Ocean Princess British Isles Cruise Review -Disney Sheep Go Rogue

[Disney Sheep]

Oh, I am so sorry about the noise and lack of sleep! This would make anyone have a bad day!

 

Do you remember what the name of the mocktail in your last series of photos? I love getting them too and seem to always drift back to the strawberry daiquiri. On one cruise, one of the bartenders gave me the same fruit that you got on this as well as a slice of lime. I loved adding the lime to the top. Made the drink even better!

 

Also liked the one with chocolate and banana in it!

 

Thanks for your sympathy about our lack of sleep - trust me on the morning in Dublin I was really in rough shape!

 

The most recent mocktail was called a Tropical Blend. DS tried mine and then decided that he would order one of these each day since from his perspective they are very similar to a Banana-Orange Julius which he really likes. Technically the mocktails did not come with fruit, but the bartenders were willing to humour me once I told them I needed my mocktails to be pretty for their photo shoot by the pool :).

 

And you are correct, the darker drink was called a Chocobanana

[Disney Sheep]

The August 1, 2015 cruise goes to Londonderry and is in port in Edinburgh only overnight for the passengers can return from the Tattoo. This is the cruise that they advertise.

 

The August 9 and 17, 2015, cruise goes to Milford Haven, Wales and spends 2 days in Edinburgh.

 

I must have checked out the same cruise that Ontheweb did, since I thought that Princess was no longer going to Milford Haven. Although Milford Haven will be coming up soon, I highly recommend that you book an excursion to somewhere that isn't Milford Haven, unless you are interested in treating that day like a modified sea day!

[Disney Sheep]

After our rough night due to disturbed sleep, it was really tough to get moving in the morning. Although it was still before 10 am when we got off the ship (docked), there was only one taxi waiting. All of my research had indicated that a taxi from the dock to Trinity College should cost around 10€ roughly. I was even prepared for inflation and I had factored 15€ in my cost estimate for planning purposes. However when we asked the taxi driver told us it would be 6€ each or 18€ for the 3 mile trip!!!

 

If I hadn't been so tired (from the middle of the night personal foghorn in our cabin) I would have balked and convinced DH that we should find another way. Instead since we were later than planned DH just agreed. The taxi driver even tried bogus logic on us of well look there are three of you etc, but even though I didn't know the 'rules' for taxis in Ireland, I still wasn't buying it. And what made the situation even worse was that the taxi driver then charged DH 20€ and DH just paid it!!

 

So now, I was tired and grumpy and feeling out of sorts. However in our family we try to apply the rule that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react, so I decided to not let this ruin my day. We did grab a taxi at the end of the day from almost the same place that the taxi in the morning had let us off - he quoted us 15€ as the expected cost for the trip and then read the meter at 11€. DH gave him 15€ Or more and told him to keep the change - it wasn't the money for the first taxi driver, it was the principle that bugged me.

 

Arriving in downtown Dublin, the taxi let us out by Trinity College. It was definitely an overcast day to begin with but things lightened up as it progressed and we felt the need to open jackets or remove them altogether. Since we had never been to Dublin before we decided to explore the city itself.

 

 

Our plan for Dublin was simple, although there were two or three main sites that we were interested in seeing, we decided to search out a number of Dublin's famous statues with their rather more infamous names as that would mean that we got a great overview of the downtown touristy core, which is what we wanted.

[Disney Sheep]

Trinity College. One of the reasons that we started with Trinity College was due to online reports that we should either start with the College or end with the College in order to beat the crowds. When we arrived just after 9:30 am, (thank you Princess ventilation gremlins for the lack/loss of sleep and ensuing slow start to our morning - I know, just channel 'Frozen' and let it go- however it was still really having an effect on our day at this point) there was already a huge crowd on the grounds waiting for tours, and there was a long line waiting to see the Book of Kells.

 

 

We decided to pass on seeing the book at this time and just explored the College grounds.

 

 

 

At the end of our Dublin sight seeing, we were simply too tired to attempt a visit to the Book of Kells. The buildings were neat to check out, as old buildings go, but the one that stood out the most to me was the one I dubbed 'the Marty McFly' building, because it reminded me of the 'clock tower' building in Back to the Future' :).

 

 

Next up, the Molly Malone statue or as she is commonly known, 'the Tart with the Cart'. Heading back out of the College the way we entered, we found the location where the Molly Malone statue should have been to discover that it had been moved to nearby St Andrew's church. DH immediately checked his map, while I started looking down streets, and spotted a church.

