&l=eca73b10ad

 

The baby is due the week of Thanksgiving and - no shock - has a travel-themed nursery. A nautical touch may have made its way in.......... ;)

[DeloreanGirl]

thank you so much for this review! I'm leaving for the same trip to the British Isles in less than two weeks and I couldn't be more excited! Since all other British Isle reviews are the cruise with the Orkney Islands instead of Liverpool, your review helped me a lot in planning my trip. Thanks to you, I get to go to the Titanic museum in Belfast! I always refer back to your review when talking about my trip and what I'm looking forward too. Hopefully I can write my own review when I return. Great job, loved it!!

 

Yes, please! Post the link! I would love to read it!

[seacrystal]

Hi seacrystal!

 

Thanks for the sweet words! I was 11 weeks pregnant during the Pacific Coastal cruise so I sort of schlepped my way through it very groggy. It was a great cruise with neat ports but I didn't end up writing a Trip Report. I figured it was a popular enough cruise with enough reports out there that there wasn't much input on my end to add to it. There were other great Pacific Costal reviews already written and it was such a last-minute cruise that we sort of "winged it" in every port. It's a great itinerary, though, and one that I would take again! We had great weather and never once used an umbrella (rare!)

Here are photos, if you're interested: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10201027981569264.1073741828.1459238567&type=1&l=eca73b10ad

 

The baby is due the week of Thanksgiving and - no shock - has a travel-themed nursery. A nautical touch may have made its way in.......... ;)

 

Thanks for the pics Emily! I would love to go on a cruise with my daughter but she is wrapped up with sports with my three grandsons so I will have to wait until they are grown. Wonderful memories for you both.

 

I hope you have a comfortable pregnancy and a short labor!:D:D

[loma linda ca a & j]

Hi seacrystal!

 

 

The baby is due the week of Thanksgiving and - no shock - has a travel-themed nursery. A nautical touch may have made its way in.......... ;)

am so happy to read that great news !! ;)

our brit isles journey was so much more than we ever imagined !!

now i understand why you were ready to move there !! the villages,

countryside, flower baskets everywhere, the wonderful people -

all soooooooooo special !!!

ann & jim not far from you !!;)

[seacrystal]

am so happy to read that great news !! ;)

our brit isles journey was so much more than we ever imagined !!

now i understand why you were ready to move there !! the villages,

countryside, flower baskets everywhere, the wonderful people -

all soooooooooo special !!!

ann & jim not far from you !!;)

 

Ann & Jim, I also followed your posts on the Britain Board. However, I cannot find whether you posted a review. Can you lead me to that post?

 

I am now following a new thread posted this morning on Tina-Ann's Princess British Isles cruise. I am loving every moment of this cruise and I am not even going until 2015!:eek:

[THE Lone Cruiser]

*grabs Kleenex*

*dabs eyes*

 

Disembarkation (boo…hiss…) and Two Days in London (hurray!):

 

I love the second to last day on cruises, no matter what line, when you start getting the Disembarkation paperwork. It’s like they can’t prep you early enough to get your bootie off the ship. Granted, I know they have to kick you off. I’m glad they kicked the people before me off so that I could have a fantastic vacation in C218. But alas, it was our turn to leave this beautiful vessel.

 

It was a strange feeling, the whole disembarking part. I’ve been planning this trip for thirteen months. THIRTEEN MONTHS! I completely forgot that life goes on after you come home.The cruise was a giant beacon set in stone and I totally didn’t think of anything going on after it was over.

 

What message board posts would I read? What tour companies would I e-mail? What am I going to do with the work hours spent daydreaming? What about my digital countdown clock? What about the dog-eared pages in my Rick Steves London book (which I got autographed by him in person!) Does this mean I can’t listen to Riverdance or Bill Whelan or bagpipes anymore? And for God’s sake, what will I do without my trusty red binder?!?!

 

My lip quivers just thinking about it.

 

It was now time to put our clothes back in the suitcases. To clear off all the souvenirs from the writing desk. To pull the drapes closed one last night and sigh, knowing that when it’s dawn, the ship will be parked and there won’t be a gorgeous town outside my window in the morning. Instead, the clanking and beeping of working dock sounds and the smell of diesel fuel will remind us that we’ve come full circle (literally), and are back to our home port of Southampton.

