NEED HELP with EXCURSIONS on BRITISH ISLES CRUISE

[ttvams]

My very intrepid, 92 year old mother, is going by herself to British Isles this summer on Regal Princess.  She is interested in art, culture, cities, and architecture.  She is pretty mobile, but will not be climbing up to kiss the Blarney stone.

 

Ports = Cobh, Dun Laoghare, Hollyhead, Greenock, Invergorder, S Queenferry, Portland, Le Harve

 

Question:   Can she get to the towns on her own, and would it be easy for her to meet other people doing that, so she wouldn't have to go alone?   If she needs to join an excursion, which ones would you recommend? 

 

Really appreciate any feedback

 

 

[Chocolate Teapot]

My experience of the ports on the list (using NCL):

 

Cobh (Cork) - NCL Star was docked a short walk from the town centre. I used Paddywagon Tours for an excursion to Blarney Castle, Cork and Kinsale.

 

For anyone reading this who does want to, I noticed that even if you are fairly mobile, climbing up to kiss the Blarney Stone is quite strenuous, as the spiral staircases are very steep and handrails are limited. Nevertheless, the gardens are very pretty.

 

Dun Laoghare - NCL Star used tender boats to the quayside, then it was a short walk to the train station and a 20 minute ride into Dublin.

 

Invergordon - This was some years ago, but I used Wow Scotland for an excursion to Brodie Castle and Culloden battlefield.

 

South Queensferry - NCL used tender boats here too, then I remember taking a taxi into central Edinburgh.

[Thejuggler]

All the Irish and Scottish ports are near larger cities, but all require transportation as they are some distance, so excursions will be far easier if she doesn't want to go by public transport.

 

Cobh for Cork.  Cobh itself is a pleasant town with some Titanic history as it was the last port of call.

Dun Laoghaire for Dublin.

Holyhead, a long way from anywhere, so a tour is best.  Lots of trips to castles in North Wales  Beaumaris on Anglesey has a castle and is nice for a stroll.

Greenock for Glasgow, Loch Lomond.

Invergordon for Inverness

South Queensferry for Edinburgh.  If the trip is in August a popular tour will include the Tattoo, which is amazing.

Portland - I imagine Stonehenge is the popular trip

Le Havre - who knows

 

[John Bull]

 

Well done, mum 🙂

 

Holyhead.

In the north-west corner of Wales, on the island of Anglesey connected to the mainland by bridges.

Conwy Castle is an hour away by train but is a little complicated for mother, especially as a solo.

For an easier and more-rounded day in Wales a better suggestion would be https://www.busybus.co.uk/sightseeing-day-tour-to-north-wales-from-holyhead-cruise-terminal/

See the thread https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/3009520-what-did-you-do-in-holyhead/#comment-67433057

Needs to be pre-booked

 

Invergordon

An uninteresting port except for those with a thing about oil rigs.

Def. needs an excursion. Perhaps to Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle ? Or the Highlands ? Or Culloden and Inverness?

 

Portland

A secure Royal Navy port.

Leave the port on a free shuttlebus to nearby little Portland Castle and/or the volunteer-run D-Day Museum, or take it about 6 miles to the Victorian seaside resort of Weymouth - I understand that shuttle is now free too.

Or a tour around the Jurassic Coast to Durdle Door, Lulworth Cove, & perhaps as far as Corfe Castle. Needs to be pre-booked.

Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral will probably be offered by the ship, but it's about 90 minutes e/w on the bus.

if offered, ship's bus tour takes about 2 hours e/w to Bath, but its Georgian architecture may be more to mother's taste, plus the Jane Austen connections and the wonderful Roman baths which give the city its name..

 

Le Havre. (spelling)

If she's not already been to Paris, it's an opportunity for mum to cross it off her bucket list, especially since cities are her thing,  Ship's bus tour takes 2+ hours e/w but ships don't depart Le Havre until mid-to-late evening

If that's too much, I understand there's a new independent shuttle-bus to the quaint fishing port of Honfleur, about 30 minutes from the ship.

 

Search each port on this British Isles forum.

In the blue banner near the top ff the forum type a port or city into the search-box, leave "this forum" as it is & click on the little spyglass at the end of the search box..

Gove the magic a few seconds to work and it will bring up all posts which mention it.

This was the result of searching Portland

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=Portland&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=148

 

Has mum cruised before?

Ships arrange get-togethers for singletons, and can allocate her to a singletons' table for dinner - a great way to meet others.

 

And she (or perhaps you) can get onto her ship's RollCall  

Go to the Cruise Critic boards menu page.

