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Having only discovered cruises in 2009 on the Queen Victoria, the idea of a complete contrast on a ship as small as Hebridean Princess appealed to both of us – well to me perhaps more than to Mary as she has even felt sea-sick on the Windermere Ferry. We had also realised that we had almost certainly been on the ship before, since it was in service on the Oban to Mull ferry run when we had holidayed on Mull in 1980.
My first trip to a Scottish island had been to Soay off Skye on a 1966 school field trip, and we have since been to the larger islands (Arran, Islay, Mull and Skye), but the opportunity to see a succession of the smaller islands tempted us to give this a try. We didn’t regret the decision for one moment, from the time when Dave Indge gathered us up from the (complimentary) bar on the Oban seafront and saw us piped aboard.
It is quite extraordinary how one can gather a group of about 45 people who have for the most part never met, put them together on a small ship for a week, and find that the British reserve can be broken down so easily. By the end of the holiday, we felt that we had known many of the guests for ages, and indeed were so impressed that we had even booked a trip to St. Kilda for next year before the voyage had finished.
Hebridean does not claim to offer any entertainment as such, but what it does have are star performers in Dave Indge and Ted Heath. Ted in particular was a real all rounder, whether delivering a monologue from a fictional mother from Harris to her son, which had us in fits, or with his guitar giving us the full version of American Pie accompanied on the harmonica and in the chorus by many of the guests. It was difficult to remember that his main role was as the tour leader on shore.
A truly memorable first Hebridean experience and in 2011 we now have, not only our trip to St. Kilda to look forward to, but a second trip in April to celebrate a special wedding anniversary along the north-west coast and some of the islands we missed last time. On our first evening, we spoke to a seasoned traveller with 27 trips already undertaken, and as we ended our own first trip we realised how special Hebridean Princess is and what makes you want to come back again and again.
Quite apart from the actual island visits, there is the wildlife, the welcome from the crew, the friendliness of the other guests, the wonderful food in what is really your very own luxury hotel.
