Aug. 30 - while on the high seas - The Chef's Table

After a long day touring in Inverness, we returned to the ship to dress for our special dinner - The Chef's Table. You pay $75 pp for this. Joyce Caballero, a new cruise critic friend, made the arrangements for 10 of us to dine at the Chef's Table.  (we ended up at 12 since Princess added another couple we did not know)We met in the International Cafe at the appointed time of 6:45. The Maitre'd came for us to escort us upstairs to meet the head chef - Giuseppe. But first we had to don our white chef's attire and then Giuseppe excorted us to our first chore - washing our hands. It first looked like we were scrubbing for surgery!! The water was so hot even I could barely hold my hands under it. After everyone was done, the chef gave us a walking tour of the galley - in full swing for the dinner hour of 3200 passengers!!! It was amazing how organied they were - from cooks at grills cooking chicken fillets to waiters getting main courses on serving trays, to the huge dishwashers (Hobarts for anyone interested). We ended up passing the bar service area - and bars is a good word since there were 2 men stationed behind bars giving out bottles of wine saved for passengers from the day before.

We moved off to a corner of the galley where we started our evening with 5 different appetizers and champagne!!

Each one was described by Guiseppe and served to 12 of us by 2 different waiters.

After the cocktail hour, we were escorted back to the dining room where a special table was set for us.

We were first served a special mushroom risotto. Yummy. Then came a sorbet to cleanse the palete....strawberry with peppercorns and vodka. Very unusual combination, but good

Guiseppe himself prepared the meat for the main course - flaming tenderloin. But the food did not stop there - it included a lamb chop, scallops and the largest lobster tail I had ever seen. But by the time the main course was served, I finished dinner!! I think I did a good job of moving a lot of food around my plate.

I felt awful wasting all that food, but just couldn't put another bite in my mouth. However, they still were not finished with us - dessert was brought in by 6 waiters and presented to each of us at the same time.

Dessert included a cake enclosed in a lattice tower, and ice cream in a lattice cup. All of this was on the prettiest spun sugar "plate".   It was truly a spectacular presentation.

What a great evening. Good company, a lot of fun, but way too much food. Carlos and I agreed we would not do it again.

Aug. 30 - Inverness Scotland

Another beautiful day in SUNNY Scotland!!  Honestly, so many Scots asked us if we realized how lucky we were with the weather.  Today dawned cool, but the sun warmed the air. I was the tour organizer for a group from cruise critic. We totaled 14. The tour did not get off to the best start - Ocean Links Golf was late to the cruise terminal. Of course they claimed we were early.  The owner said we Yanks had to slow down to the pace of Scotland - if I didn't laugh I would have been ready to choke him.  But I did keep in mind we were in their country and I did not want to be the proverbial ugly American.

We waited on the curb for our driver to come in. He was well worth the wait. James was dressed in a kilt and he was well prepared and talked a lot of the history of the area. We were in the highlands of Scotland - a really beautiful hilly area. The main goal of our day was to get to Loch Invernes in search of Nessie. But first we went to a local highland brewery for a taste of some beer. Our friends in HS, Kathy and Mike would have loved this stop.   Very interesting since the whole process was manual.   Check out the bottling room.

Putting labels on the bottles

Filling and capping the bottles









Then we were back on the road to Clootie Well. A "cloot" is a piece of clothing. You are to walk around the well 3 times and then make your wish. Make sure the cloot is made from natural material since it is said Celtic spirits do not recognize nylon, etc. All the supplications are tied to trees. Interesting area - and well off the beaten track.

We went on to Fortlose Cathedral dating back to the 13th century. There are so many castles and old churches in Scotland. Loved the history of the area. I was also very impressed as to the upkeep constantly being done.

We finally arrived in Loch Inverness to have a quick lunch before our scheduled boat ride on the mountain lake in search of Nessie. It was fun - but do think I could have skipped it. Carlos of course loved being on a boat on the water. And no sighting of Nessie. Rumor has it the weather has to be bad - fog and rain before she comes out. The ride was about an hour and we passed an old fort. After the boat ride while traveling aound the lake we ended up in a field of heather. How truly beautiful. The countryside was filled with heather in bloom. I felt like I should break into song "the heather on the hill".......but will spare you.

On our drive back to Invergordon, where the ship was docked, we made 2 photo stops. One was at the ruuins of Urguhart castle. It overlooked the Loch Inverness. The castle is very old - dating back to 13 century. Then a treasure on the road back was a beautiful old bridge. There were rapids under it and a gazebo in the distance. Just a nice tranquil setting.

My absolute favorite pose of Carlos

Look at the gazebo in the distance - so peaceful

All in all a very nice day and James was a great host to our day in the Scottish Highlands.

