twangster

Day Five - Lerwick/Shetland Progress report: Condition report: Jewel was upgraded to super precision thermometers. It's precisely 50.02°F Ut Oh... Cheaters goin' cheat.

I'm trying to remember if Jewel was the ship that had a busted window in the middle of the glass wall midship. If so, it's been fixed in drydock.

Forgot to mention I popped into the theater for a couple songs. The Royal Caribbean singers tonight sounded pretty good too.

Wave Benders are a pretty good cover band. They nailed a couple songs. A little subdued for the Schooner Bar but I still love the music of Minstrels Duo I’m very pleased with the entertainment on board.

5 pm - 8 pm

Fast forward a bit and this brings us pretty much live. This was moments ago off my balcony. I spotted a wind turbine farm off the port side.

The amazing colors and scenery continued we as left the firth and entered the North Sea.

That's when I spotted a whale.

With a fresh paint job Jewel was sliding through the water. JW Sail Away Invergordon.MP4

Sail away from Invergordon had just started. I could hear bagpipes playing... A Royal send off... What a glorious evening.

After enjoying the live string music in the Centrum I headed up to the Concierge Club. However, after seeing the beautiful scenery outside I went back to my cabin to grab my photography gear.

I’m not so sure. They judge and profile and they know, even if I don’t wear my pinnacle pin, which I typically don’t. When I was a frequent flier with 300+ flights a year, there is no doubt TSA could see that I was a frequent flier. They see thousands of people day after day. They know. They profile. They judge.

Minstrels Duo string music in the Centrum so you know where I am right now. Guests are streaming onboard with 4 minutes until gangway up time. One gangway is on deck 4 with an X-ray machine near the lobby stairs. I’m not sure what the status is for the forward gangway to deck 3 I used earlier. It’s more level.

Looks like they have made the day 5 cruise compass available for tomorrow. JW May 15 day 5 cruisecompass.pdf As a tender port, there is this notation in the cruise compass: (Guests with ship excursions are already covered for the tender ride to shore) Independent Guests Guests who wish to head ashore independently should collect a tender ticket from 7:00 am – 9:30 am in the Schooner Bar, Centrum, Deck 6, when you are ready to go ashore. We invite one person only to collect tickets, for every member in their travelling party. Please note that there might be queues for tender boats at times when returning to the ship. The last tender to the ship will depart Lerwick by 5:15 pm.

I'm betting as an old guy who is a frequent cruiser I could probably pull it off while my son who fits the profile as a late twenty something potential liquor smuggler would probably get busted everytime. YMMV.

This is my office from where I prepared today's posts. It reminds me of the story our guide told us this morning. Sitting with his wife yesterday he saw something in the sky but couldn't recall what they call it. "It's the sun" his wife told him. "We see it so rarely here" he explained. Today has become a beautiful sunny Scottish day.

There is a gift shop on the pier for those last minute Highland souvenirs. Jewel is looking mighty fine with her fresh drydock paint job.

Back around 12:30pm there was plenty of time before the 5:30pm sail away so I walked into town. More Gorse. The Ship Inn. Sheepshaggers Gold beer... ...and real fish and chips. It wasn't that long ago I couldn't wait to get to port to get on cellular for faster speeds. The cellular speeds were not very fast in Invergordon. I can't wait to get back on the ship for faster speeds. 🙂

After an irresistible cheese scone at the castle gift shop it was time for the ride back to the ship. We took a different route so we could see a different part of the Highland countryside for our return. Our guide is an avid supporter of the local football team. Our bus driver is the team bus driver when they have away games. We passed the stadium on our route. Important match tonight that will decide if they get demoted or not. The Inverness Caledonian Thistle Football Club is one of the longest team names I've heard of. We were told the opponents, Hamilton, are all cheaters who play dirty. Serious business this football. I may have nodded off a few times.

It's a good time to visit the Highlands. The common Gorse were in bloom all over.

The Trebuchet.

I took a chance visiting the water's edge. Fortunately no monsters approached on this occasion. The last time I was here was nearly twenty years ago. I did a Loch cruise back then. It's not included in today's excursions.

Tickets included in the excursion price. Quite a story over a few hundreds of years.

Our guide narrated the drive along Cromarty Firth, across Black Isle and through Inverness on the way to the Urquhart castle ruins. Bus window photography rarely comes out well so I grabbed just a few pics of the journey. Inverness castle currently closed for renovations. Our first glimpse of Loch Ness sans monster. Finally the castle ruins.

After breakfast in Chops I had an 8am meeting time in the theater for my excursion. The suites/pinnacle breakfast hours start at 7:30am on port days and I was finished and out of there at 7:46am with enough time to run by my cabin before heading to the theater. Standard excursion process, go down to the stage, collect a sticker then sit and wait. Our bus for the morning: