Barbara B

We generally saw our steward about 3-4 times/day in the corridor. He always asked what else we might need. Never had to use Ocean Now for anything. Never had the need. FWIW, we liked the Premium although we are not drinkers. We do like a glass of good champagne and enjoyed the two special dinners as well as the gelato bar. The specialty desserts just looked too rich to actually eat 🙂 Our main reason was that we each have multiple wifi devices, and use them simultaneously, for example sharing photos with family while on our laptops. We also had cell service and what's app, so if anyone back at home needed to reach us, they could. So that was a great convenience. Just adding the multiple-device wifi was worthwhile to select Premium (at least for us). The math simply added up.

You can also mix and match the vegan menu (which is quite good) with the regular MDR menu. We did this all the time on our recent cruise (Just got home a week ago). We are pescatarians and found plenty of options with or without the fish. Also the Ocean Terrace was an ala carte paid restaurant. Would be great to have the sushi restaurant included in premiere.

Hi everyone! Just a short addendum. First, thank you everyone for reading and commenting, liking, etc. I came home Thursday night after a horrible experience with Heathrow. Our flight was caught up in the major Heathrow baggage malfunction and one of our suitcases is still missing. It should be delivered today or tomorrow. I also came home with an unexpected souvenir. After my negative COVID test when I was sniffly on Sunday, I was still a bit sniffly (nothing too dire). Took another test before we visited family to distribute gifties. And...guess what? COVID! Only me and not DH. I think I must've gotten it on the last day or two. It was my first case of COVID ever, so it was a bit of a surprise. I'm fully and well vaccinated. My case seems mild with only a very low grade fever (99), no cough--just fatigue and a stuffy nose. Like a headcold. My advice to EVERYONE: test when you get home. Signing off for now. Been binging on Band of Brothers (which I'd never seen) to learn a bit more about the D-Day invasion and end of WWII.

Day 12 July 18 We booked a private journey to Normandy with a group we met on CC a couple months ago. There were 8 of us total and the organizer booked with Overland Tours, which specializes in Normandy WWII tours. Our guide Antoine was incredibly knowledgable about everything from the landmarks to the battle itself. It was not the cheapest trip, but with eight of us, it was perfect (and an all day excursions from 8-6:30 when we came back to the ship. The itinerary was flexible with four choices and choices within choices. We started at the furthest point St. Marie Eglise where the Airborn museum stands. It is absolutely huge and one could easily spend a full day there. Antoine guided us through the museum and set up the battle scenario so that when we go to the beach itself (Omaha in this case) we understood the logistics of the D-Day invasion. We had lunch at a local cafe and the food was excellent. After lunch we visited a small church where a couple of young American medics tended to the paratroopers injured. The story was fascinating as was the church. Several of the church's stained glass windows were of paratroopers and the invasion. So interesting. We also visited another church, and again, stained glass depicting the invasion was there among the more conventional stained glass windows you might expect in a catholic church. We visited Omaha Beach; the one jarring thing was that -- it is a public beach, complete with summertime sunbathers, swimmers, surfers and picnickers. The beach is huge and the dunes behind it immense. We saw where the Germans hunkered down at the tops of cliffs and the massive amount of work needed to defeat them there. Next we came to the American Cemetery at Omaha Beach. This was enormous and solemn. Unfortunately, I packed Pentax (which I used to shoot most of the pictures) in our bags 😞 so I will have to post some of the photos when I return to the States. All aboard was 7:30 and we also needed to finish our packing. So we packed up tagged and placed our bags in the hall. Dinner at the concerto was lovely.. We started with some fine Champagne from the Premiere menu and capped it off with the classic last night Baked Alaska. Tomorrow we're off at 8:00 to the airport. It has been fun blogging from Regal, and once I'm home, I will put together some tips and tricks for the cruise--especially newbies and those who have not cruised in awhile. for now, A bientot from the English Channel just west of LeHavre, listening to the waves spash with the balcony door full wide open on this gorgeous summer's eve.

