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Ocean Liner History and Stories from the Sea, Past and Present. With an In Depth focus on Holland America Line

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Day 2, 2025 Dec. 18: At Sea.

December 19, 2025 / / 7 Comments

We had indeed a bumpy night, with the ship being “attacked” with swell from 2 sides, creating a sort of swaying movement (the official name is yawning) that no stabelizer can correct. But in the course of the morning the wind started to subside and went down to about 35 knots and the North West swell eased off somewhat.

Our course is the red line and you can see that we started in the purple. That is 55 knots of wind.  The light green is about 20 knots. (Courtesy of the British Royal Meterlology Service. at Bracknell)

After breakfast again served by our butler, the ever efficient Ludmilla, we went out to to tell the concierge that the DVD player still had not been fixed. She was convinced that it was, as “the electrician” had been to visit. Obviously she had not absorbed anything of what I told her yesterday. So her phone came out again and  she was going to phone the Butler again. I stopped her and reminded her of what happened yesterday. Then we went back to the cabin to find Ludmilla , who had a solution. From somewhere she had conjured up a “new” DVD player but now with a 110 volt lead that fitted safely in the wall socket. Problem solved and kudo’s to Ludmilla. I will write her a commendation via the “White Star service” recommendation card system.

So what is the morale of this story: if you get flustrated with how long it takes sometimes to get something in the cabin repaired…… this might be why?  This is not just Cunard, it is similar for all companies. Our DVD player repair request went via Ludmilla who speaks -Columbian- English -, to the concierge who speaks -Bosnian- English, to the Front office who speaks -Philippino- English, involved a (Croation ???) Electrician, not even to think about houseleeping and front desk supervisors who might speak other forms of English again.  So they were all beeping each other and delegating from one department to another. Luckily my (retired) stripes still account for something and that kept the pressure up.I think that Ludmilla was able to “surf” on that momentum to find, and was given, an another player. The main thing is that for coming cruises, the DVD player works, if future guests would like to use it. I have done my good deed for the cruise.

Then we went to the library to see how the books were doing. Cunard maintains a very nice section of maritime books and I wanted to see if there was a new one that I did not know about. But no, all 75 were already in my collection. In time honored Cunard tradition all the seats in the library were taken up and mostly occupied by guests who were having their morning nap. There are also 6 internet stations there, who were mainly in use by younger guests (not asleep), with one gentleman working on 4 devices at the same time. (mobile phone, tablet, laptop and the library desk top) That will cost him a fair bit as the internet is not cheap with Cunard. ( $ 28,-  a day if bought by the day for emaiI, facebook and whats app , and $ 22,–if bought for the cruise for one device  = $ 264 for 12 days)   There are also packages for 4 devices and a premium package that includes streaming, voice calling and text but these are much more expensive. Depending on your repeater status you get some money off. We as platinum people received a discount of $ 80,–  The internet is on average very good, except at prime times (09.00 – 10.00 hrs and 15.00 to 17.00 hrs.) when the whole ship checks their email. Thus they still have to do something with the bandwith on board. Maybe they are doing that now as they were installing a new pod outside our cabin door today.

A new thing – fresh from the press – lesley got from her Travel ageant- is that on some cruises Cunard is offering what Holland America has been doing for a while,  a  “Have it All” package, whereby certain things, like the drinks package and the gratutities are included. Both are very expensive with Cunard and thus most guests pay them out of their onboard credit. Or with the gratuities, take them off (long lines at the pursers desk on the first day). So by following in the footsteps of HAL, Cunard will save the guests a lot of aggrevation  and discontent.

The shops sell duty free liquor and the prices are very good. Almost compatible with the English ferries going to the Continent. So we got 2 bottles of Bombay Bramble Gin which is a favourite of Lesley and very hard to get ashore in the UK.  We can pick it up on the day before the cruise ends. What happened to the days when the Duty Free was delivered to the cabins…………………

In the ship dance class was going on again, arts and crafts, shops were open, today they were plugging selected christmas gifts, and the rest of the public rooms were heaving. Everybody had to get out of the cabins for the cabin stewards to service and thus everybody was sitting all over the ship.

