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Royal Princess British Isles June 30-July 12


Cindy
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This was one of, if not the best Chef’s Table we’ve been to. Everything about it was top notch…the setting, the food, the service, and even the souvenirs. We started in the galley for champagne and hors d’oeuvres, and then we were seated at the screened table in the dining room for the rest of the meal. Admittedly, I felt a little conspicuous parading through the dining room in the middle of dinner service to get to the special table, but I soon forgot about it because the whole experience was so exquisite.

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Dinner ended a little after 9:00. I was tired but too full to sleep, so I made a donation in the casino before I called it quits. Jim went to The Beatlemaniacs show at 10:00, and thought it was just OK.

 

Back in our cabin, I surveyed the mess we made running in the door and scrambling to get ready for dinner, decided it could wait until the next day, and quickly fell sound asleep. We finally had a sea day the next day, and I was really looking forward to doing nothing, and then doing nothing again! We were far enough into the trip that the idea of having no place we needed to be and nothing we needed to do (until an afternoon wine tasting) was very appealing!

 

 

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Great photos Cindy! I don’t think you could get a better tour guide than Tommy. But don’t tell him that, he will raise his rates. Love Scotland.

 

 

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Thanks! I’m so glad I saw your review...what a fantastic day!

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I’m slowly but surely approaching the last few days of my British Isles cruise. Sorry this is taking so long!

 

Saturday was our first of two sea days, and really the first down time Jim and I had had since we got off the plane at Heathrow on June 26th — 12 days earlier.[emoji15] Predictably I woke up early, did my coffee thing, and sorted papers and dirty clothes…all while Jim slept!

 

I decided since I was up I needed to take advantage of a sleeping ship and get some laundry done. I know a lot of people say they don’t want to do laundry on vacation, but I really appreciate Princess having laundromats for the passengers to use. It’s a win/win in my book. I get clean clothes, AND I get to control the temperature and the detergent choices! My early start worked to perfection and I was able to do two loads with no wait for a machine. During the cycles I went back to my cabin and started trying to make sense of the piles of paper, ticket stubs, receipts, and general mess that had accumulated in our cabin during a week of going at full speed.

 

I finished the laundry before 9:00 and was perfectly content puttering in the cabin for a while. I had countless pictures to look at, and the only place I needed to be was on my balcony about 10:30. The captain had said we would be passing the lighthouse on Skye around 11:00, so I figured as long as I was out there for that I could do whatever I wanted until then.

 

Jim, however, had other plans. He had emerged from his cocoon about the same time I was putting the laundry away and returned to the room with a giant latte for the balcony. He went out, and less than a minute later came back in to get me. You know where this is going, don’t you?[emoji849]

 

The lighthouse was in the distance. In the distance behind us.[emoji22]

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Captain Nash must have had the pedal to the metal, because we passed the lighthouse a good two hours ahead of schedule. I was RIGHT THERE, folding socks and undies, and I missed it! Oh well, we are planning to go back to Scotland and tour with Tommy in the not too distant future, and hopefully I’ll get a closer look at what I missed!

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Other than the disappointment of missing my lighthouse, it really was a beautiful day and we spent hours sitting outside. The temperature was perfect (in Northern Scotland!) and once again we had mostly sunny skies and calm seas. Jim and I were perfectly content to be on our balcony watching Scotland go by, but many people took advantage of the conditions to sunbathe on their balconies or by the pool.

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We had a wonderful, lazy day. I know we skipped breakfast, and I don’t remember what we did for lunch…maybe we grabbed something and ate on the balcony? The day was that lazy!

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I know we went for Gelato at some point during the day. I saw this sign and got a chuckle out of it. Just in case you were wondering, Pecan Nuts contain nuts![emoji23]

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Finally at about 2:30 we mustered up enough energy to do something important…taste wine! We don’t go to a lot of these any more, but this was a “premium” tasting, and as soon as I heard the word “Caymus” I ran to hand over my $25 for a few sips of wine! I thought the selections and the food pairings were pretty good, but a couple of the speakers describing the wine got a little long winded. I mean, we all know that some wines taste like rich soil, but does it really take 10 minutes to explain? And who eats rich soil anyway?

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The evening was mostly the usual…meet for drinks, go to dinner. Since we were in Scotland, our “formal” attire was enhanced by my family tartan…a sash for me and a tie for Jim. I think (fuzzy memory!) this was the night we decided to try to switch things up and start at Bellini’s, but it was a) too loud and b) too crowded. We retreated to our usual spot in Crooners before dinner.

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After a nice and relaxing meal that included some great Italian wine and birthday cake (a month late!) Jim and I went to the production show — Secret Silk. It was excellent, and I think Princess has really stepped up their entertainment.