Hi everyone! Feeling better and here we are on the last two days of the cruise. Today we are at sea, and I'll write about that later. I need to catch up! Day 8 was another sea day. It was not a formal night (we'd already had the first of the two earlier). It was a day to catch up, to sleep in. Notable was eating in the Allegro and not our usual MDR. We had a later reservation due to my needing to lead something on the ship at our usual dining time (and that we'd not planned for) so I had to switch around our reservations. Our cabin is mid-forward (BTW: a fantastic location and accessible to both the forward and midships elevators with only short walks). Anyway, we normally eat in the Concerto, which is forward on 7 (we're on 15). To get to Allegro was much more circuitous (except if--as we figured out you walked the entire length of the ship on 15 to the aft elevators--then go down to 7). Otherwise, you're going up down and up again (or something like that!) Anyway, we arrived in time for our 7:20 reservation and encountered a line for the first time on the ship in all our dining!!! A lot of folks with reservations were in line while it seemed that numbers of folks were jumping the line and going right into the dining room. The host explained (I think, though it was hard to comprehend) that those people at the same time in Allegro each night and therefore did not have to wait. Huh??? Please--someone explain this! Anyway, we skipped the show and went back to our room to prep for coming into Ivergordon the next day. Day 9: Invergordon/Scottish Highlands Today we had an early half-day excursion in the Scottish Highlands. What incredibly beautiful country. The only disappointment was not seeing any of those furry Highland cattle 😞 Saw lots of sheep and cows, but not the Highland variety. We had a quick breakfast at the International Cafe. Lattes to go (12 oz) and almond croissants along with juice smoothies before we left. Got two bottles of water each to take along as well. We made our way to the Falls of Shin up a two-lane highway amid fields of heather. We stopped on the way at Struie Viewpoint. It was a gorgeous lookout with a spectacular view. We got to the river Shin, but saw no salmon, sadly, as it was just not quite the season. I've seen salmon (sockeye) in Alaska, both maneuvering the stream (like rush hour on the Dan Ryan Expressway in Chicago) and leaping, complete with fishing bears, but this was not to be here. We were off next to the small town of Dornoch with its 13th Century Cathedral, the Old Town Jail. Did a bit of shopping in the local store. The return trip was just as lovely as we passed by steep hillsides, mountains in the distance, waterfalls, etc. A lovely morning's drive. We rested in the afternoon and dined at Concerto at our usual time!

Thank you everyone for your thoughtful advice. I think we'll do Iceland/Norway in July '25 for our next cruise--now to pick an itinerary/ship!!! The hardest question.

We have an excursion in LeHavre that is a private tour with six other folks we met on CC. More about that when we we get closer in a couple of days. My sad news of the day: We had an excursion booked early this morning for Bannockburn and Stirling Castle to explore Scottish History and the English-Scottish wars. Unfortunately, Last night I started to feel a cold coming on, so this morning I sent my husband off since I was feeling a bit queasy from the congestion and a tender to the port would not sit well. To be safe I had a COVID test just now and it's negative (fortunately!). Paramedic came by my cabin, did the test and asked if I wanted to see the doctor. It's a cold, so...no. Still working out whether we can get the shorex refunded. If I went to see the doctor, it would be a medical reason and instant refund, but the doctor visit could be as much as the cruise--so resting up today while my DH goes on the tour. The view from my balcony, however, is quite spectacular. I'll write up yesterday later today. If I feel better, I'll tender over and explore South Queensferry at least and do some shopping.

We are halfway through our BI cruise on the Regal and already (yes I know) thinking about booking something for 2025 (summer). Mediterranean seems to be what we want; however, we're not sure of the weather (the heat, in particular).

Yes, it is! It came out of nowhere as I was sitting on the sofa typing. So cool.

Day 7 Belfast The reason we are doing the ports in this order and not belfast, then Glasgow is because of a bank holiday. So, we stopped in Glasgow first and doubled back to Belfast yesterday. in actual fact, Manny take it as a Today holiday, and so traffic was quite light and it was easy to get around by our motorcoach. Belfast was our first sure excursion to depart early in the morning. We gathered at the very early hours of 830 to get on our bus and heading to Town. Usually, I eat breakfast at a concerto, but because of being in a bit of a hurry this morning, I grabbed coffee and pastry at the international café in the piazza. We met up in the Princess Theatre, and off we went. I have to say, the motor coaches used very comfortable with huge windows. They were air-conditioned, and if you needed to use one small toilet was available I point this out because in the shore excursion listings on princess, it is specifically mentioned that the buses are not air-conditioned. And there are no toilet facilities on the bus. But there were more less. We drove along the river, past the great shipyards, including Highland and Wolf with its monstrous cranes. We were able to get a look at the actual tenders used for the Titanic, but did not get out of the bus, which was fine. Our first stop, was Belfast Castle in Caves Hill Park, after passing by Napoleon's Nose, and outcropping on Cave Hill. We went up and up until we got to the castle. We stopped there for a while, having an opportunity to explore the gardens, the interior of the castle, and find the nine cats, a hallmark of the castle. Napoleon's nose, and its unusual formation is said to have been Jonathan Swift's inspiration for Gulliver's Tavels because the promontory resembles a giant human head on its back — if you look at it from the right direction. We next went into the city I learned something about the struggles between Catholic and Protestant, that even goes on to this day. There are parts of the city we went through where there is a high muraled wall capped with barbed wire, or barbs to prevent one side from crossing to the other. Interestingly, it is both sides of the conflict that desire for separation as explained. By our guide. Many walls in this area are covered with murals, famous for this part of northern Ireland. Messages of hope, a piece, as well as Solidarity adorn the walls. It is called the Peace Wall. In the city center we stopped at the city hall, a beautiful building with courtyard. We then drove past Queen's College and walked around the empty Parliment Building for Northern Ireland. It is empty because there is great disagreement about Brexit within N. Ireland and they refuse to seat the Parliament, so it has sat empty for a couple of years now!! We rode back towards the Titanic Quarter, passing the Titanic Museum with its five pointed star architecture, with each of the points the same height as the bow of Titanic. I wish we'd had time to go back and visit the museum, but---another time. It was an excellent look around the city to get an overview. I liked it far better than the hop-on-hop-off we did in Dublin a couple of days ago. Dinner at Concerto with many local favorites on the menu. The evening performance was Italian Illusionist Ottavio Belli. He was quite good. I love magic, and his was not exactly Penn and Teller (whom I adore), but he was entertaining and extremely skilled, if a bit too shticky for my magic taste. Went to bed watching the endless twilight until I nodded off about midnight. Tomorrow is a sea day, which is welcome after so many port days in a row. An opportunity to go to some ship board activities, lectures and games. I realized I could screen cap the menus on the app, so I'll post today's MDR and Sabatini's menus for dinner later today!

Day 6 Glasgow, Scotland Today, we docked (no tendering!!). Gangway was short, also nice. We chilled much of the morning. Breakfast of a lox omelet. Mushroom soup for lunch and a sticky toffee pudding from the Pastry Shop. This afternoon, we went on a half-day excursion called Easy Scottish Lochs. We visited Loch Lomond, Luss Loch, Ecks Loch, and Holy Loch. It was a spectacular day to be out and up in the mountains. These are NOT the highlands, but still the lowlands of the south. The Highlands are up north where we are going later in the cruise. It was a half-day nicely narrated drive along Loch Lomond,,Scotland's second largest freshwater lake. We went through the village Luss located on Loch Lomond, stopping for a bit to enjoy. There we experienced a beautiful landscape until we stopped at the Rest and Be Thankful Overlook, which afforded us panorama of the Highland glens and mountains in the distance. The drive continued until we reached the River Clyde, stopping at every vista for photographs. When we got to Hunters' Quay, the bus drove onto the ferry and back to the ship. A piper band greeted us, and in the Piazza the fabulous bagpipe artist impressed with his beautiful piping. Dinner alone, where contemplated when are where we might take our next cruise 🙂 people-watchingWe were pretty tired, so after some people watching it was off to bed to arise early for out Belfast Excursion on the morrow.

You ask and they bring it to you. Same with bottled water. There are always servers around and even if you move, they will find you through the Medallion.