At noon time, the captain informed us that with keeping up the speed to 18-20 knots (15 knots required for the next morning) he would be able to arrive late evening in Lisbon to give us all a quiet night. And not having too much swell at the entrance, so he could get in. With the caveat that when he made the turn into estuary of the Tagus river, we all had to sit down as the ship might make some un-expected moves. The ship had to turn through the wind, which might cause the ship to list and then would get the swell on the stern  when sailing into the estuary entrance. That swell angle can  make the ship yawn (“lurch” in land lubber language) He would come back 15 minutes before he was going to make the manuver so we all could be ready.

The grill area by day time.

We like to have lunch in the Queens Grill and the service is very good; but afterwards I have to make an expedition to the Lido restaurant  for a soft ice cream. Most British company’s have soft ice, self serve machines, where you can fill your bowl or cornet to your hearts content, without the “expert interference” of a cook.  It is not good for weight control but Cunard does have the best soft ice on the seven seas. (When compared to Celebrity, Saga, P&O and Azamara) My own beloved company HAL does not even come close as they have frozen yoghert and the machines are quite often not adjusted properly.  Their saving grace is that they have a lot more condiments and sides, than Cunard, a lot of variations you can use to “top up” your ice cream to a real lunch time delight.

Part of the Commodore Club by day time. It is designed to give an Gentleman’s —- ships captains— club feeling with dark woods and ships models at the entrance.

For pre dinner drinks we like to go to the Commodore Club on Deck 10 forward. Last night and this evening it was not overly busy, no doubt courtesy of the moving ship. This is my favourite crowsnest as it is stylish and the service is efficient. Here Cunard has made an improvement. Since the 1990’s (and maybe even before) nibbles (peanuts and crips) were always “on request”. Now they come standard with the drinks; saves us having to remember to ask for it and saves the steward an extra journey to get the bowls when we forgot.

The Commodore Club by night. The grey hair and spectacles gentleman, seen above the railing is one of the two Resident Piano players who play during cocktail hours and also later on in the evening. This gentleman ran a sort of small quiz while playing. Tonight all his tunes had “flower” titles, or another common denominator. After 4 songs the question then was, what linked all four songs played.

While happily enjoying dinner in the Queens Grill, the Captain did come on the tannoy shortly after 20.00 hrs. with the urgent request to remain seated.  Now in Captains language, an “urgent” request is different than an “order”, so I knew it was not going to be that bad. And indeed, we only made one roll of about 3 degrees and had a few “bumps in the stern” and then we were inside. By 20.45 we sailed passed Belem Tower and picked up the pilot at 21.00 hrs.. Then sailed to the berth at Alcantara, swung around and were docked by 22.00 hrs. Giving all the guests and crew (and especially those guests and crew who had their cabins near the bow) a quiet and peaceful night.  Some crew experienced floodings on the lower decks, broken pipes, no doubt due to the movement of the ship, but it was all clean water. But that is life on a cruise ship that is 20 years old, the pipework becomes challenging.

We decided not to go to the show, a Flamenco show, but called it a day. Tomorrow we are not planning to go ashore but to have a good look at the inside of the ship. The weather in Lisbon should be nice, especially later in the day. A bit of rain in the morning, followed by sun shine in the afternoon and temperatures around 14 – 16oC / 57 – 61oF.

 

 

Day 1, 2025 Dec. 17: At Sea.

December 18, 2025 / / 1 Comment

And Yes, it was wobbly during the night but the captain explained at lunch time that he was trying to keep up the speed as much as possible and had been running between 18 to 20 knots at times. This with the intention of getting to Lisbon as early as possible. The earlier he would be, the easier it would to get into the river Tagus, and from there into the shelter to the dock.  He did not explain that there is a low sand bar at the entrance of the river and if the swell gets too high, this swell builds up over the bar. This results in a higher top of a wave but also into a deeper trough which reduces the depth of the fairway considerable. That might mean you cannot go in even when the weather itself allows it. This is very hard to explain to guests without a 30 minute dissertation on it, so I can understand that he kept it neutral.

Captain William Sharples Commander of the ms Queen Victoria

The Captain is William Sharples and is somebody I do not know as he is from the generation after me, (I am getting old……) so I never saw him at the simulator or met him in a port somewhere.  But at least he is trying to communicate and explain what is going on.  So I expect that tonight, if the waves allow, he will speed up again, a bit of inconvinience late at night but will not be as bad as cancelling a port. The local authorities in Lisbon have already announced that if the ship comes in early, they will not come out early, so going ashore will still be at the regular arrival time.

