Paris, France

                                                                                        

June 18, 2012  Paris, France

Today we arrived in Le Havre to cloudy skies but mild temperatures. We chose to return to Paris for the second time and picked an excursion that would take us to the Cathedral of Notre Dame. On our first visit, we took a trip down the River Seine on a  boat that was a dining room for lunch. We were not near windows and the glass top had shades drawn to keep out the sun. It did not have a deck to walk around and take pictures, which was a major disappointment. This time, we made sure we would see Paris.

The bus tour of the city was excellent with picture stops. If we could not stop in some places, the driver found a way to slow down and then go back the other way for the people on the  other side of the bus. Our guide was very good and spoke English very well. We had a delightful lunch at Chez Jenny and then went to Notre Dame.

The cathedral is huge!  There are many gargoyles on the roof line and majestic stain glass windows in the two towers on the front of the church. There was a  choir concert going on as we toured the interior and they set the mood for our tour.It was a fantastic end to our cruise.

The British Isles shined bright on this trip despite the clouds and cool weather. The cruise itself was not one of our best . Problems with the dining room both food and service and the lost ports, were a disappointment. We still had good entertainment and enjoyed ourselves. 

Now back to reality……laundry, shopping, cooking, cleaning and planning the next cruise :)

                                                                                            Notre Dame

A view through the base of the Eiffel Tower

                                                                       

June 16, 2012 

This is the day we had to miss Edinburgh, Scotland. It is a tender port and it was too rough to load the tenders to take us to shore. This was our second missed port and made for some unhappy campers. But safety of the passengers trumps any disappointment we may have. 

We watched two good movies. One was "My Week with Marilyn" and the other was "The War Horse". Today is another sea day and we will start packing. We will be touring Paris tomorrow and it will be a long day.I don't want to worry about packing when we get back. We fly home the next morning. I will finish my blog from home.

June 15, 2012  Invergordon, Scotland

After a lazy day at sea, we arrived in Invergordon, Scotland. Our weather continues to be cloudy with peeks of sun and temperatures in the upper 50s. So far, the showers do not fall until we are on the bus headed back to the ship.

The scenery today is as lovely as yesterday and we took an excursion to Cawdor Castle, the ruins of Urquhart Castle and the legendary Loch Ness.

The Cawdor Castle is the seat of the Earls of Cawdor and the home of the Countess Cawdor. We saw a documentary about this castle on the Travel channel prior to this trip. It is in marvelous condition, not only as a residence, but as a fortress. We had a nice lunch in a hotel in Inverness and then went on to Urquhart  Castle. This castle was plundered by the MacDonald Clan and later destroyed  during the Jacobite Rebellion. There is a legend that a cave below the ruins is the home of Nessie" :)

Did we see Nessie? Of course!! :)

The ride back to the ship was uncomfortable because the driver put a fan blowing warm air on when the passengers requested air. When we arrived at the pier, there was a long line waiting to go through security. The winds were in excess of 35mph and it was no more than 50 degrees. The crew only had one entrance open for boarding in this weather. On other days there are always 2. 

                                                                                 Cawdor Castle

Urquhart Castle, Loch Ness

June 13, 2012 Glasgow, Scotland

We brought the luck of the Irish to Scotland it seems, for the sun greeted us as we crossed the River Clyde on a ferry to Holy Loch. A loch is what the Scots call a lake.

It was a partly cloudy day with just enough sun to make the day comfortable for sightseeing. The Scottish Highlands are awesome and our tour along the Loch provided a day filled with wonderful sights. 

We visited Inverary Castle which is the home of the current Duke of Argyle. He lives on the third floor with his wife and children. He opened the doors to the public to raise funds to maintain the exquisite  antiques and paintings dating back to the 1700s.

Some of the people on our tour met him in the gift shop. He must be quite the charmer because they were quite taken with him.

We did not go in the shop because we wanted to get some exterior photos of the castle. We were not permitted to take interior pictures so I'll just say the rooms were beautiful.

After lunch we drove to Loch Lomond and visited a town called Luss, where residents come on holiday to enjoy the loch.

