Belfast, Northern Ireland is the Zuiderdam’s destination today.
Belfast Morning
We were up around 5 am and got coffee at the Lido before heaving to the crow’s nest. I got my usual latte there when it opened at 6 am.
We went to the Lido for breakfast after it opened. I had a toasted bagel with cream cheese and some muesli.
Steve had his usual omelette.
The ship wasn’t arriving until 9 am so no rush today. We were ready to go when it was cleared and headed off.
Belfast Tour
Tour name: Shore Excursion Giants Causeway (Small Group)
Description: We will depart from Belfast port and travel inland straight to the Giants Causeway where you will spend 1 hour 30 mins at the stones/visitor centre. We will then make a photo stop at Dunluce castle before making the short journey to Portaneevy with its stunning views of Carrick-A-Rede rope bridge and Rathlin Island.
After leaving Portaneevy we will visit the picturesque seaside town of Ballycastle for a 1 hour lunch stop.We will then travel along the Coast road, one of the most scenic drives in the world. Along the way we will stop in the small fishing village of Carnlough for a short comfort break.
After leaving Carnlough we will make our way back to Belfast along the Coastal route for your extended City Tour before returning to Belfast port in plenty of time for your ship’s departure.
I had booked a Giant’s Causeway tour through Odyssey Tours in February. My confirmation email said I was assigned to bus 1. We got in line for bus 1 (where one lady was asking a million questions) and finally when it was our turn, we weren’t on her list. We went down the list of buses and the last one (bus 4) had us on its list. By this time there were 3 seats left and no two together.
No one offered to move so Steve and I could sit together. We decided to take the two one in front of the other. The guy Steve was going to sit by was a jerk about it; he was sitting on the aisle when Steve was going to go into the window, he said he wanted the window. He was sitting by the aisle to keep people from sitting there. Then it turns out his wife was in the seats across from him doing the same damn thing. Selfish people!
Stephen was our driver/guide for the minibus of 28 people. He did a great job but was a Game of Thrones tour guide previously and talked about it a wee too much on our tour.
We headed out to Giant’s Causeway which was an 1 hour 30 minutes drive from Belfast.
Carnlough and Rope Bridge
The first stop was going to be Carnlough mostly for a bathroom break.
It is a fishing village with great views.
Shortly before we got to the village we passed St. Patrick’s Church of Glenarm.
When we exited the mini-bus Steve and I had our first chance to vent about our fellow passengers. 🙂 We also bought a bottle of water as we forgot to get one today.
The scenery on the coastal route was incredible and my head kept swiveling from the land on the left to the ocean on the right.
This mural was on the side of the Lurig Bar in Cushendall. I think that’s a polo team? The next stop was an overlook to the Carrick-a-Rede Rope Bridge. This bridge was first built in 1755 for salmon fisherman to cross to Carrick-a-Rede island to fish.
Today it’s not used for that purpose bu rather for tourism. Yes, those are people that paid to cross it on the bridge. We loaded back up and headed to what I really wanted to see which was Giant’s Causeway.
Giant’s Causeway
The next stop was at Giant’s causeway. We had 1 hour and 30 minutes here. We hit the restrooms at the top before walking down.
The views near the tops were fantastic.
As we got to the bottom in about 15 minutes, it was quite congested with people.
This is not the causeway I’ve seen in photographs, LOL!
Those stacks of rock are so interesting.
Despite the crowds we did enjoy the views. The phone in the hill near the bottom was a bit strange to me!
I took a shuttle up the hill for 1 pound while Steve walked it. At the top we went to a pub, The Nook, whcih was close to our pickup spot and had some lunch.
We went to the pub close to our pickup spot and had some lunch. This building was built as a schoolhouse in the 1850s.
I had Guinness and steak pie.
Steve had a Guinness.
Bushmill
Our driver picked us all up and we headed to the town that is normally the lunch spot – Bushmill. Since our ship came in a couple of hours later than most do, that meant lunch stop was at 2 pm! We just wandered the town of Bushmill (home of another whiskey distillery) before going back to the bus early.
First sight was a World War I memorial at town center.
This clock tower was built in 1874.
This is a statue of Robert Quigg who is an World War I hero awarded the Victoria Cross. He received the award for his actions in the 1916 Battle of the Somme, rescuing wounded men from no-man’s-land.
Belfast Drive
Then it was back to Belfast where we had a super quick drive by of sights in the city. We did go through the automated gates a couple of times.
These are gates that automatically close at a certain time at night. This is to keep Protestants and Catholics from fighting; although now they say unionists and nationalists. This is another St. Patrick’s Church; this time in Belfast.
It was built in 1877. Then we passed this clocktower known as the Albert Memorial Clocktower.
It’s a memorial to Queen Victoria’s husband. Last sight were the Harland & Wollf shipbilding cranes otherwise known as Samson and Goliath.
We got back to the ship at 5 pm which was just 30 minutes before all aboard time.
Belfast Evening
After dropping our things it was dinner in the lido. No pictures because my phone was just about dead and I had put it on the charger.
They had Celtic dinner so I had shepherd’s pie and soup with potato and leeks.
Here’s the menu for the main dining room.
I tried to take a shower after dinner but the shower head holder broke when I was adjusting.
It was metal fatigue I guess after 20 years of people moving it around. Steve reported it to Abdul who reported it to maintenance. He told us a couple of hours later, it would probably not be until tomorrow when they would get it looked at.
We were worn out and went to sleep at 9 to a rocking ship. Below is today’s daily program. Click the image for the full PDF.
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