Ocean Princess British Isles Cruise Review -Disney Sheep Go Rogue

[Disney Sheep]

When we got back to Waverley Station to return to Inverkeithing, the monitors did not include Inverkeithing as a destination - after asking an attendant in an information booth, we discovered that we needed the train to Glenrothe (i.e. the train's final destination), which also stopped at Inverkeithing. Note, it actually left from the same platform that we had arrived on. Fortunately we had allowed ourselves a few minutes grace time at the station, which allowed us to find our platform on time.

 

The train ride back went smoothly, however the train seemed to stop at a lot more towns than it did on the way in to Edinburgh in the morning. Happily we were able to get seats together at a table this time, and we were more than happy to just sit and rest for a while. We also noticed Referendum signs at most of the train stations.

 

 

As we got close to Inverkeithing, I managed to take a photo of the ship from the train.

 

 

Once we arrived at Inverkeithing, we easily found a taxi waiting just outside the station to take us back to the cruise terminal and the cost was the same as the morning at £7. Back at Rosyth we only had to wait a few minutes for the shuttle, however the volunteers made it clear that we had to wait inside the terminal.

 

Once on the ship our first stop was our cabin to drop off our purchases and our next stop was the Cabaret Lounge to watch Captain America 2 - The Winter Soldier, playing on the big screen. This time DH and I sat up in the back where we had and un obstructed view of the big screen and I could pop out every now and then and pick up pop and munchies.

 

Somewhere around 3:45 pm, I popped upstairs and picked up 3 'take out' cups and then took the cups down to the main dining room and asked nicely at afternoon tea for some steeped tea. Apparently they aren't supposed to allow take out, but since I only wanted tea, they let me take tea away this time, especially when I made it clear that I liked their steeped tea so much better than the tea from just hot water poured on a tea bag. I found out later that the guys in charge of afternoon tea were looking for me since they saw me come in, but I disappeared with my tea before they could find me!

 

After the movie we headed up to enjoy hot tub time on deck 9. This was one of the first times that we tried out the hot tub on this cruise, but it would become part of our 'pre-dinner' routine for the rest of the cruise.

 

 

Each cabin had two blue and white striped towels for use at the pool, and our room steward replaced them each time we used them. I was also able to pick up a different mocktail at the Panorama Buffet bar each day to enjoy by the hot tub, so this was just another little perk that made our hot tub routine feel extra special.

 

 

and it was a nice way to pass the time together since we had late dinner, and the first show did not even start until we were scheduled to be in to dinner.

 

We headed back to our cabins by 6 pm in order to allow lots of time to shower and get dressed before dinner. Although all aboard time was 3:30 pm and we did indeed sail away shortly after that, we were still relatively close to shore as we sailed north and away from Edinburgh. Why was this fact memorable? Well, at one point I looked out the balcony window and said: Oh look there's a random castle! Must be Scotland. Googling islands in the Firth of Forth after we returned home, it turned out to be Inchcolm Abbey.

 

 

A little later we headed down to the main dining room for another enjoyable evening of good food and conversation with our table mates over dinner. Day one they had visited the National Gallery in Edinburgh in order to enjoy the art, while on day 2 they had visited St Andrews and had even taken a picture while standing on the 18th green, although they had not golfed.

 

[ontheweb]

While on the 12 day British Isles cruise, Princess offered a shuttle into the city for a fee ($8-10) at a couple of ports.

 

We tendered while at Edinburgh, there was a shuttle (not with Princess) dockside for a fee that took you into Edinburgh. Did you see any like that, where you docked?

 

Did Princess offer a shuttle at any ports on the 8 day cruise?

 

On our 8 day cruise, there was a shuttle offered by Princess in Rosyth, Scotland to the train for $8 each way. There was also a shuttle offered by Princess in Dublin for the same price.

 

On the second Scotland day, we went to Dunfermline (might be spelled wrong), the ancient capital. There was a free shuttle. This was NOT from Princess, but from the locals.

 

Our other two ports, in Milford Haven, Wales and St. Helier on the Isle of Jersey, were both tender ports.

[phabric]

On our 8 day cruise, there was a shuttle offered by Princess in Rosyth, Scotland to the train for $8 each way. There was also a shuttle offered by Princess in Dublin for the same price.

 

On the second Scotland day, we went to Dunfermline (might be spelled wrong), the ancient capital. There was a free shuttle. This was NOT from Princess, but from the locals.

 

Our other two ports, in Milford Haven, Wales and St. Helier on the Isle of Jersey, were both tender ports.

 

What did you do on the other 2 ports?

 

For the free shuttle, did they just take you there and back and you walk around and meet back for the shuttle or did they give a short tour of the town?

[ontheweb]

What did you do on the other 2 ports?

 

For the free shuttle, did they just take you there and back and you walk around and meet back for the shuttle or did they give a short tour of the town?

 

Answering your last question first, they just leave you off. We actually got off on our way back at the last stop before the ship (just a brief picture taking opportunity) and walked to an underwater aquarium. We asked and were told we could catch the next (last) shuttle if we were on time, and there were empty seats. We got there on time, and there were 2 seats left, so we did not need a cab.

 

We discovered the information about this shuttle in the British Isles section of cruisecritic.

 

In Milford Haven, we booked a ship's tour--a Welsh spoon making establishment and the town of Tenby. We bought a love spoon for ourselves, and one for a friend and neighbor who was making sure our cat got fed each day we were gone. In Tenby, we strolled around one of the beaches. We thoroughly enjoyed the day. Tenby itself, was basically a whole lot of shopping opportunities.

 

Before going on our tour, we started toward Milford Haven. We checked out a museum about the history of Milford Haven. It was mostly about the fishing industry. I'm sure that sounds boring, but it was fascinating. We spent so much time in there that we ended up not having time to get to Milford Haven proper before our excursion. (Actually, we had met someone from Wales earlier in the year who told us that there was nothing to do in Milford Haven.)

 

In St. Hellier, we went on a private tour set up by a member of our roll call. Basically, we were driven around and saw what sites there were. It was not really that much of a port. I did hear a passenger say that the Princess tour of the WWII German occupied sites was fascinating, but not really long enough to see everything.

[ontheweb]

Answering your last question first, they just leave you off. We actually got off on our way back at the last stop before the ship (just a brief picture taking opportunity) and walked to an underwater aquarium. We asked and were told we could catch the next (last) shuttle if we were on time, and there were empty seats. We got there on time, and there were 2 seats left, so we did not need a cab.

 

We discovered the information about this shuttle in the British Isles section of cruisecritic.

 

In Milford Haven, we booked a ship's tour--a Welsh spoon making establishment and the town of Tenby. We bought a love spoon for ourselves, and one for a friend and neighbor who was making sure our cat got fed each day we were gone. In Tenby, we strolled around one of the beaches. We thoroughly enjoyed the day. Tenby itself, was basically a whole lot of shopping opportunities.

 

Before going on our tour, we started toward Milford Haven. We checked out a museum about the history of Milford Haven. It was mostly about the fishing industry. I'm sure that sounds boring, but it was fascinating. We spent so much time in there that we ended up not having time to get to Milford Haven proper before our excursion. (Actually, we had met someone from Wales earlier in the year who told us that there was nothing to do in Milford Haven.)

just

In St. Hellier, we went on a private tour set up by a member of our roll call. Basically, we were driven around and saw what sites there were. It was not really that much of a port. I did hear a passenger say that the Princess tour of the WWII German occupied sites was fascinating, but not really long enough to see everything.

 

Let me add that we did one more Princess excursion. Instead of just taking a transfer to Heathrow from the ship in Dover, we did the excursion to the airport featuring Canterbury. We drove around both Dover and Canterbury, and then were dropped off at the Cathedral in Canterbury. (DW thought it would be much better than spending boring hours waiting at the airport, and she was right.) It was a very pleasant, worthwhile excursion with an excellent guide. And even though we were now off the ship, it still seemed like we were on our cruise.

 

I also give kudos to Princess for not cancelling this and asking us to either take a straight transfer or the other excursion to Heathrow since there were only 14 of us on the excursion. (In the summer of 2012 on the NCL Epic, a huge ship, an excursion we really wanted was cancelled by the cruise line because they were just short of the 25 minimum that they required. And since they did not know that they would not reach that number until the last minute, we only found out about the cancellation on the day the tour was supposed to happen. And this is despite that fact that they charge your credit card when you book the excursion, not wait for it to be on your cruise folio.)

 

There was also one couple from our roll call and their two college age daughters on this excursion, so again seeing people we knew made it seem a part of the cruise experience.

[I_r_a]

Thanks for sharing, Yvonne.

 

Xlnt report.

 

Ira

[paiagirl]

Yvonne, we will be doing the OCEAN PRINCESS 8 day British Isle next year and enjoying your review. Your photos are very nice and you have a wonderful family.

 

It looks like Jersey was the last port before Dover? Am anxiously waiting to read what you did there.

 

Did you by any chance see any puffins?

 

Thank you.

 

paiagirl

[KBS1607]

I really am enjoying your trip report and pictures.

[Disney Sheep]

Answering your last question first, they just leave you off. We actually got off on our way back at the last stop before the ship (just a brief picture taking opportunity) and walked to an underwater aquarium. We asked and were told we could catch the next (last) shuttle if we were on time, and there were empty seats. We got there on time, and there were 2 seats left, so we did not need a cab.

 

We discovered the information about this shuttle in the British Isles section of cruisecritic.

 

In Milford Haven, we booked a ship's tour--a Welsh spoon making establishment and the town of Tenby. We bought a love spoon for ourselves, and one for a friend and neighbor who was making sure our cat got fed each day we were gone. In Tenby, we strolled around one of the beaches. We thoroughly enjoyed the day. Tenby itself, was basically a whole lot of shopping opportunities.

 

Before going on our tour, we started toward Milford Haven. We checked out a museum about the history of Milford Haven. It was mostly about the fishing industry. I'm sure that sounds boring, but it was fascinating. We spent so much time in there that we ended up not having time to get to Milford Haven proper before our excursion. (Actually, we had met someone from Wales earlier in the year who told us that there was nothing to do in Milford Haven.)

 

In St. Hellier, we went on a private tour set up by a member of our roll call. Basically, we were driven around and saw what sites there were. It was not really that much of a port. I did hear a passenger say that the Princess tour of the WWII German occupied sites was fascinating, but not really long enough to see everything.

 

Many thanks Ontheweb for helping get answers to people. It has been a tough few days in Canada, but we are moving on.

[Disney Sheep]

Thanks for sharing, Yvonne.

 

Xlnt report.

 

Ira

 

Glad to have you reading along. MTF soon.

[Disney Sheep]

Yvonne, we will be doing the OCEAN PRINCESS 8 day British Isle next year and enjoying your review. Your photos are very nice and you have a wonderful family.

 

It looks like Jersey was the last port before Dover? Am anxiously waiting to read what you did there.

 

Did you by any chance see any puffins?

 

Thank you.

 

paiagirl

 

Many thanks for your kind comments and glad to have you reading along.

 

St Helier , Jersey had the potential to be an amazing port! I would love to spend a week there, however we did not have time to see puffins.

[Disney Sheep]

I really am enjoying your trip report and pictures.

 

Glad you are enjoying the TR and glad to have you reading along.

[Disney Sheep]

It was a 'Double Moo 7' kind of day for us :). In other words we were so tired after all of the activity that we had packed in to our two days in Edinburgh that we were more than ready to kick back and relax and take it very easy. And that meant from DH's perspective that he got to wear his 'I'm relaxing t-shirt' - the t-shirt is a Prince Edward Island 'Cows' Ice cream store shirt that is a parody of James Bond and his 007 personality. This t-shirt and his 'Angry Herds' shirt from the same store get him the most comments from other people. Seriously though, the t-shirt makes DH happy, so it was truly a Double Moo 7 kind of day.

 

 

As can be expected, we started the day by sleeping in and followed it up with an enjoyable buffet breakfast in the Panorama Buffet - it seemed that we could always find something we liked to eat for breakfast at the buffet.

 

Our next stop was one of our favourite places on the entire ship, the library. We had discovered early on during the cruise that not only was the library comfortable and cozy with all kinds of games available, but it was just one deck away from food and drinks. Lots and lots of food and drink. And happily, the other passengers who hung out in the library were fairly laid back and relaxed about it. Actually, although it was not a hard and fast rule, people who wanted to actually read or put puzzles together tended to settle themselves in on the starboard side, while those who might be a little more noisy while playing games tended to hang out on the port side.

 

Everyone who was there when we were in there however was respectful of others and of the purpose of the room, and that included kids of all ages. We actually saw more kids in the library during the cruise than we did any where else.

 

 

In general, we were mostly on the port side playing games together. Or rather DH and DS would play games, while I would work on the daily Sudoku puzzle that Princess provided or play Candy Crush on my iPad, and watch my boys. On this day, DS challenged DH to play Jenga.

 

 

DS mostly lost, whether that was due to DH being an engineer, to DS taking lots more risks, or to the motion of the ship just as DS would choose really risky moves and DH getting lucky, I'm not sure. What I do know is that the boys figured out very quickly the point in the game when they needed to be prepared to stabilize the structure, I.e. catch it before/as it fell in order to avoid loud crashing noises!

