June 5, 2016 - Magic Goes to England, Ireland, Scotland and France

[mum&son]

The Magic is back to Invergordon on the 23rd July it is 20 miles from where I live but has to be done
Also spotted plenty of grey hoodies in Inverness - they look great

 

[Aunt Pittypat]

Just want to thank Alohagirl73 for taking her time to coordinate the Fish Extender lists. This was our first FE experience, and it was so much fun! Loved coming back to the cabin to find treasures. Everything from the useful, crafty items to the tray to organize everything to the laundry day pack (you saved me) was much appreciated. We were in a great group - you are all so creative! Next time, I will understand it better, and it will be even more fun. Thanks again to all of you. Pattie & Season

 

[wajones2]

I hope you all had an amazing voyage! If anyone has navigators and willing to share, please let me know.

 

[Aunt Pittypat]

Just want to thank Alohagirl73 for taking her time to coordinate the Fish Extender lists. This was our first FE experience, and it was so much fun! Loved coming back to the cabin to find treasures. Everything from the useful, crafty items to the tray to organize everything to the laundry day pack (you saved me) was much appreciated. We were in a great group - you are all so creative! Next time, I will understand it better, and it will be even more fun. Thanks again to all of you. Pattie & Season

btw, I hate that our tags from some of our treasures got separated during packing. Just wanted to let whomever it was who made the little stained glass Mickey head know that I absolutely adore it!

 

[Arizona Rita]

Cruise was absolutely wonderful and what we needed!
Thank you Alohagirl for getting me into the fish extender exchange at the last moment!
I received many more gifts than expected and want everyone to know that it was very thoughtful and appreciated!
I received a lot of items that did not have cabin numbers with them so I want you all to know that I tried to put at least a magnet on each cabin that that a FE on it.
Thank you all!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Hey everyone, and welcome home! I hope you all had as Magical a time as we did - it was nice to put names and faces together, and thanks to each of you who took the time to say hi!
I know some folks were ill on the cruise and I hope all of you avoided it.
I'm still a little bit on London time - guess I have a few more days to adjust.

Special thanks to Alohagirl for coordinating the fish extenders - we loved everything we got and were able to use some things right away while others we've brought home as tokens to remember this trip of a life time.

I would love to hear what you thought of each of the ports and what you ended up doing in them. And I know the folks sailing next time will want to hear/read about it, too!

 

[nzdisneymom]

Also a special thanks to BadPinkTink for all your assistance with Dublin - we loved your fair city even in the rain

 

[nzdisneymom]

PreCruise: Churchill Guest House, Dover
PreCruise transportation: Coastal Cars
Taxi to port the morning of the cruise

Newcastle: Newcastle City Tours - http://www.newcastlecitytours.co.uk/ arranged by email correspondence. They are cryptic in email but everything was in order for us. Our driver acted as pseudo-tour-guide but was not full-on tour guide. He took us where we wanted to go and made suggestions for other places as we went. Highlights: photo stop at Newcastle bridges, Old Newcastle, Hadrian's Wall (in town and out), Angel of the North, and Washington Old Hall. He would have taken us to a cathedral / lunch stop but we didn't want to go. He also would have stopped at Costco for me but my family overrode me. 200 GBP from start to finish, pre-paid via PayPal. Driver was at the port as was Peter the owner when we disembarked. The car was clean and spacious for the four of us, working seatbelts, full tank of gas.

Invergordon: We did the DCL Excursion Cruise Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle - https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...on-scotland-cruise-loch-ness-urquhart-castle/ Our experience was exactly what is described. Our guide reminded me of Shelagh Turner on Call the Midwife; if I closed my eyes, I could pretend it was really her giving the tour talk on the way to the castle. The only "complaint" about this tour is that we arrived at the Castle at the same time as several other tour groups (a couple of other DCL buses in addition to other entities). There is a movie at the beginning of the visitor center but we couldn't get through because there were too many people and then when we did, several from our tour group weren't able to get into the theater. It's an 8-minute film and we only had a limited time so we didn't want to lose the time to explore the actual castle by waiting. The gift shop had tons of items for sail but was also so full of people it was quite claustrophobic. However, it did eventually clear out - I sent my family members on ahead to explore while I queued up to pay for their souvenirs. The castle itself is wonderful to see and the setting is breathtaking. We boarded a two-level boat for the ride across Loch Ness which would have been better had it been about 15 degrees warmer that day. It became too cold to sit outside but by then there was no room inside out of the wind. The guide for the boat was informative and it was worth taking the journey across.

