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2025 October 21; Oban and final Verdict.

October 24, 2025 / Captain Albert / 9 Comments

The anchor was pulled up around 07.30 this morning and half an hour later we were docked at the ferry terminal where our cruise started from 7 days ago. Breakfast was at 07.45 (with doors opening earlier) so by 08.30 I could hop in the (complimentary) taxi to go to the (complimentary) covered garage to retrieve the car. I had to be first as my car was partly blocking the driving out of the other cars. Luckily the garage owner had removed a few obstacles so the path-width for the other cars so had become wider. In the mean time the ships staff were carrying the suitcases from our cabins to the shoreside.

Those who came by train (Glasgow train station) or plane (Glasgow airport) were loaded on the (complimentary) bus/coach. It was nice to see that Captain and Chief Purser where actively involved in helping with the suitcases and were personally saying goodbye to everybody. (not just a line up at the gangway but actively at the coach door (and luggage hatch) and around the individual cars.

By 0900 hrs. we were loaded and on our way. Day started all rainy but by 09.30 the sun came out and we had a good drive home. Same as going northbound, in two stages, with an overnight in between. It is an approx. 10 hrs. drive on the British roads between Oban and Cromer and that is something one does not want to do in one day.

So what is the overall verdict on this cruise?

Well as you will have read in the all the posts of this week:

The Hebridean Princess is a floating English (Scottish) Country House with a service that goes with it. I would rate it 6 star but it is difficult to do so as there is really no comparison to any other cruise line. It is a totally unique product. With a crew ratio of 38 crew to 48 passengers, its service is beyond par. Above and beyond of what one can expect. A sort of throwback to what many company’s delivered in the 1970’s and 80’s when first class still existed.

The dining room has plate service (= 5 star) but the way the food is presented and the dishes piping hot, makes it 6 star. Twice this cruise we had a (seafood) buffet, small, but again all of top quality and presentation.

ALL food & beverages are included, including the expensive ones. Champagne (the real stuff, Taittlinger, no sparkling wine) is available all day and so is the rest. The whisky’s of the distillery’s that we visited during the cruise were also on board and also included. The longest time I clocked between asking for a drink and getting it, was 5 minutes (and that was only because they had to get a fresh bottle of something or the other out of the stock room).

The Glare Factor: 100%. Not a single crewmember who failed to acknowledge us when seeing us during work, or when outside their direct work setting.

If I would have to compare this ship /company with similar -starred- companies we have sailed with so far: Cunard (Queens Grill), Silver Seas, Azamara, then the Hebridean Princess beats them all.

Note: Azamara Onward, came fairly close second as she also had the 100% glare factor but has less crew so it took longer to get your drinks & food, and their tender service failed on occasion.

Things to be noted:

The cabins are all very well apointed (6 star) but vary greatly in size (from 4′.6 standard bed to a 6′ wide Kings size) so be careful when selecting your cabins. Same for the showers as they can be large or quite small. There are single cabins as well.

There is no A.C on board but only forced cooled air. For our cruise (average outside temperature of 120C / 54oF) it was more than enough (even while being in the dungeon) but it might be somewhat challenging during high summer as Scotland now also gets heatwaves. Especially on Hebridean Deck (that is dungeon level) where the cabins have no portholes.

When booking you can request a table for 2,3,4 or6/8. Depending on the number of requests for a table of 6/8, they increase the number of those larger tables. For this cruise 3 large ones were set up. If everybody wants a table for 2, then the large tables are broken up. We suggest that you request a table for 6/8 (depending on what size they offer) for several reasons:

The guests are in general well educated, talkative and well informed. So the table conversation is richly flowing. You remain at the same table for the duration of the cruise and as we sat in a different chair each time we had the chance to have good a conversation with everybody.
If there are large tables, then an officer (Captain, Chief Purser, Naturalist on formals and other officers on informals) will host. It brings an extra dimension to the conversation.

Formal night is formal night. The ships management will not officially enforce it but you do not want to stand out. The ship and clientele sort of calls for it. All your fellow guests are dressed formally and so are the officers who dine with you. (all in kilt).

One ONLY comment to make for improvement: The Bathrobes in all the cabins are too small, even for standard size people like us. And that is for 6 star not really acceptable. We have put that as our only negative in our comments forms as we see no reason when we pay 6 star prices, that we have to lug our own bathrobes with us. Hopefully Hebridean Cruises will follow up on that.

We mentioned it on board, and the answer was: we have NO space.

This is nonsense, if they have space to stock 7 days of linen change and all our suitcases (*) then there must be room for a few extra XL or XXL bathrooms. And if not in the linen store, then there is more than enough space on the former car deck to add an A60 fire rated locker for them.

(*) You can have your bed linen changed each day as per company policy, but most guests are happy with 2 or 3 times a cruise and leave a (provided) card on the bed to notify the stewardess,.

We really enjoyed our cruise and we might be back in 2028 when we have space in our cruise schedule bookings. It will depend somewhat on the ports visited. We found this mystery cruise a little bit too much tilted to nature. One castle in the mix (of only nature and whisky) would have made it perfect.

Our next cruise is the Christmas Cruise on the Queen Victoria in a Penthouse grade cabin. I do not expect that they will beat Hebridean Princess but it will be interesting to see how close they will get. According to recent reports, the service in the Queens Grill has been dumbed down (seems to have started after Covid) but we go with an open mind.

I hope you will follow us on that cruise as well.

2025 Oct. 20; Inverrie to Kingairloch to Oban, Scotland.

October 21, 2025 / Captain Albert / 8 Comments

Today was sightseeing most of the day. Ending up in Kingarloch at 14.00 hrs. until 17.00 hrs and then a quick joint down Loch Linnhe to the anchorage in Oban. (On the map just under the words Google Maps)

This morning around 07.00 hrs. the ship picked up anchor and sailed south along the magnificent Scottish coast line, dipped in and out Loch Sunartin, went through the Sound of Mull up into Loch Linnhe and into “Loch a Choire” for an afternoon call.

Strontian is an area of outstanding beauty as much of the Highlands are and worthwhile a visit. Certainly on a day as to day with sunshine and no rain. (Photo: unknown source on the internet)

As usual there was wildlife galore, with a very happy naturalist Bryan, as he saw a Minkey Whale that did not directly dive so all wild life lovers had their day already made. Then there was the small diversion into Loch Sunartin which is very scenic. The local claim to fame here is being the “town of Strontium”; real name Strontian and located up the hills just a bit away from the loch. The mineral (on the Perodic Table) named Strontium was discovered here, when people were delving for lead. A village was then built to house the miners needed and this villlage was called Strontian. It is the only village in the British Isles to have an element named after it. The place is still inhabited with a village store and a school with 30 pupils.

The Glennsanda Super Quary as seen from the water.

Then we went to the Sound of Mull, which is a semi narrow waterway (not that narrow as in “tight”) as I went through it with a 33.000 tons cruise ship) and then one ends up in Loch Linnhe. If one continues straight on, one comes to Oban but if one turns to the North then one can end up in Fort William. As we did not want to go to Oban yet, we turned to the North and followed to the coast line to “Loch a Choire”, which is a small inlet / fjord on the North shore of Loch Linnhe. While saiing towards it we came by a real blot on the landscape: Europe’s largest aggregate mine at Glennsands. It has been in operation for a long time and its product is a major export item for Scotland. There is still a billion tons of (mainly basalt) aggregate that can be mined so the mine is expected to be there for a fore-seeable time.