 

 

They eventually moved on to Chess and then Checkers, but it was the Scrabble game that was the most hard fought. As usual, DS kept trying to stick in words in French (since he is in French Immersion in school), while DH tends to approach spelling like a typical engineer - his vocabulary is extensive, but he spells words how he thinks they should be spelled, which means he and the Oxford dictionary are not always completely in sync. Overall, I was only required to rule on a couple of words during this game, and when DS used all of his tiles to end the game and DH added up the points, DH had won by just 9 points. And then DS started to ask questions about whether or not he should get a bonus for using all of his tiles - and I suggested that he read the rules and figure it out, which he did. And it turned out, that not only was DS able to point out that DH had to subtract the points from his score for the tiles that he had not used, but that DS got to add those 5 points on to his score. In the end, DS won by just 1 point - to which I pointed out the value of reading! It was indeed a hard fought and hard won victory.

 

 

And through the whole afternoon, I got up at several points and headed out onto the wind blown track to get my steps in. Given that it was windy and fairly cool, I would only manage to get a few laps in before I felt the need to head inside for hot chocolate and pop and sometimes treats from Panorama buffet. The library really was ideally located for casual afternoons.

[ontheweb]

Many thanks Ontheweb for helping get answers to people. It has been a tough few days in Canada, but we are moving on.

 

You are welcome. I hope I have been helpful.

 

And let me also thank you for all the information and pictures you have posted. And. of course, best wishes for all our Canadian neighbors to get through these tough times

[phabric]

Was hot chocolate free in the buffet?

[Kewz1]

As much as I love port days those sea days sure are a blessing! I enjoy just lounging on the ship and the library looks like a good place to do that.

 

And my condolences on the recent shootings. Prayers and best wishes to our neighbors in the north.

 

 

Kristen

[ontheweb]

As much as I love port days those sea days sure are a blessing! I enjoy just lounging on the ship and the library looks like a good place to do that.

 

And my condolences on the recent shootings. Prayers and best wishes to our neighbors in the north.

 

 

Kristen

 

Half of our 10 cruises have been in Europe. The port days are so intensive that the sea days are really a welcome break. Actually, on our very first cruise, a Western Mediterranean cruise of the Slendour of the Seas to celebrate our 25th anniversary, we had all port days until the last day was finally a sea day. DW was so worn out that she said that she was tired of people waiting on her and just wanted peanut butter and jelly.

 

And the library on the Ocean Princess is everything Yvonne has said, a wonderful, relaxing spot.

[Disney Sheep]

You are welcome. I hope I have been helpful.

 

And let me also thank you for all the information and pictures you have posted. And. of course, best wishes for all our Canadian neighbors to get through these tough times

 

Many thanks for your help, and for your kind words.

[Disney Sheep]

Was hot chocolate free in the buffet?

 

Hi again. I do not remember seeing any free hot chocolate in the buffet, but then again I did not look for it either since we had hot chocolate included as part of our drinks packages. There was definitely tea and coffee available in the buffet, but that is pretty much all I remember as being available.

[Disney Sheep]

As much as I love port days those sea days sure are a blessing! I enjoy just lounging on the ship and the library looks like a good place to do that.

 

And my condolences on the recent shootings. Prayers and best wishes to our neighbors in the north.

 

 

Kristen

 

Many thanks for your kind thoughts, it has indeed been a tough week.

 

As for the sea days, we really needed a sea day after all of the activity that we packed in to Edinburgh! And I can honestly say that the library was a great place, not stuffy or staid, but comfy and cozy. And the other passengers had a great attitude.

[Disney Sheep]

Eventually we decided to head downstairs for afternoon tea - only to discover that there had been a wine tasting held in the main dining room and afternoon tea was moved to Sabatini's - which happened to be directly opposite the library! But that's ok, I got much needed steps out of our walk to deck 5 and back. As we entered Sabatini's it was almost like they were expecting us. After we were lead to a very nice table, but then again most of the tables in Sabatini's are very nice, the servers immediately arrived with hot tea AND with hot gluten free scones! Score.

 

 

Seriously, the fact that Princess staff took up my casually tossed out challenge and managed to bake us gluten-free scones was truly customer service at its best (and yes, I filled out one of those customer service star forms for Julien and the afternoon tea crew - they truly deserved it). At the table I literally (mis) quoted Pinocchio from the second Shrek movie to my husband: I'm a REAL person!! (it needs to be said in a high squeaky over the top voice like Pinocchio did when he yelled: I'm a REAL boy!! :).

 

 

We have been on DCL and the Allure OTS (RCI), and although we always received great service when it came to gluten-free food, Princess went above and beyond in this case.