 

Simple Debarkation:

 

Debarkation is pretty flawless. Princess has done a great job of color-coding everyone based on where they are going and what they are doing. A day before you debark, you will receive a Debarkation packet along with paper luggage tags that are a certain color with a number on them. Our luggage tags were “GREEN 2”. Everyone who was “GREEN 2” were people that were booked on the “Southampton To Victoria, London” coach. Others had other colors like: cream, blue, orange, red, purple, etc. Some decks got off the ship super early. Other decks (the lower ones, I think) didn’t have to debark until nearly 9am. They want you out of your room by 8am. We had a feeling this would mean that the buffet would be nuts, so we swiped some bananas and muffins the day before and ate those as breakfast to tide us over. It was the smartest choice we ever made. (Room service is never available on debarkation day.)

 

All lines have the rule of “leave your luggage out at night before you disembark”. I shouldn’t have to type this, but if you are new to cruising please set out an outfit to wear the following day and keep all medications and important documents on you. I would love to place bets on how many people wear their pajamas down the hall in the morning or frantically call the front desk hoping to retrieve their luggage from the cruise terminal down below. I’d drop a good $50 that it happens to more than a few people on every cruise.

 

There is a perforated tip at the end of the colored luggage tag. Tear it off and hang onto it. They say you’ll need it to debark but nobody ever asked for our tag tip for “proof”. We could’ve grabbed our luggage and used that coach as a free ride to London for all we knew by casually walking with the crowd.

 

Everyone is assigned to sit with others of that color/number in certain dining rooms at certain times. In our case, I think we had to be in the Island Dining Room at 8:30am. We got there and only had to sit for 5 minutes before they called “GREEN 2” and before we knew it, we were on our way alongside 40 others as they led us off the ship (insert sobbing noise here) and into the Southampton terminal where your luggage was nicely separated by color. We headed to the “GREEN” area and found our suitcases and rolled them out to the coach that was waiting for us alongside many, many other coaches. Each coach has a paper in the window that clearly marks which coach is for which color/number.

 

If you are taking care of your own post-cruise transportation, you will be in a color-coded area with others doing the same. If you have booked a Stonehenge/Bath tour, you will be in a color-coded area as well with the folks on your bus doing just that. I don’t remember the ship ever feeling “busy” on that last day. It wasn’t mayhem at all. For those who want to “self-disembark”, you are free to do so at the should-be-illegal hour of 6am.

 

We crawled onto our bus and I noticed that it was quite new. Nice seats with leather trim, modern lights, sound system and intercom buttons overhead similar to an airplane, and a bathroom in the back. The driver announced that it would be a 2-hour ride into London and he hoped there wouldn’t be much traffic.

 

“Psshh…..whatever. Two hours? That’s way overblown. It’s not two hours into London on a Thursday at 9am. We’ll be there in ninety minutes!” I scoffed.

 

It took two hours. On the dot.

 

Good thing I packed that snack bag!

 

Here is the fork-in-the-road part of the trip report finale’. I don’t know quite what to write about at this point because not everyone is going to London post-cruise. So I suppose I’ll talk about a few London tips:

Victoria train station and Victoria coach station are two different buildings. They are near each other, but luckily do not share one roof which is probably a good thing because Victoria train station alone is as busy as the center of Times Square. For those taking the bus from the ship back to Victoria Coach station in London, you will be dropped off at the Arrivals area of the coach station. From here, you are free to take a train, Tube or bus elsewhere, or explore London for awhile.

 

In our case, we had 2 days left to kill, so we wanted to see London. I booked a basic room at the Park Plaza Victoria and it was the most wonderful hotel ever. I highly, highly, highly recommend it! It is right next to Victoria Station (rail, Tube and coach) and we later learned Is central to lots of sights.

 

After dropping our bags off in the room, we looked at the map and realized that we should simply walk around and get our bearings. I knew we had to get a Travel Card if need be to ride the Tube should anything be far away.

 

It was pouring rain, mind you. But we didn’t care. This was London. It rains all the darn time. This was part of the ambience. We trekked outside and learned that the streets of London are much narrower than we thought, which meant that everything on the map was closer than we imagined. Within the hour, we had taken a tour inside Westminster Abbey and viewed Parliament and Big Ben. I’ll never forget the moment I looked up from my umbrella and saw the giant clock above me. It will forever be etched into my memory.

 

 

I had done it. I had created this vacation and here I am, at the foot of Big Ben in the rain, and it was glorious.

 

The rain continued and so did we. We fell in love with Pret A Manger, something we don’t have in California but need oh so much. It is the most brilliant invention of a store, ever. We refueled with a hot BBQ pork sandwich, diet soda, crisps and carrot cake and had all the energy in the world to take on the city. We went back to the room, took off our soaked jeans, socks and shoes and changed into dry outfits.

 

The rain had stopped. This was our moment! We ran all around the Westminster area. We saw Buckingham Palace (in shambles 48 hour after the Jubilee), The Mall, Admiralty Arch, Trafalgar Square and The National Gallery.

 

It was stunning. I was in love. Badly.

 

 

I spent the evening in the hotel watching BBC news. I loved everything about Britain. LOVED it. I marveled at their dry humor, their bluntness, their overly-cheery commercials. Everyone was so nice. The food was good. The city was so extremely pedestrian friendly. The cars stopped for you at crosswalks. Everyone said “cheers”. I was sold.

 

Around midnight, some team must have won some game because there was cheering and reveling in the streets. And like that – it was quiet again except for a random police siren driving by letting you know that you were in the heart of a big city.

 

The next morning, it was raining again but the cheery folks on BBC said it would clear up later. Luckily, it did. Mike and I had pre-purchased tickets for “The Original London Tour” HOHO bus plus tickets to The Tower of London. I am so glad we chose this particular bus company. We did the T1 line which stops at the major sights and has a live driver. It was a brilliant choice because the driver was able to warn us about traffic up ahead (we never encountered traffic at any other point of the ride) and by knowing this, we were able to get off the bus before hitting traffic in The City.

 

The views up top are great. It is open air which is wonderful as far as photography goes. No flashes in the window reflections! Apparently it was slow that day because we had nearly the entire top of the bus to ourselves. We were able to see Big Ben, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, Royal Mews, London Eye, St. Paul’s Cathedral and The City with lots of great views in between. The bus is very zippy which I loved. It didn’t lag on in traffic that day. Mike was glued to the camcorder the entire time. We got off at St. Paul’s Cathedral and ate at “Ye Olde London Pub” which was (seemingly) authentic and excellent. We couldn’t go to London and not eat bangers & mash and fish & chips!

 

 

I really wanted to eat at the Sherlock Holmes pub or Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese but we didn’t have enough time and honestly forgot about where they were on the map. After lunch, we walked from St. Paul’s Cathedral across the London Bridge, alongside the Thames and some awesome outdoor shops and restaurants, up to the Tower Bridge, across the Tower Bridge, and over to the Tower of London. I could not get over how WALKABLE the city is. We hadn’t even used the Tube yet!

 

The Tower Bridge is simply stunning. Alongside Big Ben, it is the quintessential “Ohmygod I’m in London” moment. And having watched all of the Jubliee festivities on the ship, it made me appreciate it even more. The architecture is gorgeous and the bridge is truly as beautiful in person as it is in photos.

 

From there, we visited the Tower of London which was very amusing and fun. I didn’t see any Beefeater tours going on, but I did get my chance to take a photo with one. The weather was part drizzle and part sun. As mentioned earlier, the “four seasons in a day” theory is absolutely true.

 

We caught the 5:20pm Thames River Cruise which was included in our HOHO Original Tour bus tickets. It’s a great way to get from the far eastern edge where the Tower of London is , all the way back to the start, where Big Ben is. I say “all the way” as if it’s a long journey. I’m sure its 1-2 miles, max. The guy giving the live commentary on the river cruise did a great job. I would hate to repeat the same stories 50 times a day but he was quite funny! The sun stayed out and cast a beautiful light onto the river and city.