 

 

Sure enough, Molly was there and we quickly snagged a few pictures of her and with her, before we headed off in the direction of Christ Church Cathedral. On the way there, we ended up finding Dublin Castle first.

[Disney Sheep]

Dublin Castle. As you approach Dublin Castle you see a typical round castle tower with a turret, and that is pretty much the only part of the castle that appeared 'castle-y'.

 

 

Most of Dublin Castle dates from the 18th century, though a castle has stood on the site since the days of King John, the first Lord of Ireland.

 

 

Originally built as a defensive fortification for the Norman city of Dublin, it later evolved into a royal residence, resided in by the representative of the monarch. The Castle served as the seat of English, then later British government of Ireland.

 

 

Over the years parliament and law courts met at the castle before moving to new purpose-built venues.

 

 

 

It also served as a military garrison. After the signing of the Anglo-Irish Treaty in December 1921, the complex was ceremonially handed over to the newly formed Provisional Government and is now a major Irish government complex.

 

We did not choose to tour inside, but instead walked around the cobblestone square, taking pictures of the buildings and the arches, as well as the sand castles, that are part of the Dublin Castle Sand Sculpture Exhibition which is free to the public. Duthain Dealbh – meaning ‘Fleeting Sculpture’ – are a trio of artists who have created giant free standing sculptures on location every year for the past ten years. This year’s theme is ‘Bright Sparks’, inspired by the work of Irish scientists.

 

 

The sculpture of Albert Einstein was one of our favourites.

 

And yes, we spotted the 'famous' statue of Lady Justice who was not blind.

[ontheweb]

After our rough night due to disturbed sleep, it was really tough to get moving in the morning. Although it was still before 10 am when we got off the ship (docked), there was only one taxi waiting. All of my research had indicated that a taxi from the dock to Trinity College should cost around 10€ roughly. I was even prepared for inflation and I had factored 15€ in my cost estimate for planning purposes. However when we asked the taxi driver told us it would be 6€ each or 18€ for the 3 mile trip!!!

 

If I hadn't been so tired (from the middle of the night personal foghorn in our cabin) I would have balked and convinced DH that we should find another way. Instead since we were later than planned DH just agreed. The taxi driver even tried bogus logic on us of well look there are three of you etc, but even though I didn't know the 'rules' for taxis in Ireland, I still wasn't buying it. And what made the situation even worse was that the taxi driver then charged DH 20€ and DH just paid it!!

 

So now, I was tired and grumpy and feeling out of sorts. However in our family we try to apply the rule that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react, so I decided to not let this ruin my day. We did grab a taxi at the end of the day from almost the same place that the taxi in the morning had let us off - he quoted us 15€ as the expected cost for the trip and then read the meter at 11€. DH gave him 15€ Or more and told him to keep the change - it wasn't the money for the first taxi driver, it was the principle that bugged me.

 

Arriving in downtown Dublin, the taxi let us out by Trinity College. It was definitely an overcast day to begin with but things lightened up as it progressed and we felt the need to open jackets or remove them altogether. Since we had never been to Dublin before we decided to explore the city itself.

 

 

Our plan for Dublin was simple, although there were two or three main sites that we were interested in seeing, we decided to search out a number of Dublin's famous statues with their rather more infamous names as that would mean that we got a great overview of the downtown touristy core, which is what we wanted.

 

Empathizing with you over getting ripped off by a taxi cab driver in a foreign country. That happened to us once in Athens. We were tired of walking around after exploring the area of the Parthenon. There was a museum that DW wanted to see, and she really did not want to walk any more. (and she is usually very into walking.) We hailed a cab, and asked what the fare would be, and he quoted us a very reasonable rate. And then the meter began running, and the fare was MUCH, MUCH HIGHER. When we questioned it, he just grinned and said a lot of traffic. There's not much you can do when a taxi cab driver pulls a stunt like this in a foreign country.

 

We took the Princess shuttle. And went straight to Trinity College and got on the line for the Book of Kells. They had not opened yet, so the line was not too long. (Later we went back to Trinity College, and the line was extremely long.) The time waiting went quickly as I struck up a conversation with the couple in front of us who it turned out were on our ship.

 

The Book of Kells was truly impressive. Sorry you missed it, but you now have an excuse to go back to Dublin. Unfortunately, you could not take pictures. (DW did have a working camera by then since she was able to buy a new lens on the sea day between Edinburgh and Dublin.) Leaving the Book of Kells exhibit, we were then in the Library. DW got a lot of pictures there. It looked like something straight out of the Harry Potter movies.

