Puffins,Coos and Kelpies oh my! :16 day , photo travelogue on the Caribbean Princess to the UK, Ireland, and Iceland 7-12-24

[scubacruiserx2]

 Inside looking for lunch and dinner 

 

 

 

 We we not allowed to book Steamers or Planks before boarding the ship so we stopped by both and booked Steamers for dinner 

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 The buffet was a good option for lunch

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The staff convinced me to try some hot sauce for my satay which I also added to my guacamole . Some of the chicken went into the salad .

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 5 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 The team at Sabatini's was first rate and Ivan the manager recognized us from years ago when we were sailing the CB a lot in the Caribbean . He like Novak Djokovic , are both from Serbia and we were excited to see Novak in the men's final at Wimbledon . He didn't beat Carlos Alcaraz there but he did beat him in Paris to win the Gold Medal . We consider him to be the GOAT in men's tennis as a player and a human being . Claudio was our favorite waiter there on most of the mornings when we ate there and was always great to talk to .

[scubacruiserx2]

  Dinner at Steamers started out good with a nice seat and a quick delivery of Ceviche and bread with 2 spreads .

 

 

 

 

 

 We had found what we wanted to order on the menu and tried several times to place our order .

 

 

 

  The waiter was kept busy with a distance between us and the main body of diners but there was a loud couple that we preferred not to be seated next to . It seemed like every time that we tried to order or ask to be moved that the other couple interrupted with a new set of demands in Spanish that kept him busy . We understand this when we sailed from Buenos Aires in January to Antarctica that Spanish is the common language , but this cruise sailed from Southampton . Rudeness in any language should not be rewarded by pandering to every squeaky wheel looking for grease .

 

 

  After about 5 minutes of not seeing our waiter I made the move to the wash room . He rushed passed me in the wash room without washing his hands so I decided to speak to the manager and considered room service while offering to pay for the aborted dinner . He asked if it would be OK to deliver dinner to our cabin which was fine with us . We did make a stop to listen to this man playing piano near the Atrium for a couple of minutes on the way down to the cabin .

 

 

 

 About 10 minutes later Joseph , the Manager delivered dinner in person which we thoroughly enjoyed . We did eat there and at Planks several more times and wish to commend the manager on a job well done .

 

 

 

[jaycruising]

10 hours ago, scubacruiserx2 said:

 All things considered , we decided to skip this port and enjoy a down day on the ship . One way that we knew that we were near our cabin was the photos on the walls . We hope to submit a few taken from this cruise for possible use on other ships .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

How do you submit photos?

[scubacruiserx2]

 Pulling into Cobh on a cool , rainy and foggy morning

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

 Patty traces her Mother's family and their roots to Cobh . Teenage Annie Moore and her brothers were the first immigrants at Ellis Island on January 1, 1892 .

 

https://www.history.com/news/remembering-annie-moore-ellis-islands-first-immigrant

 

 

 

 John F. Kennedy Park 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Deck of Cards houses on the way to Saint Colman's Cathedral

 

Edited August 6 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

12 hours ago, jaycruising said:

How do you submit photos?

  We haven't tried yet but at the service desk they said to try customer relations at Princess .

Edited August 6 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 Our plan was to try to beat the rain up to Saint Colman's Cathedral but the walk up was steep , slick and slow .

 

 

 

The Caribbean Princess in the fog

 

 

 

 

The backside view of the house of cards

 

 

 

Saint Colman's took 49 years to complete is made from Granite and completed in 1919 .

 

 

 

Photo from Wikipedia

 

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Colman's_Cathedral,_Cobh

Edited August 6 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 A panorama of the alter of the cathedral

 

 

 

 

 

 The shrine to Mary

 

 

 

 

Jesus crucified for the sins of the World

 

 

 

Stained glass ceiling

 

 

Edited August 6 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The door were closing for Mass

 

[scubacruiserx2]

  As we wandered down to the city the rain began to pick up and we were caught without our Brolly ( Umbrella ) in between covered buildings . We did have some rain gear but we were wet . A stop at this monument to the sinking of the Lusitania , an Ocean liner by a German U Boat nearby in 1915 killing almost 1200 people .

 

 

 

We walked around this area looking for a bite to eat and a pint but only breakfast was available until after 12:30 .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 We did hire a cab for the short ride back which we wished we had done to the church , but we didn't see any earlier .

