British Isle Cruise--Day 18

August 12, 2015—Day 18, Paris (Le Harve), France

The weather report said it would be in the 70s in France with rain showers.  Since it was going to be warmer, we didn’t have to dress in quite as many layers as we had been, but with rain projected, we weren’t sure, so to be safe, we did wear a couple of layers.  We were booked on a ship’s excursion this time, “Paris on Your Own.”  A Princess bus would drive us from where our ship was docked in Le Harve, France to Paris, drop us off, then pick us up for the drive back.  We would have about 4 hours in Paris on our own to do and see whatever we wanted.

We met our tour group, disembarked the ship together, and walked to our bus—a very nice double-decker bus.  The drive to Paris was about 2-1/2 to 3 hours depending on traffic.  Our tour guide, Claudia, pointed out some of the sights along the way, and also went around to each person to see if we had questions or to offer suggestions on what to see, or how to get to the different places.  I had already done the research on what we wanted to see and how to get there, so I didn’t have any questions until Claudia suggested that we might want to take a Seine River cruise for a good overall view of Paris.  I asked her where to catch the river cruise and how long it would take in case we decided to do that.

My parents and I had discussed what to do and see in Paris well before the cruise (after all, we’d been planning this trip for almost a year), and there were two things on our list:  the Eiffel Tower (of course), and a small monument called Vel’ d Hiv.  We had planned to take a taxi instead of trying to navigate the bus or underground subway system, and I had actually printed Google maps of the places we needed to go and also where we would meet the bus when it was time to return, and had the question, “Can you take us here?” written in French (with the help of one of the folks at work who speaks French) printed on the maps in case we had any problems.  Turns out they came in very handy to get us where we needed to go.

Our bus let us off near the Grand Palace and the Petit Palace.  The weather was hot!  It was not in the 70s, but more like in the 90s with high humidity—a huge change from the previous weeks.  We shed some of the layers we had on and were told we could leave our jackets, sweaters, and umbrellas on the bus since it would remain parked there (thank goodness since otherwise we would be sweltering or would have to lug them around with us).

We caught a taxi to an intersection near the Vel’ d Hiv monument and asked the driver to follow the route I had on the printed Google map.  We drove up the Champs-Elysee (the famous shopping street in Paris) then around the Arc de Triomphe (taking pictures as we circled) and finally to the intersection I had indicated on the map. 

The monument is not a well-known monument, and is kind of hidden.  It is a monument to the Jewish families who were all rousted out of their homes one night during WWII.  There were over 13,000 people arrested that night including 4,000 children.  The reason we wanted to see the monument was primarily because we had read about this night in a book called Sarah’s Key.  In the book, Sarah describes what happens on this night from her perspective as a very young child.  The monument honors all those children and families who had been a victim of antisemitism during those dark days.  The monument itself is at the end of a wide path with flowers on each side, and consists of bronze cast children huddled together with parents.  The words underneath read:

“La Republique Francaise

en Hommage aux Victimes des Persecutions

Racistes et Antisemites et *es Crimes

Contre L’Humanite Commis Sous L’Autorite de Fait Dite

Gouvernement de L’Etat Francais   1940 – 1944

N’Oublions Jamais”

(* not sure if a letter was rubbed out here)

This monument certainly isn’t common knowledge based on the research we did on it (we were actually looking for anything to do with the book Sarah’s Key when my dad came across the reference to this monument).  While we were there, we didn’t see anyone visiting (except one lone runner going by).  Since this monument is only a couple of blocks from the Eiffel Tower it was also a great place to take pictures of the tower (difficult to take a picture right in front of it since it’s so tall). 

We had planned to walked to the tower and have lunch, but instead walked along the banks of the Seine River instead of at the street level.  We then found a place to have lunch sitting outside.  Service was very slow and the food was just OK, but that was probably due to the fact that we were just under the Eiffel Tower and hence a high tourist area (no need to provide either great service or food, just look like a quaint sidewalk cafe to draw the tourists in who no doubt pay higher prices than the locals). 

