(Small Group) Shore Tour from Dublin:Dublin Highlights and Glendalough Day Trip

James was great had a nice day . It’s seems a little on the pricy side but he does pick up at port which many don’t . Saw the town the Glasgow cathedral and a museum . It was my request to head back a little early as I didn’t want to miss the ship . He is dressed in his Scottish clothing which is great and special .

This was an excellent excursion and we would certainly do it again. We went all around Liverpool and saw a lot of interesting things.

Excellent tour of the Irish countryside outside Dublin. Our driver/guide was extremely knowledgeable about Irish history and was (rightfully) proud of his country.

Let me start with the warning we received at booking; that if we didn’t show up on time from our ship we would be left. We got up early to get off the ship asap. We were on time and that’s when our problems started. First, we were informed that the small group tour that we paid extra for wasn’t going to happen because the bus broke down BUT we can get on the large group bus with everyone else who paid much less. Then instead of leaving people behind like we were warned we sat, and sat, and sat for 2 hours!!!!!! Finally our tour guide decided to leave and started the drive to Glenoalough. Our driver/ guide told us all about incidental things but nothing about the history or at all educational about where we were going and why it was important. We arrived and were told we had an hour and 15 minutes but still no information about where we were why it was important to the history of the site. The welcome center wasn’t much better because everything cost to get any information. With that being said it was truly beautiful and worth a drive up there. That was as good as the day got. From there, we started the drive back to Dublin. Our guide again babbled about nothing and told us his political views. He attempted to make a shopping stop (not on the tour) for just one person on the bus. He pulled into a car park (parking lot) that he couldn’t fit the bus and was a dead end. He had to back out and work to get us out of there for 15 minutes before he got us turned around and decided stopping for just one person to go shopping off the tour schedule was not a good idea. All of us had still not eaten since before 7 if we got a chance to eat at all! He then drove around Dublin in circles, talking about different sites to see but really showing us nothing and then dropped us off and gave us an hour and 15 minutes to eat lunch and sight see. All the places he told us to walk to were way too far with the time that we had left once we were able to obtain some food around 2 PM. Please remember this is after our day started by arriving at the bus at 7:30. Lunchtime took an hour and we walked to a shop just across the street in the hour we had left. Then it took us one hour to fight traffic to back to the cruise ship and that was our day. I would never recommend this tour and would encourage you to find your own way up to the mountains to check out the Glen and then rent E bikes so you can explore Dublin on your own. Way better use of your time and money. Those were just the highlights of our nightmare of a day on what was supposed to be a small group tour.

The driver/guide was friendly and gave us a lot of information but could have lined us up better in Dublin. Too much time in Glendalough and not enough in Dublin.

He spent the first half hour of our tour telling us about himself. At our first stop, he pointed us in a direction and stayed in the bus. Our group of 6 asked him to refrain from this and be a tour guide.. on the second stiop he pointed us in the right direction and said he would be back in an hour and a half. On third stop after given us a 15 minute drive through Dublin, he told us he would meet us in 2 1/2 hours. He drove us back to our meeting point

Enjoyed the trip to Glendalough, but would have like to stay longer at the City center since the tour concluded 6 hours instead of 8 hours.

I thought this tour included a person who would drive us and be our guide around Dublin the driver drove us to the first place and dropped us off he did not go with us we just walked around a lake for an hour then he drove us to Dublin explaining parts of the city but we only had a couple of hours time there by the time we ate lunch it was about time to meet him. I would think you would do just as well on a hop on hop off bus so cannot recommend this tour.

We were charged for a tour that never occurred. In Dun Laoghaire (Dublin), you need to take a tender to get to shore (port). We were ready to disembark the ship, however the Pilot/Princess Cruise Line determined at the last minute that nobody would leave or board the ship due to safety reasons (strong currents/high waves). While Princess Cruise Line fully reimbursed the passengers who had booked tours through them, Paddywagon Tours (provider) or Viator would not provide any refund (partial or full) or a credit even after multiple interactions with them. Paddywagon Tours keep all our money, while wanting us to bill our insurance company which is not fair. Viator did nothing. Bottom Line: Don’t use Paddywagon Tours or Viator for any excursions at Dublin if you are on a cruise (Dun Laoghaire port). Book an excursion through the cruise line or make sure you have travel insurance.

Lee our tour guide was funny and very well versed on the history of the area that we visited. The weather was cloudy and cold but we were lucky to not have much rain. This tour is specially designed for cruise passengers docked at Greenock Scotland and is close to Glasgow. It took about 8 hours and there’s only a couple of main and winding roads. The driver Paul was excellent also. I would not recommend this trip for anyone that needs assistance with walking.