British Isles Cruise Review 6/5-6/17

[RRFPresident]

Once we arrived at the Loch, we had to wait for a tour boat to return. Several of us chose to stay on the bus and the driver put on some Gaelic/Celtic music for us to enjoy. I guess they decided that the regular tour boat was taking too long to return because they soon had us boarding a charter yacht usually reserved for private parties. Most people went to the upper deck while a few of us spread out on the bench style cushioned seating down on the lower level. The young men piloting the boat passed out brochures with the tour commentary to each of us and the recording they played was about a 1/3rd of what we read on the papers. Our guide worked his way around the boat as we moved along and answered questions about the sites we passed. I spent the downtime checking in with home via Dad’s phone. Not sure if the boat had wi-fi or not.

[RRFPresident]

Scenic shots once we returned to the ship:

 

Anyone know what this little island rock was? It seemed to glow phosphorescent with the incoming sunset:

 

First chance at sunset pics:

[RRFPresident]

Once back on board, we had a little time to kill before returning to Maria and the photo studio to check out our prints. Relaxed for a little bit in the cabin and then headed up. We once again had the studio to ourselves as we gathered together on this long couch to view the photos on a big computer monitor. I’m very critical of how I look in pictures which is partly why I love being behind the lens. Dad and I had some disagreement over which were the best pictures. All of the picture packages you can choose from, even ones where you only get a few prints, are expensive to the tune of a few hundred dollars. On the plus side, these shots are about 10 times more professional looking than the ones the formal night photographers produced. Personally, I think the close up headshot style is much more flattering though I understand especially in formal wear, the need to back up and shoot from far away to get the whole body in the shot. Despite being very dark between being black and white and against a jet black background, the pictures look really nice. They do offer to touch up the photos however you choose from teeth whitening to skin smoothing to freckle or mole removals. Maria told us that while employees get a discount on ship internet use, it’s still just as slow and spotty for them. We would have to wait for the pictures we ordered to be shipped to the house since she had to send the digital file to the US to be printed and then mailed to us from the print shop. We also had received a letter in our cabin mail offering a free 8x10 for booking a session so we ended up getting two 11x14 pics, one of me alone and one of Dad and I, and two 8x10s. The one 8x10 is the same shot as the 11x14 of Dad and I and the other is a different pose of the two of us. When they arrived about 3 weeks later, the pictures were printed on a thick backing and came packaged in lots of paper and foam protection. They even included a pair of white gloves for handling the photos which of course only fit me. We picked out some nice relatively matching frames and spent some time today hanging them on the wall.

 

Forgive the flash spot in the corner (1st 8x10):

 

This is the image that was both an 11x14 and 8x10:

 

Other 11x14 that was just me:

 

Tonight’s theme was finally country music in Club Fusion. We showed up to see if anything interested us and were disappointed at the lack of trivia. I did notice a few groans as the music switched from pop hits to the most traditional old style country music you can get. After a few minutes Dad decided it wasn’t worth staying and left. I stuck around until the live band came in after 15 minutes of DJ’d music and started performing covers of country dance songs. Cruise staff Mark, DJ Chris (a nickname to differentiate him from deputy cruise director Chris), and a female cruise staff member I’d never seen till now made their way to the dance floor and stood at various points in the crowd as people came down to line dance. Mark led the line dance lessons as he led most of the other dancing classes. I watched for a few minutes but the most fun I had was watching a Spanish speaking family walk up and act shocked when I was able to reply in Spanish that they were welcome to share the booth with me. I also get a kick out of when people start talking in Spanish or a similar language in stores around town thinking they’re having a private conversation because no one around would understand them.

 

Dad and I met up again to attend the “Do We Have a Deal” gameshow. We thought it was going to be like Let’s Make A Deal but it was the Howie Mandel Deal or No Deal version. By then I wasn’t feeling very energetic so I chose not to put my name in to play even though so few people did that it would have been a near guarantee to get picked.

Edited July 11, 2013 by RRFPresident

[Alli Cruiser]

Danielle,

I am absolutely loving your review. It is so wonderful that you were able to do this cruise with your Dad.

[RRFPresident]

Today is the day we arrived at our third country not counting England. It can be tricky to remember that Northern Ireland is actually still part of the U.K. while Ireland itself is not. I know there’s been inquiries on the boards about when your passports get taken and held on a cruise like this. According to Dad, ours was requested via letter delivered to our stateroom, after visiting Le Havre. Looking back at the Patters, I see that the ship security notices specifically mention the word passport only on the one for Le Havre. The rest of them refer to a “government issued photo ID.” According to the letter we received, we left our passports out on the desk in our cabin with a note for our steward Rico to take them. We kept the small passport card with us in our travel wallets. The passports were left in our stateroom by Rico the evening before disembarkation.

 

This day we took the Princess excursion, Titanic Belfast & City Drive. The Titanic is a big interest of mine and I’ve read and watched documentaries about the ship and it’s ill fated voyage. The blockbuster movie starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Kate Winslet, I’ve only seen once after it aired on network TV. When we did the New England/Canada cruise, we planned our own excursion for Halifax, Nova Scotia and visited the Maritime Museum where they were showcasing a Titanic exhibit that was very well done. So needless to say, when I saw the word Titanic on the excursion choices for this trip, I pounced.

 

When we had pulled into port this morning and I stepped onto the balcony to get some scenery shots, I noticed an interesting looking building across the way and snapped a picture. It turns out that the building was the Titanic museum that we would eventually end up visiting as the last stop of the excursion.

 

To kill time before our excursion was to start, Dad and I walked around the open deck to get some pictures and see the sights. One such building we spotted was the headquarters for the White Star Line that launched the Titanic.

 

Also saw a group of about 10 firefighters being checked in via security and bypassing the lines to board our ship. I did notice an ambulance had also arrived but did not see anything more than them organizing contents inside the rig. They were milling around by their trucks as we left for our excursion later.

[RRFPresident]

Our excursion guide was very good and knowledgeable even though she wasn’t originally from Belfast. The only drawback of the city tour during the bus ride was the fellow passengers who were so photo hungry that they bounced around from seat to seat as the bus was moving. At one point, an older gentleman jumped over to face my row and stood over me in order to get a picture out the window where I was sitting. Unfortunately, I’m too nice to have done the same as the formal night photographer and blocked his shot. Next time, ask me to take your picture for you or to at the very least get up for a second so you can get your shot. I know how obnoxious getting a great picture can be when you’re on a moving bus but we could have done without the jumping beans some of these people apparently had for breakfast.

 

This statue had some fancy name but stood for human rights and equality. The guide joked that they often just call it "Lady on a ball":

 

This sculpture had a corresponding sculpture across the lot that was supposed to represent see no evil, hear no evil.

[RRFPresident]

We got off the bus around the City Hall area and our guide showed us the Titanic memorial statues. We also worked our way around to the other side to see the long stretch of plaques listing the names of those who died. One of the new facts I learned was that the names with stars next to them mean that it wasn’t the person’s real name, only the name they gave to get on the ship. During the explanations, our guide joked that they have a famous saying in Belfast about the Titanic: “We built it, it sank, get over it!”

[RRFPresident]

As we continued on our bus tour, we stopped at the wall with barbed wire fencing on top that separates the IRA neighborhood. The wall is lined with many political murals. This was the only time during our excursion that it rained and most of us stayed on the bus while a few got out to look at the wall and take pictures.

 

Once inside the Titanic museum, our guide set up our tickets and left us with one of the museum employees before letting us know what time to be back at the bus. The museum employee led us up to the top floor where the exhibit starts and took a while finding enough working commentary sets for everyone. While we waited, another employee handed out Titanic sailing ticket mockups with the current date stamped on them like the passengers would have received as they boarded. There was a big section of Irish history at the start of the museum but the rest was all Titanic based. Many of the exhibits went far beyond glass cases of models and posters on the wall. Several featured holographic images imposed within the displays such as one cabin mockup that showed two girls appearing on bunk beds as their conversation was heard.

 

These two men were holograms on the poster discussing the "new" ship launch:

 

The girls on bunk beds - one would appear first and then the other:

 

A holographic couple enjoying one of the upper class cabins:

[RRFPresident]

Titanic's version of a boarding pass and how they would have been stamped:

 

This was a touch sensitive floor screen where you had to step on the right part in sequence to match what was displayed on the wall screen:

 

Radio transmissions as the calls for help went out were printed on dark walls:

[RRFPresident]

One of the highlights of the museum is a multistory tame roller coaster style ride in which you travel in 4 person “cars” being pulled along from above and it puts you right in the sensation of what life was like for those responsible for drilling each bolt and fitting each piece. Outside right in front of the museum are the two platforms where the Titanic was pushed off into the water. Despite the city drive, we could easily see our ship from across the water and it was an awesome sight to see the modern marvel of the Caribbean Princess in the same line of sight as the platforms where Titanic, the marvel of its time, once stood.

 

 

Once back on the ship, we partook of some afternoon trivia and relaxed until dinner. While enjoying our spaghetti and meatballs of Italian night, we heard a ship wide announcement looking for a passenger. Several of us joked at our tables that this was someone who missed the boat. Later, the Captain made an announcement that we had to turn back and hand off someone to be medically evacuated and thankfully were able to pass them onto the pilot boat that was still close by.

 

I call this image, "The little boat that could"

[RRFPresident]

After dinner, we visited Club Fusion to play Jeopardized Trivia. Our whole family loves watching Jeopardy at home and yelling out the answers so this was a must for us to play. The clues were displayed on the various screens around the room as well as read by Deputy Cruise Director (DCD) Chris. Each team was given a paper set up like a Jeopardy board except instead of dollar signs, it was empty boxes. Once you were ready to guess an answer, you wrote it in that box and run it up to either Fab or DJ Chris to check. If it was right, they handed you play money in these oversized shaped bills. If it was a daily double, you got twice the money. If your answer was wrong, you didn’t lose any money but you went back to your seat with nothing. At one point, I realized after returning to my seat that Fab hadn’t given me double cash for getting a daily double and went back to mention it to Chris. Chris handed me the extra money and I heard him teasing Fab as I went back to my seat. Several times during the game I kept looking around wondering why no one else was rushing down. Later in the cruise (hi if you’re a CC member!) a woman told me that she thought it was cute seeing me run down there so often. One of the things I enjoy is taking a picture of the flag of each country we visit so the only flag questions missed were ones where we second guessed or didn’t trust gut instinct. Between the cruises I always immerse myself in knowledge wise and my interest in the Titanic, we got all the ship related questions. I did get Final Jeopardy correct but even if we had bet everything, we still wouldn’t have beat the team that did win.

 

After Jeopardized Trivia, Krazy Karaoke was held in Club Fusion and Dad wanted to try it. His first time trying karaoke and he chose the mostly speaking song “Convoy” so that he wouldn’t have to sing. He had a little trouble figuring out when to start at first because he expected there to be a countdown on the screen but got a nice round of applause when he was done. Thank you to the row of ladies who cheered for him as we walked out. It turns out Dad picked up his own cult following this evening because other passengers were stopping him on the street the next day saying they recognized him from karaoke.

 

They really dimmed the lights for karaoke. Nice for ambiance, not so nice for picture taking:

 

Fab telling everyone to give Dad a round of applause:

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Princess has a lecturer (Cant remember his name now) that does talks about the Titanic, he has interviewed survivers and written some books and his lectures are really good and always packed.

 

Looks like that was an interesting museum to visit.

[tequilasunrise]

Thanks again for sharing. Love the photos. We are thinking about this trip in a year or two so it's nice to have some previews. Glad you had such a great time!

[RRFPresident]

Princess has a lecturer (Cant remember his name now) that does talks about the Titanic, he has interviewed survivers and written some books and his lectures are really good and always packed.

 

Looks like that was an interesting museum to visit.

 

Thanks for the heads up. Sorry this person wasn't on our cruise as it sounds like I would have really enjoyed his lecture.

