Voyage to Baltic

Today was our first day at sea on this cruise.  Because we lost one hour last night, we did not get up until 8ish.  When we left the suite we bumped into Sue and Pat so we had breakfast with them.. Nice to talk with them one on one. We did swim later for one hour.  We are the only ones in the pool.  The pool is well heated so it is rather enjoyable.  But you need your towel close by when you get out. Sea days are very relaxing.  Worked on my needlepoint project.  They only have needlepoint on sea days in the afternoon.  Lots of ladies came to pick up projects.  I wonder if we will see them again.  I am doing the Mensa quiz every day.  So far I have gotten them all correct. Not really that difficult. We had cocktails in the Stars Lounge.  Seems lots of the bar waiters know what I drink already.  In fact, one of the bar waitresses from Explorer is here and she remembered what drink both Bob and I enjoyed.  Amazing...

This morning we docked in Cork.  The Irish name for this town is Cobh.  It was known as Queenstown  from 1849 until 1920.  Cork is on the south side of Great Island in Cork Harbour and is home to Ireland's only dedicated cruise terminal. Last night we dined with Ray, Cruise Director.  We were having our cocktails in the Stars Lounge when Ray came up as asked us to have dinner with him.  We have known Ray since 2012 and enjoy his company.  We had not seen him since 2014 when we did the 106 day cruise in Asia.  Was great seeing him and dining with him again. We also visited with Franck, General Manager,  yesterday and will have dinner with him tonight.  Both Franck and Ray were on the 106 day cruise and we have remained friends since then.  Great to be with them both again. We cancelled our tours today as we have been here before and decided to enjoy the ship while most of the guests are our touring. This morning at breakfast,...

We were up early this morning to pack up our things and get ready to board the Navigator.  The limo is to arrive here at the hotel at 11 am.  Because we are Titanium on Regent, we get free limo service to the ship from our hotel.  Probably should have had it from the airport to hotel as that was a longer ride.  Oh well, they only do either not both. Last night we decided to have our drinks in the lounge.  Here in Dublin Old Fashions are made with an orange peel and no cherry.  But one night I got a cherry but the bartender told me a cherry is a southern American way.  Guess he told me.  But I will continue to make mine the same way I always do. Then we went to the dining room and had a Reuben sandwich and some onion rings.  The sandwich was served on a roll which we did not eat.  Not the best sandwich and we should have ordered only one and shared it.  Live and learn. Back to the room and watched another episode of Midsomer Mu...

Tuesday is the second full day we have in Dublin.  Both of us slept in until 8:45.  Wow, that is late for us but I think we finally are on Dublin time.  No breakfast today.  Just coffee and tea in the room and then headed for the hop on hop off bus. Our plan was to visit the two Anglican churches we saw from the bus yesterday.  Our first stop was to visit Christ Church.  It is located in the heart of the medieval city of Dublin.  It is one of the finest buildings in the city.  Founded by the Hiberno-Norse, it was rebuilt by the Anglo-Normans and extensively restored in the 1870's.  The present building is a blend of the original 12th and 13th century material alongside recreated Victorian Gothic features. Construction was started in 1030 under Dunan, the first bishop of Dublin and Sitrine Silkenbeard, the Norse King of Dublin. We visited the Crypt also.  I did not take any pictures of the crypt but if Bob took some, I will try and ...

Today is our first full day in Dublin.  We both slept fairly well although not completely on Dublin time. Instead of having an expensive breakfast here in the hotel, we decided to walk to a local cafe to enjoy our coffee and muffin for me and West Coast Bagel for Bob.  Then off to get on the hop on hop off bus for our tour around the city.  We decided to just ride around today and tomorrow we will get off at some of the stops. Both of us were tired.  I found it hard to stay awake on the bus so we walked back to the hotel and stopped in the pub for a pint of Guinness for Bob.  I told the waitress I would taste his and see if I liked it.  So she brought me two tastes of local Irish beers to taste. Very nice of her.   They both were nice.  Not as strong as the Guinness. Then we both took a nap.  Did not realize how tired we really were.  As we age, it takes longer to get over the jet lag. Cleaned up for dinner and decided to eat at ...

Saturday the 14th of July arrived and we are ready to travel to Dublin.  We have started going to the club pool every morning to do water exercises for one hour and since our flight was not until the late afternoon, we headed to the pool.  Only one other man was using the pool.  He walks around the edge of the pool with his weights for about a hour.  We work in the middle so we both can exercise without bothering one another. Back at the house we finished packing and then went to Jersey Mikes for a take out sub.  We eat at home as it is nicer than the busy shop. Our ride came at 2pm and while riding to the airport, the thunderstorms began.  So our flight boarded on time but we sat at the end of the runway for 20 minutes or so until we were given the go ahead to take off.  But when we got the the Atlanta area, we were placed in a holding pattern for what seemed like 45 minutes until we could land.  So the two hours between our flight ended up b...