Live from Regal Princess May 15 British Isles cruise

[wrongwaywatson]

We just sent an email to our travel agent tonight to get a quote on this cruise for next June!

[Pirateskigirl]

Good Morning from Belfast, Northern Ireland.

 

 

[vickykay]

Following along.  We’re on a British Isles cruise July 2025.

[kdr69]

Great review, On the Regal April 2025 for British Isles cruise.  This will be our second time cruising from Southampton.

[Lady Meer]

On 5/16/2024 at 10:43 PM, Pirateskigirl said:

 

 

 

 

 

A great service by our coastguard (and also our land air ambulance service) - both free. I hope the casualty makes a full recovery
 

I’m really enjoying your posts - we did this cruise 2 years ago and loved it!

Edited May 19 by Lady Meer

[ECUnited]

We are doing the 12 day in June. What are everyone’s opinions on how many Euros would be advisable to have? I figure most places take CC but for smaller incidentals I would expect them to prefer cash. 
 

Thanks in advance!

[Pirateskigirl]

My group of 10 friends did an independent tour of Giant’s Causeway and the coast with Viator. We had an excellent guide Mary and a super driver Robert.  It was a little foggy and misty when we got to the coast.  Our first stop was Dunluce Castle for a photo-op. Next stop Giant’s Causeway.  The bus dropped us off by the Causeway Hotel.  It’s free to go to GC but if you want to use the visitor center which has restrooms, cafe, gift shop and an audio guide it costs 13£. The hotel has free bathrooms. 
You walk through the tunnel and down the causeway road. For those with disabilities or just don’t want to walk, they have a shuttle that costs 1£ each way. It’s worth it for the uphill. 
The tide was out and not to windy today. Pleasant to be walking the causeway. We had 90 minutes to explore. The rocks can be slippery and they are a steep climb in some places, so wear good hiking shoes. Unfortunately a lady from another tour fell and hit her head and they had to call an ambulance which delayed the shuttle buses back up the causeway.

Our next stop along the Antrim Coast was the Carrick -a-rock bridge over look which was a bit foggy but beautiful. We stopped in Ballycastle(which has no castle) for lunch on our own.  Enjoyed a lovely lunch at O’Neil’s, some of the group went to O’Conners.  We saw many sheep and cows.
We toured the Glens of Antrim along the coast road. It really turned into a blue bird day. All the beaches were full of locals enjoying the sun and nice temps. We had a brief stop at Carnlough Harbor. Beautiful and so many bikers enjoying the weather and folks strolling while enjoying ice cream. We finished off with a brief tour of Belfast going past the murals documenting the troubles and murals of QEII and King Charles. We went past the Titanic museum and the H&W cranes “Samson And Goliath” who helped build Titanic. 
Long day but a good tour. The port has a gift shop in case you need some last minute gifts.

A relaxing drink at Crooners and a dinner of sushi at the Ocean Terrace Seafood bar.  
Another long day in Holyhead tomorrow. 
 

[Justpackingmybags]

9 hours ago, ECUnited said:

We are doing the 12 day in June. What are everyone’s opinions on how many Euros would be advisable to have? I figure most places take CC but for smaller incidentals I would expect them to prefer cash. 
 

Thanks in advance!

You only need Euros for Republic of Ireland, then pounds for the UK part of the cruise. Yes, lots of places accept card or contactless payment.

[Pirateskigirl]

Morning. We are coming in to Holyhead,Wales.

This is a tender port. 
Here is the daily Patter.

 

[sandancer]

12 hours ago, ECUnited said:

We are doing the 12 day in June. What are everyone’s opinions on how many Euros would be advisable to have? I figure most places take CC but for smaller incidentals I would expect them to prefer cash. 
 

Thanks in advance!

You will only need Euros in Southern Ireland and Le Havre. The rest of the time British pounds. Since Covid even small retailers, coffee shops etc are taking cc payment and some cc only. You need currency for taxis and maybe public transport. 

[sandancer]

Just spotted one of my fellow Brits has already answered, double advice lol. 

[Pirateskigirl]

I’m a wee bit tired tonight,so here is a quick summary.

Regal arrived in Holyhead(pronounced Holly-head). This is a tender port. According to our cruise director this is the first time Princess has been to this port of call. The weather was perfect partly cloudy and 60s.
We elected to do the Princess tour Best of Northern Wales: Porthmadog & Ffestiniog Railway. I’m a sucker for any train trip. It’s an hour bus ride to Porthmadog were you get on the train. This is a single gauge steam locomotive train with cars from the Victorian era. This railway was the inspiration for Thomas the Tank Engine.

An hour ride up the mountains with beverage service. Then we boarded the bus to a welsh town for a walk about, shopping etc.and lunch at the Red Oak Hotel for the group. 
Back on the bus to explore more of North Wales before heading back to ship.

There is not much to do in Holyhead besides a pub, 1.5 mile fishing jetty and the Maritime Museum. If you want to see Northern Wales book a ship excursion because the others are currently limited.

 

Today is a special day for Regal, she is celebrating her 10th Birthday with a party in the piazza with Captain and crew. 

Tomorrow is Scotland.

[QuilterGirl]

Hmmm... the Grand Princess stopped at Holyhead in July of 2007, with us aboard!

 

Enjoying your reports and learning from them - thank you!   We are doing a similar cruise next year.

Edited May 20 by QuilterGirl

[ihearttotravel]

Sooo grateful that you are reporting this information and that I stumbled across it! We are on the 5/27 British Isles cruise and I am currently trying to pack and also firm up plans for transportation from the port to several cities... So I've read that I 60-70 degree weather is "Sweatshirt Weather" and to pack to dress in layers while on excursions,,, In addition to these layering pieces I can add or remove, I'll also have a rain jacket and a medium weight jacket... but would I have any need for shorts? 

[CruzeQueen2]

@Pirateskigirl sorry if I missed it. Can you post a pic of the officer board, please? TIA

Who is the captain?

[Justpackingmybags]

3 hours ago, ihearttotravel said:

Sooo grateful that you are reporting this information and that I stumbled across it! We are on the 5/27 British Isles cruise and I am currently trying to pack and also firm up plans for transportation from the port to several cities... So I've read that I 60-70 degree weather is "Sweatshirt Weather" and to pack to dress in layers while on excursions,,, In addition to these layering pieces I can add or remove, I'll also have a rain jacket and a medium weight jacket... but would I have any need for shorts? 

As a Brit, anything over 20C is shorts weather 😎😆 (that’s 68F)

In theory July should be at least that. And it sometimes is for, ooh maybe, a week, 

Layers. Definitely layers. And a sneaky pair of shorts just in case.

[Pirateskigirl]

Good Morning from Greenock, Scotland. Here is today’s Patter May 21.

[Cloudyrain]

3 hours ago, Justpackingmybags said:

As a Brit, anything over 20C is shorts weather 😎😆 (that’s 68F)

In theory July should be at least that. And it sometimes is for, ooh maybe, a week, 

Layers. Definitely layers. And a sneaky pair of shorts just in case.

Totally agree: I'm a Brit and prone to be nesh, but was still in a bikini in the garden last week when it hit the dazzling heights of 18c 😂

[Bestbubba]

3 minutes ago, Cloudyrain said:

Totally agree: I'm a Brit and prone to be nesh, but was still in a bikini in the garden last week when it hit the dazzling heights of 18c 😂

Another Brit  and same here, slapping on the factor 50! Not the bikini though, that ship's sailed!!!! 

[huneybunny17]

Morning in Greenock from across the water in Helensburgh.

 

Loving your trip report, looking to do this cruise next year 

 

 

[ihearttotravel]

Also, could you tell us more about Ringaskiddy? Did your originally itinerary list Cobh but you ended up there instead? I'm asking b/c there are a lot of questions/confusion on where we will dock on 5/30 as the Cobh port website has us scheduled to be in Ringaskiddy instead. Princess c/s reps. say they believe it should still be Cobh. Those on the Roll Call are concerned about excursions booked with vendors other than Princess... where to get picked up, etc.

 

[ihearttotravel]

7 hours ago, Justpackingmybags said:

As a Brit, anything over 20C is shorts weather 😎😆 (that’s 68F)

In theory July should be at least that. And it sometimes is for, ooh maybe, a week, 

Layers. Definitely layers. And a sneaky pair of shorts just in case.

Thank you! I'm pretty hot natured so I will pack some! And have you ever seen it get warm up to lay out by the pool on sea days? I will take a swimsuit in case I'd need it, but just curious!

[Justpackingmybags]

18 minutes ago, ihearttotravel said:

Thank you! I'm pretty hot natured so I will pack some! And have you ever seen it get warm up to lay out by the pool on sea days? I will take a swimsuit in case I'd need it, but just curious!

It’s always a possibility but, then again so is greyness and drizzle. Be an optimist & bring the cossie!

[Bestbubba]

We have an aft balcony, no shade, deck 15, today it's too hot on the balcony.... Didn't expect this in May in Scotland, global warming or just lucky? 

Also a heads up, when we got off the ship this morning, in the terminal there was a sign advertising return coach to Glasgow £10pp, a bargain! Not sure how much the train is but it's definitely going to be much cheaper than Princess. 

[Pirateskigirl]

16 hours ago, QuilterGirl said:

Hmmm... the Grand Princess stopped at Holyhead in July of 2007, with us aboard!

 

Enjoying your reports and learning from them - thank you!   We are doing a similar cruise next year.

Maybe, they meant first visit for the Regal not Princess,