New shuttle bus service to Edinburgh from Queensferry 2018

[WeRockChalkKU]

tartanexile81 - thank you for your ongoing wealth of information and assistance.

 

I have also viewed your 2014 post about using the train to/from Queensferry. Your photos of exactly what to expect are invaluable. My question is about catching this years shuttle and if it also involves walking up those stairs like you do for the train? Additionally, if you booked a private car or taxi to pick you up/drop off at Queensferry - are those also at the top of those stairs or is there a road closer to the pier?

 

Sorry if you have already explained this and i’ve managed to miss the information. I really appreciate any input you might have. Thank you.

[tartanexile81]

Here is a photo of the top of the pier beachdreaming. I took it a year or two ago and since then gates have been installed at the end of the buildings.

 

 

There is a narrow road between the gates and the red car you can see. The shuttle bus is to the left - can you see the white car in the photo? Its waits there. Tour guides stand by the yellow kiosk where bus, train times etc are displayed. Taxis wait right outside the Hawes Inn just on the other side of the road.

 

The railway station is at the end of the bridge and so you can see how high the steps are to get there

[WeRockChalkKU]

Here is a photo of the top of the pier beachdreaming. I took it a year or two ago and since then gates have been installed at the end of the buildings.

 

 

There is a narrow road between the gates and the red car you can see. The shuttle bus is to the left - can you see the white car in the photo? Its waits there. Tour guides stand by the yellow kiosk where bus, train times etc are displayed. Taxis wait right outside the Hawes Inn just on the other side of the road.

 

The railway station is at the end of the bridge and so you can see how high the steps are to get there

As usual tartanexile81 you are a wealth of information! I thank you as do hundreds (maybe thousands of others) of others.

[tartanexile81]

Here now are the photos I took yesterday of where the shuttle bus will drop off passengers.

 

The bus stop is here in St Andrews Square

 

 

Walk towards the department store in front of you. It is called Harvey Nichols.

 

 

Turn right keeping the gardens on your right and the tram line on your left.

 

keep walking on down the hill towards Princes Street (Waverley Mall sign here)

[tartanexile81]

You have now reached Princes Street. Turn right.

Walk along to the traffic lights and turn left. You join the ho-ho bus here or another 10 minutes walk uphill will take you to the Royal Mile then the Castle

 

 

 

[smm0218]

So if you are an average to slow walker about how long would it take to get from Edinburgh Castle to the shuttle stop in St. Andrews Square?

 

Thanks

[SteveinPhilly]

TartanExile - I SWEAR that I posted these questions yesterday here but I don't see them - so posting again.

 

First off, thanks for going beyond the call!

 

Next, we are on the BOTS in Queensferry on Saturday June 13th. We are in "tender" from 7am to 6pm. That means that with tendering BOTH ways (on board is 5:30 pm) and the 45 minute bus ride to Edinburgh each way (plus time to wait for bus) we don't have a lot of time.

 

We will plan to take the bus return plus local transport (9#) I think. We want to visit the Castle and walk the Royal Mile (pedestrians only) and at least see the Parliment Bls=dg. - not sure open on Saturdays). Because the shuttle will only take us to the square, we need to get UP THE HILL to the castle. And, I'm told that we should buy tickets to the castle in advance - or have a Discover Scotland Pass - to avoid the lines. We could certainly get to the Castle on one of the three HOHO loop buses but we wouldn't know the times.

 

Another option is to take a shuttle at about 8am (assuming that's possible with 2,000 folks wanting to board the shuttle, and then take a HOHO bus (with a route that stops at Castle) for a full loop (an hour?) to see sights and get off at castle on next go round. And walk Down the Royal Mile. Depending on time we might take another HOHO look from square and just stay on. In order to get back to the ship:ship: on the shuttle I would guess that we would need to leave the square no later than 3:45-4:00 and HOPE there is room. :confused:

 

I guess we'll learn more one folks start using the service and post their experiences.

 

But what are YOUR thoughts on our plan to see inside Castle and Royal Mile and getting there from where shuttle leaves us off?

[Cotswold Eagle]

TartanExile - I SWEAR that I posted these questions yesterday here but I don't see them - so posting again.

 

 

 

 

 

You posted them in the old thread... [emoji846]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[tartanexile81]

TartanExile - I SWEAR that I posted these questions yesterday here but I don't see them - so posting again.

 

First off, thanks for going beyond the call!

 

Next, we are on the BOTS in Queensferry on Saturday June 13th. We are in "tender" from 7am to 6pm. That means that with tendering BOTH ways (on board is 5:30 pm) and the 45 minute bus ride to Edinburgh each way (plus time to wait for bus) we don't have a lot of time.

