I just wanted to let everyone know that my story on Iceland was published yesterday on Princess Cruises’ “50 Essential Experiences.”

You can see it here…

http://50essentialexperiences.com/2011/09/26/cynthia-janssens/

September 25, 2011

HALIFAX, Nova Scotia – After days and days of cold, chilly weather the sun shone all day in Halifax and temps got up into the 80s which made for a glorious Sunday.

Halifax is such a pretty city. It had been 30 years since I visited here and the waterfront is totally changed. Yes, the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic is still the centerpiece but everything around it seems new. It was by far the loveliest waterfront we’ve seen on this trip.

The Emerald Princess docked at Pier 22, right next to Cunard’s Queen Elizabeth which was making its maiden call. (More on that later). Silversea’s Silver Whisper and the Seabourn Sojourn were also in port.

From the ship we walked down the waterfront, past several piers, the indoor Farmer’s Market and several new residential/shopping complexes into the center of the waterfront area. It took about 15 minutes. From their we caught the “Deluxe Historic Halifax” tour operated by Grayline/Ambassateurs.

We climbed into the bright blue English-style double-decker bus and thoroughly enjoyed our three hours with our guide Linda and driver Hap. The two main stops on the tour are at the Citadel fort and the Fairview Lawn Cemetery…we saw many neighborhoods but it was the many facts about this historic city that I found so fascinating.

I did not realize that Halifax was the center for three major disaster recovery efforts. First, and best known, was the sinking of the Titanic in 1912. Second was the Great Halifax Explosion in 1917 and the third was the crash of Swissair 111 in 1998. In all three cases, it was ships from Halifax that recovered the bodies and brought them back to the city for identification, shipping home to their families or burial here.

This harbor is the second largest natural ice-free harbor in the world and it never requires dredging. Its Bedford Basin was used for staging convoys in both of the world wars. In fact, submarine nets were strung across the entrance to protect the vessels inside. And long, long before that pirates sailed from here as well.

The visit to Fairview LawnCemetary was quite poignant. There are 121 victims of the Titantic disaster buried here and many are still unidentified. All were buried by the White Star Line. There are more victims buried in two other of the city’s cemeteries but this is the largest number of Titanic victims buried in any one place.

There have been many Titanicmoments on this trip, as Belfast is where the ship was built and Halifax is where the dead finally reached shore.

After our tour we decided to splurge on a fresh lobster dinner and headed to the prominent Waterfront Warehouse where we sampled fresh blackpoint oysters (slurp!) (from Prince Edward Island), yummy mussels with nantua chili sauce (from Nova Scotia) and luscious Atlantic lobsters. Nothing, but nothing, tastes like fresh and this dinner was one of the highlights of our trip. Thanks to a great waitress Liza and the manager Brodie Cook for making it memorable. (www.waterfrontwarehouse.ca)

While we were eating, at about 5 p.m., the Queen Elizabeth came up the river in front of the Museum, blew its horn in a salute, turned around in front of the crowd and sailed out. I later learned that the Cunard was celebrating the legacy of Sir Samuel Cunard, who hailed from Halifax and established the iconic ocean liner company bearing his name more than 171 years ago.

In honor of the maiden visit of Cunard’s newest ocean liner and the recent revitalization of the Halifax Seaport and waterfront, The Halifax Foundation re-dedicated a majestic statue of Cunard which had been re-located last year to a more prominent position, adjacent to the Cunard Centre.

Because we took an hour and a half for this fab meal, we didn’t flock with all the other tourists to Peggy’s Cove. That little fishing village with just 56 residents will have to wait until our next visit when we hope to drive there on a quiet day. And we did not have the time to go through the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic to learn more about the city’s role in the Titanic and Halifax Explosion disasters. (The latter was the largest manmade explosion in history. It occurred when a munitions ship collided with another ship in the narrow part of the harbor and the munitions exploded, killing 2,000 and rendering 25,000 homeless, nearly a quarter of the population.)

