Review and Travel Journal of Our Regal Cruise to England/Guernsey/Ireland/Scotland and Wales-A Crowning Achievement

[Lady Arwen]

11 minutes ago, Crown Vic said:

Och aye! Don’t forget the turnips aka Nips or Neeps! Delicious with a wee dram! Cheers!

And cheers to you, as well!  We’ll be in Edinburgh, Invergordon and Glasgow in September.  Can’t wait!

[catgirl411]

On 5/11/2023 at 6:33 PM, JimmyVWine said:

Day 1 (Continued)

After several glasses it was time to make our way to dinner.  We had a “Same time each night” reservation at Concerto on Deck 6 mid-ship at 7:20.  We arrived on night one and found no line whatsoever.  When we tapped in and were greeted by the hostess, was asked if we could be seated in Arthur’s section.  Arthur was our lead waiter back in October and told us that his last week onboard would be the first week of May, and we promised that we would look him up.  The hostess sighed and said that Arthur ended his contract yesterday, so perhaps he had his dates mixed up.  Not to worry, she said that she would find us a table in the same general area with servers she knew we would enjoy.  I said that was fine, as long as the table was toward the back of the restaurant, away from the front door.  She walked us to a table toward the back left of the restaurant, four tables away from the starboard side windows.  All of the tables closer to the windows were set for two.  We had a lovely dinner and wonderful service, and when the hostess came to check on us, I used that opportunity to tell her that we were very satisfied and would love to have that table for the remainder of the cruise.  She said that she could do one better and push two of the tables for two that were closer to the windows together if we were willing to move our reservation to 7:30 and we agreed.  So for the rest of the cruise, we had the same table and same servers, one table away from nice big windows.  

 

Now a word on Dine My Way.  There are lots of complaints here.  But it could not have worked out better for us and everyone around us.  By night 4 we came to the realization that every single table within eyeshot of us was occupied by the same people at the same time each night.  Tables for 8, 6, 4, 2, our group of 3 and the 3 ladies next to us all had the same tables and same servers for the whole cruise, and no one waited in line for as much as a minute.  One night I walked by both the Symphony and Concerto dining rooms at 6:15 just to gauge how the crowds were faring and neither restaurant had so much as two people waiting in line.  And then the same night at 7:30 when we arrived, it was the same thing.  On the first Formal Night I took out my phone and took this picture just to capture the “longest” line that I had seen the entire trip.  5 people in the No Reservation line and 2 people in the Reservation line.  And it wasn’t as if they were stagnant there.  All groups you see were seated within seconds of me snapping this shot.   

 

 

I cannot tell you how other ships are handling crowds, but I stand by what I said in October and it was even more evident on this cruise.  Regal knows what it is doing.  Perhaps part of this is due to so many people asking for the same table each night.  If everyone has the same table at the same time each night, then everyone just bypasses the check-in area and heads straight to their table which is exactly how Traditional Dining used to work.  I maintain that Dine My Way can achieve the same result, and no one who was on this cruise could contend otherwise.  There simply were never any lines that I could see.  [Caveat:  I never checked the lines between 5:00-5:30.  We were off doing other things.  So I suppose the early diners could have encountered something that I did not see.  But from 6:00-8:30 each night, no lines gathered that would cause anyone any concern.

 

As for the food, rest easy folks, as the Fettuccini Alfredo was on the menu every single night.  Sometimes it was in the main menu area and sometimes it was listed as a Princess favorite.  A note on the favorites.  In the past, Princess had a more or less stagnant set of “Available Everyday” options.  This has changed to “Princess Favorites and the dishes rotate.  But some things were there every day, including the Fettuccine, the French Onion Soup and the Strip Steak.  So if you are fearing the demise of those, rest easy as they were available every single day.

 

I had the Fettuccini the first night as I did not know that it would be available every night until later in the cruise. Thinking that this might be my only chance, I jumped on it.  I had it once more during the cruise and S had it once or twice as well.  On this first night, rather than receiving “al dente” pasta, mine was “al crunchy.”  Still, the sauce was spot on and it didn’t stop me from devouring it.  K had the Romaine and Kale Caesar salad and S had Peroshkies as her first course.  Everyone gave a thumb’s up for their choices. 

 

For Mains, I had Short Ribs, S had Seafood Stew and K was brave and tried the Cajun Fried Chicken.  My meal was tasty although the tough membrane that connects the meat to the bone was left on and presented a challenge.  I always cut this off in the kitchen when I prepare short ribs as no diner should have to navigate that inedible mass.  That said, the meat itself was excellent.  S enjoyed her seafood stew, but K regretted her choice of the fried chicken.  The flavor was fine, and the meat was tender. But there was no crunch to the skin which is a hallmark of fried chicken.  With our meals we ordered glasses of the Silverado Cabernet which was priced at $18 per glass. The servers brought the pours in standard glasses, and we transferred the wine to our glasses ourselves.

 

On to dessert.  K had cheesecake which she enjoyed, and S had “Banoffee” cake with which she was familiar but was new to me.  Two winners.  I had to see what all the clamor was about and insisted on seeing for myself what the fuss was with the new “Love Boat Dream.”  Take every negative thing that has been said about that abomination and multiply it by 10.  It is now known in our household as the “Shipwreck Nightmare.”  The raspberry mousse was tasteless; the chocolate layer was a gelatinous mess; and it sat atop a “biscuit” that could only be described as hardtack suitable for a deckhand aboard a whaling ship.  One bite was all I could stand, and I left the rest visibly present as a sign of protest.  When the table of 8 got up and left that night, I say 3 uneaten orders of the Shipwreck Nightmare, so clearly many messages were being sent to the kitchen.  We were able to laugh about it, but honestly, somebody has got to get through to HQ and get this fixed.  I say this not as someone who abhors change and is disappointed only in the new recipe (which honestly, I thought was the cause of most of the angst).  No.  I say this as someone who has fully operational tastebuds.  To get this foul taste out of my mouth, we needed to head to a lounge or entertainment venue and order more drinks.  That will be the next installment.    

A word on the short ribs. Had them on Royal Princess in August 2022 and again on Emerald in December 2022. Both times they were virtually inedible because of the membrane. Yes, the actual meat and sauce is tasty but you have to seriously struggle to get at it.  IMHO an epic fail.  

[phabric]

We had the ribs on the Caribbean Princess in Feb, could not eat them, hard.

[nini]

1 hour ago, catgirl411 said:

A word on the short ribs. Had them on Royal Princess in August 2022 and again on Emerald in December 2022. Both times they were virtually inedible because of the membrane. Yes, the actual meat and sauce is tasty but you have to seriously struggle to get at it.  IMHO an epic fail.  

 

Evidently they are not removing the membrane before cooking.

[JimmyVWine]

Day 6-Greenock (For Glasgow and the Highlands) (Continued)

With lunch over, it was time to head back to the van for more touring.  Our next point of interest was not mentioned as a stop along the tour, but a fun cinematic detour none the less.  The drive to Stirling Castle takes you close to another castle, (although to be honest, any right or wrong turn in Scotland probably takes you nearby another castle), that of Doune Castle.  For those who are familiar with the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, (and, c’mon, who isn’t) or the Starz television show “Outlander”, you have seen this castle as a backdrop.  Just because I cannot resist, here is the castle being defended by French soldiers, and a few unfortunate cows:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1TGsFCDrjQ

 

And a still from Outlander. 

