Shore excursions

Patti, a great place to research this type of info is Cruise Critics.com. You will find reviews of the various shore excursion companies, etc. And if you do not find the info you want, you can post a question.

How long are you staying at each stop? If it is a day stop you need to be sure that any tour you take gets you back to the ship well before it leaves. If you miss the boat it is up to you to make your own way to the next stop. This is why it is sometimes recommended that you take the excursions organized by the cruise line - they guarantee to get you back and the ship will usually wait for you if there is a delay due to traffic etc. Think about what you want to see at each port - a city tour is different from a visit to a specific site. For example - Glasgow - do you want to see downtown Glasgow or are you more interested in the art galleries and museums for which it is famous or do you want a trip to Loch Lomand. Day excursions are usually organized by coach (bus) companies - google Glasgow coach tours for example. Note that the port for Edinburgh is Leith; you may not actually be moored right in downtown Glasgow - depends on the size of the ship. You could be moored off Gourock at the mouth of the River Clyde about an hour by bus from Glasgow. Travel agents and tour companies in the UK are licensed by the ABTA - look for that on any ads. Cork and Dublin are in Ireland (not Northern Ireland which is part of the UK)and there will be differences in licensing of tour companies. Again, google will be your best friend.

I'm echoing Steve's recommendation, but I believe the address is cruisecritic dot com, no "s" on critic.