There is so much history here — there are 10,000 documented shipwrecks in the area – that it is a rather lot to absorb in a short time. Which means, of course, Halifax well deserves a return visit!

Photos by Chet Janssens

Special thanks to Destination Halifax for our tour arrangements.

There are times when this ship seems rather sedate, probably due to the generally older age group aboard this transatlantic cruise (the average age is 67, according to the hotel manager.)

However, there are some times when the energy really buzzes.

One is when the shops have their outlet sales in the dining room (this is a genuine mob scene)…

The other is when Tom Franek starts playing the piano. Tom is the entertainer in the so-called piano bar. I say so-called because the term “piano” bar conjures up an intimate setting with stools around a grand piano and a pianist crooning familiar tunes to a select few.

Cut to the Crooners Lounge on the Emerald Princess. Here, this 27-year-old holds court every evening just after 9 to a lounge packed with roughly a hundred Franek fans (pronounced FRAH-nick). There he plays at the black baby grand and belts out tunes that have everyone foot-tapping or hand-holding, depending on the beat. Plus he throws in some Olie and Lena jokes and some lively dance moves.

So how did this young American entertainer work his way here? As he tells his audience almost every evening, he is from Minnesota (SOOOOO-ta), the city of Northfield. He has an older brother and sister. He graduated in 2006 from St. Olaf College in Northfield with a degree in piano performance, focusing primarily on classical and jazz.

“That summer I worked at the Valley Fair Amusement Park playing keyboards in the live band. Then I had to figure out what next.”

He went to one of his piano professors who he knew had played on cruise ships and he helped him get into a show band on a Princess ship. That contract was for five months and during it he was moved from one ship to another. He recalls that those days weren’t exactly easy, to be a young American playing with many veterans who were set in their ways. Plus, he acknowledged that crews are cliquish and there weren’t many Americans to hang with.

After that, he managed to land a gig at the Denali Princess Wilderness Lodge in Alaska. He thought he would probably accompany the dinner theater show, “but instead, they scheduled me for four hours a night in the Bistro lounge.”

In truth, he had never sung and played the piano at the same time except in high school. “There was a Rock ‘n’ Roll Revival show and I played Jerry Lee Lewis and played ‘Great Balls of Fire’ in a white tux. Otherwise, I had only sung in choirs or a cappella groups.

They said to me, ‘You’d be singing and playing, taking requests, etc, for four hours a night. Can you do that?’ And my response was ‘Okay, no problem’ but in truth I had nothing under my belt…I didn’t tell them a thing because they assumed I had already worked on ships as a piano singer, when really I was a show band pianist making my way.”

With only months to prepare, he learned new songs every day, beginning with “Piano Man” – “it seemed appropriate,” he recalls. “I kept wondering how I was going to sing and the play at the same time. It was really new to me, but now I’m used to it.”

“When I started there I had about 120 songs, and after my first night I had gone through two-thirds of them. I thought, oh my goodness, I have to learn some more.”

He now remembers that summer as going really well. Because there was dining in the Bistro, he learned to sometimes play background music and sometimes foreground. When he returned to Minnesota he filled in his time with smaller gigs – weddings, parties and such. He had his own mobile set-up and pretty much was able to take whatever came along. He also frequently worked with musicians at St. Olaf, too.

He returned to cruising in January 2008 where he played in the piano bar on the Caribbean Princess and he has played several contracts a year since.

When performing on the Emerald Princess, Tom’s show is a mix of comedy, serious tunes, medleys, rousting anthems, sing-alongs and a bit of dancing. “My role is very much to interface with the passengers.” Once each cruise, he performs in the larger Explorer’s Lounge with the show band.

As engaging and friendly as he is, he admits that his life on the ship is a bit isolating. “Because I am an independent contractor, I am not actually an employe of Princess – see, I don’t even have a name badge. I work alone so it turns out that the people I am closest to are the staff in the lounge…It is kind of strange. I guess I am a bit of an ‘outlier’.” He acknowledges that he can eat with the crew or with passengers. “Some of the most fruitful relationships I have are with passengers…and I miss them when they leave.”

