July 26, 2023 - Sea Day

 July 26, 2023 - Wednesday - Sea Day

This morning we woke to rougher seas. While we did not find it troublesome, we did see that sea sick bags had been hung about the ship with care. 

Our accomplishments today were attending a lecture on Vikings, a future cruise presentation, and a presentation by the hotel director on the inner workings of this hotel at sea. All were interesting. The hotel director’s talk offered many insights. One that we found most interesting was that he receives every comment card relating to the crew. He passes these on to the crew along with the picture of the author taken from our security files. This really lets the crew know who is rooting for them.

The Vikings lecture was the second in a series of 3. Yesterday at the first lecture we learned that it was being presented as a video on the big screen in the theater because the scheduled presenter had to cancel at the last minute. The slide show and narrative were put together at the last minute by staff. It was nicely executed.

Sean and Shelly were active participants in trivia and bingo. They have made many friends already. When we are with them we always meet someone who knows them. They have settled in quickly. They now understand our fondness for cruising and are laying plans for their future cruising.

The evening entertainment was a mentalist. He was very entertaining while focusing on 5 subjects to perform his magic. Shelly was one of the 5 and we were all amazed at how well he read her mind. This was fun.

After this relaxing and fun-filled day, we went to bed at a reasonable time to prepare for our first port, Alesund, tomorrow.

July 25, 2023 - Sea Day

 July 25, 2023 - Tuesday - Sea Day

This is our first sea day. Conditions are very good with calm seas. The captain is very good at keeping us informed as to our progress and upcoming weather. While today is calm, high winds and waves are expected along our normal route tomorrow. For this reason, we will be staying farther offshore in order to skirt the front and be less affected by it.

As is customary on sea days the activity schedule is full. There are lectures, trivia contests of many varieties, and of course, Bingo. This was capped by an introductory performance by the singers and dancers. It was a full but leisurely day. 

Shelly and Sean seem to like cruising. They are good at meeting people. That always contributes to a good time.

July 24, 2023 - Dublin and Boarding Pursuit

 July 24, 2023 - MONDAY - Embarkation Day

This morning we started with a full Irish breakfast in the hotel. The selection of hot and cold items was extensive. We cannot imagine what could have been added to it. It was delicious. What made it even more delightful was the duet that Shelly and Sean performed singing happy birthday to me. They even got some of the other diners to sing. This was a lovely start to the day.

Trinity City Hotel

At 10:00 we met in the lobby as planned. We set out on a walking tour of the local environs. The first stop was St. Stephens Green. This beautiful park features ponds, fountains, statuary, and, of course, flowers. We made our way to the inner trail to visit the fountains before exiting through Fullers Arch. 

St Stephens Green

Our ultimate goal was Dublin Castle. Along the way, we stopped a Georges Street Arcade. Sean needed a hat and we hoped to find one here. An inquiry in one of the shops resulted in directions to a hat shop not far away. The selection was very nice and Sean found a captain’s cap that looks great and will serve him well.

As we left the hat shop to continue on to the castle we passed a music shop. There we found a broad selection of instruments from around the world. One interesting item was a traveling didgeridoo. This is a didge coiled like rope that could fit into a small case or suitcase. We did not hear it, but it sure looked neat.

Soon we arrived at the statue of Molly Malone. This buxom lass is well-rubbed brass and has been photographed many times. This includes many times as we were standing there. Sean and Shelly memorialized their visit.

At last, we arrived at the castle. It is an imposing structure with a large park and a garden to remember police officers killed in the line of duty. Alice and I visited the garden six years ago. It was relatively new then with plantings just starting to grow. Today the garden is in glory with mature plants. It was grand to visit again.

