Hebridean Island Cruises

River Cruises

Luxury Cruises

Senior Cruises

Gourmet Food Cruises

Greenock (Glasgow)

Europe - British Isles & Western

Europe - All

Excellent

Hebridean Princess

Royal Crown

Best Cruise Ever

Hilo

I found this cruise line 3 years ago planning for our thirtieth wedding anniversary. Well then Covid hit and our cruise was delayed 2 years. I must say without a doubt the best vacation or cruise I have ever experienced. From the accommodations to the food and staff everything about this cruise is top shelf. We had a lovely cabin with a private balcony that gave us the most stunning views imaginable. But I must say one of my favorite parts of the experience was the other guest we encountered. All were lovely and very interesting to spend time with. Mostly all the guest onboard were repeat customers (some over 10 times) as we plan to be soon. All the guest were older or retired professionals. We were only one of two American guest on board. I have dined in some of the best restaurants in the Northeast and can say without a doubt the food onboard was as good or far superior to anything I have experienced. The Staff was excellent and accommodating. No request went unanswered. We are already planning our next cruise with the Hibernian Princess. No casino, no pool just stunning scenery top shelf gourmet food and a wonderful ship and staff. You will not be disappointed.

This holiday was booked pre-pandemic for a special birthday in March 2020, so we were slightly cautious about cruising so soon after cruises recommenced in 2021. But we had nothing to fear because, as usual, the Hebridean Princess staff took everything in their stride and the cruise was as near to their normal as they could possibly make it. Hygiene was of the highest level.  We took a Lateral Flow Test before we embarked, there was hand sanitiser everywhere, masks were worn when moving about inside the ship but not once seated in the dining room or lounges. The breakfast buffet was available and also the usual fish, seasfood and ham buffet lunch which is a feature on one of the days. Staff wore masks when serving meals and drinks. Our excursions went ahead as normal. It was wonderful to be back cruising on the Hebridean Princess and for everything to be as near normal as they could make it.

NB We embarked in Oban but the nearest the compulsory list had was Greenock (Glasgow)!

A perfect return to cruising 

We'd always wanted to visit the Inner Hebrides & this seemed the most civilised way to do it, especially as the ship came with HM the Queen's recommendation. From the moment we first made contact with Reservations to disembarkation day at the end of our chosen cruise, every member of staff we dealt with was courteous, helpful, friendly, thoughtful & consummately professional. We felt cossetted & secure throughout our dealings with them all.

   So many superlatives have been written about this wonderful experience (everything in the brochures is absolutely true), that I thought I'd write about the bits you don't discover until you arrive for your first cruise...

   The ships embarkation procedures were very civilised. We had driven ourselves to Oban &, on our early arrival at the Lighthouse Pier our luggage was checked by Security & put straight on board the ship, while we were directed to the delightful nearby Manor House Hotel & greeted by Hebridean representative Joe. After a brief spell of form-filling, Joe took our car keys & organised tea, coffee, scones, jam & clotted cream for us, while we relaxed, enjoyed the harbour view & awaited the arrival of those fellow passengers who were also making their way independently to Oban. By 4.30pm we were all assembled & David, the Chief Purser, arrived to introduce himself & lead us back down the hill to the ship. As we left the hotel, we noticed that our cars had already been collected by the garage who would be responsible for their storage & safety during the cruise.

   At the shipside, a random selection of us were body-checked through Security before we all trooped up the gangway to the skirl of bagpipes, apparently played by a crew member high up on the Boat Deck. The gangway led to the Reception Foyer on Princess Deck, where David introduced us each to the crew member assigned to show us to our cabin.

   Our cabin, Isle of Benbecula, is more fully described below, but it made a wonderful first impression on us. Non-slip leather 'sheets' had been laid onto our bed & our luggage placed on top to make unpacking easier while keeping the bed-cover clean. We were given full instructions on where to find everything & what time we must assemble in the Tiree Lounge for the safety demonstration & drill, then left to unpack at our leisure.

   Our first dinner on board was a wonderful precursor of the culinary delights ahead of us. At least two choices per course (3 for the main course: meat, fish or vegetarian), with coffee & petits fours served upstairs in the Tiree Lounge afterwards. We had chosen to have a table to ourselves: this proved to be by a large window on the port side & would be ours for the duration of our cruise. Our table steward, Sven, would also be serving us for the cruise & within 24 hours he had memorised our various likes & dislikes so we never had to ask for anything. One of the bar stewards from the Lounge circulated continually around the Restaurant tables, topping up wine glasses with a good quality wine appropriate for each diner's chosen meal. 