Afterward, we decided go ahead and take the Seine River tour.  The boat trip lasted an hour, leaving the Eiffel Tower past the Louvre Museum and Notre Dame Cathedral before turning around and heading back.  Our guide was right that the trip did allow us to see more of Paris including all the different bridges as we cruised under them.

We had to meet the bus at 3:00pm, and got off the river cruise at 2:30, so we had only 30 minutes to get there.  I knew the taxi ride should only take about 5 minutes and that there was a taxi stand just up the stairs under the Eiffel Tower (and I had another printed Google map I could show to the taxi driver so we would get to the right place), so we had no problem getting to the bus on time.  Our tour guide had given us all her phone number in case there were any problems, and apparently a taxi driver had called her at 3:00 saying that he had someone in his taxi wanting to go to our bus, but didn’t know where the bus was.  Lucky for that person that Claudia had provided us her number!  We ended up waiting until 3:30 until that person arrived, saying she was sorry she got lost. 

We made the 3-hour drive back to the ship uneventfully after another 1/2-hour delay at a rest stop when a family of four decided they needed to buy something in the gift shop at the rest area instead of just using the toilet (this is one of the reasons a private tour was so much better than being on a bus with 50 others).

We were finally back on board at 6:30pm after a very long 11-hour day.  We had a quick dinner in the buffet, then headed to the cabin to finish packing and setting out our luggage in the hall for pickup, leaving our carry-ons for the next day when we would be disembarking the ship and making our way home.

British Isle Cruise--Day 17

August 11, 2015—Day 17, At Sea

Finally, a sea day at last—a much needed respite after the early morning wake-ups of the past few days.  Of course, my body clock said otherwise, and I was still awake very early. 

The night before, my dad had problems turning the TV off.  In the middle of watching a movie, the screen turned a bright neon blue with the words “Please stand by.”  When he tried to turn off the TV, none of the controls would work, neither the remote, nor the buttons on the TV itself—the TV remained on with that bright blue screen.  He called Passenger Services and was told that they were aware of the situation, that it was throughout the ship, and that they were working on it.  Hoping it would be resolved soon, my parents tried to go to sleep.  Unfortunately, when there is a really bright blue neon screen facing your pillow and pretty much glaring into your eyes even when they were shut, it’s really difficult to get any sleep.  At around 3:00am, my dad got dressed and went down to visit Passenger Services to tell them that the TV is still not fixed and asking when it would be since neither of them could sleep.  Unfortunately, the conversation didn’t go well as the only person at the desk told him that he wasn’t the only person on the ship having a problem, and that her computer wasn’t working and she didn’t have WiFi, and that if he had a problem with the TV going off why didn’t he just unplug it.  My dad informed her that he was a passenger on the ship and that he wasn’t about to go messing around with their TV and that if he did something and the TV was damaged or fell, then no doubt, Princess would blame him for messing with it.  She finally agreed to send a maintenance person up to his cabin.  When the maintenance person got there, he had problems getting to the back of the TV to unplug it, but finally was able to do it.  The TV was finally off, the glaring neon blue light gone, and my parents could finally get some much needed sleep, although not much since unfortunately, I woke them up at the usual time. 

The issue of not being able to turn off the TV was a topic of conversation around the ship.  Throughout the day, I heard people talking about it and this seemed to be just one more issue to add to the others that have occurred.

After breakfast, we headed for the casino since it was one of the few times it would be open.  The afternoon was spent packing—yes, this vacation was nearing the end, and we needed to start getting ready.  On almost all other cruises I’ve been on, there seemed to be a sea day before disembarkation day, but for this cruise, we would be at our last port of call, so we needed to get the packing done today.  Packing when there are still a couple of days left means trying to juggle what to leave out and what to pack, but by late in the afternoon, we were done.

We had dinner once again in the buffet, and since we were scheduled to meet for our excursion early, we made it an early night.  Tomorrow, we would be in Paris!

