My wife and I planned this trip for our 30th anniversary. This was a wonderful trip and we enjoyed ourselves very much. The sights, weather and countries were wonderful. We will have lasting memories for a long time to come. But there were some disappointments from the Royal Princess.
First the tendering process was Terrible, with a capital “T”!!!! We expected and have tendered from other ships but this was bad. We took into consideration the rough seas and we got past that but when you have to wait at the pier for ¾ to 1 ½ hours to tender back to the ship there is something wrong with the process. They tell you that a tender broke down, but there were 3 others running. Also the tendering was not just outside the ports but further down or up the coast and you either had to provide your own transportation to the Dublin and Edinburgh or take the shuttles which cut into your time on land. So your 7 to 8 hour days now turned into 4-5 hour days at the main sights. Unless of course you were on the ship tours. The process was favored and leaned towards the ship excursions first.
Then there is the poor design of the ship with a theater that was always packed and if you didn’t get there 30 minutes early you didn’t get a seat. We missed a couple of shows due to the overcrowding. This theater is not designed with a balcony so the seats that would have been under the balcony are not there.
The ship tendered down the coast and we had to travel in land up to Dublin. They make it sound like it's just a 1/2 hour up the road. By the time you tender and get to the mass transit (train) you have already shot 1 to 1/2 hours of your day.
This was a rough sea day so we docked at night. This was understandable and the correct call by the captain. We booked with the Black Paddy Tours and had a great tour with Eugene as our driver.
The expectations of Edinburgh were busted immediately with once again the tendering process and tendering so far away for the port. But Edinburgh is a beautiful city and should not be missed.