   Breakfast was almost as sumptuous as dinner, with a gloriously displayed centrepiece of fresh fruit on the buffet table to choose from, plus the largest selection of marmalades we have ever been privileged to try. Not one item in the cooked breakfast selection could be faulted, either. 

   What with all the inspired excursions ashore on most days, we only got a few chances to enjoy lunch on board, but these too were impressive, centred around something vast (fresh salmon or a ham) served by the multi-talented David, & a buffet selection of different salads & dressings to choose from. Official meal times were: breakfast 8 - 9,30am, lunch 1pm, dinner 7.30pm. However, these times were occasionally amended for operational reasons.

    We were very interested to see how smoothly the various shore excursions were run, whether we were moored up at a dock or being ferried ashore by the ship's delightful tenders or its semi-rigid inflatable speedboat (tremendous fun, that one!). We had all been issued with individual plastic ID pouches attached to lanyards on embarkation day. These were not only designed to identify us in case of emergency, but when going on a shore excursion, we added a large brass tag bearing our cabin's name to the visible contents of our ID pouch. These brass cabin tags were taken from a big display board close to our exit from the ship. Which meant that the crew could see at a glance who was still on board the ship & who had gone ashore. The tags had the additional bonus of helping staff at the various properties we visited ashore to identify those from the Hebridean Princess group - so our ID tags also became our entrance tickets in many cases. On our return aboard, we returned the brass tags to the appropriate hooks on the display board. The ship wouldn't depart until all the brass tags were accounted for.

   The icing on the cake, as far as good security was concerned, was the alternative use of our life-jackets when being ferried ashore by tender. As soon as we arrived ashore, our escort (the guide, or a member of the Purser's Office, always armed with radios connected to the ship & each other) would deposit a large blue canvas bag at the landward end of the pier, into which we deposited our life-jackets. On our return to the ship we collected our life-jackets again (not always the one we'd arrived in!) before boarding the tenders. Any life-jackets still unclaimed in the blue bag would precipitate a search for those passengers still wandering ashore, who could, if necessary, be identified by the absence of their brass cabin tag back on board.

   Although daily newspapers could not be routinely provided for every passenger for obvious reasons, whenever we moored anywhere near a shop which sold them, a member of the Purser's Office would dash ashore to collect armfuls of assorted papers, most of which were left in the Tiree Lounge for us to enjoy. The Daily Telegraph always seemed to be the first copies to disappear, however, so at my husband's suggestion the Purser's Office kindly arranged to leave several photocopies of its crosswords in the Lounge for the cruciverbalists among us to enjoy.

   It took us a day or so to get used to the routine of Kasia, our meticulously efficient cabin stewardess. She changed our bedding & towels while we were at breakfast, returned later in the morning to do the more serious cleaning & came back while we were at dinner to turn down our bed, close the blinds & curtains, empty the rubbish bins & change any towels we'd used since her last visit. Only when Doreen the Housekeeper came looking for us on our second evening, did we realise how helpful it would be if we signalled our absence from the cabin by placing the 'Please Service Cabin' sign on the outside of our door whenever we departed for meals or morning trips ashore.

   Nothing was too much trouble for the crew. My 'tipple' of choice (non-alcoholic fresh tomato juice with a dash of celery salt), once explained to the bar stewards, was produced daily for the rest of our cruise. My husband's request for a visit to the Bridge was granted twice, to his delight, as was a visit to the Engine Room & Generator Room.

   We're already planning next year's cruise on board this delightfully luxurious little ship!

If it's good enough for the Queen...

We had been recommended to try the Hebridean Princess by some friends who had been half a dozen times. She is a small ship which carries 50 passengers and around 40 crew. All the cruises are all inclusive one can enjoy the best of everything at no extra cost.  We chose a cruise entitled Secrets of the Western Isles which called at Colonsay, Iona, Mull, Staffa (Fingals Cave), Muck, Barra, Eriskay, Skye, Rum and finally Tobermory. The trips ashore were excellent, we were well chaperoned by the excellent staff and guide from the ship who brought champagne picnics etc ashore. At Fingals Cave the footpath was more than a little daunting but we all made it ably assisted by the wonderful staff.

On board the meals were beyond compare, the chef and his team looked after us royally, he knew how to do that, as after the Queen chartered the ship she invited him to go to Buckingham Palace to cook for her for a week, not many chefs have that on their CV!

I particularly enjoyed having a decanter of Malt Whisky in the cabin which was refilled every time it looked low.

