Crown Princess Excursion Problems

[omc329]

8 hours ago, ASiuta said:

What was the date of your cruise?  I am assuming that your port of embarkation was Dublin and that you are speaking from personal experience.  Please advise.  We have private tours booked in both Southhampton and Cobh and would like to know if we need to notify the guides now that we will be late getting off the ship.  If you could give me an idea as to just how late you got off, it would be appreciated.  And sounds like it is VERY cold there!  Just how many layers did you wear??  Still in packing mode so have time to add!  Thank you!

We were on the May 4th out of Dublin this year.

 

When we were in Dublin, dh purchased a vodaphone sim card for an unlocked phone. I first found out about those on cc. It was GREAT!!! We were able to call our tour companies when we knew we would be running late. And although you have a heads up in Southampton and Cobh, where we did not, there are still the tidal issues and in tender ports it is always a gamble. Not only that, but the internet on the card was usable at all the ports and often even after or before the port when we were close enough to land. If you have a data package with the ship, you can email the tour companies from the ship once the ship notifies you of any delays. Of course, when you find out at 9PM the night before.....THptttt!!!

 

Again, we were the first full routing out of Dublin this year. I don't know if things will get better with the immigration. Based on how things ran for us, I would 'guess' you will lose nearly an hour or so out of both Southampton and Cobh, (we were always early to the lineups). Perhaps with better organisation it will proceed more quickly?? And again, the tides had them late in both Dublin the day it arrived, and in Belfast. I don't know how late it arrived in Dublin on the 4th, but Belfast was well over an hour late. Because of the lateness of the arrival, the tour company had to change the itinerary for our tour. In Edinburgh, tenders were SLOW. We took the ship's shuttle to the city, so it didn't effect us. Unless you have elite status or something, plan for extra time getting off the ship there unless you booked through the ship.

 

As for cold, it depends on where you are from. I like cold. That said, I have a vinyl rain coat I purchased that comes in a zip pouch. I kept that in my pack as on overlayer whenever I needed that little extra as well as for showers. I wore a sweater or light long sleeve shirt for underneath. Understand though, it was early May AND I live in an area that gets those polar vortexes. Spring is just about anything over freezing, when snow melts and bulbs begin to break surface. Your mileage may vary.

 

PS: My dh said to tell you he froze his tushy off. *L*

[ASiuta]

Thank you, omc329.  I was just wondering whether I needed more than that!  Raincoat, a couple of layers of sweaters, etc I have packed, but not a HEAVY coat, etc.  Looking ahead it appears as if we are going to have LOTS of rain everywhere and cold (cool ?) weather.  Hoping that I don't freeze my tushy off and that I at least see some sun!  

[omc329]

4 hours ago, ASiuta said:

Thank you, omc329.  I was just wondering whether I needed more than that!  Raincoat, a couple of layers of sweaters, etc I have packed, but not a HEAVY coat, etc.  Looking ahead it appears as if we are going to have LOTS of rain everywhere and cold (cool ?) weather.  Hoping that I don't freeze my tushy off and that I at least see some sun!  

Think about bringing a neckscarf and fingerless gloves. The scarf not only keeps your neck warm, but keeps the wind from going down one's neck. If you get the linen type of scarf, it doubles as a shawl in the dining room. The fingerless gloves allow easier camera usage. I'm known to use those gloves even when just wearing a sweater sometimes. They had some cheap ones leftover at Walmart this weekend for 75 cents. I bought another pair just because they come in handy.

 

And you might want to bring plastic for the camera unless it is waterproof! If using a phone, there are cases that will keep it dry and allow picts at the same time. I kept 2 cameras, a small waterproof that went everywhere, and a midsized Canon that I  shoved in a plastic bag in my pack whenever I had weather concerns.

 

Another tip if you haven't already figured it out, since you are going out of Dublin. I'm guessing you are spending time there. Dublin Castle tours and the Gaol are best prepurchased. You can't always get tickets the day of. We missed the Gaol, as when we were taking a taxi there the driver said that on a weekend they would likely be sold out. We ended up at the emigration museum instead. We DID have tour tickets for Dublin Castle and that was great! Malahide Castle was well worth the train or bus ride over, but is IS a LONG walk from either the bus or train. My sis wasn't happy, but ds and I thought it well worth the walk. YMMV. We also used one of the Yellow Umbrella tours. It was great as well. They are free and you simply pay your considered value of the tour at the end. We learned a LOT of Irish history.

 

Have a great trip!

[leenie77]

I'll be on this cruise leaving from Dublin in August.  I really hope these issues are under control by then. I'll be really interested to hear from anyone who has been on this cruise recently to know if it has improved.