 

 

 

Earlier I had mentioned that it often pays to tour with a local guide, and that Dave was as local as they get, familiar with and to most everyone in the local tourism industry.  And here it paid off.  Given the recent popularity of this castle owing to the international popularity of Jamie and Claire, the road leading up to the parking lot and parking lot itself are limited to paying customers who play on paying the fee to tour the grounds and enter the castle.  We didn’t really have time for that, but Dave promised us that he would try to sweet talk his way past the attendant at the lot if we were lucky enough to have that attendant be one of his friends.  Luck was indeed on our side and he negotiated a deal where he would swing the van into the parking lot, have anyone who was interested quickly exit the van as if to storm the castle, so that he could then pivot back out to the main road for a couple of minutes.  We would then have 5 minutes or so to take photos when Dave would then come back to the car park where we would hurriedly reboard the van as if we had stolen something.  Seemed like a plan, and it was well executed.  So in the 5 minutes or so that we were on the grounds, I managed to get a few shots of the castle without having a cow dropped on my head.

 

 

 

No sign of the French soldier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before long we arrived at the star castle of the tour, Stirling Castle.  Begun in the late 1200s, the castle has since been added on to and holds pretty much the entire history of the Scottish conflict with England within its walls.  Way too much history to go into here, and frankly, if one tours the castle and reads all of the historical information contained therein, a visit of 6 hours would hardly be enough.  It was no wonder why S said that she wanted to revisit the castle even though she had been there before.  Now that I have been once, I do too.  The castle is far to vast for any photo to do it justice, and a bit of rain started to fall, so I did not keep my camera out for very long for exterior shots.

 

 

 

The weather was conducive, however, for the full bloom of Spring to take hold here as well.

 

 

 

And while I try to take photos without people in them if at all possible, I did inadvertently snap one off with S in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from the castle walls is impressive, and it is easy to see why this location was chosen for its defensive advantage.

 

 

 

With the threat of rain looming, we opted to take a self-guided tour of the Royal Apartments to see how 1% from the 14^th Century lived.  The ceilings and fireplaces stood out as the most ornate and opulent features.

 

 

 

 

 

In some rooms there are period interpreters who will speak with you in the voice of a castle attendant of the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the time came to reassemble at the van, we met back up with Dave to begin the last leg of the journey.  The trip from Stirling Castle back to Greenock is mostly highway and the tour suggested a quick stop in Glasgow if time allowed.  But time did not allow owing to building traffic and the promise to return to the ship in plenty of time.  This presented us with no grave disappointment because as noted earlier, Glasgow was not at all a focal point of our day.  But the highway we took did pass straight through the city so anyone who wanted to say that they had ”seen” Glasgow could do so without telling a lie.  But I think that most people slept for this last hour or so of the journey.  I know that I caught a few winks along the way, though I was awake for our traverse through Glasgow.

 

Meeting their promise, Discover Scotland Tours got us back comfortably, and our all-day tour absolutely lived up to expectations and then some.  I feel that we made a true friend in Always Dave and even though the ground we covered was but a wee bit of the Trossachs, it was a worthy taste that will be fondly remembered.  The best trips and tours are the ones leaving you saying: “I need to come back to this place to experience more” and this was all that and then some.  We walked back on the ship fully satisfied with our choice of tour company and their delivery on their promise.  Shipboard activities to be covered in the next post.  Until then..."Go away or I shall taunt you a second time!"

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by JimmyVWine

[adam7392]

I'm surprised being in that part of the world you didn't spot a coconut carrying European swallow.  Perhaps next time.

[Lady Arwen]

27 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

Day 6-Greenock (For Glasgow and the Highlands) (Continued)

With lunch over, it was time to head back to the van for more touring.  Our next point of interest was not mentioned as a stop along the tour, but a fun cinematic detour none the less.  The drive to Stirling Castle takes you close to another castle, (although to be honest, any right or wrong turn in Scotland probably takes you nearby another castle), that of Doune Castle.  For those who are familiar with the movie “Monty Python and the Holy Grail”, (and, c’mon, who isn’t) or the Starz television show “Outlander”, you have seen this castle as a backdrop.  Just because I cannot resist, here is the castle being defended by French soldiers, and a few unfortunate cows:

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1TGsFCDrjQ

 

And a still from Outlander. 

 

 

 

Earlier I had mentioned that it often pays to tour with a local guide, and that Dave was as local as they get, familiar with and to most everyone in the local tourism industry.  And here it paid off.  Given the recent popularity of this castle owing to the international popularity of Jamie and Claire, the road leading up to the parking lot and parking lot itself are limited to paying customers who play on paying the fee to tour the grounds and enter the castle.  We didn’t really have time for that, but Dave promised us that he would try to sweet talk his way past the attendant at the lot if we were lucky enough to have that attendant be one of his friends.  Luck was indeed on our side and he negotiated a deal where he would swing the van into the parking lot, have anyone who was interested quickly exit the van as if to storm the castle, so that he could then pivot back out to the main road for a couple of minutes.  We would then have 5 minutes or so to take photos when Dave would then come back to the car park where we would hurriedly reboard the van as if we had stolen something.  Seemed like a plan, and it was well executed.  So in the 5 minutes or so that we were on the grounds, I managed to get a few shots of the castle without having a cow dropped on my head.

 

 

 

No sign of the French soldier.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Before long we arrived at the star castle of the tour, Stirling Castle.  Begun in the late 1200s, the castle has since been added on to and holds pretty much the entire history of the Scottish conflict with England within its walls.  Way too much history to go into here, and frankly, if one tours the castle and reads all of the historical information contained therein, a visit of 6 hours would hardly be enough.  It was no wonder why S said that she wanted to revisit the castle even though she had been there before.  Now that I have been once, I do too.  The castle is far to vast for any photo to do it justice, and a bit of rain started to fall, so I did not keep my camera out for very long for exterior shots.

 

 

 

The weather was conducive, however, for the full bloom of Spring to take hold here as well.

 

 

 

And while I try to take photos without people in them if at all possible, I did inadvertently snap one off with S in the background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The view from the castle walls is impressive, and it is easy to see why this location was chosen for its defensive advantage.

 

 

 

With the threat of rain looming, we opted to take a self-guided tour of the Royal Apartments to see how 1% from the 14^th Century lived.  The ceilings and fireplaces stood out as the most ornate and opulent features.

 

 

 

 

 

In some rooms there are period interpreters who will speak with you in the voice of a castle attendant of the time.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

When the time came to reassemble at the van, we met back up with Dave to begin the last leg of the journey.  The trip from Stirling Castle back to Greenock is mostly highway and the tour suggested a quick stop in Glasgow if time allowed.  But time did not allow owing to building traffic and the promise to return to the ship in plenty of time.  This presented us with no grave disappointment because as noted earlier, Glasgow was not at all a focal point of our day.  But the highway we took did pass straight through the city so anyone who wanted to say that they had ”seen” Glasgow could do so without telling a lie.  But I think that most people slept for this last hour or so of the journey.  I know that I caught a few winks along the way, though I was awake for our traverse through Glasgow.