 

Afternoon tea had been a wonderful surprise, and we headed happily out of the very nicely appointed Sabatini's and back to our cabins to get changed into our swimsuits for our next indulgence, hot tub, mock tails, and pools. Repeat. Our Ultimate Soda and More package definitely paid off for us this trip. Between my daily mocktail, a daily hot chocolate and probably 2 daily pop on most days, we were comfortable that we got our monies worth, especially when I got to enjoy my mocktails in the hot tub each day :).

 

 

We were often joined in the hot tub by a passenger or two and the conversation was always enjoyable.

[Disney Sheep]

Since it was our second Formal night we gave ourselves lots of time back in the cabin to get cleaned up and then headed down stairs to take photos, both with the Princess photographer photo ops, and with our own camera. Side note: we often used the bottom of the stairs by the customer service desk for a family photo op, the staff who worked the desk were usually available and willing to take some photos for us.

 

 

Photography/Lack of Photo Packages on Princess. Unlike Disney or RCI, Princess does not have (IMHO) reasonably priced photos/photo packages. As a result, on this trip I have way more photos taken with my own camera off the ship than on the ship (well as long as you don't count hot tub photos). The 8 x 10 photos are either $19.99 (restaurant photos or port arrival photos etc) or else they are $25 for posed photos. Either way they are way way too expensive, so in general I did not purchase those photos. IMHO Princess needs to get with the 21st century and offer photo packages. As an example, I bought only two photos this trip (and I was able to use coupons, so they weren't full price) - and I am a scrapbooker who usually buys the digital package on the other ships!

 

Heading into the dining room we enjoyed another really nice evening with our table mates. Since DS is our fish eater, he truly enjoyed the evening, and was very happy when the staff brought him a second plate of lobster after he ate his first serving in record time.

 

 

After dinner (well after 10 pm!), I still needed to top up my steps, so we headed up to the walking track. It had turned out to be a really nice evening, and both the pool and the walking track looked really great lit up at night, however at that point we were looking forward to a good nights sleep.

 

 

But as they say, you can't always get what you want, and after our relaxing and most excellent day, unfortunately the night (and sleep) were about to be lost, but we didn't know it yet :(

 

The first couple of nights when the ship was really moving fast we thought we were hearing a foghorn in our cabin (6082). Really. It was always somewhere between 2am to 3 am. But it was a cyclical/inconsistent sound in relatively short bursts at first. And, we were so so so tired that we attributed it to something passing by outside or else wind whistling through the balcony windows or else just our imaginations - however that 'imagination' caused us to lose sleep. By the night before Dublin things in the ventilation system had degraded to us being awake from 2-3 am to a sound so loud and for such an extended period that guest services could hear it over our phone. And it was still going when the night supervisor and company arrived 10 mins later. It turned out that part of the problem was a broken baffle (flap) that they discovered the next day. The noise did quiet down after 3 am for some reason, but it took me a couple of hours to get back to sleep. Which did not bode well for our port day in Dublin.

[RNGALNG]

Oh, I am so sorry about the noise and lack of sleep! This would make anyone have a bad day!

 

Do you remember what the name of the mocktail in your last series of photos? I love getting them too and seem to always drift back to the strawberry daiquiri. On one cruise, one of the bartenders gave me the same fruit that you got on this as well as a slice of lime. I loved adding the lime to the top. Made the drink even better!

 

Also liked the one with chocolate and banana in it!

[ontheweb]

What did you do on the other 2 ports?

 

For the free shuttle, did they just take you there and back and you walk around and meet back for the shuttle or did they give a short tour of the town?

 

re Milford Haven, Wales---I have noticed looking at the ads we have been getting in the mail from Princess that this port does not seem to be on the British Isles cruises for next year. Londonderry seems to be the port they have substituted for it.

 

Maybe that will be a good to great port, but I can say (read my earlier post answering your question) that we really enjoyed out time at Milford Haven and the excursion we booked through Princess.

[phabric]

re Milford Haven, Wales---I have noticed looking at the ads we have been getting in the mail from Princess that this port does not seem to be on the British Isles cruises for next year. Londonderry seems to be the port they have substituted for it.

 

Maybe that will be a good to great port, but I can say (read my earlier post answering your question) that we really enjoyed out time at Milford Haven and the excursion we booked through Princess.

 

The August 1, 2015 cruise goes to Londonderry and is in port in Edinburgh only overnight for the passengers can return from the Tattoo. This is the cruise that they advertise.

 

The August 9 and 17, 2015, cruise goes to Milford Haven, Wales and spends 2 days in Edinburgh.