British Isle Cruise--Day 16

August 10, 2015—Day 16, Edinburgh (South Queensferry), Scotland

We set our alarms, had breakfast, and quickly got ready for another long day ashore.  Many of the passengers would be heading toward nearby Edinburgh, but we had booked another private Outlander tour.  Our ship anchored off the coast of South Queensferry where the tender boats would dock, and we made our way down to the Symphony Dining Room to get tickets for the tender that would take us to shore. 

Getting off the tender, we were greeted on the pier by three men and one woman dressed in traditional kilts and playing bagpipes.  After taking a few photos, we walked down the rest of the pier to meet our tour guide.  Jim, from Discrete Scotland Tours, met us at Hawes Inn just across the street from Hawes Pier where the tender boat dropped us off.  He too was dressed in the traditional Scottish highland kilt. 

During the drive to Falkland, he explained that he was wearing the MacKenzie plaid as he was distantly related.  I told him that we had just visited Castle Leod yesterday, and he said that while he was in Inverness, he didn’t attend the Clan Gathering since he had been guiding a family on a 3-day holiday around Scotland.  (What a coincidence that we had seen the Clan Gathering for Clan MacKenzie yesterday, and our tour guide for today was a distant member of the MacKenzie clan!)

Our first stop was the town of Falkland, which was where the first part of the Outlander series was filmed.  The town itself is a picturesque village reminiscent of a small Scottish village from times past.  There was a beautiful old cathedral, an old palace, and of course, the square with the fountain and the bed and breakfast hotels shown in the TV series.  After taking lots of pictures, we followed Jim to a small park where he pointed out a bench with a plaque saying it was donated to the town by Johnny Cash.  It seems that Johnny Cash’s family originated from Falkland and he frequently visited and even gave small concerts or sang at a pub while he was there—a little bonus information about the town.  I was really coming to appreciate having a private guide for these excursions who could point out some of the things we would never have known to look for.

We then headed for our next stop—Doune Castle, which was used in the filming of the Outlander series as Castle Leoch.  (Yesterday, we saw Castle Leod, the actual home of Clan MacKenzie and which would have been portrayed as Castle Leoch in the books, and today, we saw the castle that was used in the filming of the series.  It does get a little bit confusing:  The author, Diana Gabaldon, wrote the books several years ago, and during her research she visited most of the places we saw yesterday, and described those places in her book; when the TV series was filmed, other places were used, so the book and the TV series don’t always agree on how a specific place actually looked.  Today we visited the places that were used in the TV series.)

Doune Castle is a very old castle which has been designated a historic site.  It is in fairly good condition with all the walls, ramparts, and turrets still intact.  The only modern convenience that has been added are handrails on the circular stone steps up the towers.  There is a large courtyard with a well (another modern addition is a grate that covers the well for safety reasons).  I could almost feel as though I had been transported back in time as I walked around Doune Castle, and it definitely gave me an appreciation of the modern conveniences we enjoy today as I imagined what life must have been like back when the castle was occupied.  I could also envision the furnishings and the characters from the TV series in the courtyard, the kitchen, and the great room. 

As we left Doune Castle, it started to rain.  We had expected rain all day, and were glad that it hadn’t rained during our visit at either Falkland or Doune Castle.

During the somewhat long drive to our next stop, Jim, told us more about the history of Scotland, and tied it all to what is portrayed in the Outlander books.  He said that he admired Diana for doing her research since he could only find a couple of things that weren’t quite accurate.  Apparently the horses described are not correct, since back in the 1700s, there were only the sturdy highland ponies, and not the horses that she describes; she describes the tartan plaids for the clans and apparently that actually didn’t come about until much later.  Clans back in the 1700s were identified by a brooch on the hat and not by the color of the tartan.  He said that he couldn’t believe that she didn’t know that since all her other research was so meticulously accurate.  I said that she may have consciously identified the clans by their tartans to make it easier for her readers to understand, instead of trying to educate them regarding the brooches.  After all, almost everyone who thinks about the clans of Scotland would have assumed they were identified by their tartans.  Jim also told us about the politics of the time of Outlander, and about the different factions; it wasn’t the English versus the Scots, but the government versus the Jacobites.  A lot of the Scottish people supported the government side and a few of the English supported the Jacobites.  (Laura, our guide from the day before also told us this when she told us about the battle of Culloden.)