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands: This was my boys' favorite port. We used Explore Orkney ( http://www.exploreorkney.com/cruise-tour.php ) which we prearranged and prepaid via PayPal. The link is to the tour we did with them. It was us and then there were four other guests from our cruise who had also booked with them - a family of three, and another woman who was on her own for the day. It was the perfect sized group. The owner, Susan, was our guide and driver for the day, and her unique perspective of being a true local added a lot to the tour. We were picked up at 8 am and dropped back off after 2 PM. Those that wanted to visit the town were dropped off in town and able to get the free shuttle back to the port. We saw a few DCL buses along the way but generally we were leaving as they were arriving.

Greenock: We did the DCL Excursion Edinburgh on your own (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/greenock-scotland-edinburgh-on-your-own/) which provided limited guide service along the way and then we were dropped off several blocks away from the Edinburgh Castle. We had prepurchased our tickets which is really a must if you're there on a busy day. It happened that it was the day they were celebrating the Queen's official birthday and there was a 21-gun salute at noon. We arrived in Edinburgh just after 11 o'clock so we had plenty of time to walk (uphill!) to the castle. The castle has much to explore and you should allow a couple of hours to see it if you have them. We cut some of our time there short since we had hung around to watch the festivities - people were lined up much like at WDW - early for the parade On the walk back to our meeting place, we stopped at the Scottish National Gallery ( https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/how-to-find-us/ ) for a short visit (the boys used their free wifi in the lobby while DH and I basically ran through to see what was there. If we had known ahead of time, we would have planned to stop there, and as it turned out, we could have stayed an extra 20 minutes because our meeting place was quite a bit closer than we realized.

Liverpool: We did the DCL Excursion In the Steps of the Beatles, Adult Departure (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/liverpool-england-steps-of-beatles-adult/). There are three parts to this tour and depending on which bus you were on, you had a different order to keep everyone from being in the same place at the same time. Our tour started with the drive around the city to see the sights - this was the most interesting part of the tour, but on a motorcoach, it's kind of hard to see. When we had photo stops, it took a longer time to unload and reload because all us older people take longer than the families / younger people do But our tour guide was fabulous - she grew up in Liverpool as was a Beatles fan from the beginning. We were disappointed with the Beatles Story ( http://www.beatlesstory.com/ ) portion of the tour - it was too busy inside so it made it hard to listen to the audio guide which was more of a story-telling-documentary. If you have a Beatles fan, they probably already know everything that they had in this place. Our last stop was Mathew Street where we went into the Cavern Club which was pretty cool to do (but very loud!). We agreed that this would have been a great tour to do with a small group, not on a bus so the vehicle could go closer to some of the places and so you could stop for a better photo than a blur through the moving motorcoach window that also had a glare.

Additional notes on Liverpool: The city had a big festival for us being there which brought a lot of people down to the port / docks area. But I went out early in the morning (our tour wasn't starting until 11, probably because it was Sunday) and walked around while there was hardly anyone out. I was able to get a picture of the Beatles statues without other people in it! Score! That never happens. The walk along the riverside was pleasant and I recommend taking time to go down to the Museum of Liverpool ( http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/ ).

Dublin: We did Dublin totally on our own. We prepurchased tickets for the Book of Kells ( http://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/tickets-information/ ) for a 10 AM arrival. There were shuttles provided into town - it takes about 30-40 minutes going in the morning during commute times (first shuttle left at 8:45 and dropped us off at 9:25 about two blocks from Trinity College), and about 20-25 minutes for the return trip. Because we arrived early, we asked if we could enter early and it was not a problem, so we were inside the Book of Kells by 9:35. It was a drizzly, humid day, but that didn't dampen our spirits. The Book of Kells was so interesting as was the Old Library upstairs. Afterwards, we walked the few blocks to the Disney Store which sells a few items specific to Ireland. There were several shops to get souvenirs on the same street. We opted to do the hop-on, hop-off bus (red line, http://www.hop-on-hop-off-bus.com/dublin-hop-on-hop-off with live commentary) and just ride around (1 1/2 hours). Afterwards, because it was still raining, we decided to just go back to the port and do laundry as the next day was a sea day.

Le Havre - A fellow cruiser made arrangements for a private tour guide to pick us up at the port and take us to Normandy with a specific focus on the American beaches and D-Day. What a treat! Our driver met us at the port (a wee bit late but traffic was horrible, he saw some fellow guides as we were exiting that were going to be really late to pick up their guests). If you do a private tour for this port, insist that they pick you up early! The tour took us to Honfleur (http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/france/normandy/places/honfleur) which I had never heard of but it's where Impressionism (art) began and was a quaint little place. It was on the wait to Pointe du Hoc which is where you really need to begin the story of what happened on D-Day. The whole way our guide gave us a history lesson but he made it so interesting and built things up so that when we were on site, we had the context for what we were seeing. We stopped at Omaha Beach, had lunch at a small diner, and then continued on to the Normandy American Cemetery (https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/normandy-american-cemetery). On the way back to the port, we stopped to see the Tapestry of Normandy ( http://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/la_tapisserie_de_bayeux_en.html ). It was Tours by Locals that she used to find our guide. This was our guide (https://www.toursbylocals.com/NormandyPrivateTourGuide).

St. Peter Port, Guernsey - This was my favorite port, a beautiful sunny day and a beautiful island. We did the DCL Excursion Coastline and Countryside Drive (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...t-guernsey-coast-and-countryside-drive-adult/) which was a few hours long and literally went around the entire island. They don't have full-size motorcoaches so the transportation was in smaller vehicle (accommodated 32 people comfortably). They don't have air conditioning and the side windows don't open, so you're dependent on the air coming in from the hatches on the roof of the vehicle for circulation. This made things a bit stuffy on the bus, but the stops were frequent enough to alleviate that. This was a tendering port and because there were issues with the number of vessels available from the tendering company, many guests were unable to meet their private tours until considerably later than expected. Because we were on a DCL excursion, we were one of the first groups off the ship. We stayed in town after the tour to walk along the shopping street, find some ice cream, and buy some souvenirs. We were back on the ship by 2:30. The last tender was to run at 4-something but it was well after 5 PM before they had everyone back on board.

Post-Cruise: We used Coastal Cars to take us from the Port back to Gatwick by way of Canterbury. We had planned to do a river tour while there but it was rainy, so we toured the cathedral instead. We had been originally told that the cathedral was going to be closed for part of the day because of an event, but that had changed by the time we arrived.

Post Cruise accommodation: We stayed at the Hilton Gatwick (South Terminal) which is attached to the airport. This is a nice enough clean hotel. There isn't much to do there but they have a restaurant, a Costa Coffee, and you can walk to the airport where there are limited options outside of security - including a M/S (Mark and Spencer) food mart where we bought dinner and took back to the room.

 

[BadPinkTink]

Also a special thanks to BadPinkTink for all your assistance with Dublin - we loved your fair city even in the rain

Im sooo glad you had a good time. It was what we in Ireland call a soft day, just a little misty with scattered showers Your trip report of the rest of your ports is great. Would love to hear from some others

 

[time for travel]

A BIG thank you for all the wonderful FE gifts! We had such fun finding all the gifts when we returned to our cabin. There were too many to list them all, but please know they were all appreciated. I especially liked the great magnets and the exchange rate card which ultimately I attached to my key card so I could find it fast!!! We had a fabulous time and would do it all again in a heartbeat!! ( of course, we'd do any Disney Cruise in a heartbeat, but this was a great itinerary!) Hope everyone had as a great a time as we did!!!!!

 

[Alohagirl73]

What a great cruise! We have decided that the Magic is our favorite over the Fantasy.

Thank you for all the wonderful FE gifts. We had so much fun delivering them and coming back to them.

It was great meeting some of you!

BadPink Tink- Thank you for all your help. We didn't get to do as much in Dublin as the baby meltdown in Guinness!

Our favorite port was Greenock as we also did Edinburgh on your own. We loved the castle. Favorite castle we saw.

We were so sad to leave the ship and loved this cruise.

 

[BadPinkTink]

BadPink Tink- Thank you for all your help. We didn't get to do as much in Dublin as the baby meltdown in Guinness!

you are welcome, aww thats a shame, but thats how things go with babies, they do their own thing ,lol

 

[Meum]

Finally able to take a breath and catch up. When we returned home on Tuesday night I got a call that we needed to move my mother, who has Alzheimer's, into a higher level of care due to her deterioration ASAP. That combined with my difficulty eating & drinking & dental appointment due to my fall in London has made the last 4 days a whirlwind. But we had an awesome time on this cruise and loved getting together at Cullins Yard pre cruise. It was awesome meeting new friends and seeing old friends again. Thank you for the Fish Extender gifts we received, which were awesome, fun, inventive, useful and tasty. This group was great in sharing their knowledge, helpful in finding some non-Disney tours, and recommending places to stay pre & post cruise. Thanks for everything and we hope to cruise with you again!

 

[FloridaFlame]

Hello 2016 British Isles cruisers! Thanks to all who have posted about their experiences on the cruise... we'll be on the 2017 cruise and have already started booking tours, etc based on what you've said. Keep those experiences and reviews coming, love it so much! And I'm always happy to answer any questions about the Baltic cruise, in return . (we went last year on that).

