LIVE from Jewel May 15, 2024 - 27 nights

[twangster]

6 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 We are looking at a cruise on another line and would like to take this tour . Can you tell us which tour that you took from Ice Paradise Tours and if 0800 - 2200 would be enough time to take the tour . Thank you .

 

We had booked a tour that isn't on the website any longer involving Diamond Beach.  He had taken a group there the day before our stop and there were no crystals on the beach so we adapted our tour.

 

Reach out to them and tell them want you are looking for. 

[twangster]

Day Twelve - Belfast, Ireland

 

Progress report:

 

 

 

Conditions:

 

 

85% chance of rain.

 

Up to deck 13 for a coffee.

 

[twangster]

Ship's arrival delayed until 10am due to the weather we had to push through coming from Iceland.

 

My 8:00am meeting time for my excursion has been pushed to 10:00am.

 

Today's excursion... Titanic Trail.

 

[island lady]

We are pretty fond of the VCL for happy hour with that great sweeping 180 plus view.  Love sitting at the circle bar, though the bar stools are a bit "stiff".  😉  

 

Wonder which (if any) of the Radiance ladies still have the bar revolving?  Was dead on Serenade, but I think Jewel still worked?  

[buck7]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

We are pretty fond of the VCL for happy hour with that great sweeping 180 plus view.  Love sitting at the circle bar, though the bar stools are a bit "stiff".  😉  

 

Wonder which (if any) of the Radiance ladies still have the bar revolving?  Was dead on Serenade, but I think Jewel still worked?  

I was on Jewel last fall to Greenland and saw the bar revolve on two different nights. It had been many years since I saw one in action. 

[twangster]

Pics from today's tour soon.  With our compressed stop here in Belfast it's been a busy time since getting back on board.

 

The ship has run out of Guinness and depending on the bar you visit, most vodkas and even Jameson.  Something about inventory from dry dock and customs.  Hmmm.

 

It's amazing when you are in dire need, even strawberry gin and sprite doesn't taste that bad.  

 

Hoping for re-supply soon.  

 

 

Edited May 26 by twangster

[twangster]

My day in Belfast starts in the Royal Theater to join my group on this ship excursion.  

 

Under a light rain we board a bus for a short ride to the Thompson dock.

 

The cobblestone streets are the same that were here when Titanic was floated into this drydock.

 

 

We are sort of doing this tour in reverse as it relates to Titanic's construction.  This drydock existed solely to fit the propellers onto the ship after it was built and floated over here from around the corner that we will visit later. 

 

 

This was the pump house that would have been used to remove the water from the drydock once a ship was floated into the drydock.

 

 

 

Our guide Donal.  We were given wireless receivers to wear so we could listen to Donal no matter where he was.  This worked out quite well.  

 

 

The building is now being used as a distillery for the Titanic Distillery company who makes an Irish Whiskey here among other alcohols. 

 

 

[twangster]

In its day this was the largest dry dock in the world.  

 

 

 

Keel blocks would support the ship once water was pumped out.

 

 

 

For scale this figure represents the height of a man.

 

 

The bow end.

 

 

The stern end.  A famous photograph once the Titanic's propellers were fitted was taken here. 

 

 

 

In the distance beyond the dry dock Jewel's stacks and crown can be seen. 

 

 

 

Edited May 27 by twangster

[twangster]

 

The tasting room and gift shop for the Titanic Distillery that now occupies this space.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

The HMS Caroline is located here.  She is the last remaining warship of the Royal Navy from World War One.

 

 

 

She is considered a Light Cruiser.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[twangster]

Continuing our walking tour or dander as Donal refers to it, we come across one of seven "Glass of Thrones" on display in the area.  

 

 

 

Some of Game of Thrones was shot here in Belfast.  

 

Donal was an extra in the show and he shows us some of his roles in various scenes.

 

 

 

We walk on to a lighthouse lens on display.  

 

 

The fresnel lens magnifies the light and reflects the light into a highly focused beam that can be seen for many miles.

 

 

 

Donal then talks about the piece of land and water we can see from here.  This is the end of slipway where the Olympic class ocean liners would enter the water for the first time.  Titanic was the second in this class with Olympic (1911) being the first, Titanic (1912) as second and Britannic (1914) as third.  

 

[twangster]

The boardwalk here is in the shape of the stern of the ships that were built here.  Olympic and Titanic were being assembled at the same time with Olympic ahead of Titanic in the process.  The sister ships each had their own slipway.  Donal is basically standing on what would be the stern of Olympic.

 

 

 

 

The metal rail in the walkway outlines where the ship would have sat during the construction process.  The ships were built on land and then slid into the water stern first.

 

 

 

 

 

This view would be standing near Titanic's stern looking forward along the port side of the vessel.

 

 

Another Glass of Thrones is found here.

 

 

The tribute to the show is located between the slipways for the two sister ships, Olympic's slipway on the left and Titanic's slipway on the right.

