Week 31 Wrap Up

Continuing on with Ireland, with a touchpoint in the UK and back to Ireland to finish up this segment. Lots of green cliffs and Irish pubs!

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Schedule

• Thursday, August 6: Bantry, Ireland

• Friday, August 7: Cork (Ringaskiddy), Ireland

• Saturday, August 8: Waterford (Dunmore East), Ireland

• Sunday, August 9: Holyhead, Wales

• Monday, August 10: Liverpool, England

• Tuesday, August 11: Dún Laoghaire, Ireland

• Wednesday, August 12: Belfast, Northern Ireland

Thursday, August 6: Bantry, Ireland

This morning, I had one mission - catch up on journaling for the past week. For those of you who read last week’s update, you already know that I was not successful. However, while in Bantry, I did make major progress! Just got distracted a few times, delaying the completion.

With yet another anchoring port, we spent some time squished in the tiny boat on the way to shore, giving me a chance to make some new friends, who happened to be on the tour to the sheep dogs the day prior. They ended up joining me at the coffee shop, so instead of writing, I talked. Nothing new since the World Cruise 😂

SIDE TANGENT: One trick that I use, especially when cruising, is to Drop a Pin / Save my Location in Google Maps whenever we get to the port so if I get completely turned around, I can use that to find my way back to the ship. In addition, I have Lists for each of my trips where I save locations for points of interest or restaurants I want to check out, so most of my research is saved in one location and I can easily add to it, noting places I actually went. Lastly, I also have a List for different regions of the World so when someone gives me a recommendation that doesn’t quite fit into a future trip, I add the place to that Region’s List so it’s available whenever I eventually find myself to that place.

While they decided to go explore the town, I headed a bit off the main streets to find a little pub where I could set up for a few hours to continue to type. After ordering a pint, the bartender informed me that it was cash only, specifically Euros, which I did not have. Luckily, there was an ATM at the grocery store down the street where I could go get some cash.

Given that it was just past noon, the pub was fairly quiet, but surprisingly, there were about 10 others bellied-up to the bar. With their accents, I assumed they were all locals, which made it fun to listen to. One in particular had an extremely strong accent along with a mumble, so I could not understand a dang thing he muttered. The bartender, however to her credit, knew exactly what he was after each time. One thing he asked for was to turn the TV to Murder She Wrote, which I didn’t even know what still on!

After a beer or two, I had made significant progress on documenting this trip, but not yet complete, when the Beatles Brothers joined me, meaning laptop was stowed away and writing ceased for the day.

As time to last tender was closing quickly, it was time to head back to the ship. The rest of the evening was just like most others - shower, nap, dinner at Terrace, listened to Trivia, and headed to the evening show, which happened to be J. Alexander, The Magician.

Friday, August 7: Cork (Ringaskiddy), Ireland

Originally, I had booked an excursion to the Blarney Castle. However, after looking at the detailed itinerary, which included a lot of time on a bus vs the time we’d actually spend at the castle, I decided not to go. However, that decision was too late to cancel, so I gave my ticket J. Alexander to go for me and live vicariously through him. Instead of spending many hours on a bus and in large crowds (my two least favorite things), I found my way to the Spa on board. Seemed like a much better experience!

And it was! 75 minutes of total relaxation!

The weather was phenomenal, another surprise for being in Ireland, so I spent the rest of the afternoon finishing a book by the pool. Today’s book is called The Falmouth Connection: A Pride and Prejudice Variation by Joana Starnes. Basically, it takes place near Falmouth and focuses on Elizabeth and Darcy’s characters with an alternative ending to the original story. (Spoiler Alert!) Yes, they still end up together in the end, but take a different path to get there.

For dinner, I was hosted by the Executive Concierge at Red Ginger. We didn’t get to know each other during the World Cruise as my cabin was not at that level, but she was curious to get to know my story and I’m glad she was because hers is quite interesting as well! Yet another strong woman in a leadership role with lots of twists and turns along the way.

Instead of a guest entertainer, the night ended at the Blue Horizons party, where everyone is encouraged to dress in the color blue and head up to Horizons lounge for a dance party, lead by the Production cast. As always, it was a blast!

Saturday, August 8: Waterford (Dunmore East), Ireland

Decision time! Coming into Dunmore East, on yet another tender, we had to decide if we would ride a shuttle to Waterford or stay in the smaller village. And by “we”, I mean me since the Beatles and J weren’t going to be off the ship for another few hours. When the tender arrived, there was a shuttle bus waiting and would be leaving soon, so I decided to go check out the bigger city, which promised fancy crystal and a Viking museum. As I stood in line, driver came by to count, ensuring we’d all get a seat. However, he miscounted, by one. In the end, the decision was made for me because I was not going to stand around for another half hour, waiting for another bus.