When he goes home on breaks, he says his personal passion is swing dancing. “You know, Lindy Hop, Charleston or Blues dancing. I enjoy it so much that I arranged a quartet and performed for a Blues dance with maybe 50 people. Often I am dancing several days a week.”

He is also very much into composing his own music which he occasionally performs on the ship.

As for the future? “I see myself having something to offer which is greater. I want to be producing my own songs with greater messages. These past few months I have really been inspired to write my own songs…I want to cut a disc. That is long overdue. I made one very early in my career but I want to have one that represents the skills I have now.

Currently, he has three upcoming contracts with Princess and eventually he hopes to become a guest entertainer in the ship theaters. Beyond that he is thinking of moving to New York to possibly try cabaret or other musical possibilities. “There I would hope to develop what is missing in ship life, a community of friends and a more settled life.”

His upcoming gigs on Princess include:

Nov. 5-17: Crown Princess, Caribbean

Jan. 28-April 27, 2012: Island Princess, Panama Canal

Sept, 20-Dec, 16, 2012: Sea Princess, Hawaii/New Zealand/Australia

Here is a video clip of Tom in action:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G9LzJoSDrOs&hd=1

His website: www.tomfranek.com

 

People we’ve met the past few days:

Bruce and Beth from Del Ray Beach, Fla.

Nat and Sonja from Satellite Beach, Fla.

Clara from Atlanta, Ga., with Mo from Fire Island, NY

Bonnie and Mel from Columbia, Mo.

George and Sue from Atlanta, Ga.

Pat and Peggy from Wisconsin

Paul and Sandra from Louisville, Ky

Max and Polly from Englewood, Fla.

Wendell and June from Albuquerque, NM

George and Carol from Phoenix, AZ

John and Joanne from Naples, Fla.

Jimmy and Rene from Ft. Lauderdale, Fla.

Molly and Bert from British Columbia

 

 

September 22, 2011

QAQORTOQ, Greenland – Today we visited a small village on the southwestern coast of Greenland. It is pronounced something like “KAK-or-TOCK.” Founded in 1775, this town has a population of just 3,230 — just a few more than the number of passengers sailing on the Emerald Princess (2,985). It is located at a latitude of 60°.

This is our first visit to Greenland. It is included on a few arctic and transatlantic itineraries, but is still one of the lesser-known cruising areas in the world. Most of the year the country’s small ports are blocked by sea ice and icebergs. Actually, September is the best month to visit as there is the least ice. That said, we did see a number of icebergs both sailing in and out and the ship does have an “ice captain” from Denmark aboard to help advise the captain in navigating these waters.

Because the harbor is so small, the ship had to anchor out and we traveled in and out with tenders. This transfer went very smoothly as we were in port from 8 a.m. until 4 p.m. and it only took about two hours to see the town, unless you were hiking around its outskirts.

The tourist center is right at the dock and it has the town’s only souvenir store. As you might expect, it was mobbed by those on the ship and no doubt had a day of record sales. Outside, Inuit craftsman sold their goods in small booths.

The town is very colorful. It sits in a “bowl” around the harbor and the sides of the hills are covered with multi-colored wood buildings. The three key buildings are easy to spot…the old church is red, the new church is white and the hotel is blue. While walking through town, you will encounter several groceries, a bank, a post office, a bar and a café but not many shops. Because just about everything is imported, prices are extremely high here. (In the grocery, Chet priced a bottle of Johnnie Walker Red Label scotch at 350 kroner, or $70.)

Other points of interest include the fishing wharf where fresh and dried fish and seal meat is sold. On the other side of the harbor is the sealing factory, where seal is processed. I am told there is a store there but we did not visit that…most seal products cannot be brought into the U.S. There are also a number of stone sculptures and etchings in the area, which were done by Nordic artists in 1993-94.