 

 

This is where Titanic was built from the keel up.

 

 

Edited May 27 by twangster

[twangster]

As we walk forward along the slipway we come across an outline of where the lifeboats would have been located on the ship.

 

 

Donal mentions this is the original concrete and rails we are walking on here.

 

 

 

 

 

Looking down the slipway.

 

 

Finally we reach where the bow of the ship would have been built.

 

[twangster]

Now a museum for the ship, back in the day there were wooden structures added for the launch where dignitaries, the ship's owners and the press gathered to watch the vessels slip into the water for the first time.

 

 

These were the drawing offices for Harland and Wolff.  Their maritime architects would have worked on the paper drawings for the ship leading up to and through her construction. 

 

They are now part of the Titanic Hotel.

 

 

 

The hotel uses one of them as a bar.

 

 

 

The Titanic Museum is in the shape of a star as seen from above, to represent the White Star Line, the company that operated the Olympic class ocean liners.

 

[twangster]

Across the street the last remaining vessel of The White Star Line can be found.  

 

 

The Nomadic was built to function as a tender boat.  The Olympic class ships were so large in their day there weren't very many piers that could accommodate them so in many cases they used tender boats like Nomadic to load and unload passengers from the ocean liners.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another in the Glass of Thrones tributes.

 

[twangster]

 

 

The museum contains a self led walking tour with audio headsets that describe each section of the displays within.

 

There is an optional ride that works like a cable car taking occupants along a series of displays illustrating the construction of the ships.

 

 

 

The riveting process was an essential element of this type of ship construction and an artform that even today is difficult to replicate. 

 

 

 

 

The view of the slipway as seen from the museum.

 

 

First class accommodations with projected passengers and crew:

 

 

 

A section of the museum address the lesson learned and safety improvements that followed.

 

 

Lastly an area that shows the moments when the wreckage of Titanic was first discovered on the seafloor decades after the tragedy.  The floor panels play video that was captured during the discovery.

 

 

 

It was a little rushed but it's a fantastic tribute to the Olympic class ships and Titanic in particular.

 

[twangster]

We meet up with Donal again after the self led tour within the museum.

 

 

 

A bar's tribute to the working class of the day.

 

 

We board a bus for a panoramic tour of downtown Belfast.

 

 

 

Town hall.

 

 

 

Queen's University.

 

 

 

 

 

Donal narrates our drive and talks about the various buildings and events in Belfast's history.

 

 

The leaning tower of Belfast.  Andrew's clock tower.  At one point they stabilized the tower and had plans to make it straight but decided to leave the lean as it was.  It isn't in danger of leaning any more now that it's been stabilized but so many knew of it as the leaning tower of Belfast they elected to leave it at the angle it had achieved on its own.

 

[twangster]

Back on board I took some photos from the ship looking back at the build site, slipway and drydock for Titanic.

 

 

 

These gigantic gantry cranes of Harland and Wolff's were added well after Titanic was built but they are well known in the history of Belfast's shipbuilding past

 

 

 

We got lucky, our tour was back before the rush.

 

 

[twangster]

Titanic was an empty shell when she slid from the slipway into the water upon her launch.  After getting her propellers fitted in the Thompson dry dock she had her sea trials under her own power for the first time.

 

As we sailed away it was amazing to think of her sailing these same waters for the first, and last time.  

 

 

 

 

Titanic went on to Southampton from here where much of her interior finishing was completed before entering service.  Yet it wasn't hard to imagine her as a brand new ship and pride of the White Star Line sailing through these waters as we left Belfast tonight.

 

[twangster]

Earlier I mentioned the ship running out of certain beverages.

 

I'm not sure I've seen this drink of the day before.  

 

 

As a wine drinker this sounds like a terrible idea. 🤣

 

Has anyone tried this before?

[twangster]

A map of our tour through Belfast.  
 

[FionaMG]

Did you get any information about what happened to Titanic's two sister ships?

[twangster]

4 minutes ago, FionaMG said:

Did you get any information about what happened to Titanic's two sister ships?

 

Olympic had the closest to a normal service life while Britannica was completed just in time to be commandeered in the role of a hospital ship in the First World War.  

 

Both ships received safety improvements after the sinking of Titanic.  Olympic was retrofitted while Britannica was redesigned as she was under construction. 

 

Both ships participated in the First World War.  Britannica was lost after striking a mine having never entered commercial service in her intended role. 

 

Olympic reentered commercial transatlantic service after the war in 1920 and had a successful career as a luxury liner where she was dubbed 'The Ship Magnificent'.  She was eventually scrapped in 1935.  

[twangster]

Day Thirteen - Cobh (and Cork), Ireland 

 

Underway for a 10am arrival.

 

 

Progress report:

 

 

 

No specific plans today.  A Cobh pub crawl may be in order if the weather cooperates.  

 

[twangster]

Day 13 cruise compass

 

JW May 15 day 13 cruisecompass.pdf