Royal Princess British Isles — June 30-July 12, 2018

[Cindy]

We had our longest walk of the day getting to our 5th and last stop. We passed a ton of interesting things and heard a lot of London’s history. We saw the Royal Courts of Justice, Lincoln’s Inn Fields, and a public toilet. Let me explain…

 

Along the way we passed an old Victorian public toilet which must stay intact because it’s a Listed structure (think Register of Historic Places in the US). Dave asked us the question which would be better — to be piss poor or not have a pot to piss in. Apparently not having a pot to piss in would have been worse than being piss poor, because you would not have been able to collect your urine to sell to the tanneries as those with a pot could. Makes you think differently about leather, doesn’t it?!?!?

 

Victorian Toilet Building similar to the one we saw.

 

Some of Dave’s other tidbits – The term “big wig” actually comes from the big horsehair wigs still worn by lawyers and judges during criminal cases. You too could own one of these, if you’re willing to fork out the £2,500+ price tag! I read that a full set of judge’s regalia can cost well in excess of £10,000! Now, that’s an expensive work uniform!

 

 

 

 

 

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[Cindy]

Another story we heard (we actually heard it twice in three days) was about the origin of the term hangover. Back in earlier times, public executions were a spectacle. One such public execution site was Lincoln’s Inn Fields. It is bucolic and innocuous looking today, but in the 15th and 16th centuries it was used for large public executions. People treated a beheading or hanging like a holiday, and picnicked along with drinking copious amounts of alcohol while they cheered on the executioner. Inevitably they felt awful the day after a hanging, thus the term hangover.

 

 

 

 

 

We reached our final stop of the day, Ship Tavern. By this time the pubs were filling with people leaving work. Since we had dinner reservations we made our stay a brief one and said our good-byes.

 

 

 

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[Cindy]

After our tour we went to our dinner reservation at San Carlo Chiccetti in Covent Garden. What a great find! Our meal and wine were excellent, and we finished up with what was probably one of the best Tiramisus we’ve ever had!

 

 

 

 

 

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[Cindy]

Walking around Covent Garden after dinner, we paid £1 each at a place called “2 the Loo” to go to the bathroom (prices have gone up since Victorian times![emoji23]), made note of an Apple store that had just closed, and decided to call it a night.

 

 

2 the Loo is a Dutch chain of public restrooms. There’s even a website! I never would have thought of restrooms as a financial opportunity, but they certainly fill a need in London!

 

 

We had a wonderful day and saw a lot, but jet lag was catching up with us and we knew the next couple days would be jam-packed. We got back to the hotel fairly quickly, and I think we were asleep before it was completely dark!

 

Next up is a food tour of the east end of London, a place I had never been despite living in London for four years!

 

 

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[Cindy]

Can't wait to read the rest! :-)

 

 

 

What a great review! Sounds so far like it was a fabulous trip. We were on the June 6 BI cruise and loved it and loved the Royal! Can’t wait to read the rest; we’re living vicariously through your posts!

 

 

 

Thanks! I love reliving a great trip!

 

 

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[jlf1]

Cindy,

 

I have followed some of your other reviews and enjoyed them very much. This is really good so far.

 

Judy

[Cindy]

Cindy,

 

 

 

I have followed some of your other reviews and enjoyed them very much. This is really good so far.

 

 

 

Judy

 

 

 

Thank you!

 

 

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[CCFC]

What a great review, love it thank you.

[buddymum]

Great review. We are doing this cruise in a couple of weeks. Question how formal were formal nights? Did most men wear Dj's or suits?

[jagsfan]

Lucky you following your mini-vacation with a cruise! Best of both worlds!

 

 

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[Cindy]

Great review. We are doing this cruise in a couple of weeks. Question how formal were formal nights? Did most men wear Dj's or suits?

 

 

 

There was a little bit of everything, but it wasn’t overly dressy. I didn’t see many tuxes at all. My husband wore a black sports coat with a tie both nights and he fit right in.

 

 

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[Cindy]

What a great review, love it thank you.

 

Thank you!

 

Lucky you following your mini-vacation with a cruise! Best of both worlds!

 

 

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Thanks! It really was the best of both worlds!

 

 

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[buddymum]

There was a little bit of everything, but it wasn’t overly dressy. I didn’t see many tuxes at all. My husband wore a black sports coat with a tie both nights and he fit right in.

 

Thanks for the information

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Thanks for the information

[buddymum]

There was a little bit of everything, but it wasn’t overly dressy. I didn’t see many tuxes at all. My husband wore a black sports coat with a tie both nights and he fit right in.

 

 

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Thank you

[High C's]

Loving every minute of this. We have a week in London in early September, before boarding the Royal for her trans-atlantic back. I've already made a note of "Liquid History Tours" :)

[buddymum]

Lucky you following your mini-vacation with a cruise! Best of both worlds!

 

 

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It gets better, weekend in isle of Wight in september to see marty wilde, 5 days in north Wales in October then new year at warners nidd hall hotel, Isn't retirement great!

[El_Snocat]

Hi Cindy, I know your review hasn't even left Southampton yet and I don't want to hijack your thread, but I was wondering if you ever built your Spread Sheet for Tours on this voyage? I'll be on it in August 2019 and just starting to do my research.

Thx- Michael

[Cindy]

Hi Cindy, I know your review hasn't even left Southampton yet and I don't want to hijack your thread, but I was wondering if you ever built your Spread Sheet for Tours on this voyage? I'll be on it in August 2019 and just starting to do my research.

Thx- Michael

 

 

 

Yes, I did. If you want to see it it’s posted on my June 30th roll call. Look for the last one that was posted shortly before we left.

 

 

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[geoherb]

Thanks for posting your review. I look forward to reading more. Your pub tour reminds me of the time I was living in London after college. My co-workers and I decided to take a Circle Line pub crawl. We planned to get off at each stop, find the nearest pub, have a drink, then go on to the next stop. We made it halfway around--13 stops out of 26.

[El_Snocat]

(y):)

Yes, I did. If you want to see it it’s posted on my June 30th roll call. Look for the last one that was posted shortly before we left.

 

 

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[treesah]

Great report and stunning photos. Thanks for posting.

[riclop]

Thanks for sharing.

[jimbri]

Wonderful photos! Looking forward to the rest of your review.

[jagsfan]

It gets better, weekend in isle of Wight in september to see marty wilde, 5 days in north Wales in October then new year at warners nidd hall hotel, Isn't retirement great!

 

 

 

Retirement really is great. Too many people think it’s rocking chair time.

I love being able to go where I want for as long as I want.

 

 

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[Diver2014]

We're on this cruise May 2019. I've been to London many times (I go to see Michael Ball perform whenever he's doing concerts or a West End musical) and this brings back a lot of nostalgia. We'll be in London 2 days before the cruise in the Pimlico area just because it's near Victoria station where we take the coach to Southampton.