Because of the size of the port, the ship did not offer any excursions. Everyone was on their own to explore the small town. There are about 5-6 taxis in town and one couple I know paid 300 kroner for a half hour tour for four ($60). Yes, there are vehicles despite the fact that there are no roads in or out of Qaqortoq. All travel to other towns is accomplished by air or boat.

Fishing and sealing are the main occupations of most towns in Greenland. However, Qaqortoq is known for being the administrative center for Southwest Greenland and the educational center which serves the entire region. It consists of a pre-school, and eight-year basic school, and a two-year secondary school. Those who pass exams can go to the three-year advanced secondary school. Those who want to attend university need to go to Nuuk, the capital of the country with is further north on the western coast.

Greenland is the largest island in the world that is not a continent. Almost 85 percent of Greenland is permanently covered by ice and all towns are on the periphery. There are very few towns on the eastern coast because of severe ice conditions. Most of the rugged coastlines are etched with glacial fjords and towering cliffs.

The population of the entire country is about 57,000. Over the many years (it was first sighted by Vikings in 900 AD) the native Inuit culture has been influenced by the Scandinavians. Today Greenland is a parliamentary democracy within the constitutional monarchy of Denmark and its currency is the Danish kroner. Although Greenlanders handle their own affairs (except for defense and foreign policy), their lives are heavily subsidized by Denmark – medicine, education, etc.

We were blessed with great weather today…clear, sunny, blue skies. Temps in the low ‘40s. Oh yes, there are also many whales in this area (mostly minke and humpback) and we did see some blowing occasionally. What fun!

September 20, 2011

AT SEA on the Emerald Princess –We are just over halfway through this 18-day Northern Atlantic repositioning cruise on the Emerald Princess cruise ship and this would be a good time to make some observations on the cruise itself:

The passengers: Most passengers on this cruise are experienced cruisers, with platinum or elite status with Princess. Many are holdovers from the previous Baltic Cruise. They are also very thrifty. Therefore, they know they have 18 days aboard and they are spreading out their expenditures…not spending as much on spa, bingo, photos, casino, specialty restaurants, etc. Most bought soft drink packages and/or coffee packages. They flock to 2-for-$10 T-shirt sales. Fewer are buying ship shore excursions; more seem to be striking off on their own.

Anytime Dining: Traditional dining with set table partners is offered at 6 p.m. and 8:15 p.m. Because we like to dine around 7 p.m., we opted for Anytime Dining and that is working out fine with us. We can eat when we want and we can dine as a twosome or join a larger table. We have done both and enjoyed it. Our service has been excellent. Kudos to the main dinner waiter, Francesco.

Formal nights: Aren’t formal anymore. Not only do very few men bring tuxedos, but many don’t even wear ties. Most do wear suits or sport coats in the dining rooms and those that don’t want to bother eat up in the Caribe Grill. Women tend to dress up a bit more but many wear shoes/sandals on formal night that are downright awful.

Lotus Spa: I get the feeling that the spa is not doing particularly well on this cruise as there are spa staff members sprinkled around the ship promoting treatments. Also, spa specials are being offered which is not always the case. The fact is that the passengers on this cruise just do not seem like spa folks. We have many days at sea, so you would think the spa would be buzzing, but its prices are extremely high and I believe that discourages customers. I would love to do more at the spa, but don’t want to pay $169 for a massage! They finally ran a special on facials so I booked one for tomorrow.

Internet service: In a word: Terrible. The worst I have ever experienced on any ship, anywhere. People are lined up daily complaining about it. The staff member in charge is constantly have to credit minutes back to people. Just to check email usually takes me at least a half hour! And to post a blog, a task which usually takes 10 minutes, took me 44 minutes today! It open a web page usually takes at least five minutes. Abysmal. For this reason, I have not posted hardly any photos in my blog…so come back later to see all of these postings with photos added!

Food: The food has been extremely good, particularly at dinner. Lunches are so-so. Breakfast is fine. I don’t care for arrangement of the Lido buffet. I like ships which offer serving stations for different cuisines. Everybody runs into each other in this buffet. It can also be very difficult to find seating.

Entertainment: Shows in the Princess Lounge and the Explorers Lounge are scheduled at 8:15 and 10:15, making it impossible for most Anytime Diners to make the first show and 10:15 is too late for us. The majority of people on this cruise are between ages 50-80 and they don’t stay up late so the early shows are packed…I mean packed. People come about 40 minutes early to get seats. As a result, we have seen very few shows. The one show that works out for us is Tom Franek, the pianist in Crooners Lounge who comes on at 9:15 p.m. (I interviewed him today and you will read more about him in a future blog.)

As we have so many days at sea, it would be nice to see a few more shows scheduled during the day. The afternoon movie in the Princess Theater is popular when good movies are shown. Why in the world did they put Casablanca on the outside screen?? The weather outside is not conducive to watching the huge outdoor screen which shows movies three times a day.

September 19, 2011

REYKJAVÍK, Iceland –We had simply an amazing day in Iceland. This small island country has long been on my “must” list of places to visit. I was a bit concerned that we were only going to be here for less than a day for our first visit, but was still hoping for a good experience. We weren’t disappointed. The place is magical.

We were fortunate to be on a private tour set up by Cruise Iceland, which enabled us to see a lot more in a short time. The Emerald Princess docked about an hour early, at 11 a.m., which gave us a tad more time. We were met at noon by our guides, Bjarni Gudmundsson and Linda Hardardottir, in their Super Jeep…a huge vehicle with four-foot tires that are very popular here for exploring the wilderness.

The first magical thing we discovered is that we were out of the city and into the “moorland” within a scant 20 minutes. We were heading to see the The Golden Circle … a trio of natural attractions within two hours of Reykjavík. The moorland is gently rolling terrain that is very rocky and covered with small willows, lichen and other low-growing plants. Being autumn, these low-lying plants were of all colors.

The second magical thing was the amazing light. All afternoon it would rain one moment and the sun would shine the next. This created a soft light that enhanced the landscape and made for gorgeous photos. Of course, this also created amazing rainbows…we saw several of them, each lovelier than the last.

Another magical aspect of Iceland is its dynamism…with volcanoes, hot springs, glaciers and earth rifts, you are constantly aware of an environment in flux. Earthquakes happen rather frequently here. This is a part of the earth that is alive with energy…geothermal energy to be specific, but more on that later.

Our first stop was at Thingvellir (Þingvellir), a national park where two of the earth’s plates are actually pulling away from each other at the rate of about an inch a year, leaving large gaps and chasms. According to Bjarni, this is one of the only places on earth where this happens…on most faults, the plates are pushing upon each other.

From the visitors center, you can see the walls of the valley created by this rift. A World Heritage Site, this valley has great significance in the history of Iceland as it is where the first general assembly, or Alpingi, was assembled in 930 AD and the islanders convened here yearly for about three weeks to hear the law, settle differences, arrange marriages and conduct trade. It was here that the Icelanders adopted the Christian religion in 1000 AD. Court proceedings continued here until 1798 and the Republic of Iceland was formed here in 1944. (www.thingvellir.is)

From here we proceeded through more mountainous terrain to Geysir country. (The English word “geyser” comes from Icelandic.) We stop in an area of blowholes, steaming craters and watch as the Strokkur geyser erupts. This is currently the only Icelandic geyser that erupts on a regular basis, about every six minutes. However, Bjarni and Linda point out that new hot springs, blowholes and geysers appear after each earthquake!

Note that there is excellent shopping for Icelandic goods, particularly furs and sweaters, at the large gift shop in Geysir visitor center.

Not too far from here we make our third stop, and perhaps the most impressive: the Gullfoss waterfall. In a country full of waterfalls, it is said to be the most beautiful and it is certainly the most accessible to visitors. Although not as large as Niagara, its many levels are quite spectacular…and this day, we enjoyed a rainbow over it. There are numerous wooden walkways to viewpoints, or you can walk down to near the base.

On a regular bus tour from a ship, this tour would take about five hours, but we managed to do it in about 3-1/2. We discovered that Bjarni and Linda had a lot more in store for us. From there we headed over to see how Reykjavík’s electricity and hot water is produced. They showed us how deep wells are dug into the ground, which produce steam under incredible pressure. This steam is sent to a geothermal energy facility which converts it into electricity and hot water which is pumped to the city. No fossil fuels are used and the process is pollution-free.

There are many hydropower plants in Iceland and seven geothermal energy facilities. After showing us the wells at their source, they took us to the Geothermal Energy Exhibition at the Hellisheidi Geothermal Power Plant, just outside of Reykjavík. (www.orkusyn.is)

After this, Bjarni wanted to show us just what his Super Jeep could do, so we headed off road into the lava fields and caromed through shallow springs, up gravel hills, and generally ripped around where no normal vehicle can go. (These lava fields are covered with soft grey-green reindeer moss and are so mystical that I expect a troll or elf to pop out any moment.) After that bit of excitement, we drove back into Reykjavík for a short city tour.

This is a lovely small city with a big place in history. It was here in 1986 that Ronald Reagan and Mikhail Gorbachev met in an historic wood building on the waterfront (still preserved) and developed an agreement that would end the Cold War. It is a nice mix of old and new and easy to walk around. Whale-watching tours depart from its harbor from May through September.

There are many cafes and excellent restaurants. We ate dinner at the Sjávargrilli? Seafood Grill, enjoying Arctic char, catfish and lamb. (www.sjavargrillid.is). It is located near the city iconic symbol, the Hallgrímskirkja church (95 percent of the people are Lutheran.)

We were back to the ship around 9 p.m., plenty early for the all-aboard of 10:30 and full of memories of this quirky yet lovely place. One quirk is that everyone last name is taken from their father’s (or mother’s) first name: Therefore, my name in Icelandic would be Cynthia Seelysdottir. Chet’s would be Chester Carlosson. Also, the language is old Norse and its has symbols not found in English and almost impossible to pronounce.

I am anxious to return and do still more. I would like to swim in the famous hot springs at the Blue Lagoon (many from the ship did that) and I would love to spend several hours exploring the city on foot. Maybe we would go river-rafting, hiking, horseback riding, whale-watching, or take a Jeep trip to the ice cap…or go out and shoot more photos in that extraordinary light.

This year Iceland had 70 ship calls, welcoming 65,000 passengers. Next year they will be receiving over 100,000. It appears that ship lines are catching on to the marvelous port of call (which would be well worth an overnight).

The current advertising for Iceland says “Come and Be Inspired by Iceland” and I can only agree. It is, indeed, inspiring.

P.S. And it is only a five-hour flight from New York City!

Photos by Chet Janssens

For more information:

To arrange a small group jeep tour with Bjarni and Linda, email Linda@ri.is.

www.visiticeland.com
www.visitreykjavik.is
www.icelandnews.is
www.cruiseiceland.com
www.icelandair.com

Special thanks to Agust Agustsson (Cruise Iceland) and Hera Brá Gunnarsd?ttir (Visit Iceland) for our tour arrangements.

September 18, 2011

AT SEA on the Emerald Princess – After three busy days of touring, everyone on board was ready for this full day at sea. The waters were a bit rough through the night, but nothing like a few days ago. I think most folks have their sea legs.

This morning we attended a port talk on Reykjavik, Iceland, which we will be visiting tomorrow. Iceland has always been on my “bucket list” – isn’t that term getting overused?? – so we are looking forward to this. It appears that the weather won’t be too good but that is pretty normal for this time of year in this part of the world.

