21 June 2025
I have to give the weather a dishonourable mention - it tried its best to disrupt our cruise, but as always, the crew onboard the Emma Jane just got on with their tasks and gave us all a memorable cruise ! I think they secretly like the challenges presented !! Some of the unexpected diversions and anchorages were a real treat, bringing the crew and guests together into a big happy group of people, strangers to start with perhaps, but everyone of them were good friends by the end. A great cruise !! I must give the crew their own name checks : Jake - a new member of the Hebrides Cruises family, but already a star, introducing little ‘extras’ when we were in the rib, he obviously put a lot of thought into providing us with the best ! Lynsey - a fabulous wildlife guide, and a fabulous friend if I may claim that honour. Charlie - superb chef, what wonderful meals we were served with, beans on toast at home just doesn’t cut it anymore ???? Jasmin - nothing was ever too much trouble, everything was always in the right place, spotless, and those table designs, amazing ! Perhaps even of more importance than all the obvious skill sets possessed, was the sense of fun, positivity and friendship shown. Marks out of ten for the crew and the cruise ?? Why, 11 of course !! A great big thankyou from me for a great time.
Steve Lloyd
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