17 July 2023
What a fantastic experience we had on board the Lucy Mary for seven wonderful days in mid-July. She is a super vessel, very stable on the sea and very, very comfortable. All the crew members were very personable from James on the wheel, Will and Ruari as guides, Sam the cook and Abbie as our hostess. We had the great experience of having Fingal's Cave Cave on Staffa to ourselves as James made sure we got to the island well before the tour boats arrived - of all the places we were brought, this stood out on its own. For me, Lunga was amazing there being so, so many birds present and being able to get really close to Puffins. We were spoiled with Sam's fantastic cooking and also his willingness to work with stuff we foraged both on the shore and also on land. So, thanks to all in Hebrides Cruises for a really memorable west coast of Scotland experience. Brendan
Brendan O'Connor
This was our third annual cruise with this excellent family business, and our first on the Elizabeth G (previously we had been on the Lucy Mary), and we are already booked back on the Elizabeth G in 2026 to the Flannan Isles. Getting to St Kilda has been on our bucket list for a long time, and when the weather turned bad two days before we embarked, we were resigned to being lucky to even get to the Outer Hebrides. During the early bad patch, skipper Iain worked his magic to keep us away from the rough seas and winds, whilst finding us idyllic inlets to explore and overnight in, whilst Trinity our steward and Izzy our chef kept our minds off the weather with great food and great service. Onboard and on our daily trip ashore, our wildlife guide Gill kept finding loads of wildlife and plants to wonder at and be educated on, so spirits were actually quite high despite the weather, which alleviated slightly a day or so in and allowed us to run across to the Outer Hebrides, where the pattern of great food, great service and great nature spotting continued. And then, late in our ten day window of opportunity, skipper Iain gave us the great news that the weather had improved to the point where a dash out into the Atlantic was feasible, but only for a one night stay. The next day, and with an extra early start, we hunkered down while the Elizabeth G used her stabilisers to the full in what was still a bit of a swell to us landlubbers, such that we arrived a few hours later “shaken but not stirred” at St Kilda. After a quick lunch, we headed ashore for a magical 5 hour visit, with incredibly clear and sunny skies overhead from the moment we arrived on the island, with rain only starting to appear as we headed back to our floating hotel for our well deserved dinner. The following morning we toured the rest of the archipelago, and marvelled at the stacks and the impossibly large numbers of seabirds everywhere.
John and Aileen MacLean: 31 May 2025St Kilda and the isles of the Outer Hebrides