Kingairloch bay as seen on a Map by the Government of Scotland. As one can see the fish farm takes up a lot of space in the entrance. But it is a protected bay from any winds but the Easterlies and thus an excellent place for such a venture.

Then the ship made a 90o turn to port and slipped into “Loch a Choire” (there are 5 locations with the same name in Scotland) and when going in the Captain had to hug the southern shore as in the middle of the waters is an enourmous salmon fish farm. Operated by Norwegians when looking at the flags of the support ships. But a bit deeper in the bay, there was ample space, so the good ship Hebridean Princess dropped the anchor and by 14.30 hrs. the guests started their invasion of the Kingairloch Estate. As many Estates in Scotland nowadays, the land is not longer owned by people of Scottish descend but by foreigners. This Estate is no different, being owned by a couple from Belgium. Luckily they take their responsibilities seriously and they are busy with restoring parts of the Estate such as boundary walls.

This is one of the 2 little tender boats (stowed on the bow when not in use) that ferry the guests ashore. Each can take 10 and thus all guests can be ashore in a total of 4 runs., or about 20 minutes.

What else is there to do? Well one can climb up the mountain and then slide down the mountain again. Walk around the Estate and oggle at the Main House (from a distance as it is occupied) and there is a small church somewhere up the hill. Another call for nature lovers as there was a lof of deer around. I had hoped for a Castle today, as we had done birds (St. Kilda), Raasay (distilerry and nature), Stornoway (history and shopping), Gairloch (nature), Inverrie (nature and pub), so basically all that was missing was a Castle. But no such luck, today it was more nature.

The Captain conducting the bridge tour. On this ship it is always done by the Captain and, contrary to many main stream cruise companies, it is free of charge.

This morning while in Loch Linhe we had a bridge tour, where the Captain explained how all the old stuff from 1964 worked (original engines, steering wheel and engine telegraphs) and all the modern additional equipment, such as Radars with chart overlay. Course plotters, auto pilots and a plenthora of communication equipment.

The original 1964 steering wheel. It has been modified (front side} so it is now also connected to a modern autopilot.

For me it was like going back to 1981 – 1986 when sailing on the steamships ss Statendam (IV) and ss Rotterdam (V) where everything was also done via the ships telegraphs with the engine room. Here the communication is with a engineer who locally operates the diesel engines with only a response delay of 3 or 4 seconds. In my early days, with steam, it could take up to 2 minutes before the requested steam pressure/ revolutions were there as promised.

The original telegraphs are still in use. With the signal going down to the E.R where it is acknowlegd by an engineer before he then adjusts the speed/revolutions as requested. The two boxes here on the bridge wing, contain the bow thruster handle, the rudder handle and the speed and wind indication.

The bridge tour lasted a good hour as Captain Heaton is very enthousiastic and also very proud of his little ship. He is now in his 24th. year of sailing on it. Once the “mere amateurs” had departed I had a chance to discuss with him what of the all stuff was still good (everything) what of the new stuff was good (not much, but compulsory) and the intricasies of handling a ship like the Hebredian Princess. I already had had an (rather alcoholic) session with him in the lounge late evening during the first formal night. Here we had put the world to right and discussed the reasons why we both did not work in an office. He is now 30+ years at sea, while I have clocled 42 years, but if his enthouisiam indicates anything, he will get to the 40 years without much of a challenge.

This evening we had our last formal night, with the traditional presentation of the Haggis, which was spoken to (By reciting Robert Burns famous poem) by the Captain in his best scottish. The Captain had dropped the hook around 1800 hrs. in Oban bay, so we could have a quiet formal dinner and night. Tommorrow morning we will shift from the anchorage to the dock around 08.00 hrs. and then disembarkation starts around 08.30. I have first to collect my car, load the luggage, and then drive 5 hrs. to Newcastle for an overnight followed by the next day with another 5 hrs. to get home.

Weather for tomorrow, rain, totally overcast with temperatures around 09oC / 48oF. It looks like it that Autumn is finally coming to Scotland.

As usual the final blog with the verdict will come in a few days, when I am home and have arranged my thoughts.

2025 Oct. 19; Gairloch to Shieldaig to Inverie.

October 20, 2025 / Captain Albert / 1 Comment

Today was a day of sightseeing with 2 ports thrown in, after a night at anchor.

We left Gairloch at 18.00 hrs. and dropped the anchor an hour later at a place called Applecross. The Captain did not announce why we left, we could have stayed overnight here but I assume the local ferry was coming in and the Hebridean Princess had to leave. Not that anybody cared, it was all about……….. where do we go next……….. The old man popped up at 19.25 hrs. last night after dropping the hook and he was rather vague about what he was going to do today. Apart this being a mystery cruise, it is also the weather that is very changeable at the moment, so it is better to keep some options on the back burner.

The angle of the wind was in the end not such that “ruffled” the waves very much. The storm was mainly felt in open waters. We had a windforce 5 to 7 for awile but as the wind has not been blowing for very long yet, there was no swell, so in the end we were hardly affected apart from a “wee bit of rain”.

So we were advised that we would pick up the hook around 08,00 hrs. and then sail to Shieldaig in Loch Torridon (after which our cabin is named). The ship dropped anchor there and by 09.30 hrs. guests could go ashore for walking. Shieldaig is a small town with 50 houses and some hotels for the holiday season. As pubs normally do not open before 11.00 hrs. we decided to stay on board. Her ladyship watching a murder movie and me uploading yesterdays blog.

With 50 odd houses, Shieldaig is a real metroplis compared to some of the villages we see dotted along the coast.( Photo courtesy, somebody with a drone)

It was all on board by 11.30 to go south and go under the Skye Bridge. Which is a big thing as the birdge is known worldwide because of the Scots complaining bitterly about the toll costs. The Dutch do the same and I fully agree, because Toll Roads do not support the local community. They only give an excuse for a politician (There will be no extra tax, as the bridge will pay for itself) and for the rest they rake in money from the locals, far more than what the bridge cost to contruct, and that money is then used for projects somewhere else that have nothing to do with the local community who paid the tolls. In a nutshell, here is the story.

The Skye Bridge,connects the Isle of Skye to the Scottish Mainland. The bridge has been designed in such a way that all the ferries, including our Hebridean Princess fit under it. (Photo courtesy: internet google)

The Isle of Skye is a major island with a lot of people who need to or want to travel. The little ferry could not cope with getting all the cars across in a timely manner. So it was decided to build a bridge. A bridge that would pay for itself. When the bridge was finished in 1995, the locals quickly found out that they had the highest tolls to pay in the world. for the lenght of the bridge. The plan was for a 40 pence toll but then it went up to 11.40 pounds. This made the Scotts lament that this was Europe’s most expensive bridge. (This was before Brexit, so they could legally say so). The Scotts affected got together and due to this pressure the tolls were abandoned in December 2004. Complainers alledge that the tolls raked in around £33 million from tolls, dwarfing the bridge’s building costs pegged at £3.5 million. There are still lawsuits going on, from those who paid the tolls in this period, saying that it was way too high as the Government made a profit, instead of cutting it off, once the bridge had been paid for.