Scroll down to RollCalls and navigate to her Princess RollCalls, then Regal Princess.

I've done that work for you 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/217-regal-princess-roll-calls/

Now scroll to the sailing date of her cruise. They're not in chronological order - like other boards a topic gets moved to the top every time someone posts on it.

Hopefully there you'll find lots of info about the cruise & the ports from others on her cruise, and folk seeking sharers for independent tours.

And get her to introduce herself on that RollCall.

 

JB 🙂

 

[julia]

First and foremost, have your 92 year old mother join the Cruise Critic roll call for that sailing so she can meet and make plans with others.

[edinburgher]

13 hours ago, ttvams said:

Cobh, Dun Laoghare, Hollyhead, Greenock, Invergorder, S Queenferry, Portland, Le Harve

S Queensferry for Edinburgh is really quite straightforward with a local express bus transferring pax to central Edinburgh and from there she can walk, take a taxi or use a local bus to get to where she wants to go.

 

Go to https://www.cruiseforth.com/ then "find my ship" to confirm it will be S Queensferry, then "getting around" to access the transport info

 

Reading past threads for all her ports is a good way to find info.  Use the quick and easy search tool to find these one at a time , but note that correct spelling is essential and you have at least two spelling errors in your list.  It is le HAVRE not le HARVE.  and it is INVERGORDON  not INVERGORDER. Spelling errors will give no results.

 

To get you started, past threads for Edinburgh. Choose which to read from these.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=edinburgh&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=148

 

And note that August is the busiest month in Edinburgh and the city is full to bursting due to the number of festivals and events taking place. For some the best time to visit, for others the worst. She is advised to book well ahead for any attraction she wants to visit which offers this.  If she wants Edinburgh Castle, she absolutely MUST pre-book as tickets sell out usually ahead of time and as August dates and times are already available to book  this should be a priority and she should book asap.

Edited May 29 by edinburgher

[VMax1700]

The dock is in the centre of Cobh town and the train station (to Cork) is right there too.

Cobh is a lovely little town, though a bit of a steep climb on the walk up to St Colman's Cathedral.  If she takes the train to Cork City, then the city station is about a 15 minutes walk from the centre.

 

[Blue and Green]

 

This is a scenario where Princess excursions make sense. I imagine intrepid mom is well-traveled however if it were my mother, I would feel better knowing there was another set of eyes watching out for her. Booking excursions through Princess (as opposed to just walking off) would insure she will meet others on the ship. A Princess excursion will be watchful about getting all the tour members back to the ship safely and on time. Importantly, if for some reason mom does run into a bit of a problem, it is likely someone from the cruise will be aware and able to assist. 

If she is interested in private tours, or determined to just walk off at some ports, connecting with others on the Roll Call is definitely the way to go.

 

I hope to be intrepid mom when I am 92 !

Edited May 30 by Blue and Green

[Harters]

On 5/28/2024 at 11:52 PM, John Bull said:

Conwy Castle is an hour away by train but is a little complicated for mother, especially as a solo.

And, depending on her mobility, the castle with all its steps may be tricky. 

[Turtles06]

On 5/28/2024 at 3:38 PM, Chocolate Teapot said:

For anyone reading this who does want to, I noticed that even if you are fairly mobile, climbing up to kiss the Blarney Stone is quite strenuous, as the spiral staircases are very steep and handrails are limited.

 

And to add to this, unless there's been a dramatic change, in order to "kiss" the Blarney Stone, you must lie down on your back and pretty much bend the top part of your body backwards over the edge to reach the stone, while an Irish guy is holding onto you (maybe in places you don't want to be held).   😁  

[VMax1700]

11 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

, while an Irish guy is holding onto you (maybe in places you don't want to be held).   😁  

Just think how he feels after a day's work of holding all shapes and sizes! 😁

[Chocolate Teapot]

18 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

And to add to this, unless there's been a dramatic change, in order to "kiss" the Blarney Stone, you must lie down on your back and pretty much bend the top part of your body backwards over the edge to reach the stone, while an Irish guy is holding onto you (maybe in places you don't want to be held).   😁  

Yes, once you lie down on your back and grip the 2 upright rails, with the sturdy Irish gentleman holding onto you, you then have to stretch backwards over a 10-12 inch gap and the Blarney stone is the smooth grey stone further down and not the first one you see.

 

Unsurprisingly, it is recommended to put any bags to one side, remove glasses and empty pockets. The other sturdy Irish gentleman will assist if necessary, and there is also a camera set-up so you can buy your photo of kissing the Blarney Stone once you are back on solid ground.

 

NB. It's likely to be very unflattering.