Cruising - Dublin



Departing from Southampton

We got a great last minute deal on a cruise and decided to spend the last two weeks of our summer holidays on a tour in Iceland and Norway.  I had never considered going on a cruise until we saw the deal and liked the destinations.  I assumed that everyone would be very old.  And they were.  Luckily, we like doing things that pensioners enjoy as well.  It was a great trip and I would quite happily cruise again.  I liked not having to go to an airport or have jetlag to recover from.  We went with P&O on the Orianna.  Our room was on the 11th floor so we did feel the movement of the ship on the first day until we got used to it.  It isn't hard to get used to laying by the pool, eating five course dinners or watching whales follow the ship.  It wasn't your typical summer sun holiday with temperatures around 8 degrees with in days of our departure.  Our first port was in Dublin before we headed off up north. Neither one of us had been to Ireland and this was just a little taste.  We did some shopping, strolled in the park and drank a Guinness.  Then we came back on board and found the bed turned down with a little chocolate on the pillow and the towel twisted in the shape a candle.  This was thanks to Elvis our excellent cabin steward.  I want him to come and live with us.  I feel disappointed that the bed is still unmade at home even if I leave it for a couple of hours.  Here are some pictures from our first two days.

Lots of classic guinness advertising all over

An unexpected surprise in uptown Dublin! 

 

The statue of Molly Malone (Also known as the Tart with the Cart -  among other things)

Having a guinness and writing postcards

The harp bridge

I thought this was a church we could tour but it is a tourist information office.  The inside looks like a bank.



Another pub...you know, to check the beer tastes the same in each one.

Setting sail again