 

Meeting their promise, Discover Scotland Tours got us back comfortably, and our all-day tour absolutely lived up to expectations and then some.  I feel that we made a true friend in Always Dave and even though the ground we covered was but a wee bit of the Trossachs, it was a worthy taste that will be fondly remembered.  The best trips and tours are the ones leaving you saying: “I need to come back to this place to experience more” and this was all that and then some.  We walked back on the ship fully satisfied with our choice of tour company and their delivery on their promise.  Shipboard activities to be covered in the next post.  Until then..."Go away or I shall taunt you a second time!"

 

I’m having so much fun reading about your adventures!  Thank you so much, sir!

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

2 hours ago, adam7392 said:

I'm surprised being in that part of the world you didn't spot a coconut carrying European swallow.  Perhaps next time.

Well no,  you wouldn’t. Too heavy

An African swallow though…. 😜

Sorry sorry. Had to be that person 😂 

 

 

OP I’m loving your review. I have some pictures of the Regal leaving Invergorden posted on the live blog that was made of the same trip as yourself. Taken while you both were on the ship. If you would like me to also post here I can. As the Scot’s would say - it’s nae bother!

 

 

[JimmyVWine]

Day 6-Greenock (For Glasgow and the Highlands) (Continued)

After returning to the ship we headed to our cabin to swap out today’s packages for some that we had picked up in Cork.  While at the English Market we bought some cheeses, crackers and olives with the intent of having “Wine and Cheese” on board but had so far managed to skip that activity.  But we were determined to do so now while we enjoyed the delayed sailaway.  While I am thinking about it, and in the interest of full reporting, I want to mention the reboarding process.  At every port, upon our return to the ship, we went through an airport-style x-ray machine and our bags were placed in bins and sent down a conveyor belt to likewise be x-rayed.  At no time did we ever try to secrete anything that we were bringing back on board, whether that be cheese, olives, or in today’s case, unopened bottles of Irn Bru.  For those who do not know, (and I am betting that there are legions of you), Irn Bru looks all the world like a plastic bottle of Fanta Orange Soda, although the flavor of the bru contained therein tastes nothing like orange soda.  The point being that if liquids were not allowed to be brought onto the ship, surely this bright orange concoction would be found out and confiscated. And if it were, we would not shed a tear.  Long story short, nothing that we brought back on board from any port stop was examined, questioned or confiscated.  (I am not counting Southampton here, as we are strict rules followers at the port of embarkation.)  Too late to call the authorities on us now, but we managed to get cheese and olives onto the ship in Cork and Irn Bru on in Greenock.  Would the result have been different had we tried to get on bottles of Scotland’s other, more noteworthy liquid gold?  I don’t know.  We didn’t try.  But I don’t know if the security team was bothering to differentiate Irn Bru from Islay Whisky.   

 

The weather seemed good enough (just barely) for us to stake out a spot in our favorite sailaway venue which is the Outrigger Bar, aft on the Lido Deck, and the covered lounge chairs and tables nearby.  (When we went to the cabin I dropped my camera gear off in the room, so the picture below is not mine.)  

 

 

As it was already almost 6:00, some of the tables in the area had been set for dinner.  Although we doubted that many people would want to eat out here given the wind and threat of rain, we avoided any table that had been set that way and chose one that gave us a good view and set up our own little picnic.  We each got a glass of Whispering Angel from the bar and succeeded in checking off our first outdoor bar of the trip from our BINGO card.  A word on the outdoor bar.  While the size of the wine pours up to this point had been spot on, (either into our own glasses or into the thick utilitarian glasses that you get free with government cheese and then redeposited into our own glasses), the pours we received at Outrigger seemed pretty deficient.  For obvious reasons, the pour wine into plastic glasses up there.  And those glasses seem more befitting of an after-dinner glass of Port than a glass of dry wine.  Even if poured uncomfortably to the rim, the amount of wine in the glass would have been a tad short.  But we didn’t bring our glasses with us to the bar, and am not sure that they would have poured the wine into them had we done so.  I suppose that we could have secretly made the transfer, but we aren’t that obsessed.  Outdoor bar—outdoor beverageware.  I can play by those rules.  Just be forewarned that your “glass” and your volume may cause your eyebrows to raise a bit.  Also of note is that both S and I, who volunteered to get our order while K set up the cheese plate, noticed that the liquors available at this bar were more upscale and interesting than those that we had seen up to this point at most of the indoor bars.  Better Scotch.  Better Rum.  We made a mental note of that for the future.

 

Wine and cheese in hand, we alternated between sitting and standing at the rail, the latter affording us a better view to look for “runners”, or people who are rushing back to the ship before the gangways are taken down.  While doing so we saw a number of cars driving into the lot, seemingly bringing people to the ship after the announced all aboard time.  But we soon realized that the people arriving were assembling as a band, and before we knew it, we were being serenaded by a local pipe and drum band which I later researched and found out to be the “Inverclyde Pipes and Drums”.  We got a nice concert of bagpipes and drums while we enjoyed our wine and cheese, (which transition over to “cocktails and cheese” since we didn’t want any more short pours of wine in cheap plastic picnic glasses), and watched as the local dock workers heaved and ho’ed to get the lines removed from their posts to set us free from the dock.  By 7:00 it was time to go back to the room and get ready for dinner.

 

As I think I noted in earlier posts, we weren’t overly impressed with either the Formal Night nor the Dress to Impress menus.  Usually those are the “pull out all the stops” menus, and we thought that they were more like “put up all the stops” menus.  Not sure why the cadence was off, but tonight proved to be the first of two menus that were “Formal Night” worthy.  I started with a dish that I had yet to try on a Princess ship, which was the Oxtail Soup en Croute.  The broth was rich and flavorful, but if there was supposed to be braised oxtail meat in the dish, its invitation got lost in the mail.  But treated like Oxtail Consommé, it filled the role admirably and the pastry that topped the soup was tasty.  S opted for the Ginger-Carrot-Coconut Soup.  A lot going on there and she said that she enjoyed it.  K tried the Vol-au-Vent which was advertised as “overflowing with lobster and shrimp bisque.”  The pastry was excellent, but the use of the term “overflowing” was stretched past the level of truthfulness.  But the proof was in the tasting, and she said that it was very good.

 

For Mains, S and I doubled up on the Beef Wellington. We thought that it was only appropriate to have Beef Wellington in Scotland given how many episodes of “Hell’s Kitchen” we have watched and how many times we have heard Gordon Ramsay scream about that dish.  Since he was born and raised a mere 30 minute drive from Greenock, we thought that we owed it to ourselves to give that dish a try, and I will tell you that it was excellent.  My biggest fear of that dish, (perhaps owing too much from Mr. Ramsay’s protests) is that the meat will either be “raw!” or “burnt to a crisp!” fit only for the nearest bin.  But we both ordered ours medium rare and the meat was cooked spot on, and the cut was both tender and flavorful.  This was truly an exceptional dish (for a cruise ship).  And I must digress with a bit of wisdom imparted upon me by a friend who owns a vineyard and small winery.  “There is no such thing as a great wine.  Only great bottles.”  So too with food.  There is not such thing as a great menu item.  Only a great dish.  Just because ours were terrific does not mean that if you order the same dish on a different ship on a different night that yours will be too.  I can only hope that you are as fortunate as we were. 