Off to the local coffee shop I went! Yes, I was still trying to finish journaling for the prior week. Again, for those of you loyal readers, you know that I still had not posted by this date. Once again, I got fairly further in getting all of the details documented, but not yet to adding the photos along with the stories. However, the cafe was getting busy and I was taking up a table, so I packed up and went to wander.

The houses here have thatched roofs. Passing by one of the houses with a green door, I had to stop to take a photo as it seemed to represent Ireland really well. Continuing on, I found a park that overlooked the famous green cliffs. Without a tour guide, I made up lots of stories in my head, but of course, I cannot remember any of them since I am writing about today six (6) days later… After passing a church and a beach area, I decided to turn back towards the Coastal Walk, which was on the other side of the harbor area.

Thankfully, I stop to read signs as at one intersection, it seemed like I should turn left to continue down the trail instead of what looked to be an alleyway by some houses. The GIANT arrow pointing right clued me in though as it was paired with a sign that showed the Coastal Walk. Following directions, I turned right. If I would have turned left, I’d have to basically rock climb up a cliff to get back to the trail as there were two girls who seemed to have chosen the more difficult path up, popping out of seemingly no where.

The sign had suggested that a 5km round trip would take me about an hour, but it didn’t account for me stopping every few minutes to take photos of the sea, the cliffs, the boats, the lighthouse, the birds, the flowers, the grass, the hay barrels, the path, the sky, and basically everything that I saw because it was all so beautiful! Knowing the photos can’t do it justice, I would encourage anyone who hasn’t been in this part of the world, to make plans on visiting!

Not making it the full distance because at some point, I got a text that the boys were headed to shore. Turning back, I hoped that they decided on a pub that served food as it was much later than I expected. While they did choose a restaurant, they chose one that was still about a mile in the opposite direction… so I stopped for ice cream!

When I found them, I agree that they found the best place! It overlooked a crowded beach, with cliffs all around and a view of the ship in the distance. And it had good food! I decided on the Seafood Stew, served with Brown Bread. Delicious!

Eventually, it was time to get out of the sun and head back to the ship. We made it back with 30 minutes to spare, which seemed to be the norm at this point.

The rest of the night was like normal - shower, nap, dinner at Grand Dining Room, Our World show with the Production Cast (although, we were late and didn’t get a front row seat…), and ended the night in Horizons.

Sunday, August 9: Holyhead, Wales

My first day in Wales! I had heard so many good things about it from a co-worker that I was very excited to see what all the fuss was about! However, when I messaged him to ask about things to do in the area, he quickly told me to go check out other places, other than the city we were to dock in. Unfortunately, the train times from that area weren’t working out in my favor, but I decided to still go into town to check it out.

Even though we were docked (hooray! No tendering!!), we had to take a bus from the ship to the port terminal, which also happened to be the train station and ferry station. But instead of taking either of those, I continued on towards the shops. In addition to Holyhead being very, very small, it was also Sunday, which meant that even fewer places would be open.

When I got cross the bridge from the terminal, it seemed I had two options: left or right. I went left. There was a reason that was the road less traveled because upon further inspection, nothing was open in that direction and it was downhill, meaning to get back to anything open, I had to climb back uphill for a bit.

Once at the original starting point, I continued on to find a coffee shop! However, it was packed, seemingly not only by other passengers but also by locals. With it already being after 10am, I figured I could continue my photography mission and find a pub at some point soon for lunch.

As I was capturing different aspects of this city, one of the locals approached me, but instead of giving me helpful information about what to see here, he highly encouraged me to visit Ireland instead! Even after explaining that we had just come from there, he left me saying “to save my photos for Ireland!”. Yes, very interesting encounter.

Another unfortunate encounter I had was when I was trying to get a photo of the main church through these stone arches. However, at the time of arrival, there were lots of people in the yard, so I ventured to another spot just inside the arches to capture other details. Once the area cleared, I quickly moved back to the other spot. When I got a couple with the angle I wanted, I was checking the viewfinder to make sure it was what I wanted. It was then I heard the yelling in Italian. While I don’t speak Italian, I understood what they wanted - me to move! There was another group trying to do the same thing I was, but further back from the arches. So I did leave the area, but interestingly, I know those passengers and they are not Italian. Not sure if I looked Italian or if they were having a personality crisis, but either way, I still think my angle was better 😂

As my stomach rumbled, I counted the minutes until the pub opened. There seemed to be two in the area that would be opening soon. One called the Rose & Crown, which also happens to be a reference in Pride and Prejudice. Not this specific on as I was in Wales, while they were in England, but still, seemed fitting since I just finished that book. About 10 minutes after the advertised opening time, the doors were still closed, which I took as a sign to just go back to the ship for lunch.

