23 April 2022
This must be one of the most relaxing holidays I have ever been on. A lifelong ambition was fulfilled be visiting Staffa and seeing Fingal's Cave and it was every bit as spectacular as I had hoped. Not only did we walk down the route to it to look into it but, thanks to Chris judging the tide to be right, he was able to get us right inside it. Iona and its abbey were impressive too of course and being able to land on Lunga in the Treshnish Islands and see the seabird colonies - puffins galore - was equally marvellous. The sail round Mull was an eye-opener too, seeing lochs from the sea rather than from the land. They were wonderful locations to spend the nights. And the weather was glorious. The wildlife was in abundance too with lots of seabirds and seals and good sightings of cetaceans. Bottle-nosed dolphins were the first up to bow-wave and we also had 4 or 5 Minke whales fishing and a few porpoises, but the most spectacular were over 100 Common Dolphins which came leaping from all directions to accompany us for over an hour. The hospitality on board was as friendly as ever on a Hebrides Cruises's trip thanks to Chris, Craig, Zoe and Sian with her delicious meals. Add to that very compatible fellow-travellers and no WiFi (so no gloomy news) and this was a holiday to be long treasured in the memory.
Helen Mainwood
I am actually struggling to find the words to express how wonderful this holiday was and how much we enjoyed ourselves during our 6 nights on Emma Jane. This experience was truely like no other holiday I've ever taken. It was well put together and the crew were ready to adapt plans where necessary. Firstly thanks to Emma for her initial assistance when we were making the decision to book or not, and invaluable help on travel advice. Whether we were lucky, but we joined a lovely group of fellow, like minded passengers to spend our 6 nights with. All the crew, Chris, the skipper, Sofia, the steward, Carlton, the chef, and Will the wildlife expert, were individually lovely, helpful, patient, and excellent in their roles. However, the four of them together formed a competent and well organised team. I noted the concentration required to navigate us through the locks, and attention to our safety and enjoyment at all times. The food was amazing Carlton. Hard to pick my favourite dish but the Caesar salad was a stand out. Will, took us on lovely walks to enjoy beautiful scenery, rivers, locks, lochs, canal, waterfalls, birds and fungi. Chris, calm, caring and confident, but firm if he needed to be. We must, however, mention Sofia in particular. Her attention to detail, demonstration of a variety of skills, one moment doing the ropes on the vessel, the next serving us tea, cake, and Proscecco in the afternoon(could get used to this but things are never the same when you try to re-create them at home). Her flair in creating the most wonderful table decorations. We could go on. We loved it. Thank you so very much. Cindy Hudson & Andrew Perry
Cindy Hudson: 23 September 2023Loch Linnhe, the Caledonian Canal & Loch Ness