 

K opted for the Rack of Lamb which she did with some trepidation.  Rack of Lamb is one of my specialties and K has come to measure all others by mine.  (I made it for her on Mother’s Day just to prove the point.)  That said, she said that this was a very worthy dish, that while falling short of mine, would be one that I would have been proud to have made and served.  I stole a taste and she was right.  For desserts we chose the Chocolate Tart (me-to me, “dessert” and “chocolate are synonyms, found side-by-side in any Thesaurus worth using); the Lemon Raspberry Bar (S) and the Chocoholic Cheesecake (K).  We were all very happy with our choices.  Best meal on the ship so far, not even close.

 

For our “Enchanted Evening” I offered the ladies the choice of the Illusionist in the theater or “80s Music Trivia” in Princess Live and they opted for the latter.  So we got some drinks at the Princess Live Bar, got ourselves situated and put our heads together for what we thought might be another trivia win.  And it turns out that we finished….second.  Again.  Two second place finishes in a row.  Still, this was proving to be our best trivia cruise ever.  After trivia was over, Princess Live was set up for “Karaoke Power Hour”, an event that I would typically attend  only if it was “Free Drinks Night”.  Well, it so happens that we had the Old Plus Package and were nowhere near our 15 drink limit for the day, so in essence the drinks were free.  S really enjoys karaoke. With her musical theater background, she and her friends partake back home from time to time, and she considers it to be quite fun.  As for me, S inherited her music and singing talent from my mother, the Music Major, teacher, choir director and piano instructor.  All of that talent skipped a generation.  Still, I agreed to suspend my disbelief and we sat for an hour while shipmates performed some mostly credible and occasionally torturous renditions of somewhat recognizable songs.  S was too late in the sign-up process to perform which kind of bummed me out.  Still, we had a good time and drink way too much.  Time to head back to the cabin to take on Wales the following day.  Our drink tally for the day was (and I am not proud), 9 glasses of wine and 10 cocktails.  The total out-of-pocket expense would have been $298.54.  With Plus we paid $21.24.  With Premier the total would have been $0.00  

 

    Patter Day 6.pdf

[JimmyVWine]

10 minutes ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

I have some pictures of the Regal leaving Invergorden posted on the live blog that was made of the same trip as yourself. Taken while you both were on the ship.

If the ship was leaving Invergordon, then it was not our cruise as we did not go there.  Our cruise was 4/30-5/8 and the Live thread is of the cruise right after ours.  Nevertheless, I'll take a look at them on that other thread. 

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

11 minutes ago, JimmyVWine said:

If the ship was leaving Invergordon, then it was not our cruise as we did not go there.  Our cruise was 4/30-5/8 and the Live thread is of the cruise right after ours.  Nevertheless, I'll take a look at them on that other thread. 

Oops 🤦🏼‍♀️ sorry!

 

Hopfully a good night sleep will mean I pay more attention to details from tomorrow

[Thrak]

10 hours ago, JG&Lcruisingnewbies said:

Well no,  you wouldn’t. Too heavy

An African swallow though…. 😜

Sorry sorry. Had to be that person 😂 

 

 

It might work if it was held under the dorsal guidance feathers...

 

Edit: Love this review. I have wanted to do this or a similar itinerary for a very long time and I have gotten amazing guidance as to excursions to book. Thank you sooooooooooooooo very much for this most excellent review.

Edited May 20, 2023 by Thrak

[JimmyVWine]

Day 7-Holyhead, Wales (Coronation Day)

With a title that includes “A Crowning Achievement” you knew we’d have to get to the Coronation at some point.  There was something very poetic about us being in Wales on the day that the former Prince of Wales would be formally crowned as King Charles III.  On board the ship, the Coronation activities would be broadcast live at every possible venue including MUTS, and bunting and decorations were everywhere.  But we had other plans, which included setting feet on the Welsh terra firma that was the ancestral home of some of K’s forebearers which meant some of S’s forebearers as well.  We had a plan, and I thought it was a good one.  Turns out that I was wrong.  Burned by either my own bad research or by bad luck.  And since we had just left Scotland and are talking about getting “burned”, perhaps a stanza  from an old Scottish poem is in order:

 

But, Mousie, thou art no thy-lane,
In proving foresight may be vain;
The best-laid schemes o' mice an' men
Gang aft agley,
An' lea'e us nought but grief an' pain,
For promis'd joy!

                     Robert Burns, 1785

 

(Which translated means…)

But Mouse, you are not alone,
In proving foresight may be vain:
The best-laid schemes of mice and men
Go oft awry,
And leave us nothing but grief and pain,
For promised joy!

 

Our plan for the day was to tour on our own, (as no Princess tour grabbed our fancy at the price offered, and most were sold out in any event), by taking the train from Holyhead to Conwy, tour the massive castle there, stroll around the wonderful town and castle walls, try our another local fish and chips shop, and then take the train back to Holyhead in plenty of time to catch the last tender.  A very executable plan, and certainly not one that required all the skill and cunning of an Amazing Race Team.  S had her UK Rail App on her phone so we could purchase tickets for the train on-line.  I did my homework and bought entry tickets to the castle in advance (at a discount) so that we could skip whatever lines were forming in Conwy.  I scouted out the best chippies in Conwy so that lunch would present no uncertainty, and I “walked” (virtually) the waterfront of Conwy on Google Maps to locate a nice place to eat said takeaway fish and chips.  I even researched the train situation, learning that not all trains that head to Conwy stop there, but learned the trick that you can flag down a train that does not intend to stop by waving at the conductor while standing on the platform.  I even confirmed this by watching a Rick Steves video on the town of Conwy.  Seems like my obsessive/compulsive planning was in order.

 

 So what happened?  As I said, either bad research or bad luck, coupled with the fact that it was Coronation Day which people in the UK were treating like a “time stands still” holiday.  To execute this plan we first had to catch one of the few trains that go from Holyhead to Conwy.  The schedule showed two morning trains that would fit that bill—one at 8:19 and one at 9:28.  The former was too early, and frankly unnecessary, but the second would be perfect.  The Holyhead train station is right at the port, just like the one in Cohb.  Getting to the train station would be a breeze.  While Holyhead is a tender port, we were profoundly confident that we could hop on a tender, get off by 9:10-9:15 and have plenty of time to make the 9:28 train.  This would get us to Conwy at 10:26 and our timed castle admission ticket was good for entry at any time between 10:30-11:30.  Piece of cake.  But here is where it all fell apart.  Not sure if it was my fault or not, but I can tell you in jumping ahead that when we were on the platform to catch a train back from Conwy to Holyhead, we encountered a number of Princess passengers who, like us, were completely off the mark when it came to getting from the tender dock to the train station.  Either we all missed something in our research, or we were all misled into thinking that something that wasn’t true actually was.

 

Something in my research had me convinced that our tender would dock somewhere in the vicinity of the Holyhead Ferry Terminal.  It did not.  To gain the full appreciation, you may need to open up Google Maps to see if you can follow this, and some of my reference points will be based on that resource and others from a picture below.  For starters, the port at Holyhead is much like others we had been to on this trip such as Portland and Greenock, which is to say that you do not get off the ship (or tender) and walk through some glitzy DUFRY mall filled with cigarettes, liquor and Tanzanite.  You know the ones.

