Regal Princess UK Cruise 2023

 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 o...

 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...

 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 11a...

 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 depar...

 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 p...

 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...

 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 ...

 After 5 port calls it was definitely a pleasure and a relief to have a sea day and sleep in.  We were joined at breakfast by a retired high school basketball coach and we enjoyed a lot of sports discussion.  Our first event was a port talk about our next two ports.  "Ask the Captain" was next and it was well attended and Captain Tim Stringer answered every question and often with much embellishment.  He's been at sea 35 years with 25 on Princess. The premium Anchor Grill was open for lunch so we decided to try it.  It was really good.  I had a ribeye steak and Angela had a salad. This restaurant is full at night so this lunch opportunity was a good option. Several people reported seeing dolphins during lunch in the aft wake of the ship. Our afternoon's entertainment was the game show "Deal or No Deal" & then we enjoyed a very good wine tasting in the Allegro Dining room. We got our passports back today, and we were able to watch a port talk on Kir...

 Today found us back in the UK with a port stop at Greenock (with access to Glasgow), Scotland.  We arrived by 7am and left just after 6pm. Our little group of 7 met up in the 5th floor Piazza area at 8:30am and then proceeded to disembark the ship just before 9am.  We met our driver, David, from Sixstar Coach Tours Ltd  (Info@sixstarcoachtoursltd.com).I had arranged this tour which would take us to two castles, a visit to some hairy coos, and a brief stop at Loch Loman.  The 7 person van was comfortable with only one problem:  My front seat belt would not release to buckle me in.  So I rode the day with no seatbelt.  Our first stop was at the Stirling Castle which was noteworthy as the home of Mary, Queen of Scots.  We could also see the massive monument to William Wallace on an adjoining hill as well as the battlefield on which the events of Braveheart took place.  For the castle tour, I had purchased use of the audio guide which I fou...

 This day found us in Belfast, Northern Ireland.  Like yesterday, the harbor is shallow and must be approached at a slow speed and using the flood tide. The tide here is also an issue and we didn't arrive until 9:15am.  We were able to have a leisurely breakfast before disembarking the ship.  We used a very cool all electric double deck shuttle bus to reach the city from the industrial port we berthed at.  The shuttle cost $15.95 per person.  It dropped us off at City Hall in downtown and the Hop On Hop Off (HOHO) bus leaves from that same area.  We purchased two tickets for 20 pounds and elected to switch for a bus with open air seating on the top deck.  It was a bit chilly, but tolerable. This tour took us by the Titanic museum (fabulous in its own right) and in the area of the "Troubled Times" where there were significant battles between the Protestants and the Catholics.  It's a sad and intense part of their history.  At the end of t...

 After a quick overnight sail (actually the Captain plotted a longer course in order to produce enough water for mooring today in Liverpool), we awakened to find ourselves berthed at the Liverpool cruise terminal which is right in the heart of downtown.  While the ship was berthed at around 6am, we enjoyed a leisurely breakfast and disembarked at 9am.  We made our way up the steep gangway and out of the cruise terminal which had all sorts of tourist information.  We walked along the dock area and checked out the Beatles store and took a photograph of the FAB 4.  A Hop On Hop Off bus pulled up and set up shop to sell tickets.  So we purchased tickets for the fort loop of the day in combination with a second loop that covered Beatle related items and a ticket to the Beatles Story museum.   We boarded the RED line bus and secured an upper deck seat.  It was a comprehensive tour and most people just roads the entire loop which ended back at the Royal ...

 Silently and without much fanfare the Regal slipped into its berth at Cobh, Ireland at 8am (a full hour early).  We were up and showered and ready for the day before then.  So we headed to the Horizon Bistro on the Lido deck for our breakfast.  We weren't in too much of a hurry as we had no specific plans other than overnight I purchased tickets for the 9am Titanic Experience which was located close to the ship.  Later at 2pm, we were meeting a fellow for lunch in Cork, but that was a long time away at this point. We finished our breakfast and headed off the ship and found the Titanic Experience museum.  It didn't open until 9am so we walked across the street and photographed the Lusitania memorial.  There was a mother and her adult son also waiting for the Titanic Experience and we chatted a bit with them.  At 9am sharp the museum opened and 6 of us took the first tour.  It's essentially a guided tour telling the human side of the story of ...

 Overnight I woke up around 2:30am and couldn't get back to sleep.  So I composed and posted yesterday's blog entry before falling back asleep.  Just before 7am I woke up, showered and headed up to the Horizon Bistro for breakfast.  After I gathered my food and found a table, I noted to myself that we were still moving and we were supposed to be at anchor for our port day at St. Peter.  Shortly after, the 3 tones rang and the voice of the Captain announced that due to strong winds, our port call was going to be cancelled and we would be having a sea day.  He announced that the daily program would be revised and distributed as soon as possible in printed form and in electronic form and that the crew were receiving this announcement at the same time as the guests. It was truly unfortunate that we were going to miss our stop in Guernsey, but apparently the current storm was causing winds to flow from the wrong direction and they were so strong that the pilot c...

 We packed up our gear and checked out of our AirBnB and did a leisurely stroll down to Terminal 46 (Ocean Terminal) where the Regal Princess was waiting. We dropped off our roll ons and headed for check in even though we were early at 10:45 for a scheduled 1pm check in time.  Nobody asked what our check in time was.  There was no green or blue lane, just a lane for the suite & status passengers and one for everyone else.  We  just presented our passports and 5 minutes later we were checked in and directed to a seating area to queue up. The queue moved quickly and we were onboard at 11:08am. Unfortunately my medallion would not work at the security so I had to go to the Front Desk for a new one.  Also unfortunately was the fact that the staterooms weren't going to be available until 1:30pm (on HAL they are always always available when we board).  So we went up to the Lido food court to wait a bit.  The lunch food spread was stunning in terms o...