Dun Laoghaire (Dublin), Ireland Port Reviews

Big city; not easy to get around. We booked our own tour to Malihide Castle and Howth.

Visited: May 26, 2016

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Guinness tour is a no miss stop.

This was the only shore excursion we booked through NCL, and we did "Dublin, Glendalough and Scenic Drive." This was fortunate since it was a tender day which made getting to and from shore easier, but, unfortunately, was probably our weakest tour. Although we enjoyed it, the other port tours were more favorably memorable. I just guessing, but it seemed that our guide was new, nervous, and put the group on edge with her anxiety. She was knowledgeable, but kept pausing, saying she wanted to check her notes to make sure she wasn't forgetting anything. She triple checked the number in the bus after every stop to make sure we weren't forgetting anyone (which I appreciate, but 3 times each time?), and had such an anxious personality that it stressed us out. Yes, the guide had done her research and shared a lot of facts, but we felt like we were back in school with a stereotypical Catholic Nun as a teacher. She even reprimanded my adult daughter for walking ahead of the group at one point--and my daughter is a 3-grade school teacher! Regardless of the guide, we do have minor regrets about booking this tour, taking into consideration it was very similar to the excursion we had taken the day before, which was much more enjoyable. Now we know!

Downtown Dublin is an easy and inexpensive train ride from Dun Laoghaire station just at the end of the ship pier. Dublin never disappoints, and the train is far quicker (and did I say far cheaper) than a shore excursion to get there. Very walkable downtown, many attractions, good shopping, great food and history.

We went out on our own. We toured Guinness Storehouse, St Patricks and Christ Church Cathedrals & Temple Bar area. I thought that Dublin was a disappointment as I thought it was a dirty city.

Again lost over two hours of shore time due to length of time tendering and waiting on train to get to city center.

We did the HOHO bus. Not our favorite city but still enjoyable.

The disadvantage of a cruise tour, is that you don't have enough time to truly explore. Most of the tours via Oceania were sold out, so we got a four hour bus tour in the afternoon. Our tour guide was fabulous, but we didn't get time to walk around and explore. We got an overview of the city, which looked nice. The tender ride was something else! The seas were rolling and it was a rough tide back to the ship!

Tender was about a 20 minute ride and then you take a train into Pearce station. Did HOHO, did not do Guinness tour but saw so much. Temple bar was so neat. The bank bar was beautiful, Christchurch was amazing. Was going to see the Long Room and book of Kells at Trinity College but it is still closed for restoration. If it is on your list make sure it has reopened, disappointed to miss this.

If you're not going to drink beer or whiskey or want to see something in particular, it may be worth just staying in Dun Laoghaire. Dublin is just a big city and you have to pay to visit the cathedrals. We did the hop on/hop off bus and it wasn't worth it for us.