June 30 2023 A Day Seeing Dublin from a Distance Cruising with Oceania

Mo and I visited many sites in Dublin when we enjoyed a land tour of Ireland in 2015, including a visit to the iconic  Temple Bar

When we woke on this first full day of cruising this morning, my first thought was to get downstairs to the medical offices which opened at 8.  Breakfast began at 7 AM so there was time for a bite before I attempted to see what was involved in getting replacement prescriptions for the ones I had lost.

We found breakfast upstairs in the Terrace Cafe to be a somewhat lackluster affair.  The presentation was lovely, and the best part of breakfast on this entire cruise was the beautiful fruit.  On this first morning, however, I decided to order an omelet from the omelet station, freshly made in front of my eyes.  In spite of the delicious ingredients I chose, the omelet was rather terrible, flat, and tasteless.  The hash browns looked like the ones you get at Macdonald’s, except they were tasteless and soggy.  I think the problem with the omelets was the big vat of mixed-up eggs that were used to create them.  I never tried one again.  After a few days on the ship Mo and I learned to eat fruit, bagels and cream cheese, and an English muffin now and then.  I did try a pancake one morning and it was also soggy and I couldn’t eat it.  Mo tried the french toast one morning, one of her favorites, and it was a very large, very thick piece of doughy bread with only a bit of coating, and again, tasteless.

I would have to say this was the biggest disappointment we found on our cruise. This highly-touted luxury cruise couldn’t seem to manage a tasty, hot breakfast.  Even the yogurt came in paper cups, or in a parfait cup with soggy tasteless granola.  I found myself daydreaming of the thick, rich yogurt that I enjoyed while traveling in Turkey, with honeyed apricots and other fruits.  Certainly wasn’t something we would find on this cruise. I also remembered tasty ground oats on the coast of Ireland at a hotel that served a condiment table for the oats with everything my heart could desire, including Irish Cream.  The oats on the ship were runny, and there were no raisins or brown sugar to disguise the taste.  Ah well.  It is a cruise for seeing the world, not necessarily for the food.  Except…wait…isn’t a cruise often about the food?  We would experience some grand food on this ship, but never at breakfast.

After breakfast, Mo returned to our stateroom while I rode the very fast, and always-ready elevator down to the medical office on the 4th deck. The nurse was quick and efficient, and within minutes the doctor had prescribed my needed medications and I was on my way.  No questions asked, just a hefty bill, with 28 synthroid pills for my thyroid coming to a hefty 240 bucks!!  The visit was $150 and the gabapentin was only a few dollars.  Never could figure out the thyroid thing, and I certainly could have done without it for two weeks if I had known the cost.  The gabapentin I need for leg pain and such related to my disease, so whatever the cost it was worth it.  When I returned home, instead of turning it into my travel insurance, I needed to claim it on my blue cross plan.  We will see what happens when they get that processed for overseas care after a minimum of 30 days.

Mo and I had decided that since we spent several days in Dublin in 2015, we didn’t need to pay for an excursion to enjoy the city.  We discussed using the tender to get to the dock at Dun Laoghaire but then learned that it would be a considerable distance on public transportation to get to the part of the city where we could pick up the “Hop on Hop off” bus to possibly get to the Temple Bar for old times sake.  

The beautiful library at Trinity College, where the Book of Kells resides

Reading about all the things to do in Dublin was simply checking off all the things we had already done during our previous visit.  There were caveats for the onshore excursions stating that the visit to Trinity College no longer included a view of the Book of Kells.  Been there, done that, and loved the college, the library, and seeing the book.  We also loved our time at the Museum of Archeology where we viewed the incredible bog people of Ireland.  We had visited the cathedrals, and the churches and walked along the River Liffey, and the only thing left on the list was a visit to the Guinness Brewery.  We decided not to waste our time doing that in 2015 and certainly didn’t need to deal with tenders and buses to try to do it on this trip.

Instead, we relaxed and spent our day exploring the ship a bit, and yes, taking a nice long nap.  It was a wonderful way to spend a rainy day in Dublin, or at least in the vicinity of Dublin.  We enjoyed a very good lunch in the Terrace Cafe, with a Mexican theme, which appealed to both of us.  

The Terrace Cafe is a pleasant space and was rarely overcrowded

Another walk around the ship to the very top deck where we found a small pickleball court and a creative 9-hole golf course.  The big surprise on the ship was the beautiful library on the 14th deck. There were six well-appointed galleries with comfortable chairs and tables and a great selection of books in many categories. Not surprisingly, all the travel books for Ireland and Scotland were gone.

Yes, I did go in the pool and the spa, but only once since the weather was quite chilly 

We were too worn out from our relaxing day to go back upstairs to the Horizons Lounge at the very top of the ship for the Captain’s Cocktail Celebration, with music and complimentary cocktails (proper attire required).  I guess afternoon jammies wouldn’t do.   I guess this is one of the nicer gatherings on the ship and in retrospect, I wish we had made the effort to participate.

Back to the stateroom for some quiet time and a nice shower in order to dress for our anticipated dinner at the Polo Grill.  This was to be our first dining in one of the four specialty restaurants on board and we were looking forward to the experience.

The restaurant is on the 14th deck aft.  Walking into the lovely space was a delight, with claret leather chairs, white tablecloths with several layers of cutlery, and a beautiful view from the windows.  With our reservation at 6:30, we were among the first diners for the evening and were led to a lovely table for two by the windows.

Dinner was superb, with a lovely prawn cocktail for me and a Caesar salad for Mo.  But first I had to try the pork belly appetizer, which was tender and crisp and perfectly flavored.  Mo’s filet was a tiny bit less than perfect but my ribeye, cooked medium rare and slathered with not only blue cheese but bearnaise sauce was delicious.  We ordered a bottle of wine with dinner, consumed only half of it, having the bottle sent to our room to be delivered by room service when we returned. Somehow I took photos of the appetizers and the desserts and never managed to take a photo of the rest of our meal.  Fun side note about cruising, you can order as many desserts as you might like, notice the cheesecake AND the creme brulee. I discovered when I returned home that I had lost 4 pounds overall on the trip.  Lucky me.

After dinner, we found our way back down to the 5th deck where the show of the evening would be performed.  On this night we were treated to a stellar performance of Broadway in Concert starring the Riviera Production Vocalists, accompanied by the Riviera Showband.  The music was wonderful, the voices were good enough that my vocalist daughter Melody would have approved, and she is a stickler for perfect pitch.  We enjoyed the show immensely.  

Dublin is on the 53rd parallel north, approximately the same as the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, and Edmonton, Alberta.  This far north, the sun rises early and sets very late.  We fell into bed accompanied by a lovely sunset toward the west as the ship sailed south from Dublin toward the next port in Cobh, Ireland.  With just a gentle rocking that evening, I slept like a baby, without a hint of motion sickness.