June 26, 2025: Dublin and the Irish Sea

(written June 26 by Devri)

First of all, I should note that we’ve officially been on our trip for 5 weeks today. 

Second, we got up really early today because we had to meet in the theater at 7:30 to meet for our excursion. We were all a little bleary eyed. Brian woke me up around 1:30 when he went to the bathroom, and the ship kept blowing its horn the rest of the night, waking me up again. Also, we’ve been doing this for 5 weeks. 

(Brian takes over narrative)

On our excursion, we headed south of County Dublin (near where we docked) to County Wicklow, known as the Garden of Ireland. We found mass of domed granite mountains, penetrated by deep, wooded valleys that formed some of the most magnificent landscapes in Ireland.

We then took a guided tour of the monastic ruins of Glendalough. Established by St. Kevin in the 6th century, the ruined churches of the monastery are scattered around two lakes. This was once a famous place of learning, inhabited by thousands of students from Ireland, Britain and Europe.

Here, we found one of Europe’s finest examples of round tower architecture, as well as a cathedral, stone churches and decorated crosses.

After that we got back on the coach and travelled the short distance to Ballyknocken  Country House Farm and Cookery School – one of Ireland’s leading centers of cuisine. We watched as a chef demonstrated how to make traditional Irish scones. We then were lucky enough to be served warm scones (which are basically biscuits, remember this is the United Kingdom) served with homemade preserves.

We then explored the school’s herb garden and orchard before returning to the ship.

In case this is all starting to look a little fake, that’s because it’s a complete lie. Let’s rewind and tell you what actually happened that day…

(Devri again)

First thing in the morning, we got to the theater where we met for excursions, put on our assigned bus sticker, and waited. And waited. And waited. They announced a couple of times that they almost had our water shuttles ready. Then, about 8 a.m., the captain made an announcement that due to the high winds and waves, they were canceling our stop in Dublin. He expressed his apologies while staying firm in the decision.

We were absolutely livid so relieved. The kids asked with a hesitant spark of hope, “Does this mean we get a sea day today?” Yes, children. Christmas came early this year (Brian: or you get a snow day off of school). Seriously, they were so happy. They were only sad that the call was made after they had gotten up so early. Brian and I were disappointed that we weren’t more disappointed. Gabe had thrown up last night (he’s eating way too much junk this trip, and it seemed to have caught up to him), and we had both independently toyed with the idea of not having everyone go on the excursion. We were tired, and a rest day sounded great. We’ll be sad in a week or so when we can’t say we got to see around Dublin. Maybe. We actually didn’t have plans to go to Dublin; our excursion was going to take us south instead. We were going to see the countryside and eat some scones. Not exciting. We were happy to go back to the room and take a nap.

Which is what Brian and I did. 

The closest we got to Dublin

The new order of the day

Michael and Gabe hung out with friends. Michael said that he did end up taking a nap. Rachel went swimming. Brian and I read some after our nap. I bought the charm of the day, Big Ben, for Rachel and I. I meant to play games on the lido deck with Brian, but that didn’t happen. 

There were really only 3 things of note, maybe 4. 

1- Gabe and his friend Oliver got stuck in one of the glass elevators for 5 minutes until they were rescued. Apparently, Oliver freaked out a little bit, and he seemed to be bothered by the elevators the rest of the day. Gabe got a voucher to the candy shop on ship for his troubles. Brian and I wished there was a video to watch because I imagine it would be a little entertaining. We were speculating on how many buttons they pushed before they got help. Also, how many people saw them stuck up there. 

Kids' towel animal

Our towel animal

2-We all met up for dinner, and Michael sent his chicken leg flying. “Not again!” He said as he started laughing. We all remember the corn fritter incident on MSC. 

After the chicken leg went flying

2 desserts? Yes please

Bacchus Dining Room took the grape theme very seriously

3-Brian went back to the medical center because his ear is still plugged up and hurting. He got more antibiotics and a steroid shot. 

4-Brian and I went to the Love and Marriage show. It wasn’t quite as funny as the one we saw with Ben and Jenny on the Celebration, but we did laugh. It’s only noteworthy because I usually get too lazy at night to go to any shows.

(Brian: there were 5, let me explain…no, there is too much, let me sum up…)

5-Michael came into our room at 2am to let us know that Gabe had just thrown up. He had done it in his bed this time and so it was all over his pajamas, bed, and pillow. Michael was really great about helping him get to the bathroom and cleaned up and then stayed up with us while I got room service to come remake his bed. We all made it back to bed. Unfortunately, I had some insomnia this night so I had just fallen asleep at about 1am or something, then woken up not even an hour later, and then I couldn’t fall back asleep until probably 4. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the end as we woke up to Michael again coming in our room at 6am to let us know that Gabe had thrown up again. This time it was really all over himself mostly, and so he got in the shower and we took his clothes out. At this point, I was exhausted and done so I just left his bedding (it wasn’t as bad this time) and pulled him in to sleep in our room. Finally that seemed to do the trick, though I don’t think he ever went back to sleep.

Especially after a night like that, we’re all getting pretty excited to head home soon, just three days away!

June 25, 2025: Liverpool and Chester

(written June 25 by Devri)

This morning, the kids were actually ready well before we were! We all headed up to breakfast, and then out of the port to meet up with our tour group booked through Get Your Guide. This time, our port was Liverpool England, and our guide took us about an hour north to the medieval town of Chester. Chester was originally founded by Romans as a fortress in the 1st century A.D. The old city is surrounded by a city wall, and is know for its shopping district that has two levels of shops, one on the ground level and one on the first level. The buildings are mostly Tudor style, and the town even has a Town Crier. 

Liverpool, England

Another home for sale by the Savills brokerage

Our guide took us on a 45 minute walking tour of Chester, which began at a church built in the 11th century, now called the Church of St. John the Baptist. From there, we got to see the old Roman amphitheater, discovered in the 1950s when they did some digging to build a road into the walled part of the city. They can’t excavate the entire amphitheater because half of it is under a different historical building that is protected. 

Church of St. John the Baptist

Ruins near the church

Roman Amphitheater and our guide

Roman Amphitheater

Uh, we just went to the Colosseum, soooo we're not super impressed about this

Partially excavated Roman Amphitheater

The building behind Brian is protected, so they can't excavate the rest of the amphitheater

Roman Ruins

After the Roman amphitheater, we climbed up to the city walls, and walked a bit around them towards the river. We learned about how the town was under siege during the Civil War, and how a cannon from St. John’s pummeled the wall, but the people of Chester were able to keep the invading army out, despite part of the wall being destroyed. According to our guide, the women of Chester rebuilt the wall overnight to protect the city. 

Roman Garden

Entering the old medieval city of Chester

The wall still surrounds most of the city

View of the Roman garden from the wall

Behind us is Wales. Just not exactly sure how far back

River Dee

We learned how important the city Recorder was, since they built stairs from the river to his home on top of the wall (the lengths governments will go to collect taxes, even if it puts their security at risk). After the Recorder’s house, we went off the city wall and started walking into the historic city center. Our guide pointed out where World War II ended in Chester, meaning that they were taking the iron railings away from houses to use in the war effort, and the final houses on that particular street still had their railings because the war ended before they were needed. 

We got to see the famous shopping area with the double layer shops and the Tudor Style architecture. It was such a feast for my eye! Our guide told us about the town cross, and that the Town Crier would be coming out at noon. We walked down some more streets, passing old churches and cool buildings, and then our guide gave us free time until 1 p.m, just over two hours. We decided to walk to the other end of the city, opposite of the river, and then we climbed back up on the wall to see the other towers and gates down there. We walked to the opposite corner of the city from where we had taken our tour, and then walked back towards the river on the wall until we came to the Water Gate, which now is not near any water, but it must have been back when it was built and named. From there, we headed back into the heart of the city. 

Downtown Chester with it's double layer shops

Library in Chester

North City Wall

We passed a building called “Stanley’s Palace” (I miss you Grampa!), and then back to the double-shop-street again to grab a quick bite of food and watch the Town Crier. 

Stanley Street

Missing you, Grandpa! You have a palace in Chester!

The town crier really played to the crowd, which seemed to be mostly American Tourists. He made jokes about us. Throwing the tea into the harbor in Boston, telling us that we should have boiled the water first and maybe Americans would figure out how to make a proper tea someday. He worked the crowd and was an all around delight. We got pictures of him with the kids afterwards. He asked Gabe and Rachel separately, “what town has the best looking Town Crier?” And then gave them a postcard with his face on it when they pointed at him. When he got to Michael, he just said, “I know it’s not cool for teens to answer questions,” and just gave Michael a postcard. 

The best looking town crier in the world

We did some more wandering, this time in the direction of where we needed to meet our bus (back by St. John’s church), stopping to take our picture by the Eastern gate with the 2nd most photographed clock in England (second only to Big Ben). 

The second most photographed clock in England

We climbed back onto the wall, and got off again where we had first gotten on as part of our tour. Then we explored the Roman Garden, which was created in more contemporary times using pieces of Roman ruins they’ve found throughout Chester. Then, we got back on our bus, and our guide played Beatles music all the way back to Liverpool, wondering why we all chose to go to Chester instead of exploring Liverpool. 

Heading back to St. Johns and making one more walk on the city walls

Roman Amphitheater on the other side of the wall

Roman Amphitheater from the top of the wall

Roman Garden and near the patched hole of the wall after an attack

Roman gardens

On the bus back to Liverpool

I want to know what Taco Mode is

After getting back to Liverpool, we walked five minutes over to the Beatles statue, got our picture taken, and then got back on the boat. It was clear we all needed some downtime and even some alone time, so we excused everyone from Family dinner in the restaurant at 5:30, and we all scattered to the winds—well, at least as much as we could on our smallish ship.

Beatles Statue in Liverpool

Just chillin' with the John, Paul, George, and Ringo

Singing "Hey Jude" with the Originals

1st order of business back on ship: ice cream cone

Our favorite parts of Carnival ships: Guy's Burgers and Blue Iguana

Brian and Rachel were the only ones who went to dinner in the restaurant for elegant night. Brian said they had a fun little mini date, and that the food was good (Brian: chicken cordon blue is a favorite of both Rachel and mine, so it was awesome). I enjoyed watching the ship sail out of Liverpool, marveling at the many sandbars and all the windmills in the waterway.  

Elegant Night

Sailing out of Liverpool

Unfortunately, it seems we can never get through a trip without someone throwing up, and the unlucky winner this time was Gabe. He complained about his stomach hurting at around 9:30 or something, and we sent him back to bed in the other room, but he kept coming back to our room to go to the bathroom since Michael had started his nightly routine of [monopolizing the bathroom for 30-60 minutes.] Finally Michael got out and Gabe was able to use his bathroom and actually ended up throwing up. He immediately felt better and went back to bed, no problem. We chalked it up to eating 3 desserts that night or something.

Just two more ports to go. I can hardly believe it.