Back to Reality

We made it back home. We did not even have to walk home because Melissa did remember to pick us up at the airport (very impressive). Now we are both back to work and reality. I think we are both back on Eastern Standard Time even though it took me a little longer than Brian.

Now, I am looking into our next trip. The original plan was Egypt in January, Asia in summer, Australia in early 2010. Well we have many problems with that plan right now. First Egypt and the Mediterranean is going to be a little chilly in January. We really would like a warmer vacation next since our last two have been cold. Maybe even get to use the pool. Next there are no cruises that I have found to Asia in the summer. So we have no idea what to do.

I have to make our decision soon about whether we plan on cruising with NCL because we bought a cruise reward (little discount to our next vacation) while we were on the Jade. We only have 30 days to cancel. While we were on vacation, we thought we had everything figured out but that is no longer the case. I have a lot of work to do!

Also, I put a link to Melissa's blog on this website on the righthand column. She can be quite entertaining.

Our Last Day in London

I am writing this on the airplane ride back to Ohio and plan on posting once we get home. Yesterday we opted for the express check out option from NCL where you carry your own luggage off the ship. Because I did so well packing this time, we were able to do that. (Side note: We did not use the elevators at all during our entire cruise except to weigh our luggage the night before disembarking because I was afraid they weighed more than 50lb. There was a scale in the fitness center that was great to have. The morning we left the ship, we carried both suitcase 45 lb and 48 lb respectively two flights of stairs because the elevators were too crowded. Our stateroom was on the 5th floor and most food options were on the 12th floor. We always took the stairs). The express walk off option worked great for us. However NCL was not letting any people who opted for them to have their luggage ready for them off the ship when we left. We left the ship at 7:15am and walked right off without any problems. We were at the train station by 7:40am.

The train was not that crowded. We even got to sit during the trip. However the train was delayed 20 minutes because of a fatality at one of the stations hours earlier that caused a back up in the line. We did not mind because we knew we had all day.

Once we got to Waterloo station, we got underground passes for the day. We needed to get to Victoria Station since that is where our hotel was. We had to walk about ½ mile to our hotel. It was around 10:30am and the streets were a bit crowded so that made rolling our suitcases down the street a bit of a challenge but we managed okay. We finally got to our hotel, Sutrees Hotel. It is like a bed and breakfast. I knew it was a small hotel and it was not going to be a nice as our first night in London but I was not prepared for what would come next.

The reception area is downstairs in the basement. So instead of carrying our luggage down there, Brian stays upstairs while I checked in. Our troubles begin... they do not have a record of our reservation and they are full for the night. I had a confirmation email showing the reservation. The hotel uses a 3rd party booking agency and I guess the agency did not notify the hotel of our reservation or perhaps the hotel overlooked the email. Of course they favored the former. ( I book this hotel in March)! The owner apologized and tried calling other hotels but all were full for the night. I started to freak out and called Brian downstairs.

Brian had seen a few hotels on the street so he went looking for a place to stay. All I kept thinking is we get to stay the night at the airport like we did for New Years Eve in Times Square at New York LaGaurdia Airport (at least that was intention: we had a 6am flight and figured a hotel was pointless). Oh this is not good. Luckily (at the time), Brian found us a hotel (almost next door) with a double bed (and two single beds that we did not need but that is all they had) and our own bathroom and shower. I am not into sharing a bathroom. Brian asked if I wanted to look at it and I said no. How bad could it be? It is only one night? It cost $180 a night so it should be decent.

The person at Sutrees Hotel was absolutely worthless. She did refund our nonrefundable deposit (12 pounds) and tried to find us a new hotel (not very well – she could not find anything for us and we had to walk the streets to do it on our own) but that was it. Sometimes I wish I was not as nice and easy going. I basically let this be even though this caused us great inconvenience, more money, great aggravation. This was not my fault and I had the confirmation of reservation yet we did not have a hotel to stay in and it was basically presented as our problem not theirs. I would never recommend that hotel and cannot wait to write my review online.

We could not check into our new hotel (Blair Victoria Inn) until 1:00pm however they did hold our luggage. We did not want to leave our laptop there so we had that in the backpack which made it pretty heavy for the day. It was only 12:00pm and it was going to be a long day. Brian and I were miserable at this point. Just dealing with the issue of the hotel and just wanting to be home. But we were in London and needed to make the best of it. It took us a while to shake off our rough start and start enjoying our day again.

We went to Buckingham Palace and walked around the outside. There were way too many people there. It was neat to see the guards outside but I was not that impressed with the building. Again we did not go inside so I cannot speak for that. Then we walked around a park near the palace for a while. It was another beautiful day. It was partly sunny with temperatures in low 80's.



We made our way back to our new hotel. We wondered how bad it was going to be? We checked into our room and we were not prepared for this! Our room was in the basement. It had 3 beds (1 double and 2 singles). All of the bedspreads looked like it had never been washed ever. It had very thin carpet with holes throughout. Walls had small holes and marks all over them. It was desparately asking for a coat of paint. Overall it looked filthy. The bathroom had a toilet that you actually had to pump to flush (I was the first to use the bathroom and of course I kind of broke it since I did not know you had to pump it so Brian had to take apart the toilet and fix it on vacation. Oh he was not happy)! The smell of the room made us both sick to our stomach. This was bad!

This experience sounds pretty bad, so I would understand if you think that we must be exaggerating a bit. After we got home, I went to TripAdvisor and saw that we were not alone. It is funny to read some of the reviews and think that we actually stayed there! No wonder it had vacancy!

Reviews on Trip Advisor

Now that we saw our room, we knew we did not want to spend any time in there at all. So time to go explore the city some more till about 11:00pm. We walked to Westminster Abby and the parliament. Walked around parks and some stores. We also watched some street performers just trying to pass some time. We mostly enjoyed the day but with our hotel situation made it a bit more difficult. We had some dinner and planned out the rest of the night.



Usually I do not like being out in unknown cities at night, but given our hotel I would rather be anywhere than there. So we decided to go to our favorite place in London, Tower Bridge. The underground was open at the Tower Hill station (it was closed for construction 2 weeks ago when we were last in London) so it made getting there easy. We spent about 1 hour there just admiring the view. It was special. Then we took the underground to Westminster to see the Parliament building and Big Ben lit up at night. Also beautiful. The London Eye is lit up different colors at night. We enjoyed our last night in London. We watched as Big Ben struck 11:00pm, Brian and I kissed and we knew it was time to end our wonderful vacation.

Back to our crappy hotel. It was awful. We slept on boxes (literally) and I almost really think a box spring (not a mattress). We used pillows to try and pad us as best we could. We did not sleep well. I was against the wall and did not want to touch the wall therefore I did not leave much room for Brian. The room was small so it is not like we could move the beds. We were afraid to look under the beds for what we may find (animals, snakes, bugs, etc). We got a few hours of sleep and finally at 5:00am we could not sleep any longer. The sun was starting to come up. We knew this because we could see it through the skylight over the bed (home convenient). We took a shower although we felt dirtier after the shower then before. I have never seen a shower/bathroom so disgusting.

We left for the train station at 6:00am even though our flight was not till 11:20am. We just wanted out of that place. The train station and airport are much cleaner environments. We were on the train at 6:32 am to Gatwick Airport. We did not take the express because it was double the price. After all, we had plenty of time. We bought our train tickets yesterday and knew we did not want the express because the regular train does not take that much longer.

We met some people at the airport who were on Delta fights trying to make it back to America (they will go to any city and try and connect to their home town once there) on stand by and they have been unsuccessful for 3 days! I could not believe it. There was around 20 people on Delta's stand by list this morning. It was sad for them because only 4-6 people got on the flight and now they had to wait for the next flight which was several hours later not knowing if they would get on that flight. What a terrible feeling. For three straight days they have been showing up at the airport at 5am and staying for 6 hours to see if they could get on any of Delta's four daily flights back to the U.S. I am sure that many are still there since the first three flights were pretty much full.

We our on our Continental flight home and I have to say they feed you pretty well on the international flights. On the way to London, we had dinner and breakfast and today we had lunch (chicken, salad, roll and brownie) and now they are bringing us a snack (sandwich).

That is all for now

Starting to Pack

We are getting off the cruise in a few minutes. I am finishing packing and trying to fit everything back in the suitcases (including some new shoes)!

Bruge

Today was our last day of our cruise. We were in Bruges, Belgium. We took an NCL excursion to Bruges because we ported in Zeebruges about 30-40 minutes away. We learned that there was a train station in both cities and we should of used it instead of NCL bus transportation. Also we have learned that we don't need the cruise company to provide us with transportation. I think (especially in English speaking countries) public transportation is the way to go.


In Bruges we walked around the city for about 5 hours. First we went to Belfry Tower and climbed all the way to the top (366 steps). At least I continued to get exercise throughout this trip. We went up the tower early which was good because it did get crowded. It was worth the climb for the view. There is a working clock and bells at the top. You can see the gears turning and how the music is played on the bells. Then we visited Church of Our Lady which is claimed to be the only Michaelangelo statue to have left Italy in his lifetime. We also went to the Basilica of the Holy Blood which says that Christ's blood is in the vial inside of the tiny church.


We spent the rest of the day walking the small city going to shops and parks. We also had a Belgium Waffle (aka Brussels Waffle) with bananas and chocolate sauce on top. It was very good. Then after walking most of the day we got a small ice cream cone. It was another beautiful and unseasonably warm day for the area. The skies were clear and sunny. We were happy about that. Please just let there be one more nice day for a last day in London.


We have a lot to do tonight with packing and getting ready to disembark the ship in the morning. We want to try to get in London early tomorrow before it gets too crowded. All I want to do is drop off our suitcases.


This might be our last post until we get home. Tomorrow is our last day in London, and we have a lot planned. Finding a internet cafe is not really in the plans for tomorrow. We need to see Westminster Abby, Buckingham Palace, and the parliament. We have also heard that Barak Obama may be in London tomorrow so that could make things even more of a challenge for us. Hopefully he won't be riding the same line as us in the underground, or we could experience security delays!


We had a great time but are looking forward to coming home. Hope everyone has enjoyed my blog. Feel free to ask any questions. I will continue to update this blog with any thoughts I may have about this trip and our future vacation plans (I have many ideas). :)

Amsterdam

Today we were in Amsterdam, Holland. We wanted to get off the ship as soon as possible, so we could explore the city as much as possible. (Trust me, we met that goal). Brian and I got up at 6:30am and went for our regular breakfast and then were 5th and 6th person to get off the ship at 8:00am.


We did not have a good map of the city. We went to central station first to try and get a map. We were unsuccessful.


The one thing we really wanted to go was go to Anne Frank's House. We went off to find it. Like I said, we did not have a good map, therefore we got lost a bit and walked too far but after an hour we found it. We heard there were signs everywhere, but never saw any signs on our way (we later saw only 1 afterwards). The line was pretty long (although it was probably 3 times longer when we left), but we got into the house in about 20-25 minutes. We both really enjoyed her house. It is essential though to read The Diary of Anne Frank prior to visiting her house or it could mean nothing. I finished the book on the flight to London and Brian finished it within the first week of our trip.


Then we wanted to see the Red Light District. I'm not really sure why, but I read it was something to see, so we saw it. There were people smoking marijuana (could smell it everywhere – made me nauseous) and women standing in windows (they were not even pretty women working the day shift). Then off course, watching the people there was just something in itself. Like people say, it is something you have to see to believe.


Next we thought we would walk to see the Ice Bar. I was excited about that. When we got there, it did not open till 2:00pm and it was only 1:00pm. How sad! It also cost 15 Euros per person to get in so we thought we would move on and just forget about seeing the Ice Bar.


Now we walked across the entire city to see a windmill. I know, we are crazy. We have not stopped to sit or have a break at all. We just keep walking along the city. There are canals everywhere and it is a fairly pretty city. Bikes are more common than cars. Also it was a bright and sunny day. Temperatures in the low 80's.


We finally got to the windmill and even got to pass the Amsterdam zoo. It was nice to see but by this time we are getting a little tried and hungry. But there is more to see, so off we go. There was this building call Nemo so we went to check it out. Nemo is a mini swim park that looked like bleachers from a distance. There will several wide steps climbing up like a pyramid with some people laying in lawn chairs. Water flows down one section for kids to play in. It was free to get in and of course we climbed all the way to the top to check it out. It offered a nice view of the city.


Then we wanted to explore the city one last time to look into some shops. It is interesting to see what they were selling in stores. Did you know Amsterdam is the marijuana capital of the world? There are many souvenirs for sale touting this claim to fame. Shirts had profanity on them. It was crazy.


Finally we got back on ship at 4:00pm. We were very tired. Never once did we sit down during the entire day. We both had one granola bar each for lunch and that was it. Once on the ship, we went for some ice cream. Now both of our legs are really sore (even more than Paris), and we are getting ready for dinner. (I am sure it will be by ourselves again).


Tomorrow is our last day of the cruise and we will be in Belgium. Good bye for now.


Late Night Update (10pm): Since writing this, we were pleasantly surprised that we were seated with another couple from Illinois this evening. It was nice talking with them. On our way out of Amsterdam, we also got to see the ship go through a loch. It was neat to see them close the gate and raise the water level before we resumed our voyage. We won a free dinner for two in the Italian restaurant tomorrow too, so we will be eating there at 7:30 (1:30 PM EST). This came from a drawing among those who had signed up to take another cruise with NCL's cruise rewards program.


P.S. Melissa – we have not heard from you? Do you still have internet access? Were you and Jonathan attacked and killed by Gemi (aka the gemi-ness monster) in your sleep? We are starting to wonder if we are going to get picked up at the airport or if you just forgot all about us.

Day in Amsterdam

Overview of Trip and NCL

Since this is our last day at sea, I am going to write about some thoughts of this trip. We still have two more important ports, (1) Amsterdam and (2) Brugges, Belgium but I want to write this now in case I do not have time once we get home.


Brian and I love cruising. We think it is the best way to see the world. We understand that there is limited time at each port but with cruising we can see more locations than traveling on our own. The cruises we pick tend to have very few number of days at sea which means each day we are in a different port. For example, this cruise we only have 2 days at sea. That is pretty impressive for a 13 day cruise.


We have cruised five times with Royal Caribbean International (RCI), once with Carnival, and now once with NCL. We love RCI. So throughout I will compare this experience with RCI not really for you per say, but basically for my own comparison although I hope you might find it insightful.


One of the most common asked questions we have encountered this trip is, why did we pick this cruise. Going into I thought it was obvious (London and Paris), but now experiencing the trip maybe not so much especially for the British and French people that we have met. We have to be one of the youngest couples on the ship. I think almost everyone we have talked with are retired although there are some families with children. We don't look at that as bad, but it is different. This cruise has been very similar to Alaska with respect to weather and demographics of the people on board although there are many different nationalities here.


At the start of the trip, we arrived in London. London was everything I thought it would be and more. I really love the city. The only problem we had was the weekend closing of the underground which made getting to our hotel a bit of a challenged. We managed okay. We did a lot our first day and are glad we did.


Once on the ship, it was difficult to have so many ports of call in the beginning. A sea day would have been much appreciated early on but we knew the itinerary going into it. The embarkation progress was similar to RCI. Once on board, a glass of champagne was offered to everyone. I think that is unique to NCL. We could not get into our room until 2:00pm but that was okay and I believe similar to any other cruise line.


Our first port was Paris. We were impressed by Paris. I even think someday we would like to return. Going into this we would not have thought that. We did everything we could there given the small amount of time we had. Luckily the weather was great for us and our view of the city from the Efiel Tower was spectacular.


Then we went to Southern England and Ireland. The weather was not great. We realized that it was going to be cold (50's low 60's) and cloudy. Here rain is the norm. That is not what we expected. Okay I knew it could be rainy but not so cloudy and cold. We left 90 degree weather back home and for once in our lives we really wanted some heat. I did not pack for this weather. It was sad not to see the pool used at all for much of the cruise.


Then we got into Scotland. Our the weather was in the 60's with sun. Oh sun! It made everything perfect. Scotland was not somewhere that we had high expectations for and it turned out to be one of our favorite places. The land there was beautiful and we really enjoyed our stay there.


The first sea day, the waves were a bit rough and it was cloudy and cold again. No one was outside. Today (our second day at sea) people are everywhere by the pool including us. It is a steamy 65 degrees and sunny outside. I am up on deck right now typing away. There are even a few kids in the pool. The sun is shining and there are no waves. We can't even tell we are on a cruise ship in the middle of the ocean.


Here our my thoughts on freestyle cruising. It worked for us for this trip, although I am not sure we would prefer it. We got to eat when we wanted (the good part). With us in port most days 8-6pm we did not often eat lunch so instead of having to wait till 8:30pm for dinner we would go eat early and just skip lunch. We really missed not eating with the same people every night (the bad part). We have met some great people while cruising and unfortunately you don't get to know anyone well over an hour meal. Also the wait staff does not get to know you and your likes and dislikes. For example, our waiter usually knows that we like to drink our water and keeps it refilled. Now I know that is a little thing but it can be a bit annoying. Brian has also wondered about accountability, since our evaluation card comments are not directed at anyone specific. Some waiters are good, some are bad. What do we put on our comment cards?


To put things in perspective, we have eaten dinner 8 times in the regular dining rooms (excluding buffet) to date. Every time we have requested to be seated with other people (“sharing” as the staff here call it). Our request has only been honored 3 times. The other 5 times it was ignored. Frequently we were still seated at a table for two.


As we have found out, the staff prefers to seat you at your own table if at all possible. If you do not specify anything, they will not ask and will assume that you want to be seated by yourself. You have to specifically request sharing. We think it should be the other way around. Even if you ask to “share” a table, you are unlikely to have your request fulfilled unless the restaurant is very busy and sharing is absolutely necessary. They just assume that everyone wants to sit by themselves. It is rather unfortunate.


If you have a large group, this may not be a problem since you may always want to sit together. Generally though one of the benefits of cruising is meeting new people. This is especially true for couples traveling by themselves. We thorough enjoyed being exposed to other cultures and other people. We have eaten with interesting French and English couples so far. Unfortunately NCL's policies prevent us from being able to meet additional people. We expected that freestyle cruising would allow us to meet more people in less depth, but in actuality it just has us eating dinner by ourselves most nights.


For the record... it is not that we don't enjoy each other's company, but after spending the entire trip together there is not as much to talk about that has not already been said earlier in the day!


The food, I would have to say, has been about the same. Some things are better on RCI and some things better on NCL. The chocolate chip cookies at the Garden Cafe last night were the best ever! However the tiramasu we had was terrible while it is always wonderful on RCI! So it is a give and take. Also we do not like that for lunch and dinner the only cold drink options are water and iced tea. We would like to have fruit punch or lemonade like they have on RCI.


Our room is rather large for a cruise stateroom. I think it is bigger on NCL. There is more drawer space and the bathroom is a little bigger. We have a good stateroom attendant, but with freestyle cruising they can never learn your routine like when you will be out of your room. There have been many times that we would need to leave so she could clean it. I guess we could stay but that feels awkward.


Overall this trip has been excellent. It was a little different than we had expected but that does not change what a great time we have had. We still generally prefer RCI, however we would consider booking an NCL cruise again if we liked the itinerary. Both companies are definitely on par with each other. Unfortunately we have disliked the anti-social format of free-style cruising. Before our first cruise, a friend told us that the two best companies were RCI followed by NCL. After cruising both and Carnival too, we would definitely have to agree.

Restaurant Reviews

I am writing this for anyone who may be going on the Jade at a later time and would like like to know about the restaurants on board.


NCL has what they call freestyle dining meaning they do not have the traditional first and second seating of dinner. You can eat whenever and wherever you want although many specialty restaurants have a cover charge per person.


Here is an overview of the restaurants that we have went to for a meal. We have opted not to eat at any specialty restaurants with a cover charge. We have spent enough money on this trip and don't really want to spend anymore on dinner on the ship (remember I am already thinking of our next vacation in about 6 months). All of this info are my own opinions that I hope other people may find a little helpful. (Food is a subjective thing so keep that in mind while reading).


Garden Cafe: It is what people think of as a normal cruise buffet. It is open for breakfast (approximate times 6:30-10:30am), lunch (approximate times 11:30am-3:00pm), and dinner (5:30pm to 9:30pm). The times change slightly depending on if we are at sea or what time we port. We have had all three meals there. They have many options and we have found the food rather good.


At Garden Cafe for breakfast they have omelet stations, eggs cooked anyway you like, waffles, Texas style French toast, variety of fruits, cereals (hot and cold), yogurt, variety pastry bake goods, toast, bagels, hash browns, bacon, ham, sausage. Basically anything you want for breakfast they have it. My favorite is a station where you mix plain yogurt with granola, almonds, and fresh apple pieces. It is very good! There are different fruit juices that changes daily from apple, orange, cranberry, and pineapple. Coffee, tea, cappuccino, espresso, and hot chocolate are also offered when the Garden Cafe is open.


For lunch, they have sandwich stations, wraps, salad bar, pasta, pizza, rice, stir-fry, fried chicken, and several options for desserts. They also have an ice cream station open during lunch and dinner that have chocolate and carmel topping and sprinkles. The salad bar does not have many salad toppings and we were disappointed with that. However there is a station for Caesar salad. We really like their pizza and sandwiches. Drinks are limited to ice tea and water. Breakfast is the only meal with good drink selection.


For dinner, they have similar items as lunch with a little more options for hot food. More pasta, rice, stir fry, calzones options. We have been satisfied with the number of choices and most of it has been good. We have eaten dinner at the Garden Cafe twice and have no complaints.


The next restaurant is the Grand Pacific dinning room. It is also open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner although we have only eaten there for dinner. We almost went there for breakfast this morning but after looking at the menu we realized it was redundant with the food at the Garden Cafe so we just went there.


For dinner, we have been a bit disappointed at this dinning room. The Grand Pacific is the larger of the two traditional dinning room however you can show up anytime for dinner. It is also the more formal dinning room (unable to wear jeans or shorts to dinner). We usually like the more formal option. They are open nightly 5:30pm-10:30pm. They have the same dinner menu as Alizar dinning room and the menu is posted outside its door all day so you can decide if you want to eat there or not.


We have not been too impressed with the menu. There usually is a beef, pork, chicken, fish, and vegetarian meal each day. We don't really eat beef or pork. Usually chicken is our best option since we also eat little fish and the vegetarian dish seems to have odd ingredients. (Remember this is our opinion and I guess we are a bit picky when it comes to dinner). Dinners we have had there have been good but the service has not been.


We drink a lot of water with dinner. Probably three glasses throughout dinner and it seems difficult for the staff in the Pacific Dinning room to keep our water glasses from not being emptied. We have learned to order tea and water and this way we usually have at least one that is not empty. Also we have asked twice in the Pacific to share a table and we ended up eating alone anyway. The service also seems to take longer than another restaurant. In the Pacific dinning room they request you order dessert with you meal. Other restaurants wait till after dinner and ask if you want dessert and show you the menu. We have had dinner there three times and I think we may be done with that restaurant. I have to say last night we were seated at the back of the dinning room near the window and it was a beautiful view.


Alizar dinning room is the next restaurant. It has the same menu as Grand Pacific however we think the service is much better. They seem to keep our water glasses full, introduce themselves, serve dinner within a reasonable time, and honor our request to share a dinner table with others. It is our favorite dinner restaurant and have not had a bad experience yet.


Paniolo's Tapas and Salsa is the Tex-Mex restaurant. It is the only specialty restaurant that does not have a cover charge. We ate there one night. We went there at 5:30pm one night and the place was pretty empty. They asked it we had reservations and we said no. They looked at us like you need reservation. Now if it is freestyle dinning I don't want to make reservations. I want to go eat when I am hungry not when I made reservations earlier that day. We asked if we could eat now and they said oh yes. Apparently reservations are not required, but for some reason they acted surprised that we did not have them. Like I said the restaurant only had four other couples there. We were told at specialty restaurants you never eat with strangers. It was another night Brian and I ate alone.


We feel they gave us way too much food. We ate there on a day where we did not eat lunch due to being in port all day so by dinner we were pretty hungry. They gave us chips and salsa when we sat down although our water glass was not poured till our appetizer came like 20 minutes later. Try eating chips and salsa with nothing to drink, it is not very pleasant. I was not happy! I almost went and got the water myself but I thought I should behave and I just waited. I ordered nachos grande which I usually love. It was just okay and again: too much food. We both had chicken fajitas for dinner and again it was too much food. They were okay, but generally rather plain. We should of got one of them and split it. They gave us 3 tortillas a piece. We were starving when we came to dinner and we still could not come close to eating all that. There dessert was good though.