Dinner was a special event - hosted once again by Z and Daniel with J. Alexander. This was a redo of a dinner from the World Cruise with a goal to take the conversation further than joking about butter. Instead, we joked about Chickens and Librarians… Punch line is Books. Please don’t ask for the full version as you will likely lose some brain cells upon hearing it.

Following dinner, we headed to the Beatles Brothers’ show, also known as Just John and Paul. This show features more of the songs they recorded after their touring time was over. I learned afterwards that they stopped touring at some point because it was getting too dangerous and just that crazy! Ironically, during the show tonight, we saw one lady pass out (not really sure why, but had to be wheeled out) and another person broke their glass, spilling wine everywhere. Just like a normal Beatles concert!

Sadly, it was John and Paul’s (aka Dean & Glen’s) last night on board, so we headed to Horizons for the final farewell, resulting in a very, very late night!

Monday, August 10: Liverpool, England

Luckily, after such a late night, I had no plans for the morning. Only to wander the streets of Liverpool in search of learning a bit more about the Beatles. I can’t recall if I shared this story, but before I met them, I actually thought Just John and Paul was a reference to the band John, Paul & Mary. For those of you trying to remember who that was, good luck because that reference is actually Peter, Paul & Mary… Needless to say, I had a lot to learn.

Turns out, Liverpool is much, much larger of a city than I expected. I assumed it would be similar to Chattanooga or Knoxville, but turns out, it’s like twice that size! Full of large, ornate government buildings and dragons on top of them!

They also have the Beatles, who are definitely different than Peter, Paul & Mary.

I will not regurgitate facts that more than likely most of you know more than me. However, the one piece of information that I found shocking (again, not likely shocking to anyone but me..), the Beatles actually broke up on purpose! I was under the impression that they broke up because one of them died. Again, surprisingly (to me) not just died, but was murdered!

Which means that I was pretty disappointed with the last floor of the museum I toured. I was expecting this grand finale, but instead it fizzled out as it explained that creative differences was what caused the closure of such an iconic band!

And that, my friends, are my memories of Liverpool.

The rest of the day was spent on the ship and ended with a Magic show.

Tuesday, August 11: Dún Laoghaire, Ireland

Aka Gateway to Dublin. Although, I didn’t go to Dublin. Instead decided to walk along the shores of “Dun Leery”, which is how Dún Laoghaire is pronounced.

First stop, as always, coffee! There was a convenient little hut just as I reached the edge of a long pier with a lighthouse at the end. Success!

With a book playing in my ears (still Return to the Irish Boarding House), I very slowly wandered along the waters edge, watching the boats bobbing in the water and the people on their morning stroll or run. Even though I had gotten to shore in late morning, it seemed that the city was just then starting to come alive.

I continued my own lazy walk along the shore, passing by these beautiful purple flowers and this very creative table set at an ice cream parlor.

Not very much longer, I found a bench to just enjoy the sun shining down and watch kids jumping from the pier into the water. I stayed there for a bit, listening to my book and breathing in the warm salty air. There are some days that I feel a bit guilty for not pushing hard and seeing all the things available in the area, like every castle, every church, every hillside, but today was not one of those days. Today, was a stop and smell the roses kind of day.

Eventually, I was joined by J. Alexander and we continued to wander the streets until we found a little Fish & Chips restaurant. I cannot believe that I forgot to take a photo, but the fish was very lightly battered and fresh! Yum!

Then the fun began….

We were on the tender to get back to the ship. They had pulled the ropes and we were powering out to the open waters, when a call came over the radio to stay put. Not just to stay put, but to return to shore. The winds had picked up over the course of the day and it was no longer safe to transfer from the tenders to the cruise ship. We had to wait it out. How long would it be? No one really knew, but we were told it might be about an hour and to stay close because as soon as we could, they’d start filling the tenders again.

What else to do, but to go find MORE COFFEE! The place we found was called Insomnia, which seemed a bit odd for a coffee shop, but it was decent coffee and offered take away cups. Back in the pier area, we waited and waited and waited. It took soooo long that I actually let J practice a magic card trick on me. For those of you who have caught on, I tolerate magic, so that gives you an idea of how good a friend I really am.

Finally, we were loaded back on to the boats, ready for a bit of a bumpy ride to the ship. While the photos and videos don’t quite do it justice, imagine a small raft traversing white water rapids down the Colorado river with the nose slowly pointing upwards, just to come crashing down, enclosing the boat in a tidal wave. Pulling up next to the ship, we understood it would be a slow disembarkation as each passenger needed to time their steps carefully or risk falling between the lifeboat and ship dock.

The rest of the evening was the typical ship life (as I was typing this, I created a new word “shipical”… from now on, I may describe the night activities as shipical.), meaning dinner at Terrace, followed by Music Triangle performed by the Production Cast, and finished at Horizons since it was J’s last night on board.

Wednesday, August 12: Belfast, Ireland

There are some days when I have researched all the details of a plan in order to ensure I get to do the things I want to. After a bit of a rough start, I realized today was not going to be that day. First thing was I planned to go to the Titanic Museum, which opened at 8:30am and was closer to the ship than downtown Belfast. However, with Uber, it was cheaper to take the free shuttle to downtown and then return to the museum. But the shuttle didn’t start running until 9am. With Uber saying it would cost over $50 to travel 2 miles, I made the decision to jump on the first shuttle and I made that decision as the doors of the shuttle were already closed and there was only one or two seats left available.

It was a good decision because two of the World Cruise passengers were on and also headed to the Titanic Museum, doing the same silliness as me, which was to go all the way downtown, just to return via Uber to save $40. They also were helpful in explaining that the Titanic museum offered timed entry tickets and most were already sold out, so I should purchase mine online to be sure I could actually get in. You know, before making the extra effort to get back there. Luckily there were still tickets available that morning and I picked the earliest time, 10:30am.

Once off the shuttle, we were ambushed by the Hop On Hop Off bus sales team. I’m not over exaggerating. There was about 10 of them who were in your face even before you stepped off the bus, pushing the city tour. Even after we had been polite in declining, one of them shouted after us about being rude Americans, or something like that. While I normally enjoy the benefits of the HOHO Bus, I don’t think I’ll ever recommend the one in Belfast at this point.

Anyway, we set off to the museum, arriving before 10am, which was the time for their tickets. Getting in line, we hoped that they would let all of us in at the same time. They did! So we set off to explore. For the first part of the museum, it was packed, giving us a better understanding as to why they have timed tickets. At one point, you take an elevator to the top, which created a bit of a bottleneck, but also spread the herd out after that point.

Much of the content of the museum is similar to the others I have been to in terms of displaying examples of 1st class and 3rd class cabins. One exhibit, however, was new and amazing! Basically, you stood in one spot, surrounded by three walls that projected a tour of the full ship, starting from the engine rooms all the way to the bridge. You almost felt like you were actually there! It was fantastic! (It would not be fantastic for anyone who gets motion sickness because they really do move you from floor to floor without you actually moving. There’s a sign by the exhibit in case you go there and forget this…)

Another cool exhibit was they had a glass-paneled floor that you could stand on, watching footage of the wreckage below your feet. While not as exhilarating as the ship tour, it was a unique perspective of the ocean floor.

Outside of the museum, you can walk the grounds where the Titanic and Olympic were built. They have white lines on the ground indicating different parts of the ship, including the lifeboats, which were much smaller than I thought they were.

Eventually, I parted ways, continuing to head towards the Dry Dock area, while they went to find lunch. They made the better decision because the Dry Docks were blocked off and I couldn’t go explore, so instead, I walked back to the museum area, looking for food. Almost distracted by an arcade, I decided to check out Nando’s, which was a recommendation from one of the other passengers. It’s basically a chicken place that you can pick your level of spiciness. Believe it or not, I did not choose the mildest option! Instead I went for their special Peri-Peri Saka sauce, which did have a bit of a bite to it, but was tolerable.

Making my way back to the ship via Uber, it was time for a nap. With it being embarkation day as well, the port was a bit chaotic, but since I had already been onboard, getting back on was very easy as I could bypass all the lines.

Oh yeah, today was finally ECLIPSE DAY!

The evening kicked off with a quick lecture on what to expect for the eclipse and how to properly use the fancy glasses. After which, we all headed to the upper decks to claim a spot.

For Belfast, the eclipse was to start around 6:10pm, with the peak at 7:10pm. Just before 6pm, the sun was shining, but starting to tuck behind the clouds. By 6:10pm, the sun was fully hidden from view (by the clouds, not the moon), and stayed that way for the duration of the eclipse. There were a few seconds here or there where you could see the sun, but not long enough to even try to get a good photo. Alas, the event was over and it was time for dinner.

Given the show was the same that I had watched a week or so prior and that I was exceptionally tired, I just got pizza to go and had an early night, ending the first segment of this two segment adventure through the UK and Ireland!