Aug. 29 - At Sea

We spent the day today traveling from Glasgow to Invergordon (the port for Inverness).   It was a leisurely day at sea.  We spent a great deal of time playing pooch with Vicky and Herb.  The seas have been rough.  We traveled on a northerly course rounding the tip of Scotland before heading south.  The Capt. said we could expect rough seas until we got a little closer to Invergordon. 

Tonight was formal night.  Had a very nice cocktail party and then dinner.  The cocktail party rewards the couple with the most days at sea with Princess.  This cruise, a couple from Houston are sailing and they have 858 sea days!!!   Guess they get more than free laundry.  My goal and I need to have 150.  I am a few cruises away from that - more like 6 or 7.  Oh well.  Think that couple must have found oil in their Houston backyard!!!

Busy tour day tomorrow followed by the Chef's Table dinner.  So won't write until after that. 

Aug. 28, Glasgow

Saturday dawned cold and windy with a chance of rain. Somehow our Irish or Scottish luck continues to hold out - we are still dry. Many of our friends from Cruise Critic have chosen to go to the Tattoo from Glasgow. Since we saw that pre-cruise, we have booked a private tour for 6 with George Martin. What a great guide. I highly recommend him. He met us dockside with gifts a plenty. He had maps, pamphlets and articles on Robert Burns in prep for our visit to Burns Cottage. We left the port and headed south down the coast via the town of Largs. George is from there and very proud of his city he is. The city was in the middle of the Viking festival celebrating their defeat of the Vikings many a long year ago.

Our first stop after Largs was at the famous Scottish golf course, Royal Troon. Beautiful seaside links course. Of course, no time to play, but they did not mind us spending our money in the pro shop!!

Then we proceeded on to Burns country with a stop at the cottage where he was born. This was a let down - not much to see or do here. Think it could have been skipped.

Our journey continued to the Culzean castle - home of the Scottish Kennedy clan. The castle is in remarkable condition. It was built in two different centuries - 1500's and then refurbished in the 1700's. In 1945 it was given to the National Trust for Scotland. The castle itself sits atop a cliff overlooking the Firth of Clyde.

No photos were allowed indoors. But the castle is fully furnished in period decor. It is most famous for its 3 floor oval staircase. Another interesting room was the armory room with very old muskets and swords. And just before we exited, we came to the surprising Eisenhower room. This is dedicated to Ike for his service as the Supreme commander in WWII. The Kennedy clan gave him his own suite of rooms and Ike returned 4 times to relax in this beautiful setting post WWII.

After leaving the castle we went to our last stop - a visit to Turnberry Golf course. Another stop in a pro shop. If any of you are wondering - you can play either of these courses for the cheap price of 190 GBP!!! (150 if you are a guest in the adjacent hotel to Turnberry) For our friends who are from HS who think we play in a lot of wind, it was blowing at 30 mph with gusts up to 45 the day we visited. One of the pros informed me they have to suspend play all the time due to high winds and the balls on the greens just don't want to stay still.

We had a leisurely drive back to the city. It was a great day!!!

Belfast Aug. 27

We arrived in the port of Belfast to an absolutely beautiful sunny day. This is a first for me to be in No. Ireland. So much history and some of it very sad and troubled. More on that later. We were on another Cruise Critic tour. This one was out of the ordinary for me since it was on a bus with 50 others. A little too large for my liking. OUr primary tourist attraction for today was the Giant's Causeway on the north Antrim coast - approximately a 90 min. ride. I booked this tour because I thought it would cut the cost. We paid approximately 60 GBP for both of us. (footnote: met a couple who booked a private taxi for 4 for 50 GBP each!!! oops, goof on my part,)








Our goal for the day was a trip to the Giant's Causeway with intermittent stops along the way. The giant's causeway was probably formed millions of years ago when lava erupted and was cooled by the ocean. But local myth has it that two giants, Finn MacCool and another from a neighnboring land. The other giant arrived via the causeway to do battle with MacCool. MacCool sees him approaching and flees home to his wife, Oonagh. Oonah has the idea of dressing MacCool as a baby and putting him in the cradle. When the giant arrives at his house and asks for MacCool, Oonah says to please be quiet and not wake their sleeping son. The giant takes one look at the size of the "son" and fleas the country in fear of the size the father will be if the son is that big!!! The giant destroyed his causeway on his way home in fear Finn would follow.
The causeway is so breathtaking - words and photos just cannot describe its beauty and magnitude.

The day didn't end with the causeway. We did have lunch at the delightful Smugglers Cave, then a stop at Bushmill's Distillery (had a taste and bought a bottle - um, good), on to a rope bridge (yours truly did not hike up there for that).

 The way back to the city found us in divided Belfast. This was a very sad and sobering experience. So many reminders of the fighting between the Catholics and Protestants.

