May 14, 2015
When we went to
breakfast expecting to be docked in Belfast Harbour at a pier on the Lagan
River, however, we were out in Belfast Lough, an inlet of the Irish Sea. There were 3 meter whitecapped waves, a strong East wind and the temperature
was a brisk 8 C and mainly sunny with bits of cloud. The predicted high for today is just 14C. At
8, when we should have been docked ,the captain’s announcement advised that due
to the unusual wind direction and a 35 knot wind (65 km per hour) the large
ship could not safely navigate the shipping channel and narrow port berth at
Belfast Harbour. All tours, booked through Princess Cruises, were cancelled and
refunded, with a possibility that if the wind died down as predicted in the
afternoon, then the ship could enter on the next high tide and stay in port
until midnight. They would know by 3
p.m.
We had planned
to see the city of Belfast and the Titanic Belfast museum on our own, taking
the port shuttle to the downtown area and walking to the Titanic Belfast
exhibit. We were not allowed to just
walk through the port facility and had to take the shuttle bus if we wanted to
leave the ship. So we had a leisurely breakfast in the deck 5 Concerto Dining
Room, then went back to the stateroom on deck 10 to get our jackets and climbed
up to decks 16 and 17 for some circuit walking.
When we passed through the Horizon Court cafeteria, we stopped and spoke
with Eisa and later with Peter and Karen. It was very windy on the open
desks. We took pictures of the coast,
zooming in on interesting places and watched a ferry head into port around a
point of land. After 2 km, we took a
break for hot chocolate, then went back to the stateroom to read. Just before 11 a.m. an announcement was
broadcast that three excursion choices were available for 5:30 p.m. Passengers
should go to the Excursion Desk to make arrangements. There was a line at the
Excursion Desk, extending into the Piazza, for about an hour but it moved along,
since there were 6 or 7 staff taking orders.
The tour choices were
1)
Giant’s
Causeway, a UNESCO World Heritage Site of rock formations on the north east tip
of Ireland along the scenic Antrim coast. It is comprised of basalt columns
formed by long ago volcanoes. About 2
hours each way by bus.
2)
Titanic
Belfast museum & city tour with 2 hours at Titanic Belfast and a tour of
the Catholic and Protestant areas and city center. About 4 hours in length.
3)
Belfast
City tour about 3 hours
We decided to
take the Titanic Belfast museum & city tour so that we could see the
Titanic Belfast museum which might only be opened for passengers booking the
exhibit as a ship’s tour and get to see some of the city. After 30 minutes in line, we had our tickets. The cost was $10 US more than if we had
pre-booked it at home online.
We then went to
International Café and got cappuccinos and spotted Brian in the line, chatted
with him and were joined by Brendene. We all decided to go to the dining room
for lunch and were seated with a couple from Tennessee. We enjoyed a leisurely
lunch and returned to the stateroom already having logged 7,398 steps for the
day. The temperature was a few degrees warmer and the wind was around 25 km per hour at 2 pm. We wandered around the ship and stopped for
cappuccinos and to watch the 45 minute basic Merengue lesson in the Piazza
followed by some circuits on decks 16 & 17. The string quartet was playing
in the Piazza, it was nice listening music, but not dancing music. We ate an
early dinner in the Horizon Court on deck 16 as the ship started the procedure
to enter the buoy marked channel to approach Belfast Harbour. Steps 12,768.
After getting our coats and excursion tickets we went out on deck to watch the
final docking and wait for our excursion tour.
By 6:30 we were
on the bus, one of at least six for Titanic Belfast museum & city tour
drive. Guided by Billy and the driver Mick, we learned about the Protestant and
Catholic terrorists clashes in the late 20th century and toured the
city center.
Settlement in
the Belfast area was evident from the Bronze Age. The port of Belfast goes back
to the reign of English King James I in the early 1600s when a charter was granted
to incorporate the town that had grown up around the castle. Today’s Belfast
has many Victorian and Edwardian buildings. With industrial clout in the 1800s,
Belfast was known for Irish linen and shipyards. Through the bus windows we
took pictures of the Harbour Commission building, May street & Victoria street
Telephone building, May Street Presbyterian Church, BBC building, Shaftsbury
Square Reformed Presbyterian Church, buildings at Queen’s University, a statue of
Lord Kelvin who invented the Absolute zero temperature scale among many
inventions, and some photos near the Titanic Belfast building including Titanic
Studios where the TV show, Game of Thrones is filmed. In the area surrounding
the Titanic Belfast building is a restored Titanic tender, SS Nomadic, and the Harland
and Wolff shipyard.
We spent about
two hours exploring the nine galleries of the Titanic Belfast, which chronicles
the construction, maiden voyage, the April 15, 1912 sinking and discovery of
the sunken ship in 1986. The 6 storey Titanic Belfast building, designed to
look like the hulls of four ships and from above, looks like the star symbol of
the White Star Line. It stands at the top of the slipway where the Titanic, and
other ships built at the Harland and Wolff shipyard, were launched. The best
first class suite cost over $100,000 US, in today’s currency.
As dusk
arrived, we left the Titanic Belfast stopping at Belfast City Hall, completed
in 1906, and viewed the Titanic Memorial on the east side and passed the murals
on the Belfast peace wall. City Hall was
illuminated by decorative lights. We saw the old courthouse where the
terrorists were tried and escorted through the tunnel under the street to the
jail across the street. We arrived back at the ship after 10 p.m. and went to
deck 16’s Horizon Court for a snack since we had had an early light dinner. We
met Ed there and joined him. Then we
went down to deck 5 to dance and met Karen and Peter, who did not have any luck
to see Belfast. After taking an hour to get off the ship to take the shuttle,
they were told it would be another hour in line before they could get on the
bus and decided to return to the ship.
On our way back to the stateroom, we stopped to chat with Trish, Dave,
Brian and Brendene who were watching the dancing from deck 6. Total steps for today 18,378
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