 

 

 

Instead, you arrive at a working, industrial port with nary a single tourist accommodation from which you must then exit to see anything of interest.

 

 

 

In Portland one's escape is accomplished by taking the free Blue Bus which whisks passengers off to the nearby tour meeting areas or town of Weymouth.  In Greenock there were tour buses and taxis waiting in the nearby car park.  My research suggested that we would find neither in Holyhead, (I was right), but that this would not matter as the train station would facilitate our easy exit with just a short walk.  In looking at the picture above, you will note the sleek looking white ferry in the middle of the photo.  It is backed up to a modern looking silver/white “L-shaped” elevated walkway, which in turn leads to a sleek building with a rounded roof.  THAT is the train station.  If our tender landed anywhere in this general area, getting to that train station in time to make the 9:28 train would be child's play.  

 

We boarded a tender that morning (again, without the need to get an aquatically named animal boarding ticket) after heading straight down to the Gala Deck (and from what I can tell, there has never been a Gala on the Gala Deck), and soon we were on our way to shore.  But wait.  Something is amiss.  We are not heading for the port that you can see in the photo above.  Not even close.  Instead we headed far from that area and eventually landed at a point that is so far from the train station that you cannot even see it in the photo above.  If you look at Google Maps and find the Holyhead Sailing Club and Langdons Restaurant and Bar far to the west of the ferry terminal, that is where we landed.  It was actually the tip of that little triangle to the north of Langdons.  If you zoom in, you can see the gangway that we used.   Confused upon landing, I asked a local greeter (who was dressed in costume) how we could get to the train station, and he said that the best way was to walk, and that it would take about half an hour.  20 minutes if we hoofed it.  So then I asked about any sort of shuttle or taxi and was told that there was no shuttle, and that it would be impossible to get a taxi on Coronation Day if we had not already booked one.  Dang!  There was no way that we could make our train.  An even mix of anger and frustration came over me.  Frustrated that I must have missed something in my planning, and anger that Princess would use this useless area of a useless port to drop us off.  Of course there were people who had already booked organized tours, so they were fine.  But those of us who opted to “see Wales on our own” were downright screwed.  At least we had a plan, foiled as it may have been.  Others who we chatted with on the tender had no plan whatsoever and were just going to roam around and explore the area.  Trust me.  There is nothing to explore here.  Truly nothing. 

 

Not allowing bad luck or bad design to get us down, we regrouped and replanned.  The next train out of Holyhead to Conwy was scheduled to leave at 11:28.  It was now around 9:20.  Assuming that our costumed friend was on the mark, we would be at the train station by 9:50 with nothing to do until 11:28.  So we whipped out our smartphone map and plotted a “scenic” (meaning longer than necessary) route to the train station and began a slow, leisurely walk which led us to nothing of interest, but at least felt safe and took us through an area that we had never been before.  We arrived at the station in plenty, and I do mean plenty of time to catch the 11:28 train and off we went to Conwy, resigned to the fact that we would probably be able to do everything on our daily agenda except the one major reason for going there in the first place--touring the castle and the castle wall that encircles the town. We would see the castle from the outside, but still enjoy the rest of the town as planned.  And we adjusted our return time that allowed for a later train back to Holyhead, one that arrived at 4:20, giving us 40 minutes to walk from the train station back to the tender line.  Having done the walk one way, we were confident that we could match the guide’s assessment and complete the walk in 20 minutes.  Not sure at this point if we were mice o’ men, but we were not going to let our awry plan leave us nothing but grief and pain.  Off we went to Conwy to salvage the day.  Photos and town tour coming in the next installment.

[JimmyVWine]

Day 7-Holyhead, Wales (Coronation Day) (Continued)

The train ride to Conwy was quaint and scenic.  A short, three car train with mostly locals.  Lots of sheep and some coal mine tailing could bee seen from the windows.  And one more bit of information/trivia.  The town with the world’s longest name is on this route, and if you are daring, you can jump out at that stop to take a photo of the station name and then hop back into the train before it departs, but do so quickly as the train does not stay here long.  And you might need a wide-angle lens.  For the record, the name of the town is:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

 

 

We arrived in town just before 12:30 so we decided to start our tour of the town with a beeline walk to the chippie that I had selected for the day.  The picturesque coastal town itself is less than 400 yards from tip to tip, so we were of course no more than two minutes from a freshly fried feast.  This shot here pretty much captures the entire length of the town, though the zoom lens does give the deception of it being less distance than it actually is:

 

 

 

Our chippie for today would be “The Galleon” and my research here did not result in a play gone awry.  It lived up to the stars shown on that site that “Advises” people on their “Trips”.

 

 

 

We carried our crunchy fried goodness a block and a half down to the waterfront where we learned that not only was it Coronation Day, but it was also “Pirate Festival Day” in Conwy as well.  That explained why we saw so many oddly dressed people roaming the town.  I mean, if we were in Greenwich Village or Haight Ashbury, they wouldn’t have been dressed oddly.  But here in Conwy it was a bit noticeable.  Down by the water there were booths and vendors and bands playing, all in the pirate and sea chanty genre.

 

 

 

The balance of the afternoon was spent walking the town from tip to tip, taking photos and hunting for a Christmas ornament and a t-shirt with a dragon on it for me.  The architecture was quite pleasing, and this is certainly a place that might be worth a weekend stay if you are in the UK.  S made a mental note that she and her roommates might want to come back next year on Pirate Appreciation Day if indeed that is an annual festival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As noted earlier, the entire town is encircled by the old castle wall that you can access and walk on even without an entry ticket to the castle.  Note however that the walk can be uneven and a bit steep in places and is no place for a stroller as we learned while watching one father carry (and curse) his stroller along a particularly steep set of stairs.  In this photo you can see part of the wall in the back, and some people who reminded me of John, Paul and George about to cross the street in the foreground.

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure of the age of this building, but if it is 18^th century it would not surprise me. 

 

 

 

Along the waterfront it one of Conwy’s other tourist attractions, a tiny house that advertises itself as the smallest house in Great Britain.  I don’t know if the claim can be supported, and we did not pay any admission fee to peek inside.  But it did have some Coronation Bunting, so bully for them.

 

 

And, of course, the main reason we wanted to visit Conwy in the first place is the presence of its massive and imposing castle.  Built in the late 13^th century by King Edward I, it was purposely built as a massive, imposing structure to show the Welsh who was boss.  The exterior was fortified and built up over the years and is remarkably well preserved but the interior was reduced to ruins in the early 17^th century.  Or so I am told.  We didn’t get to go in! ☹️

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not willing to take any chances on timing, we arrived back at the train station in plenty of time to board (or flag down if necessary) the train.  The train station is in the center of town and as we saw in Corfe, looks all the part of a stop on the route of Thomas the Tank Engine.  The station is built into the castle/city walls.