[mam11]

Ack- hate to hear the problems since we board in Dublin on Sept. 1. Have private tours in every port. Fingers crossed for good weather and organized people! Maybe they'll have their act together by then. 

[Kip family of 4]

On 6/3/2019 at 7:58 AM, ASiuta said:

Thank you, omc329.  I was just wondering whether I needed more than that!  Raincoat, a couple of layers of sweaters, etc I have packed, but not a HEAVY coat, etc.  Looking ahead it appears as if we are going to have LOTS of rain everywhere and cold (cool ?) weather.  Hoping that I don't freeze my tushy off and that I at least see some sun!  

The weather isn’t that cold in Scotland at the moment except for evenings/nights (for me anyway being a local!) It is starting to warm up. Beautiful on a sunny but as a general rule I always carry a rain coat as it is so unpredictable here. I don’t look at weather reports anymore.

[grak]

Those who embarked in Dublin....our July 3 cruise sails at 10pm. Can you tell me when they hold muster?

[donaldsc]

On 5/31/2019 at 2:17 PM, Lynnhaven said:

We are booked on the Crown Princess on the Aug 5th cruise of theBritish Isles.

 

We, a  lovely family of 9, age range 16-81, have booked a 8 hour private tour of Orkney from Kirkwall which includes the Standing Stones of Steness, Ness of Brodgar, Ring of Brodgar, Skara Brae, Maeshowe, Scapa Flow, Chruchill Barriers, Italian Chapel and St. Magnus (spelling?) with David Hamilton through Red's Orkney Tours.  Because of our size we must have 2 vehicles which leaves us with 3 extra seats.  I am hoping 3 lovely people will join us. If 3 do, the cost will be 79 BP, if 2 the cost will be 86BP.  Entry fees are included.  

 

Please contact me at hulanmt@gmail.com

 

You should repost on the cruise roll call.

 

DON

[KBAJ]

Just got off the Crown this week - embarkation/debarkation in Dublin - It appears that they've got their immigration issues figured out, (although not all the staff is aware of this as we had received a few different scenarios depending on who we asked!)  We only had to show up for our passports to be stamped once and that was when we got back to Ireland (the port of Cobh). Everyone met in the main dining room, numbers were given to you as you arrived. A long table with about 6 immigration officials was set up and groups of 20 or so at a time were called up, the official said "hello", asked a few questions, stamped your passport and we were off.  Easy peasy.

[leenie77]

2 hours ago, KBAJ said:

Just got off the Crown this week - embarkation/debarkation in Dublin - It appears that they've got their immigration issues figured out, (although not all the staff is aware of this as we had received a few different scenarios depending on who we asked!)  We only had to show up for our passports to be stamped once and that was when we got back to Ireland (the port of Cobh). Everyone met in the main dining room, numbers were given to you as you arrived. A long table with about 6 immigration officials was set up and groups of 20 or so at a time were called up, the official said "hello", asked a few questions, stamped your passport and we were off.  Easy peasy.

 

Thank you for posting! 

 

Earlier posts indicated people who embarked in Dublin had to hand over their passports for a few days. Did you have to do that? It seems not but I just want to confirm. Thanks!

[KBAJ]

Leenie, we did not have to hand over our passports during the cruise. We kept them in the cabin safe except for the time when we had the Irish immigration control staff come on board in Cobn and stamp them.

[Diver2014]

We were on the Crown from May 25 to June 6, 2019.  Our passports were taken when we checked in for the cruise in Southampton.  We didn't get them back until a few days before the end of the cruise (our room steward delivered them to us and we had to sign for them).  People who embarked in Dublin on May 28 didn't get their passports back until June 6 per the group in the Wheelhouse bar waiting to go on their shore excursions.  There was a lot of confusion with people embarking/disembarking in 3 different ports - many guests didn't know about the other ports of embarkation and wondered why there were already so many people on the ship.  Getting off the ship for shore excursions was easy - go to the Wheelhouse Bar, get a number and out you go within a few minutes.  The most we had to wait was 10 minutes in the Theater to gather everyone together for the buses.  Those on private excursions didn't have to wait long either.  Several ports were working ports and people could not just get off the ship and wander around - you had to take a shuttle ($16 round trip) from the ship to the port entrance.  Your Princess Patter will give details of each port.  This cruise was one of the best we had ever been on as far as the ports and excursions but I wouldn't want to be the person(s)  in charge of getting people on and off the ship.

