Cruise Port 7 – Inverness / Invergordon / Loch Ness
I’m not sure that Princess would stop here, were it not for the infamous lake (loch) and even more infamous critter living somewhere in its waters. The only problem was, I couldn’t get the lyrics to The Police song Synchronicity II out of my head.
We took the Princess tour to Loch Ness at this port. After the obligatory long bus ride, we arrived at Urquhart Castle, supposedly where Nessie hangs out. Compared to the other tours, though, this one was a little oppressive. All the tour buses showed up at the same time – so thousands of passengers descended upon the castle at the same time. Some parts of the castle (i.e. the main tower and infamous basement, where Nessie hangs out) were one set of narrow spiraling stairs – for going up and down. Of course, you can’t do anything about how the castle was built one thousand years ago, but you can do something about the crowds that all show up at the same time.
We (well, Justin and Ethan and Dad) went all the way up the stairs. The problem wasn’t getting up, it was coming down. With railings only on one side, Justin really needed the rails to go down. The problem was that people coming up hugged the rails, and Justin froze when he couldn’t hold the rails. This pretty much stopped traffic movement in either direction, until someone above me, who saw what was going on, yelled down “let the kid have the rail!”
Eventually we made it back down, and made a b-line to the souvenir stand and bus. Pictures of our Loch Ness adventure have been put up, enjoy.