Although it was lunch time, we weren’t hungry, so instead of stopping for lunch, we went directly to Blackness Castle.  Luckily, it had stopped raining by the time we got there.

Blackness Castle was depicted as Fort William in the TV series.  The castle sits along the channel (our ship was anchored just a few miles up).  The back of the castle overlooks the channel and is shaped like a large ship’s prow.  The idea was that when enemy ships entered the channel, they would see what looked like a very massive ship and would turn away thinking the channel was well guarded.  Blackness Castle is also an historic site and is intact.  The grounds themselves were rocky and uneven, but lights had been installed in several of the rooms.  My dad and I climbed the stairs to the ramparts and walked around.  We also saw the great room and could envision Clair there with several of the English officers.  In the TV series, this is where Clair is almost raped by Capt Jack Randall, but rescued by Jamie.  The rooms we walked through were the rooms that were filmed (although none of the furnishings from the show were there when we walked through them of course).

As that was the last place on our scheduled itinerary, we thought we would be heading back for the ship, but Jim said he had to make a quick stop first.  He pulled into a parking lot in a town somewhere between Blackness Castle and South Queensferry (where we would take the tender back to our ship) and asked us to wait in the car.  He came back a few minutes later, smiling and excited.  He said he had a surprise for us—someplace he wanted to show us.  He also said he didn’t tell us about it earlier since the place he was taking us to isn’t open to the public, and the owners of the property didn’t want word to get around, or it would become inundated with tourists.  But he had just received permission to take us to visit.  He said he wasn’t going to tell us where he was taking us, but wanted to see if we would recognize it when we saw it. 

Jim turned down a very narrow road that seemed to lead to nowhere.  After meandering down this long driveway, all of a sudden ahead was Lallybroch!  This was the Jamie’s home shown in the TV series where his sister, Jenny, lived with her husband Ian.  Here was the stone gate leading to the house; there were the steps that Jenny and Clair were sitting on waiting for there husbands.  Yesterday, we had seen a house that “most resembles Lallybroch; today, here it is in front of us, exactly as depicted in the TV series (of course it looks just like it since it was in fact filmed here).  Despite all the research I had done on Outlander sites, I knew nothing about this place, and it isn’t listed by any of the tour companies that conducted Outlander tours.  Jim had certainly surprised us, and he had exceeded all our expectations.

The house itself is uninhabitable, but the outside is in fairly good condition despite having been built sometime in the 1600s (16 something something is all we could make out of the date above the doorway).  We were the only ones there and we wandered around and took pictures.  My parents, especially my dad, were ecstatic.  I know my dad was a little disappointed in seeing the house yesterday that “was most like Lallybroch,” so seeing the real thing today when we didn’t expect it was wonderful!  

We finally left and headed for South Queensferry just a few miles down the road, thanking Jim all the way for everything he had shown us, and especially for his surprise stop at the site of the Lallybroch filming!  I also mentioned that he did an incredible job with the weather since he managed to get it to stop raining every time we stopped to visit someplace.  He grinned and said that he had put in a good word with the man upstairs who, lucky for us, wasn’t cross with him that day.  He also said he was glad he was able to get permission for us to visit as it’s not usually granted, but since this was a once in a lifetime trip for us and we were such ardent fans, he wanted to make it special (I got the impression that he had either called in a favor or he told a really good story).  He also gave me the written permit that allowed us to enter the grounds for my scrapbook.  What an incredible finish to a wonderful day!