 

 

 

 With a quick shower and room service , we were happy campers looking for a quick nap .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 A walk around the Promenade  in Cobh - Starboard

 

 

Port

 

 

 

Aft

 

 

 

Forward

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 One that we forgot from the city before boarding

 

 

 

 

The centennial of the sinking Titanic was the year that London last had the Olympic games in 2012  🥇

 

 

 

 

A stairway to Heaven with red and white handrails . This used to be a Protestant Church but was used for genealogical  records on our last visit here .

 

 

  Our last visit to Ireland was with some friends that we met on Cruise Critic back in 2007 when we first cruised to South America . They are from the Isle of Man and we shared private tours together in South America . 

 When we mentioned that we wanted to circle Ireland on a bus tour , Karen and Ron told us that Their tour went to places that were not included on the bus tour . Karen planned the 10 day tour and drove their van around the island which they had brought over on a ferry crossing .

 A few old photos of places that we couldn't reach from the port this trip .

 

 Kilkenny

 

 

 

The Ring of Kerry

 

 

 

 

 

 The Cliffs of Moher

 

 

 

 Northern Ireland

 

 The Giant's Causeway

 

 

 

Carrick - a - Rede Rope Bridge

 

 

 

 

 Lastly was a 2 night stay at Ballinkeele House in the Blue Bedroom .

 

 

 

 

 

 

https://www.ballinkeele.ie/accommodation

 

 We would have loved to met them after the cruise for a post cruise reunion , but Karen is no longer with us on this planet , but she is always with us in our hearts . 💔 ❤️

 

Edited August 7 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  We were given an escort by the Irish Navy's LE James Joyce

 

 

 

The race was on 

 

And a final view of the city before we left

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

   Our last cruise on Princess was the Enchanted which we did for Valentine's Day and our Anniversary in 2022 . We loved the ship and our room but the one thing that we missed on that cruise was the Ultimate Balcony Dinner . But that was about to change on the CB .

 

 

 

 

 

 The review :

 

 

 

Edited August 7 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

 Leaving Cobh

 

 

 

There was a man with a loaded camera in the hall

 

 

 

 And he brought a friend with food - lots of good food

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[heatherb1958]

We join on 13th August doing your itinerary but in reverse,  we have Greenland then Iceland.  I have prebooked the Ultimate balcony dinner as we have a true aft on Baja deck  which will be sheltered from wind,  we are from the UK so cool temperatures are not an issue . Looking forward to your full review of the experience . 

[scubacruiserx2]

51 minutes ago, heatherb1958 said:

We join on 13th August doing your itinerary but in reverse,  we have Greenland then Iceland.  I have prebooked the Ultimate balcony dinner as we have a true aft on Baja deck  which will be sheltered from wind,  we are from the UK so cool temperatures are not an issue . Looking forward to your full review of the experience . 

 

  That sounds great . They didn't show afts available when we booked but later we put a bid on one and lost . If we would have know the full price we would have purchased it . We did enjoy the UBD more than our other 2 dinners and repeated it with our friends a little later . It was the best price also .

 We noticed that you also have Isafjordur on your cruise . We do have a nice guide in that port and the Patters if you are interested . It's not much longer and you're away so enjoy your cruise !  🙂

 

 PS The CB did make Greenland today .

 

https://www.cruisemapper.com/?imo=9215490

Edited August 7 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  The rest of the meal

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Somebody had a birthday

 

[scubacruiserx2]

The CC M&G  was held in the Skywalkers Lounge and the ships officers showed up .

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 The Coral Dining Room is where the suites have dinner and lunch at sea .

 

 

 

 

 

The Summer rolls were fresh and good but the wrapper was gummy . The Thai rolls were a better choice for us and they gave us 3 .

 

 

 

 

 

[scubacruiserx2]

 An early walk with the camera on deck 5 - The Plaza Deck

 

The Island Dining room

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 The Piazza

 

 

 

International Cafe

 

 

 

 

 

Edited August 8 by scubacruiserx2

[scubacruiserx2]

  Deck 6 - The Fiesta Deck

 

The Princess Theatre

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fine Arts Gallery 

 

 

[heatherb1958]

@scubacruiserx2 - thank you for your kind  offer re the patters. We have been to all the ports before except the Greenland calls so are familiar with Isafjordur . Good to hear you docked in Nanortalik,  I have the RIB tour booked for that day  . We have UK friends onboard with you so have been getting some updates through them when they have WIFI 😆 🤣.