 

[nzdisneymom]

@FloridaFlame feel free to ask questions here as you are continuing your planning - no promises about how quickly you'll get a response but some of us are here on DIS a few times a week at least.

 

[UMDaisy]

It was a great cruise - happy to have shared it with you all! Until next time ... happy cruising!

_________________________________________
Walt Disney World 1972, 1984, 1992, 2013
Disneyland 2015
Disneyland Paris 2016
Disney Fantasy 2012 (2017)
Disney Dream 2014
Disney Magic 2015, 2016 (2017)
Disney Wonder 2015, 2016

 

[a2disneyfamily]

PreCruise: Churchill Guest House, Dover
PreCruise transportation: Coastal Cars
Taxi to port the morning of the cruise

Newcastle: Newcastle City Tours - http://www.newcastlecitytours.co.uk/ arranged by email correspondence. They are cryptic in email but everything was in order for us. Our driver acted as pseudo-tour-guide but was not full-on tour guide. He took us where we wanted to go and made suggestions for other places as we went. Highlights: photo stop at Newcastle bridges, Old Newcastle, Hadrian's Wall (in town and out), Angel of the North, and Washington Old Hall. He would have taken us to a cathedral / lunch stop but we didn't want to go. He also would have stopped at Costco for me but my family overrode me. 200 GBP from start to finish, pre-paid via PayPal. Driver was at the port as was Peter the owner when we disembarked. The car was clean and spacious for the four of us, working seatbelts, full tank of gas.

Invergordon: We did the DCL Excursion Cruise Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle - https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...on-scotland-cruise-loch-ness-urquhart-castle/ Our experience was exactly what is described. Our guide reminded me of Shelagh Turner on Call the Midwife; if I closed my eyes, I could pretend it was really her giving the tour talk on the way to the castle. The only "complaint" about this tour is that we arrived at the Castle at the same time as several other tour groups (a couple of other DCL buses in addition to other entities). There is a movie at the beginning of the visitor center but we couldn't get through because there were too many people and then when we did, several from our tour group weren't able to get into the theater. It's an 8-minute film and we only had a limited time so we didn't want to lose the time to explore the actual castle by waiting. The gift shop had tons of items for sail but was also so full of people it was quite claustrophobic. However, it did eventually clear out - I sent my family members on ahead to explore while I queued up to pay for their souvenirs. The castle itself is wonderful to see and the setting is breathtaking. We boarded a two-level boat for the ride across Loch Ness which would have been better had it been about 15 degrees warmer that day. It became too cold to sit outside but by then there was no room inside out of the wind. The guide for the boat was informative and it was worth taking the journey across.

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands: This was my boys' favorite port. We used Explore Orkney ( http://www.exploreorkney.com/cruise-tour.php ) which we prearranged and prepaid via PayPal. The link is to the tour we did with them. It was us and then there were four other guests from our cruise who had also booked with them - a family of three, and another woman who was on her own for the day. It was the perfect sized group. The owner, Susan, was our guide and driver for the day, and her unique perspective of being a true local added a lot to the tour. We were picked up at 8 am and dropped back off after 2 PM. Those that wanted to visit the town were dropped off in town and able to get the free shuttle back to the port. We saw a few DCL buses along the way but generally we were leaving as they were arriving.

Greenock: We did the DCL Excursion Edinburgh on your own (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/greenock-scotland-edinburgh-on-your-own/) which provided limited guide service along the way and then we were dropped off several blocks away from the Edinburgh Castle. We had prepurchased our tickets which is really a must if you're there on a busy day. It happened that it was the day they were celebrating the Queen's official birthday and there was a 21-gun salute at noon. We arrived in Edinburgh just after 11 o'clock so we had plenty of time to walk (uphill!) to the castle. The castle has much to explore and you should allow a couple of hours to see it if you have them. We cut some of our time there short since we had hung around to watch the festivities - people were lined up much like at WDW - early for the parade On the walk back to our meeting place, we stopped at the Scottish National Gallery ( https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/how-to-find-us/ ) for a short visit (the boys used their free wifi in the lobby while DH and I basically ran through to see what was there. If we had known ahead of time, we would have planned to stop there, and as it turned out, we could have stayed an extra 20 minutes because our meeting place was quite a bit closer than we realized.