Since we hadn’t stopped for lunch, we were back early and were soon on the tender and back on board the ship.  We headed straight for the buffet for a very late lunch, which of course meant that we would not be hungry for dinner.  I spent the rest of the afternoon chatting with some folks, and reading, then met up with my parents for a late evening snack in the buffet, before heading back to our cabins to call it a day.  Tomorrow was a much needed sea day!

British Isle Cruise--Day 15

August 9, 2015—Day 15, Inverness (Invergordon), Scotland

Another very cold day and the high today was forecasted to be 58 degrees.  Although it’s August, it sure feels like the middle of winter for those of us used to much warmer climates.

We were up early, had breakfast, then was off the ship a little after 8:00am to meet our tour guide at 8:30.  Laura met us outside the port gates and off we went.  We had booked Inverness Tours for its Outlander Tour, which stops at some of the places featured in Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander books, and in the Starz TV series.  Since this was a private tour, we had enough flexibility to stop anywhere else we wanted to visit taking into consideration that we needed to be back on board no later than 5:30pm, although our targeted return time was an hour before that at 4:30pm. 

Our first stop was Clava Cairns, a site that pre-dates history as it is reputed to be 4,000 years old.  There were three cairns with a circle of standing stones surrounding each cairn; each cairn looked like a mound of rocks with a hollow area in the center.  Laura told us that the archaeologists have determined that the center cairn was used to cremate people who had died and that the two outer cairns had contained pots with the ashes of those cremated.  Amazingly, the center cairn had three mounds in the shape of spokes leading to the cairn; these were apparently air tubes which allowed the fires to burn hotter (necessary when cremating bodies).  Considering the site was thousands of years old, the workmanship to build these cairns was incredible, especially for that time in history.  The two outer cairns had a narrow opening and originally the entire cairn was covered over.  The pots containing the ashes were presumably brought in by someone, perhaps a family member, who had to crawl through the opening and place the pot in this circular room which had no light and was probably pitch dark.  Each year, during the winter solstice, the sun was positioned in such a way that the light shone directly through the entrance, and legend has it that the people of that time believed the light from the sun shining through into the cairns led the spirits of the dead to another world.  (Hmmm, maybe that was the beginning of the phrase, “go into the light.”)  Whether it is true or not, it was a very interesting story about the cairns.  As far as the Outlander tour, the standing stones included the one Claire, a WWII British nurse, touched when she was whisked away to the past and wound up in Scotland in the 1740s.  (If you haven’t read the books, I very much recommend them.)

Our second stop was Culloden Battlefield, where the government’s forces fought and defeated the Jacobites in April 1746.  Laura did an incredible job bringing the stories alive for us, making this important part of Scottish history so interesting.  Tying it all to the Outlander books, she pointed out both the MacKenzie and Fraser clan stones marking the mass grave where those clans fell and were buried.  The field has an eerie feel to it which is understandable since it is a memorial to not just those who died in this major battle, but also a symbolic memorial to the end of a way of life in Scotland with the defeat of the clans.  I saw some of the clan stones had flowers placed there presumably by descendants of those clans.

Leaving Culloden, we drove along the coast of Loch Ness.  The benefit of a private tour is that we were able to set the itinerary, and while this part wasn’t tied to the Outlander books, I wanted to see this famous lake.  After all, what visit to Inverness would be complete without a visit to Loch Ness to see the Loch Ness monster?  We drove along the coast looking for Nessie, then stopped to have lunch in a quaint little pub.  Unfortunately, we didn’t spot anything that could possibly be mistaken for Nessie, the infamous Loch Ness monster. 

We made our way to the town of Beauly and visited the 13^th century priory where many of the gravestones had names that were common in the Outlander books.  Beauly was the town where Jaimie Fraser’s dad had come from and Lord Lovat (the lord of Beauly) was Jaimie’s grandfather.  We also visited a small hotel that was supposed to resemble the description of Lallybroch in the Outlander books (but looked nothing like the Lallybroch featured in the movie). 