Blue Lagoon Cafe is the last place we have had a meal on this ship. It is a 24 hours sit down restaurant that specializes in “comfort” food (popular American food). We had chef salads there one night with cheesecake. Both were very good. The service was a bit slow but similar to Pacific dinning room. There menu changes for lunch and dinner. This makes no sense to us. On the lunch menu there is meatloaf and vegetable lasagna which is not on the dinner menu. Now we would want to eat that for dinner not lunch! That just seems crazy to me. They also have a peanut butter and jelly sandwich on the kids lunch menu that we have been tempted to try but have not yet.


That is a basic summary of the places we have eaten at and our thoughts about them. The other specialty restaurants with a cover charge include: Cagney's (steakhouse $20 pp), Le Bistro (French restaurant for $15 pp), Papa's Italian ($10 pp), Jasimine Garden (Asian for $15 pp), Sushi Bar ($15 pp), Shabu-Shabu ($15pp) and Teppanyaki (Japanese where they cook in front of you $25 pp).


Throughout the ship, they have displays which show the current wait for the various restaurants. It is nice to give you an idea of how busy they are. Unfortunately, it does not actually tell you how long the wait is, but instead a ranking from “No Wait” to “Worth the Wait”. If there is a wait, you are given a pager. We received a pager once and was told there would be a 40 minute wait. We requested a shared table, and our pager went off within 5-10 minutes. It seems most people are not interested in sharing tables. The Teppanyaki restaurant has been consistently the busiest. It is always given the highest ranking at peak times. We have only seen it below this level once on the entire cruise. Reservations for this restaurant would probably be essential, although we never ate there.

Edinburgh

Today we were in Edinburgh, Scotland. This was our last stop in Scotland. We ported in South Queensferry which is about 30 minutes from Edinburgh. There were tender boats to take us ashore. We were on a NCL shore excursion for the Da Vinci Code and then time on our own in Edinburgh. The tour did not start till 10:00am so we did sleep in a little bit (up at 8:00am instead of 6:30-7:00am).


The first stop on our excursion was Rosslyn Chapel which was the setting of the ending of the Da Vinci Code. Unfortunately we were a little disappointed with the Rosslyn Chapel. They are trying to keep off any water on it right now due to some molding that occurred years ago. Therefore there is a scaffolding that holds another roof around the entire Chapel. You cannot really see the chapel but basically only scaffolding. It is kind of sad however they hope to remove the roof in a few years from now. It looks nothing like what it did in the movie. We learned that for most of the movie they used a studio set. Still was was neat to see and I may have stood above where the Holy Grail is hidden. The inside was very ornate and unique, although no pictures were allowed.


Then we had two hours in Edinburgh on our own. They dropped us off at the top of the Royal Mile. At the top of the mile, there is the Edinburgh castle and at the bottom there is the Royal Palace. Throughout the mile there are pubs, shops, and historical buildings. The tour guide stated that we should not go down it very far because it is a difficult walk back up. Brian asked her just to be sure it was only 1 mile and it was. She stated that we could not even do it given the time frame. Apparently she does not know us very well. (Remember we ran 4 miles in Paris in an hour just a few days ago).


It turns out that the royal mile was not notably steep at all. Walking back up was not anything special. We laughed as we recalled our hike of Waipio Valley in Hawaii years back. Now that was steep! The hill is described as 1 mile down and 5 miles back up and it really was!


We decided to walk down the mile and see how long it took and explore a college campus that is at the bottom along with take some pictures of the palace. We were down in 15 minutes (walking casually and stopping for pictures along the way). Then we saw a trail off to the right of the royal mile with people walking on it. The trail was uphill on a mountain so we thought we would walk up a little bit to get some good pictures of the city. We were very glad we did.


It was a beautiful day again. I am so happy about the weather the last few days because our time in Ireland (cold, dreary, and cloudy) was not that great (although we know it could have been worse – it never rained during our primary activities). We walked probably 1/3 of the way up the mountain and stopped for many fantastic pictures. We got the tripod out for some pictures of us. Brian set our camera up on a rock (only about 2 feet from the ground) but the wind blew it over and it fell off the rock. The camera looked okay but we later realized that the case now has a crack in it. Brian said the picture was worth it so everything is okay. The crack is in an insignificant area and Brian seems to think he can fix it.


After just a little time on the mountain, we thought it would be a good idea to head back up the Royal Mile. We walked back from our mountain view in 30 minutes and that included stopping for ice cream along the away. Brian was bummed that we did not spend more time on the mountain since we ended up with 45 minutes to spare. It was a perfect day for some ice cream. It was like geleto. I got 1 scoop chocolate and 1 scoop coconut and Brian got 1 scoop coconut and 1 scoop banana. It was yummy. :)


At the top, we got pictures from the outside of the Edinburgh Castle. We did not have much time left so paying to go inside was not an option. Then we walked back to the bus, and the bus took us on a little tour of the new town of Edinburgh. We learned there are several expensive universities there along with expensive houses.


We already ate dinner tonight since we did not really have lunch (unless you count ice cream as lunch). We ate at the Pacific Dinning room and once again were not that impressed. The food was good but we asked to share a table with other people and we were denied. We really like meeting new people and are running out of things to talk about with each other. Oh well. The service seems to take a little longer there too.


We are planning on going to some shows tonight. There have not been many shows because one they originally planned for had problems with the performer's luggage. It did not make it on the ship so they could not do their show (it is called Quick Change in America-where the couple change their outfit within seconds in front of the audience; it is neat to see but we have seen it several times at Cavs games as the halftime entertainment).


Tomorrow we are at sea all day. I am going to write up some thoughts about this trip and work on packing since the last two days of the cruise we will be in port. Hope all is well back home.

Replies to Comments

Dawn:
Sorry to hear about your volleyball tournament. Glad you are enjoying reading our blog. As you can tell, we are crazy! Hope things are not too bad at work. Hope all is well at work and I miss everyone there but I will be back in 1 week.


Amy:
Thanks for the comment. Enjoy your trip to Cedar Point!


Kathleen:
I don't think I ever directly responded to your comment however since your comment I have been trying to talk about food and shopping. For shopping, we don't do very much especially with the exchange rate of the dollar being so terrible over here (approximate exchange rate right now is 1 dollar = 2 pounds and 1 dollar = 1.6 Euros). For food, we eat mostly on the ship which had been fairly good. We do try to eat a few special things while in port if time allows. Thanks for your comment and sorry it took me so long to directly respond to you.


John:
It was nice to see your reading the blog. Your comment about Melissa's dog was funny. You are just as bad as Brian with picking on Melissa but it is very entertaining.


Melissa:
I have really enjoyed your comments. It makes Brian and I laugh every night. Good luck with planning your reception. Also, please do not forget to pick us up from the airport on Sunday.


Mom and Mike:
Glad to see you have logged on and posted us comments. Thanks! We are having a great time and we enjoyed Scotland a little more than Ireland. We hear golfing in Scotland is beautiful. You should check it out sometime. The weather in Scotland has been much better than in Ireland. We have liked it quite a bit.


Mom and Dad:
Glad everything is well with you and Gizmo. See you in a week. I am planning your birthday parties on August 3 at my house probably the usual time but will confirm everything once I get home.

Inverness

Happy Birthday Dad! Hope you had a wonderful birthday and we will celebrate yours and Mom's Birthday probably the Sunday after we get back (August 3).


Our day started off with the usual loud and annoying noises as the ship docked in Invergordon, Scotland. The noises were not as bad as usual since we docked on the other side of the ship today. We are now use to them plus we wanted to get up early to try and see Loch Ness so I guess it worked out okay.


After our usual breakfast outside (beautiful sunny day today although still chilly in the morning), we went to shore to try and take a train to Inverness. Once in Inverness, we were planning on somehow getting to Loch Ness. (It is probably another 20 minute drive to Loch Ness from there). Remember we have a NCL photo excursion at 12:45 pm so we need to be back on the ship by 12:30pm. Well the train into Inverness left at 8:04am (we got there at 8:20am) and next on was not until 9:45am. This would get us to Inverness around 10:35. We checked for a return train. The only train that would make it back in time left Inverness at 10:37. It looks like we would have to stay on the same train with only 2 minutes in Inverness! So taking a train was not going to work.


I read online that the buses here take forever (1-2 hours) to get back from Inverness. It usually takes 30-45 minutes to get there. I did not want to chance missing our excursion therefore taking a bus into the city was not an option either.


The only option we had was to hire a personal driver to take us to Loch Ness and have us back in time for our excursion. It cost 30 pounds per hour (Scotland uses Pound as does Northern Ireland and of course Britain). By the time we figured out that a train was not going to work and decided we did really want to go to Loch Ness, it was 9:00am. Plan was for a personal driver for 3 hours (it was 30 pounds per hour for up to 4 people). So we got one.


Our driver, Andy, was wonderful. We were a bit nervous about having a driver. We kept thinking of all the what-ifs that could go wrong (he doesn't get us back in time, he leaves us somewhere, he does not speak English; you know all the worst case scenarios that one can think of) but it worked out great. He told us about Scotland during the ride to Loch Ness (we learned many things, for example 78% of their gas prices are taxes). He stopped at a local gift shop for us. So Melissa, I have a Loch Ness shot glass for you so now you have to pick us up at the airport! The picture is the proof. We had 45 minutes at Urquhart Castle (it overlooks Loch Ness) to take pictures. Then he even drove us around downtown Inverness just to see it.


It was a beautiful day. Unseasonably warm from what people were saying. It was probably in the 70's with bright sunny skies. Besides Paris, this is the only day that was not partly cloudy or better. We are so grateful for the weather. We were so glad we went to Loch Ness.


Then to our next excursion a photo expedition in the Scottish highlands. Like a said before it was a sunny day so it was great to take pictures. I would not have liked this at all if it was pouring down rain. We went up into the hills on farms and took many beautiful pictures. Melissa, cows even came up behind us on one of the paths. We had to chase them off so we could return on that same path. We have some pictures of cows, sheep, and farm houses. The only problem was there were so many flies on the farm. We had to keep swatting them away (like annoying). Melissa-we now have a better appreciation for your fly problem. :)


Tonight we were supposed to go to a mystery dinner on the ship. We did not get back from our excursion till 5:20pm and by the time we went through the line to get back on the ship it was 5:40pm. The mystery dinner started at 5:00pm for some crazy reason. We do not leave this port till 6:00pm so why they picked 5:00pm for the dinner, I am not sure but whatever. We decided to just take a nice shower and will have dinner on our own.


Tomorrow we will be in Edinburgh and planning on taking The DaVinci Code tour.

Nessie Sighting

Disclaimer: Brian wrote this post, so Melissa should be angry at him. Please at least pick me up from the airport.


We are on our way to Inverness, Scottland. This is nearby Loch Ness which is famous for “Nessie” the lochness monster. We originally were planning to visit this body of water ourselves, but were not able to since we are going on a photo excursion instead. We had hoped to do both, but the people at the shore excursion desk felt that 30 minutes between excursions was too tight. We did not want to chance missing the photo excursion since that was more important to us, so we did not want to risk it.


We got lucky today during our day at sea. We happened to be near the front of the ship and spotted something ahead in the water. We believe it to be Nessie and managed to get the attached photo. We are speculating that the monster is on holiday too and has ventured into the open waters of the ocean (probably en route to Venice). What surprised us most was how ugly and stupid looking it is. We were afraid of running into it and damaging the ship. Many guests were running and screaming. Not knowing what else to do, Brian hurled several shot glasses at the creature. These were the exotic and spectacular shot glasses we bought for Melissa. The good news is that it worked and the creature dove down before the ship hit it. The bad news is that Melissa's shot glasses are now forever lost at sea and Melissa will not get any souvenirs.


In reviewing the photo later, we noticed that it has a slight resemblance to Melissa's dog. Either way, it was quite hideous and terrifying.

Day at Sea

We woke up early this morning at got to eat breakfast inside the Garden Cafe. Most people were sleeping in today and it was not crowded at 8:00am therefore there were open tables inside. I had cold cereal and yogurt with granola (I am starting to really like that). Brian had french toast. They have really good french toast. The bread is thick (about 1 inch thick) and cut into quarters.


Then we went to Catholic Mass with communion and everything. It was really nice that NCL offered that service. Then we went to a boring presentation on folklore of Ireland and Scotland. It was not what we were expecting and just not our thing. We reviewed some ideas for future vacations against when they are offered and Brian's anticipated graduate school schedule.


I also got to take two naps today. I was nice to relax a bit. We did go to the fitness center too (so I was not completely lazy today). Now we are getting ready for dinner although we are not sure where we are eating. Probably somewhere where we don't have to wait long. We have not had any problems with waiting for tables though. So far, we have been lucky.


I was going to write about what I thought about this cruise so far but since I took some naps today, I ran out of time. In two days, we have another sea day and I will write about it then.


Miss everyone back home. Thanks Dad for getting my car fixed and taking care of everything for us. Thanks Mom for all the updates and posts-love you too.


Tomorrow we are in Inverness Scotland and plan to go on a photo excursion. It will be nice to see the country side since we have seen mostly cities.

Note to Melissa

I am assuming your news is your reception party. Or is there more news later? So your party is Saturday August 2nd at your house. You really need to get the invitations in the mail (like yesterday)! You could order food from Acme if you want. Their sandwiches and cake are really good. Plus you could get food from RSVP. I can help you either Friday or Saturday. We will talk when you remember to pick us up from the airport.


We talked about our future vacations plans. We are thinking Eastern Mediterranean (include Greece and Egypt) in early 2009, Asia for summer 2009, and Australia in early 2010. That would end our world tour (yes Mom, you can adjust the countdown). You know us, things could change. Think about which ones you guys would like to go on. Start saving now though! If all goes as planned, these trips will put you on 5 of the 7 continents over the course of the next 18-20 months. We may book something soon once we get back and will talk to you guys.


Also please let Brian know that is it okay to sleep extra on Sunday's. I am getting a lot of grief today because I took 2 naps. I did get up early this morning for church and it is an at sea day. I needed to catch up on my sleep but Brian does not understand that. I figured you would be the best to explain it to him. Thanks!


See you in one week!


P.S. Notes from Brian:

We have really started to like bread pudding on this cruise. In the past, we only had it a few times when we went to Amish country. They have a different type everyday in the buffet. Today it was cranberry-apple bread pudding with vanilla sauce (this probably violates some prohibition you have against fruit and bread product combinations – for normal people though: yum yum). We had some in the afternoon with hot chocolate (this cruise is like Alaska when it comes to the weather). While eating it, a piece fell off into my hot chocolate and sank to the bottom. I was a little disturbed, but did not want to let my cocoa go to waste. I figured I would just drink what was on top and leave the last few sips behind with the submerged surprise. We got to talking and I forgot about the incident and took a final chunky swig of my cocoa. It was highly disturbing. It is a little traumatic to recall the story, but worth it knowing that you are probably twitching on the floor right now. I thought it was funny to contemplate how you would have reacted if this happened to you. I still laugh thinking about it.

Glasgow

Our day started off with the usual loud noises from outside our cabin because they were getting all the equipment ready for us to dock. I think every morning we have heard the very loud and annoying sounds but we just go with it. It means time to get up (no sleeping in for us and we don't need an alarm).


Then we got ready for the day and went out to top deck for our usual breakfast. It was really cold this morning (probably in the upper 50's, cloudy and windy, light rain). We have developed a routine that we like. This morning we both had oatmeal and decided that the cream of wheat is much better.


Our shore excursion did not start till 9:45am. We ported in Greenock however we booked a NCL excursion to take us to Glasgow. Then we had 4 hours in Glasgow to explore on our own. In hindsight, we should have taken a train into the city. I was too nervous about all the London transportation on our own that I did not even look about other public transportation in the other cities. Now that we know how the trains and buses work, we could easily figure it out on our own. This trip has been our first time dealing with public transportation. We usually just either rent a car or take a taxi. Europe's public transportation system is much more advance than America's. It is easy to use and much cheaper.


Once we got to Glasgow, I knew that we wanted to see Glasgow Cathedral and walk a Medieval city trail. At George Square (the point where we were dropped off at), there was a Scottish band marching around the square playing bagpipes and drums (they were called “The Pipers Trail” - http://www.thepiperstrail.com). It started off our day very well. We stood there for a while and watched and listened to them play. Then we started off to walk the medieval city walk that I found on the internet.


While walking to the start of the trail, we found Argyle street. It is a street with shops all down it. We walked it for a while and stopped in Woolworths. They sold everything from cosmetics, school uniforms, luggage, and groceries. We remember when Woolworths was still in America (we no longer call it the United States since Europeans prefer to say that we are “from America” instead). Then we stopped a local bakery and bought French Éclair and Snowball. We continue walking on this Medieval Trail and did not find that interesting so we then searched for a park so we could eat our bakery goodies.


We found Glasgow Green which was a large park with pathways that one could walk or bike down. We spend a good part of our day there. Did I mention the sun even came out? I was so excited because that meant it warmed up too. It was a beautiful day to spend in the park. I highly recommend doing this if it is a nice day. The temperature was in the 60's with partly sunny skies.


After the park, we walked to Glasgow Cathedral. It is free to go inside and well worth the walk to get there. It was probably 20-30 minute walk from Glasgow Green (a little uphill). We (I should say Brian) took many pictures at the Cathedral. The stained glass has been amazing at all the cathedrals. Afterwards we walked back to George Square and listened to the Scottish band that was still playing. With estimated that we probably walked 12-15 kilometers today... that's 8-10 miles for you new world folk that have not yet gone metric.


On our return back to the sea port, security asked for 6 volunteers to do a security check on. Brian and I both volunteered. They searched our belonging and then patted us down. It was kind of crazy since they did ask for volunteers (after all anyone with something to hide simply would not volunteer!). Whatever.


We ate dinner at Alizar dinning room. Right now that seems to be our favorite dinning room for dinner. We sat with a retired couple (everyone we have met on the ship is retired) from Florida. Maybe we should retire. It was again nice to sit with other people for dinner.


The scenery here in Scotland is beautiful. Our pictures look like postcards! It helps the sun has been out most of the day. We have been so lucky with the weather! I just hope it keeps up for one more week. The wind is wicked right now though and our trip is going to get a little rocky on board. So far we have had smooth sailing but that is soon going to change. Tonight we are sailing an inside passage and will be protected by land from, what the captain described as, gale force winds. Tomorrow we will not be lucky. He warned us that it might be a rough night. Time to bring out the puke bags in the stairwells.


Tomorrow we are at sea all day. I am looking forward to it. Brian and I plan to look over some ideas for future vacations and relax a bit although Brian is reading the cruise newspaper and planning on us doing several things already (church at 8:45am, a cruise consultant seminar on other destinations, 3-on-3 basketball tournament, a seminar on folktales and legends from Ireland and Scotland, etc..). I may even write up some of my thoughts about this trip.


Side notes: Sunrise time 5:05am and Sunset at 9:45pm. Yes, we are from Ohio (near Cleveland) and are huge Cavs fans. We are glad Daniel Gibson resigned with the Cavs too. Next they need to work on Delonte West. Thanks everyone for the info. Also I have learned to wear my running shoes in our ports of call. You never know how far Brian will make me run. No more blisters.

Belfast in Review

In my last post about Belfast, we were at an internet cafe with faster and cheaper internet service which is why we could upload pictures to Walgreens for Grandma and Gramps and post 3 pictures for this blog. For some reason, the ship internet connection will usually only allow us to upload 1 picture per log in. After that, the upload pages timeout. We don't understand it but that is what we have realized.


Brian also resizes our pictures so that they are easier to upload. Since they are only viewed on our blog on a computer screen, there is no need to upload a high resolution image. Brian uses a free program called Irfanview (http://www.irfanview.com/) to do this. Even with the ship's slow internet access, we are able to upload the photos in about 10-15 seconds. Resizing the pictures to 25-30% of their original size makes the image as much as 20 times smaller.


Because we had to come back to the room to get the computer, then go back into Belfast, we had little time which is why my first Belfast post was a little short. There are some more things I wanted to add. First the Belfast Welcome Center has great internet. It cost 1 pound for 20 minutes. There was a nice table that we sat at with our laptop. We bought internet and then logged onto their wireless network with the username and password on the receipt. They also had stationary computers if you did not have a laptop. It worked out great. (While there I did check my email but I will probably not for the rest of the trip because I am spending all my internet time on this blog).


While in downtown Belfast we stopped at a McDonald's for restroom break. We were both shocked at the sink set up. Most sinks come out of the wall this one was built into it (it was flush with the wall – not protruding from the wall like sinks normally do). It was rather small. There were 3 metal buttons to push depending on what you wanted: soap, water, heat (to dry). It was interesting. I have never seen anything like it before. At first, I did not think there were any sinks and I was grateful that I had our Purell in our bag but it was not needed this time.


After we were done at the Internet Cafe, we walked outside and it was pouring down rain. I was so glad we got to the city early this morning and do everything we wanted to. Remember I really don't like rain. I think walking in it is miserable so we headed back to the ship. I hope Scotland does not have too much rain, although everyone has told us that rain is the norm here.


While we were in our cabin, we heard music outside. We went out on deck and saw an Irish band playing music for the ship. It was nice of them. We stood out there for 10-15 minutes until they packed up to go home.


For dinner we ate at Blue Lagoon. It is a comfort food restaurant open 24 hours a day. It has hamburgers, hot dogs, fish and chips, chicken fingers, etc. We did not like anything on the main dining menu so we decided to try Blue Lagoon. We both had chef salads that were good. For dessert, we had cheesecake with blueberry topping. That was very good. Many of the desserts we have tried on the ship have just been okay but this was excellent. Blue Lagoon took just as long as the main dining room would have to be served dinner even though it was not busy. We even got to sit next to the window and it was beautiful scenery during our dinner.


Also in every restaurant the waiters have not been good a filling and refilling our water glasses. Just something else we have noticed. We have learned to order ice tea and water with our dinner meals. This way we will always have something to drink. There have been many times we have waiting for more than 10-15 minutes for water. That is a bit long.


Tomorrow in Glasgow we are doing a NCL tour where they take us into the city then we have several hours to explore on our own. I believe it is about 45 minutes drive from the port we dock in. Hopefully it will be a nice day.

Note to Gramma and Gramps

Since grandma and grandpa do not have the luxury of internet, we have uploaded pictures from our trip to Walgreens for them. They are under our last name at the State road location. Someone please call and tell them to pick them up. We already paid for them, so they will not even need to pay. They are under Brian's name. There are 4 pictures total (Order Number: 136226544).

The pictures show us in London at Tower Bridge (last Saturday), in Paris at the Eifle Tower (Monday), in Falmouth, England at Pendennis Castle (Tuesday – photo to the side), and at Saint Anne's Cathedral in Belfast, Northern Ireland (earlier today – Friday).

The pictures will be ready to pick up by the time you read this.

Belfast

We arrived in Belfast this morning at 8:00am however they were not letting people get off the ship till 8:30am. We were not ready by 8:00am so it really did not affect us but that could have been annoying. We had our usually breakfast outside on deck 12 in the cool weather. We are getting a little use to the weather now however I do miss our 80 degree temperatures back home. If nothing else, we are getting smarter. Today we remembered to bring our jackets to breakfast.


There was a free shuttle to downtown Belfast Welcome Center. It took about 15 minutes to get there from the port. We walked around the city and stopped at St Anne's Cathedral. Then we took a ride on the Belfast Wheel (similar to London's Eye). I booked the Belfast Wheel online before we left home and it was cheaper online. We did not have a set time just show up anytime during the day. I gave them our reservation number and they handed us two tickets with no questions asked. Very easy. It was really neat to see the city and the weather is prefect for Northern Ireland.


The weather is a little warmer because the sun is out at times, not often, but a little bit. I was so excited when I saw the sun! Belfast is a neat city however there is not too much we want to do here (it is not like Dublin). There are the hop on hop off buses, but we prefer to walk everywhere. With being on a cruise this long, I need to walk as much as possible. We are planning on taking our computer to the Welcome Center because internet is cheaper and faster there (20 minutes for 1 pound) to post our blogs and check our email.


Tomorrow (Saturday) we will be in Glasgow Scotland.

Dublin

Last night we ate the the Pacific dinning room. I realized that you must ask to sit with a table of other people otherwise you will be at a table of two. Brian and I had dinner by ourselves last night and it really was not by choice. We like eating with different people to learn about them. We already know about each other and spend our entire days together when we are on vacation so we have little to talk about.


We arrived in Dublin at 10:00am and we were the 5th and 6th person off the ship. We wanted to get to St. Patrick's Cathedral at 11:00am for mass so we wanted to get there as soon as possible. Once we got off the ship at 10:30am, we had to take a shuttle into the city of Dublin. The port authorities would not allow people walk through the port so the only way in and out is by shuttle. It was free. We did not get to downtown Dublin till 10:55am. We were not going to make it to St. Patrick's for mass. We both were a little sad about it.


I was very surprised when we got into Dublin. It was not what I was expecting. It is a very busy city with many people, taxis, and buses everywhere. I was thinking it would be a moderate size town with only pubs everywhere. I did not think it would be as busy. Most people were young about college aged. We read that 50% of the Dublin population is under the age of 25. Most people are carrying umbrellas and I soon realized why. It is almost always raining in Dublin. (I hate rain and even like snow much better than rain)!


I also did not know what I was thinking when I looked at weather for this area. I remember seeing temperatures in 60's-70's degrees with London and Paris being the warmest and obviously the farther north the colder. Well besides Paris, I think it has been COLD. I usually do not think 60 degrees is cold however with no sun and with wind it is! Today it was 60 degrees however cloudy (no sun), few rain showers throughout the day. I was freezing all day and that is with pants, long sleeve shirt and a light jacket on.


We started our day at St. Patrick's Cathedral and paid the fee to go inside. It was well worth it. Then walked a few blocks to Christ Church Cathedral. We also paid to go inside. The unique aspect of this church was it has a crypt that you can explore. Then we walked several blocks to Dublin Castle. We only looked from the outside. Reviews I read stated it was not worth going inside so we did not. We continued to Trinity College. There were students everywhere. After several pictures of the campus grounds we walked up Grafton Street where there are stores for at least 1/2mile. Most high end stores. My practical husband would not agree to any of that kind of shopping plus I want another vacation soon so no shopping for me. It is well worth the walk though just to see all the people and shops. We ended our day at St. Stephens Green. That is a park within the city with a pond. Overall it was good day.


We ate at Tex Mex Restaurant on the ship tonight. The food was okay. We both had chicken fajitas. Not the best ever, but not the worst, although we were glad we did not have to pay for this specialty restaurant (it is the only specialty restaurant on ship that is free; other restaurants have a cover charge). Now we are back in our room relaxing a bit. Brian is watching a movie and I am blogging. If I was not doing this, I would be sleeping. :)


I probably will not post this till tomorrow. I am too tired and already have my PJs on. To get internet access we have to go to a public place. We cannot get a wireless internet signal from our room.


Tomorrow we will be in Belfast. We hope to take a ride on Wheel of Belfast (similar to London Eye). I will write about our day tomorrow night. Hope all is well back home.

Cork

Last night we ate dinner at Alizar dinning room. It is similar to the Grand Pacific however a little smaller. It is your traditional dining room on a cruise. I ate eggplant parmesan and Brian had an Indian chicken dish. Both were good. We were seated with a French couple from Paris. They are retired and have been traveling all over the world. They gave us even more ideas of where to travel next. (Mom at least this should make you happy- she understands why you want grandchildren so bad she did too). We truly enjoyed talking with them and learned a lot about the French culture. We were at dinner for over 2 hours. I almost forgot, we now like English breakfast tea with milk (of course I need sugar) and we had tea with them after dessert. Their favorite places in the world have been the U.S. National parks and traveling along the Nile in Egypt.


Today we were in Cork (Cobh – pronounced Cove). I did not which city we were going to port in: Cork or Cobh. This was something that annoyed me. Cork is a major city and Cobh is a smaller port city and they are about 20 minutes apart via train. Even the freestyle daily (cruise newspaper) did not correctly tell us which city we were docking in (promising we were going to Cork). So when we were at breakfast we looked over the side and there is a sign that states “Welcome to Cobh”. Finally my question answered.


I had booked tickets for the Titanic Walking Trail in Cobh so I wanted to be in Cobh. We went on the tour at 1100 and enjoyed it greatly. We learned about some Irish history and stories about the Tiantic and Lusitania. Cobh was the last port of call for the Titanic before it sunk. We were glad we went on the tour and it lasted about 1 hour 45 minutes. We could have booked through NCL and that was $68 per person. The total cost since I booked it on my own was only 20 Euros.


The tour ended at St Colman's Cathedral. It is a very large Catholic Church with Gothic architecture. It was free to go inside and you can take photos inside too. We spent some time in there fascinated by the details and design of the church.


After that we went back onto the ship for lunch and relaxed for a little bit. Then we walked around the city of Cohn going to little shops. We learned that we should not complain about grocery prices back home. In Cobh, bananas cost 4.40 Euros per pound ($7 per pound) and grapes 13.20 Euros per pound ($21 per pound). Now that is expensive produce!


We are back on the ship and plan on going to the Grand Pacific for dinner. Hopefully we will sit with more interesting people. We were not so sure about the freestyle dinning however we have enjoyed it so far. We have eaten with British and French people and gain great insight while dinning with them. I am surprised about all the cultural insight I have developed on this trip already. (By the way, there is much more cigarette smoking in Cobn then London. We would have not thought that but that is what we noticed today).


As the ship got ready to sail away, we heard music outside. We looked out our window and saw a small band setup at the port. They were playing music led by a conductor for us. About 200 people had gathered at the port and surrounding area to listen to the music and watch the ship leave. We went to the top deck to see and here better. It was really fun. The band would play a song and then wave to everyone on the boat while we clapped. At 6pm, the boat sounded its horn. Everyone was to be aboard at 5:30. We saw two people running to the ship just minutes after the horn sounded. I bet that scared them! Listening to the band and watching all of the people wave as we left was really fun. It made us like Cobh even better.


There is a show tonight called Smokey Joe's Cafe that we hope to attend. Tomorrow we will be in Dublin and looking forward to that port of call. We are there till 8:30pm therefore I am thinking no blog post tomorrow since I will probably want to eat dinner and then get sleep. Wait and see what happens though.

Falmouth

Today we were in Falmouth. We had to tender ashore and it took about 20 minutes. Once we got on shore there were several local people to help you determine what you want to do and how to do it. I knew that we were going to Pendennis Castle but I was not sure how to get there. Of course we could walk but it was uphill and after yesterday's adventure I was hoping for a more relaxing day.


There was a free shuttle to Pendennis Castle that took about 10 minutes. I was excited about that. There was also a free shuttle into downtown Falmouth although we did not go into town. I was glad we did not book any shore excursion though NCL because there were several options that we could do on our own.


Pendennis Castle fires a cannon at 1200. We were up front and got a perfect view of it. We spent several hours walking around the castle grounds and taking pictures. Many spectacular views of our ship and the landscape.


The weather was partly sunny with temperature around 62 degrees. It is a little chilly however as we start going north, it is going to get colder. I did not pack Brian many pairs of pants so he is currently washing a pair. Poor him, I am making him do work. We brought liquid Tide and we have washed a few shirts already and were surprised how fast they dried. The bathroom seems to be very well ventilated and does not stay humid long.


Tonight is dress up night if you want. Remember this is freestyle cruising so you don't have to do anything. We are going to get dressed up. We plan on going to a musical show and then dinner around 8:30pm. We went to a British comedy show the first night and it was fairly good. Last night we missed the shows due to tiredness and blogging. I think the ship has several options as far as entertainment but with this itinerary it is hard to go to a show every night. It is much different than a relaxing vacation in the Caribbean.


After we got back on the ship this afternoon, we went to the fitness center. It is great! There is plenty of room and every cardiac machine has its own TV. You can get free headphone at the desk. Plus the workout equipment is the same brand I use at home so I am familiar with it. Brian was happy there was a chin up bar which he has never had on any other cruise ship we have been on. Overall we have been pretty happy with NCL.


We are on our way to Cork, Ireland. We planned on taking the Titanic Walk there. Hopefully once we get back on our ship, it will not sink. :) Good night!


A note from Brian:

Amy is stealing all of my internet time, leaving me barely enough time to check my email. Viewing local newspapers or even Cavs.com is therefore out of the question. If anything newsworthy happens with the Cavs, someone please post it in a blog comment as that is all that the vacation gestapo will allow me to read.

Paris Jog

Replies to Comments

Today we are in Falmouth. We have not gone ashore yet, but just got our tender ticket. We will be going ashore shortly and plan to see a castle and walk around.


Mom and Dad:
I am glad you are enjoying my blog. I am enjoying writing it although the Paris entry took me forever to type it and I can type fairly fast. We were sleepy last night but we finally got some sleep tonight and so we will be back to normal. Dad, you can keep my car. I just need a ride to work everyday. I would love it because you know I don't like driving anyways. :) Enjoy the car, it would be lonely in the garage by itself. I miss you guys but am having a great time.


Melissa and Jonathan:
I was sad I did not get to talk to you before we got on the plane but I figured you were busy at work. That is okay I will talk to you on the 27th when you remember to pick us up at the airport! Melissa, I have been reading your blog everyday and enjoying it. Brian and I read it together and we both laugh. You are so cute! Sorry I cannot post comments on it but I am on limited internet access since I am updating my blog daily ( I am still in shock Brina does not really care about how much I am spending on internet). We are also sad you guys are not with us however you probably would of killed us yesterday with our running adventure! I will plan and really cool trip for all of us next year.


Brian read your fly story. He thinks that the “host” for the flies may have been Gemi. You might want to consider spraying her with Lysol too. Be sure to wear the gas mask when you do it.


Dawn:
I am glad you are enjoying the blog too. I miss everyone at work however I don't miss work itself. Hope everything is well there and the case load is not too terrible. Please let everyone know I said hello and feel free to post anytime. I was excited to see your post last night. I am glad you gave the link to Laura and I hope she enjoys it too.


Paul:
I cannot thank you enough for encouraging me to pack light. If we would have had one more piece of luggage, it would have been left on the London Underground! I am so happy we don't have to worry about our luggage now that we are on the ship. Carrying our luggage through the streets of London had to be the worst part to the trip. Okay, I don't want to think about that for another 11 days! Thanks again!

Paris

I am writing this blog entry out by hand at the moment (I know something unheard of) and plan on typing it up once we get back to the ship.


We are on our way back to Le Havre from Paris. It is about a 2 to 2 ½ hour bus ride back. I have a book to read but I have realized that I get nauseous while on a train or bus if I am reading. So I am sitting here thinking of my blog entry and wishing I had a small portable device that I could type this up on. I told Brian and we have a pocket PC however it is at home right now. So I will continue writing by hand.


This morning we went to breakfast at the Garden Cafe (buffet). There are many choices. We needed to met our NLC tour at 0815 for “Paris on your own”. The shore excursion provides transportation to the city and info about the city during the travel. The buses were running late and we did not leave the port till almost 0900. I decided on this excursion because I knew we wanted to see Paris and this will probably be our only time there. I was too nervous about trying out their train system plus I heard the train left at 0745 and some people where not sure if we could be off the ship in time.


With it being Bastille Day, we lowered our expectations on what to see in Paris. Originally we wanted to go up to the top of the Effiel Tower but was thinking please just let us get a picture for our collage of places we have been.


The bus ride was long but uneventful. (Remember I hate riding in cars for any long period of time). We got into Paris at 1200 and had to be back on the bus at 1545. That gave us almost 4 hours. We were the first ones off the bus and ran to see the end of the Bastille Day Parade. There were tanks and several different types of military trucks lining the streets Brian was interested in seeing it so we walked over a block and saw them. Brian took several pictures. There were helicopters and planes flying above as well.


Then off the the Effiel Tower. I should mention that the bus dropped us off near the Effiel Tower. It was perfect for us. The lines for the tower were insane. We got into the shortest line which was the one for the stairs. The other line was at least three times longer than this one. I was not so sure about this decision but if I wanted to go up in it, I had to climb the stairs We did not have enough time to stand in the other line. After one hour of waiting in line for tickets, we started climbing the steps to the second level.


It is now about 1300 and we wanted to get up there as quick as possible. I thought it was going to be a difficult climb but felt we could do it. There are 674 steps to the second level which is the highest level you can climb by foot. We climbed as fast as we could given people were in front of and it was difficult to pass although me managed. We climbed it in 10 minutes and both thought it was easy! I am not kidding. At the second level we purchased tickets to take the lift to the top. We had to wait in line for another hour. It was amazing view and we were grateful we got to do it.


We took the lift back down to the second level then climbed back down the stairs. It was even easier going down of course but we did see several people having a difficult time. I know that we are active but I was impressive with my abilities today.


Oh and there is more!


We only had 1 hour and 15 minutes left. Now we had to focus on our picture together with the Effiel Tower in the background. We had some people take our pictures but it was not turning out right. The secret of getting your picture taken together is you find a tourist couple taking picture of only one person and you offer to take their picture then usually they will offer to take your picture. Some people (like me) do not focus on the entire background and you end up with pictures of the tower cut off or only half your body. So we needed another plan. We found a place to set up our little (approx 3 inch) tripod and take pictures of ourselves. It turned out great.


Only one hour left, what should we do? Everyone who knows us knows that we cannot sit and relax... we have to see as much as possible. We headed to the Louvre pyramid. That is about 2 miles from the Effiel Tower. We went running down the streets of Paris. We are absolutely insane! We made it to the top of where the pyramid is but we could not go any further due to time. So we had to run back to the bus. That means we ran for about 4 miles in less than 1 hour while sightseeing and dodging people.


When we were almost there Brian asked “How are you doing” I replied “not well”. He stated “you run more than this at home”. I said” Yes, but back home I do not climb the Effiel Tower before running, I eat meals (we have not eaten since breakfast 7 hours ago), and I wear running shoes not cute black shoes that I call my European shoes. I think he got my point.


We contained to run to the bus and we made it with only 1 minutes to spare. The bus actually left at 1550. This is for Jonathan: Even Brian was sweating when we got onto the bus, so you know we had to run hard. The temperature was around 70 so it was perfect but we had just ran for 4 miles.


I would let you know that I have blisters on my feet but I didn't want Brian to know. So come to your own conclusions. He does not understand the whole women and shoe thing. My European shoes are comfortable just not to run 4 miles in them.


The weather had been great and I hope it continues. I got some sun today since I forgot the sunscreen in the room. We are going back to the ship soon to eat dinner. I am eating whatever I want because I think I deserve it!

Bastille Day Parade

Bastille Day

Right now we are getting ready to leave for Paris. We changed our clocks last night, so we are now 6 hours ahead of the EST time zone.

We found out that July 14 is Bastille Day http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bastille_Day) in France. My first thought was what is Bastille Day? Sorry I do not know much about French history. We have since found out that it is a national holiday and several things may be closed (think of it as the French fourth of July). Paris is going to be crowded because they have a celebration with a parade. Now we are not sure what that means for us going to the Effiel Tower. Will it be open? Will it be extra crowded? Our trip to Paris should prove to be interesting. We just hope we can get up into the Effiel Tower although we still have not decided if we want to climb or take the elevator... I mean the “lift.” Wait and see what happens when we get there.

Last night we ate at the Main Pacfic dining room. We only waited 5 minutes in line for a table. We ate around 7:00pm. Brian had Jerk Chicken and I had Curry. Both were good. We sat with two British couples. There are several British on this cruise. Talking with them was insightful.
Well off to Paris we go!

Southhampton

To Southhampton

We woke up this morning and had a wonderful English breakfast at our hotel. Fortunately it was included. For two people, it would normally total 32 pounds ($64 US)! We even had some English tea. We enjoyed our hotel. The location was perfect to Tower Bridge. We had plenty of space and it was very clean. I would recommend it (Chamberlain Hotel) to anyone who wants to be near Tower Bridge.

We had take a bus to Waterloo station (since the underground is still closed for construction). I was hoping to take the 10:00am train to Southhampton. We got there early and was able to get on the 9:30am train. The train was a bit crowded. Since we had our luggage, we decided to just stand during the trip. There were seats, but none together. It took about 1 ½ hours to get there.

Once in Southhampton we got a taxi to the port. It is less than 5 minute ride. Once at the port, the check in process was fairly easy. We waited about 30 minutes to check in and then about 40 minutes in a sitting area before we could board the ship. We were on the ship a little before 1:00pm.

We went to a cruise critic meet and greet a little while ago. We met some nice people. I want to work on unpacking and organizing our room. (I know, me organizing something. Brian offered to unpack but things would not be where I want them so I will gladly do it myself). I am very happy with our room. In our cabin, we have window and I think the room is standard size for a cruise ship. I think we have more drawer space than I am use to. That is definitely a good thing. The bathroom layout is a little different Walk in and straight ahead is the sink, to the right is the shower, and to the left is the toilet with a sliding door.

We just left port around 5:30pm. We were supposed to leave at 4pm, but the ship was waiting for some people who are late. The cruise transportation had problems and so they waited on them since it is the cruise line's fault. We talked to some of the people affected, and it sounds like a short layover was part of the problem.

We plan to get ready for our “freestyle” dinner and then go to comedy show tonight. I think we are eating in the Pacific Dinning room however I don't think we have actually talked about it yet. Tomorrow we are in Paris all day. So don't be surprised it I don't get to post a blog posting till Tuesday.

P.S. Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad!

P.P.S. Update from Brian: We have 184 pictures