I couldn’t believe that we hadn’t ridden the Tube anywhere. We had walked nearly half the city on our own and took the HOHO and cruise for the other half. We HAD to ride the Tube! So we purchased tickets and rode it from Westminster to Victoria. A whole two stops. But hey, we did it. And no, there was no announcement saying “Mind The Gap!” Darn.

 

 

We spent our last night packing, once again. It was the first time ever in my life that I was sad to leave a vacation. On other trips, I have been thankful for seeing beautiful islands, crystal clear waters, white sandy beaches, or amazing geography. But this city was hard to leave. I was enthralled and in love with the black cabs, the accents, the streets, the buildings, the monuments, the history, the culture, the way of life. I was ready to give my 2-week’s notice via postcard and stay in London.

 

 

However, we had friends, family, jobs, and a beagle to get home to. And after a good nights sleep, we were ready to tackle the long flight home on Saturday, June 9th. The process heading westward couldn’t have gone more flawlessly:

 

The hotel hailed a cab which arrived seconds later. The cab ride took a whopping 10 minutes to Paddington Station. I pre-bought Heathrow Express tickets which I highly recommend as it was fantastic. The train was sitting there at the station, doors open, ready to go on Platforms 6 & 7. The seats were comfortable, the car was quiet, there was free WiFi and television, and we were at Terminal 3 only fifteen minutes after departing Paddington.

 

Heathrow was well laid out. Security was enforced but all officers were cheery and friendly. The employee at the American Airlines ticket counter had a vacation home only 2 hours away from us and we chatted about Southern California. The flight was on time. And T3 at Heathrow, by the way, basically looks like the inside of a Nordstrom’s department store with airline gates. Want to buy some perfume? How about a $300 scarf? What about expensive chocolates? Or a leather briefcase? Heathrow has it all. Incredible!

 

The 10-hour flight to Dallas was uneventful. We tried to sleep but failed. We watched TV shows and movies on the shared screens on the plane. We stretched our legs. It was nice still hearing the British accent on the flight home - a lingering reminder of the best vacation we’ve ever had.

 

Once on the ground in Dallas, our flight's passengers dispersed and we were hit in the face with Americana all over again: tank tops, flip flops, the Southern accent, Budweiser shirts, cowboy boots and restaurants in the terminal with fried chicken and chocolate shakes. Yep, hello America.

 

We ate lunch at TGI Fridays and I marveled at how large our portions are. I chuckled at how giant the plastic cup of Diet Coke was. It brought back memories of the day before when we had such a tiny glass with only 4 ice cubes. Mike took advantage of the free refills over and over. We ordered salads and I remembered how it was only yesterday that we did the same at a restaurant in London and learned that they don’t really have multiple salad dressings there – just vinaigrette.

 

Over at the bar, women chatted while waiting for flights. One lady had a camouflage hat on. It made me proud to still be American and proud of our troops, especially being in the South at the moment. When we left, a lady in a nearby gift shop commented on my hooded “London, England” sweatshirt. She must have thought we were from London. I laughed it off and said we were on our way home to Cali.

 

Four hours later, our half-empty flight back to California boarded. It was getting dark and the sun was nearly set on the far edge of the runway. I checked my watch and noticed that it would have been 4am in London. My eyes grew droopy and I fell asleep for the first time on an airplane as we hopped across a few states into Sothern California. Arriving late at night and the temperature being so hot was a wake-up call. So was driving on the right side of the road!

 

Like any amazing experience in life such as a graduation, wedding, or birth of a child, I wanted to remember this vacation. As a kid, we never traveled outside the state, so for me to break out of my shell and coordinate this giant trip was a huge step for me. If someone told me that I’d be visiting 4 countries in 2 weeks, I never would have believed them. I went from hating flying to flying nearly 12 hours each way with zero problems.

 

There were too many stories to tell. Too many pictures to upload. I didn’t even know where to start when people would ask, “How was your trip?”

 

So I wrote this report.