Our last stop was at Castle Leod, which was the home of Clan MacKenzie (Castle Leoch in the Outlander books).  This is a private home and the head of Clan MacKenzie still resides here, so we would not be able to actually visit, but was making a photo stop.  Laura explained that Inverness Tours (her company) had an agreement with the owner that they could bring people by the house for a photo stop.  We drove down a secluded tree-shaded road and parked near a sign that said “Private Property” but where the castle was clearly visible.  Several other cars were parked nearby and others arrived while we were there.  There was a large tent in a nearby field and it looked like there was going to be a large party.  All the people getting out of their cars and walking up to the castle were dressed in the tartan plaid.  Laura asked if it was a clan gathering and was told that it was.  Laura explained to us that all the members of Clan MacKenzie gather once a year, and it turned out that today happened to be the day.  The field was set up for the highland games and a large banquet. Being there at the beginning of a Clan Gathering was certainly an experience we hadn’t planned, but how exciting to see.  Of course, since we weren’t invited guests, we finally left and made our way back to the ship.

We thanked Laura and said our goodbyes—she was a great guide and had provided us so much information in a way that made the people of Scotland, both past and present, come alive. 

We were back on board the ship by 4:00pm, earlier than scheduled which was great.  We looked at the dining room menu, and again it didn’t really appeal to us, so at a little after 6:00pm we headed for the buffet.  Afterward, I talked with a few fellow passengers and we exchanged stories of what we had done at the various ports. 

I was back in my cabin by 9:00pm and curled up with my Kindle before falling asleep.  It had been a long day, and while it had been cold, we were lucky that we had periods of sunshine between cloudy skies.  We had another Outlander excursion planned for our time in Edinburgh tomorrow, and the weather was projected to be rainy all day.

British Isle Cruise--Day 14

August 8, 2015—Day 14, At Sea

It was a sea day—finally!  And the sun was shining again when I woke up, but it was still very cold out.  We decided to go to the dining room for breakfast for a change instead of the buffet.  There were very few people up early so the dining room was pretty empty when we got there at 7:30 in the morning. 

After breakfast, we hung around a little while waiting for the casino to finally open at 10:00am.  Unfortunately, we were told that due to the ship’s navigational position, the casino would not be opening at all this morning, and it may not open this evening either.  It was originally scheduled to be open from 10:00am-noon, then again from 7:30pm-8:30pm—not much time for a sea day—guess the captain decided not to go too far from the coast. 

The public areas on the ship have been very chilly, probably due to the norovirus situation.  Because it’s been so cool around the ship, the only really warm place is in our cabins.  This was also the reason we decided not to participate in formal night—none of us wanted to take off the multiple layers we had on to dress in a thinner formal dress.  This will be the first time that I didn’t participate in any of the formal dinners on a cruise (so it looks like I have definitely over packed). 

Since we weren’t going to do the formal night, I decided to just relax the afternoon away in my cabin (where it was much warmer) to read and I ended up taking a short nap.  The next two days would be very busy, so a nap was just fine.  It was nice to be able to curl up in a warm bed for an hour and just doze off. 

We left our cabins at a little before 6:00pm and were headed toward the buffet when the cruise director announced that the casino would be open for an hour, so we quickly turned around and headed there.  Since it was formal night, and since some folks had already gone to dinner, it wasn’t very crowded.  I ended up losing a little of what I had won previously, but still enjoyed it.

Afterwards, we had dinner in the buffet, then back to the cabin to curl up in bed with another movie.  Tomorrow we would be in the port of Invergordon, near Inverness, and we had another all-day private excursion planned.  Thinking about the next day, I let the ship rock me to sleep.

British Isle Cruise--Day 13

August 7, 2015—Day 13, Glasgow (Greenock), Scotland

Sunshine!  Beautiful sunshine!!  The high today is forecasted to be only 54, but the sun was warm and the wind had died down, so it felt so much warmer.  Our ship had tied up at its berth in Greenock, Scotland, by 7:00am; once again, our cabin faced the sea instead of the port, but the sun shining on it this morning made it very nice. 