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We sat with a couple from our Cruise Critic Roll Call, and it was there we learned the Fab Four had skipped out on another tour.🤬 If there’s a bright side, it’s that this time the organizer heard my story so she was proactive and called. Of course, she found out they had no intention of showing up. Since she had advance notice, she was at least able to replace two of the four.

 

After the show was the balloon drop, which I skipped this time, and bed. We would be off the ship again early the next day in Invergordon, our most northern port!

 

 

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Your shoreline pictures are fantastic!! I have a few questions.

 

Which side of the ship was your cabin?

 

What type of camera did you use?

 

Was the weather cold on your balcony?

 

My wife will want to take pictures like this for her website.

 

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Edited by JimAOk1945
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Your shoreline pictures are fantastic!! I have a few questions.

 

Which side of the ship was your cabin?

 

What type of camera did you use?

 

Was the weather cold on your balcony?

 

My wife will want to take pictures like this for her website.

 

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Thanks! This balcony shot is one of my favorite pictures from the whole trip...you just never know!

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We were on Starboard...our cabin was C429. It was not cold AT ALL on the balcony, but you need to keep in mind we had an incredibly unusual stretch of weather. It was very un-Scottish!☀️[emoji23]☀️

 

Most of my pictures were taken with my Fuji X-T2 with an 18-135mm “travel” lens. I also have a Panasonic Lumix “superzoom” with a 600mm equivalent lens. That’s what I used for the closer in lighthouse shots since we were already so far past it by the time I got out there.

 

 

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At the end of the slipway you can see the Royal Princess. Directly across the channel from the modern cruise ship dock is the old Thompson Graving Dock and Pumphouse. Behind the building is the giant dry dock where the Titanic was fitted out.

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Our time at Titanic Belfast ended right at 7:00, when the museum closed. Honestly, by then we were ready to go back to the ship. We had been gone 11 hours and packed in just as much as we could. The ship looked close, and it was, but the only fast way to cover the distance would have been to cross the channel in a dinghy. Our taxi didn’t have that capability, so we had to go around and it took about 10 minutes.

 

We freshened up and for dinner went to Alfredo’s with Deedee and Chip. I don’t think any of us had an interest in getting spiffed up enough to go to the dining room. We just wanted something casual, and Alfredo’s fit the bill perfectly. Besides, their Sangria is awesome!

 

Deedee and Chip probably found some nightlife after dinner, but we didn’t. We had another really ambitious itinerary for the next day, AND we were booked for the Chef’s Table the next evening!

 

I’m not sure what I expected, but I was surprised by Northern Ireland in so many ways…the beauty of the coast, the warmth of the people, the tragedy of their ongoing struggles. Northern Ireland was always kind of mysterious to me — much like Russia or Cuba. It was forbidden fruit! Having lived in London in the early-mid 1970s, all I ever heard about Northern Ireland was it was a place where there was a lot of fighting between Protestants and Catholics. IRA bombings were always in the news. I found the fighting is gone but the tension and animosity is not. Past wrongs are certainly not forgotten. I also learned Northern Ireland is so much more than the struggles. I hated to leave, but we sailed away right at 9:00, headed for Scotland!

 

 

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One of the best reviews I’ve read, and you’ve made Northern Ireland so real and still so heartbreaking. I had no idea feelings still ran so high.

I’ve booked City and Causeway for next spring and didn’t realize there would be some time to see the Titanic Museum.

It is so painful, it will be a game time decision.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

We had booked a full day tour with Gordon of G&S Tours, and our agenda was ambitious. Gordon’s tour didn’t disappoint…we had paid slightly more to be in a vehicle with 8 Captain’s Chairs and wifi, and since we spent a lot of time in the van I thought it was money well spent. £6.25/person is a small price to pay for comfort and a window seat!😁

 

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From the falls, it was on to Dunrobin Castle for the main event — a falconry display. As we drove through the hills, we noticed it was becoming extremely hazy. We learned it was smoke from a heather fire caused by the drought. Fortunately the wind shifted and it was gone by the time we left Dunrobin, but it was pretty unpleasant for about an hour.

 

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All I have to say is it’s a good thing the owl was well trained. He sure looked like he had lunch (me!😳) on his mind, and all I could do was hit the shutter and pray I didn’t embarrass myself in public.😂 Jim was using my phone and tried to video me taking pictures of the owl, but unfortunately he double clutched. The bird was close enough that his wing clipped Jim’s shoulder.

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By this time we had worked up an appetite, so it’s a good thing lunch was next. We went to the Royal Dornoch Golf Hotel for Sunday dinner. They had a good but limited menu, and we chose the traditional Roast Beef Sunday meal, complete with Yorkshire Pudding. Yum! It was a nice, relaxing break in the middle of the day.

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