So what are we doing this cruise, Southampton – Lisbon (19 Dec.),  Funchal (21 Dec.),  Santa Cruz de Tenerife (22 Dec.), Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (23 Dec.), Arrecife (24 Dec.), At sea (25,26,27 Dec) – Sout- hampton (28 Dec.) As you can see, Christmas and Boxing Day are during the last 3 sea days.

Going back to our cruise.  Breakfast in the cabin  is possible until 10 am. and is setup in the cabin by the Butler. This level cabin, does not have a high table for eating from, so it is set up on the small cocktail table.  But the breakfast came on time and was of good quality.

Our Christmas tree

A most peculiar item arrived in the cabin last night. This seems to be our christmas tree. It is a small fir tree but no baubles nor even a bit of angel hair to make it festive. The cabins, one class up, which are the named suites like Laconia and Carinthia, have a full size tree full with decorations. So  we seem to be entitled to a tree much smaller but without a single decoration………….. The mind boggles.

This is our cabin 6109, see below, located midships right off the center staircase. So in bad weather (with 5 decks above and 9 decks below) it is about the most stable area of the ship. The bathroom is made up of two sections. A wash basin area with toilet and then a separate area for the shower and the bathtub. Next to it is the walk-in wardrobe.  The wash basin area has a door from the sitting room area to reach the toilet and a door also from the bedroom area.  None of the cabins in Queens Grill class have  a complete separation between the sitting area and the bedroom area; this is only the case with the very top suite.  The entrance has a desk to the left and a small bar with basin to the right. There is a glass storage area and a fridge. With the cabin comes complimentary (standard) drinks, still and sparkling water, and 2 bottles of spirits.  This is refreshed every day by the Butler. It also comes with fresh flowers but for our cabin this has been reduce to a single flower in a cabin. But a long lasting flower. Then there is the option for fresh fruit.  But this is only on request. It is not offered.  So if you ever book a cruise, with this class cabin, check the list of amenities in the Cabin booklet “Voyage Guide” or the Cunard website. (The same goes for  borrowing DVD’s,  see story below, no note in the cabin, so you have to know.  Then the menus for the coming day for the Grills is given to the cabin, so you can scrutinize it at your leisure.  There is a elaborate in- room-service menu but I have not been able to find out if is the same for all cabins or that the availability depends on the cabin class.

Our cabin from a Cunard photo.

Being a sea day meant lectures in the Royal Court Theatre, so we debated to go and see them and then realized that Cunard broadcasts them live and runs a replay on the tv. And, at least today, the lectures from last cruise were also still running on the tv.

So when went for a walk instead. As is similar for most ships, the public rooms are on Deck 3 and 4, apart from the Lido restaurant (deck 9), the kiddies place on Deck 10 and then the Grills on Deck 11.   Between the grill restaurants is a small lounge reserved for Queens & Princess guests with a desk occupied by the concierge. We went to see her, as we had found a challenge in the cabin. The DVD player was not connected. Cunard, at least on the Victoria, has not upgraded their TV system yet. So you cannot see your On Board Account on the tv., nor have an tv entertainment system with a large movie library. A few movies (english, japanese, german, spanish) run as a loop, but not continiously,  and then there are a number of news channels. (Weather depending)  so when the ship came out, a Dvd player was installed and you could get DVD’s from the concierge.

I think that sometime in the past, quite a while ago, a guest took out the adapter (2 pin european to 2 pin American) for own use and did not put it back. Since then the Butler has tried to fix it but did not get anywhere as she ran into onboard “Red Tape”. As that is the same within every company I knew at once what was going on. The Butler is part of Housekeeping, so she called Housekeeping but they do not have adapters as they are kept by the Front Desk / Pursers desk./ Guest services. Housekeeping calls the Pursers office, who says ———- it is your cabin, and thus your problem. And thus nothing happens.

So I went on  a mission to get an adapter. I went to see the concierge, a lovely lady from Bosnian background and explained the conundrum. (11.00 hrs.) She at once called the butler to fix it. I saw the butler after lunch, who of course explained that she could not do anything, she had tried before. So back to the concierge to defend the butler. Now I explained who I was before retirement and also explained what is in the Carnival Safety Management System and directives, e.g. that “adapter control” lies with the Pursers Desk. She went on the phone again. The message delivered must have come through somewhat garbeled as a gentleman from the Pursers Desk showed up with a European extension lead and a adapter from European to English British. 10 for effort, 0 for results.  He left and shortly after, a lady from the front desk showed up, accompanied by the ships electrician to fix the problem.  The electrician looked at the DVD player and said, “you only need a adapter, there is nothing wrong”……………. Yes we knew that. Electrician and Pursers desk Lady disappeared again with the promise to get the right adapter.  When we came back from dinner, there was an adapter on the table, delivered by the Butler. But the story does not end here, so the saga will continue to tomorrow.

