Princee Tattoo Questions

[Chesie]

For anyone who went with Princess for the Tattoo this year, do you remember what time you left the ship and what time you arrived at the castle?

 

We are trying to figure out dinner time if we have enough time in Edinburgh or have to get a "to go" from the ship.

 

Many Thanks in Advance!

 

Nancy

[caripoo]

We left the ship between 3 and 3:30. They make a bathroom stop that takes forever....Once you get into the city you will not likely have time for a sit down dinner unless you have a reservation. The Fringe festival is going on at the same time and the streets are PACKED. We were happy with street food, but not a lot of choices. We normally do not book cruise excursions, but did this one and we should have done the Tattoo on our own. HAPPY SAILING

[Chesie]

We left the ship between 3 and 3:30. They make a bathroom stop that takes forever....Once you get into the city you will not likely have time for a sit down dinner unless you have a reservation. The Fringe festival is going on at the same time and the streets are PACKED. We were happy with street food, but not a lot of choices. We normally do not book cruise excursions, but did this one and we should have done the Tattoo on our own. HAPPY SAILING

 

Thanks for you response.

 

Do you mean you should have done the tattoo on your own by private tour? Can you recommend anyone?

[pizzalady1]

Thanks for you response.

 

Do you mean you should have done the tattoo on your own by private tour? Can you recommend anyone?

 

Have you been checking out your Roll Call? Most times they get together and form groups and get a specially planned tour going for less than the Princess tour. For the Tattoo, some are using Great Scot Tours http://www.greatscot-tours.com/ or Timberbush Tours http://www.timberbush-tours.co.uk/. Both tour companies are giving a Glasgow tour and then transport to and from the Tattoo, making a full day of it.

 

If you are going Carribean Princess, here are your roll calls:

Aug 4, 2013 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1600953

Aug 16, 2013 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1594858

[Chesie]

Have you been checking out your Roll Call? Most times they get together and form groups and get a specially planned tour going for less than the Princess tour. For the Tattoo, some are using Great Scot Tours http://www.greatscot-tours.com/ or Timberbush Tours http://www.timberbush-tours.co.uk/. Both tour companies are giving a Glasgow tour and then transport to and from the Tattoo, making a full day of it.

 

If you are going Carribean Princess, here are your roll calls:

Aug 4, 2013 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1600953

Aug 16, 2013 http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1594858

 

 

Thank you. Yes I have been active on our rollcall but the tour is full. I just don't want all the stress of the "what if" happens. I'm booking several private tours myself with my group of 8 already. Maybe I'll take a look to see what the tattoo private tour will entail. Thank you

[caripoo]

The suggestion to check your roll call is a great idea.. We had a roll call for our cruise with some SUPER organizers. They had excursions going in every port. You can buy your Tattoo tickets on their website and hire a driver. Although you can take advantage of really having a good portion of the day to do other things and then head to the Tattoo. Check your roll call, it if always full of GREAT advice.;)

[LuvKruzn]

For anyone who went with Princess for the Tattoo this year, do you remember what time you left the ship and what time you arrived at the castle?

 

We are trying to figure out dinner time if we have enough time in Edinburgh or have to get a "to go" from the ship.

 

Many Thanks in Advance!

 

Nancy

 

Nancy,

 

The 2013 Caribbean Princess Aug 4 and 16 and the Ocean Princess Aug 6, 14, and 22 cruises will all be ideal for making private arrangements for the Edinburgh Military Tattoo on your own. The Caribbean Princess stops at Glasgow (Greenock Cruise Terminal) and stays until midnight or 2:00 AM (depending on the time of the Tattoo (either 7:30 or 9:00 PM), and the Ocean Princess docks at Rosyth Cruise Terminal about 8 miles from Edinburgh Castle and stays until midnight, for the 9:00 PM performance.

