British Isles Cruises

[wsb121088]

We are currently looking at British Isle Cruises for 2021.   There are three different ones on the Crown.   Can anyone give me your thoughts on which one is better and why?   Two have an additional port and the third has an overnight.   Any help would be great!

[rocklinmom]

Just did the BI cruise this past summer. What are the additional ports? And where is the overnight stop? Then I can give you a better idea. 

[voljeep]

we've never done an overnight in a port, so we would take the one that offered Dublin overnight ...

[rocklinmom]

Yes is it Dublin overnight or Cobh?

[wsb121088]

First one is 12 days/9 ports with Portland (Stonehenge)

Second is 12 days/9 ports with Orkney Islands instead of Portland

Third is 12 days/8 ports with no Portland or Orkney but an overnight in Cobh

The other cruise we looked at was a 14 day Scottish Highlands which was 14 days and 11 ports.   

 

[ukestrummer]

DO Portland stop BUT be careful of excursion people that do nOT offer refunds if ship does not stop, get as much as you can on this trip, we were the 12 day in Sept. would do again, WANT MORE IRELAND & SCOTLAND

[rocklinmom]

The main draw in Cobh/Cork is Blarney Castle, so I guess the appeal for an overnight there would be to go to the pubs and an Irish dinner that night without the ship leaving until the next day. Between Portland and Orkney Islands, it would depend on the appeal of seeing Stonehenge/Salisbury Cathedral vs. the Neolithic ruins in Kirkwall. I have read of Kirkwall stops being cancelled due to wind issues and you would indeed want to plan any private shore excursions there carefully (as well as in Portland according to the poster above) or stick with Princess excursions. 

[rocklinmom]

In general fares will be less in June vs. July and August, so there's that. And if choosing between sailing out of Southampton or Paris, keep in mind that Paris is two hours away from the port in Le Havre (without traffic issues) and will cost more in transportation costs. Plus that port has had strikes in the past which prevented ships from docking there. Southampton is about 90 minutes from the airports (and London) and it was easy to get there. It's funny how Princess titles the cruises as sailing from London and Paris when the ports are actually farther away but I guess it sounds better. 

[treesah]

We did the British Isles with Orkney.  Loved that itinerary but then again we've been to Ireland several times before.  Scotland has stolen my heart.

[bbangel74]

I'm booked for the one with Kirkwell (Orkney) in May 2021 leaving from Southhampton. That and Edinburgh are the stops my mom is most excited about. 

[Tak8]

I would do the overnight.  Dublin was my overnight city two years and it was fun to see the city at night.  You can also do a longer excursion day 1 without the worry of being left behind.

[RNCheryl]

We chose the Orkney Island option and are sailing July 1st.  Chose this one because of Edinburgh option.  Have been to Dublin before, and really wanted to maximize Scotland.

 

Was about 50-60USD more expensive than the early June sailing.

[geoherb]

I chose the one with the Dublin overnight three years ago. At that time, another option was Liverpool. We went in August, which gave us a chance to go to the Tattoo in Edinburgh from Greenock. We didn't do it, but we talked with a lot of folks who did who said it was worth it--both in terms of money and effort. I'm glad we had the overnight in Dublin. There's so much to see and do there. Even then we didn't get to everything I would have liked to do.

 

On our transatlantic last fall on the Crown, the ship was scheduled to go to Portland. We skipped it due to the winds. I don't know how frequently this port gets missed, but it sounds like it could be often.

[Spideysmum]

We did the British Isles two years ago (jumped ship in Le Havre for a week in Paris) and loved it   Although we’d been to most of the ports except Guernsey and Kirkwall, it was fun doing it by ship   However, we missed Kirkwall because of a lack of tugboats (they said) and I’ve heard Guernsey can be probable    However, loved it a lot and found an 8 nighter that basically stays in the Irish Sea so booked that   Have a great time  

[tillys mom]

We’ve done the British Isles cruise twice and loved it. I highly recommend that you go in August for the Tattoo in Edinburgh. I disagree with the comment to always book Princess excursion- we booked private tours for every port and had much better tours than the ones booked through Princess. We missed one port, but our tour cost was refunded to our credit card. One exception- if I was going to Paris I wouldn’t risk a private tour at  Le Harve. The private tours to Normandy are fine.

[casofilia]

If you or anyone in your party is a whisky drinker then the Orkneys.  There is a lovely ship excursion that includes the Highland Park Distillery!!!!!!!!!

[casofilia]

BEWARE St Peter Port Guernsey if you have only a half day in port!!!!!   Last tender 1pm; we got there at 12.15 and we finally got on one about 3pm after standing in the 28C sun with NO water and NO shade for well over 2 hours.

[WoodstockGirl]

2 hours ago, tillys mom said:

We’ve done the British Isles cruise twice and loved it. I highly recommend that you go in August for the Tattoo in Edinburgh. I disagree with the comment to always book Princess excursion- we booked private tours for every port and had much better tours than the ones booked through Princess. We missed one port, but our tour cost was refunded to our credit card. One exception- if I was going to Paris I wouldn’t risk a private tour at  Le Harve. The private tours to Normandy are fine.

 

I agree with all that tillys mom says here.

 

Just to add my thoughts to what she's said: on every cruise we carefully consider whether we will take the Princess excursions or hire privately. We prefer private tours, but the possibility of being on a private tour and being left behind if we miss departure time weighs heavily on us. In Panama we were on an excursion where our bus broke down and we were delayed some 6+ hours getting back to ship.  It was a Princess excursion --- so they waited for us. Otherwise, they wouldn't have.  

 

In the UK we felt confidence in a) the commitment of the private tours to get us back to the ship in time (I always asked them how they'd make sure to do this), along with b) our own ability to train to the next port and catch up with the ship if we'd missed it (unless we were criss-crossing water). So, we almost always made our own arrangements for private tours. So glad we did!!  They were less expensive,  higher quality, very personalized, using small vans of maybe 8-12 people vs. Princess's big buses, and they often combined more destinations into one day that Princess would. 

 

I read a lot of the past diaries of people's BI cruises here on cruise critic and got many, many useful and valuable tips about each port, and recommendations for tour companies. 

 

I love British Isle Cruises. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[sunsetbeachgal]

We loved our BI cruise in 2018, we did the option that went to Liverpool.  I also arranged for private tour companies and was very happy I did.  Much smaller vehicles, more time at the destination and stops at smaller out of the way towns for lunches that the bus tours do not visit.  However like others said, make sure to read the terms and conditions and that if the ship does not make it you will get a refund.  
 

There were definitely some lines to return via tender both in Guernsey and Greenock.  But we had such wonderful days in both ports I hardly noticed and enjoyed chatting with fellow passengers in line.  British isles is a fabulous cruise that I would like to do again as there is so much to see in the ports. 

[Wblotner]

10 hours ago, casofilia said:

BEWARE St Peter Port Guernsey if you have only a half day in port!!!!!   Last tender 1pm; we got there at 12.15 and we finally got on one about 3pm after standing in the 28C sun with NO water and NO shade for well over 2 hours.

We also had an unfortunate experience there 2 years ago when it started to rain and there were long lines and no place to go for cover. The overnight in Dublin was nice as we were able to spend 2 days there.