Liverpool: We did the DCL Excursion In the Steps of the Beatles, Adult Departure (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/liverpool-england-steps-of-beatles-adult/). There are three parts to this tour and depending on which bus you were on, you had a different order to keep everyone from being in the same place at the same time. Our tour started with the drive around the city to see the sights - this was the most interesting part of the tour, but on a motorcoach, it's kind of hard to see. When we had photo stops, it took a longer time to unload and reload because all us older people take longer than the families / younger people do But our tour guide was fabulous - she grew up in Liverpool as was a Beatles fan from the beginning. We were disappointed with the Beatles Story ( http://www.beatlesstory.com/ ) portion of the tour - it was too busy inside so it made it hard to listen to the audio guide which was more of a story-telling-documentary. If you have a Beatles fan, they probably already know everything that they had in this place. Our last stop was Mathew Street where we went into the Cavern Club which was pretty cool to do (but very loud!). We agreed that this would have been a great tour to do with a small group, not on a bus so the vehicle could go closer to some of the places and so you could stop for a better photo than a blur through the moving motorcoach window that also had a glare.

Additional notes on Liverpool: The city had a big festival for us being there which brought a lot of people down to the port / docks area. But I went out early in the morning (our tour wasn't starting until 11, probably because it was Sunday) and walked around while there was hardly anyone out. I was able to get a picture of the Beatles statues without other people in it! Score! That never happens. The walk along the riverside was pleasant and I recommend taking time to go down to the Museum of Liverpool ( http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/ ).

Dublin: We did Dublin totally on our own. We prepurchased tickets for the Book of Kells ( http://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/tickets-information/ ) for a 10 AM arrival. There were shuttles provided into town - it takes about 30-40 minutes going in the morning during commute times (first shuttle left at 8:45 and dropped us off at 9:25 about two blocks from Trinity College), and about 20-25 minutes for the return trip. Because we arrived early, we asked if we could enter early and it was not a problem, so we were inside the Book of Kells by 9:35. It was a drizzly, humid day, but that didn't dampen our spirits. The Book of Kells was so interesting as was the Old Library upstairs. Afterwards, we walked the few blocks to the Disney Store which sells a few items specific to Ireland. There were several shops to get souvenirs on the same street. We opted to do the hop-on, hop-off bus (red line, http://www.hop-on-hop-off-bus.com/dublin-hop-on-hop-off with live commentary) and just ride around (1 1/2 hours). Afterwards, because it was still raining, we decided to just go back to the port and do laundry as the next day was a sea day.

Le Havre - A fellow cruiser made arrangements for a private tour guide to pick us up at the port and take us to Normandy with a specific focus on the American beaches and D-Day. What a treat! Our driver met us at the port (a wee bit late but traffic was horrible, he saw some fellow guides as we were exiting that were going to be really late to pick up their guests). If you do a private tour for this port, insist that they pick you up early! The tour took us to Honfleur (http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/france/normandy/places/honfleur) which I had never heard of but it's where Impressionism (art) began and was a quaint little place. It was on the wait to Pointe du Hoc which is where you really need to begin the story of what happened on D-Day. The whole way our guide gave us a history lesson but he made it so interesting and built things up so that when we were on site, we had the context for what we were seeing. We stopped at Omaha Beach, had lunch at a small diner, and then continued on to the Normandy American Cemetery (https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/normandy-american-cemetery). On the way back to the port, we stopped to see the Tapestry of Normandy ( http://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/la_tapisserie_de_bayeux_en.html ). It was Tours by Locals that she used to find our guide. This was our guide (https://www.toursbylocals.com/NormandyPrivateTourGuide).

St. Peter Port, Guernsey - This was my favorite port, a beautiful sunny day and a beautiful island. We did the DCL Excursion Coastline and Countryside Drive (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...t-guernsey-coast-and-countryside-drive-adult/) which was a few hours long and literally went around the entire island. They don't have full-size motorcoaches so the transportation was in smaller vehicle (accommodated 32 people comfortably). They don't have air conditioning and the side windows don't open, so you're dependent on the air coming in from the hatches on the roof of the vehicle for circulation. This made things a bit stuffy on the bus, but the stops were frequent enough to alleviate that. This was a tendering port and because there were issues with the number of vessels available from the tendering company, many guests were unable to meet their private tours until considerably later than expected. Because we were on a DCL excursion, we were one of the first groups off the ship. We stayed in town after the tour to walk along the shopping street, find some ice cream, and buy some souvenirs. We were back on the ship by 2:30. The last tender was to run at 4-something but it was well after 5 PM before they had everyone back on board.

Post-Cruise: We used Coastal Cars to take us from the Port back to Gatwick by way of Canterbury. We had planned to do a river tour while there but it was rainy, so we toured the cathedral instead. We had been originally told that the cathedral was going to be closed for part of the day because of an event, but that had changed by the time we arrived.