The mv Hebridean Princess at anchor in Loch Nevis.

From there we sailed passed Armadale (famous for Armadale Castle) but did not stop there as the anchorage was fully exposed to wind and sea. Instead we sailed passed the town of Mallaig into Loch Nevis and dropped anchor outside “The Old Forge” in an area/ town called Inverie on the Knoydart peninsula. This is mainly a pub and it is called the “the remotest pub” on the British Mainland. They claim this title as there is no road leading there. All cars have to come and go by ferry and only hikers can descend from the higher mainland down to the shore. Still quite a few people live here, but – unless they walk a long way- they are reliant on the ferry service. The ferry calls in the summer time twice a day and once during the winter months, all of course weather depending. That ferry then takes everybody to another “Tarbert” in the mainland where there is a good road connection. The dock was too shallow for the Hebridean Princess and thus we were ferried in by the two little tenders that are carried on board. As they are half exposed/open, there is always the danger that you can be tipped out if the tender hits an un-expected wave and thus we have the ritual each time of donning an inflatable lifevest. Once ashore the ship has a collection area where you leave it until you return.

The Old Forge, which I assume in the grey mists of time once was a Blacksmiths Forge before it became a pub.

There are options galore here to go sightseeing and walking with a few historic locations nearby but most of the guests on board went for the pub. This is a community Pub, run by volunteers as the commercial version could not survive. Now a local pub such as the “Old Forge” always has my blessing as it is normally the heart of the local community and thus should be carefully nurtured. 2nd thing is, Community run pubs are normally Free Houses. E.G free of a commercial brewery chain and thus it can sell any beers it likes. And yes, I was not disappointed, 7 different craft beers were available so I was in heaven. My choice went this time to a national Scottish beer, (a bit like a light Guiness and although they call it “heavy”), the McEwan draft is more like dark ale. For the pub it was a hey-day with suddenly another 35 or so customers popping up. The costs of the drinks were once again picked up by the company so all was well in the world. We stopped here from 16.00 hrs. to 18.45 hrs. just enough time to stretch our legs and have a pint and then the ship sailed for the nights anchorage.

The inside of the Pub. Rebuilt by volunteers and ran by volunteers. All the locals who were involved have been immortalised with their names engraved in the wooden bar face and I suppose honoring the best customers) in the bar seats.

This afternoon beer did not detain all the guests from being in the main lounge (it is called the Tiree lounge, after the Isle of Tiree) to be ready by 19.00.hrs. for cocktails and good conversation. We have no music, and none is needed as everybody is busy enough with talking to each other. Where you sit in the lounge depends on when you come in and where there is a space left. Most of our guests are British but from various area’s, such as the middle of England, but also from the Isle of Man, island of Guernsey. Then there are a few Scots who have a home holiday. And they include a couple from Portree, a town in the area we are sailing in. Yesterday they could even see their town while we sailed into the Loch opposite. Then we have one Canadian from Montreal, one American from Colorado (the two are mother and daugther) and then there is one Dutchman………………

At 19.30 the captain showed up again and announced that tomorrow will be sightseeing through some small fjords, with a stop in the late afternoon. From there it was down to dinner, and tonight we had the Staff Captain at our table, which before he came to work here was working for Princess Cruises, which was between 2006 and 2022 part of the “Holland America Group” within Carnival. As you can see, it is a small world.

Weather for tomorrow: Overcast with a chance of showers and temperatures around 10oC / 50oF, so everybody is happy that the weather is holding.

2025 Oct. 18; Stornoway to Gairloch, Scotland.

October 19, 2025 / Captain Albert / 6 Comments

The route from Stornoway to Gairloch. I think that the captain wanted to be in the lee of the islands ahead of the turning weather, intstead of having to bounce through it tomorrow.

We left Stornoway at 08.00 hrs. in the morning and crossed a stretch of open waters called “The Minch”. An excellent area for bird and whale watching and several reports came in that all this wild life had indeed been sighted. It turned into a sunny day, which is very good for mid October in Scotland, but it is also the harbinger of a change in the weather. There is a depression moving in from the North Atlantic ocean and it is pushing the area of high pressure into Europe. This high pressure system gave calm and warm weather with overcast skies but the depression coming in is pushing the clouds away for the day and the coming night.

Gairloch harbour on the inside of the Ferry dock which also acts as a breakwater.

So after a sunny crossing of”The Minch” we docked at the town of Gairloch, which has a ferry dock. The ferry only comes in every other day or so, so the dock is open to the Hebridean Princess, which with its 85 meters is about the biggest ship that can dock here.

Even while being a small ship, the stern still overhung the nick in the dock. The ships gangway had to be hooked in on the Promenade deck, due to the tide, on a deck where most of the public rooms are and some cabins.

Fishing and tourism is the main business here and the buildings around the dock were all there to support the industry. A small village shop complemented the setup. Gairloch is home to the Gairloch and Conan Estate, a 60,000 acre spread, owned by the MacKenzie family but is open to those who want to go walking around the place. At the entrance to the Gairloch Estate, there is a small Inn called “The Old Inn” which, looking at the empty beer barrels outside, must be doing a roaring trade. For once I did not see any Germand or Dutch cars but there was one from Belgium , from Antwerp and that is also sort of Dutch /Flemish.

The main locality here in Gairloch is the Old Inn. As it is an Inn, it is more focused on rooms and dinners, than on being a Pub, so we walked by. I like my pint in a pub atmosphere,not while over looking tables with diners.

The main reason to be here was to offer the guests the opportunity to visit the Inverewe gardens. (Not to be mistaken by the Inverness Botanical Gardens. The ship had laid on a coach for transport and paid the entrance fee. The main reason for these gardens to be here, is the influence of the Gulf Stream whose warmer waters just hit the sheltered bay in the right way, and thus all sorts of plants, even palm trees can grow here and survive the winter. But you have to be into plants and gardens to really apreciate it.

Inverewe Gardens, located north of Gairloch. (Photo courtesy, unknown source on the Internet)

We left Gairloch at 18.00 hrs. and dropped anchor in a location called Applecross an hour later, in a sheltered bay for a quiet night. During cocktail hour, the Captain was rather vague about what he was going to do tomorrow, it is a mystery cruise after all, but we were going for a morning stop at the metropolis of Shieldaig, and then sailing down the coast for the remainder of the day. I think he did not want to be more specific as the route will depend on how fast the wind will turn from the East (which gives the sheltered bay in Shieldaig) to the South West which could give a bumpy ride in The Minch.

This is from an internet photo, but it gives a good idea of how intense the Northern Lights were this evening.

Thus we had a quiet day today, but during dinner pandemonium broke out as the naturalist Brian came down to show the photos he had just taken of the the Northern Lights. Luckily he did so after the main course had been served as a considerable number of guests dropped their cutlery and raced out. Had he come in earlier, I think he would have been confronted by a Chef who would not have been “amused”. The Northern Lights were rather faint but on the Smart Phones the fotos came out quite nicely. Lesley and I did not race out as we have seen it much more intense in the North of Norway and in Alaska.

The shipping forecast for 19 Oct. We are in the forecast area called Mailin which is just North of Northern Island.