 

It has been of immense fun putting together this trip report over the last six days. Never in my wildest dreams did I think it would reach 12,268 views! I simply wanted to write a trip report because nobody really wrote one in the past to this extent about the British Isles (that I could find), and a lot of us had so many questions. I also wanted to shed light onto an itinerary that doesn’t get much love. If one person out there is able to have a smoothly executed British Isles cruise because of something myself or others on Cruise Critic have typed, that makes me happy.

 

This forum is so brilliant. To think that strangers from all over the world can come together with a common hobby or a common trip and learn from each other and go on to meet each other is so amazing. Cruising may get a bad rap for being catered to the “Newlywed or Nearly Dead”, but how else would I be able to see so many fascinating ports with such ease? Where else can you open your curtains in the morning to a different part of the world? Where else can you eat a 4-course meal every night for free, or watch theater shows just steps from your room?

 

For those of you who are interested in taking a British Isles cruise in the future – do it. It’s such a rare and well put together itinerary and nobody else can touch it right now except Princess. You’ll see unspoiled countryside, the way it was meant to look. You’ll see charm and culture and people who are proud of their history. There's something for every age group.

 

This was our sixth cruise and it was our best cruise. This was made up of a combination of things: itinerary, service of the Princess staff, dining room food, and value for your money. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

Thank you so much for reading this report. I hope you have found it to be helpful, insightful, amusing, or just plain obsessive as I have! I know there has to be others out there like me that crave information and perhaps there's a nugget or two in one of these chapters that aids you on your trip.

 

I’m always around, so if you have any questions about any part of this trip, feel free to e-mail me. I love to help!

 

Alas, it is 1am and I must hit the hay as I have work tomorrow. Work, you know, that place that pays me so that I can go on another cruise…..

 

 

To view all my London photos, you can visit:

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4069618586361.2168221.1459238567&type=3&l=5149112b46

 

To view ship pics and all of England: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4050564310016.2167789.1459238567&type=3&l=9d7a299327

 

To view all of Ireland: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4051161564947.2167803.1459238567&type=3&l=357c6bb250

 

To view all of Scotland: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.4057411241185.2167946.1459238567&type=3&l=49acf310c4

 

 

 

 

 

 

Next Chapter = I don’t know, what is the next chapter? That’s the best part. ;)

 

 

I have to say this was one of the best reviews of a cruise I've seen. I'm one of those older folks, and sorry, I don't keep going until I drop. But on a Princess cruise, it would be possible. Anyway, great blog and start dreaming of your next trip.

[homeinboca]

Hi DeloreanGirl,

 

I really enjoyed your review! Your writing is great, how you express your feelings really resonated with me. I too was so overjoyed to be able to travel to Europe for the first time. We did our first trip to Rome and a European cruise 2 summers ago and we are leaving shortly for Barcelona to go on the Royal Princess on the Grand Mediterranean itinerary.

 

I'm looking forward to posting my review of that trip as well. I only hope I can share my experiences as well as you did! Thank you so much!

 

Ron

 

BTW - do you have a Delorean??? :)

[loma linda ca a & j]

Ann & Jim, I also followed your posts on the Britain Board. However, I cannot find whether you posted a review. Can you lead me to that post?

 

I am now following a new thread posted this morning on Tina-Ann's Princess British Isles cruise. I am loving every moment of this cruise and I am not even going until 2015!:eek:

 

can you believe it took me 2 weeks to unwind /return

to reality & finally unpack - the souvenirs & books are

still strewn all over the living room !:eek:

every day i tell myself i must write a review because

altho some of our experiences were similar to emily's

& other reviewers, we did have several quite different ones

we would like to return in 2015 & do the same itinerary

but spend more time in the cities - churches, museums,pubs

since this time we mainly did a lot of the magnificent countryside

 

so let's keep in touch - perhaps, choose the same sailing ??;)

p.s am also enjoying tina-ann !

Edited August 3, 2013 by loma linda ca a & j
add

[loma linda ca a & j]

Ann & Jim, I also followed your posts on the Britain Board. However, I cannot find whether you posted a review. Can you lead me to that post?

