Live From - 5/12/13 British Isles Caribbean Princess

[ccrain]

Thanks for the updates!

 

We have this trip planned for 2014. We are taking our teenagers along as well so we need two cabins. In your opinion, is a balcony worth the splurge on such a busy itinerary? We love balconies but I'm not sure how much you get to use them on this trip with the weather and all the time off ship.

 

Any advice would be appreciated!

 

 

Thanks.

 

If you are familiar with an inside or O/V and comfortable, you really don't use a balcony that much, however, in my case, Judy sat in Paul and Elizabeth's inside cabin for a while and decided she could never stand an inside and had to have the fresh air at least available. So for us, a balcony is a minimum.

 

But we've never used our balcony for more than a few minutes because of the cold and there really is no scencie viewing like Alaska on this itin.

 

Hope that helps...

[ccrain]

It seemed extremely windy when we were in Kirkwall last summer. The guide said it was always at least as windy as it was that day and usually worse! That was why no trees grow there. So does that mean that every ship will have the same problem leaving the dock? Seems a bit ominous to me....

.

 

A lot of people don't realize the force involved when the wind hits the side of the ship. That's what essentially saved the Costa Concordia from completely capsizing - the wind blew her back into shallow water.

 

Our captain certainly earned his pay getting us off the Kirkwall dock!

 

But I think they will now have tugs available to help pull the ship off the dock from now on. If the wind would have been higher, I don't think the thrusters would have moved us at all!

[ccrain]

DH and I are so enjoying your posts - in particular, the one detailing your Normandy excursion. We will be on the same cruise leaving July 10 and hubby is so thrilled to be able to visit Normandy. He read your post with tears in his eyes.

 

Hoping the weather will improve a bit by July - at least maybe be a bit less windy! I sincerely hope you can make Guernsey. It is a port that is frequently missed due to high winds & seas. We did the Underground Tunnels tour when we were there and it was just awesome. We did basically this same cruise 2 years ago on HAL but that itinerary did not incude Le Havre (Normandy) so when we saw a flash sale on our e-mail from Princess - we grabbed it right away. We were fortunate enough to be in Edinburgh for the Scottish Tatoo which was stunning!

 

Can't wait for your next "Live from..." and may you all continue to enjoy your fabulous trip (....and keep those cell phones charged up! ;)).

 

Thanks again,

 

The Landrys

Louisiana

 

I have one of those external battery packs, but forgot to take it!

[ccrain]

05-19-2013 – Glasgow, Scotland

 

We have a tour ‘Glengoyne Distillery and Whiskey Tasting’ today with Paul. Half day tour. Looking forward to learning about Scotch Whiskey and tasting same. As usual we are starting our day off in the IC drinking coffee, chatting and talking to the girls down here.

 

The weather this morning is overcast, a bit of fog, cool. Pretty much the same as the past few weeks since we left Florida. But we expected this type of weather. We actually expected more rain than we have had, but it hasn’t been that big a problem.

 

BTW, they fixed the back elevators. You only have to push two buttons to call all four – one of the outside elevators and one for the center two elevators – and, very important, only the outside two go all the way from 6 to 18. The center two go from 7 to 15.

 

As we were traveling around Scotland yesterday we looked out our balcony and saw the QMII go by in the opposite direction. Close enough to snap several pictures. When changing for dinner, I happened out on the balcony and say a pod of Atlantic Dolphins swimming around the ship. Full breaching and diving. You could see them under the water it was so clear as they headed for the ships wake. Probably feeding time!

 

Yesterday was a relaxitating day at sea with Zumba in the morning, the cooking show, a very nice Mexican buffet for Lunch in Café caribe, dancing at night in the wheelhouse, a light snack in the IC for dinner, then to bed. Nothing overly exciting, just enjoying ourselves and chilling out.

 

The cooking show is highly recommended. Its a variety show starring the Executive Chef, matre de and their various staff members. They sing, they dance, they do a little cooking, a little standup, throwing of food around. It’s a hoot, but get there early, it was SRO in the theater. Since we had just come from Zumba, we stood in the back and watched the show from the top.

 

The Mexican buffet was excellent with fajitas, chips and guacamole with salsa and fresh diced jalapenos, mmmm, good burritos, great el pollo loco, a real nice break from the normal menu. Again, note that specialty buffets are listed in the patter on the back page next to the restaurant opening times.

 

Since last night was formal night, Club Fusion was tied up with the CC party, so we stuck to the wheelhouse and the CJS band that had a good ballroom set. A simple light snack in the IC was the perfect dinner. Their soups and salads are a great way to have a reasonably light dinner quickly rather than doing the dining room. Since we will be getting back late today, we will probably do dinner in the dining room.

 

Greenock arrival is at 0700, all aboard at530PM.

 

The patter looks pretty good for today. For those staying on board, there are the two trivias, the movie is the ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, a Scattegories game, a basketball free throw challenge and a musical Scottish show at 415, which we will miss as we taste our way through Scottish Whiskey.

 

For tonight the ballroom dance class is Merengue at 7, a Name that Tune game at 715, fudge sampling at Vines, a Multi Media Trivia at 815. Headline entertainment is Alfred and Seymour, a comedy team, at 815 and 10, we will probably make the 10 show, while Paul Burton has a singalong in Explorers at 815. The country and western hoe down is at 915. Music and dancing basically start at 1015 and later.

 

So that’s the preview of the day in Greenock/Glasgow. Now to take our last look and taste of Scotland…

[Shogun]

Hi ccrain

 

You are so lucky to be in Greenock today,

 

yesterday it was a day of floods, non stop heavy rain,

 

Greenock has a nice sailaway party, bag pipes dancers etc,

 

if weather good you have an hour of great views

 

out to sea.

 

yours Shogun

[Woobstr112G]

05-19-2013 – Glasgow, Scotland

 

We have a tour ‘Glengoyne Distillery and Whiskey Tasting’ today with Paul. Half day tour. Looking forward to learning about Scotch Whiskey and tasting same. As usual we are starting our day off in the IC drinking coffee, chatting and talking to the girls down here.

 

The weather this morning is overcast, a bit of fog, cool. Pretty much the same as the past few weeks since we left Florida. But we expected this type of weather. We actually expected more rain than we have had, but it hasn’t been that big a problem.

 

BTW, they fixed the back elevators. You only have to push two buttons to call all four – one of the outside elevators and one for the center two elevators – and, very important, only the outside two go all the way from 6 to 18. The center two go from 7 to 15.

 

As we were traveling around Scotland yesterday we looked out our balcony and saw the QMII go by in the opposite direction. Close enough to snap several pictures. When changing for dinner, I happened out on the balcony and say a pod of Atlantic Dolphins swimming around the ship. Full breaching and diving. You could see them under the water it was so clear as they headed for the ships wake. Probably feeding time!

 

Yesterday was a relaxitating day at sea with Zumba in the morning, the cooking show, a very nice Mexican buffet for Lunch in Café caribe, dancing at night in the wheelhouse, a light snack in the IC for dinner, then to bed. Nothing overly exciting, just enjoying ourselves and chilling out.

 

The cooking show is highly recommended. Its a variety show starring the Executive Chef, matre de and their various staff members. They sing, they dance, they do a little cooking, a little standup, throwing of food around. It’s a hoot, but get there early, it was SRO in the theater. Since we had just come from Zumba, we stood in the back and watched the show from the top.

 

The Mexican buffet was excellent with fajitas, chips and guacamole with salsa and fresh diced jalapenos, mmmm, good burritos, great el pollo loco, a real nice break from the normal menu. Again, note that specialty buffets are listed in the patter on the back page next to the restaurant opening times.

 

Since last night was formal night, Club Fusion was tied up with the CC party, so we stuck to the wheelhouse and the CJS band that had a good ballroom set. A simple light snack in the IC was the perfect dinner. Their soups and salads are a great way to have a reasonably light dinner quickly rather than doing the dining room. Since we will be getting back late today, we will probably do dinner in the dining room.

 

Greenock arrival is at 0700, all aboard at530PM.

 

The patter looks pretty good for today. For those staying on board, there are the two trivias, the movie is the ‘Silver Linings Playbook’, a Scattegories game, a basketball free throw challenge and a musical Scottish show at 415, which we will miss as we taste our way through Scottish Whiskey.

 

For tonight the ballroom dance class is Merengue at 7, a Name that Tune game at 715, fudge sampling at Vines, a Multi Media Trivia at 815. Headline entertainment is Alfred and Seymour, a comedy team, at 815 and 10, we will probably make the 10 show, while Paul Burton has a singalong in Explorers at 815. The country and western hoe down is at 915. Music and dancing basically start at 1015 and later.

 

So that’s the preview of the day in Greenock/Glasgow. Now to take our last look and taste of Scotland…

 

I hope you enjoy your time in Scotland.....:):):)

 

Bob

[GarakDS9]

05-19-2013 – Glasgow, Scotland

 

For tonight the ballroom dance class is Merengue at 7, a Name that Tune game at 715, fudge sampling at Vines, a Multi Media Trivia at 815. Headline entertainment is Alfred and Seymour, a comedy team, at 815 and 10, we will probably make the 10 show, while Paul Burton has a singalong in Explorers at 815. The country and western hoe down is at 915. Music and dancing basically start at 1015 and later.

 

So that’s the preview of the day in Greenock/Glasgow. Now to take our last look and taste of Scotland…

 

 

Thank you for your trip report. I have been following closely as it will be our turn this August. I hope you enjoyed Alfred and Seymour. They were on our very first DCL cruise and remain one of our favorites.

[ccrain]

05-20-2013 – Belfast Morning

 

What a great port of call Greenock was. Judy and I decided to explore the town outside the port a bit before our afternoon excursion to the Glengoyne distillery. This port is about as easy to get out of and get into town as there could ever possibly be. We basically could have turned left at the light crossed the street at the crosswalk and walked straight down the main drag into the mall, which contains all kinds of shops including several Pound type stores, think dollar stores, and retail shops of all kind. A little north of the mall is a huge Tesco super grocery store. Everything you could possibly want, ATMs, banks, post offices, pubs, clothing, you name it within a mile of where the ship docks. (The crew had apparently gotten the word as they were off in droves to do their shopping.)

 

However, instead of going straight to the shops, we turned right at the light, right at the next light and meandered down the Esplanade next to the water, chatting with various locals who were walking their dogs, admiring the tulips, watching fish in the water and in general just getting in our morning exercise while soaking in the local vibe. It was very misty, foggy, cool, perfect for walking, but not so good for sightseeing. When we reached the end of the Esplanade, we walked back to town on one of the main roads checking out flower gardens and house architecture. We visited Poundland for some water and some goodies for some of the crew we’ve been spending so much time with. Loaded down we went back on board through the terminal which has several stores set up for souvenirs and a Scottish clan desk to find your ancestral clan crest and tartan. There is also a Glengoyne booth in case you want to get some single malt before boarding.

 

After a really tasty Hungarian Beef Stew in the IC for lunch, along with a pot of Ginger Twist tea, we were ready for the Glengoyne Whiskey tour. (A coffee card also entitles you to unlimited signature teas, of which the Ginger Twist decaf tea is one of my favorite.) Single malt homemade Scotch whiskey. Made the old fashioned way, without computers, without a lot of modern technology. Only about a million bottles a year and they have to wait 10 to 35 years to sell it. We tasted 10 year old to start the tour, and 18 year to finish it. Now I’d like to tell you how great it was, but I am not a wine person, nor am I a Scotch whiskey person. I could taste the difference and the 18 year old was smoother and sweeter and tastier than the 10 year old. (Judy, my martini drinker, did inform me that she could develop of taste for the 18 year old. At over $100 a bottle, I am going to make sure she never does…) But I am a mixed drink person and will always be, but what struck me was the passion and pride these people took in their product, and the care they took to make sure they produced the very best. That kind of dedication really strikes a cord in me.

 

It is really a small distillery with only three retorts and they don’t use the barley malting floor anymore, but the huge wooden mash barrels, made out of Pacific Pine, were the larger than we expected. The tour was really informative and interesting. Highly recommended.

 

After the tour we drove to the shores of Loch Lomond through the various valleys and glens on the backroads. An interesting tour of rural Scotland. Not quite as rural as Invergordon, but rural as in the New England area of the US, and looking very similar. At the Loch we actually caught the tail end of a farmer’s market and immediately hit the bakery booth for some fresh homemade scones, fudge and cakes. (More goodies for the girls.) We also ran into one couple with an 11 week old yellow lab puppy, upon which we had to talk for a while about dogs, the area, Scotland, the states. The people are really friendly in this area and once you break the ice, whether it be over a scone or a puppy, it’s a real treat to interact with them.

 

Once again, this tour is highly recommended.

 

Our plans on the ship were loose tonight with the Comedy Act of Alfred and Seymour being the highlight. These two guys we’ve seen before. They are the only pair of African American comedians we’ve seen on Princess. Their show is high energy and fast. If one joke doesn’t work, they throw 6 more out faster than you can blink. It was a good show, not falling in the aisle great, but good.

 

We did not make it to the Country Western night as both of our feet needed a bit of break after the 8 miles of foot work today.

 

So this morning is Belfast and we are just now docking. It is cloudy, but I see some signs of blue sky here and there. In any event we will prepare for rain. No tours scheduled today. We are planning to go to town and just wander around. Probably via shuttle, if one is here, or taxi. We will see how the morning goes.

 

From the patter this morning. Arrival at 0800, all aboard at 530. Two trivias today, the afternoon movie is “Promised Land”. Tonight’s highlights are ‘Born to Be Wild’ the production show starring the pink Cadillac. By reducing the shows to 35 minutes, they are fitting three shows in one night, 7, 815 and 10. Les Miserables is on at MUTS, dance class is at 715 with Swing II. Dancing with S-Sounds is at 715 with CJS as the wheelhouse starting at 745. The evening game show is Jeopardized Trivia. The casino opens at 1030 for the first time in days, so that will be interesting.

 

That’s it for the day so far, now to finish some coffee and have some breakfast…

[ccrain]

Our plans for dublin are to do it on our own using the $16 R/T shuttles to downtown. However, for those interested in tours, I will repost our excursion details from the transatlantic part of this cruise.

[ccrain]

So today, we took tour 150A, the tour through Dublin and then down to Glendalough. GREAT tour. Nice bus, great driver, guide, lunch, weather and the sights. Could not ask for any more than that. We even got in about an hour late and enjoyed it.

 

The tour started with a drive in and around the city center, up and down the streets, across the various bridges and then over to Christchuch Cathedral. It was a great once over of the city and it showed how close things are together. We should have no trouble getting around in the morning or next week when we return. The Cathedral was impressive, with gothic architecture, an incredible crypt, very interesting stained glass windows and a lot of history. We wandered around the upstairs for a while as the guide gave us the highlights. We could have spent a couple of hours in the upstairs, but the crypt was the highlight. More like a grotto, complete with coffee shop and pub. The largest crypt in Ireland or England.

 

We then drove south on the Motorway after fighting through Dublin traffic for almost an hour. Once out of town, the weather, which had been misty, rainy, overcast and dreary, started to break into blue sky and some sunshine. We stopped at the Weavers, a wool hand weaving factory and did a little tour for about 30 minutes. It’s a real shame that natural wool, which is incredible soft, durable, warm, and a renewable resource, has been superseded by the artificial fabrics. Their artistry and attention to detail on the fabrics they create is incredible.

 

Lunch was served at a 400 year old hotel out in the forests, across from a golf course and a beautiful river. (I’ll have to get the name from the photos.) A great vegetable soup to start with, Turkey, ham stuffing, mashed potatoes, whole potatoes, vegetables, a cheesecake dessert, accompanied by a glass of Guinness was the menu and was one of the best lunches we’ve ever had on an excursion. By this time the sun was shining and the sky was blue. A little wind, but a beautiful day.

 

We then traveled over backcountry roads to Glendalough, valley of two lakes, and the Monastic ruins of St Kelvin. The ruins date back to the 10th to 12th century and consist of a perfectly preserved 100 foot tower, a roofless church/cathedral, a smaller completely intact, church and tower, both with a stone roof, and a cemetery dating back to the 1400’s. Essentially a small village complete with stone fences/walls, all with a great view up the valley towards the twin lakes. In the blue sky, absolutely breathtaking views of the surrounding forests and hills, that were only enhanced by first the thunderheads blowing up overhead, then the rain and hail shrouding the upper valley as it stormed towards us. Within minutes we had gone from blue sky to a deluge of rain and hail, and then just as quickly, it passed and the sun came out and the land basically glistened and glowed and smelled of freshly washed trees and grasses. The rainbow that came next was just topping on the cake!

 

Ireland at its best.

[WVBill]

Soaking up your live from as we'll be doing this cruise in Aug 2014.

 

If you mentioned it and I missed it sorry -but did you book your tours through the ship or directly?

 

thanks!!

[Mrs Booboo]

Having fun reading your posts - we're on the June 5th sailing. Going back to Orkney, do you know how long the shuttle into town takes and the frequency it runs?

[Mrs Booboo]

Couldn't figure out how to edit my post above - one other question for Edinburgh. The private shuttle was 10 GBP each way per person? If so, that's double the price from last year - a post I saw from May 2012 said it was 5 GBP each way per person.

[ccrain]

Soaking up your live from as we'll be doing this cruise in Aug 2014.

 

If you mentioned it and I missed it sorry -but did you book your tours through the ship or directly?

 

thanks!!

 

Still not seasoned travelers and booking through the ship just relieves me of worrying about one more thing. At times it is more expensive, at times competitive, but they will get you back to the ship...

[ccrain]

Having fun reading your posts - we're on the June 5th sailing. Going back to Orkney, do you know how long the shuttle into town takes and the frequency it runs?

 

When we left with the first wave of the excursions, it looked like they had three busses running sequentially about 20 minutes apart once they got going. It took about 10 minutes to get into town.

[ccrain]

Couldn't figure out how to edit my post above - one other question for Edinburgh. The private shuttle was 10 GBP each way per person? If so, that's double the price from last year - a post I saw from May 2012 said it was 5 GBP each way per person.

 

The prices I saw were on a sign the dispatcher was holding up. It had 10 next to Edinburgh. I didn't enquire any further to determine wether it was round trip or one way. But with the price of fuel and the distance, I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't 10 each way.

[ccrain]

05-21-2013 – Dublin Morning

 

Belfast was a real treat. They treated us quite well. While having coffee, we saw that the Belfast people had set up a table in the Piazza. Not only were they handing out maps, things to do list and the tourist booklets, they had a free shuttle bus from the ship to Donegall Place running every 10 minutes from 0900 to 1100, 20 minutes from 1100 to 1500 and back to every 10 minutes from 1500 to 1700. Double decker city busses. It was great being able to, within 10 minutes, be in the heart of the city just a few hundred yards north of City Hall. Almost everything in the city was in walking distance from that point.

 

You could actually walk from the port to the city. It was about 2 miles, but it did have side walks all the way, and it wasn’t very scenic. Better to ride the bus, then spend time walking around the city. Taxis were available as well at the port, and once you got off the shuttle bus there were dozens of hawkers selling all kinds of tours – the HOHO, the titanic tour, castle tours, etc. Not pushy though. One ‘no’ sufficed.