[leenie77]

12 hours ago, KBAJ said:

Leenie, we did not have to hand over our passports during the cruise. We kept them in the cabin safe except for the time when we had the Irish immigration control staff come on board in Cobn and stamp them.

Glad to hear this - thank you!

[leenie77]

1 hour ago, Diver2014 said:

We were on the Crown from May 25 to June 6, 2019.  Our passports were taken when we checked in for the cruise in Southampton.  We didn't get them back until a few days before the end of the cruise (our room steward delivered them to us and we had to sign for them).  People who embarked in Dublin on May 28 didn't get their passports back until June 6 per the group in the Wheelhouse bar waiting to go on their shore excursions.  There was a lot of confusion with people embarking/disembarking in 3 different ports - many guests didn't know about the other ports of embarkation and wondered why there were already so many people on the ship.  Getting off the ship for shore excursions was easy - go to the Wheelhouse Bar, get a number and out you go within a few minutes.  The most we had to wait was 10 minutes in the Theater to gather everyone together for the buses.  Those on private excursions didn't have to wait long either.  Several ports were working ports and people could not just get off the ship and wander around - you had to take a shuttle ($16 round trip) from the ship to the port entrance.  Your Princess Patter will give details of each port.  This cruise was one of the best we had ever been on as far as the ports and excursions but I wouldn't want to be the person(s)  in charge of getting people on and off the ship.

 

Thanks Diver2014. Where did you embark? 

[Diver2014]

2 hours ago, leenie77 said:

 

Thanks Diver2014. Where did you embark? 

 

Southampton, where a majority of the guests embarked and disembarked.

[zaks pack4]

5 hours ago, Diver2014 said:

We were on the Crown from May 25 to June 6, 2019.  Our passports were taken when we checked in for the cruise in Southampton.  We didn't get them back until a few days before the end of the cruise (our room steward delivered them to us and we had to sign for them).  People who embarked in Dublin on May 28 didn't get their passports back until June 6 per the group in the Wheelhouse bar waiting to go on their shore excursions.  There was a lot of confusion with people embarking/disembarking in 3 different ports - many guests didn't know about the other ports of embarkation and wondered why there were already so many people on the ship.  Getting off the ship for shore excursions was easy - go to the Wheelhouse Bar, get a number and out you go within a few minutes.  The most we had to wait was 10 minutes in the Theater to gather everyone together for the buses.  Those on private excursions didn't have to wait long either.  Several ports were working ports and people could not just get off the ship and wander around - you had to take a shuttle ($16 round trip) from the ship to the port entrance.  Your Princess Patter will give details of each port.  This cruise was one of the best we had ever been on as far as the ports and excursions but I wouldn't want to be the person(s)  in charge of getting people on and off the ship.

Thank you for posting, Diver.  You have given some very good tips, and also have been very positive even through the many issues that other posters have mentioned.    We are sailing Aug. 29, so certainly hope that things are running more smoothly by then.

 Why do they take the passports (we are embarking in Southampton), and do we need to get a ticket (at Wheelhouse Bar) to just get off the ship?

 

[Southern Cruise]

On ‎5‎/‎31‎/‎2019 at 1:38 PM, omc329 said:

We did the May 4th out of Dublin.

 

Shuttles in Dublin were $8 each way, $16 round trip per person on the first two days of our arrival. (overnight) When we returned to Dublin to disembark, Celebrity had the other dock. Taxis were not allowed into the dock we had been assigned on return except by calling ahead, circling, checking in and a nightmare of hoops. I "assume" because of that?, the shuttles were free for those going into Dublin that day unlike the embarkation days.

 

Also, because we embarked from Dublin, there was a nightmare of immigration issues. They couldn't even decide what was what. They took our passports the day we embarked. They returned them a few days later. Then we were told at Southampton we had to appear with them for immigration before leaving the ship for tours. After waiting around for an hour or so, it was determined it was holding things up too much and immigration "allowed" us to hand in our passports and go, but only for the Dublin folks. The LeHavre folks had to stick around. Also note, ship's excursions were handled from a different point than independents, but I understand they had much the same issues.

 

We had to go through immigration yet again when we reentered Ireland in Cobh. I did not receive notification of this one until I returned to my room around 9PM the night before. The notice was dropped in the cabin while we were at supper. This time we were told we would get our passports back as we entered the lounge, and then we would present them to immigration. They lost my sister's, nieces and son's passports as well as at least one other passenger's passport. They did find them after around an hour of searching. UGH!!! Some of the folks had their passports restamped, others were told another stamp wasn't needed as we already had them from the airport and they were still good. I was told he still had to meet me in person. I said "Nice to meet you, have a nice day!" Thpttt!