Tommorrow morning we are in Shieldaig and then in the afternoon scenic cruising while heading South. The Shipping Forecast is predicting a 975mb low off the Scottish Coast with gale force winds. But with nearly every port being protected by high mountains, there will sufficient anchorages and/or docks to pull into.

As she was originally, the RMS Columbia in 1964.

As this was a short blog, a little bit of history about the ms Hebridean Princess as before 1989 she was the car ferry RMS Columba and later the MV Columba when the Royal Mail Contract fell away.

Cars being loaded in the old days. This location is now covered in with cabins and the ships galley.

She could handle 500 – 600 day passengers and 50 cars, via ramps in the stern and in the bow and a few extra could be hoisted on deck by means of a deck crane.

The main restaurant. Slightly less luxurious than that shown on the photo in yesterdays blog. (Photo courtesy: from a Calmac Brochure)

The ship was in those days in service between the ports of Oban, Craignure (on Mull) and Locahline (on Morven) until new ferries came along with much better Ro-Ro capacities and the company decided to change the ship into a small cruise ship. She was converted in Great Yarmouth to a very high specification with a capacity for 48 passengers and 38 crew.

The high “quality” cabin accommodation of 1964. This looks like an inside cabin, so see below, how an inside cabin now looks like.

Since then she has been sailing around the coast of Scotland with deviations into Norway and the English southcoast. Lately she has been concentrating on North West Scotland and also for 2026, there are no cruises further afield than what can be reached from the port of Oban.

The Loch Crinan cabin on deck 1 (that is on the lowest deck) where there are four insides in the bow section and 2 in the stern section. All cabins are named after Lochs or Isles so there are no cabin numbers. The cabins one deck up (Waterfront deck) have portholes and the deck above (Princess deck) has windows and are the biggest ones.

2025 Oct. 17; Tarbert to Stornoway.

October 18, 2025 / Captain Albert / 0 Comments

Hopping around the corner at the island of Lewis. This route made it possible to do two ports in one day.

From Raasay it was a few hours sailing to Tarbert located on the border between Harris and Lewis. There are quite a few Tarberts in Scotland as the name means “Ford” or connection between two areas where you can pass. Same as the Dutch have the word DAM in town names, such as Amsterdam and Rotterdam. A DAM where you can go from one area to another area. Thus this Tarbert grew automatically in importance an eventually became a ferry terminal. There was a ferry in when we arrived and thus the captain anchored for the night until the dock became free and we could dock for the morning. The Hebridean Princess, being an old local ferry, has the right lenght for these sort of docks and so it was all easy-peasy. The government of Scotland has been upgrading all these ferry docks in the last few years, with new dock podiums, mooring fenders, and new terminal buildings so it was a delight to be alongside there. Certainly for me, who has seen docks that were on the edge of collapsing.

The guests might be advanced in age but it does not stop them from having a “wee-dram” at 09.30 in the morning. Here you see Mari of the Hearnoch distillery extolling the virtues of a glass of her whiskey in the morning.

Today there was no sleeping in for the wicked as there was another distillery on the program. The distilery of Hearnoch. Located a 5 minute walk from the dock. The ship had arranged a visit for 9 am. so we could enjoy it all before the official opening time of 10 am. By 09.15 we were having our first “Wee-Dram” followed by a short walk through the distillery plant, narrated by a fiercely proud lady. whose patriotic heart was first to the small island she was born on, then to the larger island of Harris, and then to Scotland. And there it stopped. It seems that the Romans did not built Hadrians Wall for nothing.

The distilling tanks. The brass was bought in Italy as there was not enough good copper in the UK.

Unfortunatelly my lack in whisky meant that the sales fever did not grab me and with 70 pounds a bottle, I was not tempted anyway but many of my fellow guests were. Especially the discount (Bottle of Whiskey and bottle of gin for 110 pounds) did well. I must admit the specially designed bottle was worth the purchase if you are into it. The distillery was founded in 2013 to provide work for the locals who were slowly fleeing Harris for a better future. More information: https://harrisdistilley.com

Here the stern of the Hebridean Princess. Where the name is painted, used to be the ramp with access for 50 cars into the car deck. Now there are cabins in the car deck, bicycle stands for bike tours, a small gym and a lot of storage for all sorts of items, including our suitcases.

Our natualist Bryan pointed out a shop next door that sold Harris Tweed so everybody marched in that direction. Harris Tweed is not produced in a factory but in private houses and the production is strictly regulated. No more than 2 looms per house and a whole host of other requirements to adhere to, to ensure it remains a cottage industry. Exccellent quality materials are the result but very expensive. Still some Gentlemen and Ladies who felt compelled to feel more Scottish supported the local industry with some purchases. I had hoped for a tweed bow tie and cumberbund but they did not stock those. Plenty stuff though to make your dog feel very scottish with cold weather blankies and dog harnasses. Also that sold well. Scotland is very popular with the Dutch and Germans, who feel culturally closer to the Scots than to the English and by 10 am the first German campervan was seen descending on the town to enjoy the ambiance.

The lunch and dinner menu for the day. The Exe Chef has been off and on the ship since before 2010 (he catered for Queen Elizabeth when she chartered the ship in 2010) and his menu’s are very good.

By 11,30 we all had to be on board as the captain was going to race (with a warp speed of 16 knots) to Stornoway for at 15.00 hrs. arrival. Between 11.30 and 14.00 it was good to be in the lounge for cocktails and to enjoy the Scottish scenery coming by. The morning had started in a hazy way but by noon time, the sun came out so we had a glorious view of the landscape with an abundance of Autumn colours. Then there were dolphins, whales and all sorts of birdies to see and everybody had a great time. 1300 hrs. was time for lunch and there is no whale who can keep a guest away from that occurance.

The portside section of the diningroom. You can request a table for 2, 3 or 4 but also a table of 8. If you are social and enjoy good dinner conversation, I suggest to request a big table as the discourse is normally very good (each evening the large tables are the last to leave) and also the officers dine with the guests when duties allow,

Indeed we were docked at Stornoway at 15.00 hrs. There is a big dock now (see the Nieuw Statendam review on this site) but the small Hebridean Princess docked at the 2nd ferry terminal, right in downtown. We threw the mooring rope right into the Pub so to speak. (e.g the Star Inn, made up of a pub, restaurant, cafe and accommodation, with a great view over the harbour).

The village. I do not think that when people were living there it was so clean and tidy, but then museums tend to be. The reed on the roofs comes from the local peat bogs, little ponds created after peat had been removed.

As we had been to Stornoway many a time we opted for the complimentary excursion to Gearannan the Black House village. This is an open air museum about how the people of Lewis lived before modern housing came in. The houses were made of Black stone with a open peat fire in the center of the cottage (more Scotts died in those days from smoke related cancer then from any other disease) and with it came the cottage industry of weaving Tweed. This village was reconstructed in 2000 and all houses have roofs but there are still hundreds of similar ruins all over the island, where only the walls still stand. This village was abandoned in 1972 but the descendants still live, now in modern houses, nearby.

The cottage industry of tweed weaving. A very laborious activity and hence the reason that good quality tweed is expensive.

