Puffins,Coos and Kelpies oh my! :16 day , photo travelogue on the Caribbean Princess to the UK, Ireland, and Iceland 7-12-24

[scubacruiserx2]

 This time we were booked in a suite

 

 

 

 

 No one was there but the door was open . And the stairs looked like a daunting  task with their steepness and our heavy bags. There was a number  to call and the manager was just a couple more buildings down .

 

 

The stairs down had a narrow tread but a steep rise and the young lady gave us some help taking our bags down .

 

 When Pat walked down to fetch the lady I noticed this work of art 

 

 

 

The Living room and the bed room .

 

 

 

We both noticed that the person who slept against the wall in the bed would have to slide down or crawl over the other person to use the bathroom . Silverlocks tried the bed and found it too soft . But there were 2 daybeds and she chose the one in the bedroom .

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  Looking back at the entrance door . There was a small door on either side of the entrance door . They were recessed so you can't see them in this photo .

 

 

 

Behind the one door was a shower and a hand wash

 

 

 

 And it must be a pet friendly hotel because behind the other door was a doggy drinking fountain with doggy sized paper towels on a roll .

 

 

 

 We were curious as to what was hidden behind these doors 

 

 

Edited September 1 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 Harrod's Super store is about a mile and a half from where we stayed and they sell small meals that can refrigerated and/or microwaved .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 They also sold a car if we didn't want to walk back 

 

 

Edited September 1 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 Back in the apartment we opened the hidden doors and found every thing that we needed to enjoy food preservation , preparation and clean up .

 

 

 

 We had a craving for some Indian food and we found a spot that we liked the look of for lunch about a block and a half away .

 

 

 

 We ordered the Vegie Samosa , Mixed starter and the Meat Thali with a large water to drink .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The cost was about 30 GBP with left overs to snack on later . We had a couple of 50 GBP notes left to break and leave behind . We know that tipping isn't a common practice here , but the nice quite lunch , good service and good food made us feel like leaving extra we had time for a nap before dinner and a show at The Royal Albert Hall Proms .

[scubacruiserx2]

 We checked the calendar and we're 6 weeks from a scheduled week  on the Celebrity Beyond today , our first on the Edge Class . 🛳️

[scubacruiserx2]

 We really enjoyed our last visit to the Royal Albert Hall as well as Kensington Gardens and The Albert Memorial near The Royal Albert Hall . The statue of Albert appears to be facing The Royal Albert Hall form the park .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albert_Memorial

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 The Royal Albert Hall and the  Allegorical sculpture of the Americas

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 I just saw this photo of the kelpies last night on the internet

 

[scubacruiserx2]

   Al Stewart was a favorite of mine when I left the Navy in 1974 and the year I met my wife he came out with his most famous and best selling album The Year of the Cat . My wife had never heard of him and didn't want to go to his concert with me , so I went with my old room mate . She has become a big fan of his since then and he was doing his entire album and the album from 1974 at The Royal Albert Hall and so we went to see him and most of his old band . We had box seats and recorded a lot of his songs with his permission .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  On our last day in London they were having the Proms live at the Royal Albert Hall . When I read the schedule and thought that we had hit the jackpot with Sarah Brightman . We bought the last of the box seats at a good price immediately , before we left for our cruise .

 Sarah Brightman was married to Andrew Lloyd Webber who wrote the score for Jesus Christ Superstar and The Phantom of the Opera .

 His wife starred in TPOTO in the West End and Broadway a couple of years later . She also did the recorded version that sold 40 million copies worldwide and won a Tony Award  in 1988 .

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Brightman

 

 

 

Edited September 3 by scubacruiserx2

[MicCanberra]

On 9/2/2024 at 8:12 AM, scubacruiserx2 said:

 We checked the calendar and we're 6 weeks from a scheduled week  on the Celebrity Beyond today , our first on the Edge Class . 🛳️

Looking forward to it 

[loriva]

15 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

   Al Stewart was a favorite of mine when I left the Navy in 1974 and the year I met my wife he came out with his most famous and best selling album The Year of the Cat . My wife had never heard of him and didn't want to go to his concert with me , so I went with my old room mate . She has become a big fan of his since then and he was doing his entire album and the album from 1974 at The Royal Albert Hall and so we went to see him and most of his old band . We had box seats and recorded a lot of his songs with his permission .

 

 

 

DH and I love Al Stewart's music and have seen him multiple times in concert.  Including doing the Year of the Cat about ten years ago at the Royal Albert Hall.  Thanks for bringing back great memories of that (and the Proms!)