Day 5 July 11 Dun Loaghaire/Dublin Before I start, let me say something about the weather thus far. As much as the forecast has been for rain every day since we left Southampton, we have mainly experienced relatively clear skies and pleasant temperatures in the 60s. First, the town is pronounced Dun "Leary." Gaelic is not phonetic so you can't sound anything out.. Another tender port today. But we were in the orange Princess tenders, so no terror of the seas getting on or off. The ship decided that tickets were not necessary in the morning so people could come and go as they like, which worked out just fine until just before noon. The tenders were all out and the lines to the gangway was at a standstill So we were quite delayed getting off the ship. MInd, we were on our own, so if you were on an excursion, you did get off the ship timely. Instead of exploring Dun Loaghaire, we decided to go into Dublin. So after a 20 minute tender over to the dock, we opted to do the DoLondon hop on hop off. €30 (more or less $30) to get a return train ticket and the hop on hop off double deck bus. The train was ok, but the signs for the next stops were all in Gaelic and no English. We knew we were getting off at Pearce Station, so we knew where we were going, and everyone was incredibly nice. The train takes about half an hour or so. We hopped on the bus and decided to go to Dublin Castle, the Book of Kells and to have lunch). By the time we got into Dublin it was 1:00, and we went to the castle (first). The courtyard is impressive, but we couldn't get into a tour until it would be too late to make the trek back to the ship (and this was also the case for everything else by that time). Dublin a bit city, and like any downtown is quite congested. So as lovely as it was, it was not the best choice. We had lunch at the Bar Temple (which was excellent, and just across the castle)--and if you are vegetarian or pescatarian, it has a large selection, for which were thankful. I had a seafood c chowder, which was quite good. By now it is 2:00 and we decided to get back on the bus and stay there till we were back at Pearce station so we could get back to the ship in time for a 6:00 dinner reservation. The bus loops around and is narrated, so that was quite nice, as we passed significant buildings and squares along the way. It was the most disappointing day for us so far, but not terrible. Nice lunch, beautiful weather and ac for a glimpse of the castle tower. We chatted with locals and got back to the ship around 5:15 with an hour to spare before the "all aboard." Castle Court Princess from the water, approaching in our tender: Had a nice dinner--Atlantic salmon, caesar salad, mushy peas, and a delicious pavlova for dessert. I forgot to photo the menus. I will do them for Wednesday's July 12 report. Phil ordered from the Vegan menu, which was excellent and varied (and changes nightly as well) We did not go the Princess Theater show (A Queen retrospective). I love Queen--my favorite band of the period, but I'm a bit of a snob when it comes to their music. I was also tired and a bit grouchy, so I think there will be a second one later in the trip. The sunset is rather late and there was still light in sky past 11:00 p.m. These were taken around 8:30 p.m., I think. From our balcony. I actually think I am caught up. Phew! Nice to have a morning to do that. This afternoon we are off on a tour of the Scottish Lochs. If you have questions about anything on the ship or something I've omitted, please mention below. I am so thrilled that so many are finding these blogs interesting and helpful (and thank so much for the wonderful Badge!!) See you tomorrow.

Monday, July 10 Cobh, Ireland (the port gateway to Cork) No tenders today. Yay! We decided to explore Cobh (pronounced "Cove") in the morning as we had an organized excursion planned later this afternoon. We walked off the ship and a very short distance away was the Emigration museum, which was a bit of a hidden gem. Didn't know what to expect, but it was really interesting to walk the path not only of immigrants who embarked on the many ships embarking from Cobh, but some of the pirate history as well. I've always been fascinated with Anne Bonny (if you watched Black Sails you'd know who she was) so there was a statue of her and a bio. As well as the interesting story of the very first immigrant to come to Ellis Island. Although we are not Irish, our grandparents' generation came to the U.S. (from Eastern Europe) across the Atlantic, so the stories were evocative for me as well. Maratime history was also highlighted in the small, but spacious museum, with displays, short films and artifacts from the Titanic, Lusitania, and other famous and infamous sailings. There is a small gift shop adjacent. Returned to the ship for lunch and a bit of a rest, some gelato, and then was time for our afternoon adventure. Gelato bar menu. I had 1 scoop each of nutella and pistachio. Really, really good gelato!! The Irish Heritage and Cultural show. The description in the cruise planner is a bit deceptive, as it suggests there is a great deal of walking and stairs. Neither is the case. The Commodore Hotel is perhaps a third of a mile away from the port, slightly uphill, but nothing terrible. A few steps into the charming old hotel and then a long flight up, but there is an elevator for those that need it. Again, not knowing what to expect we sat in a cozy salon with a small table. We were told the show cannot start until everyone had a drink in hand (the drinks, we learned, were included!). Soon everyone had a pint of Guiness, beer, wine or soft drink and we were ready. The room was full with about 50 guests. The group was fantastic, with a singer/guitarist, a Ulliean Piper (who also played the whistle, flute and recorder) and a piano player (who had an excellent fiddle emulator). They were joined by three step dancers who entertained us with reels, jigs, slipjigs and more. The show was really fantastic, and if you want to get a feel for Irish music, dance and a bit of the culture, I highly recommend it! Well worth it. . . Came back to the ship fairly late and just enough time to dress for dinner. We generally ate in the Concerto MDR because we were slightly forward amidships. The Allegro is a bit trickier to get to from where we are (at least for us). So if you are aft, opt for the Allegero--Fore, opt for the Concerto. We went to the Princess theater show. Scouse standup comic John Evans. I did not stop laughing for an hour. He was really, really good to my very picky sense of humor 🙂 Time for bed, but before I do, I have to say how much I love the bed! It's like a crade, from the topper to the duvet to the pillows. I have vowed to get some of those pillows for our bed at home!! They are that good.

Good morning! We are now in Greenock. Last night, when I would have updated Monday's adventures, the internet went down for a bit, so I couldn't write my Cobh report. I will get that posted this morning after breakfast. See ya in a bit.