As it is the end of the season, the local weaver had already packed up, but a video in the small museum gave a good idea of how it went. Very difficult and very skilled work. There was also a small restaurant with home made cakes, all included in the excursion, and thus the whole bus (with a small ship everybody fits in one bus) marched into the place for tea and scones. I have no idea where these people put all that food, we just had an elaborate lunch, so I avoided the temptation and inspected the bookshop which was very impressive for such a small place at the end of the world.

The standing stones of Calanais. (Photo courtesy: www. Outerhebrides.com}

Then on the way back, our naturalist Bryan Hogg had the driver deviate for a short visit to the standing stones of Calanais. I had never heard of them but it is the Scottish answer to Stone henge. The stones are not so big, but there are more and there are also more then one. We could see a second circle not too far away on the top of another hill. As with other stone circles scientists really do not have any idea what it was all for, and then this one is even more complicated as it ended up in a cross formation, although it is much and much older than christianity.

By 18.30 we were all back and in a hurry as at 1900 hrs it was cocktail time with the next appearance of the Captain to explain where we were NOT going and where we WERE going. The ship is now going to slowly sail south again and with an eye of on the coming weather hugging the coast. Tomorrow morning we will have the morning at sea with the ship leaving Stornoway at 08.30 and then sail to Gairloch (another local ferry dock) and from there, one can take the excursion to Inverewe to visit the gardens or go for an un-accompanied walk.

Jamie Campbell in full action. ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OBDyL-e6bKE)

The Captains show was followed by dinner (we had the Chief Purser Jim Fraser at our table this evening) and then by 21.30 hrs, we had a local show. Willie Campbell a local singer (folk, own songs, country etc.) with a very good voice gave an hours performance which was very well received. The atmosphere was good enough for all the English present to join in with the Scottish National Anthemn “Flower of Scotland”.

Weather for tomorrow: Overcast with maybe sunny periods, temperatures around 12oC/54oF, and a moderate breeze in open waters. But change is a-coming with rain and more wind. The shipping forecast speaks of Gale Force winds in open waters by Sunday morning.

linek

2025 Oct. 16; Scenic cruising and the Isle of Raasay, Scotland.

October 17, 2025 / Captain Albert / 3 Comments

Today we sail from our anchorage at Harris down the Sound of Raasay to Raasay itself

Just after 07.00 the engines were started, the anchor went up and the good ship Hebridean Princess sailed south from the anchorage for a morning of sightseeing in the Sound of Raasay. (Pronounced Ra-siee). Which is located between the Isle of Sky and the Scottish Mainland. We fell straight asleep again and thus skipped breakfast. A sign of the good service here on board, is that a very concerned waitress popped up in the bar later on asking if we were ok without breakfast.

The Card room. Four seats and one table. I hope for shipboard management that they never have more than 4 bridge players otherwise there will be mayhem.

Lesley went to the lounge for the sightseeing and I retreated to the “card room” to write my daily blog of yesterday. WiFi on board is very good, good enough for real time streaming but very marginal in our cabin down in the dungeons. All the seats on board are for reclining in comfort so the card room table (only one in an alcove in the corrdor on Deck 2) is about the only place one can sit upright.

As we have an inside cabin, our t.v. has to tell us what goes on outside. This is the scene we saw when we woke up this morning. Flat calm seas, the ship at anchor (with the compulsory anchor ball up) and nicely overcast so no fog.

In the mean time we sailed down this passage between the Isle of Skye called the Sound of Raasay, with the eventual objective of anchoring in the harbour of Raasay, under the eye of the House / Hotel of Raasay and the distillery of Raasay. As you can see it is “Raasay” all over the place. This area is heaven for those interested in wildlife as there is hardly any vegetation so deer, sheep. goats and birdies are all clearly visible. Our naturalist Bryan Hogg was on and off the bridge to make announcements, whenever there was something to be seen.

One of the many small hamlets on the various islands.

On occasion we saw small villages and interspersed with in the middle of nowhere a farm. Those people must be very lonely in the winter, with the nearest neighbour living over the montain ridge behind the snow drifts. Better to sit on a nice little cruise ship with a glass of wine in hand.

The “Old Man of Storr”, as seen on a stock photo. We were saling by down below.

The scenery is very bare with some farming on the lower slopes of the barren hills. The best known port in this area is Portree and opposite is a large rock formation known as the “Old Man of Storr”. Storr in old norse means “great man”. It is part of a mountain ridge called the Trotternish Ridge and its claim to fame is being the longest landslip in Great Britain. The pinnacle itself was formed by an ancient landslide and is a remnant of a 2.8 billion-year-old volcanic plug. It is one of the most photographed rock formations in Scotland.

Cutting through the islands is very scenic with the wildlife (do we look at them, or do they look at us ???) coming quite close.

From there we sailed through the passage between Rona and Raasay and then dropped anchor outside the metropolis of Raasay, main town of the island and the location where the ferry comes in. According to the local information this is one of the easiest accesible “real islands” e.g. the best ferry connection, so there is a higher number of tourists coming in for walking and related. As a result the local manor “Raasay House Hotel” is now a successful hotel where many people stay to enjoy the surrounding nature.

Raasay House Hotel. Looked very pleasant and the coffee was very good.

The two small ships tenders ran a shuttle service to a Marina pier next to the ferry ramp and then one could go for a long walk with naturalist Bryan Hogg (he has a channel on U-tube called Hoggblog) or go up to the hotel and the distillery next door. The Chief Purser had made arrangements with the Hotel that everybody could pop in for a coffee or tea and most guests took advantage of that. We walked up to the distillery and then walked out again as a bottle of Raasay whisky was anywhere between 65 and 95 pounds. Still there was interest, even for those prices, as a large group of men was congregating around the tasting bar, looking very serious but also very happy.

The view from the hotel grounds. The mv Hebridean Princess at anchor in the bay and the ships purser to the right, busy with taking a photo of a local cow.

Thus the cheaper alternative was a cup of coffee in the bar of the Raasay hotel which was equally well appreciated. Behind the hotel was a ruined chapel with some graves still visible (last interment around 1976) and from there we went back to the ship.

The ship’s bar in the main lounge. It is small but because there is always one person in attendance (and during cocktail hours 2) it works very well. All drinks are included in the fare and the quality of the drinks is very good. All premium labels and the same goes for the diningroom where the wines are of a very good standard.

It is important to be present at cocktail time as during this cruise we have each night as guest speaker Captain Heaton, to tell us first where we are NOT going and then to tell us were we ARE going. For the guests who know the area, and we have some on board who have done 10 or 14 cruises (the top scorer seems to have around 85 according to the crew), it is a sort of Who-dun-it to see if they have guessed right. So tonight we will anchor & then dock at the port of Lewis, called Talbert, for a visit to (guess it) another distillery and then shift to the port of Stornoway. Due to the size of the Hebridean Princess we can dock downtown and from there the company has laid on an excursion bus to a small old Black House village.

Weather for tomorrow, Same as today. Overcast with little wind and temperatures around 12oC / 54oF.

2025 Oct. 15; St. Kilda, Scotland.

October 16, 2025 / Captain Albert / 4 Comments

The route for the day. Because of the nice weather the Captain grabbed the opportunity to venture out in the open ocean and race to St. Kilda. See the red line. Returning to the sheltered islands was a lot easier (Black Line) as it was only a short crossing to Harris for the overnight anchorage,

By 08.00 hrs. the engines stopped and the anchor went down, so we knew that the captain had found St. Kilda and had safely anchored in the bay. of Hirta (in Scottish Gaelic: Hiort) which is the largest of four islands making up St. Kilda. In 1930 the last of the islanders left the island and since then there are only sheep (mainly a brown breed call Soay), seabirds and other protected animals, representatives of the Scottish National Trust (also protected) and a military missile tracking station on top of the mountain range.