Post Cruise accommodation: We stayed at the Hilton Gatwick (South Terminal) which is attached to the airport. This is a nice enough clean hotel. There isn't much to do there but they have a restaurant, a Costa Coffee, and you can walk to the airport where there are limited options outside of security - including a M/S (Mark and Spencer) food mart where we bought dinner and took back to the room.

PreCruise: Churchill Guest House, Dover
PreCruise transportation: Coastal Cars
Taxi to port the morning of the cruise

Newcastle: Newcastle City Tours - http://www.newcastlecitytours.co.uk/ arranged by email correspondence. They are cryptic in email but everything was in order for us. Our driver acted as pseudo-tour-guide but was not full-on tour guide. He took us where we wanted to go and made suggestions for other places as we went. Highlights: photo stop at Newcastle bridges, Old Newcastle, Hadrian's Wall (in town and out), Angel of the North, and Washington Old Hall. He would have taken us to a cathedral / lunch stop but we didn't want to go. He also would have stopped at Costco for me but my family overrode me. 200 GBP from start to finish, pre-paid via PayPal. Driver was at the port as was Peter the owner when we disembarked. The car was clean and spacious for the four of us, working seatbelts, full tank of gas.

Invergordon: We did the DCL Excursion Cruise Loch Ness and Urquhart Castle - https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...on-scotland-cruise-loch-ness-urquhart-castle/ Our experience was exactly what is described. Our guide reminded me of Shelagh Turner on Call the Midwife; if I closed my eyes, I could pretend it was really her giving the tour talk on the way to the castle. The only "complaint" about this tour is that we arrived at the Castle at the same time as several other tour groups (a couple of other DCL buses in addition to other entities). There is a movie at the beginning of the visitor center but we couldn't get through because there were too many people and then when we did, several from our tour group weren't able to get into the theater. It's an 8-minute film and we only had a limited time so we didn't want to lose the time to explore the actual castle by waiting. The gift shop had tons of items for sail but was also so full of people it was quite claustrophobic. However, it did eventually clear out - I sent my family members on ahead to explore while I queued up to pay for their souvenirs. The castle itself is wonderful to see and the setting is breathtaking. We boarded a two-level boat for the ride across Loch Ness which would have been better had it been about 15 degrees warmer that day. It became too cold to sit outside but by then there was no room inside out of the wind. The guide for the boat was informative and it was worth taking the journey across.

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands: This was my boys' favorite port. We used Explore Orkney ( http://www.exploreorkney.com/cruise-tour.php ) which we prearranged and prepaid via PayPal. The link is to the tour we did with them. It was us and then there were four other guests from our cruise who had also booked with them - a family of three, and another woman who was on her own for the day. It was the perfect sized group. The owner, Susan, was our guide and driver for the day, and her unique perspective of being a true local added a lot to the tour. We were picked up at 8 am and dropped back off after 2 PM. Those that wanted to visit the town were dropped off in town and able to get the free shuttle back to the port. We saw a few DCL buses along the way but generally we were leaving as they were arriving.

Greenock: We did the DCL Excursion Edinburgh on your own (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/greenock-scotland-edinburgh-on-your-own/) which provided limited guide service along the way and then we were dropped off several blocks away from the Edinburgh Castle. We had prepurchased our tickets which is really a must if you're there on a busy day. It happened that it was the day they were celebrating the Queen's official birthday and there was a 21-gun salute at noon. We arrived in Edinburgh just after 11 o'clock so we had plenty of time to walk (uphill!) to the castle. The castle has much to explore and you should allow a couple of hours to see it if you have them. We cut some of our time there short since we had hung around to watch the festivities - people were lined up much like at WDW - early for the parade On the walk back to our meeting place, we stopped at the Scottish National Gallery ( https://www.nationalgalleries.org/visit/how-to-find-us/ ) for a short visit (the boys used their free wifi in the lobby while DH and I basically ran through to see what was there. If we had known ahead of time, we would have planned to stop there, and as it turned out, we could have stayed an extra 20 minutes because our meeting place was quite a bit closer than we realized.

Liverpool: We did the DCL Excursion In the Steps of the Beatles, Adult Departure (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/port-adventures/liverpool-england-steps-of-beatles-adult/). There are three parts to this tour and depending on which bus you were on, you had a different order to keep everyone from being in the same place at the same time. Our tour started with the drive around the city to see the sights - this was the most interesting part of the tour, but on a motorcoach, it's kind of hard to see. When we had photo stops, it took a longer time to unload and reload because all us older people take longer than the families / younger people do But our tour guide was fabulous - she grew up in Liverpool as was a Beatles fan from the beginning. We were disappointed with the Beatles Story ( http://www.beatlesstory.com/ ) portion of the tour - it was too busy inside so it made it hard to listen to the audio guide which was more of a story-telling-documentary. If you have a Beatles fan, they probably already know everything that they had in this place. Our last stop was Mathew Street where we went into the Cavern Club which was pretty cool to do (but very loud!). We agreed that this would have been a great tour to do with a small group, not on a bus so the vehicle could go closer to some of the places and so you could stop for a better photo than a blur through the moving motorcoach window that also had a glare.