Dance Class in the Queens lounge. They show it at the same time on the screen in the lounge so everybody can see the dance team at all times. Topic today was the Cha Cha Cha.

Leaving the cabin, we passed by the Queens Lounge where a dance class was in full swing and then to the shops. The ship has two atriums, the big one in the center From Deck 1 to Deck 3 that is where you come on board, and then there is a small one behind the Royal Court Theatre near the bow. This one goes 2 decks up. On deck 2 there is on portside the casino and on the right side the Golden Lion Pub. One deck up are the  shops all around this open top of the atrium.  The location of these amenities  here is of course on purpose, every day, those guests going to see the show or lecture, will have to walk through one of these two area’s and might thus be tempted to have a closer look.

The staircase in the small atrium with the staircase going up from deck 2 to deck 3 (and going back down as well). If I would get a dollar for each photo taken on these steps, then my wife would be very happy.

I think due to the wobbly weather, the Golden Lion Pub was half empty (normally it is always full, often with people who camp out there all day long) and so we decided on a pub lunch. To our utter amazement Cunard had decided to “re-imagine” the pub lunch with the aim to raise regular pub-grub to a level of cullinary heights. Which heights Mr. Michel Roux, world famous chef, wanted to achieve I do not know apart from the fact that you now have to pay for half of the dishes. Lesley had Fish and Chips with the strangest batter we have ever seen. I decided on the Ploughmans lunch and I think if a regular Ploughman would see it, he would have run out the door, cursing, screaming or sobbing, depending on his philosphical state of mind.   So we will not even dare to go for the paid dishes.  But they have beer on draft, and also Cunard now has its own beers, a pilsener, a ruby amber and a stout. (= a sort of Guiness but not as dense) They offer this also as a Flight of Beer, with 3 small glasses, and charge the price of 1 pint $ 7.50  which is reasonable.  I prefer a Guiness over the Cunard Stout but the Red Amber pale ale is very nice.

A full Queens Lounge for the afternoon recital. Please note the banners hanging from the ceiling in black and white, denoting the colour theme for this formal night.

Then it was time to move from English Culture to the music world and listen to a piano recital in the Queens Lounge.  On the keyboard Maestro Robin Collvill. he advised that he had been around for a while (playing piano for about 70 years) and still learning. We listened to a series of pieces varying from Grieg, to South American Tango and back to French impressionists. Very, very good and soothing to listen to, as could be seen from a number of the grey haired crowd who where revisiting former concerts……………..

Today is the first formal night, called Black and White. The 2nd one is formal- any colour goes and the 3rd one is Red and Gold. Also Cunard, while trying to keep up tradition, is finding it harder to keep the dress code going. Hence we received a special letter from the Captain, asking the guests to conform with the dress code or restrict themselves to the non dress code area’s. ( deck 9 with Lido and Wintergarden, deck 2 with the Golden Lion and the show lounge)  We love dressing up and have brought a different formal outfit for each formal night.  But this being Cunard and a mainly British crowd, (the germans are coming for christmas and new year, but they also dress up) 90% was dressed to the hilt. Even the Golden Lion crowd was predominantly in a Whistle-and-Flute….

Cunard christmas decorations are very nice and in the sb. forward corner of the Queens lounge they have setup a small christmas village.

While the wobbly weather continues during the evening, it will lessen tomorrow morning when we are past Cape Finistere on the North West corner of the Iberian Peninsula, the Commodore Club (Crows Nest on Holland America and Observation Lounge on many other companies) was half empty so we had ample seats to choose from, to listen to the Lady Piano player. And yes, all guests were dressed according to the Captains request.