 

I am now following a new thread posted this morning on Tina-Ann's Princess British Isles cruise. I am loving every moment of this cruise and I am not even going until 2015!:eek:

 

meant to add - wonder which ship

will be doing the brit isles in 2015 ?

 

next year it is NOT carib - it is ruby -

so maybe ruby will return for 2015 ?

 

that would be nice cuz we have not cruised on ruby :)

the other ?? for us to decide is the month -

we usually travel spring & fall but for brit isles

think early summer is better - perhaps june

 

we were so lucky this time - june 18 - july 17 -

only 1 day of rain in dublin - a few were chilly but

most days were warm - just right for us -

as we do not like hot humid weather;)

[DeloreanGirl]

am so happy to read that great news !! ;)

our brit isles journey was so much more than we ever imagined !!

now i understand why you were ready to move there !! the villages,

countryside, flower baskets everywhere, the wonderful people -

all soooooooooo special !!!

ann & jim not far from you !!;)

 

Hi Ann&Jim!!

 

I was thinking of you when June rolled around. I am so happy to hear that you had a great time! Amazing, isn't it? If you get around to writing a report (no matter how big or small) I would love to read it!

 

Hi DeloreanGirl,

 

I really enjoyed your review! Your writing is great, how you express your feelings really resonated with me. I too was so overjoyed to be able to travel to Europe for the first time. We did our first trip to Rome and a European cruise 2 summers ago and we are leaving shortly for Barcelona to go on the Royal Princess on the Grand Mediterranean itinerary.

 

I'm looking forward to posting my review of that trip as well. I only hope I can share my experiences as well as you did! Thank you so much!

 

Ron

 

BTW - do you have a Delorean??? :)

 

Hi Ron!

 

The Mediterranean is definintely on my Top 10 Bucket List. And yes, we had a DeLorean. It's how I met my husband. I fell in love with the car at 17 and made a website about it. Someone from the CA DeLorean Owners Club saw it and told me there would be a Christmas parade with 9 of them there. Mike's was the first one in line and he let me ride through the parade in it. That was 13 years ago. We got it into cherry condition and took it to tons of car shows and eventually sold it years later to a Brit who is taking excellent care of it now. If/when we ever go back to Ireland, it would be neat to see the factory in Belfast! :)

Edited August 3, 2013 by DeloreanGirl

[MMDown Under]

[quote name=

 

And yes' date=' we had a DeLorean. It's how I met my husband. I fell in love with the car at 17 and made a website about it. Someone from the CA DeLorean Owners Club saw it and told me there would be a Christmas parade with 9 of them there. Mike's was the first one in line and he let me ride through the parade in it. That was 13 years ago. We got it into cherry condition and took it to tons of car shows and eventually sold it years later to a Brit who is taking excellent care of it now. If/when we ever go back to Ireland, it would be neat to see the factory in Belfast! :)[/quote]

 

What a romantic way to meet your husband! I now know what a DeLorean is. Congratulations on your baby news.

 

I'm not sure why I looked at your thread, except I've just returned from Britain and am jet lagged. However, I'm so glad I did, as I've just read your interesting and entertaining review and comments in one sitting.

 

Cruising around Britain, with it's fickle weather, always seemed such a risk to me, as I hate to miss ports. When I was in Falmouth in June, Marina didn't tender because of the currents, and, when I was in Penzance, the fog was so thick you would't see St Michael's Mount, just off shore.

 

You have a wonderful career ahead of you whatever you choose to do. You have a gift for writing.

 

Princess should bottle your enthusiasm and sprinkle it lavishly on their Port Lecturers.

Edited August 3, 2013 by MMDown Under

[seacrystal]

meant to add - wonder which ship

will be doing the brit isles in 2015 ?

 

next year it is NOT carib - it is ruby -

so maybe ruby will return for 2015 ?

 

that would be nice cuz we have not cruised on ruby :)

the other ?? for us to decide is the month -

we usually travel spring & fall but for brit isles

think early summer is better - perhaps june

 

we were so lucky this time - june 18 - july 17 -

only 1 day of rain in dublin - a few were chilly but

most days were warm - just right for us -

as we do not like hot humid weather;)

 

I wouldn't mind the Ruby. We love her sister ship, the Crown. We have not sailed her and I always like trying different ships.

 

We want to take the British Isles cruise in August to be able to attend the Edinburgh Tattoo. It is supposed to be terrific! I know it will be hard to predict the weather. You were very lucky this year. I know I will have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best!:D

[loma linda ca a & j]

I wouldn't mind the Ruby. We love her sister ship, the Crown. We have not sailed her and I always like trying different ships.

 

We want to take the British Isles cruise in August to be able to attend the Edinburgh Tattoo. It is supposed to be terrific! I know it will be hard to predict the weather. You were very lucky this year. I know I will have to prepare for the worst and hope for the best!:D

 

have only heard/read wonderful reviews of the tattoo :) -

however, for us, the weather might be too warm & humid

plus the crowds would be overwhelming - it was enough

this time in early-mid july:eek:

so will just keep waiting for next spring when 2015 itin are posted

& then decide which dates are best for us - want to go to places

we missed this time - wales for several days, bath for 2,

london for 5 or 6 to see / do more - we ran out of time !! ;)

[seacrystal]

have only heard/read wonderful reviews of the tattoo :) -

however, for us, the weather might be too warm & humid

plus the crowds would be overwhelming - it was enough

this time in early-mid july:eek:

so will just keep waiting for next spring when 2015 itin are posted

& then decide which dates are best for us - want to go to places

we missed this time - wales for several days, bath for 2,

london for 5 or 6 to see / do more - we ran out of time !! ;)

 

I know the heat this year was totally unexpected. Who knows - it may actually be freezing when we plan our trip.:eek: I hate having to wait so long before the summer 2015 British Isles cruises are released.:( This is why I am so happy to be getting the reports back this year to help with the planning.

[loma linda ca a & j]

I know the heat this year was totally unexpected. Who knows - it may actually be freezing when we plan our trip.:eek: I hate having to wait so long before the summer 2015 British Isles cruises are released.:( This is why I am so happy to be getting the reports back this year to help with the planning.

 

i've never understood why it takes some lines sooooooooo long

to post the following year's itineraries but guess it really does involve

a lot of details & once posted very difficult to change their plans:eek:

 

yes i too read almost every review of anything i am interested in doing &

get involved in all the sailings/threads we book - cc people are sooooooo

helpful even those who are not cruisers i.e john bull, cotswold eagle, bob++, etc.

who live in england and go out of their way to give us invaluable advice:)

Edited August 5, 2013 by loma linda ca a & j

[loma linda ca a & j]

Hi Ann&Jim!!

 

I was thinking of you when June rolled around. I am so happy to hear that you had a great time! Amazing, isn't it? If you get around to writing a report (no matter how big or small) I would love to read it!

 

oh i wish i could get everything that is swirling around in my head about this incredible journey

written down into a review like you & so many others have done - my problem is i procrastinate,

let other events (family, friends, other small trips w/ grandkids, genealogy research, planning for next trip -

the list goes on and on !! :eek:) get in my way, & then am overwhelmed by it all !!:o

 

but this time am really going to make the effort - we leave wed for a week at beach resort

near el capitan trip w/ 2 grandkids - 9 & 14 - in their parents' motor home -

so maybe i can start it there amongst the pines ??;)

 

bet you are so excited about the baby !!!!!:)

 

 

Edited August 5, 2013 by loma linda ca a & j

[Jim Avery]

Just wanted to add my thanks as well for a grand review. London is our favorite (favourite) city also.:D

Jim & Lois

[seacrystal]

but this time am really going to make the effort - we leave wed for a week at beach resort near el capitan trip w/ 2 grandkids - 9 & 14 - in their parents' motor home - so maybe i can start it there amongst the pines ??;)

 

YAY!! YAY!! YAY!! Nothing like a lot of outside pressure to get you going;). Looking forward to it. Have fun!

[Larry Barry]

My husband's fondest dream is to do the Ireland/British Isles somehow. He is handicapped and I am wondering if there is any way he could do some of the things you did with a walker in tow? Please be honest. My fear is just getting through Heathrow!