 

I did a google search and came up with the name John Maxtone-Graham. His book, Titanic Tragedy: A New Look at the Lost Liner is now on my wish list. Can't wait to read it!

[RRFPresident]

Was looking at the previous day’s entry to see where I’d left off in the review yesterday and ended up listing Belfast as June 12th. That post should have read June 13th or else that would have been one light speed fast moving ship.

 

Being on a Princess ship while their newest Princess ship, the Royal Princess, was being christened (the day before while we were in Belfast), was a lot like watching someone become a father for the first time. I wouldn’t have been surprised to see “It’s a ship” cigars being passed around. Many announcements were made on board as the time for the ceremony in Southampton approached followed by announcements throughout the day mentioning how passengers could watch the ceremony on a loop on their cabin TVs. I managed to catch it about halfway into one such loop while waiting to head to dinner and watched the beginning when the footage started to repeat. Around 10PM yesterday evening, as the captain had advised in an earlier announcement, we were able to catch a speck of a glimpse of the Royal Princess as it sailed along way off in the distance.

 

Our top o' the morning view of Dublin:

 

Dublin was the only port that we did not choose an excursion, Princess or otherwise. We considered buying tickets to the HOHO bus but decided that there wasn’t enough stops to make it worth the effort. Instead, we bought tickets while on board to ride the Princess shuttle into town. Dad took care of going down to the excursion desk to buy them while I was off doing something else but I’m assuming one ticket price gives you a ticket into town and one for the way back.

 

The shuttle seemed to be a very popular choice for this port:

 

With no real time table and buses running routinely throughout our time in port, we were in no real rush to leave the ship. We spent some time using one of our now multiple decks of cards (somehow we ended up with around four decks by cruise’s end) to play gin rummy before brunchtime trivia.

 

We headed off the boat after trivia armed with my camera, a basic road map that we’d picked up as we stepped off the boat, and a desire to find a nice jade jewelry gift for Mom and took the shuttle into town. The only drawback however is that when nothing really stands out as a sight to see during a HOHO bus ride, it’s not going to seem any more appealing on foot. A lot of tension and confusion as we walked around the city streets trying to find something to head toward. Along the way we saw several sites like the National Library of Ireland, City Hall, the Bank of Ireland, and Trinity College.

 

[RRFPresident]

During our walk, the rain finally caught up with us. It would come in spurts to where you would be bundling up and seeking cover and in 10 minutes, the sun would be back out for a short while. We were running low on patience and fuel by this point and sought out a place for a chance to sit and use the wi-fi. The previous day while using the Titanic museum’s wi-fi, we had learned of a severe storm hitting our hometown causing flooding and power outages. We wanted to make sure we had a chance to check in at home to see how Mom and the house fared. We ended up popping into McDonalds and ordering lunch. I spent most of our lunch chatting with Mom on Facebook about the storm and our trip. Thankfully she did not ever lose power and her plans to go to a retirement party that evening were moved to the next day.

 

My version of Irish food porn:

 

By the time we left McDonalds, the sun was shining. We stepped out onto an open street fair type alleyway where we saw an Indian gentleman sitting with his legs tucked under him and appeared to be hovering above the stool beneath him. We discussed how he managed this illusion with the group gathered to take the shuttle back to the boat at the end of the day.

 

We finished our time in port walking our way back toward the shuttle and stopping in at various shops in hopes of finding something that wasn’t too souvenir kitschy. Finally settled on this one little shop that had various necklaces with Celtic symbols and four leaf clover charms. Picked out one with a four leaf clover charm for Mom and one with the Triquetra configuration for myself.

 

Dad's favorite store we passed:

 

Bank of Ireland:

 

This plaque was embedded in the pavement:

 

Church?:

 

High flying flag:

[RRFPresident]

Saw this funny plaque in a shop:

 

While I don’t think it was the very last shuttle back to the ship, it certainly seemed to be the most popular time. The two girls who were there to collect tickets and count seats were very overwhelmed. We just barely missed getting on the first one that arrived and the next one we did get on was packed.