Check out this clock tower in Belfast - their version of the Leaning Tower of Pisa!!

We arrived back at the ship very late - 15 mins. before we sailed!! Way too long and ambitious of a day. Very nerve wracking on the drive back, hoping we did not miss the ship.

Liverpool Aug. 26

Boy, have I fallen behind again. So I have to go back a few days to our port call in Liverpool on Aug. 26. For those of you who are too young, that is the birthplace of the Beatles. You remember...Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields!!! Now that I have mentioned that, I have to confess,we didn't go there!! We arrived in Liverpool in the morning, but did not have a tour until 2 p.m. because our guide was busy with another Cruise Critic tour in the a.m. So I caught up on some housekeeping chores - like stand in line to use the 2
washers on our deck!! Finally got through that around 11 a.m. By that time it was too late to head ashore in search of Strawberry Fields.

We were on a Cruise Critic tour with 14 of our new friends. Vicky and Herb went along. And he is feeling better each day. The plan was to head into the country side in search of Conwy Castle (it is Conway in England, but Conwy in Wales!!) - or what use to be the castle. It was a nice 1.5 hr drive into the Welsh countryside. Oh how beautiful in spite of the cooler weather and overcast skies. (still no rain, am I ginxing myself?) My first sight of the castle took my breath away.

We first toured the little seaside town of Conwy. It is primarily a fishing village and they had marvelous fish and chips!!!

They even boast the smallest house in the U.K.!!

The castle dates back to 1272 and is remarkably preserved. It was originally built by King Edward I as a stronghold to invade and conquer Wales. The castle walls are still intack.

We were able to tour the many rooms of the castle including the King's hall as well as his chamber. I could see King Arthur at his round table and Geneviere running through the castle!!! The chimney was still structurally safe after 700+ years and you could see daylight when looking up it!!

All in all it was a great afternoon tour. We did not see any of the sights of Liverpool. We will have to save that for another visit.

Aug. 24 and 25 - Cork and Dublin

Oops, been away for two days. Let me see, where did I leave off? On my last post we had skipped Guernsey and were cruising in heavy seas to Cork. The seas actually got worse - winds, according to the Captain, were Gale force winds.

Herb still not well, so he skipped this tour and went back to sick bay for more drugs and an injection. He know knows the medical staff by first name!!

We arrived in Cobh (the port city for Cork) on schedule on Aug. 24, They told us on the dock we brought good weather with us. It was sunny and warmish (high's around 72). This day we had planned a private tour with 12 others from Cruise Critic. I booked it because I love the little city of Kinsale. But before going to Kinsale, I survived a trip to Blarney castle. Once there, no need to go back to kiss the Blarney stone. While the others on the bus hiked up 120 steps, Carlos and I had coffee with the driver and guide in the Blarney
Woolen Factory. Nice shop - but I did not help the Irish economy by making any purchases! On to Kinsale, the pretty little port town in the S.W. of Ireland. It has lovely narrow streets with different colors of houses and lots of flower pots on the walls. We wandered around the little shops without purchasing anything. Hooray for the Alvarez Future-cruise-fund! Did stop in a little restaurant called Fishy-Fishy for a light lunch. The other stop we made was to Charles Fort. This is a beautifully sited fort guarding the harbor of Kinsale.

If any of you wonder will Princess wait for you if you are on a private tour - I have the pictures to prove THEY DO! The announcements kept coming over the loud speakers of the ship looking for one couple. Finally the Captain did come on saying they were going to sail and the couple would have to take a train to the next port of Dublin. He did wait though - and we finally sailed about 15 mins behind schedule.

We had an easy sail from Cobh to Dublin, docking at 3 a.m. on the 25th. However, we were told the time in port was shortened hy 90 mins due to tides. So adjustments to the day's tour stops had to be made. We were on another private tour arranged through friends of Cruise Critic, this one a double-decker bus ride into town with multiple stops. Herb was feeling much better, so he decided to head into town with us today.



We drove into the city with a great tour guide pointing out so many landmarks finally stopping at Trinity College. Since I had purchased tickets to the Guinness brewery on line before departing the U.S., we decided we had to skip this stop. Off we went to the brewery.

It is a facinating story how Albert Guinness started the brewery in 1759. He signed a lease with the city for 9,000 years (yes, I said 9,000 not 900) at a whopping 45 Euros per year. However, no one seems to mind this since a job with Guinness is a very coveted position to this day. The best part of all for those who know me was the tasting room. I do not drink beer and Guinness is not the place to acquire the taste.

We are now sailing to Liverpool. It is just across the channel from Dublin, so we are going slowly. The weather prediction for tomorrow are highs in the mid 60's and sunshine.