 

We will plan to take the bus return plus local transport (9#) I think. We want to visit the Castle and walk the Royal Mile (pedestrians only) and at least see the Parliment Bls=dg. - not sure open on Saturdays). Because the shuttle will only take us to the square, we need to get UP THE HILL to the castle. And, I'm told that we should buy tickets to the castle in advance - or have a Discover Scotland Pass - to avoid the lines. We could certainly get to the Castle on one of the three HOHO loop buses but we wouldn't know the times.

 

Another option is to take a shuttle at about 8am (assuming that's possible with 2,000 folks wanting to board the shuttle, and then take a HOHO bus (with a route that stops at Castle) for a full loop (an hour?) to see sights and get off at castle on next go round. And walk Down the Royal Mile. Depending on time we might take another HOHO look from square and just stay on. In order to get back to the ship:ship: on the shuttle I would guess that we would need to leave the square no later than 3:45-4:00 and HOPE there is room. :confused:

 

I guess we'll learn more one folks start using the service and post their experiences.

 

But what are YOUR thoughts on our plan to see inside Castle and Royal Mile and getting there from where shuttle leaves us off?

 

if you intend doing the Ho-Ho anyway, then just follow the instructions in the photos and get on either the Red CitySightseeing or the Green Edinburgh Tour. They leave about every 6 minutes and there's plenty of them!! We did the green tour on Sunday and thought it was excellent. The fact that there's a live commentary is so much more interesting. It was factual but not boring and better than fiddling with earphones.

 

If you want to walk to the castle:

• walk past the hop on, hop-off buses shown in the photo;
  
• about 200 yards after that there is a mini-roundabout. Go straight over (onto Cockburn Street) and up the hill.
  
• After about 400 yards you will reach the Royal Mile. Turn right towards the Castle.
  

The last shuttle bus is scheduled to leave St Andrews Square 45 minutes before the last tender. There will really so many buses on this route I cannot see anybody being left behind. Not many people will leave it to the last bus anyway.

[SteveinPhilly]

You posted them in the old thread... [emoji846]

 

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

My apologies to all tartan exile. Do you know how long each of the JoJo loops red andvgreenbtske ifbyouvstay on. Would help.

Also, if we wanted to RIDE up to the castle and walk down the royal mile?

[tartanexile81]

My apologies to all tartan exile. Do you know how long each of the JoJo loops red andvgreenbtske ifbyouvstay on. Would help.

Also, if we wanted to RIDE up to the castle and walk down the royal mile?

 

They're about 75 minutes for a complete loop. It seems a lot of money just to get to the Castle if that's all you want to use it for. It would be £16 per person. A taxi would only cost £8 as a guess and you can just hail one on the street

[mexico8]

Thank you Tartanexile for the great information. I have a mobility scooter and wonder if there are stairs that I have to use to get the shuttle bus from the port? My husband can carry my scooter up a few stairs but not too many so I am concerned about getting to the shuttle bus and then the HOHO buses if there are lots of stairs?

 

I copied and pasted your information on the new shuttle bus to our roll call (NCL Jade on May 4th). I am sure that others will be happy to see the information. Thank you also for the pictures of getting to the HOHO bus from the shuttle. What a great idea to do that.

 

Wendy

[SteveinPhilly]

They're about 75 minutes for a complete loop. It seems a lot of money just to get to the Castle if that's all you want to use it for. It would be £16 per person. A taxi would only cost £8 as a guess and you can just hail one on the street

 

I'd just prefer to not WALK up to the castle (but rather DOWN) :D

 

The purpose of the HOHO would be to see the castle Walk down Royal Mile and take one or two full 75 minute loops for narration and photos. Then we could SEE the most and KNOW what we are seeing. :)

 

That woul;d be 11# more than taking Shuttle Return and local bus to get up to the castle (9# total)

[tartanexile81]

Thank you Tartanexile for the great information. I have a mobility scooter and wonder if there are stairs that I have to use to get the shuttle bus from the port? My husband can carry my scooter up a few stairs but not too many so I am concerned about getting to the shuttle bus and then the HOHO buses if there are lots of stairs?

 

I copied and pasted your information on the new shuttle bus to our roll call (NCL Jade on May 4th). I am sure that others will be happy to see the information. Thank you also for the pictures of getting to the HOHO bus from the shuttle. What a great idea to do that.

 

Wendy

 

Unfortunately you are not docking in Queensferry but at Newhaven. There are 4 ports for Edinburgh and I'm afraid Newhaven is a very tricky one for cruisers with mobility difficulties. I'll be there on Friday and will take a photo of the stairs you have to climb up from the tender. Newhaven is closer to the city centre and you can get a local bus in and there is also a hoho bus - the Majestic Line

[tartanexile81]

Thank you Tartanexile for the great information. I have a mobility scooter and wonder if there are stairs that I have to use to get the shuttle bus from the port? My husband can carry my scooter up a few stairs but not too many so I am concerned about getting to the shuttle bus and then the HOHO buses if there are lots of stairs?

 

I copied and pasted your information on the new shuttle bus to our roll call (NCL Jade on May 4th). I am sure that others will be happy to see the information. Thank you also for the pictures of getting to the HOHO bus from the shuttle. What a great idea to do that.

 

Wendy

 

This is a view of the harbour from the main road where the hoho buses run.

 

This shows you passengers using the gangway to get back on the tender so you can decide if you can get ashore. There are few steps to negotiate and the surface is quite uneven

 

I created a thread about Newhaven a year or two back. The photos weren't very good so I intend to replace them this season but they will certainly give you an idea and here is a link to the thread

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2231904

[itsanita]

Just a FYI

 

Our ship stays in Edinburgh overnight. We are going to the Tattoo and decided to stay in the city that night so that we don't have to go back to the ship after the show, and can enjoy Edinburgh again the next day. I was curious if the return on the shuttle could be for the next day. I checked with the shuttle company and they said they were for 1 day use. So we would have to buy a return for the next day at an additional 4 pounds. Still not a bad deal.

[rdt10]

Just a FYI

 

Our ship stays in Edinburgh overnight. We are going to the Tattoo and decided to stay in the city that night so that we don't have to go back to the ship after the show, and can enjoy Edinburgh again the next day. I was curious if the return on the shuttle could be for the next day. I checked with the shuttle company and they said they were for 1 day use. So we would have to buy a return for the next day at an additional 4 pounds. Still not a bad deal.

Thanks Anita. We are on the same cruise and also spending the night in Edinburgh for the Tattoo. We have a tour planned for our first day so don't need transportation to town. The shuttle looks like a good way to return to the ship.

[itsanita]

Thanks Anita. We are on the same cruise and also spending the night in Edinburgh for the Tattoo. We have a tour planned for our first day so don't need transportation to town. The shuttle looks like a good way to return to the ship.

We will use either the shuttle or the train to return to the ship....depends on how busy the shuttle bus is.

 

If the lines seem to be really long for the shuttle, and it runs only every 20 minutes, we may opt for the train. I'm waiting to see reports this summer on how it goes for earlier cruisers.

[tartanexile81]

We will use either the shuttle or the train to return to the ship....depends on how busy the shuttle bus is.

 

If the lines seem to be really long for the shuttle, and it runs only every 20 minutes, we may opt for the train. I'm waiting to see reports this summer on how it goes for earlier cruisers.

 

Tomorrow's the first day so watch this space

[tartanexile81]

I was on the Royal Princess till noon but spoke to my colleagues on the pier. They said the Queensferry part of the shuttle bus had worked really well. Buses came constantly throughout the morning and there weren't long queues at any time. So far so good. Hopefully someone will come back and report on how things went getting back from the city.

[smm0218]

I'd love to know how fast everyone was able to tender off.

[WeRockChalkKU]

I'd love to know how fast everyone was able to tender off.

 

That will vary by each ship I would think.

 

I’m curious as to approximate length of time it takes to tender each tender sails.

[smm0218]

That will vary by each ship I would think.

 

I’m curious as to approximate length of time it takes to tender each tender sails.

 

Forgot Royal Princess wouldn't be the only ship using the shuttles.

 

Curious how long it took passengers on Royal Princess to tender off.

[tartanexile81]

I'd love to know how fast everyone was able to tender off.

 

By around 10:30 they said to go straight to Deck 4, no need to collect tender tickets

[WatchHill]

On the cruise right now and use the shuttle system. It's a work in progress and for the most part seems to be a good option.However, we got on the broken bus and sat at the pier for over 35 minutes before the driver admitted there were problems. We then got onto another bus and had to wait until that filled, missed our scheduled tour in Edinburgh. The return trip about 4: was a bit slow due to traffic, but worked out well.

Tenders went quickly, the port also used on of their larger boats in the afternoon.

 

Seems the lower rate of 6GBP return forced other vendors to lower their price. Glad we didn't attempt the 120 steps at the rail station.

 

Darcy