 

The Tattoo performance lasts about 1hr and 45 minutes. It is about a 15 minute walk to the Waverly Train Station (if you leave just after the Lone Piper plays) where you can catch a train to either Glasgow and then on to Greenock Cruise Terminal, or to the *Inverkeithing train station for the Rosyth Cruise Terminal. Otherwise figure 30 to 45 minutes to walk to Waverly Station if you stay until the end and are stuck in the middle of the stands.

 

This web page (Cruising the British Isles – Edinburgh from Rosyth Scotland) has information on the Train from Rosyth to Edinburgh. This Rosyth to Edinburgh CC thread provides additional information regarding transportation at Rosyth. Taxi fares to Edinburgh are about 26 GBP each way.

 

We organized an all day tour and transfer from Greenock Cruise Terminal through the Trousachs and with a stop at Stirling Castle before attending the Edinburgh Military Tattoo for 35 members of the Caribbean Princess Cruise Critic Roll Call group with Timberbush Tours and had an absolutely fabulous day. We departed at 9:30 AM, toured during the day, had supper at the Hub Cafe (one block from the Tattoo), attended the 7:30 PM performance, and were back at Greenock by 11:30 PM before over 600 folks that were on the Princess tours. We were dropped off and picked up about 2 blocks from the Tattoo and understand that those on the Princess buses has to walk 1 to 1 1/2 mile up-hill (and back down-hill afterwards) to the large bus parking area. Click here for a description our Timberbush Tour. Visit the CC Roll Call Web Page for more information about the ports and tours that were organized for the 2012 Caribbean Princess British Isles and Transatlantic Cruise beginning Aug 13, 2012.

 

We began organizing the Caribbean Princess Roll Call Edinburgh Military Tattoo tour in September 2011, identified the numbers interested in purchasing their own Tattoo tickets, and requested information on possible tour operators. We then encouraged all that were interested in getting Priority Tickets to join the Friends of Tattoo so we could get order up to 6 tickets per membership two weeks before the general public and requested seats in Section 9 together. We then contacted the Tattoo Office and requested seats for our CC Group to all set together. When our group reached 35 in December 2011, we made arrangements with Timberbush Tours for an all day tour before the Tattoo. We subsequently contacted the Hub Cafe to make the Pre-Tattoo supper arrangements for the group. The Hub Cafe was a perfect location for supper before the Tattoo as it is located one block from the Edinburgh Castle and has an easy access to the Tattoo Que.

 

All of this planning was required for this large of group. If you are planning for just 2 or 4 of you, tickets are usually available right up to the day of the Tattoo, and public transportation is always available. We had table mates on the Caribbean Princess that did not have tickets and were able to purchase tickets at face value the night before the same performance that we went to, took the train from Greenock to Glasgow, transferred to another station to get to Edinburgh Waverly station, and saw the Tattoo. They then left at 9:00 PM to catch the 9:30 PM train from Waverly back to Glasgow, and then were on the ship at 11:30 PM. The ship sailed at 12:15 AM.

 

Bottom Line: You can easily organize a Group tour and tickets purchase by joining a CC Roll Call for the cruise you are planning to take and begin the planning now, or do it completely independently as you finalize your plans. We had a second group of 15 organize a Timberbush group tour just like ours and purchase tickets about two months before the performance. The two groups traveled together during the day tour through the Troussachs and Stirling Castle. We highly recommend the ALL-DAY tour as you see so much of the real Scotland beauty. The Princess Tattoo Coaches do NO Touring - its a straight drive to the Tattoo Parking Spot and return.

BTW: If you do see the 7:30 PM performance, we would recommend you get seats in the lower sections of 3 or 4, so the sun is to your back (in the event you have a sunny evening). In section 9, we had sun in our face for over an hour and had difficulty taking good photos. Also many of the performers stay in the center of the arena and you will be closer to the action. Most all of the seats in sections 9 through 17 will be in the sun. We were all ready for rain and cold but pleasantly surprised by the great weather.

__________________

[Chesie]

Can I put you in my pocket for our cruise??:D You are one organized person. Can't thank you enough for the info. If I can only get timberbush to email back with some info that would be great. If I don't hear by Wed, I'll call Thanks again!