Thursday, August 22, 2013
August 20, 2013 Liverpool, England
August 20, 2013 Liverpool, England
After dinner last night we watched the Lairs Club in the Explorers Lounge. Three cruise staff members gave definitions to words and we, as teams, had to decide who was telling the truth. We didn't get one right. but it was fun.
Having dinner at 7pm is causing us to miss the regular entertainment in the Princess Theater. The performances are at 7, 8:15 and 10:15pm. We don't finish dinner until 8:30 and the late show is too late. So far we haven't missed much.
Today is Evelyn's birthday and the cabin door has a big sign and balloons. We are going to Sabatini's one of the specialty restaurants tonight.
We dock in Liverpool early this morning. Originally we were to leave by 3pm, but Princess changed our sailing time to 7pm. I'm glad they did because Liverpool is a very interesting city. We all were prepared to not like it, but it is great. We used the Hop-on Hop-off bus and the hour ride shows you the whole city. After going around once we got off to visit the under ground command center for the war in the Atlantic during WW II. Very interesting. We then hopped on the bus and rode to Chinatown. Big disappointment, only one street and most of the stores were closed. From there we walked thru a residential area to the Liverpool One, very large upscale open area shopping area. We had a quick lunch in a hamburger place. We stopped at the Starbucks to see if the had a Liverpool mug and to use the wifi, but no luck on the mug.
We stared to walk back towards the ship and stopped at the Liverpool Museum and the Beatles Exhibit (also Elvis) where Evelyn was able to get a couple of magnets. Why Elvis is so popular is a mystery to us.
The weather was a little overcast in the AM, but by the afternoon it was sunny and mild.
Tomorrow we are in Glasgow, Scotland, the ship docks in Greenock and we will have a 45 minute train ride to Glasgow. The train cost about $15 and Princess wants $75 for a bus ride.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
After dinner last night we watched the Lairs Club in the Explorers Lounge. Three cruise staff members gave definitions to words and we, as teams, had to decide who was telling the truth. We didn't get one right. but it was fun.
Having dinner at 7pm is causing us to miss the regular entertainment in the Princess Theater. The performances are at 7, 8:15 and 10:15pm. We don't finish dinner until 8:30 and the late show is too late. So far we haven't missed much.
Today is Evelyn's birthday and the cabin door has a big sign and balloons. We are going to Sabatini's one of the specialty restaurants tonight.
We dock in Liverpool early this morning. Originally we were to leave by 3pm, but Princess changed our sailing time to 7pm. I'm glad they did because Liverpool is a very interesting city. We all were prepared to not like it, but it is great. We used the Hop-on Hop-off bus and the hour ride shows you the whole city. After going around once we got off to visit the under ground command center for the war in the Atlantic during WW II. Very interesting. We then hopped on the bus and rode to Chinatown. Big disappointment, only one street and most of the stores were closed. From there we walked thru a residential area to the Liverpool One, very large upscale open area shopping area. We had a quick lunch in a hamburger place. We stopped at the Starbucks to see if the had a Liverpool mug and to use the wifi, but no luck on the mug.
We stared to walk back towards the ship and stopped at the Liverpool Museum and the Beatles Exhibit (also Elvis) where Evelyn was able to get a couple of magnets. Why Elvis is so popular is a mystery to us.
The weather was a little overcast in the AM, but by the afternoon it was sunny and mild.
Tomorrow we are in Glasgow, Scotland, the ship docks in Greenock and we will have a 45 minute train ride to Glasgow. The train cost about $15 and Princess wants $75 for a bus ride.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
August 19, 2013. Dublin, Ireland
August 19, 2013. Dublin, Ireland
Last night at dinner we got the same treatment but with a different waiter. They we having the chef's table in our dining area and that made things a little tight. But we still got good service and food and no waiting for a table.
After dinner we sat in the Explorer Lounge and listen to the ship's singer and dancers perform 50's and 60's rock and roll.
Slept good last night and the alarm woke us a 7am. We had breakfast in the buffet and I don't like the way they made my eggs. I like them over easy and they pawned off some over cooked sunny side up on me. We will see what happens tomorrow.
