MSC Magnifica picture heavy fun review -- 12 days British Isles incl. DIY port trips

[denisey]

Wow! That was a day full of history!

 

I can't imagine anything you write being boring! You have such a great style and joy of life!

 

And I like the font too, it makes things more suspenseful as I scroll through the post!

 

Thanks for all your hard work (and for encouraging some "other" reviewers to get going again!)

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Thanks for all your hard work (and for encouraging some "other" reviewers to get going again!)

 

 

Thanks Denise, lol -- I thought about "encouraging" at least our dear Irish reviewer (We love ya Cath) maybe by blackmail....like I won't post another post until she does....but then again, that would be unfair to the rest of you all, so I guess I won't. But sigh, I really wish she would keep on going.

 

Stef

[Irish Cath]

alright already, sheesh, you people, whats is your problem??? One post every 3 months - I don't see the issue. I have a virus on my laptop which has left some big writing from some random website in the middle of each page I open, I have my 5th sinus infection this winter aaaannndd I have like 2 papers to write, but if it kills me I will have a new post up by tomorrow night .....

 

 

 

:D:D:D:D

 

P.S By the way this is the best review ever.

P.S.S. Glad some random Irish man made your day :p

[Kewz1]

In planning for my own BI cruise this summer on the Ocean Princess, I stumbled upon your TR.

 

WOW!

 

Love your pictures, commentaries and the stories.

 

One comment - you mentioned loving the milk in Dublin. We were in Salzburg this past summer and had fresh milk from a dairy farm. It was the most incredible thing I have ever tasted! When I try to explain this to people they just don't get it. It made me laugh to read that part in your report. :D

 

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

 

Kristen

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

alright already, sheesh, you people, whats is your problem??? One post every 3 months - I don't see the issue. I have a virus on my laptop which has left some big writing from some random website in the middle of each page I open, I have my 5th sinus infection this winter aaaannndd I have like 2 papers to write, but if it kills me I will have a new post up by tomorrow night .....

 

 

 

:D:D:D:D

 

P.S By the way this is the best review ever.

P.S.S. Glad some random Irish man made your day :p

 

Sorry to hear about all the things running wild ... health, laptops ....

 

if it makes you feel better: our internet is once again gone with the wind as well.

 

But since you will get a post out there "and if it kills you:rolleyes:" I went to a bunch of emergency posting actions too. Sigh, copied all stuff on a stick and dragged it over to my mom`s house, so in a couple of minutes from now I can finally post "THE post".

 

So say "thank you" to Catherine everybody ... she`s the reason you get to read the next post already in 2014.

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

In planning for my own BI cruise this summer on the Ocean Princess, I stumbled upon your TR.

 

WOW!

 

Love your pictures, commentaries and the stories.

 

One comment - you mentioned loving the milk in Dublin. We were in Salzburg this past summer and had fresh milk from a dairy farm. It was the most incredible thing I have ever tasted! When I try to explain this to people they just don't get it. It made me laugh to read that part in your report. :D

 

Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

 

Kristen

 

Hi Kristen,

 

:pyou`re welcome!

 

:)Lol -- good to know there are other milk-lovers out there!

 

Stef

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

 

Molly Malone and Armageddon

 

 

 

 

Okay folks --- this is

the

post! Finally we’ll reveal the disaster that struck us on our Day in Dublin.

 

 

 

 

But first we’re happily travelling back on Bus 40 towards the city center. We got off at College Green and walked to the beginning of Grafton Street (which is the main shopping mile in Dublin) to take some pictures of the famous Molly Malone statue.

 

 

 

Mhh???

 

 

Where’s Molly?

 

 

I’m sure, she should stand right here! I did my planning. I was sure this was the place … but since she wasn’t there, I started to be a bit confused …. I (partially) blame it this confusion caused by Molly`s Absence as to what happened later. But actually…there simply is no excuse.

 

 

 

For now, we walked down Grafton Street, completely puzzled as to how a bronze statue weighing tons could suddenly disappear. I think it was somewhere around 16:00 then.

 

 

 

I worked up the courage to ask a security guy, standing in front of a jewelry shop. And Hooray – he knew the answer. He gave us directions. I felt stupid, because apparently I had misunderstood some stuff online.

 

 

 

Later on I found out that I hadn’t failed (about the spot that is) after all --- they have moved Molly to her temporary home in front of St. Andrew’s church until Summer 2017, because they’re doing some underground construction at the original spot.

 

 

 

Oh well, here’s a map with her regular spot and her temporary spot, where she will wait for visitors until Summertime 2017:

 

 

 

 

Wait a minute, you don’t even know who Molly Malone was? You’ve never heard her song? That must be rectified this minute… Take a peek at this youtube video and enjoy:

 

 

 

 

 

 

This is

THE

Dublin hymn, lol, if not the inofficial hymn of all of Ireland. We LOVED it and of course sang it with our dear tablemates all the time for the remainder of the cruise! Well, when we saw them again that is … it should be quite a while.

 

 

 

Here are pictures of Molly in her temporary home:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When we were done taking pictures of her it was about 16:30.

 

 

 

“When do we have to be back onboard again?” Tanja asked me.

 

 

 

“Ship? Today? Well 18:30.” I replied.

 

 

 

“Are you sure? I thought it was 17:30.“

 

 

 

“Noooo --- I’m 100% sure we don’t have to be back until 18:30.”

 

 

 

“Well, okay, you’re the planner. Let’s shop for souvenirs then.”

 

 

 

“Sounds great.”

 

 

 

 

All three of us got a t-shirt with some Irish logo on it. And took lot’s of time to window-shop all kinds of other cute little gadgets. At around 17:10 we decided to stroll back up to O’Connell Street to take the tram back to the port. We sat in the tram a little after 17:30 and were at the port entrance at 18:05.

 

 

 

 

“Mhhh the port gate is closed. That’s odd.”

 

 

 

 

Well, the little pedestrian entrance was still open and we just walked onto the port. 15 minutes to the ship and 25 until it would be last boarding time

 

 

 

… all was spiffy…

 

 

 

until a port authority car honked at us and pulled up next to us, asking who we were and if we, by any chance, were passengers of the MSC Magnifica.

 

 

 

“Well, yes we are.”

 

 

 

“Well – she’s gone.”

 

 

 

“ ??? Impossible. I just saw her from the tram station and we still have time until last boarding”

 

 

 

….oh those funny Irish….always a joke on hand.

 

 

 

He told us to jump in, maybe there’d be a way to catch up with her yet.

 

 

Well, if he wants to give us a ride to the ship… cool….although clearly, there was some mistake. I kept asking him: “you’re joking, right?”

 

 

 

 

Well, I think it was when he sighed and mumbled “ I sure wish I was” that I started to get a wee bit nervous.

 

 

 

And the nervousness turned to fullblown panic when we got closer to the ship…No gangways, closed port gates ….nobody around.

 

 

 

Oh --- this isn’t good.

 

 

 

And then we saw it. The ship --

OUR

ship slowly drifting sideways away from the peer, on the way to Cobh.

 

 

 

OH MY GOD !

 

 

 

We had missed the ship and were stuck in Ireland!

 

 

(And it was completely and solely my idiotic fault!)

 

 

 

 

 

Stay tuned!

 

Stef

 

[Irish Cath]

NO WAY. :eek::eek::eek::eek::eek:

 

WORST NIGHTMARE.

 

PLEASE TELL ME THEY DROPPED THE GANGWAY FOR YOU. SERIOUS COLD SHIVERS HERE.

[Meadet]

Hi Stef

 

Firstly congratulations on yet another gripping review, I started 3 days ago finally I'm up to date just in time to see if you Tanja and Tarik made it to my home county to kiss the blarney stone:(

 

What a stomach churning fright to get but on the positive side at least your not chasing a cruise headed off to another island where you'd need passports and all that headache.

 

Cannot wait for the next installment

Tracey x

[pinkpanther52]

Noooooo I don't know what I would have done. 😱

 

Hope you get your Internet back soon.

 

And Happy Hogmanay from Scotland. 😀

[europe14]

Oh no! Oh no! How long do we have to wait? I can't stand it!

[lorrdean]

Arggggggghhhhhhh Stef stop teasing 😮

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Happy New Year everybody!

 

 

Thanks for the new posts:p. I `ll try to be back tomorrow with a new post. I`ll just have to write it first. I think I`ll name it "our real Ireland adventure (post one of x)":D:rolleyes:.

 

 

 

Stef

 

 

 

 

Meadet: :oYup, out of all the ports this was probably the best to get stuck ... still ... AARRRGGGHHHH!!!!

 

Pinkpanther52: Happy Hogmanay to you as well! Playing Auld Lang Syne for you on the piano today just for you:).

 

 

.

[Irish Cath]

NO NO NO, we can't wait until tomorrow to find out about your 'real Irish adventure'. Yesterday I was telling my mum and sisters about your review and that you missed the boat, I've already had a phone call this morning wanting an update on what happened :D

 

Happy New Year.

[willma]

I really didn't see that coming!!! Waiting impatiently to see what happens next!

[denisey]

Okay, I have two thoughts here...

 

1. Stef liked the milk so much, she subconsciously missed the boat to get more

 

Or

 

2. Stef is such a dedicated reviewer, she missed the boat to give us a full experience.

 

Either way, I can't wait to hear what happened.

 

Happy New Years and thanks for your great reviews!

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

:pLol -- almost time for a new post. It`s written ... but I sit at my mom`s house and feel like I`m on a trip to the stone age. Loading up 6 pictures to Flickr.... for the last 75 minutes...and it`s still not done:eek::mad:! This is insane. Mom needs a new computer! Sigh, at least this time consuming waiting business brought me back to playing the piano. It stands right next to the computer ... and it`s much more fun to practice that than to stare at the loading bar. Buhuuuu -- I desperately want my internet back:(!!!!!!

 

 

Stef

 

 

PS: Lol -- I love you guys much .... but not as much as to miss a ship for ya:rolleyes:

 

This "external" posting from a foreign computer is excrutiatingly annoying ... so I can`t post any sooner or more than what I am doing now... this already is really tough to manage ... so please be patient!

 

oh ... Flickr is done.... let`s get that post up...

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

“The Real Ireland Adventure”

 

(Post one of … a few)

 

 

 

 

Let’s see, where did we leave off … oh yeah, we missed the m*** f*** ship!!!

 

 

 

 

You just cannot imagine the feeling of seeing the ship leave in slow-motion right in front of you. It’s insane.

 

 

 

 

Well, we were still on port property, which was officially closed now and so we sort of presented a problem to the authorities. They loaded us up in the back of a van … Lol I own a pick-up and love to travel in the back (highly illegal in Germany) but THIS was another experience what so ever.

 

As you might fathom, I was in a rather chaotic state of mind … as these “gorgeous” pictures proof, which I “tried” to take from the back of the transporter.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

They brought us to the port office. Well, that’s a sight no regular cruise passenger is likely to see during his visit … so, a sneak peak exclusivly just for you :

 

 

Those were the nice two people, trying to help us with the remainder of the day.

 

We had two options ...

 

1 stay in Dublin for the night and decide on a wide range of

transportation to Cork the next morning…

 

2 Get to Cork right away, to catch up with the ship.

 

Well – I was the one having screwed up and I was truly amazed that neither Tanja nor Tarik had strangled me yet. I opted to leave this decision up to them. And it was clear… they wanted to get to Cork as fast as possible. This way, we’d only have to take the small train ride to Cobh the next day to get back to our ship which should arrive at 8:00 am.

 

Sigh, I didn’t know crap about the possible connections between those Irish cities. God, I was sooo prepared to miss the ship in Invergordon, Belfast or Greenock … I would have been a pro handling the situation….but Dublin??? I would have never dreamed of missing the ship here --- therefore of course no preparation what so ever. If I WOULD have been better prepared, I would have found out, that Cork was hosting not one but TWO huge festivals that weekend.

 

Guess what?

 

Every single hotel was completely booked!

 

The two men in the picture were searching frantically for a possible spot to stay that night (Thank you guys). The only option was a little hostel, which wanted credit card information before giving us a guaranteed room. Mhhh, well, we didn’t really want to do that (give them the number that is). We had some bad experiences with hostels in our life and didn’t trust them with delicate info. But hey – at least we did know now, that they still had at least one room available … so it would be our goal to get there and hope that we could still just get that room, when we arrived.

 

All this searching for a covered bed took some time of course….so when we looked for available transport, all the Irish busses to Cork that day had already left--- and the second to last train as was departing as we spoke…. There would only be one more chance to get to Cork that night and it would be the 21 something train from Dublin Heuston station…

 

Aehm…where’s that? Here again our two helpful port guys came in handy. They printed out a map of the Luas tram line --- wait a minute-…we’ve just ridden on that to get to the port…. Well , yay, this way at least they didn’t have to describe the walk to the tram station anymore. Sigh… just this time, we’d have to travel much further to this miraculous train station I had never heard of.

 

The nice port people told us, that they’d inform the ship, that we’d be back on board the next morning. Gulp! Inshallah I’d say.

 

Well, let’s use the port office’s restrooms (sheer delight after such stress – and who knows, where the next restroom would be) and off we were once again headed past the Madonna (still with the trash at her feet) to the Luas tram station “the point”.

 

After many stops and views of Dublin, which are definitely not described in any tourist guide, we finally got to “our” station:

 

 

 

 

And this is the Heuston train station.

 

 

See Tanja’s face? Without words.

 

And that’s the shopping bag with our Irish t-shirts…. Who would have known, that we would badly need them so soon?

 

 

 

Stay tuned!

 

Stef

[windjamming]

Stef!! Been busy w holiday and work stuff and am caught up now...OMG! I audibly gasped when I read the post about seeing the ship leaving port.

 

So glad things worked out ok at the end, but what a dreadful feeling it must have been ... Yet also an adventure, as you say!

 

Can't wait to read about your trek down to Cork!

 

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[spinnaker2]

we know you somehow connected with the ship.

The bad news, it's like one of those nightmares where you show up for the exam, and you missed it...and it was the only time it was given, or you studied for one subject, and the exam was in another.

[Irish Cath]

right now i'm almost more horrified by the fact that you are going to be arriving in Cork practically in the middle of the night and have no where to stay than the fact you missed the boat :eek::eek::eek:

[suekay]

The suspense is killing me Stef! Where are you?.....we need to know that you had a bed to sleep in that night:)

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Hi guys,

 

I`m here. Just arrived at my mom`s. So it`ll be at least another 75 minutes till I got the new pictures uploaded ... but the text is written and waiting to be posted. Hang in there.

 

Thanks for holding your breaths for us as we`re about to continue on to our way to Cork.

 

Stef

[lorrdean]

Just caught up. I sure as heck wasn't expecting that.:0 that would be my worst nightmare. Glad all is well now, but I bet your heart stopped when you saw that ship leaving. Now did you find out if they waited even just a little while to see if you would show up? How many times have we seen folks running up to the ship at the last minuet

[Kreuzfahrtneuling]

Now did you find out if they waited even just a little while to see if you would show up?

 

Yup, they waited for exactly 8 minutes:D. Our tablemates told us later on... that`s fine ... we were the ones late ... I don`t expect them to wait even as long as they did! But I`ll tell you more about the "ship"`s activity due to our absence... wait and see :rolleyes:.