A girl can never wear too much pink, or have too much wine (apparantly!) :o) Jo
A girl can never wear too much pink, or have too much wine (apparantly!) :o) Jo
Member since:22.03.2004
Reviews:65
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The Royal Yacht Britannia is possible one of the most elegant and well known ships that has sailed the Ocean. She was launched in 1953 and served the Queen and her Family for 44 years before being decommissioned at the end of 1997. The Royal Yacht Britannia is 83rd in a long line of royal yachts and was planned during the reign of King George VI but upon his death the design of her was overseen by the new Queen.
When the yacht was decommissioned a number of UK cities bid to secure the ship but it was Edinburgh that was ultimately successful and the Yacht can now be found in the historic port of Leith.
First of all you need to get to Edinburgh (obvious really). Edinburgh enjoys the usual links to the rest of the country and even abroad and is accessible by road, train, air and by sea. Once you get in to Edinburgh itself follow road signs to Leith and North Edinburgh and I would keep an eye out for those handy little brown signs that alert you to the fact that something interesting lies ahead.
The website (www.royalyachtbritannia.co.uk) informs me that if you are car less or would prefer to travel by public transport you may get to the Ocean Terminal by bus, with a number of bus operators running regular excursions to the site of the yacht
If you arrived in Edinburgh by Train you may already know that ScotRail offer an all inclusive ticket that entitles you to your train journey, a Majestic Tour Bus trip and admission to the Yacht.
Once you arrive at your correct destination you will need to alight from your chosen
vehicle and make your way to the second floor of the ocean terminal. Here you will find the expected ticket office. The ocean terminal itself is not really that awe inspiring, there are not loads of other things to do there although a few shops are beginning to spring up. You can see building work going on around the area too and in the words of a property developer that must mean that the area is 'up and coming'. In a few years I would expect to find some little boutiques and small bistro café's all round the area to match the expensive penthouse flats and town houses that are being built. For now however you just see cranes.
WHAT HAPPENS NEXT?
Well, when you approach the desk the person will ask you for some money, in total you will be expected to pay £9 for an adult entry and £5 for a child (5-17 years). If you come in a conveniently sized family group of 2 adults and 2 children you will be able to make a slight saving on entry cost and pay a group price of £25
AND THEN?
Well now the tour actually begins. You are left to meander your way through a small visitor centre which houses exhibits from the ship and photographs which I found the most interesting things. I found I didn't really want to look at the Naval side of the background to the yacht although if you are interested in the Armed Forces you will probably enjoy those bits more than I.
At the end of the visitor centre bit you will find a man waiting to take your tickets and he will hand you your audio guide. I am sceptical about audio guides but this one was actually very good. It was easy to hold and carry around and the sound was clear enough to be heard. The tour is available in a number of languages and you can even get a childrens version although this is only available in English. Printed scripts may be available for the hard of hearing.
When you've got your audio guide you make you way over the bridge and enter 'The Bridge' The benefit of having your own audio guide is that you can take things at your own pace and can linger longer in areas you find more interesting. Truth be told, I didn't find the bridge that interesting and after listening to the audio guide I made my way out to the next bit. The whole tour can take anything up to 3 hours so I won't go into loads of detail however I will pick out some of my Favourite bits.
THE ROYAL CAR
The royal car was lifted onto Britannia and was used in countries where official cars were hard to find. In more recent time apparently the car store was used by the younger royals to store beer on trips.
THE SUN LOUNGE
The sun lounge is what I had imagined a yacht to be like. Fitted out throughout in teak it had a lovely feel of warmth and airiness. You could just imagine lounging around in there as the yacht was cutting through the waves around the Caribbean. There is a large teak deck outside the sun lounge where royals used to play quoits or other yacht appropriate games. All work (such as scrubbing the decks) had to be carried out in silence by the staff and if a member of the family came you way you had to stand stock still until they had passed.