This afternoon I participated in a “Slot Pull” also organized on the Cruise Critic roll call board. Forty-one of us contributed $20 each to participate. Rules were pretty simple: All of the money is put into a $1 slot machine. Each person got six hits. The person who won the most (Sandy won 60 credits) got $1 from each entry, or $41. Then all of the combined winnings were split amongst the group, or $14 each back. That was a pretty fair deal and entertained us for about an hour and a half.

Tonight we are having dinner at the Crown Grill specialty restaurant with Brenda and Ham Morton of N.C. They are the beekeepers and we are looking forward to hearing how they got into this particular retirement venture!

September 17-18, 2011

BELFAST, Northern Ireland – Yesterday we visited Belfast, a city I have long been interested in. We had a very early start as our small group tour departed at 7 a.m. The tour was organized through the Cruise Critic roll call online by Mary Ziergiebel, who tells me that she has been organizing such small group tours for about seven years.

I connected up with Mary at the Cruise Critic “Meet and Greet” on the first full day at sea. She had a cancellation for two within her tour group and Chet and I snapped up the spots. We paid 60£ (about $95) for the two of us. The ship was charging $169 per person for a comparable itinerary.

Our group of 27 left the pier promptly on time in a Mercedes bus with our driver-guide Tommy. As it was a quiet Saturday morning so Tommy first spent an hour showing us about the city. As there was almost no one in the streets, we were able to see a lot…the Cathedral Quarter, the newly developing Titanic Quarter, the political murals along Falls and Shankill roads, churches, pubs and more. It was obvious the money that has been pumped into the city by U.S. and European investors since the peace accord between the Catholics and Protestants.

It was interesting to note that there are still parts of the city where Catholic and Protestant neighborhoods butt up against each other and that there is still a physical wall between them with gates that are locked at nights and other times. But it is also obvious that peace is creating prosperity for the city.

In 2012, the centenary of the Titanic’s maiden voyage from the shipyards of Belfast, a major new attraction will be opening called Titanic Belfast. This is a dramatic building which will offer a ride through the ship’s construction, relieve the drama of her sinking and visit the wreck on the ocean floor. It is at the heart of a number of other Titanic experiences and I look forward to seeing them on my next visit. (www.titanicbelfast.com)

We then got on the motorway and drove about an hour and a half to the county of Antrim on the northern coast (Atlantic Ocean) to see the country’s greatest natural attraction, the Giant’s Causeway. This World Heritage Site is a mass of some 40,000 regular-shaped basalt columns packed tightly together at the water’s edge. They were created some 65 million years ago by volcanic eruptions. They create “stepping stones” and other rock formations that can be explored on foot (www.nationaltrust.org.uk/giantscauseway.)

The site is operated by the National Trust which operates a bus between the visitor center and the site for those who don’t want to walk (2£). If you visit the Giant’s Causeway on your own, you might want to take advantage of the Park and Ride deal offered by the nearby Bushmills Distillery (which I wish we had been able to include in our visit). The cost is 1.75£ per adult or 5£ per family. As it costs 6£ to park at the Causeway, this is worthwhile.

The drive to and from the Causeway is quite beautiful – it is called the Causeway Coastal Route and extends 80 miles from Belfast to Londonderry. It has been ranked as one of the five most beautiful road trips in the world. Our bus took a shorter route but we were able to see lots of lovely farms and all the wonderful shades of green that Ireland offers. (www.causewaycoastandglens.com)

Of course, it rained off and on during the day…this IS Ireland, after all…but we did have sunshine for much of the time.

We stopped for lunch in the charming village of Ballycastle and our meal (on our own) was the “Pie of the day with mash and vegetables.” This turned out to be a delicious pot pie with chicken and English bacon with sides of mashed potatoes and mashed squash. All for under 5£ at the Central Bar at 12 Ann St. If you are looking for beer, wine or spirits the Cooperative grocery just off the main town circle has great prices…we did a little stocking up.

On our return we visited the rope bridge at Carrick-a-Rede (some of our group paid the fee to walk across it) and then back near Belfast we made a quick stop at Carrickfergus, a well-preserved 12^th century Norman castle set in a lovely seaside town. (www.carrickfergus.org)

We were back at the ship at 4 p.m. and it was certainly a full day. We sailed out of the River Lagan and Belfast Lough at dusk and were able to see clearly the shipyards (shipbuilding is pretty much defunct here now) and the drydock where the Titanic was outfitted. This is a small city with lots of possibilities and well worth a future visit.

 

September 16, 2011

DUBLIN, Ireland – Today we woke to typical Irish weather – rain. Oh well, it is to be expected. Because we have both been to Dublin before, we decided to book the shuttle ($20 round-trip) into the city and to explore on our own.

This worked out fine and by about 11 a.m. the sun came out. Again, typical for Dublin. We saw most of the sights…did a bit of shopping…and headed back to the ship. (The ship has to sail earlier than usual today because of low tides.)

Before departure, there was an impressive show of Irish music and dance called the “Gaels Afloat.” The four musicians and three dancers put on a rousing show that set just the right note for leaving Dublin. They announced that this was their 18th season of playing for Princess and that this was their last show for this year.

After that was concluded, we went out on deck for the sailaway and noticed a small drama in progress. The crew was pulling up the gangplank but it was obvious some passengers were missing. They called the names of four people…and soon a cab pulled up and dispatched two stragglers. But where were the other two? Soon we saw the purser appear, obviously carrying the passports of the missing. She reluctantly passed these off to the port agent and we prepared to sail.

Of course, just as we were pulling away from the dock…a taxi screeched in, bearing the missing man and woman. But it was too late, the ship was underway. They stood forlornly and soon the port agent showed up to help them handle their situation. Of course, they are fortunate that they only have to get to Belfast by tomorrow (some 100 miles away) to catch up with the ship.

Photos by Chet Janssens

 

September 15, 2011

GREENOCK, Scotland –After two rambunctious days at sea we arrived today in Scotland and after a foggy morning the day turned out gorgeous, with blue skies and white puffy clouds. Our tour guide Lesley thanked us for bringing good weather, noting that the weather has been gray and rainy of late.

Today we took a ship excursion to see the Falkirk Wheel and visit the small city of Stirling. This turned out to be a great outing all around. Princess did an excellent job of getting everyone gathered and off on time and from then on the day progressed perfectly. Our bus drove around Glasgow and on into the countryside to Falkirk.

The Falkirk Wheel is considered to be an engineering marvel. Basically, it is a large counter-balanced wheel which rotates to raise or lower boats. It replaced a system of 11 canal locks. Opened in 2002 as a Millenium Project (it received funding from the lottery), it connects the Forth and Clyde Canal with the Union Canal. It lifts or lowers boats 35 meters (approximately 105 feet) in 4-1/2 minutes using a minimum of electricity.

It is pretty amazing to look at and even more interesting to ride. Although it was designed primarily to revitalize the canal system in Scotland it has also become a tourist attraction which raises funds for the British Waterways Scotland system. The tourist aspect is that you can ride a boat as it is lifted…and then lowered…in the wheel for 8£ (7£ seniors).

It was the beginning of a huge transformation of Scotland’s canal systen, which was originally developed for commerce and fell into disuse after the railroads took over distribution. Now the canals have been reopened and are primarily used for recreation and tourism. Bike paths, small marinas, restaurants and other facilities have developed along the long-disused canals. To learn more, go to www.thefalkirkwheel.co.uk

After our visit to the wheel, we then went to the city of Stirling, which is dominated by a lovely medieval castle. Most people opted to get off the tour at the castle and walk down into the town area. There we had lunch and then browsed the shops in this charming village.

After, we rode back to the ship through the countryside rather than on the motorway as Lesley regaled us with facts about the country. Altogether it was a satisfying tour and it took most of the day.

This evening we did manage to see the production show of Cole Porter hits, called “What a Swell Party” and then headed to bed early knowing we were going to have a full day in Dublin.

 

Photos by Chet Janssens