 

Once back on board, we were passing by the windows outside Explorers when I noticed a rainbow stretching behind the buildings across the harbor. The couple who were sitting in front of that window were very sweet to put up with so many of us who spotted the rainbow as walked past. Our rush to get back to the ship however turned out to be for naught as the off and on rain we had experienced while in port turned into high winds as the sun started to set. Ships ahead of us in the harbor couldn’t leave because they were getting blown back into port. Without them being able to leave, we certainly couldn’t leave either. We had to wait until nearly midnight before all the corresponding weather factors had come together to allow us to leave Dublin. The captain chose to reopen the option of going back into port until 11PM with the offer of a free shuttle. Despite remaining docked, the wind had the boat really rocking. At one point, it was like the TV show Wipeout trying to avoid people in the hallways who were being rocked side to side as you tried to walk also while being rocked side to side. I always say that when the boat gets to really rocking like this, you can tell who the drunks are because they’re the only ones walking straight. Unfortunately, because of the weather, the magician Brett Sherwood couldn’t get to the boat and his show that night had to be postponed. Instead, the ship scheduled the juggler from a previous night to do a supposedly new show. We instead checked out the blackjack tournament where Dad won a shirt.

 

Because we weren’t able to leave Dublin until midnight, we were late getting into Cobh the next day. The captain really pushed the speed of the boat to get us there as soon as possible. This is the only time that the extra motion you feel in an aft cabin ceases to be enjoyable. Thankfully it was not bad enough to get us sick.

[phabric]

We are on the August 16 cruise. We are planning on sharing a taxi to Dublin and was thinking of using Princess shuttle back to the ship.

 

Can you remember what the cost of the shuttle was?

 

Can you purchase one way tickets?

 

Can you purchase tickets on the shuttle or is it only onboard?

[RRFPresident]

We are on the August 16 cruise. We are planning on sharing a taxi to Dublin and was thinking of using Princess shuttle back to the ship.

 

Can you remember what the cost of the shuttle was?

 

Can you purchase one way tickets?

 

Can you purchase tickets on the shuttle or is it only onboard?

 

Dad said the cost of the shuttle was around $18 per person for a round trip and half that for just the one way. I believe the purchase goes to your cruise card so it has to be done on board. We waited until about 1-2 days before Dublin to buy ours but the form to do so was dropped off in our room along with all but the St. Peter Port (Guernsey) tour choices within the first couple days. All they did on the shuttle when we boarded was to take our ticket and keep a head count to ensure they got every seat filled (at least for the way back) before moving on to the next shuttle.

 

Dad says he heard of a lot of people on our cruise that chose to take a taxi into town and then the shuttle back to the ship. Honestly, I think something more guided for us would have been better like a taxi tour itself or riding the HOHO bus even if we never did get off at a stop.

[RRFPresident]

Did you know that Cobh is actually pronounced cove rather than like corn on the cob? Fun fact for the day. Near the beginning of the cruise, we received a letter in our cabin mailbox announcing that our Princess excursion Titanic: Queenstown Story & Cobh Heritage Centre had been canceled due to lack of interest. This was the same tour that Dad had been asking me to consider canceling before we got the letter because he noticed the tour ticket said “Walking tour, no vehicle used.” Princess went ahead and made my decision for me. Dad jokingly claims that it’s because everyone else saw that walking tour reference and bailed. When we checked our statement later in the cruise, we had to ask about the tour cancellation since we didn’t see a credit listed. The woman behind the desk explained that they simply didn’t add it to the bill in the first place.

 

As mentioned in the previous day’s installment, the wind in Dublin kept us from leaving until midnight. This resulted in our arrival into Cobh being delayed until nearly noon rather than 7AM as previously scheduled. The morning onboard the ship was still a bit rocky as the captain was traveling at very high speeds to make up time.

 

Our balcony view this morning:

 

So in the end, not only was my morning tour cancelled, but so was everyone else’s morning tour since we didn’t arrive in time. Judging from the fact that the site had to be close by given our intent to solely walk, I started snapping pictures of what I thought was where the passengers had gone through to board the Titanic. There was a nice large mural commemorating the 2012 anniversary and I thought it was positioned there to point out the building. Turned out to be the town’s police station.