                                                                        

                                                                                   Crossing the River Clyde

                                                                                  

The Bonnie Banks  of Holy Loch

Inverary Castle

View from Inverary Castle

Bonnie banks of Loch Lomond

June 12,2012  Belfast, North Ireland

Today we took an excursion to Londonderry, the only walled city remaining in the British Isles. We learned a great deal about the conflicts between the Catholics and Protestants and although things appear to be peaceful at this time, there are signs of tension still visible.

The Irish country side is absolutely beautiful in North Ireland as well as the south. Londonderry,or Derry as the locals prefer, is in a valley beneath the Donegal Hills.They don't call them mountains here. We walked the walls steeped in History and visited an Anglican church called Columbs Cathedral. The tour ended with lunch and shopping.

The Wall of Londonderry

gate to the wall

Londonderry from the wall

Columbs Cathedral

June 11, 2012 Dublin, Ireland

Today we visited Dublin under sunny skies and comfortable temperatures.It was quite a contrast from our countryside tour yesterday. We took a city tour with visits to Trinity College and St. Patrick's Cathedral. 

St. Patricks is an Anglican Church and is the National Church of Ireland. The writer

Jonathan Swift was Dean of St. Patrick's in the 1700's and is buried in the church. Although we visited Trinity College, we did not get to see the Book of Kells. The book is an 8th century text of 4 gospels written in Latin and illustrated by the Monks at the Kells Monastery. 

Samuel Becket Bridge

Statues representing the Great Famine

St. Patrick's Cathedral

                                                      

Trinity College

View of Dublin

June 10, 2012 Cork and County Kerry Ireland

 The blessed little Irish weather fairies kissed our fair cheeks with sunshine on this lovely day.(hows that for some Blarney?) We boarded our motor coach and headed to the countryside of Ireland and were not disappointed in the scenery. We visited Killarney National Park and the Killarney Lakes. We drove around a portion of The Ring of Kerry and then visited Muckross House in the Park. This estate was host to Queen Victoria on a visit to Ireland. Afterward, we visited Killarney Town for a delicious lunch and some shopping. Our tour guide was chock full of Irish jokes as well as very knowledgable about all that we saw.
Just a reminder, that all pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them.

Killarney National Park

Muckross House

Grounds of Muckross

Lunch in Killarney

June 9, 2012  St. Peter Port, Guernsey Island

This morning, we anchored in the harbor and tendered ashore in sunny, cool weather on calm seas. We toured the St. Peter Port Church and visited the shops. The shore excursions originally planned were all canceled because of the date change. 

Guernsey is only 70 miles from the coast of Britain and is a popular vacation spot for the British and the French. There are ferries that regularly commute between France and Guernsey as well as Great Britain. The water is a green hue like that of Florida and very clear. It was a lovely place to visit and we are glad we were able to keep the port on the new itinerary. 

St. Peter Port Church

A model of Coast Guard boat

A Coast Guard Boat

off the coast of Guernsey

June 7,2012

   Today we head to Southampton to board the Caribbean Princess. The forecast was for heavy rain and wind but it held up until we were on the bus and headed for the ship. It will be a very bumpy first night at sea if the forecast is accurate.

We used a Princess transfer to travel to Southampton. They loaded the luggage from each bus on to one truck. Our luggage arrived dirty and late to our cabin. We went to the buffet instead of the dining room and unpacked after dinner.

We are on the port side of the ship for the first time in our cruise experiences. Even though the ship layout is like the Crown and Emerald, we are all mixed up when leaving the elevators. We look like newbies :)

We were just told that we will delay leaving Southampton due to a technical issue.

Hopefully it will be fixed in time to make Guernsey tomorrow.

We attended the welcome aboard show and I have to say that our cruise director is a stand up comedian. He was as funny as any I've seen onboard a Princess ship.

The singers and dancers performed and were quite good.

It is 11:00 PM and we are still at the dock. Looks like we won't be in Guernsey tomorrow. I hope they can fix the problem.

Good Bye Southampton

June 8, 2012

Well, here we are in sunny Southampton with no news as to whether we are going to be cruising today or not. Each update says they are working on the problem, but it is taking longer than expected. I will finish this post when I know more.

Yay!! We are leaving the dock and the sun is shining….at 4:45 PM. We will be in Guernsey tomorrow. Princess had to eliminate one port ( Liverpool), but we will make the other ports. They also gave each person a $75 credit to use however they want on the cruise. 

Tonight was formal night and the entertainment in the Princess Theater was called "Born to be Wild".Very well done!