[Disney Sheep]

Empathizing with you over getting ripped off by a taxi cab driver in a foreign country. That happened to us once in Athens. We were tired of walking around after exploring the area of the Parthenon. There was a museum that DW wanted to see, and she really did not want to walk any more. (and she is usually very into walking.) We hailed a cab, and asked what the fare would be, and he quoted us a very reasonable rate. And then the meter began running, and the fare was MUCH, MUCH HIGHER. When we questioned it, he just grinned and said a lot of traffic. There's not much you can do when a taxi cab driver pulls a stunt like this in a foreign country.

 

We took the Princess shuttle. And went straight to Trinity College and got on the line for the Book of Kells. They had not opened yet, so the line was not too long. (Later we went back to Trinity College, and the line was extremely long.) The time waiting went quickly as I struck up a conversation with the couple in front of us who it turned out were on our ship.

 

The Book of Kells was truly impressive. Sorry you missed it, but you now have an excuse to go back to Dublin. Unfortunately, you could not take pictures. (DW did have a working camera by then since she was able to buy a new lens on the sea day between Edinburgh and Dublin.) Leaving the Book of Kells exhibit, we were then in the Library. DW got a lot of pictures there. It looked like something straight out of the Harry Potter movies.

 

Although we would have liked to see the Book of Kells, I am more definitely that we missed the Rest of the library since I would have loved taking pictures of it. As you say though, it just gives us a reason to take another British Isles cruise in order to go back :).

[Disney Sheep]

Christ Church Cathedral. Walking towards the Christ Church Cathedral we were passed by an amphibious tour vehicle bearing participants in the Viking Splash tours. They were loud and they were proud - of the Viking hats they were wearing. And once DH and DS saw them, I had no chance at that point of getting them to go on a tour, even if it meant getting to rest, as in sitting in a bus that would end up sailing on the River Liffey for a short period of time and would have had a tour guide tell us about Viking history in Ireland. Instead we proceeded on to the Cathedral where we found a group of visiting school kids heading inside.

 

 

 

Joining a relatively short queue, we paid for 2 adults and one child (i.e. Under 16 years old) to enter the building. The Cathedral itself is in many respects simply a really large and well appointed church, albeit a very old one. We wandered around checking out (and since photography is allowed, taking pictures of) the amazing arches and beams in the ceiling and structures,

 

 

 

the Baptistry,

 

 

 

the quire, the stained glass windows,

 

[Disney Sheep]

The cathedral was founded probably sometime after 1028 when the Hiberno-Norse king of Dublin made a pilgrimage to Rome.

 

And at that time, the church was built on the high ground overlooking the Viking settlement.

 

In the 1170s, Strongbow, a medieval Norman-Welsh peer and warlord who came to Ireland at the request of the King and whose arrival marked the beginning of English involvement in Ireland, helped to fund a complete rebuilding of Christ Church, initially a wooden building, in stone. Which is perhaps why the cathedral contains the reputed tomb of Strongbow.

 

 

On the other side of the cathedral is the tomb of Bishop Charles Lindsay, a former Dean of Christ Church and the last to hold the position of bishop of Kildaire.

 

 

I was also intrigued by the medieval floor tiles. Apparently there are 63 patterns in all, which the Victorians copied throughout the cathedral.

 

 

 

Luckily we had picked up a kid's guide to the Cathedral since it mentioned the mummified Cat and Rat, which lead us to the crypt. Missing the crypt would have meant missing the best part of the Cathedral!

Edited October 30, 2014 by Disney Sheep

[Disney Sheep]

The medieval crypt is not only one of the largest in either Britain or Ireland, but also the oldest structure in Dublin. The crypt contains many historic artefacts that have survived there simply because they were in no ones way!

 

Statues of Charles I and Charles II

 

 

 

 

Other things fall under the categories of the wonderful and the weird.

 

Display of Historic dress

 

 

Cat and the Rat - the one presumably chasing the other , were trapped in an organ pipe in the 1860s and became mummified

 

[homeinboca]

I just read through your whole review up to the end. It was very enjoyable to travel along with you! Sounds like an amazing journey and you are so lucky to have been able to see your daughter while traveling.

 

Looking forward to the rest.

[phabric]

I have a ocean view cabin.

 

Is there a small refrigerator in the cabins?

[ontheweb]

Although we would have liked to see the Book of Kells, I am more definitely that we missed the Rest of the library since I would have loved taking pictures of it. As you say though, it just gives us a reason to take another British Isles cruise in order to go back :).

 

Good idea, using an excuse for making the trip again. And that gives me the opportunity to tell our story of repeating an itinerary because we missed something very important.

 

Our very first cruise was in 2002 to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. It was in the Western Mediterranean. In Livorno, the port for Florence and Pisa, I got us on the train going the wrong way! Luckily, DW figured it out, and we got back. In fact, we did end up with enough time to see Pisa, which is closer than Florence. But, we had missed Florence, and remember DW is world's finest elementary art teacher. Florence was important to her. I seriously thought I had blown our 25 year marriage.

 

Fast forward 10 years. I said for our 35th anniversary we should recreate our first cruise making sure we did not miss Florence. It was a different cruise line, and there was one different port (Marseilles instead of Valletta, Malta). Plus this time we stayed over one night in Barcelona. But, it was close enough to the original cruise.

 

To make sure we did not miss Florence this time, we booked a Florence on your own tour with the cruise line. DW also booked timed tickets in advance to the two major museums. Expensive, but well worth it.

 

So, the moral of the story is you can get back to see the Book of Kells and the Trinity College library.

[Kewz1]

Good idea, using an excuse for making the trip again. And that gives me the opportunity to tell our story of repeating an itinerary because we missed something very important.

 

Our very first cruise was in 2002 to celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary. It was in the Western Mediterranean. In Livorno, the port for Florence and Pisa, I got us on the train going the wrong way! Luckily, DW figured it out, and we got back. In fact, we did end up with enough time to see Pisa, which is closer than Florence. But, we had missed Florence, and remember DW is world's finest elementary art teacher. Florence was important to her. I seriously thought I had blown our 25 year marriage.

 

Fast forward 10 years. I said for our 35th anniversary we should recreate our first cruise making sure we did not miss Florence. It was a different cruise line, and there was one different port (Marseilles instead of Valletta, Malta). Plus this time we stayed over one night in Barcelona. But, it was close enough to the original cruise.

 

To make sure we did not miss Florence this time, we booked a Florence on your own tour with the cruise line. DW also booked timed tickets in advance to the two major museums. Expensive, but well worth it.

 

So, the moral of the story is you can get back to see the Book of Kells and the Trinity College library.

 

I love that you did go back to eventually see Florence!

 

There are so many places I want to return to but so many I still would like to see for the first time - the Book of Kells being on the latter list.

 

Still enjoying your TR, Yvonne!

 

Kristen

[Disney Sheep]

I just read through your whole review up to the end. It was very enjoyable to travel along with you! Sounds like an amazing journey and you are so lucky to have been able to see your daughter while traveling.

 

Looking forward to the rest.

 

Thanks for your kind comments, we were very fortunate to get to meet up with DD in Edinburgh - it felt magical. Glad to have you reading along.

[Disney Sheep]

I have a ocean view cabin.

 

Is there a small refrigerator in the cabins?

 

Although I can't really remember using the fridge, DH does remember the usual small fridge being in our balcony cabin.

[Disney Sheep]

I love that you did go back to eventually see Florence!

 

There are so many places I want to return to but so many I still would like to see for the first time - the Book of Kells being on the latter list.

 

Still enjoying your TR, Yvonne!

 

Kristen

 

I agree with you Kristen, I am glad that Ontheweb did get back to see Florence and I hope that you get to see the Book of Kells - me too :)

[Disney Sheep]

River Liffey and Ha'Penny Bridge. After the Cathedral I was on a mission to 'collect' another statue, so we headed north towards the Ha'Penny Bridge, the oldest iron bridge in Dublin, and a bridge built to replace 7 pedestrian bridges.

 

 

 

 

 

We quickly scored a few photos of the bridge and then crossed to the north side where the 'Hags with the Bags' statue is located.

 

 

Trying to snag one last photo of the bridge, this time I got photo bombed by a 'beach chicken'!

 

[Disney Sheep]

At this juncture we headed for the General Post Office (GPO), the site of the start of the 1916 Easter Rising.

 

 

Although we headed inside, it was mostly just a post office, since we didn't really have enough time - or the inclination, to check out the museum side of the GPO. There was a statue there dedicated to the Uprising, along with a green mailbox (for which Ireland is famous).

 

 

Outside I noticed gouges in the pillars, which were probably the infamous bullet holes as a result of the uprising, however I don't think that DH or DS saw them. To be honest however, I was so fixated on the GPO that I did not see the statue of James Joyce with his walking stick, apparently commonly referred to as the 'prick with the stick' that is apparently near the GPO.

 

 

There was also 'the Spire' further down the street, on the spot where the Nelson monument used to be, but for some reason I did not take a picture.

[Disney Sheep]

Next I wanted to head towards St Stephen's Green looking for more statues, so DH lead us there along Grafton Street which ends at St Stephen's Green. Grafton St and St Ann's St are the main pedestrian shopping streets in Dublin.

 

 

These streets were very very busy with huge crowds of people, or perhaps it just seemed that way since areas were choked with crowds watching buskers entertaining the tourists.

 

When we spotted a Marks & Spencer we stopped and picked up some gluten-free cookies and coke products in the food court to take with us to the park. And then just after that we spotted The Disney Store.

 

 

Perhaps it was the very cheesy leprechaun Mickey and Minnie in the store window, but we couldn't resist going inside.

 

 

It was a fairly large two story store, and I could not resist buying Anna and Elsa mugs from the movie 'Frozen'. They are one of our most used souvenirs since our return home.

 

 

Somewhere along Grafton St we spotted the Phil Lynott statue, commonly referred to as 'the Ace with the Bass'. Lynott was from the area and he was the frontman for the band Thin Lizzy.

 

[Disney Sheep]

With our cups safely wrapped in several layers of paper and cardboard boxes etc, we continued on to St Stephen's Green. We entered via the impressive Fusiliers' Arch at the Grafton Street corner which commemorates the Royal Dublin Fusiliers who died in the Second Boer War.

 

 

While the central park of St Stephen's Green is one of three ancient commons in the city, its current layout owes much to the restorations of the 1800s.

 

The grounds are roughly rectangular and are centred on a formal garden.

 

 

On the north side (and spanning much of the length of the park) is a large lake. Home to ducks and other water fowl, the lake is fed by an artificial water fall, spanned by O'Connell bridge, and fronted by an ornamental gazebo. The lakes in the park are fed from the Grand Canal at Portobello.

 

Apparently during the Easter Rising of 1916, a group of the Irish Citizens Army took over the park - however the British Army were able to take over the upper floors of nearby buildings and fire down upon them. In the end, the Irish Citizens Army moved to the nearby Surgeons College. AND both sides allowed a cease fire to let the grounds keeper feed the ducks!

 

 

To the south side of the main garden circle is more open heath surrounding a bandstand, and often frequented by lunching students, workers and shoppers on Dublin's sunnier days. And a bust of James Joyce facing his former university.

 

 

Other notable features include:

 

A fountain representing the Three Fates inside the Leeson Street gate.

 

[Disney Sheep]

Other notable features continued.

 

 

On one side of the park, fronting on a street is the Wolf Tone monument. Of course since it is backed by a wall that resembles an upright wall of stones, it is commonly referred to as 'Tonehenge'.

 

 

A memorial to the Great Famine of 1845–1850.

 

 

The O'Donovan Rossa memorial.

 

 

And the centrepiece of the fountain near the Fusiliers Arch entrance.

 

 

We enjoyed St Stephen's Green, including the peace and quiet we found (despite a rather huge group of French students wandering around en masse) and enjoyed our snack from M&S.

 

[phabric]

While on the Caribbean Princess in Dublin, Princess brought in Irish dancers for a show before leaving Dublin. We came back later to see the show, to only find out that they played the show over many times on the tv.

 

Did they have the dancers on the Ocean?

[Disney Sheep]

While on the Caribbean Princess in Dublin, Princess brought in Irish dancers for a show before leaving Dublin. We came back later to see the show, to only find out that they played the show over many times on the tv.

 

Did they have the dancers on the Ocean?

 

Although we were probably in the hot tub after afternoon tea by 4:30 pm, I just checked the Patter for Dublin and there was a Folkloric Show -Gaels Afloat with traditional Irish music, song and dance scheduled for the Cabaret Lounge on deck 5 Fwd at 4:30 pm.

 

5:30 pm was all aboard.

 

Hope that helps.

[Disney Sheep]

We were definitely getting tired at this point, but I really wanted to see the Oscar Wilde statue. We found out after asking in a Tourist Information Centre, that the statue was located in Merrion Park. Once again DH consulted the map and led me back past Trinity College to the park where we easily found and photographed the colourful statue of Oscar Wilde.

 

 

Mission accomplished DS and DH were happy to head us back towards Trinity College once again, this time along South Leinster St. As we walked I noticed the brightly coloured doors of the 'row housing' lining the street and realized that we were walking along the Georgian section with some of the famous 'Doors of Dublin'. As I walked I aimed my camera at each door I spotted and shot a quick single photo and kept moving, since I was thinking that DS would come back and drag me along if I was silly enough to try to slow him down.