 

The building with the blue tinted windows is the police station:

 

We spotted this ship docked off across the harbor but the crew member we asked could only guess that it was one of the more high end lines:

 

This is the mural just off to the right of the police station:

[RRFPresident]

Our guide was named Hillary and the only reason that name sticks in my head is thanks to the fact that the older couple from the previous night’s Marriage game was on our bus. Every time our guide would mention to follow her somewhere, the outspoken husband would yell out “Okay, I’ll follow this Hillary because I don’t like the other one” which got a big nervous laugh from the Americans in the group.

 

Once we got to the Blarney Castle grounds, the buses dropped us all off and then went off to park in a large parking area that was between the castle itself and the shopping area down below. Hillary led us through the ticket office which also was a little gift shop. She then left us with a meeting time and the option of heading up the path to the castle or down below to the café and shopping area. She cautioned that the wait in line to kiss the infamous Blarney Stone was one hour and to allot for that in reference to the meeting time. We made our way up the path to the castle grounds and saw that the line for kissing the stone was already winding down the main entryway. At this point, we both decided to forgo the ritual and explore the grounds on our own.

 

 

We walked around checking out the views and climbing along the Curtain Wall remnants that used to stand around the Tower House lining the poisonous garden area. Further exploration of the grounds uncovered the Lookout Tower and a guest house.

 

Lookout Tower:

 

I had this feeling I was being watched:

 

The Curtain Wall:

 

Guest house:

[RRFPresident]

We walked into the wooded area along some steps cut into the dirt until reaching a path leading to the waterfalls. There was a sign at the start that said that following the path to the waterfalls would take 20 minutes and I chose to try it. The hillside steps were a little tough to maneuver but once you reached the bottom, the path turned into a wooded deck with railings throughout.

 

The lighter flat green on the ground is not grass but a sort of seaweed floating on top of the water:

 

This was my attempt to do the "Rocky victorious at the top of the stairs" pose. If you look to the immediate right of the tree on the left you can see the steps marked out in dirt. Once you get to the platform I'm standing on, the steps are concrete and more stable:

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Thanks for the heads up. Sorry this person wasn't on our cruise as it sounds like I would have really enjoyed his lecture.

 

I did a google search and came up with the name John Maxtone-Graham. His book, Titanic Tragedy: A New Look at the Lost Liner is now on my wish list. Can't wait to read it!

 

Yes that is him, not sure what ship he is on now but really enjoyed his lectures and his wife and him did some skits too.

Enjoy his book :)

[marylizcat]

We are doing the same tour in Belfast as you did. I just wondered which side of the bus you were sitting on for the tour, as it was obviously the side to be to see things, if they were leaning over you to take photos?

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[RRFPresident]

It turns out that right at the bottom of the hillside steps is a little cave that anyone over 5 feet would have to duck to walk through. The cave led you back to the main grounds which allows you to bypass the woods and hillside steps.

 

 

We walked along the grounds back to the parking lot and down through to the shops and café. The café turned out to be more like a large buffet style restaurant where you could order anything from sandwiches to hot meals. Dad went through the line to get a sandwich while I opted for some Shamrock & sour cream chips. Partook of some wi-fi use while there.

 

We checked out a shop near the café in an effort to use up our Euro supply and ended up buying a few flavors of truffle bars to enjoy on the ride back to the ship. As we headed back up to the bus lot, we passed Hillary guiding our group where to turn for the buses. We stopped to ask about the spot where the Titanic was boarded and she explained that it’s right where our ship was docked. It turns out that what’s left is a little red structure up on the hill with a chimney that served as the bath house because they wanted all the passengers to wash up and be clean before boarding the ship. Once back at our ship, we asked Hillary to point it out and it turns out that we passed it and the Cobh Heritage Centre as we disembarked for the afternoon tour. It was only about 20 feet away from where we stepped off the walkway. Our ship still had plans to sail away at 4:30PM so we didn’t have time left over to actually go in the centre.

 

The bath house:

 

You walked off the ship right on the other side of this bus so walking to the heritage centre wasn't such a stretch: