Crown Princess Review
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We went on this cruise with my cousins who had already booked. My father is from Scotland so I was looking forward to setting foot in the homeland so to say.
Embarkation went well but the tour to Windsor Castle as part of our Disembarkation was far too rushed for the time that was allowed. Did not even get to see the village of Windsor or eat lunch as promised. Made it a very over priced transfer to the airport. Most of us in the group were not happy. The guide apologized but Princess knew well ahead of time that all tour groups into the Castle have to go through a special admission gate and the line up for this was 6 - 8 blocks long. We waited over 1 1/2 hours just to get to the security checkpoint. That left us with about 45 minutes to see what we could. None of this was spoken about when we booked the tour or as we travelled to the Castle. Princess notified us that due to a royal function some parts of the castle would not be open as advertised. Why would you even offer such a tour before hand? The cruise line would have known that it was Royal Ascot race time and the royal family would be in residence so part of the castle would not be available. We, as pre booked tour passengers, were not notified about this until 4 days before the tour. With the internet not working we had no choice but to take the tour to get to the airport. In retrospect, we should have cancelled and taken the direct connection or made them pay for a phone call to another taxi service for transport. Good thing was we at least got to see some of the castle, St. Georges Chapel and sample the wonderful ice cream they sell there.
We didn't go on a tour to Versailles from Le Havre because of the length of the tour, (8 - 10 hours) but this is another situation that Princess knows about but does not communicate very well. For the most part France closes on Monday. We were in port Monday and even the town of Le Havre had very little open. Our research ahead of time showed that Versailles, which I would truly love to visit again, is always closed on Monday. I wonder when those who booked this tour found that out?
Cabin Review
Balcony
The rooms of course are small like most cruise ships. For comfort sake it would have been nice to have more then one chair in a room that is set up for 2 people. We usually like to have room service at least one day but there is no way you could eat comfortably in the room. The bathroom sink tap leaked the entire time even though we asked to have it fixed. When one of the lights in the bath went out they fixed it immediately. The shower is tiny even for someone of average build. The steward as usual was wonderful. Very pleasant young man who made sure our room was maintained.
Port Reviews
Cobh (Cork)
We did the village of Cobh on our own and enjoyed it immensely. Lovely place to nose around. The Cathedral is worth the climb up the steep hill and the Irish coffee is wonderful.
Dublin
Again we did our own thing. Had to pay for the shuttle from the dock to the centre of town but then enjoyed our walk to Dublin Castle and back. Rained for part of our time in port but we made sure we had our umbrellas. Wish hadn't rushed so much because of the rain and waited for it to stop so we could have had a meal in one of the pubs.
Belfast
Another city on our own other than the shuttle we had to purchase from the cruise ship. Make sure you go to the city hall for their free tour, an amazing and unique facility. We walked quite a distance to see the Cathedral there and were treated to a brief free tour by one of the church members. I don't think he was supposed to do it but I am glad he did. They also boast the largest Irish Cross on the outside of the building. Very impressive.
Greenock (Glasgow)
Make sure you do the FREE tours offered by the locals in the welcome centre at the dock. We were able to fit 2 of them in and they are very well done. The guides are very friendly and love their city. We toured a castle on one tour and visited the city hall on the other. So easy to make a generous donation to this group for the tours as they are so well done.
Invergordon (Inverness)
Stay in the village of Invergordon and tour it yourself. A very easily walked little place. Make sure you find the tea room that is marked on the ship map. Apparently the ships used to dock closer and they were always busy. Now they dock a little farther away so not quite so many visitors. The scones are EXCELLANT! So worth the walk. Their museum is also very interesting and worth the walk.
Le Havre
For anyone that doesn't know, France pretty much closes on Mondays and that was the day we docked there. Many of the stores were closed but we were able to find a bakery that was open and bought two of the croissants. Oh they were good. My mouth is still watering. Make a point of seeing both the new and old Cathedrals. The architecture is so unique and different. The are revitalizing the waterfront so lots of lovely things to look at. We could have paid $20 US per person here to get a shuttle to the downtown and maybe we should have as the day here was much warmer and very sunny as compared to our other stops. The walk did us good though. Warning there are not a lot of public washrooms available.
Southampton
Our disembarkation tour was not good. As with all their other tours it was rushed. The promised time to see the castle as well as the village and enjoy time for lunch did not happen. After an hour and a half line up to get into the castle we only had 45 minutes for a quick run through and then back to the bus. Make sure you get ice cream at the little truck at the middle ward shop. It was sooooo good. Someone in our group had to be at the airport shortly after noon so that didn't leave much time for the rest of us. We did however have lots and lots of time sitting at the airport.