Then after our usual good dinner in the Queens Grill, we went to the show lounge to see a performance from Aled Jones, This guy used to be a very famous choir boy singer (with 11 Cd’s) and managed after his voice broke to transform into a good classical singer (now up to 42 CD’s). I do not know famous he is in the USA, but he is in the UK, presents classical programs on the Radio and this winter he is also in the musical ELF in London. His show was very good and kept us well entertained. He is transfering in Lisbon to the Queen Anne, so he is keeping his fingers crossed that the Captain’s plan of “running away from the bad weather” is working out. I get the impression that most of the guests on board are repeat guests so with them the need to see Lisbon once again is not so much of an urge.

We will have another wobbly night and by tomorrow the wind is supposed the go down from 50 knots to about 35 knots and the swells should settle as well. At the moment we have two wave systems interferring with each other, which on occasion, causes the ship “to lurch” as stabelizers can only deal with the sideways motion (and are doing that very well)  The Captain will keep the pedal to the metal as much as possible to get into Lisbon before the wave system comes too far down and makes sailing into the Tagus River impossible.

 

Day 0, 2025 Dec. 16: Southampton. Joining the Queen Victoria.

December 17, 2025 / / 6 Comments

My Lord and Master had decided in her infinite wisdom that we were going away for Christmas on a cruise. A combined Christmas and New Years cruise was not possible as we had also booked New Year (3 nights) at our favourite hotel where we have been going for 7 years now, and if we would cancel we cannot get another booking (at least not in the same large room) as the hotel is very popular. It is the only New Years Hotel far and wide that insists on Black Tie for New Years Eve and does not allow bookings for just one evening. Thus you get a sort of community and atmosphere that is “all in the same boat” for 3 days.

The ms Queen Victoria, sister to the ms Queen Elizabeth. They are an enlarged Vista Class of Holland America, what HAL calls the Signature Class. But with the Queens & Princess Grills diningrooms up top, instead of just one restaurant, the lay-out is considerably different.

The number of ships sailing from the UK and who do a Christmas-only cruise is very limited and thus the decision was that we were going on the Queen Victoria. Not directly our favourite choice since the double – not so good–  experience on the Queen Anne (see the write ups on this website). However the Queen Victoria has a nice lay-out and as an enlarged Holland America Vista/Signatuture Class ship it is some what smaller (2000 guests) then the Queen Anne (HAL Pinnacle Class but with 500 extra guests). To add to the festive feeling it was decided that we would travel in the Queens Grill and we booked a Penthouse (Q3) which is in the center of the ship. With a cruise going to the Canaries it is not directly a good a idea to have a cabin in the bow or the stern, even while we are better sailors than most of the guests on board. 40 years of wobbly weather training never leaves you. It is the same like swimming or bicycling, the routines always remain with you.

As the trains in england are highly un-reliable to travel if you need to be somewhere on time, we drove down to Southampton the day before. We had an arrangement with the Hilton hotel for a “cruise arrangement”. Stay overnight and then have parking rights for the 12 night cruise. Cost is about 5 pounds a night for the parking and the whole arrangement includes a taxi to and from the ship.

I have stayed a lot in Hilton hotels during my sailing life and I always found the service very good with nice rooms. So we were surpised that the rooms in this Hilton do not have small fridges. We got 2 bottles of still water but they were warm from standing in a warm room for one or more days. Why NO in England ?, but YES in the USA and YES in the Netherlands?  Why will remain most likely a mystery forever. It is even stranger if one takes into account that Hilton Garden Inn, that is one step down from regular Hilton, do have them………………….. The dinner in the in-house restaurant was good and to my delight they had a least 4 different craft beers on tap, so that made the evening.

Thus the next morning we were picked up by the taxi at the arranged time and driven to the ship. Cunard has a priority check inn, for Queens and Princess Grill and Diamond & Platinum level repeaters. It is just that the separation line stops just outside the terminal entrance. Thus if a long line is forming (and it always does, before they open the doors at 11.00) you have to push yourself forward to get to the “priority  ‘line”.  So we did.

A local brass band playing in the Atrium bringing everybody in the Christmas mood. Note the nice Christmas decorations. Cunard is one of the best in the industry for this.

Either Cunard is the most suspicious company there is, or very focussed on support, but our booking paper was checked 6 times before we made it to the jet walkway; and then scanned when coming on board. Boarding started at 11.30 and being first, it went very smooth. Then you are told to go to your muster station first, before you can go to your cabin. (Top cabins were already done, the rest of the cabins by 13.00 hrs.) For us that worked out fine as our station C, is aft of the atrium and so we took the stern lifts to deck 6 and then walked forward. On embarkation day the midships staircases are full with those coming on board and totally focused on doing that. There are bell boys and lift operators to help but it is still chaotic. It seems to only the very experienced cruisers walk forward or aft and take those lifts which are hardly used at all on boarding day.

Cunard staff were standing at the entrance with baskets of chocolate sweets to hand out. A very nice guesture but hardly functional if you are pulling a trolley, still holding your embarkation papers and carrying a coat or a holdall. So guests stopped right in the entrance, to put their papers away, dropped their trolley and then peering with bi focal or tri focal lenses, scrutinized what was on offer and then to pick one or two or three, put away in the pocket and picked up the trolley again. This all to the annoyance of security who tried to get people away from the gangway. With our first flow it was not much of a problem but when the rest of general boarding started it was quite interesting to observe. This was all accompanied by a 4 piece brass band playing in the Atrium with jazzy type of Christmas music. Luckily the atrium is 3 stories high and thus the very loud sound dispersed nicely up into the ship. They were relieved by the in house guitar player and hence there was music during most of the embarkation period,.

A local gospel chair performing in the Queens Lounge. A pity it was such a short performance as they were really good.

Then it was time to go for lunch and get our table assignment for the duration of the cruise. When coming back to the cabin, the first 2 suitcases where there and the Lady Butler Ludmila and Mark the Cabin steward arrived. The cabin includes free drinks, replaced every day, when empty. ….  Then the cabin steward found the 3rd suitcase, so we could unpack everything. This Penthouse sized cabin (Q3) has a walk-in wardrobe with enough storage space for a month or longer. (and then there are 2 more secret drawers under the bed, which on most ships are full with the spare linens of the cabin steward, but not here) So far we are very impressed with both of them, with the professionalism displayed. Lesley then went for the 15.00 hrs. Gospel singing by a choir from the shore side with a performance at 14.00 hrs. and 15.00 hrs. They were very good but only sang for 20 minutes. I do not really understand why Cunard does not try to make it a bit longer, as these groups must be used to 45 minutes sets like all entertainers. We had the same on the Queen Anne maiden voyage when an Invictus – military band played for 15 minutes and then never to be seen again. The mind somewhat boggles.

Cunard, welcome on board for the first night. Real champagne, chocolates and canape’s. 

With the cabin comes a bottle of champagne (real champage, not sprankling wine) as  a welcome on board greeting and then also daily canape’s. In the meantime there was the boatdrill announcements by the captain and then a sailaway message with the obligatory “wash your hands” part. What was new, and I think very good, was that the Captain was requesting guests not to pile into the lifts with too many people, as standing close together is a very good way of passing a flu bug on. Hopefully they will all remember, we certainly will, although we have planned not to use lifts at all this cruise. With making soo many cruises in a bi-monthly cycle, evidence of doing so is growing considerably around the middle;  and we still have a significant number of them to nake in the coming in the future. So daily staircase exercise it will be.

The champagne and camapes served as cocktails in the cabin and this was followed by a very nice dinner in the Queens Grill. Compared to the Queen Anne service was much better, not rushed and with attention to detail, and the head waiters had time to come around for  a little courtesy chat, which is always appreciated. Apart from showing that the crew is friendly it is also an excellent way to find out what is going on and to stop a “challenge” from becoming a “problem”.  The Grills have open sitting and by going in at 19.45 there is ample time to make the 21.45 2nd show. That was a revue show  “Be our Guest” and it was very good. Cunard has not yet entered the stage of LED background lighting yet, so they still had to use some (marginal) props but it came with a 7 piece live orchestra and that is something you do not see very often anymore on the ships.

On departure the Captain had warned that it was going to be a wobbly night with another depression rolling in from the Atlantic. When I checked yesterday it looked like that we could sail southbound away from the area and would have reasonably good weather. (Lets say no more than 5 meter waves). But the ships sailing 1 to 3 days after us are going to have great fun with 30 feet waves rolling into the Channel.  Not nice for Christmas. We will see tomorrow if the weather is following the forecast. One thing is sure, it will be raining all day.

 

2025 October 21; Oban and final Verdict.

October 24, 2025 / / 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:

  1. 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.
  2.  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 / / 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 / / 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 / / 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 / / 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.

 

 

 

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

October 17, 2025 / / 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 / / 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.

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