royal princess excurisions british isles

does anyone know how far the ship is from town of Falmouth, Cork,Dublin,Edinburgh,Hamburg,Amsterdam,Zeebrugge. ..which cities can i do on my own vs. taking the ship trip?? help is appreciated.

We did this cruise last year. It was lovely. Falmouth is a tender and the town has a free shuttle that will take you to the centre (or you can walk along the waterfront - not very far). Cork is really Cobh - a pretty town - but you can take either a shuttle bus via the cruise line ($$) or the train (right outside the pier). Dublin - Princess provides shuttles too (about $7 last year) the port is a ways out of town - then did the Hop on Hop Off bus to see the city. Edinburgh was challenging - we took the Edinburgh on Your Own tour - which while more cost effective is still expensive. Loved Edinburgh! - did the Hop on Hop Off Bus. The port Rosyth is a fair ways away and Princess didn't provide shuttles to Edinburgh. Hamburg and Amsterdam both had shuttles ($7) but the pier was also relatively close to downtown. Zeebrugge's port is way the heck out of town - - so take the shuttle into town - it was a good value over taxis. We took the train from Zeebrugge into Bruge - a much better deal than the shore excursions by Princess and super easy to do! Zeebrugge looks like a sleepy little town until you walk to the boardwalk and WOW - billions of people on the beach! Hope that helps.

thanks sooooo much for your insite. i really do appreciate it. what did you do at the la havre stop? we were thinking of paris ( never saw it), friends said it sounds like too much driving 3 hours each way to see anything ? or the beaches of normandy? any suggestion.
thanks again
Hali

[lexxity]

it seems silly that they don't dock at falmouth. it has (i think) the second deepest natural harbour in the world, they dock war ships there so a cruise ship should be ok. i digress, falmouth is a beautiful little town, if i were you i would hire a car and head along the coast it is some of the most beautiful scenery in the UK, make time to have a proper cream tea and you absoloutely must have some of the local seafood, rick stein has a restaurant in padstow, a bit on the expensive side but well worth it from what i hear. Or you could head to the eden project, it's an environmental landscape project with three differnet biospheres. i belive they are online, or head to some of the abbies in the area or down to penzance or lands end. or if you really want to blow the budget how about a helicopter to the scilly isles. Seriously though do your own thing its really easy to get around on your own. i have never been to cobh, but i do have a funny story for you to pass on, the titanic bar in cobh was originally a DHSS office(same as a benefit or social security office) and a man who was claiming benefit from there won the lottery, he bought the building, evicted the DHSS and turned it into the Titanic bar. I think it is genius and a great true story to boot. You may as well have a drink there as well.
Amsterdam is the easiest city in the world to get around, i would recommend taking a canal boat tour, to help you get your bearings and then jump on the circle tram (no. 20 if my memory serves me correctly) must do's are: The Anne Frank house, everybody should go there once, the Rijks museum to see the nightwatch (it is one of the most fabulous paintings i have ever seen), the Van Gogh museum. it also house some fine picassos, have a drink on the leidesplein, sitting outside and watching the world go by is one of the finest ways to spend your time in amsterdam, a stroll along the damrack (sp) taking in De Beijnkorf department store, past the westerkirk and up to Centraal station to the buffet to have a sandwich. Chips and mayonaise are also on the list, strange but very tasty! the indonesion food is also very good in amsterdam. If you want to buy diamonds you can get some excellent deals here. Check the VVV office outside Centraal station for tram tickets. canal tours and general info on all the attractions in Amsterdam. as you might have gathered it's one of my favourite cities!
happy cruising
lexxity