British Isles Trip Review w/Pics: A Thesis :)

[OneMoreSilverDollar]

Chapter 6: Lost in The Streets of Dublin. (Day 4)

 

When I was in the sixth grade, our teacher asked us to do an oral report on our ancestry. Each kid had to pick the country they were from (or one of many) and speak about it. I was thrilled to pick Ireland and I gave a 10-minute speech on Dublin. However, during those ten minutes I called it “doo-blin” repeatedly and my teacher never once corrected me (thanks a bunch, Mr. Bacer). So to be able to actually visit a place which I had only read about in books was incredibly meaningful to me!

 

One of the handfuls of funny memories from this day was that we woke up monstrously late. I remember rolling over and looking at the clock and it said 11:20 a.m.

 

“OHMYGOD! OH! OH CRAP! Get up, get up, get up!”

 

It wasn’t that we were late for a tour or anything important like that. We were spazzing out because of something completely different -- the breakfast buffet closed at 11:30 a.m!

 

It was a view that I can’t even describe: Two people, furiously sticking their legs into jeans and hopping like drunken sack-race contestants trying to throw on sweatshirts and quickly brush their hair while trying not to bump into walls and doorways.

 

I kid you not, it’s probably a good 1/8th of a mile walk to the buffet from our room. The ship is roughly 955 feet long, and I’m going to guesstimate (yes, that’s a word in my vocabulary) that it’s a good 700-foot janut from our room at the bow all the way down the hallway to the aft elevators.

 

“The Shining”, much?

 

Then, it’s up five decks to Deck 15 but each deck has two sets of stairs so you’re really hoofing up ten sections of stairs. We took the elevator this time and made it there before they closed “the gates”.

 

Which, while we’re on the topic, let’s talk about the buffet:

In the twelve full days I was onboard, I couldn’t for the life of me figure out the whole Horizon Court vs. Café Caribe thing. Are they two different places? Is one smaller? I was so turned around at all times that I could never figure out what side of the boat we were on. Thank goodness they had signs out every day saying “Horizon Court Food Line Open: This Way” with an arrow or I would have completely lost my mind. I’m taking a guess that they open both Horizon Court and Café Caribe during peak dining hours since you had to find a seat somewhere.

 

{Observation:} The plates in the buffet are hot. Not out-of-the-dishwasher-at-home hot, a bit more like sandblasted-with-fire hot. There were a few days where I literally carried the edge handles of the plate with my fingernails because it was so hot. (This must be why Caribbean Princess scored 100 on her sanitary inspection last month!) Luckily, you can slide the plate along the counter near the food, but I will admit that if you saw chunks of iceberg lettuce strewn about or a dribble of soup on the counters – it was me.

 

I always found the food in the buffet to be good. Yes, your plate looks like a culinary version of a Jackson Pollack painting; what with the English sausage and American mac n’ cheese and Indian curry chicken and Asian potstickers next to the Italian pasta and Mexican flan. But hey, where else would you be able to sample anything you liked without paying for it? At least you could try a dish and know if you liked it or not.

 

I remember on other cruise lines how much of a mad cattle fight it was to get seats at the buffet. We never really had an issue with finding a table on this trip but I think that’s because we ate at really odd hours around the masses and we sat at smaller tables for two. I would like to commend Princess for having an entire long booth with multiple tables for two along it.

There are crew members waiting at the exit (I never remember entrances and exits on other ships, it was always a fend-for-yourself situation) and these crew members are incredibly sweet and will offer to carry your food for you to your table. I learned that this is a comfort issue and not a glutton issue and I know that there were people that relied on the staff to find them a table and carry their plates.

 

I should also note that there are more than enough servers to meet your needs in the Horizon Court and Café Caribe. It almost seems like they have nothing to do most of the time which I guess is sort of a blessing since you get fairly quick service. They hang out and wait for someone to sit down, then they come up and ask if you would like anything from the bar ($$) or some coffee/tea/juice/water. We mostly drank water and iced tea. Sometimes one will take your drink order and another one will come up and ask the same, not knowing you were already taken care of. When you are done eating, someone will take your plate from you with a smile (oh, how I wish this happened at home). All in all, the service in the buffet area was quite good.

 

Regarding filling up water from the water station:

It wasn’t until the end of the cruise that I saw two ladies walk up with their water bottles to the drink station in the server’s area of the buffet. They filled up their water bottle with the cold ice water. Why didn’t I think of this?! Is it against a rule? I know they don’t like it because of cross-contaimation reasons but I wish I had thought to fill up the plastic cups they provide with cold water and then dump it into my bottle to take on land. Instead, we just bought the tall $3.50 water bottle three times during our cruise. <smacks forehead>

 

As for the buffet desserts: I really hope you all like frothy chocolate mousse because this ingredient will be used approximately 642 different ways throughout the cruise. Frothy chocolate mousse in a cup! Frothy chocolate mouse on a tart! Frothy chocolate mousse with berries! Frothy chocolate mousse with tiramisu! Froth chocolate mousse in a triangle with ladyfingers! You get the jist. Six days into the cruise, Mike bought a dark chocolate Cadbury bar on land because, lord help him, he was all frothy chocolate mousse’d out.

 

I will say that they did also have a nice little selection of other dessert “things”. I call them “things” because I forget the cute names they add to them so as not to call them “that lemon thing” or “that one tart with a strawberry” or “let’s put out the same muffin but one day call it banana and the next day call it pumpkin”.

 

Mike and I were notorious for playing a daily game called, “Who Gets The Dessert Sampler?” One of us would walk back to the buffet after finishing lunch and would put one of each of the little desserts on a plate. Then we’d each grab a fork and take a bite out of each dessert (to make sure it wasn’t poison, of course) and also to see which ones we liked. It was rare that we disliked a dessert. There were one or two bread-like things that were bland or dry, but the rest were passable. I should also add that chocolate cookies (most likely the same ones served warm with milk downstairs) were always available and were a good backup.

 

Anyway…..

 

After having whirled through the breakfast buffet and getting our backpack and maps ready, we headed down to Deck 5 where we walked off the ship to the beautiful (and I use beautiful in a sarcastic way) parking lot and working port that is Dublin. Story goes that it is $8/per person each way for a Princess bus ride into town. (Where do you pay for this? Inside? On the bus?) I had heard that splitting a cab fare was cheaper. Luckily, there is an area with cabs (a.k.a. regular cars) right there next to the Princess buses waiting for large groups or couples.

 

{Tip:} The route from the ship to the outer edge town is not walkable. Well, let me rephrase that… I’m sure in some way it is (I saw one brave couple try it) but I wouldn’t advise it. I’d clock it at a good 2+ miles.

 

We flagged down a nice cab driver and asked him to take us straight to Trinity College as the HOHO bus that I pre-purchased online (dublinsightseeing.ie) would take us the rest of the way. The cabbie was incredibly friendly and sweet.

 

“You’re from California, eh? ‘Yer governor was the Terminator!” Yep, there you go.

 

He did a really good job. He pointed out landmarks and where to shop and how to not get lost (hint, hint) and offered his services to “rent” him for the day which we had to decline. He dropped us off right at the front of Trinity College. I believe it was 12 euros for the trip there, so I guess we broke even with the Princess bus cost in the long run, but at least we got witty Irish banter and a direct stop in front of the college! He said that cabs were fighting over cruise ship passengers to go out to the Irish countryside since it was a 90-minute ride and lucrative for them. Apparently cabs would pull around the corner and duke it out (ah, the Irish) and some companies would swindle passengers over other companies. Crazy! Apparently the police had to come straighten it all out, though you never saw this from the ship.

 

Trinity College is a do-not-miss sight in Dublin if you are exploring the city. Not to have a blonde moment, but it’s as if these kids all go to school in what looks like the White House. No big deal, just thousands of years of history and architecture and charm and monuments.

 

The college grounds are fascinating. I saw one of the student tours (as in a tour led by a student) in progress. I would assume these would be helpful as I felt guilty that I didn’t know what I was looking at most of the time – but it was beautiful! A co-worker back home gave me money and said, “Get me a souvenir shirt from any University”. Well, this would be the one! They have a very tiny gift store with a few shirts to pick from along with some snacks. The Book of Kells is the highlight here, and we didn’t have our timing right so the line was incredibly long.

{Tip} I heard that if you go after 1 p.m. the line is considerably shorter.

 

From there, we looked at the HOHO map and noticed that St. Patrick’s Cathedral was close by. This is when my husband muttered the words that would change our entire day: “Wait, honey, it’s right here. We don’t need the HOHO bus. It’s totally walkable!”

 

I’m doing a collective sigh just thinking about it.

 

We used the HOHO bus map plus the blue paper map that Princess hands out with the nightly Patters and headed into further the city of Dublin. We walked for a few minutes until we bumped into a beautiful church. It was Christchurch Cathedral, one of the stops on the HOHO tour.

 

“Wow, it really isn’t that far apart. Maybe he’s right. Darn, I shouldn’t have pre-paid for that bus. Maybe when we see one we’ll still hop on just for fun.” I thought.

 

We stopped and took a few pictures of Christchurch Cathedral, the first major cathedral visit of our trip.

 

From there, Mike looked at the map and dutifully noted that St. Patrick’s Cathedral (another must-see of the day) was “right around the corner”. Since when is anything “right around the corner” when people use that term? It never truly is around the corner.

 

We walked and walked and I started to see the spires that make up the top of St. Patrick’s Cathedral. Hurray! We made it! I was so thankful at this moment that I had bought a bottle of water at Christchurch (so much for that refillable Brita bottle idea).

 

St. Patrick’s Cathedral is quite a sight. I actually thought it was THE crème de la crème cathedral until I figured out that there’s a St. Patrick’s Cathedral in New York along with many other cities. Regardless, we were in Ireland. And anything Irish with the title “St. Patrick” had to be meaningful.

 

 

 

And I’m throwing this picture in because it involves a lovey couple + pigeons + park benches. So Europe!

 

We walked around St. Patrick’s Cathedral and through the gardens. The next must-see stop on my husband’s newfangled walking tour was the Guinness Storehouse Museum. This was the highlight of my day. According to the cartoon drawing on the map (which I sure somewhere clearly read “not to scale”) was a picture of the brewery. A mere 15+ minutes away by foot, we thought.

 

I don’t even know where to go at this point, because it was all such a blur. We followed some sort of boulevard that my husband swore “paralelled the other road”. But unlike Los Angeles where streets are either north/south or east/west, these roads had no rhyme or reason to them. They swerved and veered and circled and winded through the city. There was no “grid”. It was at this point that I realized that I hand’t seen a green HOHO bus in the last hour. It was like knowing you were drifting out to sea because you could no longer see clouds or seagulls…

 

Halfway through the day, we knew we were “misplaced” in the city and had to backtrack to find the city center. I explained to Mike that the Guinness Storehouse was a tall building that had a glass rooftop where you could look out to the city. At one point, I saw a tall building with glass and shouted, “There it is!” only to realize after walking a mile towards it that it was another apartment building.

 

At this point we were tired, cranky, thirsty and ready to call it a day. My husband technically hates Guinness so I guess he wouldn’t have been thrilled with drinking it or learning all about it. The whole trying-to-start-a-family thing left me unable to consume alcohol in the first place. So we decided to call it a day and trek back to the main part of town to hail a cab.

 

We somehow spotted the River Liffey and followed it back to the bustling city. Dublin is a very busy city. I can see why most tours went out to the countryside in this port. Having come from a big city, it was the opposite of what I was looking for but I’m still very glad we got to see Trinity College and both cathedrals. That made the journey into town worth it. But if I had the opportunity to go into Dublin again, I might pass (unless someone drives me straight to the Guinness Storehouse!)

 

We found a cab on one of the busy side streets and rode it back to the ship. Oddly, the fare was a few euros less than the ride out (around 9 euros). The cabbie was sweet and told us to have a lovely rest of trip. We were ever so thankful to be back on the ship and spent the rest of the evening eating another fabulous dinner in the Main Dining Room and catching up on more fun TV movies.

 

To view all of my Dublin photos, you can visit: http://photobucket.com/dublinireland2012

For all of the Princess Patters, including Dublin, you can visit:http://photobucket.com/princesspattersbritishisles

 

Movies Under The Stars = “Mission Impossible 4: Ghost Protocol” (great movie in my opinion) and “I Don’t Know How She Does It” (Sarah Jessica Parker chick-flick).

Theater: Ventriloquist: Gareth Oliver. (Didn’t get to see this one. Plus ventriloquists are kinda creepy.)

 

 

 

Next Chapter: Liverpool: The City That Completely Surprised Us! (Day 5)

We are enjoying all of your posts. They are extremely informative and thoroughly entertaining. I don't know what you do for a day job, but you should consider writing as another vocation. We are going on the July 8 cruise and very much appreciate all the time and effort you are putting into this.

Thanks, Gordon

[Athravan]

Really enjoying your review and many thanks for the patters, I really appreciated looking through those and it's hard to find up to date ones. I'm on the Caribbean Princess on Tuesday for the Norwegian Fjords. It's also great to read reviews from people who have enjoyed the UK so much and I'm looking forward to reading the rest.

[High C's]

Wow - this is SO entertaining. Thanks for sharing your story with us! :)

[miamichic]

Did u ever get the cost to rent the cabbie for the day?

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Is it cold ????

[pizzalady1]

Did you ever get to ride the Dublin HOHO?

[JLC@SD]

Great review. Thanks for posting all of your photos. We took this cruise on Golden Princess and enjoy seeing the area again through your review and photos.

[DeloreanGirl]

Did u ever get the cost to rent the cabbie for the day?

I want to say it was 60 euros but that seems a little low. It definitely wasn't over 100 euros.

 

Is it cold ????

Guernsey = No

Cobh = Yes

Dublin = No

Belfast = Yes

Liverpool = No

Greenock = No

Edinburgh = So-so

Loch Ness = Yes

Le Havre = So-so

....But this can change every hour.

 

Did you ever get to ride the Dublin HOHO?

No! Gahhhh. I saw the green bus pass by a few times but once we veered off on the wrong road, I never saw the bus again. I'd still book it if we ever ended up in Dublin again. I'd just actually GO on it. ;)

[DeloreanGirl]

Chapter 7: Liverpool: The City That Completely Surprised Us! (Day 5)

 

If there ever was a land that housed the most amazing, welcoming, positive-spirited people – it would be Liverpool, England. (Scotland, you come in a very close second.) I say this not because I encountered one person that outstretched their arms to me, but rather a handful of Brits living both here in America and the city of Liverpool itself that went out of their way to make sure my short time in their city was a good one. They were proud of the city and, most importantly, excited that visitors were able to spend time in it.

 

Numerous times throughout the cruise I would say to Mike, “What do you think it’s like for these super nice UK folks to come to America? I would hate to have my first impression of the country be from JFK or LAX airport. Could you imagine?” Like any country, there are good and bad areas and I’m sure there are towns in England, Ireland and Scotland that should be avoided. But coming from the fake melting pot that is L.A. out to a warm, welcoming, friendly country was so incredibly comforting. I wish planes coming from the UK could land first in Indiana. Or North Carolina. Or parts of the South that still hold on to southern hospitality. I promise that we’re not all as nutty as the Real Housewives and Jersey Shore portray us to be!

 

When I first started planning the cruise, the only thing I knew about Liverpool was that it was “the home of the Beatles” and that they had these really hilariously awesome statues all over town called “Super Lamb Bananas”. The name and vision alone made me crack up and we made a point to seek out one of these sculptures.

 

And then, I found this thread: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=907552

 

Please, for the love of all things holy, if you are thinking of spending your day in or near Liverpool, you must subscribe to this thread. TowncarT (yes, this is your shameless plug) will take you under his wing and let you know of everything there is to do in his fabulous city. And if that isn’t enough, hang out and chat with Mrs. Moho and she, too, will share her enthusiasm for you visiting the area. Both of them not only live in and love Liverpool, but they will make the effort to come down to the dock and personally meet you (in which this opportunity passed me by, dangit).

 

What I learned not only from this city but onward into Scotland is that residents here are so truly proud of their area and welcome others to share it with them. The only time I saw eagerly outstretched arms for our country was during the “Welcome to America” TSA commercial on the airplane before landing in Dallas.

 

If you click on TowncarT’s link above, you can see that I kind of hogged it near the end. He literally gave me a walking guide on what to see in the town with turn-by-turn directions. And you know what? It worked.

 

By the time I printed, highlighted and hole-punched the info into my O.C.D. binder along with the blue Princess Patter map, it looked like this:

 

 

We walked into the city armed with great guides and a list of things to see. Unless you are doing a day trip to Wales or a private Beatles excursion, I can’t imagine what else there would be to do other than to visit this fun city. People I talked to onboard the ship agreed that it was the “surprise city” of the trip.

 

First off, the architecture is so very cool. You have a mixture of old world buildings with enough modern buildings to balance it out. Nothing is overpowering. The minute you step off the ship, you are greeted by small monuments and a view of the entire area from Strand Street.

 

We began our walking journey by heading towards the Cunard building which I promise you is gorgeous. Yes, this is another Titanic reference. For those of you who have seen the movie: what was the name displayed across the stern before plummeting into the icy Atlantic? Yep -- Liverpool. She is registered here so there’s another piece of fascinating history attached to this town.

 

We headed up Water Street which turns into Dale Street. There are some great looking buildings along this route. Since this was my first true taste of England before having yet been to London, I was enamored with the style of buildings and how beautiful everything was. Birds were chirping, co-workers were eating lunch on concrete steps out in the sun, and cruise ship passengers were happily strolling in the streets and taking in the sights. What impressed me most about Liverpool (aside from the whole amazing people, amazing buildings, history, food, museums and culture) were the SIGNS.

 

Can I give a big, wet kiss to whoever laid out this city? To whoever put up the black street signs? Because, THANK YOU! Thank you from the bottom of my lost-in-Dublin heart for making it THE most accessible and walkable city EVER! All over the town (on nearly every corner of the downtown area) were big poles with arrows that would point in the direction of where sights were and not only would have the name of the sight, but the distance to that sight and the amount of minutes to walk there. Sweet baby Jesus, why can’t we have those here at home?! I guess it’s because cities back then started out small and sprawled outward so everything was so much more walkable back in the day. At no point ever did I feel I was lost because there were these fantastic, large signs telling me about all the points of interest in the city and the mere 10-15 minute walk they would be.

 

Once we walked up Dale Street you can cut across Haymarket or Crosshall to St. John’s Gardens. This is a beautiful photographic stopping point. From there, you are viewing the back of St. George’s Hall which TowncarT told me to not miss by any circumstance. Once you see the front of St. George’s Hall, you’ll know why. The Walker Art Gallery and Library are there too. It is the farthest you’ll walk (or at least, the farthest we walked) and you’re still within viewing distance of the ship. I really wish we had gone inside St. George’s Hall as it looked incredibly interesting.

 

 

From there, we made our way down Victoria Street towards the Beatles area. If you stay on Victoria and head south, you’ll go through a shopping district and soon onto Mathew Street, home of The Beatles. It is here that you can dive into all-things Beatles. We visited The Cavern Club which, albeit only pseudo-real, was still fascinating and a fun free visit. How people don't pass out in The Cavern Club is beyond me. It was probably 80+ degrees down there. My upper lip was sweating and I was only standing in the gift shop!

 

 

In the Mathew Street area, make sure to look left, right, up and down as there are things to read and see all over the alleyways in regards to The Fab Four. I may be two generations removed from this iconic band, but I’m still very aware of how important they are in the music industry, to music history, and to this town.

 

From there, we continued down to the waterfront but headed away from the ship towards the Albert Dock area. We were getting hungry at this point and grabbed lunch at the Tate Museum Café. It is a cafeteria type of eatery which was fine by us. We picked up a sandwich, some chips (crisps!) and a Diet Coke along with the most amazing homemade carrot cake ever. I’m not sure if our accent gave it away or they were just being nice, but the girls put a few ice cubes in a glass for our Coke. I was told not to expect ice in Europe in any way so this was a bonus! We ate outside in the Albert Dock area and people-watched.

 

From there, we did a loop around the Albert Dock, ducking into souvenir shops here and there. Everything was decked out and ready for the Diamond Jubilee. At this point, Mike mumbled that he would go into “The Beatles Story” museum with me after getting us lost the day before in Dublin. What a sport! It was a bit overpriced for what you got, but I’m still glad we went inside. There are a few key pieces they have on display such as John Lennon’s yellow circle sunglasses, some original guitars and Lennon’s white piano.

 

Also at the Albert Dock is the Merseyside Maritime Museum. This is a highlight attraction for the area. My husband, being a huge ship fan as you know by now, was getting excited and I promised him we would go in the museum – especially since they now had a small Titanic exhibit. Apparently the only surviving First Class ticket is here (which I saw with my very own eyes), as well as Bruce Ismay’s silver set, the White Star flag emblem and Titanic nameplate pried from a lifeboat as well as an actual life preserver from the Lusitania.

 

 

We couldn’t believe that a museum that nice was free to the public. Mike donated some pound coins into the donation bin. It was a very nicely laid out and informative museum.

 

From here, we simply enjoyed the city and grabbed some ice cream from a local stand. This was my first time seeing double-decker buses and black cabs. I even thought the red mailboxes were so adorable that I took my photo with one.

 

How gorgeous is this?

 

Once we made our way back down to the water's edge, we walked past the beautiful Liver Building. Rumor has it that the Liver (lie-ver) birds look over the sea and city and if the liver birds fly away, the city will crumble. The Princess map said, “They are still there to this day, despite Hitler’s best efforts.”

 

Having sufficiently felt like we had seen the best of Liverpool, we called it a day and trekked back to the Caribbean Princess. Mike and I said to each other, “Wow, this was the city we were so-so about and it’s been our favorite one so far!” True story. I spoke with another couple who was surprisingly impressed as well. I think the proximity to the ship, good signage, being so walkable with fascinating sights and having such friendly locals is what made it such a pleasant visit. It truly was a combination of all these factors.

 

Oh, and how can I forget? We did see a silver Super Lamb Banana. So I can die happy.

 

 

From the toppermost of the poppermost, we loved you Liverpool!

(Does this mean we have to cheer you on in football/soccer?)

 

To view all of my Liverpool photos, you can visit: http://photobucket.com/cruiseliverpool

For all of the Princess Patters, including Liverpool, you can visit: http://photobucket.com/princesspattersbritishisles

 

Movies Under The Stars = “The Artist” (I tried SO hard not to watch this outdoors as I wanted to watch it at home instead), “Real Steel” (ehhh…..), and “Maverick” (Mel Gibson/Jodie Foster). Not sure why they called “Maverick” a classic. It was made in 1994!

Theater = Production Show “Caliente”

 

Next Chapter = Belfast, Northern Ireland: Titanic, Titanic, Titanic! (Day 6)

Edited June 16, 2012 by DeloreanGirl

[h3rjp]

I'm so enjoying this! Your timing is perfect; there's been a new instalment everytime I wake up in the morning. Next time take a month long vacation!

 

My reviews are long, but they have nothing on yours.... I totally agree with you about Liverpool. It's a really nice place to spend a weekend and is our current favourite city for a quick weekend away.

 

Our visit there about 3 years ago was to go and see the Grand Princess; as we'd never seen a Princess ship in the flesh before. However we go so stuck in traffic on the way there we arrived about an hour after it left! However the restaurants, night life and general city vibe of Liverpool made up for our disappointment.

[sasmisjas]

Absolutely loving this review and I'm from England. It really is refreshing seeing it through your eyes. So much so that I might consider this itinerary myself. I originally come from the North West of England and lived quite close to Liverpool but your enthusiasm has made me see it in a whole new light. I've travelled to the States many times but have never made it to the west coast so that is on my bucket list. I'm sort of thinking about either a cruise to Hawaii or the Californa Coastal. Looking foward to your next installment.

Yvonne

[Mrs Moho]

Loved it - loved - loved it!

 

Your review of our City has really touched us both - just said to Dave I want to go into the City Centre and see it all, he reminded me we have to pack!

 

Your enthusiasm was infectious and comments on how helpful the signs were for visitors was also good to hear.

 

Laughed at the story of the Liver Birds, did you know there will only ever be 2 of them? The front bird is female - looking out to sea for the sailors - well you know what sailors are - well I do:p the other bird is male - looking over the City waiting for the pubs to open!!

 

Loved your pictures, you certainly saw a lot of the City and it's architecture, shame you never went inside St George's Hall, the floor and ceilings are amazing - Google it if you get a chance, we were lucky enough to go there for an organ recital. Another place to see if - sorry - when you come back is the Anglican Cathedral, that in itself is beautiful but you can go up the tower in a lift (elevator) and on a clear day can see all over Liverpool and it's surrounding area and straight over to the Welsh Hills - amazing!

 

Superlambanana's - see you saw the one outside Boodles - the jewellers, a few years ago they were dotted all over the City with different themes, they even had their own map so you could see them all. The origin for them was at one time bananas and lamb were common cargo in Liverpool docks but also to highlight the dangers on genetic engineering - who knew?

 

Supporting our local football teams - not a problem as long as you're wearing blue, you can always say you're supporting 2 of your own - Tim Howard and Landon Donovan who has been on loan from LA Galaxy:D

 

Again, thanks for such a positive review, we do have some people who knock our City, usually the ones who have never been, but let's not get too carried away, it's not all sweetness and light we do have the rough with the smooth

 

Maureen & Dave

[JanetAlice]

I continue to look forward to each installment. Belfast was MY surprise city on the voyage (though we didn't port in Liverpool.). I just loved it. Being a Titantic buff had something to do with it I'm sure. Unfortunately the new museum was still under construction. Can't wait to hear your impressions.

 

I promise if you ever visit Albany NY we would make you feel very welcomed.

[Mrs Moho]

Well here goes - don't think Spielberg or Cameron have anything to worry about.....

 

 

There are 3 of you leaving, 3 different songs, think nostalgiaguy from your roll call will recognise one of the songs, just look for the videos of Caribbean Princess Leaving Liverpool under name H0agy, each song is listed.

 

Enjoy - Hopefully my recording skills will improve by the time July 8 roll call visit us :cool:

 

Maureen

Edited June 16, 2012 by Mrs Moho

[sasmisjas]

:(

Well here goes - don't think Spielberg or Cameron have anything to worry about.....

 

 

There are 3 of you leaving, 3 different songs, think nostalgiaguy from your roll call will recognise one of the songs, just look for the videos of Caribbean Princess Leaving Liverpool under name H0agy, each song is listed.

 

Enjoy - Hopefully my recording skills will improve by the time July 8 roll call visit us :cool:

 

Maureen

Hi Maureen, for some reason these videos and their music brought a lump to my throat. I really miss 'up north' :(

[Mrs Moho]

:(

Hi Maureen, for some reason these videos and their music brought a lump to my throat. I really miss 'up north' :(

 

Good job you weren't there then - tissues were being used for more than just waving them off - tears were on the cheeks :(

[nostalgiaguru]

Chapter 7: Liverpool: The City That Completely Surprised Us! (Day 5)

 

If there ever was a land that housed the most amazing, welcoming, positive-spirited people – it would be Liverpool, England.

 

Emily, I think it's great how we both thought Liverpool was one of the best stops (2nd only to Paris, for us), but for completely different reasons. Being more the old fogie type, I just HAD to do the all day Beatles tour conducted by Marie Maguire, a childhood friend of Ringo, and a very popular tour guide in the area. We were able to tour the National Trust-owned childhood homes of Lennon and McCartney; only 30 people are allowed to do this each day, and Princess had bought all 30 spots (picture below of me standing on Lennon's front porch where his Aunt Mimi would send them to practice when they got too loud). I know it sounds silly, but I actually got choked up - I've always been a big fan of early rock and roll.

 

Mrs. Moho, love "Ferry Cross the Mersey", I actually brought it up to our tour guide, Gerry and the Pacemakers sound very much like the Beatles, and I didn't realize what the Mersey was until this cruise! I really wish I could have met you - we were rushed to the bus, and I didn't get a chance to look.

Edited June 16, 2012 by nostalgiaguru

[Mrs Moho]

Technology:eek::eek:!!!!

 

Will have to do them separately - hey I'm over 50 and that's all I'm going to admit too!!!!

 

 

Maureen

 

Haha - forgot about the edit button!!!!!

 

Edited June 16, 2012 by Mrs Moho

[Woobstr112G]

OP;

 

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to post it. Ireland sure is a beautiful country.....:):):)

 

Bob

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk HD

[Cruzin-K]

Sigh! I think I am going to have to figure a way to squeeze a British Isles cruise into my plans in the next few years. I've never even looked twice at them, because I have been to England numerous times and have family there. I figure, I can fly over there, have free lodging, and take my time to see various parts of the country without having to cram a city into 7 hours of a cruise stopover.

 

Well, trouble is that most of the places this cruise visited (also, places other cruise lines go), I would probably not include on a family land-based vacation. I'd spend all my time in Yorkshire and Suffolk, and miss out on a lot.

 

I would love to visit all those Titanic history ports.

[DeloreanGirl]

Maureen -- the videos are GREAT!! I have bookmarked them so that I can send them to family and friends. Photos can only do so much, but to have the footage is even better!

 

To sum up what I thought of Britain is best displayed in this clip from our popular American show, "Family Guy"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aceKGiIyXRg

 

Typing up "Belfast" now...

Edited June 16, 2012 by DeloreanGirl

[Mrs Moho]

Thanks Emily - I think you are being very gracious but at least you can say - I was on that ship!!! by the way, it wasn't me singing on one of those videos - trust me, the world is not ready for that!!

 

Quick question, and maybe a stupid question, as we have just made a start on packing, did they do the Ultimate Deck Party? I can hear the groans and comments now - are you mad!! deck party in the North Sea!! But hey, got to think positive thoughts and on another positive thought - the drinks will keep cool:cool:

[DeloreanGirl]

!

 

Quick question, and maybe a stupid question, as we have just made a start on packing, did they do the Ultimate Deck Party? I can hear the groans and comments now - are you mad!! deck party in the North Sea!! But hey, got to think positive thoughts and on another positive thought - the drinks will keep cool:cool:

 

I didn't hear or see anything about an Ultimate Deck Party. There might have been one, but I truly didn't see anything mentioned. It was so quiet leaving Southampton that it either didn't happen or it was very silent! We were fortunate enough to have sun while leaving so that was a plus. :rolleyes:

[Mrs Moho]

I didn't hear or see anything about an Ultimate Deck Party. There might have been one, but I truly didn't see anything mentioned. It was so quiet leaving Southampton that it either didn't happen or it was very silent! We were fortunate enough to have sun while leaving so that was a plus. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks Emily, sorry, the Ultimate Deck Party was held on one of the nights at sea, but I suppose being in the Caribbean it made it more practical, mind due, we did have to give up eventually as it was raining, as we would say here - cats and dogs - please don't ask me what it means other than it was VERY heavy rain and the night was abandoned but continued inside in Skywalkers - not that we saw it:D

[DeloreanGirl]

Thanks Emily, sorry, the Ultimate Deck Party was held on one of the nights at sea, but I suppose being in the Caribbean it made it more practical, mind due, we did have to give up eventually as it was raining, as we would say here - cats and dogs - please don't ask me what it means other than it was VERY heavy rain and the night was abandoned but continued inside in Skywalkers - not that we saw it:D

 

Whoops, you're right. It is at night. I still don't remember hearing about it but if you stumble across my Princess Patters link on Photobucket, it may have been listed in the Patter.

 

We only experienced it "raining cats and dogs" (yep, we use that phrase here) our first day in London. I called our cruise "The Finger of God" cruise because every day granted us with exceptionally great weather. I have no clue how that's possible for 12 straight days in the UK. ;)

Edited June 16, 2012 by DeloreanGirl