I am taking Princess cruises British Isles 12 day cruise to England, Scotland and Ireland in May 2013 and would like any information possible. The northern european cruise ports guidebook is scheduled to be available in July 2013 but I need information now...can anyone help me as regards which cxcursions should be booked with cruise line and which ports can be explored independently?
You will find a lot of information at cruisecritic.com on the "ports" section, about what to see, availability of taxis, etc. Also if you google "tourist information" for each of the ports on your itinerary you will be pleased and surprised at what you will learn.
I'm taking the same cruise in June. If you get onto the cruise critic website they also have something called "roll call" for your specific trip. Many people group together and plan excursions together. We have done that for our cruise. It may be worth checking out.
Best place to get started is at cruisecritic.com. The sight has plenty of reviews of different ports, where the boat docks, how to get into town, etc. Although I think they lean to heavily toward cruise ship sponsored excursions, the site gives you an idea of the choices available at any given port. Once you know those, a little research can save you time and money by finding self-guided or local guide options.