2nd stop- Dublin, Ireland!

Day 4 - Sept 19,  Friday 

We had to meet at 7:45am in the Princess Theater to get with our tour group. Our ship docked at Dun Laoghaire, pronounced- 'Dun Leery' and we had to ferry over. It was raining and foggy and we got pretty wet on the 20 minute ride. There we got on a coach bus and had a 1:15 ride through Ireland's beautiful countryside.  We stopped at a place Glendalough, which had a the remains of several churches, a gatehouse, a well preserved Round Tower and a huge cemetery. It was all very interesting. 

Our second stop was at Avoca, an old sheep sheering station that has been remodeled into some nice little shops.

We stopped at Woodenbridge for a really yummy lunch.

There are these huge old churches in every little village and everywhere in the big cities.

Our last stop was Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin. Wow! It was magnificent!!

The floor is all these mosaic tiles-beautiful!

Then back on the 'tenders' or ferry's back to the coach, then a very long ride through Dublin and back to the ship. It was a long 10 hour day, we saw lots of beautiful places and loved it, but we were very tired. We had time to change and go to dinner at the Sympathy Dining room, then LaVerl went to bed and I went to a wonderful show watching "The Trawlersmen", excellent musicians-3 guys. Lead guitar, a drummer and a violin!!!  So good!!

Our first stop- Cork

DAY 3  Thurs. - Sept. 18th 

Today we docked in Cork, also called Ringaskiddy, Ireland and it's rainy and foggy and we are loving it.  We got up and had a lovely breakfast and then decided to get a ticket to go into the town of Cork, via a coach (also known as a bus). We walked around and looked at all the little shops for a bit, then headed back to the coach. We got back to the ship and ate a little lunch and then went to meet up with our next tour called, 'Easy Cork, Scenic drive, Irish coffee'. After walking all morning, LaVerl was good with a bus ride. We had a 45 minute drive through the countryside, seeing the sites and with our tour guide informing us of all the different things to see. We went to an old sheep station that has been converted into a wonderful shopping center. LaVerl bought a nice little English hat and he bought me a pretty necklace with a little pearl and we bought some chocolates to take home to friends and family. 

We didn't meet up with any of our traveling buddies until dinner at 7:30! It was a wonderful day of site seeing and enjoying the Irish culture. 

Regal Princess cruise ship--here we come!

 DAY 1 Tuesday- Sept 16th

Today we packed up our suitcases and left London! We got an Uber with Tammie and Clifford and he took us to a huge transfer/coach station where there were tons of people all wondering what to do and where to go. We stood in long lines to load onto buses, (they call them coaches here), to take us to the port to get on our ship. We were the very last people in the station to leave and then we entered the huge terminal to get onto the cruise ship that was docked at the port of Southhampton. What a relief to finally get on the boat!! Wow, is it beautiful. It's very modern with interactive boards, with a touch of your finger, you can see the whole ship and where you are. They gave us these medallions we wear that activate everything and that eliminate using a card. However, they only have 2 electrical outlets and that is hard with all the stuff I need to plug in!

As soon as we got onboard, we found the food and do they have lots of food to choose from!  I also had to find the laundry place and did all our laundry from being a week in London. Then a few hours later, our whole group- there's Tammi & Clifford Finch, Wade & Nanette Finch, their cousin-Dean & Sherry Bigelow and us, all met in the Symphony Dining Room for a 5 course meal of our choosing. We have the 7 o'clock dinner time, which is pretty late, so that makes us going to the even later night time show. Tonights was really good, he was a juggler named Pete Mathews and not only could he juggle, but he was a comedian too.  I thought he was amazing!

That was the end of a long day, we were all tired!

DAY 2 Sept 17 -at sea!

Oh how good it felt to just sleep in and not have to go anywhere! We leisurely got up and then went for breakfast. Later, while LaVerl rested, I found our group and we all played 5 Crowns. I had to book a few more tours to go on because we didn't have anything planned. Tonight was 'Formal Night' and we got all dressed up and I didn't take one picture. The Theatrical Show was called Bravo and it was modern opera like singing with beautiful dancers and gowns.

We are still trying to find our way around the ship. We continue to be at the wrong end or on the wrong level to get to where we want to go. But, we are having a great time!!