After a late breakfast, my mother and I did the laundry we had planned to do yesterday.  Then I wandered around on the Lido Deck (Deck 16) and higher, all the way up to Deck 19 just to walk around outside and take a few pictures of the ship itself while it was both sunny and a little warmer.  Most of the passengers had left for various tours, some of them really long tours since our ship would remain until 2:00am tomorrow morning. 

We had no specific plans for this port either.  Greenock is a small port town about ½-hour by train from Glasgow.  Most of the tours were into Glasgow or into the Scottish countryside, but since we had the two private excursions into the Scottish highlands from Inverness and to see several castles from Edinburgh, we decided to stick close by for this port. 

Since the sun was out, we took advantage of it and had pizza for lunch out on the Lido Deck.  Surprisingly, there were even a couple of people in the pool!  Personally, I think they're crazy since the temperature was only in the 50s; while it was warmer, it wasn't THAT warm and we were still wearing several layers of clothes topped with a sweater. 

After lunch, we left the ship and wandered into the port tent where several vendors were selling Scottish goods and souvenirs.  After looking around and doing some shopping, my parents headed back to the ship and I decided to walk to town.  The town wasn’t very far, but the walk to the gates out of the port was a little ways, and very boring.  Once outside the port gate there were only a few streets to wander around.  I did visit the old cathedral and took pictures of some of the other older buildings.  Then I visited the grocery store, Aldi.  I think grocery stores in other countries are interesting and actually enjoyed wandering around the aisles looking at the food.  I also bought some lemon Scottish shortbread for my mom and Scottish mint chocolate candy for my dad.  Everyone should sample some of the local food, and Scottish cookies and candy seemed a much better choice than the local haggis (for some reason, minced meat packed into a sheep’s stomach just doesn’t appeal to me…lol).

I returned back to the ship mid-afternoon and found my parents engrossed in another of the movies offered on the on-demand TV.  The nice part about a cruise is that you really can be as active as you want, or you can just sit back and relax and do pretty much whatever you want on board.  Of course, it’s also nice to have all the food available in either the dining room or the buffet, or the outside pizza and grill, or the inside pizzeria, or the International Café (and I haven’t even mentioned the specialty steak or Italian restaurants, or the gelato and ice cream bars—unfortunately, too cold for ice cream on this cruise).  Not having to cook or clean up is always a plus!

We finally made it to the dining room for dinner!  It was Italian night (which wasn’t exactly my parents’ favorites but was one of mine).  I had the eggplant parmesan, then a little spicy pasta the chef was making, and finally the veal scaloppini, followed with tiramisu and the wonderful lemoncello.  I was absolutely stuffed. 

After dinner, I watched another movie.  It was strange to still be tied at the our berth and we wouldn’t be leaving until 2:00am.  Tomorrow was a sea day and we were looking forward to the casino opening at last, although only for a very short time from 10:00am-noon since we would be sailing close to the coast.

Although we wouldn’t be sailing and the ship wouldn’t be rocking me to sleep, I was asleep by a little after 10:00pm.

British Isle Cruise--Day 12

August 6, 2015—Day 12, Belfast, North Ireland

Our intent was to spend the day relaxing and doing laundry while most people were off the ship since we had no excursions planned; unfortunately, we weren’t able to do either.  The ship continues to have an issue with gastroenteritis (noro), and we were told the ship would undergo another sanitation while we were in port in Belfast. 

We were told we needed to vacate our cabins early in the morning and most likely would not be able to get back in them until late in the afternoon, so instead of sleeping in, I had set my alarm.  We were also instructed to take everything off all the surfaces in the cabin and put all our belongings away.  This meant that after taking a shower, I had to pack up all the toiletries and also put away everything else.  Since we wouldn’t be able to get back into the cabin, I packed up a few things into a bag that I might want during the day, like a wrap that could double as a coat or even a blanket if we wanted to sit outside (it was still very cold and likely to get colder as we went further north), my laptop (so I could go ahead and write up yesterday’s activities), and my kindle.  Of course, I had to lug all of this around the rest of the day.