Going ashore. You pick up your brass cabin tag and put it back when you return. No bag searches, no calls for I.D. It is just to make sure that you are back before the ship sails.

We had breakfast first in the Columba Restaurant, which is made up of a small continental buffet and a full – high quality- English Breakfast that is served. There is porridge which can be served with a “wee dram” if you would like so. Todays special was: eggs- benedict which was done very well. And in a very civilised way, tender service started when breakfast closed (08.00 to 09.30). A small skiff that can handle 10 guests (of which 6 sitting outside) then ferried everybody, who wanted to go, into the small harbour. Because of the prevalent weather and this skiff, guests are advised to wear rain gear and everybody gets a lifejacket (inflatable) to wear when in the skiff.

The mv Hebridean Princess at anchor in the bay of Hirta. The ships tender (normally stored on the forward deck) is alongside to ferry guests to and from the ship.

Hirta has been occupied since pre-historic days and was in more recent times (since the 13th. century) occupied by islanders who made a living harvesting birds, for feather, meat and oil. That was mainly subsidence living and by 1930 most had emigrated to the main land, so the remaining inhabitants asked to be relocated to the main land. Since then sheep are the main occupants apart from the natural wild life. Since 1957 the island is looked after by National Trust of Scotland with the RSPB (read professional twitchers) in full attendance during the summer months. Tomorrow, 16 October, is their last day and then they are evacuated by a militairy helicopter until next season.

A view over the bay. In the front the military accommodation.

For the militairy there is a concrete ramp for a landing craft and for tenders and other small boats, a small sea wall which shelters a small pier with steps. As you will see during the rest of this cruise, neither navigating the ship nor going ashore is possible if you are not fit and ambulant. We have a number of quite elderly guests on board who can walk well but found getting in and out the tender quite a challenge. There is no lift on the ship so you have to climb and descend the steep staircases. Then, as today, the land is grass, moss, peat and most of the time swampy. Although currently we are lucky as it has been dry for a few days.

Some of the sheep that now roam freely over the island. The stone walls are the reminders of the labors of centuries of small groups of islanders.

When you step ashore, the first thing they ask, is to dip your shoes or boots in a bucket of dis-infectant to keep the danger of Foot & Mouth disease off the island. Then the first thing you see is a modern building which houses the military who operates the base on the top of the hill. They live separated from the naturalists working on the island and this building, although necessary, somewhat marrs the natural view of the island. But this is the sheltered area of the island, hence this is were the original inhabitants used to live and thus it makes sense that the Army has built here as well.

One of the Cleitean bird stores on the island. Some of them are hundreds of years old

The people of the island lived off the large bird population and collected a few thousand of them each year, and the people of the RSPB have still not been able to figure out if the large numbers “harvested”really impacted the total population or not. We did not see any of the birds (Northern Gannets, Atlantic Puffings, Terns and the Northn Fulmars) while here as they had all migrated a few weeks ago. What is left of those days for hunting and killing birds are stone storages called Cleiteans. 1260 of them have been counted so far and this is where they stored the captured birds.

The grass roof kept the contents dry and the gaps in the stone walls let the cold wind blow through freely.

A number of cottages have been restored and some are now used by the guardians, or rangers, of the RSPB. One has been turned int o a museum and then there is the school and the church that is also open to the public. The main challenge is avoiding the sheep droppings which are everywhere as large flocks live on the lush grass on the lower slopes of the hills. The sheep are indigious here and are of a original kind that dates back to the iron age and even older. When going back to the tender, the crew had positioned cleaning buckets and brushes on the dock to make sure that whatever we had picked up was left behind.

Some of the houses of the old islanders. One is now a Museum and 3 are used to house the RSPB rangers. On the top of the hill is the MOD military missile tracking system.

When descending again from the hillside, the senior hotel staff were waiting with champagne. I was impressed, bceause you do not expect that they would go through all the bother for just 40 odd passengers going ashore. But the champagne stand was there (Taitlinger = so real champagne, not sparkling wine or other cheap bubbles) So we had the opportunity to sip champagne close to the end of the world. It cannot get much better than that.

Champage at 11 am. at the top of Scotland. From left to right:Matt, the bar tender, Charlie, Hotelmanager, Daniel Grmys Beverage manager and Mr. Jim Fraser, Chief Purser. All out in force to serve 40 odd guests champgne. In good old english tradition, the Chief Purser is the head of the Hotel department and thus the focal point for the guests service.

By noon time we were back on board and after a quick change it was lunch time, which again was very good. Then it was time to go sightseeing and the captain sailed the ship passed “The Stacks”, which are tall rocks rising out of the ocean. As they rise straight up, you can sail very close to them to have a good view and the on board Naturalist was on the tannoy to advise what could be seen, which included dolphins and even humpback and Minke whales.

During World War II a German submarine was sighted in the bay and the army responded with installing a single & very lonely and exposed gun. I do not know if it made any difference but no more enemy was seen here for the remainder of the war.

This was formal night and I was very happy to see that everybody had dressed up and all gentlemen were all with bow tie. There is still some elegance left in the world. During pre dinner cocktails, the captain announced that he would be raising anchor around 0730 in the morning and then sail north towards Raasay, sightseeing along the way. There would be a tender stop in the afternoon.

The early drinkers assembling in the day lounge, the rest soon to follow.

By 1930 dinner was served which happily lasted until 2100 hrs. With good food, good wine and good conversation. Most guests then returned to the main lounge for an after dinner drink. I had a good chat with the captain about the joys of being able to operate free of shore side office operation, and yes for him it worked. He was supported by his office, not interferred with. Then the conversation swerved to how to deal with local officials whendealing with red tape, and how to comply with the rules, while it not affecting the ships operation. I will not give any details here, but it seems that we both had applied the same sort of “creativity” during our careers to “get things done”.

Tomorrow morning we are at sea (sheltered waters between the islands of Isle of skye, Ronna and Raasay) and in the afternoon we have an option to go ashore. Weather for tomorrow: mainly overcast, little wind, smooth seas and temperatures around 12oC / 54oF. And that is very good for the North of Scotland in October.

Somebody is living the good life.

2025 Oct. 14; Oban, Scotland.

October 15, 2025 / Captain Albert / 0 Comments

In 2010 I was at anchor with the ms Prinsendam (II) at Oban. Tendering in windforce 10. But as we had a sheltered anchorage right under the cliff off a small island just outside the port entrance, we could do it. The tenders hugged the harbour wall to stay out of the wind and swell we had a good day. (At least for Scottish standards). Around 10 am. we were asked by the harbour master to stop the tenders as the ferries were coming out and the Hebridean Princess was going in. I had heard about her, never seen her, and had heard only rumours about what the little ship did. I sort of an kept eye on her as I found it amazing that this litte ship, of a one ship company, could survive. But it did. From 1996 onwards. It even acted as a private yacht for Queen Elizabeth and family in 2006 and 2010 after she had lost the Royal Yacht Brittania.