Today we have purchased tickets for the Dublin Green Hop-on Hop-off bus. The ship is docked to far from central Dublin to walk so we took the ship's shuttle to down. It dropped us off near Trinity College where we caught the first hop bus. Very crowded but we did have seats. The weather is a little damp so we stayed downstairs under cover. I moved up stairs later because the view was better. It is a good way to get your bearing on a city. One of the highlights was the Guinness Storehouse. We got off a O'connell Street, a very wide street with lots of monuments commemorating many Irish Heroes.
It was lunch time so we had fish and chips at Beshoff. It is a chain that has been in business since 1913, when the founder come over from Russia. The fish was very well done and the chips were ok, but not as good as McDonalds.
After lunch we walked the shopping area and we picked up a few gifts and souvenirs.
We walked back to catch the shuttle, but before we left Dublin I want a pint of beer. We stopped in a Pub and in honor on my cousin Don had a pint of Smithwicks, which is a dark beer, but not as dark a Guinness.
Dublin is the Capitol of Ireland. Ireland is an island just west of England. Until 1921 it was part of Great Britain. At that time the six counties of Ulster became Northern Island and remained part of Great Britain, while the rest of Ireland was granted independence. Ireland is a little larger then West Virginia, with a population of just over 4 million. English is spoken widely, while Irish (Gaelic) is spoken mainly along the western seaboard. It part of the euro zone.
Tomorrow we are in Liverpool
Sent from my iPad
Hal
Last night at dinner we got the same treatment but with a different waiter. They we having the chef's table in our dining area and that made things a little tight. But we still got good service and food and no waiting for a table.
After dinner we sat in the Explorer Lounge and listen to the ship's singer and dancers perform 50's and 60's rock and roll.
Slept good last night and the alarm woke us a 7am. We had breakfast in the buffet and I don't like the way they made my eggs. I like them over easy and they pawned off some over cooked sunny side up on me. We will see what happens tomorrow.
Today we have purchased tickets for the Dublin Green Hop-on Hop-off bus. The ship is docked to far from central Dublin to walk so we took the ship's shuttle to down. It dropped us off near Trinity College where we caught the first hop bus. Very crowded but we did have seats. The weather is a little damp so we stayed downstairs under cover. I moved up stairs later because the view was better. It is a good way to get your bearing on a city. One of the highlights was the Guinness Storehouse. We got off a O'connell Street, a very wide street with lots of monuments commemorating many Irish Heroes.
It was lunch time so we had fish and chips at Beshoff. It is a chain that has been in business since 1913, when the founder come over from Russia. The fish was very well done and the chips were ok, but not as good as McDonalds.
After lunch we walked the shopping area and we picked up a few gifts and souvenirs.
We walked back to catch the shuttle, but before we left Dublin I want a pint of beer. We stopped in a Pub and in honor on my cousin Don had a pint of Smithwicks, which is a dark beer, but not as dark a Guinness.
Dublin is the Capitol of Ireland. Ireland is an island just west of England. Until 1921 it was part of Great Britain. At that time the six counties of Ulster became Northern Island and remained part of Great Britain, while the rest of Ireland was granted independence. Ireland is a little larger then West Virginia, with a population of just over 4 million. English is spoken widely, while Irish (Gaelic) is spoken mainly along the western seaboard. It part of the euro zone.
Tomorrow we are in Liverpool
Sent from my iPad
Hal
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
August 18, 2013. Cork, Ireland
August 18, 2013. Cork, Ireland
We docked this morning at 8am. We booked a tour with Paddywagon Tours to go to Blarney Castle. The cost was about half of the ship's tour. The ship is docked in Cobh (Cove) the port for Cork. Cobh was the final stop for the Titanic on its' first and final voyage. We left Cobh and drove directly to Blarney Castle. Our driver/tour guide was smart to get us there early because the line to kiss the Blarney Stone can be a two to three hour wait. We reached the Castle in about an hour. Between the short wait and the
100 steps up a circular stairway It only took Evelyn and I 25 minutes to climb the top, kiss the stone and return to the entrance . It was pretty tight and the steps were very narrow, but we both made it. You have to lay on your back while an attendant guides you towards the stone. You don't have much time, before they snatch you back. It reminded me of the movie "The Christmas Story" where Ralph wanted to ask Santa for an air rifle and he can't get the words out before Santa's helper drags him away. They take your picture but they weren't very good. They use a different set of stairs going down and we could stop and look at the various castle rooms.
