Topic: Round Britain Cruises.

Hi Funcruiser, have a great cruise.

I just saw the Crown Princess leaving Belfast on my way home from work tonight. Its so nice to see a ship you've been on in your home town.
I don't know what the people choose to do today but they could have taken the 'Titanic Tour' to see the Titanic dry dock among other sights. Going to see the Giants Causeway and have some Bushmills whiskey is another favourite. A great lunch-time trip (ten minutes from the dock) is visit the Crown bar to have some traditional fare and see where Marlon Brando filmed 'On the Waterfront' which won him an oscar!
Heather

[QUOTE=Issyalex, Glasgow;71769]My nearest port is Greenock from there you could visit Glasgow of course with some of the best architecture in Scotland eg Rennie MacIntosh, Alexander 'Greek' Thomson etc. free admission to all art galleries and museums, the famout Barras and of course the best shopping. however instead of visiting a city and to gett a better feel of Scotland then the West of Scotland has the most amazing scenery...Loch Lomond and the Trossachs, Loch Awe, Oban, the whisky trail, the West Highland Way.

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Museums and galleries are also free in England - As a Londoner we have palaces, castles, Richmond park with the wild deer, Hampstead Heath, Fab shopping, brilliant markets of all kinds, bird sanctuaries, The London Zoo, Great architecture, ancient churches, Roman ruins, Theatres galore, restaurants from all over the world and Spa's to die for. Me thinks why am I going away ? Ah yes - it will be cooler in Scotland and Ireland!

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I just saw the Crown Princess leaving Belfast on my way home from work tonight. Its so nice to see a ship you've been on in your home town.
I don't know what the people choose to do today but they could have taken the 'Titanic Tour' to see the Titanic dry dock among other sights. Going to see the Giants Causeway and have some Bushmills whiskey is another favourite. A great lunch-time trip (ten minutes from the dock) is visit the Crown bar to have some traditional fare and see where Marlon Brando filmed 'On the Waterfront' which won him an oscar!
Heather

Thanks Heather - will be there soon for the second time. I will take you up on your 'local' suggestion.

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Were they not planning on dredging the harbour in Falmouth to allow cruises to dock rather than tender? The other obvious attractions of stopping in Falmouth are excursions to Eden, St Michaels Mount and Penzance, St Ives and lots more besides. I have seen the odd cruise stop in Falmouth but never enough. When we were coming back to Southampton on the Ventura last year i thought how nice it would have been to have stopped in Falmouth the day before you get to Southamoton, would make a great last day of a cruise... ahhh Cornwall how I miss you :-)

And you would avoid the traffic jams down there !!

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Cardiff has 2 castles, 2 cathedrals, St Fagans Folk museum and the new Cardiff Bay as well as the regal City Hall and Museum in the centre of Cardiff. The new St Davids shopping centre a must for shopaholics.
EDNA

Edna You forgot the hallowed ground of the Millenium stadium not to mention Cardiff arms park next door to it (which people used to confuse the with the old National Stadium).

The civic centre is much more than just the city hall and museum: with the memorial gardens and the university.

As for castles by far and away the best is Caerphilly Castle which has the largest water defences in Europe (3rd largest in the world), a tower that leans more than the leaning tower of Pisa, and in August the firing of the full size replica siege engines.

I wouldn't count Castle Coch ( which I presume is one of your 2 castles) as a castle as it is just a victorian folly, but it does have novelty value and is very picturesque perched as it is on the valley side..

All in all Cardiff would be a terrific cruise port of call, much better than next door Newport which has already had ships calling in, and only has a poor excuse for a castle and a transporter bridge.

As long as a small cruise ship didn't exceed 160m length, 16.3m wide and a draft of 7.3m then ships can dock via Liverpool in Salford Quays. Not many ships that small though.

From here it is easy to visit the Manchester United Museum, the Manchester Museum of Science & Industry, the Trafford Centre, The Imperial War Museum, The Lowry Centre plus a 101 other things.

It's far easier to dock at Liverpool and then hop on the train to Manchester................;)

Called at Falmouth ONCE on a cruise ship. Sunday, shuttle bus was a dirty beaten up double decker and it rained

Hi dibdenden,,As you said only once,Which ship were you on? I am afraid I can't do anything about the weather or the bus, but give it another go this month has been lovely .



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When Travelsope were using the Van Gogh this used to dock in Falmouth which was its home port. We cruised on this ship several times, and love Falmouth and all the surrounding areas, including St Mawes. It was a great pity when Travelscope went out of business and had to sell Van Gogh - it was a lovely ship.