 

The souvenir shop was right across the street as well. We spent quite a while walking around the city center, looking at the architecture and statuary and then ended up in city hall. Really good non-political exhibits about the history of Belfast and Northern Ireland. The stained glass in the city hall was incredible and it was all FREE. Free shuttle, free tours, free walkabout, free sights. Can’t beat free and since we were pretty tired of riding Princess busses, it was a great break and a more leisurely way to see the city.

 

After our “tour” we had a light lunch at the IC. The soup was a bean soup. Not as good as the Hungarian beef stew the day before, but pretty good for a light lunch. We needed light because it was Italian Night in the dining rooms. Paul and Elizabeth had asked their Palm Dining staff if we could join them. As usual it was no problem even though we were Anytime and they were Early Seating. They squeezed us in at 545. Since it was Italian night, it was Lemoncello night. Tasty as usual. Eggplant parmesan, although they call it something different on the menu now since the eggplant is grilled, not fried, and the Brasato. The eggplant was excellent and the Brasato as good as I remembered it with the little Polenta cakes and a red wine sauce to die for. Dessert was vanilla and chocolate ice cream smothered in Scottish whiskey cream from Loch Ness. Much, much better than Bailey’s.

 

After dinner not much was peaking our interest so we ended up dancing with Serious Sounds and then headed for bed.

 

Dublin is grey this morning. Looks like rain. (BTW, the seas have been very calm with hardly a bump or a quiver the last few nights.) We are not doing any excursions this stop, but will take the shuttle into town for a little look around and a bit of lunch and shopping. From the shuttle stop, near Grafton Street, the town is reasonably compact and easy to walk. Traffic is a beast, so you have to be careful crossing the streets. Using the crosswalks and lights is the safest bet.

 

Tonight is a new comedy headliner, Kevin Devane, which we will try and make. Jack Reacher is on MUTS. We are going to try and catch the Folkloric show in the Princess theater this time at 430. Two trivias, an UNO challenge, ‘Skyfall’ in the Princess theater, a PutPut challenge, hoops and ping pong are the afternoon things available to do.

 

The casino is back open and it is a no smoking night. There is a $60 texas holdem tournament at 8. Princess pop choir is doing a final rehearsal and a performance in the Piazza, Nat is doing a Bolero II class at 715. Dancing with CJS in wheelhouse and at 915, there is a Dance through the decades party in fusion. Last chances to get our dancing in on this cruise.

[buddymum]

We did this cruise two years ago on the Crown Princess and thoroughly enjoyed it. We Brits were in the minority and some though we were odd to be going round out own country, but we had never been to Scotland or Ireland :eek: before. Lucky you in Orkney. We spent the morning in Kirkwall and went on a trip to Scapa Flow, the Italian chapel etc in the afternoon.

 

We did the trip the other way round to you, finishing at Le Havre and visiting Anglesey instead of Cobh.

 

Really enjoying reading your reports :)

 

We are doing this cruise starting 5th june. From our roll call it would appear thst we also will be in the minority, as you say other nationallities think it strange that we brits want to sail around the uk, but it is one of our bucket list jobs. We have visited scotland before but not ireland. Also we will be in normandy on 6th june, the actual anniversary of d day landings. Say hello to the gleaming spires!!

[CRUISIN LINDA]

We are doing this cruise starting 5th june. From our roll call it would appear thst we also will be in the minority, as you say other nationallities think it strange that we brits want to sail around the uk, but it is one of our bucket list jobs. We have visited scotland before but not ireland. Also we will be in normandy on 6th june, the actual anniversary of d day landings. Say hello to the gleaming spires!!

Not very gleaming today!

 

We went past Leighton Buzzard on Sunday on the way to the Pirate Golf in Milton Keynes - good day out and lovely weather. All change today though :(

 

Hope you have a great time on your cruise - we did and would love to do it again - money permitting :rolleyes:

[sailaway1001]

I'm sailing on this cruise 6/5 and someone in our roll call told us about your posts. Thank you so much! It's all so very helpful, down to the details of your wife's layers of clothing!