After breakfast, my parents found a place in the hallway of Deck 7 to sit, and I headed to Club 6 for trivia as something to do to pass the time.  The questions were not just difficult, but almost incomprehensible as the member of the cruise director’s staff conducting trivia spoke with such an accent that none of us could understand the question.  There were only about 11 people there and we had to help each other try to figure out the question before we could try to answer it.  “If cats are no-ed as feelens, what are ships?”  Huh??  We finally figured our that the question was “If cats are known as felines, then what are sheep?” and we only figured it out when he started saying ships, ships—baaaa, baaaa, oh, sheep!  Yes, ships!  

Afterward, I headed to plaza deck thinking I could get a coffee and start typing my journal from the day before.  Not only were our cabins being sanitized, but also the public areas of the ship, so shortly after getting there, a team of around 30-40 crewmembers armed with buckets, wipes, and a couple wearing tanks on their backs with a spray nozzle attached (looked a lot like the kind my pest control person uses) started sanitizing that area liberally wiping every surface down and spraying everywhere (including the walls).  A few of the other folks there moved out of the center of the piazza over to the side area, but I decided to move to another area of the ship and headed back to Club 6 where the trivia had been held.  I was there just a short while, when another team entered that area, so off I went to where my parents were on Deck 7.  A little while later, we could see still another team of crewmembers working their way forward from the stern of the ship, wiping and spraying everything in sight.  So back to the piazza we went.  This time the side areas on piazza deck were taped off so no one could enter them, but we did find a table near the International Café in the center.  We continued to move from area to area as the sanitation teams worked their way around the ship.  Unfortunately, everywhere they went, the chairs and tables, and even the couches and other seats that were cloth-covered, were soaking wet.  Pretty soon, the only place left was outside, and it was cold. 

We spent all morning and half the afternoon just trying to find someplace to sit.  Usually we are told to avoid using the public restrooms when possible and that it is better to use your own in your cabin, but today we couldn’t go back to our cabins, so we had to use the public restrooms and I found some of those were blocked with yellow tape since those had to be sanitized as well.  Areas of the ship such as the Vista Lounge, Wheelhouse Lounge, Princess Theater, Club 6, Alfredos were all taped off or closed as well.

A lot of the passengers were off the ship on various excursions so it does make sense to try to do the sanitation while in port, but a few (including us) hadn’t planned to get off the ship.  Since the ship was berthed in an industrial area of the city, there was nothing close by that we could just pop out to visit or see.  If you wanted to go anywhere, you had to take a bus or taxi somewhere.  Since we hadn’t already planned anything previously, we were pretty much stuck along with a few others, and spent the time waiting to get back in our cabins and moving from area to area.  After the initial morning trivia, I found all other activities were pretty much cancelled, so it was a good thing I had my Kindle with me.

We were finally able to get back into our cabins mid-afternoon.  Since we hadn’t had lunch, we ended up going to the Lido Deck to the grill and had hamburgers and French fries.  The sun was out and the wind had died down, so even though it wasn’t warm, it wasn’t too cold either, so we actually ate outside on the deck sitting in the sun.  Later, we went to the buffet for dessert.

After the stressful day, I was back in my cabin at a little after 7:00pm, changed into my comfy PJs and watched a movie (Woman in Gold, which was really good), and was asleep early as soon as the movie ended.

While I understand the need to take precautions and to sanitize the ship, it does make it less than enjoyable or relaxing.  Of course, getting upset about it all doesn’t help anything, so I tried to make the best of it, and instead of trying to find things wrong, I’ll try to find things that I do enjoy and appreciate.  One disappointing day doesn’t change the fact that we’ve had some very enjoyable days in London, in Leominster, and in Wales, and I’m glad that I’m able to spend time with my parents, and we're all looking forward to the excursions we have planned in Scotland.