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Day 15 -- 6/15- London - Day 2

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 This morning we woke up to yet another sunny day.  After a quick breakfast, we decided to walk to the British Museum where we had tickets for 10:10an admission.  When we reached it about a mile away, there has a huge school group in front of us.  The tickets were not needed for entry and soon we were in after a security check. The museum is huge and very well curated.  We started with the top floor and it got extremely hot.  So much so, that they closed it.  We at a quick lunch in the great hall including a chat with folks from Georgia who are starting a DIY woodworking cruise to Norway.  We finished our time viewing the Africa exhibits in the basement and China/India.  Angela wanted to visit Abbey Road, so we found the subway station and an employee there was able to clearly explain the cheapest way to use the subway and buses.  Essentially, one uses a chip embedded credit card to tap on and off the subway with a maximum daily charge of £8.10.  Buses can also be included in the route
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Day 14 -- 6/14- London - Day 1

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 We slept well and didn't get up early.  We just had to be a Buckingham Palace by 11am.  We took the Piccadilly Line to the Green Park station and walked about 1/2 mile to join the thousands already there and lining the fences.  We saw and heard the arrival of the guards but couldn't see the actual ceremony.  There was aggressive crowd control by mounted policemen, foot policemen, and bicycle policemen.  After the ceremony was over, we got a good view of the exit of the guard and the band.  There was definitely a lot of pomp & circumstance! I downloaded an app to purchase HOHO bus tickets and we made our way to the back of the palace to get on the bus. There we had a nice chat with a mother and daughter from Mexico. We first used the blue line route and then the yellow line on the Toot bus company.  There are 3-4 bus companies doing HOHO.  It was very interesting to see things we have only read about or seen on TV or film.  The sheer size and quantity and age of the quarrie
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Day 13 -- 6/13 - Travel by Rail to London

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 This morning we disembarked the Regal Princess In Southampton for the last time.   It was a mess doing their method of disembarkation.  Princess really needs to do better.  The plan was to catch a train to Midgham and visit a friend from Australia who is working here for a year.  We hailed a taxi, and the driver offered to drive us there, which we accepted.  He was very sociable and we totally enjoyed the conversation.  At Midgham train station at around 9am, he dropped us off. Before I go much further I should add that this is my wife's birthday today and this trip was partially to celebrate that. We walked a short distance to a local pub where we were to meet our friend who couldn't be there until 11am.  We found a picnic table in the shade beside the Kennet River & canal and enjoyed the canal views including canal boats and a lock and a swinging bridge which we got to see operate a couple times.  It was very cool. Alice arrived at 11am and we totally enjoyed our our lon
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Day 12 -- 6/12 - Le Havre, France

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 We arrived very early at our last port of call on this cruise.  Many passengers were taking excursions into Paris, Normandy and other outlying areas so they needed to leave quite early.  When we went to the LIDO for breakfast, it was relatively empty.  We enjoyed a breakfast, gathered a couple of sodas for the day and made our way down to the gangway to find the town shuttle.  The ship had arranged for a round trip shuttle for a cost of $19.95US each using local transit buses. The cost was to be charged to the room which was fine with us as it will use the bulk of our unused shipboard credit.  The bus was standing room only and the trip into town took about 15-20 minutes and walking to that location would probably take 40-50 minutes and the port would allow foot traffic out of the port. It was interesting that the previous Regal Princess which is now the Ambassador Ambience was berthed across the cruise terminal pier from us when we arrived.  It departed before we left later in the da
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Day 11 -- 6/11 - At Sea to Le Havre, France

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 We got to sleep very late last night, so we slept in pretty late today.  I made it up to breakfast in the Lido before attending the Navigational presentation in Princess Live while Angela attended the cooking presentation in the Princess Theatre.  We joined up for Ken Broadhurst's port talk on Le Havre, France.  It was really good as has his previous presentations.   For lunch we tried Alfredo's Pizzeria and it was really good.  The pizza crust was perfect and a single pizza was perfect for two people.  The Voice of the Ocean (a licensed byproduct of the hit TV show "The Voice".  It was kinda cheesy, but we enjoyed the 5 contestants that participated.  In the end, Shawn, a guest from California won with an 83% win rate won by singing "Unchained Melody". Jennipher Marshall-Jenkinson presented a good talk on tea which was quite good.  And we enjoyed our last Gala Dinner.  My main course was seared tuna and it was a huge portion and probably the best I've
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Day 10 -- 6/10 - Edinburgh, Scotland

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 By 6:30am we were safely anchored just out the historic Forth Bridge at Queensferry.  Due to the strong currents, we would be affixed at the stern by tugboat as required by port regulations.  The Forth bridge is a very scenic railway bridge built in the 1800's and is designated a UNESCO heritage site because of its engineering marvel. After breakfast, we headed to the photo gallery to pick up our tender tickets.  We were told to immediately head to the tender deck which we did at 8:50.  We were halted at the stairs and told to go sit in the Piazza. 8:50 became 9:05 and no tender and many more people showed up and we found ourselves behind the newcomers as everyone wanted to be first without regard to any priority of when arrived.  So we moved and stood by the entry.  There was mass confusion and tension as 9:05 became 9:15. And we watched passengers and the entertainer from last night take the elevator down.  Finally at 9:20 we were allowed to go down the stairs where there was an
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Day 09 -- 6/09 - Orkney Islands (Kirkwall)

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 After a nice overnight sailing we anchored off the port at Kirkwall around 7am.  We, however, elected to sleep in a bit longer.  After breakfast we obtained our tender ticket and waited for our Lizardfish ticket to be called.  It was a short tender ride in and the tender deposited us right in the center of town. Kirkwall is a very old city first visited by the Vikings and later colonized by the Norwegian's.  Later it became controlled by the Scot's. I should also note that Kirkwall has a cruise terminal, but that requires a shuttle bus trip into town or an hour walk.  This afternoon the NCL Dawn is due to use the cruise terminal. The Dawn is berthed on the left; Regal Princess is moored on the right. We began to walk the very narrow streets of this very ancient town and found the St.Magnus Cathedral.  We toured that along with the adjoining Bishop's castle before watching in the bookstore a nice movie about the history of the church.  Nearby was a nice free museum which we
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