 

 

 

 

 

Across the street is this gem of an inn, and S asked me if I thought that Basil, Sybil, Polly and Manuel worked in there.  I could not help but laugh out loud. 🤣

 

 

A small gathering of people formed on the platform, all of them obvious Regal Princess passengers, and it was here that we all vented our frustration of having had the same plan for the day, (train to Conwy to tour on our own) only to be frustrated by either poor planning on our part or poor information on the internet.  Hopefully my tale here will serve as a better source for those who make plans in the future.  Soon our train arrived, and several other people had obviously learned the Rick Steves tip of flagging down the train, as arms were waving left and right.  But it seemed that the train was going to make a stop here with or without our collective theatrics.

 

 

 

A funny note on that topic.  Along the way between Holyhead and Conwy, the train stops in several small towns, all smaller and seemingly less significant than Conwy.  I suppose they are not less significant if one lives in one of those towns, but in terms of raw size, population and tourist interest, Conwy is the largest and most popular stop on the route.  Where other stops might entail the departure and boarding of 2 or 3 passengers, here in Conwy it was pretty much the entire train getting off and almost a full train of people getting on.  And yet this is only a “sometimes” stop on the route.  I truly do not understand that.  But my research, and obviously that of others as well, confirms that when you board the train and tell the conductor that you wish to get off at Conwy, it will stop to allow you to do so even if the schedule did not call for that, and if you want to board the train and it wasn’t intending to stop, a wave of the arms would do the trick.  And if any of that fails, know that the next stop along the route is just across the river and about a ¾ mile walk to the castle, and the walk is very scenic across a bridge that leads you straight to the castle.  Just build in enough time if you end up having to do that. 

 

As anticipated, knowing the most direct route to take and the distance to travel from the Holyhead station, we made it back to the tender area in plenty of time.  While joining the tender line we were greeted by the national symbol of Wales, much like the one on the t-shirt that I was successful in purchasing.

 

 

 

Back on the ship without incident, we made the very best of a day that started out on a very bad foot.  But putting our feet on the ancestral home of K and S was a high priority, so nothing was going to stand in our way.  Ship activities, food and drink to follow in the next installment.

[nini]

17 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

It might work if it was held under the dorsal guidance feathers...

 

Edit: Love this review. I have wanted to do this or a similar itinerary for a very long time and I have gotten amazing guidance as to excursions to book. Thank you sooooooooooooooo very much for this most excellent review.

@Thrak We so very much loved our British Isles cruise and would not mind repeating it. There is so much to do and see, as well as the people are so friendly! DNA says I am 53% Scottish so we had a blast in Scotland visiting my family castles (LOL) of the Campbell Clan. 

@JimmyVWine has done such a fantastic job with his review and it brings back fond memories.

[Thrak]

On 5/19/2023 at 9:23 AM, JimmyVWine said:

In some rooms there are period interpreters who will speak with you in the voice of a castle attendant of the time.

 

I have to ask if anything they said was actually intelligible. I've had issues understanding some Scots in the first place but period speech seems like it might be impossible to decipher.

 

(Don't get me wrong. I have thoroughly enjoyed speaking with Scottish folks on cruises but have had to ask for clarification a time or two. Of course I may have had the same issue with a couple of Aussie's as well. 😉 Interacting with people from other countries is one of the things I truly enjoy about cruising.)

Edited May 21, 2023 by Thrak

[boone2]

Loving the posts. Originally from the UK and lived on Anglesey 45 years ago. Worked in holy head and Conway.  You’re right about holyhead. There was nothing much about it then and doesn’t seem to have changed although the Red dragon wasn’t there then😀

[JimmyVWine]

11 hours ago, Thrak said:

I have to ask if anything they said was actually intelligible. I've had issues understanding some Scots in the first place but period speech seems like it might be impossible to decipher.

They used an odd but necessary affectation where they would say something in period Scottish and then translate themselves into modern parlance.  But sometimes even the modern was rough on the ears.  

Edited May 21, 2023 by JimmyVWine

[JimmyVWine]

Day 7-Holyhead, Wales (Coronation Day) (Continued)

We arrived back on the ship fully deserving of some refreshment from the stress that we (or the port) had caused us.  We plopped down at one of the sofa and chair set-up in the elevated portion of the Piazza by the IC and enjoyed some wine from Vines (where they would not allow me to take a “nice” glass off premises even though Arvind and I had become good buddies by this time of the cruise)  cocktails from Good Spirits and espresso and sweets from the IC.  Because we were quick to the sofa, I didn’t take my camera equipment back to the cabin first, and that allowed me to take some photos of the Coronation Day décor in the Piazza.  The whole day was full of parties and celebrations, and one of the bands was playing in this area upon our return.  All British music, all the time.  I wasn’t going to attach my flash, so the coloring is a bit “yellow” owing to the natural state of the lighting in the Piazza.  That can be overcome with a filter, but I wasn’t carrying any filters with me on this trip.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We headed back to the room to shower and change for dinner, eagerly anticipating the Coronation Menu that our server, John, promised would be the best of the cruise.

 

We arrived at our usual table at the usual time and were seated amongst the usual people at their usual tables.  Honestly it was just like Traditional Dining during the reign of the previous monarch.  As John promised, the Coronation Day Menu was the best of the lot, and the menu that most guests would be offered on either Formal or Dress to Impress Night.  I mentioned earlier how we were unimpressed by our menus on those nights during this cruise, but last night’s menu and this night’s menu made up for it.  Here we found the Escargot and the Surf and Turf (with lobster) and at no extra cost.  We deviated a bit from our standard of all ordering different things, but it was worth it.  S started with Cheesy Tortellini, K had a Caesar Salad and I had the Fettuccini Alfredo to start.  We then all got our own mid-course of Escargot.  And then we all got the Surf and Turf.  The meat was tender, cooked to the proper medium rare and very tasty.  The lobster tail was cruise ship lobster tail.  I find it to be just fine but others complain that it is “nothing like a real Maine lobster.”  Whatever.  My brother and I used to run 10 lobster traps in Long Island Sound when we were growing up and we pulled many lobsters from the depths over the years, cooking them at home.  I know what a “real” lobster is, and I have never sent back a lobster tail on a cruise ship. Are they the best?  No.  Are they so bad that one has to avoid them? No.

 

For dessert S got the Crème Brule, K got the Chocolate Caramel and I got something that in all my years I had never ordered—a made to order ice cream sundae.  Not sure why I never did this before because ice cream is a basic food group for me.  But I always opt for something that takes more talent from the kitchen staff than scooping out some ice cream and then ladling on some chocolate syrup.  Still, I was craving one, and wanted to have some ice cream that did not come with pyrotechnics, moving parts and theatrical fog machines.  We were all very pleased with our meals and left stuffed.

 

Keeping with the Coronation theme, we headed to “British Invasion Music Trivia.”  We didn’t feel too good about this one, being three Yanks after all, on a ship packed with Brits.  But the trivia entailed naming both the song title and artist with one point awarded for each, meaning that there were 40 total points available, so maybe we would do OK.  The event was fun, though slightly dampened by the fact that our emcee for the event did not know any of the songs, barely knew some of the artists, and refused to take his role seriously, (or as seriously as one should for a lighthearted quiz).  His utter contempt for some of music history’s greatest songs and bands did nothing to enhance the show.  Entertainment Director (and really, can they come up with a different abbreviation than “ED”) Martyn Moss stood at the door observing the event, and I am genuinely curious to know if he considered the emcee’s performance to be endearing or off-putting.  I know how I would vote.  In any event, when the music stopped and the scores were tallied, we had a healthy 32 points.  As scores were called out, hands kept dropping and dropping, but ours remained held high. Until they called out “34 or higher” and we had to surrender our raised arm.  One team was left standing.  Another second-place finish, and our third in a row.  Still, for the week we finished 1-2-2-2, and I will always cherish that achievement.

