England & Ireland

Sunday 12th
Ah, this must be Southampton, as it is cold and overcast as we sail up to our berth just before 7.00.  We have plenty of time before breakfast and get ready to disembark around 8.30.  Unfortunately a passenger has had a "medical event" and one of the gangways is closed while dealing with this.  An ambulance was at the dockside and subsequently took the passenger to hospital.  When we were back onboard at the end of the day yet another ambulance was loading up a woman.  It is a reality of a cruise of this length and the age group, that we seem to have at least one ambulance evacuation at every port.

We got off the ship and through the shed in quick time.  It is incredible that a port like Southampton, with many hundreds of cruise ships a year uses a very basic terminal, whereas Auckland, which a short season feels the need to build a huge structure.  To be honest, all passengers want to do is either get on or off as soon as possible!!  5 minutes early we meet up with Linda, our almost neighbour living half the year in NZ/UK and she whisks us off to Portsmouth.

Unfortunately the threatened showers have arrived and although we have coats & umbrella on board, they were no use there!  Message to self, if on doubt, take coat etc.  However we had a lovely coffee to warm us up before we headed to the Mary Rose.  Without detailing the history, she sunk just one week short of 470 years ago and has only been located and raised (what remains) pretty recently. 

The history and remnants are remarkable as are the remains which are being specially dried out until 2017, which can be viewed through various windows and shows the size etc of the ship.

After this, it was time to view HMS Victory, Nelson's ship.  We are able to walk through this ship (apart from the upper structure) and the reality of ship life in those days was incredible.  I think I'll be walking with a permanent stoop for some time - certainly no headroom, or indeed space in this ship.  Fortunately the rain had now stopped and we decided that we'd seen enough for one day so headed back to the carpark.  The Naval Museum area is huge and I doubt that one could get all around in one day.

Linda suggested lunch at the nearby Gunwald Centre, which proved a little more difficult than anticipated.  The ring road system Portsmouth had us well away from our starting point before joining a queue probably a couple of miles long. Eventually we reached the shopping centre and were impressed by the intelligent parking system, which a) wouldn't allow access unless there was a free space b) indicated where and in which row a space was available c) lights above the parking spaces indicated the available one(s).  Probably many readers are totally familiar with such electronic wizardry, but not in Algies Bay - or even Warkworth !!!!!!

Had a delicious tapas lunch overlooking the water - it was still a bit drizzly so sat inside but could appreciate a lovely English summer day.  We wandered around looking at the shops, which were generally high end.  The layout is somewhat like Botany Downs, with the mall being external and separated by little waterways.  They even had some miniature motorboats, which looked really cute.  A further drive along the foreshore and back to the ship.

Onboard we caught up with Maureen & Wyn from Algies Bay and later proceeded to dinner, which was open sitting, as we didn't sail until 8.00.  Planned a quiet night, but Mark & Heather still wanted to party, so we called into the Razzmatazz Lounge, where the staff always outnumber passengers☺. Mark did 3 karaoke numbers, to rapturous applause from his wife, us, and one woman who called in right at the end.  Having said that in jest, Mark is a very good singer and we did enjoy his voice.  However too much excitement saw us heading up to sleep.  A quiet sea day tomorrow.

Monday 13th
Woke up to the sound of the ship's foghorn - we are heading towards Ireland, but the weather in the Channel is damp, slight seas, but very close fog.  I trust that with modern navigational aids that the foghorn is more for show, rather than necessity.  Met up with Maureen & Wyn and had breakfast together.  We also agreed to meet for morning coffee at Crooners and over the next hour or so introduced them to many of our friends & acquaintances before lunch.

Vivian had bridge, as I updated this blog, foghorn started again as we slowly head to Ireland at about 11kts.

Tuesday 14th
Cold and wet as we sail into Cobh. History lesson, SS Titanic sailed from here in 1912, on her fateful voyage to America, so the town is pretty much dedicated to Titanic and to the RMS Lusitania, which was sunk close by in WW1.  Cobh is a pretty town which reminds me a bit of Ketchikan in Alaska.  Sad that it is such a miserable and misty day.  We walked through town about 10.00 - goes without saying that it is pretty small, but had a magnificent RC Cathedral, with the biggest carillion in Ireland/UK. As there was a Mass being celebrated we couldn't get any photos, but memories are of magnificence of a cathedral built in relatively modern times.  The showers had all but gone by the time we descended, and we called into Kelly's Pub for a coffee and scone.  It was pretty full.

Just to take one step back (as I am want to do).  Cobh puts on a magnificent welcome for the World Cruise each year.  The town officially celebrates "Australia Day" with bunting and flags - Ireland, Australia & New Zealand!!  Message to John (Key that is) our flags are quite different and seeing them flying side by side in a foreign country brings a little lump. We were so proud, that we forgave the locals for omitting "NZ" from the day.  In a great stroke of marketing genius, the promotional board were selling flags - so we came all the way to Ireland to buy NZ flags, which we waved at sail away.  The weather incidentally improved throughout the day.

At 11.00 the carillon played the Australian National Anthem, and we were pleasantly surprised when this was immediately followed by the NZ Anthem (& lastly the Irish one).  They had special stalls, singer in the rotunda by the new promenade and really made a day of it.  Lastly, as we prepared to sail, the brass band assembled and played until we cast off and it seemed as though 90% of the town were either down on the wharf or on the roadways above.  In a sad way it made me think of a similar farewell 103 years ago.  Fortunately we are not going out into the Atlantic, but heading up the Irish Sea to Dublin.

It was Heather's birthday, so we got to practise our "Happy Birthday" song, with 3 more from the table before the end of the cruise!  It was also Harold's birthday (he's in the cabin next door and also plays bridge), so lots of singing.  We went to the show and this time it was a husband & wife acrobats/jugglers.  Hugely professional and amazing.  At the end of the performance the Cruise Director does his usual prattle about tomorrow and dropped a bombshell - we do not arrive in Dublin until 10.30.  Our itinerary has always had this as a 7.00 arrival and this is the only port where we have made arrangements for a private tour 😤  Oh well, that's out, so I sent an email to cancel and it's lucky that we hadn't paid anything, but just goes to show how fickle or difficult it can be to bypass Princess.

Wednesday 15th
A much brighter day as we sail into Dublin.  Although it is cold on deck, the sun is shining.  As our planned trip to Newgrange can't happen, we elect Plan B, which hadn't previously been thought about - Hoho bus. Not feeling like a 5 km hike from the port we were forced to use the Princess shuttle at a ridiculous cost.  Once again we were amongst the first to queue up for the shuttle. 

When we got off we were accosted by sales touts from 2 competing companies.  We took details from each and retreated for a coffee & scone to consider the pros & cons.  Elected (as we crossed the road to the buses) to go with the cheap one, mainly as it had a live guide!!

We had a great time and saw and heard so much about Dublin. Although we've been here before, we haven't explored all the area. The cost was only €10 each and the circuit was just over 2.5 hours.  The other plus of this tour was that it only had the 1 route and by the time we'd done that we were happy to grab a bite of lunch. The Blarney Inn is almost opposite to the bus stop, so we had soup, sandwiches & a drink, watching the world from our perch in the front window ☺ 

By about 3.30 we manage to grab a shuttle back to the ship straight away.  Tonight we sail for Greenock, Glasgow, where we have a ship's tour, but unfortunately an early start.  Vivian's cough is back, mine is improving, so we'll see how we cope with the colder weather over the next week or so.