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

Love reading this ..

[ccrain]

05-21-2013 Dublin Evening Update

 

Dublin was a great port to do on your own. The shuttle dropped us off just around the corner from Kilkenny, where we had an Irish breakfast, the highlight of which was the white and black pudding with fresh toasted soda bread, a perfectly cooked sunny side up egg and a portabella mushroom. Elizabeth wanted to check out some Avoca wool and get some souvenirs.

 

Now some of you might think that its weird to go out and buy food when its all ‘free’ on the ship, and we used to think the same thing when we first started cruising, but after watching Bordain, Zimmer and the rest of those traveling chefs, we like to try food in different areas, and face it, after 23 days on the ship, ship food does get a bit trying.

 

We walked around the Grafton street area checking out the shops and the sun came out giving us a blue sky afternoon. We walked through the St. Stephen’ Green park area checking out the flowers and flowering trees, along with the ducks, swans and seagulls, lots of them, in the pond area. It was a great time in Dublin.

 

We did make the Gaelic Afloat show after we got back. Irish music and dancing, but the highlight for us was the pipe player. He played three different sized Irish whistles and an elbow pipe – an Irish bagpipe. The tunes out of that instrument were haunting and melodic. You could hear and feel green hills, a light breeze, grey skies with a storm in the distance. You know the scene, with Maureen O’hara and John Wayne in the hills just before the rain storm.

 

The dancing was energetic and there is a particularly painful looking step where they kick with their right and while it returns they kick with their left and the two shoes hit in mid air. It sounds like it hurts. There was also a keyboard, mandolin and guitar player. It was a very good show and if you get back in time, a don’t miss for sure.

 

We also made the Kevin Devane comedy act. Finally a really funny comedian and he was British as well – we could actually understand most of his jokes! A couple went over Judy’s head, she is unfamiliar with the financial issues of Greece or the physical appearance of David Beckham’s wife, but he nailed the leg cramp issue.

 

We also did the Dancing through the decades party. Not a large turnout, but then one should not expected as Dublin is a full day port and people are getting ready for Cobh. Port day after port day can be tiring. There were, at most, 10 couples on the floor dancing at any one time. But it was still fun.

 

So this morning is Cobh. When they say the train station is close to ship they aren’t kidding. The train is sitting about 200 feet away from where I’m having coffee. Yes, that is pretty close! Because our last call at Cobh got cancelled, our excursion was cancelled as well and we did not rebook as the one we were interested in was filled up. So instead, we will wander around Cobh today. The town is really close and we can probably get some great fish and chips or Irish Stew for lunch.

 

Typical patter schedule for those staying aboard, Two trivias, Lincoln is the afternoon movie and a Zumba class at 415 this afternoon. We will try and make that one. Docking was at 0708 and all aboard is 430 this afternoon. The production show tonight is Piano Man. A repeat of Kevin Devane in Explorers, MUTS is Parental Guidance. Nat is doing a Tango II class. The balloon drop party is at 1030 tonight in the Piazza. Liars club is at 930.

 

Well, the cruise is winding down now. Tomorrow is the final port of Guernsey. Friday is disembarkation. Sad to be coming to the end, but back to work we must go. It will be hard to get used to getting our own coffee and food.

[buddymum]

Not very gleaming today!

 

We went past Leighton Buzzard on Sunday on the way to the Pirate Golf in Milton Keynes - good day out and lovely weather. All change today though :(

 

Hope you have a great time on your cruise - we did and would love to do it again - money permitting :rolleyes:

 

I am sure we will. This will be our 5th cruise, third with princess, 2 with celebrity, and it is the only one where we havnt had to fly. NO luggage weight restrictions or jet lag!!

[Julia’s Journey’s]

Enjoyed both live froms from your B2B and all the port details - thanks so much and safe travels :D

[Cruisin Sal]

Charles,

Thanks for the Live on both trips. I has brought many happy memories.