We did a quick walk around the grounds and the found Lanny and Elaine. We still had some time before we had to return to the bus so we found "The Mill" a shopping opportunity..
A word about the weather - we had some rain in Southampton, but Guernsey and Cork have been nice. Temperature in the high 60s, with periods of sun shine. Very pleasant for sightseeing.
After the castle we had a driving tour of Cork. The second largest city in Ireland after Dublin. Until 1921 Ireland was a part of Great Britain, then it gained its independence except for the six counties that make up Northern Ireland of which Belfast is the capitol. If the island of Ireland was one county the Belfast would be the second largest city. After our drive though Cork we stopped in Kinsale a medieval port town. We had about two hours to eat lunch and walk around the town. We found an "organic" restaurant, no beer only wine. The fish chowder was pretty good, but tomorrow in Dublin it will be fish and chips.
We drove back to Cobh with the intend to spend an hour walking around the town before returning to the ship, but this weekend is a large regatta and festival, the streets, which are very narrow, were packed with cars and our bus couldn't get close to the ship. We were able to get out and walk down hill to the ship, while going thru the town.
We all enjoyed the tour and by kissing the Blarney Stone we have seven years of the gift of gab.
We are relaxing in the cabin waiting for dinner.
Tomorrow we are in Dublin and I have book a hop-on hop-off bus. Princess has a shuttle from the port to the city center for $16 R/T. It runs from 9am to 6pm which will give us enough time for seeing the city. Stopping in 10 ports in 12-days is no relaxing, but on the second part of our cruise we will have a number of sea days.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
We docked this morning at 8am. We booked a tour with Paddywagon Tours to go to Blarney Castle. The cost was about half of the ship's tour. The ship is docked in Cobh (Cove) the port for Cork. Cobh was the final stop for the Titanic on its' first and final voyage. We left Cobh and drove directly to Blarney Castle. Our driver/tour guide was smart to get us there early because the line to kiss the Blarney Stone can be a two to three hour wait. We reached the Castle in about an hour. Between the short wait and the
100 steps up a circular stairway It only took Evelyn and I 25 minutes to climb the top, kiss the stone and return to the entrance . It was pretty tight and the steps were very narrow, but we both made it. You have to lay on your back while an attendant guides you towards the stone. You don't have much time, before they snatch you back. It reminded me of the movie "The Christmas Story" where Ralph wanted to ask Santa for an air rifle and he can't get the words out before Santa's helper drags him away. They take your picture but they weren't very good. They use a different set of stairs going down and we could stop and look at the various castle rooms.
We did a quick walk around the grounds and the found Lanny and Elaine. We still had some time before we had to return to the bus so we found "The Mill" a shopping opportunity..
A word about the weather - we had some rain in Southampton, but Guernsey and Cork have been nice. Temperature in the high 60s, with periods of sun shine. Very pleasant for sightseeing.
After the castle we had a driving tour of Cork. The second largest city in Ireland after Dublin. Until 1921 Ireland was a part of Great Britain, then it gained its independence except for the six counties that make up Northern Ireland of which Belfast is the capitol. If the island of Ireland was one county the Belfast would be the second largest city. After our drive though Cork we stopped in Kinsale a medieval port town. We had about two hours to eat lunch and walk around the town. We found an "organic" restaurant, no beer only wine. The fish chowder was pretty good, but tomorrow in Dublin it will be fish and chips.
We drove back to Cobh with the intend to spend an hour walking around the town before returning to the ship, but this weekend is a large regatta and festival, the streets, which are very narrow, were packed with cars and our bus couldn't get close to the ship. We were able to get out and walk down hill to the ship, while going thru the town.
We all enjoyed the tour and by kissing the Blarney Stone we have seven years of the gift of gab.
We are relaxing in the cabin waiting for dinner.
Tomorrow we are in Dublin and I have book a hop-on hop-off bus. Princess has a shuttle from the port to the city center for $16 R/T. It runs from 9am to 6pm which will give us enough time for seeing the city. Stopping in 10 ports in 12-days is no relaxing, but on the second part of our cruise we will have a number of sea days.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
Sunday, August 18, 2013
August 17, 2013. St. Peter Port
August 17, 2013. St. Peter Port
Today we are in St. Peter Port the capital of Guernsey, one of the Channel islands. Technically they are not part of Great Britain, but a possession of the royal family. This provides a convenient tax shelter. It is only 80 miles from the coast of Britain and services as a holiday destination for both the English and French. While English is predominant, french is also spoken. During WW II Guernsey along with the nearby island ofJersey were occupied by Germany.
During my pre-cruise research I found a bus that did a circle of the island in 90-minutes and only cost £2. We took the ride and while we did see some nice scenery and lots of WWII bunkers, it was the condenses that it was a waste of time. The town itself has a nice walking district, with many shops and restaurants. We walked around for about an hour and caught the tender back to the ship. We might have been better off taking a walking tour. There is a small Occupation Museum that we missed.
Today is the first meeting of the cruise critic group. It is a good place to meet fellow travelers.
Dress tonight is formal. I bring my tux because it is easier because everything fits together. I am interested to see how many passengers do get dressed up. The fact that we are doing 10 ports in 12 days makes it less likely that you want to go thru the process of getting all dressed up for a glass of champagne and a speech by the Captain. You don't even get to shake his hand.
Tomorrow we are in Cork and have booked a tour of the Blarney Castle.
Evelyn and I attended the Cruise Critic meeting and met a nice couple from Dallas. Very well traveled and are doing the full cruise to NYC.
Guess what's back - the plate of canapés... This has been going on for the last four Princess cruises. I must say the quality has gotten better.
Yesterday I had a voice mail from the Maitre d'Hotel welcoming us on board. I didn't think anything about it. I figured they had an automated system that made the calls. Well today I got a call from his assistant wanting to know when I was having dinner tonight. I told him 7pm and he said to come to the Islands dining room and he would have a table for us. That never happened before. Waiting to see what comes next.
We met Lanny and Elaine in the Skywalker Lounge, they have the no-host party for suite cabins every night. The ship provides the food and you buy your own drinks.
So we go down to the Island dining room at 7pm. There is a long line of people waiting to get in. We bypass the line and I tell them that Mario (Maitre d') made a 7pm reservation for us. Next Mario is there welcoming us and he introduces us to Catalini (Head Waiter) and say that from now on we should come straight into the dining room and Catalini will have a table for us. Then Catalini shows us to a four person table by the window. Our waiter is Alicia from Jamaica. The service and food were excellent. I know it has just been two days, but it seems Princess has really improved there food. It wasn't bad before, but they have really improved the menu.
After dinner we saw Scott Harris, a Canadian comedian, who was very funny, though I fell asleep for part of the act.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
Today we are in St. Peter Port the capital of Guernsey, one of the Channel islands. Technically they are not part of Great Britain, but a possession of the royal family. This provides a convenient tax shelter. It is only 80 miles from the coast of Britain and services as a holiday destination for both the English and French. While English is predominant, french is also spoken. During WW II Guernsey along with the nearby island ofJersey were occupied by Germany.
During my pre-cruise research I found a bus that did a circle of the island in 90-minutes and only cost £2. We took the ride and while we did see some nice scenery and lots of WWII bunkers, it was the condenses that it was a waste of time. The town itself has a nice walking district, with many shops and restaurants. We walked around for about an hour and caught the tender back to the ship. We might have been better off taking a walking tour. There is a small Occupation Museum that we missed.
Today is the first meeting of the cruise critic group. It is a good place to meet fellow travelers.
Dress tonight is formal. I bring my tux because it is easier because everything fits together. I am interested to see how many passengers do get dressed up. The fact that we are doing 10 ports in 12 days makes it less likely that you want to go thru the process of getting all dressed up for a glass of champagne and a speech by the Captain. You don't even get to shake his hand.
Tomorrow we are in Cork and have booked a tour of the Blarney Castle.
Evelyn and I attended the Cruise Critic meeting and met a nice couple from Dallas. Very well traveled and are doing the full cruise to NYC.
Guess what's back - the plate of canapés... This has been going on for the last four Princess cruises. I must say the quality has gotten better.
Yesterday I had a voice mail from the Maitre d'Hotel welcoming us on board. I didn't think anything about it. I figured they had an automated system that made the calls. Well today I got a call from his assistant wanting to know when I was having dinner tonight. I told him 7pm and he said to come to the Islands dining room and he would have a table for us. That never happened before. Waiting to see what comes next.
We met Lanny and Elaine in the Skywalker Lounge, they have the no-host party for suite cabins every night. The ship provides the food and you buy your own drinks.
So we go down to the Island dining room at 7pm. There is a long line of people waiting to get in. We bypass the line and I tell them that Mario (Maitre d') made a 7pm reservation for us. Next Mario is there welcoming us and he introduces us to Catalini (Head Waiter) and say that from now on we should come straight into the dining room and Catalini will have a table for us. Then Catalini shows us to a four person table by the window. Our waiter is Alicia from Jamaica. The service and food were excellent. I know it has just been two days, but it seems Princess has really improved there food. It wasn't bad before, but they have really improved the menu.
After dinner we saw Scott Harris, a Canadian comedian, who was very funny, though I fell asleep for part of the act.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
Saturday, August 17, 2013
August 16, 2013
August 16, 2013
We slept until almost 8am. Was not as restful as we would have liked, but I think we are back on schedule. We had our Starbucks this morning and are now looking at our email and waiting for the car that will take us to Southampton.
On the flight from LAX we ran in a couple from our book club. They were sitting behind us on the plane, it is a small world. We talked this morning to a couple from Vancouver that we met on the bus from the airport. It seems that Canada has a lot of the same problems that we have.
Well we had our first problem. We got in the wrong car going to the port and were 20-minutes down the road before we figured it out. All of ours fault, I didn't ask and the driver didn't ask. No harm our driver was waiting for us and the people's whose car it was were also waiting.
We got to the ship about 1pm. With 3000 people coming aboard it was a mad house. We have priority board so it wasn't too bad for us. When we got to our cabin all of our luggage was there. We decide to go to the library so that Evelyn could check out some books. While I was there (it is part of the Internet room) I signed us up for our computer minutes. We each get 500 free minutes and I purchased a 100 more for $25. Hopefully that will last us for 28-day.
Our friends from Las Vegas, Elaine and Lanny Marin, are on board for the first part of the cruise. We are now waiting for the life boat drill which will happen before we sail.
After the life boat drill I stopped by the passenger service desk to pick up two more priority tender passes for Elaine and Lanny.
We then found Lanny and Elaine and sat in the wine bar and caught up.
We are having dinner at 7pm in the Coral Dining room. We only had to wait about 5 minutes to get a table for four. The food and the service was pretty good. We sat and talked for so long we miss the show.
I guess it's time to fill you in on our itinerary: we are on board the Caribbean Princess for 28-days of cruising the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland and Canada. We leave from Southampton, England, and finish the cruise in New York City. It is two cruises back-to-back, the first part is 12-days and part two is 16-days. The ports on the first part are: St. Peter (Guernsey ), Cork (Ireland), Dublin (Ireland), Liverpool (England), Glasgow ((Scotland), Belfast (Northern Ireland), Edinburgh (Scotland), Inverness (Scotland), Le Havre (France), and back to Southampton. Part two at a later date.
Tomorrow our first port on the Isle of Guernsey. It will be a short visit as the ship sails at 2pm.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
We slept until almost 8am. Was not as restful as we would have liked, but I think we are back on schedule. We had our Starbucks this morning and are now looking at our email and waiting for the car that will take us to Southampton.
On the flight from LAX we ran in a couple from our book club. They were sitting behind us on the plane, it is a small world. We talked this morning to a couple from Vancouver that we met on the bus from the airport. It seems that Canada has a lot of the same problems that we have.
Well we had our first problem. We got in the wrong car going to the port and were 20-minutes down the road before we figured it out. All of ours fault, I didn't ask and the driver didn't ask. No harm our driver was waiting for us and the people's whose car it was were also waiting.
We got to the ship about 1pm. With 3000 people coming aboard it was a mad house. We have priority board so it wasn't too bad for us. When we got to our cabin all of our luggage was there. We decide to go to the library so that Evelyn could check out some books. While I was there (it is part of the Internet room) I signed us up for our computer minutes. We each get 500 free minutes and I purchased a 100 more for $25. Hopefully that will last us for 28-day.
Our friends from Las Vegas, Elaine and Lanny Marin, are on board for the first part of the cruise. We are now waiting for the life boat drill which will happen before we sail.
After the life boat drill I stopped by the passenger service desk to pick up two more priority tender passes for Elaine and Lanny.
We then found Lanny and Elaine and sat in the wine bar and caught up.
We are having dinner at 7pm in the Coral Dining room. We only had to wait about 5 minutes to get a table for four. The food and the service was pretty good. We sat and talked for so long we miss the show.
I guess it's time to fill you in on our itinerary: we are on board the Caribbean Princess for 28-days of cruising the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, Norway, Denmark, Iceland, Greenland and Canada. We leave from Southampton, England, and finish the cruise in New York City. It is two cruises back-to-back, the first part is 12-days and part two is 16-days. The ports on the first part are: St. Peter (Guernsey ), Cork (Ireland), Dublin (Ireland), Liverpool (England), Glasgow ((Scotland), Belfast (Northern Ireland), Edinburgh (Scotland), Inverness (Scotland), Le Havre (France), and back to Southampton. Part two at a later date.
Tomorrow our first port on the Isle of Guernsey. It will be a short visit as the ship sails at 2pm.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
Friday, August 16, 2013
August 14, 2013
August 14, 2013
We left home in the late afternoon to catch our flight to London. The flight leaves at 7:35 pm and we arrive at London's Heathrow Airport at 2:05 pm, at 10 and a half hour flight.
We are flying business class so it won't be too bad. After checking in we spent an hour in United's Club Lounge. The flight was uneventful, which is the best way to fly. We both slept about five hours. We are staying overnight at the Sheraton hotel at the airport.
August 15 , 2013
The plane landed about 15 minutes late. Because we are flying business class we got to use the "fast pass" through immigrations, thou it wasn't very busy. After collecting our luggage we decided to take the airport bus to the hotel. It cost 9£ for two one-way tickets. We had to wait about 20-minutes for the bus and got no help getting the bags on board, should have taken a taxi.
The hotel is nice and they only charge 15£ for Internet in the room, so we are in the lobby using the free Internet. There is a Starbucks in the hotel and they have a number of the city mugs that Evelyn collects. We will buy here as it takes the pressure off when we are sightseeing.
We had dinner in the hotel at the sports bar. Prices are in £, but they look like dollars. A cheeseburger is 9.50 £, which is about $15US. There also seems to be a 20% VAT included in the prices.
We are going to to bed at the normal time tonight and hope we get back on schedule.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
We left home in the late afternoon to catch our flight to London. The flight leaves at 7:35 pm and we arrive at London's Heathrow Airport at 2:05 pm, at 10 and a half hour flight.
We are flying business class so it won't be too bad. After checking in we spent an hour in United's Club Lounge. The flight was uneventful, which is the best way to fly. We both slept about five hours. We are staying overnight at the Sheraton hotel at the airport.
August 15 , 2013
The plane landed about 15 minutes late. Because we are flying business class we got to use the "fast pass" through immigrations, thou it wasn't very busy. After collecting our luggage we decided to take the airport bus to the hotel. It cost 9£ for two one-way tickets. We had to wait about 20-minutes for the bus and got no help getting the bags on board, should have taken a taxi.
The hotel is nice and they only charge 15£ for Internet in the room, so we are in the lobby using the free Internet. There is a Starbucks in the hotel and they have a number of the city mugs that Evelyn collects. We will buy here as it takes the pressure off when we are sightseeing.
We had dinner in the hotel at the sports bar. Prices are in £, but they look like dollars. A cheeseburger is 9.50 £, which is about $15US. There also seems to be a 20% VAT included in the prices.
We are going to to bed at the normal time tonight and hope we get back on schedule.
Sent from my iPad
Hal
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