THE ROYAL APARTMENTS
Here we learn that the Queen and Prince Phillip had separate rooms whilst on board. Rooms connected by an adjoining door. We also learn that the Queen likes sheets with a deep fold back while Prince Phillip didn't. The rooms themselves are quite small but nice and airy. The port holes are set quite high and I now know that this is so that the staff couldn't look into the royal bedrooms and watch the monarch while she slept (personally I think the glass wall would be a bit inconvenient but maybe that's not original!).
THE STATE DINING ROOM
This is a huge room. The furniture however is not original as Prince Phillip has had the original furniture removed to Frogmore House in the grounds at Windsor. The table is presented as laid for dinner with all cutlery and glassware sparkling. There are some interesting bits and bobs around the walls also, including a variety of swords and artefacts from royal visits.
In terms of Royal Accommodation you also get to see the drawing room which houses a baby grand piano and a couple of Persian Rugs, and the Queen and Prince Phillips Offices, both very different in style. The other bits of the yacht you get to see are the working areas, the messes and sleeping quarters of the staff on board. I got a bit confused here as I don't really understand the different groups and ranks etc. It was all interesting though. Other points of interest include the…
OPERATING THEATRE
This did actually smell like a hospital still. I think they might pipe a Dettol type smell through the rooms. The operating theatre also was used as a dental practice as well. The ship was due to be used as a hospital ship in times of war so this area is quite well equipped by 1950's standards.
THE ENGINE ROOM
The engine room is totally spotless and shiny. It is very hard to imagine this as a working ship although it is reported that even when in use the engine room received regular cleaning and polishing.
THE ROYAL BARGE
This is not in the yacht itself but is situated to the side of the yacht. You are able to walk all the way around the barge and get a good look inside as well.
OVERALL IMPRESSIONS
I really enjoyed my visit to the Royal Yacht Britannia; it took us around 2 1/2 hours to get round the whole thing with regular stops to have a more detailed look at a few parts. The tour is not really a sociable thing to do however as you walk around on your own with the audio guide for company. Talking to your fellow visitors is difficult unless you know that you are both finished with the audio guide.
The audio signs are excellent however and you always know what buttons to press to get the appropriate guide. You can repeat bits that you haven't heard if necessary also. The voice is typically 'BBC' with no accent and the person is quite posh, posher than me anyway. What I did find slightly annoying was that you had to keep coming off the ship at every level and going into the adjoining tower to go downstairs. This did make the yacht accessible to all however as there are lifts available also. In fact whilst we were there a lady in a wheelchair was visitng,
The experience is really worth the entry fee, and some bits really stick in my mind, little things like the personal photographs of the Royals as normal people (with a massive yacht at their disposal!). One in particular shows the Queen cutting the ribbon marking Britannia's One Millionth mile, with Prince Phillip standing next to her in a Hawaiian shirt looking real casual, something I hadn't really expected. In total this attraction is well worth the time, money and effort spent visiting. Allow a few hours to see the bits you want to see and be aware that there is quite a lot of walking necessary to see all the yacht.
I
think I might have to borrow a wheelchair if there is that much walking to be done ~ I'd want to see everything! ~ ! ♥♥ ! ~ ........................................................... ~ jes ~ ! ♥♥ !
Chardon 15.09.2005 16:33
Great review. I've never wanted to fork out the admission fee, but it might be worth it after all. Maybe one day! xxx
Jaynestep 05.07.2005 16:39
A well written and informative review, well worth the E! and it sounds like this might be worth a visit. Jayne x x
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Advantages: Educational. Slightly Magical. A Great Visitor Attraction. Disabled Access Throughout. Disadvantages: Situation and Surroundings. Some Material Decay Now Taking Place.
Advantages: Educational. Slightly Magical. A Great Visitor Attraction. Disabled Access Throughout. Disadvantages: Situation and Surroundings. Some Material Decay Now Taking Place.
May 25th, 2005
exceptional by (10%):
very helpful by (88%):
helpful by (2%):
