Our guests John and Jenny Bartram and Steve Lloyd are the first of our guests to send us images of the Flannan Isles. This new 10-night cruise is in our “far-flung islands” collection, calling in at Harris, Taransay, and the Flannan Isles with stopovers on Skye and the Small Isles en route. Highlights of the cruise included a shore visit to a beautiful Taransay beach, a visit to the Callanish Stones, and calling in at the amazing Shiant Isles. Perhaps the high spot of the cruise was being able to actually land on Eilean Mor on the Flannan Islands, with its famous lighthouse. Being able to land on Eilean Mor is a very rare occurrence so we were delighted to be able to provide this opportunity of a lifetime to our guests to go onshore to soak up the atmosphere and history of this evocative island.
There were also great wildlife sightings during the cruise, with a basking shark, common dolphins and Minke whales spotted. On the Flannan Isles, the bird list included fulmar, Manx shearwater, European and Leach’s storm petrel, great skua, greater and lesser black-backed gull, and herring gull. And of course the gannet colony.
John and Jenny and Steve have cruised with us several times before and we love having them on board. We look forward to their next trip with us next year aboard Emma Jane. View John and Jenny’s and Steve photos in the gallery below and a few of Skipper James's images from the same trip.
We were so glad that we decided to join a wildlife cruise with your company. Not only did we sail in extreme comfort and luxury aboard the 'Lucy Mary' but we did it with a lovely group of fellow travellers who proved great company throughout, sharing stories and experiences in a very convivial manner. All the crew members were friendly, knowledgable and approachable in every aspect of their respective duties. The anchorages, scenery and on-shore trips were excellent with the weather playing its part too. A wide range of wildlife was spotted in the water and in the air but a highlight had to have been the feeding frenzy witnessed one very calm, surreal day when the sea literally erupted around the ship with dozens of dolphins, minke whales and gannets to name but a few...truly outstanding. Numerous photographs and videos were taken and will provide a fantastic record of our adventure at sea. Each evening it was a pleasure to be seated at the beautifully dressed table and anticipate the next gourmet meal accompanied by the obligatory, excellent house wine! This was our first cruising holiday but it will certainly not be our last. Thank you to everyone who helped make it such a special trip which exceeded our expectations in every way. The 'icing on the cake' had to be the appearance of the Northern Lights on our last night aboard – a magical finale to a wonderful holiday. We absolutely loved every minute aboard this beautiful ship .
Steven and Norma Holiday: 7 September 2023Skye and the Small Isles: Hebridean horizons