Additional notes on Liverpool: The city had a big festival for us being there which brought a lot of people down to the port / docks area. But I went out early in the morning (our tour wasn't starting until 11, probably because it was Sunday) and walked around while there was hardly anyone out. I was able to get a picture of the Beatles statues without other people in it! Score! That never happens. The walk along the riverside was pleasant and I recommend taking time to go down to the Museum of Liverpool ( http://www.liverpoolmuseums.org.uk/mol/ ).

Dublin: We did Dublin totally on our own. We prepurchased tickets for the Book of Kells ( http://www.tcd.ie/visitors/book-of-kells/tickets-information/ ) for a 10 AM arrival. There were shuttles provided into town - it takes about 30-40 minutes going in the morning during commute times (first shuttle left at 8:45 and dropped us off at 9:25 about two blocks from Trinity College), and about 20-25 minutes for the return trip. Because we arrived early, we asked if we could enter early and it was not a problem, so we were inside the Book of Kells by 9:35. It was a drizzly, humid day, but that didn't dampen our spirits. The Book of Kells was so interesting as was the Old Library upstairs. Afterwards, we walked the few blocks to the Disney Store which sells a few items specific to Ireland. There were several shops to get souvenirs on the same street. We opted to do the hop-on, hop-off bus (red line, http://www.hop-on-hop-off-bus.com/dublin-hop-on-hop-off with live commentary) and just ride around (1 1/2 hours). Afterwards, because it was still raining, we decided to just go back to the port and do laundry as the next day was a sea day.

Le Havre - A fellow cruiser made arrangements for a private tour guide to pick us up at the port and take us to Normandy with a specific focus on the American beaches and D-Day. What a treat! Our driver met us at the port (a wee bit late but traffic was horrible, he saw some fellow guides as we were exiting that were going to be really late to pick up their guests). If you do a private tour for this port, insist that they pick you up early! The tour took us to Honfleur (http://www.fodors.com/world/europe/france/normandy/places/honfleur) which I had never heard of but it's where Impressionism (art) began and was a quaint little place. It was on the wait to Pointe du Hoc which is where you really need to begin the story of what happened on D-Day. The whole way our guide gave us a history lesson but he made it so interesting and built things up so that when we were on site, we had the context for what we were seeing. We stopped at Omaha Beach, had lunch at a small diner, and then continued on to the Normandy American Cemetery (https://www.abmc.gov/cemeteries-memorials/europe/normandy-american-cemetery). On the way back to the port, we stopped to see the Tapestry of Normandy ( http://www.bayeuxmuseum.com/en/la_tapisserie_de_bayeux_en.html ). It was Tours by Locals that she used to find our guide. This was our guide (https://www.toursbylocals.com/NormandyPrivateTourGuide).

St. Peter Port, Guernsey - This was my favorite port, a beautiful sunny day and a beautiful island. We did the DCL Excursion Coastline and Countryside Drive (https://disneycruise.disney.go.com/...t-guernsey-coast-and-countryside-drive-adult/) which was a few hours long and literally went around the entire island. They don't have full-size motorcoaches so the transportation was in smaller vehicle (accommodated 32 people comfortably). They don't have air conditioning and the side windows don't open, so you're dependent on the air coming in from the hatches on the roof of the vehicle for circulation. This made things a bit stuffy on the bus, but the stops were frequent enough to alleviate that. This was a tendering port and because there were issues with the number of vessels available from the tendering company, many guests were unable to meet their private tours until considerably later than expected. Because we were on a DCL excursion, we were one of the first groups off the ship. We stayed in town after the tour to walk along the shopping street, find some ice cream, and buy some souvenirs. We were back on the ship by 2:30. The last tender was to run at 4-something but it was well after 5 PM before they had everyone back on board.

Post-Cruise: We used Coastal Cars to take us from the Port back to Gatwick by way of Canterbury. We had planned to do a river tour while there but it was rainy, so we toured the cathedral instead. We had been originally told that the cathedral was going to be closed for part of the day because of an event, but that had changed by the time we arrived.

