ConnieTact

Went to Gatsby’s and enjoy piano music and songs from Tony. met our friends to catch up the day and soon after they left to head for bed at 11.30 the bar staff indicated we could now have alcohol again. We passed and went to bed as didn’t feel the need at that time. We are now on the top of Ireland! Good night!

Had a fabulous evening of good company, conversation and food with officers. I’m grateful to be rewarded with extra treats such as this. I must say David is an excellent Cruise Next manager, member of staff and host! The evening with three other officers, was made entertaining, comfortable and fun, under his lead and supervision. It was our first experience this event, and I look forward to our next. No photos I’m afraid! ☺️

We’re back onboard now having a rest before we go to our Sapphire Latitudes, ‘dinner with the officers’. It will be another dry nite as again, no alcohol will be served because of ‘UK port rules’. I am aware there is another post discussing this at length so enough said about that! Suffice to say the squirrels are not the only ones who store treats away for another day! We have a fridge on our room and have enough acorns, I mean wine, for tonight!

The gardens are completely free and so is the museum. we paid for standard taxi on the way, as it was there and easy. This cost £18 but we gave him £20. The driver’s chat was amusing and fun. For our return journey, we called ‘ Value Cabs’ who are always cheaper. There number is (028) 90 80 90 80. Their charge for the same journey was £12.80 so we gave him £15. That driver was also pleasant and friendly.

We went back to the Botanic gardens and we were so glad we did as this time we walked a different way around the side of the Ulster Museum and found the delightful Temperate greenhouse and tropical ravine. They were amazing. The palms were huge and there were all different exotic plants. A real feast for the eyes.

It’s US dollars. We haven’t needed to spend anything yet but have a credit card that does not charge for foreign currrncy.

We will pop back to the park soon to finish off seeing the last bit. There was an outdoor Mother’s Day exhibition and we’ve not seen the herbaceous borders yet!

We are now at Maggie May cafe indulging in very large, ‘super special’ shakes. Mine is The Pink Lady and MrCT chose Mag’s Millionaire milkshake!

I nearly forgot the squirrel pictures!

We had planned to go to Ulster museum and botanic gardens but slipped up on not noticing the museum is closed on a Monday! We still came to botanic garden anyway and weren’t disappointed. It felt so fresh to be walking around the park after being in the shop. we saw squirrels that had been fed chips by passers by and birds sang to us through the walk! We went in the huge greenhouses that had been there since 1840, although restored in 1983. There was a good selection of plants but with many repeats.

It was delicious! One of those I declared, “worth getting fat for!” 😜 I’m not sure if it was buttercream or that cream cheese frosting but it felt light and the sponge was so fresh. I was told they bake their cakes each day!

Thanks for adding this information- I’m sure others will find it helpful.

My friend just sent me this link of great old pub to visit in Belfast. It really looks amazing. https://www.belfastentries.com/places/crown/ I’m not sure if we will get there but I’ll try.

We skipped dessert but had tea and coffee. I love tea from a pot and I asked for Earl Grey. The server came back to say there wasn’t any although the large supply they had was missing. I know there isn’t any at the buffet because I asked in the morning for some and a very kind server went down to deck 5 to get me some. I filled out a ‘Comment card’ and posted it at customer services as a thank you. Mr CT had the foresight to have taken a couple of bags and put in his pocket so imagine my delight when he came to my rescue! It looks like I’ll need to carry my own Lady Grey around from now on as there must be a more than a few more Earl Grey drinkers aboard!

Back to yesterday. Last night we got back quite late so just dumped our stuff in the cabin and went to the main dining room for dinner. It was all delicious and the service was excellent, the great thing about loading food photos as it doesn’t matter too much if they’re upside down!

Today, we are in Belfast and the announcement that the gangway was in place and disembarkation could commence came through at 7am. We were told that there would be a shuttle into the centre of Belfast running every 15 minutes and service would start from 8.30 until 6pm. the cost is 10. Yes, 10 in cash. Whatever you have! So £, € or $, and correct money as no change available. Pay the driver. I have to say, as a person who likes to sleep, it was a relief not to keep hearing the announcements for tender ticket numbers! It does wear a bit thin after a late night! So I’ve decided for this reason I prefer docked port stops! The view out our obscured window today. Quite a change as it’s always been sea for days!

Just got on our tender after 23 minute wait. There are some benches if people can’t stand.

It depends what you like really. Vikings, Crystal, timepieces or a walking tour. It’s all so very close / only yards away from each other and all museums are small.

Front of queue now but have to wait for next tender as this one is full! It all seems well organised.

Posters with ideas of what to do in Dun Laoghaire!

In line for tender back to ship- looks long!

I recommend you get the Waterford pass, as you can get around all the four museums include and get a walking tour too. My friends went to Waterford Crystal tour & liked it. Also their fave was Bishops palace. Mr CT loved the museum of Time and here are some pictures of that. Yes- he even took photos of the toilet! 😂

More Powerscourt snaps- I really did love it!

Powerscourt was well worth the trip. We walked down the grand steps to the pond and then into the Japanese garden. It was spectacular and I loved every second. We ended with a pot of tea and cake in the outside terrace because the sun was shining! the excursion was everything we had hoped for as it was easy but took us to a beautiful place. We know Dublin well and will be there in a few weeks so didn’t need to go ‘into town’.

I did this and got a huge print out but I’m not convinced the times actually tally with reality of what’s in! I will check again sometime.