Fast forward to 2025 and in the spring we got an offer in the post with an early discount, too good to miss, so we signed up, That is not that simple as all the cabins on board are different. Located over 4 decks and the largest cabins do not necessarily have the biggest bed. Some cabins have a bath, some a shower, some a combination. As we had no idea what to expect, we booked the Torringdon Suite, an inside cabin, on the lowest deck (former car deck)………… but with a 6 foot bed.

The Kelpies. There are 2 ways of going North into Scotland, following the west coast route or the east coast route. Our Sat Nav decided that we were going West and thus we drove past the Falkirk Wheel (see cruise review of the Nieuw Statendam) and the Kelpies. Here an action shot taken at 70 mph. from the car by Lesley, as this section of the road is the last stretch of a dual carriageway.

Oban is halfway up the Scottisch West coast so it takes a bit of doing to get there. We cannot fly to Glasgow from where we live but you can if you come from London. (The ship sends a coach to pick people up from Glasgow airport) Taking the train in the UK is fraught with challenges as you never know if you get there on time, plus for us it would entail several train changes. So we took the car, 5 hours to Newcastle with a night in a hotel and then 5 hours across and up Scotland to Oban. The wider roads/ motorways, disappear near Glasgow and then it is a regular, sometimes small A road for the rest. (Think 40 miles an hour maximum due to villages, roadworks, tight corners and opposing traffic). By 16.30 hrs. we pulled up at the Northern Lighthouse Pier in Oban where the ship was docked. Offloaded the luggage and Lesley and then I went with 4 other cars, by following a taxi , to a covered & secure car storage in the middle of the town. Then the 4 drivers piled into the taxi and were taken back to the ship, were Tea was waiting. All very civilised.

Before I start the cruise, I need to explain a bit about the ship, as it is a one ship wonder and more of a Five to -seven star happening than a run-of-the-mill small luxury cruise ship.

The ms Hebridean Princess was built as a local ferry in 1964 but refurbished to a very high standard in 1989.

2025 Sep. 27 Azamara Cruise. Final Review and Verdict.

October 7, 2025 / Captain Albert / 4 Comments

We made it safely home from the Fusina cruise terminal as we had booked our own transport. The ship offered transport (to be bought separately) to the airport by coach which did work quite well. (At least we saw them all back in the Airport). It was just interesting to see how the local ground staff managed to change something so simple as boarding a coach into a mass of confusion; including blocking the exit to the outside for those not involved.

We had organised our own transport. Azamara does offer direct transfers from the airport to the ship but not a pick up from a hotel after an overnight. A good job we did so, as our flight got moved at the last minute due to a strike of klm ground staff so we did not arrive at our hotel until midnight the night before our cruise. Then it is better to get your own transport directly to the terminal yourself.

Our verdicts in a nut shell: (and this is the personal opinion of me and my wife)

Azamara Website is not good at all

Shoreside Customer service is not good either. It was very hard to get answers out of them when phoning. Everybody blamed it on the split up from RCI, but that is were Management Leadership steps in and ensures that the transfer is smooth and painless.

Shipboard service is very good; up to excellent as long as it does not has to do with shore side. It seems that the hands of Guest Relations are tied when trying to deal with issues on board generated by the shore side. It seems that they can not even correct the letters sent to the cabins on boarding day.

The Glare: 100%.

For those who do not know what this is: as long as I have been in a management position on the ships, I have tried to improve the friendliness of my crew members. (It takes 17 muscles to smile and 30 to frown ……..so why don’t you smile…..) I do this by gazing straight into a officers or crew members eyes when I meet them and note the reaction. I have continued to this during all the cruises (From the captain downwards) that my wife and I are now making. It is not fool proof but it gives a pretty good idea of how friendly a ship/company in principle is. All companies claim to be friendly but it does not always work out in real life. Especially officers (often very Senior) do not seem to get the message all the time.

So I am very happy to note and very impressed that the Azamara Onward Scored 100%. During the whole 9 days I did not meet a single person on board (Including Sr. Officers and Engineers) who did not smile or did not greet. VERY IMPRESSED and kudo’s to the whole on board team. Because of this (and the Greek itinerary of small ports coming up in 2027) we have booked another cruise on the Azamara Onward.

Details:

What is wrong with company and website ? Well it gave the wrong information at the time of booking. If you do that as part of the booking process, it becomes proof of what is booked and what you are entitled to. It still advised things that had already changed on board. When we tried to find out details about where the ship was docked and how certain things worked, the person who answered the phone, just read back what was listed on the website.

Because of the promises on the website we paid for a higher level cabin, to get extra perks/amenities. Only to only find out, when boarding, that these were not provided anymore.

Based on the website write up, we decided to book a Verandah Plus cabin instead of a regular Verandah. Deck 8 forward (there are 4 of them, 2 on the portside and 2 on the starboard side)

This came with: as listed on the website.

Priority Boarding —————— We were not on the priority boarding list

Newspaper in cabin (*) ………………….. Discontinued

Flowers in the cabin……………………….. Discontinued

Spirits in the cabin (**)…………………… Not defined what we would get

Bathrobe and slippers (***) …………………… No slippers. We got them after we complained to housekeeping

Fruit in the cabin……………………………. Seemed to have changed to on request.

(*) this was also still on the welcome letter in the cabin but they had stopped that at least 2 months before.

(**) we were expecting a bottle each. But you get one per cabin. Some cabins have 4 beds, you pay for four people but still only get one bottle. Except for the four top suites, there it is 2 bottles. (When looking at You Tube, there was a video from post Covid when it was still 3 bottles.) In principle I do not even know why they bother as most spirits are included in the basic Drinks Included “complimentary” package. But if you provide/ advertise a perk, you have to do it right.

Very confusing directions to get Fusina. All information says: go to a Ro-Ro terminal but the important part that is omitted is that once you come close to the entrance you have to keep to the righthand side and security will direct you through a not-used ferry gate to a side road going to the Terminal. Once through, you get the first sign saying “cruises”. Luckily most taxi’s know it but there was a couple who had rented a car themselves and ended up in the queue of the boarding/ticketing lane for a ferry and could not get out anymore.

The website is very unclear of what the “complimentary” drinks include. Hence I published the on board listing on one of the days write ups. We had the premium package included as part of our booking but we really did not need it. So we would not have been very happy if we had bought it (At $ 31.95 a day a person) and then would have realized that we did not need it. We spoke to a Canadian couple who were rather pi……d off because of this. (Then they tried to upgrade to the Ultimate package $ 39.95 a day, just to make it worthwhile. So they expected that they could just pay the difference of $ 8,– a day. No, they had to pay the full price so they would each be paying $ 31.95 + $ 39.95 a day………………….)

The cabin (8800) had been in someway converted in 2022 and they had forgotten to install 2 ceiling spotlights above the mirror. The asst. housekeeper was really startled about it but found a desk lamp somewhere in a locker that we could use. Good and appreciated gesture but it should not be necessary. Housekeeping was going to try to get the Electricians to put 2 ceiling lightspots in. If it works, then future ladies sitting behind the desk can be grateful to us when putting on their make up.

Other Observation & Suggestions for improvement:

*Guest Services. We had a meeting with both the Concierge and the Guest Relations Manager about the discrepancies between the Azamara Website & perks and although they felt very sorry for us, nothing was done. We did not request anything, we will take it up with the office, but it would have been nice to have seen a token of concern. Holland America (5 star) does chocolate covered strawberries, Celeystial (3 star) does flowers etc.etc. But Azamara which hovers somewhere between 4 and 6 star, only smiles.

*Tender service. It was very bad in Hvar. This was a 4 tender distance and only 2 tenders were in operation causing (during our return to the ship) 50 guests to sit and wait in a hot tender. The other 2 tenders were housed. I hope that will be better next cruise when each of the ports we visit, will be a tender port.

Special compliments to the Food &Beverage Manager Laze, the Exe Chef and the Lido Sous Chef who actively walked around the Lido restaurant (Windows Cafe) to talk to the guests.

Final note: There are 3 drinks packages available.

1. Complimentary package (everybody gets this)

2. Premium package ($31.95 a day a person)

3. Ultimate pacakage ($39.95 a day a person)

We had the 2nd level included with our cruise booking. But we found that what was included “complimentary” was more than enough. We used the package only a few times, when Lesley wanted a Bombay Saphire Gin instead of the basic gins. So in our opinion it is not worthwhile to buy the two top tiers of the drinks package unless you want to have a upscale gin, whisky or cognac each evening. For the average drinker there is more than enough varation in beers, cocktails, wines and soft drinks available.

Our next cruise with Azamara is to the Greek Islands and we hope that by that time the Head Office has sorted out their communication problems and we can trust their website.

2026 Sep. 26; Fusina, Italy.

September 27, 2025 / Captain Albert / 5 Comments

Last night we crossed the northern part of the Adriatic Sea and arrived this morning at 0900 at the cruise terminal. We docked at the Cruise Dock, which is not that usual, because when there are 2 cruise ships in port, the smallest one is bumped to the other side, which is technically the Ro-Ro dock. There seems to be a gate in between but I have not been able to ascertain that the small terminal of Fusina services both ships or that a Marquee is rigged up, and/or if one has to go through the confusion of the Ro-Ro terminal. But we were back right opposite the cruise terminal building from where we will go back home tomorrow.

Internet photo with two cruise ships in. Here we see the Explora I, which is bigger alongside the terminal and the Azamara Onward is banned to what is normally a Ro-Ro ferry dock. The authorities in the enthusiasm in 2022, assigned 4 docks to the cruise terminal but 3 of them are really the Ro-Ro docks. Quay Abbruzzo ( the real terminal), Quay Umbria, Quay Toscana and Quay Marche.

Today is thus really the day to visit Venice. Which can be by taxi (65 euros) or renting a car and it takes about 40 minutes to the Plaza Maritima and from there you can walk into town. Then you can also through the ship book a shuttle that takes you directly into Venice. So while Fusina is a nice terminal it is not that greatly located but as long as the 30,000 ton rule exist for all the “Venice cruise ships”, there is not much that can be done. There were two other cruise ships in port, the L’Austral which is 10,700 tons in size and thus could dock in downtown Venice and the other one is the Norwegian Luna, 156.300 tons and that one docked in Marghera which is the industrial port and also where the Fincantieri shipyard is located. The Viking Jupiter we saw yesterday in Sibenik is today and tomorrow in Chioggia further to the south and that is almost an hour taxi drive to Venice.

The good old days, when there were no limits and cruise business was booming. Four ships at these two terminals and 2 more ships to the left at the other pier not on the photo. so 6 in port altogether/

Today about half of our guests went ashore and the rest made it a quiet day on board. Not a bad idea as by 11am it was poring down and I do not know if those going ashore had a rain coat with them. Nobody I saw leaving carried an umbrella so they might have gotten wet. Some of the Australian and American guests on board made this cruise a part of a larger holiday period. Makes sense as flying from Australia (26 hrs. with 7 hr. stop in Malaysia or Singapore) or 12 hrs from the US west coast is not really worthwhile for just a seven day cruise. So some had made a river cruise and some were city hopping. (see Paris in 3 days, Europe in 7 days …….. etc.)

What is the problem? The Lido where all the ships have to sail through is not that wide and if a ship would not make the turn for what ever reason (technical or human) then it would hit the old port. And most likely at this point where the fairway makes a turn. The port tried to alleviate this with a safety tugboat forward and one aft but a large ship at 10 knots is not that easily stopped. This is the ms Koningsdam of HAL which measures just under 100.000 tons, when this was still the maximum size allowed pre Covid.

We also decided to stay on board as the transfer was not cheap, rain was expected and with at least 4000 passengers on top of the regular visitros would call for another busy day in Venice. Plus there is the additional 5 euro’s Venice Admission Tax, and all together it makes it not cheap just to go ashore with the intention to just go for a walk. And we have been here many, many times. Plus there is the conundrum that we had to pack. The ship has advised that they want all the suitcases out tonight by 21.30, so there is also not the option to pack after the show. Hence we packed this afternoon and it gave me the chance to take some more photos of the interior.

Our Cruise Director Linda Love from Melton Mombray in England. She started out as a dancer and then moved up the ranks to Cruise Director. During Covid she worked in a Garden Center. Unfortunately Azamara has done away with flowers in the cabins, otherwise they would have had an expert on board with extra pay

This morning we had the weekly safety drill of the ship at 10.am and this time there was a crew cabin on fire ,but it seems to have been extinguished to the satisfaction of everybody. Also it has been crew change over day. We saw the first group coming and leaving in Kotor and today and tomorrow there will be a steady stream of crew pulling and pushing suitcases both today and tomorrow. Today the Captains changed and tomorrow it will be the Cruise Director. There are 2 Captains for each ship and I assume also 2 Cruise Directors. We saw the the Cruise Directors show from last night today on the tv. All shows are recorded and shown in the cabins. So nothing about this nonsense we see on other ships about no recording etc. At the end of the show, which was very good, all the cast streamed onto the stage with flowers, champagne and compliments. Hopefully the captain did not see it, as his goodbye during Captains introductions was much more muted.

Yesterday during lunch Lesley had asked if there would be any Spaghetti Bolognaise during the cruise and today in Italy, here it was. Unfortunately bolognaise divided over the penne and the spaghetti with the con Vongole). But the sous chef popped up again ad combined the two items in one Spaghetti Bolognaise without any fuss. It was a quiet moment in the Windows Restaurant (Lido), so he had time, but still it is a good example of how the crew is focussed on the delivery of the cruise product.

We are flying tomorrow from Venice via Amsterdam to Norwich, with 5 hours overlay in Amsterdam. but at least our suitcases will make it. As usual I will post my review and verdict in a few days, where I bundle all my observations, complain (=constructive suggestions) or praise. You will get a ping, but otherwise please look mid week. In the mean time, a few photos of “The Den”. We spent a few nights having cocktails and after dinner drinks there. Nice place with a good piano player.

The Den. The bar tenders, only two, as it was a quiet moment. (Not very usual in the evening)

Apart from the free booze, the main attraction is the entertainment in the evening. Either the Resident piano player (also plays accordion) or a visiting performance by one of the Cast entertainers. All nice and very social.

The Resident piano player, He was really there but his seat was rather low, so he was hard to see.

XXX