The arrival and departure experience was totally seamless our car was waiting for us at the dockside with the luggage stacked alongside

All in all this was a trip of a lifetime and we will definitely go again.

It can't get any better than this.

My husband and I just had the pleasure of sailing on Hebridean Princess on a back to back cruise through Argyll, Bute, and Kintyre.  We were celebrating our tenth wedding anniversary and the two cruises together totaled ten nights onboard.  Before we sailed on Hebridean Princess, my husband and I enjoyed two cruises with SeaDream Yacht Club.  We like small vessels and Hebridean Princess certainly qualifies, as no more than 50 guests sail at a time.

From the moment we were piped onboard to the moment we disembarked and got into an Edinburgh bound taxi arranged by the purser on the Princess, we felt wonderfully taken care of.  Many luxury cruise lines promise all inclusiveness.  Hebridean Princess actually delivers.  It is literally possible to board this ship and not pay one more dime after you've paid the fare.  We never even had to hand over a credit card!  All excursions are included, right down to the entrance fees and stops at coffee shops.  On turnaround day, Hebridean Princess booked and paid for a cab for me, my husband, and another lady doing a back to back cruise and sent us to a museum.  They also paid for lunch.  Wi-Fi is free.   

We were booked in Loch Torridon, one of the cheapest cabins because it has no windows or portholes.  Nevertheless, the cabin was very comfortable and fairly spacious, with an excellent king sized bed, plenty of storage, and a tiny but very comfortable shower with plenty of hot water.

The staff is superb, attentive and professional without being too formal.  The captain and his staff were very accessible and friendly.  Though weather made it impossible for us to disembark one day, the staff found activities to keep us busy to include a bridge tour, engine room tour, and whisky tasting.  On the last night of each cruise, we were invited to see the galley as well.  We felt very fortunate to be onboard for ten nights.    

Hebridean Princess seems to cater most to elderly Britons.  On our first cruise, we were the youngest and only Americans onboard.  However, we met some truly fascinating people.  Most everyone was active physically and mentally and delightful to talk to.  While alcoholic beverages are included in the fare, I never felt like it was pushed on me.  Many people were happy to drink coffee or tea and save the cocktails for after the sun went down.  

Hebridean Princess lacks a spa, pool, hot tub, and casino.  Most people seem to get their entertainment watching the spectacular scenery (spectacular even in mid to late November) and talking to each other.  This is definitely not a party cruise, but an elegant experience in which passengers can truly just relax and enjoy being pampered.  I would definitely sail on the Hebridean Princess again, even in November!

They took care of EVERYTHING!

We last experienced Hebridean Princess in 2010 with a trip round the Hebrides. Due to sea conditions we were not able to get over to the Outer Islands so Plan B came into operation and the Captain took us to other interesting places where the water was kinder!  

We have just returned from our second trip, the Gaelic Explorer which embarked at Cork and ambled northwards along the east coast of Ireland calling at Dublin,Isle of Man, Strangford Lough, Arran and Bute before finishing up at Greenock.  En route we were coached to a number of interesting places, including Mount Stewart and Mount Stuart - quite different houses! The ship should first have diverted south to Kinsale but, again, due to weather conditions discretion bacame the better part of valour and that trip was done by coach. Plan B!

Again the Hebridean Princess experience was quite magic. The crew and serving staff were brilliant and nothing was too much trouble. The chef and his team were one down on numbers but again served up top class food from a pint sized galley. Don't know how they do it. It has to be said that at first sight the 9 day cruise looks expensive but it has to be realised that once on board you pay nothing more (unless you opt for premium booze!). All shore trips are included as are any meals and refreshments taken whilst on shore excursions.
All in all a wonderful and relaxing experience, highly recommended.

Hebridean Princess Gaelic Adventure

Bagpipe music was playing as I walked to the ship and was settled into my gorgeous single cabin with a big window. We sailed off to the first of 15 ports in the Inner Hebrides.  Each day was worth the price of the entire trip. If you like adventure by day and a luxurious 5 star experience in the evening this is the ship for you. We zoomed off on the tenders each to a windswept and gorgeous island each day. Some had gardens, some had castles, some had geologic marvels like kilt rock. Fellow passengers had stories of their days' outings and many of us are friends now with email addresses exchanged. 
For foodies: you will have several courses at lunch and dinner and your bar tab is included throughout. The purser will attend to your every tiniest wish; if you like your soup extra hot it will be DONE every day just the way you prefer. Bring elegant clothes for evening wear and warm walking/hiking gear for day. Or bring good books and relax all day. This is a cruise you will go back and do again Scotland is so gorgeous it would make a stone weep.

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