Post Cruise accommodation: We stayed at the Hilton Gatwick (South Terminal) which is attached to the airport. This is a nice enough clean hotel. There isn't much to do there but they have a restaurant, a Costa Coffee, and you can walk to the airport where there are limited options outside of security - including a M/S (Mark and Spencer) food mart where we bought dinner and took back to the room.

Thanks for all this information. It should help us with our planning

 

[Hookemhorns]

Dear Disney British Isles Cruise Veterans,

Our family of 3 has sailed with Disney 8 times, but never on a European cruise. I'm really tempted to join the British Isles cruise that departs 7/9/17, especially since I lived in England a couple of years while my Dad was stationed there in the 60s and have never been back (the base is long closed, but the house we rented in Essex is still there).

My greatest concern is that my daughter turned 18 last July and I am worried that since there aren't clubs or scheduled activities like she enjoyed on all of the previous cruises she'll feel out of place and lonely. A 12 night cruise will seem like forever if she doesn't have people her age to spend time with.

I'd be grateful if anyone on the 2016 cruise to the British Isles who had a member of their party 18-20 years of age help allay my concerns about this. I've posted a message in the 2017 cruise thread to see if there are others in this age range who will be going, but have not yet received any replies.

 

[Cptjackandcrew]

Dear Disney British Isles Cruise Veterans,

Our family of 3 has sailed with Disney 8 times, but never on a European cruise. I'm really tempted to join the British Isles cruise that departs 7/9/17, especially since I lived in England a couple of years while my Dad was stationed there in the 60s and have never been back (the base is long closed, but the house we rented in Essex is still there).

My greatest concern is that my daughter turned 18 last July and I am worried that since there aren't clubs or scheduled activities like she enjoyed on all of the previous cruises she'll feel out of place and lonely. A 12 night cruise will seem like forever if she doesn't have people her age to spend time with.

I'd be grateful if anyone on the 2016 cruise to the British Isles who had a member of their party 18-20 years of age help allay my concerns about this. I've posted a message in the 2017 cruise thread to see if there are others in this age range who will be going, but have not yet received any replies.

I'm not sure what it's called now, but Disney does/did have a daily event called called "Club 2-0 (it might have a different name now)" which was for anyone over 18. They did social events like meeting for lunch, a movie, or going to a club together. My DD's 18 and 21 had each other, but did attend a little bit. The young people find each other, especially if your DD is a true Disney fan. My daughter and her new friends stood in line to get front row show seats, met characters and went to the little kid area open houses. We did a BI cruise with a different cruiseline several years ago because Disney wasn't going there. At 50+ my DH was one of the youngest on the ship, yet our DD's still enjoyed themselves...but not as much as they do on DCL. Your daughter will have a wonderful time.

 

[simba44]

Dear Disney British Isles Cruise Veterans,

Our family of 3 has sailed with Disney 8 times, but never on a European cruise. I'm really tempted to join the British Isles cruise that departs 7/9/17, especially since I lived in England a couple of years while my Dad was stationed there in the 60s and have never been back (the base is long closed, but the house we rented in Essex is still there).

My greatest concern is that my daughter turned 18 last July and I am worried that since there aren't clubs or scheduled activities like she enjoyed on all of the previous cruises she'll feel out of place and lonely. A 12 night cruise will seem like forever if she doesn't have people her age to spend time with.

I'd be grateful if anyone on the 2016 cruise to the British Isles who had a member of their party 18-20 years of age help allay my concerns about this. I've posted a message in the 2017 cruise thread to see if there are others in this age range who will be going, but have not yet received any replies.

My wife, mother (late 70s) and eldest son (at 24, slightly older than the demographic you are seeking) took this cruise last year, creating a diverse mix of interests for my wife and me to try to make sure all had a great time. (For my wife and me, this was cruise #12, so we are somewhat veterans of DCL as well.)

It was an amazing time, with truly something for everyone. Presuming you book it, I'd suggest that you make sure your daughter has an active role in selecting excursions, whether at the stone hendges and castles in Scotland, or a Beatles exploration in Liverpool, or the Guinness warehouse in Dublin, or the Normandy beach day trip (all of which were among our highlights). Onboard, the trip has a different feel than a Caribbean one, but one that feels really special. I do not recall if there was a specific "club" type set-up on our cruise; that probably depends on the mix of those on a particular cruise, and their interest. But the entertainment -- whether at the theatre, or the pub, or the comedy shows -- is typical Disney Cruise in that it is enjoyable for all ages, and she'd be free to hang out with others she meets on-board, whether through an organized club or through meeting fellow passengers on excursions.

Not sure if this is helpful, but those are some thoughts. Good luck to you!