 

Also, we have enjoyed your review of the CB (which we'll be boarding in December during its first sailings out of Port Canaveral, hopefully after it undergoes a refresh during dry dock next month) and your tours.  The posts have given us lots of ideas for our visit to Iceland next year.  And your photos are gorgeous!

 

Many thanks,

[scubacruiserx2]

8 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Looking forward to it 

 

 So are we and there are so many dining options ! We found a good video that shows them in detail .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

7 hours ago, loriva said:

 

DH and I love Al Stewart's music and have seen him multiple times in concert.  Including doing the Year of the Cat about ten years ago at the Royal Albert Hall.  Thanks for bringing back great memories of that (and the Proms!)

 

Also, we have enjoyed your review of the CB (which we'll be boarding in December during its first sailings out of Port Canaveral, hopefully after it undergoes a refresh during dry dock next month) and your tours.  The posts have given us lots of ideas for our visit to Iceland next year.  And your photos are gorgeous!

 

Many thanks,

 

 Thank you for your kind words . If you have any questions , we will be glad to try to answer them . We did from a crew member that Princess may try to sell the CB after the dry dock but that only from one person . We hope not .

[scubacruiserx2]

  After lunch we saw a couple of cars that we thought our grandsons would like to see . After a nap we were having tea when we noticed something funny on the TV .

 

 

 

[loriva]

16 minutes ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 Thank you for your kind words . If you have any questions , we will be glad to try to answer them . We did from a crew member that Princess may try to sell the CB after the dry dock but that only from one person . We hope not .

 

Unfortunately, it could make sense.  Princess--and the other mainstream cruise lines--are going for bigger and shinier.  Princess got rid of the smaller, R-class ships we liked so well many years ago.  Another clue is that the CB is only scheduled to be at Port Canaveral for one year.  So, maybe...

[scubacruiserx2]

4 minutes ago, loriva said:

 

Unfortunately, it could make sense.  Princess--and the other mainstream cruise lines--are going for bigger and shinier.  Princess got rid of the smaller, R-class ships we liked so well many years ago.  Another clue is that the CB is only scheduled to be at Port Canaveral for one year.  So, maybe...

 

 Have you booked a cruise to Iceland next year and if so which one may we ask ?

[loriva]

4 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 

 Have you booked a cruise to Iceland next year and if so which one may we ask ?

 

We are on Viking from Reykjavik to Bergen with a stop on Svalbard.

[scubacruiserx2]

9 hours ago, loriva said:

 

We are on Viking from Reykjavik to Bergen with a stop on Svalbard.

 

 Nice . Our friend Lisa really travels a lot and really likes Viking . We do like Norway also including Geiranger . 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited September 4 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  After purchasing our tickets to the proms , I realized that the tickets were for Sarah Vaughn and not Sarah Brightman ( it was before my second cup of caffeine in the morning ) . We couldn't return the tickets , so we began listing to Sarah Vaughn 's jazz music . She is deceased so it would not be her , but her music sang by another singer and jazz music is not our Jam .

[scubacruiserx2]

 After our nap we turned on the Television and discovered that the Proms would be on live on the BBC Radio 2 . Instead of eating our left overs from lunch , we decided to get some pub grub from the place that we had got it the last time that we had stayed there near the Earl's Court Tube . We thought that we might have a nice dinner and watch some of the concert on the Telly .

 

 

 

 

Edited September 4 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 We received this E-Mail from Princess yesterday .

 

 

 

Good day,

 

 

Thank you for taking the time to contact Princess Cruises.

 

At this time we are not running a photo contest (which is where we received the photos in the hallways of our ships).  Our website, princess.com will have the information if a new contest starts.

Edited September 5 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  This is the pub where we had dinner near the apartment .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  With the words of the moody blues song still in my head we ordered . Sunday roast is something good to eat ,  must be lamb today cause beef was last week .

 

 

 

 Rump of roast lamb for me and fish and chips for my bride .

Edited September 5 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  Roast Lamb

 

 

Fish and chips 

 

 

Local brews

 

 

 

 When we got the check it was $ 70 GBP which was what our dinner in the garden at the Royal Horse guards cost - because we drank water there instead of a beer . The VAT tax was 20% , so we now understand why our British cousins don't like to TIP . But it is about the same except the VAT is mandatory and the TIP isn't . Taxation without representation .