Cruise #6 Royal Princess

Jerry and I decided to do the British Isles cruise out of South Hamptom, England. I had never been across the Atlantic Ocean before but Jerry had.

We flew into London's Gatewick Airport and spent a few days before we embarked the Royal Princess. We had a list of things we wanted to do before we even boarded the plane. Of course we were going to hit the main tourist sites, Buckingham Palace, Tower of London, House of Parliment and Windsor Castle was also on our list of places to see.

We embarked the Royal Princess on Monday and were excited to get to our cabin to begin our new journey.

First stop for us was Cornwall Falmouth England. We had already heard about the pasties here and we didn't waste any time in finding these once we disembarked and walked to town. We walked around the town and visited a pub or two before heading back to the ship.

Our second stop was Dunmore Ireland where we made our way to Waterford. Of course we had to go to see how Waterford Crystal is made and to visit the store to buy something. We enjoyed our tour through the factory to see how they create the works of art. Jerry and I did stop at a pub for lunch before making our way back to the ship.

Our third stop was Dublin Ireland. I was in my glory with all the greenery. I felt like I was back home again! With my green eyes, pale skin I definitely fit in here. Jerry and I boarded the Hop On Hop Off bus and made our way through the city and got off the bus at the Guiness Brewrey. We went through the brewrey and then up to the 360 degree city view from the top. It was fantastic. I did get my wool sweaters here in Dublin. It was a must have item before I boarded the ship and headed out again.

Fourth stop for us was Holyhead Wales. We took an excursion to the Caernarfon Castle. The tide was out while we were at the castle so the fishing boats were all sitting on land.

Next stop was Greenock Scotland, we took an excursion through the countryside and visited a wool mill and saw the sheep show with sheep and sheep dogs. We visited the Glengoyne Distillery, where we tasted 17-year old whiskey. Jerry really enjoyed this.

Our eighth day finds us coming into Kirkwall Orkney Islands Scotland. We had to tender in to Kirkwall and I wasn't feeling so well. It was a hard trip in because as I was feeling pretty claustrophobic and not so well. Jerry and I made our way around town before heading back to the ship.

Next day we were in Invergordon Scotland where we took an excurision to Dunrobin Castle. The grounds were magnificent. This had been the home of the Earls and Dukes of Sutherland for 800 years. We visited Dornoch and the cathedral where Madonna's baby had been christened.

Here we are coming into port at Rosyth Scotland, we will be making our way to Edinburgh once we have docked. We will meet up with Jim our tour guide. He toured us thru the castle and through town. We thoroughly enjoyed our trip with Jim and our friends from Colorado. We visited the Crown Jewels, Mary Queen of Scots apartment, St Margaret's Chapel, the memorial hall for all the fallen soldiers in the World Wars and up to the present time wars, then we walked the Royal Mile to Holyrood Palace. We visited the Britannia Royal Yacht before we went back to the ship.

We had a day at sea before we were in port at Le Havre France. We boarded a bus to Rouen Normandie France. We visited a cathedral and then went to where Joan of Arc was burned at the stake. A church was built in her honor here at the site with a cross. We had to do some shopping. I bought me a watch while we were here and then we enjoyed some wonderful French pastries before boarding the bus and heading back to the ship.

We were bound for Southampton again and this time we were sad because that meant it was time to go home and back to reality again. We thoroughly enjoyed this trip and would like to come back again.