srbeachbum
Youth Counselor
Has anyone been on the 12 Night British Isles cruise that would have suggestions on what excursions to go on. We sail in June.
British Isles Excursions
- Thread starter srbeachbum
- Start date
BruinSteve
Environmental Compliance Officer
We have done a British Isles cruise before...on the Celebrity Constellation back in 2005...but, they are all different...
What ports are you visiting on your itinerary?
srbeachbum
Youth Counselor
Our ports for the British Isle cruise are: St. Peter Port, Cobh in ireland, Dublin in Ireland, Liverpool in England, Belfast in Northern Ireland, Greenock in Scotland, Inverngordon in Scotland, and LeHavre(paris) in France.
Any comments on excursions would be appreciated.
We like nature, sight seeing, architect, and my husband & son like high adventure.
Any comments on excursions would be appreciated.
We like nature, sight seeing, architect, and my husband & son like high adventure.
BruinSteve
Environmental Compliance Officer
Our 2005 cruise included stops at Cobh, Dublin, Belfast, Greenock and LeHavre...
Here are my comments:
LeHavre:
Some folks use this to go to Paris or Versailles. For me, I didn't consider it...it's too long a drive in each direction and I'd been to Paris often enough...Of course, if someone's never been to Paris, this may be as close as they ever get, so, by all means...Other folks have a strong pull to the D-Day beaches...I can really see this for US History buffs...or for WWII vets who were there 65 years ago ...For the rest, there's Mont St. Michel or Hornfleur or Giverny...We decided to do the excursion to Giverny and Rouen...and really enjoyed it...Rouen is a neat old city with a lot of history...Giverny is the home of Monet and we toured his house and gardens...
Cork: The "big attraction" is Blarney Castle...But, may be a bit crowded and touristy...We chose an excursion to the "Lakes of Killarney and the Muckross House"...A picturesque day in the Irish countryside...not exciting, but pleasant...Cork itself may be worth time...
Dublin: I'd recommend, perhaps, a tour of Dublin itself....but, for us, we took the full day excursion to Glendalough. It's an archaeological site with some ancient Irish ruins...My wife is a sucker for "ancient" and archaeological...I found it merely "okay"...
Belfast: We took the tour to Londonderry ...VERY glad we did...lots of history...We got to walk the walls of the city...and learn all about the "troubles" between the Catholics and Protestants...
Greenock: If you've never been, the standard advice would be to head over to Edinburgh...We were there before--it's a charming city--but since we'd been there, we did an excursion to Loch Lomand and Inverary. Pleasant, interesting day, but Edinburgh is far more cool...Don't waste time in Glasgow...
Hope this helps...Have fun...
Lurline63
Staff Captain
What a wonderful itinerary!
Our British Isles cruise was in July 2009 on HAL. Of your ports, we visited St. Peter Port, Dublin and Belfast.
In St. Peter Port, Guernsey, we took a ship's tour -- a general island tour. We drove along the coast for most of the way, and made a few stops, some kind of touristy, some very interesting. I suggest reading up on its history before you go, if you haven't already, most notably the occupation during WWII. There is also a local bus that does a circle around the island, although you'd have no commentary. But, knowing the history and geography beforehand would be helpful if you opt to see Guernsey on your own.
We took a ship's tour in Belfast that was amazing, and geared toward the nature lovers. Do a search for Giant's Causeway. It's an unusual, and very large, rock formation located roughly 70 miles northwest of Belfast. It consists of more than 40,000 huge rocks projecting into the ocean. I cannot, with a description, do it justice. The views were glorious, and the sights were interesting and breathtaking. As it was a long tour, we also made a few photo stops, and had a wonderful lunch at a local restaurant on one of the cliffs overlooking the ocean. I highly recommend it.
We did our own thing in Dublin. There is a wonderful and very convenient hop-on-hop-off bus that covered a lot of ground. This might sound strange to some, but the highlight of our day was visiting the Dublin Zoo, which is on the route. We enjoy zoos, and this one did not disappoint. Once back in the center of town, we did a bit more walking, including a visit to the Trinity College campus.
What are some of the tours you're considering? While we didn't call on your other ports, we might have been nearby.
Our British Isles cruise was in July 2009 on HAL. Of your ports, we visited St. Peter Port, Dublin and Belfast.
In St. Peter Port, Guernsey, we took a ship's tour -- a general island tour. We drove along the coast for most of the way, and made a few stops, some kind of touristy, some very interesting. I suggest reading up on its history before you go, if you haven't already, most notably the occupation during WWII. There is also a local bus that does a circle around the island, although you'd have no commentary. But, knowing the history and geography beforehand would be helpful if you opt to see Guernsey on your own.
We took a ship's tour in Belfast that was amazing, and geared toward the nature lovers. Do a search for Giant's Causeway. It's an unusual, and very large, rock formation located roughly 70 miles northwest of Belfast. It consists of more than 40,000 huge rocks projecting into the ocean. I cannot, with a description, do it justice. The views were glorious, and the sights were interesting and breathtaking. As it was a long tour, we also made a few photo stops, and had a wonderful lunch at a local restaurant on one of the cliffs overlooking the ocean. I highly recommend it.
We did our own thing in Dublin. There is a wonderful and very convenient hop-on-hop-off bus that covered a lot of ground. This might sound strange to some, but the highlight of our day was visiting the Dublin Zoo, which is on the route. We enjoy zoos, and this one did not disappoint. Once back in the center of town, we did a bit more walking, including a visit to the Trinity College campus.
What are some of the tours you're considering? While we didn't call on your other ports, we might have been nearby.
On recent TA we stopped at Cobh in ireland, Dublin in Ireland, Greenock in Scotland and LeHavre(paris) in France.
We did the Blarney Castle and it was very interesting (tip if you do go - we booked privately with a tour company for about half of what Princess charged) - the guide made a point of getting the bus out of port before the cruise busses so we were first to hit the castle before the crowds we then stopped in Cork for lunch.
Dublin we took a shuttle from the ship to downtown for $5 each and then did the hop-on/hop off bus - one of the stops included the guinness factory which we prebooked entry tickets over the internet. Very easy and cheap to do on your own.
Greenock we went to Glasglow by train (closer than Edinburg and some say just as nice)- the train is an easy walk from the port (just walk through the shopping mall and turn left). Glasgow we did hop/on hop/off - also interesting and really easy to do on your own
We did the Blarney Castle and it was very interesting (tip if you do go - we booked privately with a tour company for about half of what Princess charged) - the guide made a point of getting the bus out of port before the cruise busses so we were first to hit the castle before the crowds we then stopped in Cork for lunch.
Dublin we took a shuttle from the ship to downtown for $5 each and then did the hop-on/hop off bus - one of the stops included the guinness factory which we prebooked entry tickets over the internet. Very easy and cheap to do on your own.
Greenock we went to Glasglow by train (closer than Edinburg and some say just as nice)- the train is an easy walk from the port (just walk through the shopping mall and turn left). Glasgow we did hop/on hop/off - also interesting and really easy to do on your own