Dublin Castle Under Renovation

Policemen Memorial Garden

With our mission accomplished, we headed back to the hotel. We arrived at 12:55. That gave us just enough time to bring down our luggage and check out at 1:00. As we waited for our 1:30 taxi the concierge came over to ask if we had ordered a cab. The driver was there early. The luggage was loaded and we were on our way at 1:15. It was a short drive to the pier and as we approached we could see Azamara Pursuit at the dock. Our driver said he had never seen a ship in that place before. Usually, he took people to the other end of the port. He wasn’t sure what to do but he found an entry where the guards let us in and pointed out a place near the ship where two young men would take our bags. They loaded them on trolleys and led us to a check-in table. There they left to take the bags to the ship. After answering a few questions we were given our room keys and directed to security. We then entered Pursuit and had our photos taken at the door. These would appear whenever we scanned our keycard upon entering or leaving the ship. All of this went very smoothly. Now we were sent to a room where we finalized the check-in and had our credit cards recorded for final settlement at the end of the cruise. The last step was to view the safety video.

Bridge to the pier

Hurling Match arena holds 84,000

Truck Ferry

We made our way to our staterooms and were in them by 2:00. Throughout this process there were very few people joining us. No long queues. Sean and Shelly were impressed. So were we.. We stepped out onto our veranda to admire the view and met Sean and Shelly doing the same from their veranda next door. What a good start.

After lunch in Windows, the buffet restaurant, we joined a ship tour with about 20 people. That is the largest group we have ever seen for a ship’s tour. Ours was helpful for Shelly and Sean. They are already feeling at home. 

The pilot leaves after our sail away

After dinner in Discovery Restaurant, we attended a welcome show in the theater. At 10:15 we finally made our way to our staterooms. This was our first visit there since boarding. Unpacking and storing took a while. We got to bed at midnight after a truly rewarding day.

A beautiful end to the day

July 23, 2023 - Dublin

 July 23, 2023 - Sunday - Dublin, Ireland

An hour before landing in Dublin we were served a breakfast of yogurt and granola with assorted fruit. Very nice.

We landed 35 minutes early and had to wait 20 minutes for a gate. By 12:30 we had our luggage and were in the taxi queue. It was raining when our taxi pulled up. The excellent driver insisted that we get in out of the rain while he managed to load our luggage. He was very friendly and very informative. As we made our way to the hotel. He explained that traffic was heavy because the All-Ireland hurling championship was taking this afternoon. The stadium for 84,000 fans would be full. The fans were already arriving and roaming the streets in a celebratory mood. The competing teams were Limerick in green and white and Kilkenny in yellow and black.

Groups with both colors walked together cheering and singing. It is a friendly rivalry, but an important one. Collin explained that this is not a professional sport and that hurling is an ancient Irish game. The players are not paid. They grow up playing for their local schools. If good enough, they progress to the town level and then the county. Limerick has won 3 championships in a row. They are hoping for a fourth. The odds are in their favor.

At one o’clock Collin had our bags in the Trinity City Hotel. His fare with tip amounted to $45. He reminded us to watch the game on TV. Bonnie, our travel consultant at Cruises International, had told us that a private pick up at the airport ranged from $145 to $165. She recommended a taxi. Good call, Bonnie.

Our room on the 4th floor is lovely. We look across the street at the grounds of Trinity College. The amenities were perfect. And it was quiet. Sean and Shelly would not be arriving until about 8:00. We decided to take a nap.

They were using SAS vouchers from their canceled flights due to Covid last year. SAS has no direct flights to Dublin from Washington Dulles Airport so they flew to Copenhagen where they had a 10-hour layover before flying to Dublin. They left 6 hours before us and arrived 7 hours after us. While in Copenhagen they took the train into the city center. They used combo tickets to ride the HOHO for a city tour. It rained the whole time they were on the bus. but they enjoyed the sites and narrative. Then they boarded a boat for the canal tour as the sun came out. At one point on the canal, Shelly said to Sean “This is the puzzle.” The view of the buildings along the bank was the same as a puzzle they had completed a while back. How neat!

They got to the hotel at about 8:00. At 8:30 we were on our way to Fleet Street, the Temple Bar area. We were looking for live music, Guinness, and food. At our first stop, the ground floor was full of fans still celebrating the hurling match. It was elbow to elbow and loud enough to require earplugs. We went upstairs where food was served. We ordered our beverages and started to review the menu. In addition to many good-sounding dishes, it included a list of 14 allergens that might be included in one way or another. This made it clear that Shelly would not be able to eat here. We finished our Guinness at leisure as we listened to the music thundering below. It was a good preparation for our continuing search for food.

We walked the street checking other pubs and found the perfect spot, Old Mill Dublin. Shelly had traditional Irish stew. Alice had fish and chips. Sean and I had beef and Guinness stew. We all agreed that what we had was tasty and satisfying. I had a Guinness and the others had Tullamore Dew Irish whisky. The atmosphere was great with music drifting up the stairs from the crowded bar. The service was very friendly and excellent. What a good time we had.

The walk back to the hotel found the streets less crowded. Tomorrow is a work day and folks were making their way home. In the hotel at 11:00 we decided to meet in the lobby at 10:00 in the morning. Our check-in time at Azamara was 2:00 so we requested a 1:00 check-out and ordered a taxi for 1:30. We said goodnight and made our way to our rooms ready to sleep.

July 22, 2023 - Departure to Norway

 July 22, 2023 - Saturday - Departure Day

Our taxi to the airport is scheduled for 6:00 PM. Since we were already packed, we spent the day leisurely checking our list of things to do before leaving. After lunch we moved my car onto the driveway. This probably sounds odd, but it was a bit of an adventure. The village is resurfacing the streets in our neighborhood. Part of that project includes the replacement of deteriorating curbs and the curbing front of our driveway was on the removal list. also, three segments of our sidewalk would be removed and replaced. We had hoped that would take place while we were gone, but they removed our curb and sidewalk on Thursday. That meant we had to park across the street if we wanted to use the car. It would take week for the new curbing to cure and we would be gone then. We could not leave the car on the street while we were away because that curbing would be removed right after ours was usable again. 

We had arranged to park our car in the church parking lot but we were not comfortable leaving it there unattended for a month. After surveying the situation this morning I decided that I could thread my car across the parkway to the driveway between the open trench for the curb and the excavation for the sidewalk. The usable space was almost 3 feet wider than the car. I would need clear guidance to stay on the grace. Our neighbor, Aaron stood in the sidewalk hole to mark the danger zone on that side while Alice stood next to the start of the curb trench. I was then able to pull the car onto the parkway and carefully thread the needle. Perfect. The car is now on our driveway where our neighbors will keep an eye on it while we are gone.

At 5:15 I got a notification from the American Taxi app that our driver was on the way and should arrive at 5:55. The app included a link to Google Maps that showed the location of the cab and traced its progress. He was way south of us but he made good progress in light traffic and we could see that he would be early. A 5:40 I met him on the street and showed him where he could park close to our house. He did a yeoman’s job getting our luggage from the house to his cab across the parkway. In 10 minutes we were off for what proved to be a harrowing ride to the American Airlines terminal. This guy thought he was a NASCAR driver.

We were checked in and on our way to the gate by 6:30. This was not without incident. I had entered our Global Entry numbers in our American Advantage accounts, but when the boarding passes were printed they did not indicate that we had TSA Recheck. The attendant told us where to look online to find our numbers. We did that and went back to her. She reprinted our passes with the TSA info and we zoomed through the security check. There was no one in line. in fact, the terminal was almost empty. There was nobody sitting in our flight’s waiting area. For all the talk about increased air travel, we were amazed that so few people were here.

We boarded our flight and found our Premium Economy seats. This was the first time we were flying on American with their 3rd level of economy seating. The seats were 4 inches wider and the legroom was considerably longer. This was very comfortable. We were between Business Class and Economy Plus. We also benefited from priority check-in and boarding. The flight departed on time at 10:20 PM. 30 minutes later we were served dinner on china with silverware. The quality was almost as good as business class. We were very pleased. After dinner the lights were dimmed, we took advantage of the deeper recline of our seats and managed to sleep for a part of the six-and-a-half-hour flight. 

Somewhat Spacious Seating

Our New Adventure Starts July 22, 2023

We will be flying to Dublin on July 22 to meet Sean and Shelly for a cruise to Alesund, Norway where our cruise will take us along the coast to Oslo with many ports along the way. This is our present to Sean for his 50th birthday. Last year he made a gift to us of a charter sailing in the Croatian Islands for my 80th birthday. Sadly, Covid prevented him and Shelly from joining us. This year our testing negative and relaxed travel restrictions will have us travel together for this segment of what is called The Most Beautiful Voyage.

We hope you can follow along.