 

Because of the immigration we got off the ship late, BEHIND all the ship's tours, making our private tour of 12 late, arriving to Blarney and long lines we should've been through by the time we arrived.

 

Other port issues. Initially they were late arriving in Dublin. Embarkation there was another nightmare. Belfast, because of tides, was around an hour or so late. St Peter's they made tender, but seas picked up and getting all the passengers back on board was a major feat that had us leaving late. They made up the time though, so no impact other than the struggle to get everyone back on board.

 

Other ports were as shown.

We embarked in Southampton on May 13 and I think we were told we would get our passports back after Cobh/Cork but we actually got them back on the first sea day after Greenock/Glasgow. 

 

I also think we didn't dock as planned in Dublin and were offered a free shuttle as well.  We did a Princess Excursion for Dublin so we got off fairly early (9 or 9:30 after an 8:30 am arrival) but my sister booked a private excursion and it was such a nightmare to get into Dublin that she missed her tour.  She arrived at the tour meeting spot at 11:15 and the tour left at 11 am. I am hoping the issues we faced with Princess disorganization are better for future 2019 cruises since our cruise was only the 2nd BI cruise of the season. 

 

For all of our private tours, we had 2 or 3 couples; we met at the International Café and blended in with Princess tour crowd headed to the gangway and then found our guide at the dock.  It is imperative that you get a contact name and phone # and have at least one phone with an international plan in case you need to contact your tour guide. 

[Diver2014]

55 minutes ago, zaks pack4 said:

Thank you for posting, Diver.  You have given some very good tips, and also have been very positive even through the many issues that other posters have mentioned.    We are sailing Aug. 29, so certainly hope that things are running more smoothly by then.

 Why do they take the passports (we are embarking in Southampton), and do we need to get a ticket (at Wheelhouse Bar) to just get off the ship?

 

 

I didn't get a definitive answer to the question of why passports were collected....some said it was because of Brexit, some said it was an Ireland thing, some said because of so many people embarking and disembarking at different ports, who knows?  We were instructed to take our drivers license or other government issued picture ID and our cruise card with us.  No one ever asked for ID other than our cruise card.  Your picture showed up on the hand held devices the crew used when they scanned our cruise card getting on and off the ship.

For those ports where you can just get off the ship, you go to one of the lounges until the ship is cleared.  No need for a ticket.

Shore excursions usually got off first.  You had to get a tender ticket for the 2 ports where we didn't dock by going to the Michelangelo dining room but it was quick and easy.  Disabled guests and those in scooters were not allowed off the ship in the tendered ports.  Several ports required the use of a shuttle to get to either the port entrance or to town because they were working ports (Dublin) and walking was strictly prohibited.  All of our excursions were thru Princess except Liverpool and Guernsey so we were escorted off first to the waiting buses.  We never had a problem of waiting in lines getting on or off the ship.  The process was very easy for us 'Southamptoners'.  Dublin and LeHavre, not so much from what I've heard from others on our cruise.

Edited June 13, 2019 by Diver2014

[Southern Cruise]

6 hours ago, Diver2014 said:

We were on the Crown from May 25 to June 6, 2019.  Our passports were taken when we checked in for the cruise in Southampton.  We didn't get them back until a few days before the end of the cruise (our room steward delivered them to us and we had to sign for them).  People who embarked in Dublin on May 28 didn't get their passports back until June 6 per the group in the Wheelhouse bar waiting to go on their shore excursions.  There was a lot of confusion with people embarking/disembarking in 3 different ports - many guests didn't know about the other ports of embarkation and wondered why there were already so many people on the ship.  Getting off the ship for shore excursions was easy - go to the Wheelhouse Bar, get a number and out you go within a few minutes.  The most we had to wait was 10 minutes in the Theater to gather everyone together for the buses.  Those on private excursions didn't have to wait long either.  Several ports were working ports and people could not just get off the ship and wander around - you had to take a shuttle ($16 round trip) from the ship to the port entrance.  Your Princess Patter will give details of each port.  This cruise was one of the best we had ever been on as far as the ports and excursions but I wouldn't want to be the person(s)  in charge of getting people on and off the ship.

I am glad they worked out some of the organizational kinks for your cruise (we sailed just before you).  It really was an amazing trip, just a little frustrating at times.  I agree I would not want to be charge of herding so many people and the security team was working so hard to get folks off and on the ship.  I think a huge factor in the delays were the tender ports where high winds created havoc and slowed or stopped tenders altogether.

[TW6cruiser]

Thanks so much for posting all of the information.