 

Coronation Day celebration musical entertainment abounded on the ship and we bounced in to a couple of venues, but the big party seemed to be in the Piazza with great music and lots of dancing happening, including a large number of crew members/officers joining in the fun.  There really was a palpable positive vibe on the ship and one would never mistake this night for a “Princess is boring” type of cruise.  When we were all funned out, we headed back to the cabin and turned on one of the BBC channels to see if we could catch up on the Royal Goings On and were able to watch a condensed replay of the major Coronation events which was perfect for us.  Cut out was much of the marching and carriage riding and the broadcast stuck to the more “official” events which is really what we wanted to see.  Our final drink tally for the day was light, with 6 glasses of wine and 6 cocktails, and our out-of-pocket cost would have been $184.08.  With Plus we paid $7.08 and with Premier we would have paid $0.00.  Final Sea Day ahead!

Patter Day 7.pdf

Edited May 22, 2023 by JimmyVWine

[JimmyVWine]

Day 8-Sea Day-Last Day of the Cruise

Reality starts to set in that this is the end of what has so far been a magnificent cruise.  Fortunately, in stark contrast to our previous Sea Day, the weather today was fantastic.  Maybe a bit chilly for carefree lounging by the pool, but we’ll see how that goes.  And of course, we need to finish off our Bar/Lounge BINGO cards as so far the only outdoor bar that we had been to was the Outrigger where we had wine and cheese for sailaway in Greenock.  The weather looked quite befitting of a day for catching up on skipped bars.  And alas, we needed to fit in time to pack.  Always the least enjoyable part of any cruise.  

 

Having stayed up late watching the instant replay of the Coronation, we were certainly not first in line at the Horizon Court for breakfast.  But we did manage to get there before they started tearing the station down for lunch, which seemed to be a bad habit of ours.  We made it a priority to actually get to breakfast while breakfast was the top priority of the kitchen staff.  And so we did.  It was here that we encountered our first service issue of the entire cruise.  We are quite used to being descended upon by eager servers in the Horizon Court, ready to pour coffee, orange juice, whisk away used plates, etc.  But today, it seemed as if we had become invisible overnight.  We were so ignored that we eventually walked up to a server station where the pitchers of beverages are kept and poured our own orange juice and water.  The coffee station in the Pastry area was again understaffed and a sizeable line developed with people waiting to get their orders filled.  S ordered an omelet using the “ticket” system where they issue you a ticket and then a server comes to take your ticket and retrieve your order.  But despite waiting an appropriate amount of time and then waiting for a server to take the ticket, and then trying to flag down a server to take the ticket, she eventually had to get up and approach a server to ask if she could get her dish.  Oddly, after all of this do-it-yourself shenanigans took place, we were then descended upon by eager servers for the rest of the meal, which I suppose is fine, but we really needed service at the beginning of the mean and not the end.  Not sure if any of this was the result of understaffing, undertraining, or underexperienced crew members.  Either way, it was the first time that this easy-to-please family was a bit uneasy regarding service.

 

The food was as expected, and as we left we began to see the signage being put out for lunch, even if the food was not ready to make an appearance.  We saw the sign for “gyros” and actually did spy the vertical rotisserie of meat being cooked, or as S called it from her year living in Athens, “the meat tornado”.  She and I nodded with approval and decided then and there that we would be coming back here for lunch.

 

By now the “End of the Season” sale was taking place in the Princess Shops, and even though we were only at the very beginning of the UK Cruise season, we decided to see what the “End of the Season” sale was all about.  Well, it was about the worst of Black Friday at your local mall.  Merch scattered everywhere, most pertaining to cruises from long ago.  No way to ferret out sizes or styles.  We didn’t waste any time there, but K and S did manage to use up the balance of our OBC on makeup and skin care products at the boutique at prices that they swear were about 20%-30% less than what they would pay at Sephora or Ulta back home.  While up on Deck 6 shopping, we could hear the “Crew vs. Guests” Jenga Trivia game going on in the center of the Piazza, so we grabbed a spot at the rail to see how that would turn out.  Back to the cabin for the first round of packing until it was time to return to the Horizon Court to visit the meat tornado.

 

Lunch was good and the service issues we experienced at breakfast seemed to have disappeared, thankfully.  With that out of the way, it was time to hit up the outdoor bars.  So to do that, while K went back to the cabin to pick up reading material and drop off her packages, S and I staked out some lounge chairs by the pool and got some towels and blankets.  With the first real opportunity for people to enjoy some heaven-sent vitamin D, the outside deck was well-used, but certainly not “crowded” in the way it would be on a Caribbean or Med cruise.  Chair hogs did not seem to be an issue, and we had no trouble finding three loungers together on the Lido Deck.  Had we failed in that, there we could have had our pick of lounge chairs on the Sun Deck or Sky Deck as you will see in the upcoming photos.  K used the “Find My Shipmates” feature of the app to be directed right to the spot that S and I had claimed.  And let me tell you.  If K could use the app and locate us on the ship, anyone can.  Once settled, it was time to go to the Mermaid’s Tail for our first cocktail of the day, and another square crossed off on the BINGO card.

 

The afternoon largely followed suit, with a “rinse and repeat” feel to it, only while we “repeated” the concept of getting cocktails, we did so at the Retreat Bar and the Sea View Bar to finish off our circuit.  Every bar now visited.  S and I noted that what we had observed at the Outrigger Bar seemed true at the Mermaid’s Tail as well.  That bar seemed better stocked than a number of the indoor bars.  Or maybe “better stocked” isn’t the right phrase and what I really mean is, there are liquors found there that we did not find at other bars.  Your mileage may vary.

 

In between sips of drinks, I spent a bit of time taking outdoor photos as the day was conducive to getting some nice pictures.  And I am not the sort who can plop down on a lounge chair and read for two hours.  Or even twenty minutes.  My restlessness can drive K and S nuts sometimes, but they just have to live with it.  Fortunately I had my camera to keep me busy so I headed up to the Sun and Sky Decks to take some overheads.

 

MUTS was showing a travel photo-journal of places Princess visits and it was fun watching the show with us commenting on the places we have been. 

   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I thought that I could zoom in and get a candid of S, but her ears must have been burning because she turned toward the camera just as I took the shot.

 

 

 

I headed over to the Retreat area to take some shots there.  Note the distinct lack of people.

 

 

 

 

 

And then I headed over to the Sea Walk area for some perspective, and to see if I could get a photo that answers definitively the question of: “Can people see into my cabin from the Sea Walk.”  As you can see, even with some leaning and a telephoto lens, the best anyone could so is see the table and chairs.  I made sure that there were no people on their balconies because I didn’t want anyone to think that I was a creepy stalker.  But here is your answer.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I walked around taking a few more pictures…

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then headed back over to the pool area for one last general shot with K and S hidden in front of the starboard side hot tub, and one more undetected candid of S reading her book.  And this proved to be the last photo that I took on the trip.

 

 

 

 

 

This (in)activity proved to take up the balance of the afternoon, and we headed to and sat at the Sea View Bar for one last cocktail before heading back to the cabin for more packing so that we could clear some luggage out before heading to dinner.  Second customer service issue, dinner and evening events coming up in next post. 

[Kay S]

Is that your historian daughter?  Pretty girl.

[Eglesbrech]

On 5/17/2023 at 4:48 PM, JimmyVWine said:

Haggis, Nips and Tatties”. (I think I go that right.) 

Really enjoying your review and I’m so glad you enjoyed your day in my neck of the woods.
 

The Dukes pass that you went through is closed more often than it is open, one of the first road closures when it snows. Glad you got to Stirling Castle as well, personally I think the inside of Stirling is more impressive than Edinburgh Castle. We go to events in the great hall, it’s a lovely venue and still used frequently.

 

Tell the truth, your did actually have haggis, nips and tatties. A nip in Scots is a measure of whisky, as in “have a wee nip to keep the cold out”.😀

[Guest ldtr]

On 5/20/2023 at 2:43 PM, JimmyVWine said:

Day 7-Holyhead, Wales (Coronation Day) (Continued)

The train ride to Conwy was quaint and scenic.  A short, three car train with mostly locals.  Lots of sheep and some coal mine tailing could bee seen from the windows.  And one more bit of information/trivia.  The town with the world’s longest name is on this route, and if you are daring, you can jump out at that stop to take a photo of the station name and then hop back into the train before it departs, but do so quickly as the train does not stay here long.  And you might need a wide-angle lens.  For the record, the name of the town is:

Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch

 

 

We arrived in town just before 12:30 so we decided to start our tour of the town with a beeline walk to the chippie that I had selected for the day.  The picturesque coastal town itself is less than 400 yards from tip to tip, so we were of course no more than two minutes from a freshly fried feast.  This shot here pretty much captures the entire length of the town, though the zoom lens does give the deception of it being less distance than it actually is:

 

 

 

Our chippie for today would be “The Galleon” and my research here did not result in a play gone awry.  It lived up to the stars shown on that site that “Advises” people on their “Trips”.

 

 

 

We carried our crunchy fried goodness a block and a half down to the waterfront where we learned that not only was it Coronation Day, but it was also “Pirate Festival Day” in Conwy as well.  That explained why we saw so many oddly dressed people roaming the town.  I mean, if we were in Greenwich Village or Haight Ashbury, they wouldn’t have been dressed oddly.  But here in Conwy it was a bit noticeable.  Down by the water there were booths and vendors and bands playing, all in the pirate and sea chanty genre.

 

 

 

The balance of the afternoon was spent walking the town from tip to tip, taking photos and hunting for a Christmas ornament and a t-shirt with a dragon on it for me.  The architecture was quite pleasing, and this is certainly a place that might be worth a weekend stay if you are in the UK.  S made a mental note that she and her roommates might want to come back next year on Pirate Appreciation Day if indeed that is an annual festival.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

As noted earlier, the entire town is encircled by the old castle wall that you can access and walk on even without an entry ticket to the castle.  Note however that the walk can be uneven and a bit steep in places and is no place for a stroller as we learned while watching one father carry (and curse) his stroller along a particularly steep set of stairs.  In this photo you can see part of the wall in the back, and some people who reminded me of John, Paul and George about to cross the street in the foreground.

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure of the age of this building, but if it is 18^th century it would not surprise me. 

 

 

 

Along the waterfront it one of Conwy’s other tourist attractions, a tiny house that advertises itself as the smallest house in Great Britain.  I don’t know if the claim can be supported, and we did not pay any admission fee to peek inside.  But it did have some Coronation Bunting, so bully for them.

 

 

And, of course, the main reason we wanted to visit Conwy in the first place is the presence of its massive and imposing castle.  Built in the late 13^th century by King Edward I, it was purposely built as a massive, imposing structure to show the Welsh who was boss.  The exterior was fortified and built up over the years and is remarkably well preserved but the interior was reduced to ruins in the early 17^th century.  Or so I am told.  We didn’t get to go in! ☹️

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not willing to take any chances on timing, we arrived back at the train station in plenty of time to board (or flag down if necessary) the train.  The train station is in the center of town and as we saw in Corfe, looks all the part of a stop on the route of Thomas the Tank Engine.  The station is built into the castle/city walls.

 

 

 

 

 

Across the street is this gem of an inn, and S asked me if I thought that Basil, Sybil, Polly and Manuel worked in there.  I could not help but laugh out loud. 🤣

 

 

A small gathering of people formed on the platform, all of them obvious Regal Princess passengers, and it was here that we all vented our frustration of having had the same plan for the day, (train to Conwy to tour on our own) only to be frustrated by either poor planning on our part or poor information on the internet.  Hopefully my tale here will serve as a better source for those who make plans in the future.  Soon our train arrived, and several other people had obviously learned the Rick Steves tip of flagging down the train, as arms were waving left and right.  But it seemed that the train was going to make a stop here with or without our collective theatrics.

 

 

 

A funny note on that topic.  Along the way between Holyhead and Conwy, the train stops in several small towns, all smaller and seemingly less significant than Conwy.  I suppose they are not less significant if one lives in one of those towns, but in terms of raw size, population and tourist interest, Conwy is the largest and most popular stop on the route.  Where other stops might entail the departure and boarding of 2 or 3 passengers, here in Conwy it was pretty much the entire train getting off and almost a full train of people getting on.  And yet this is only a “sometimes” stop on the route.  I truly do not understand that.  But my research, and obviously that of others as well, confirms that when you board the train and tell the conductor that you wish to get off at Conwy, it will stop to allow you to do so even if the schedule did not call for that, and if you want to board the train and it wasn’t intending to stop, a wave of the arms would do the trick.  And if any of that fails, know that the next stop along the route is just across the river and about a ¾ mile walk to the castle, and the walk is very scenic across a bridge that leads you straight to the castle.  Just build in enough time if you end up having to do that. 

 

As anticipated, knowing the most direct route to take and the distance to travel from the Holyhead station, we made it back to the tender area in plenty of time.  While joining the tender line we were greeted by the national symbol of Wales, much like the one on the t-shirt that I was successful in purchasing.

 

 

 

Back on the ship without incident, we made the very best of a day that started out on a very bad foot.  But putting our feet on the ancestral home of K and S was a high priority, so nothing was going to stand in our way.  Ship activities, food and drink to follow in the next installment.

The docks we used were the normal tender landing location. When we booked our excursion with busy bus months before the cruise they sent us directions to meet them that described that tender location.

[JimmyVWine]

9 hours ago, Kay S said:

Is that your historian daughter?  Pretty girl.

Yes, that is a picture of S.  And thank you.

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

When we booked our excursion with busy bus months before the cruise they sent us directions to meet them that described that tender location.

I did not look at the Busy Bus website since I knew that we were going to tour on our own.  It is odd how the Holyhead Port website makes no mention of the tendering process but perhaps that is because they are so proud of their new dock that can handle ships up to 900 feet.  Unfortunately, in today's cruise industry, that comes up a bit short for most new ships.