Cruise the Emerald Isle – it’s a Cork-er
WHEN we told friends we were about to head off on a cruise of the British Isles and Ireland, they couldn’t hide their puzzlement. Why do you want to do that when you already live in the UK? one asked.
But we wanted to see more of our stunning coastline – and I especially wanted to depart Belfast in better circumstances than I did in 1974. Back then I fled ‘The Troubles’ on a ferry.
Our ship, the luxurious Celebrity Silhouette, actually set sail from Amsterdam on a 14night cruise that included calls at Guernsey, Cork, Waterford, Dublin, Belfast and Glasgow.
Our home was an AquaClass stateroom, close to the pool deck, spa and Persian Garden, where there were heated loungers. We would later stretch out on them to view the Royal Liver Building as we sailed into Liverpool.
On board, Britons were in a minority, so we became the unofficial ambassadors, tour guides, and pronunciation pedants – especially for Cobh in Co Cork (it’s pronounced Cove, by the way).
This town, with its pastelpainted buildings, is steeped in Titanic and Lusitania history, and on a warm, sunny day, while the Silhouette rested, we went on a guided Titanic Trail walk.
Cobh was Titanic’s final port of call, where 123 passengers boarded and babies in pillowcases were passed on to the ship. Our tour ended at Jack Doyle’s Bar, for rehydration and craic, before we visited the neoGothic St Colman’s Cathedral, with its 49-bell carillon.
That evening, we bypassed Blu, our usual restaurant on board, to dine in the quirky Qsine, enjoying spring rolls and ‘popcorn’ fish and chips.
Silhouette’s overnight stay in Dublin meant we had time to appreciate Dalkey Castle and Heritage Centre, where we were taken back to the 16th Century as our guide described the castle’s chamber of stools where gowns were hung, so that vapours would kill the lice.
Our guide also relished the goriness of the barber surgeon’s work – amputations and toothpulling – then pretended to blood-let a tourist from Russia.
After sailing into Belfast, we took a coach trip to the Giant’s Causeway, steeped in the legend of Finn MacCool, the giant who is said to have built the columned path to Scotland to reach and fight his enemy, Benandonner.
We hiked to exotically named rock formations – Finn’s Giant Boot, Humphrey The Camel, and The Organ. Fortunately, the Atlantic Ocean was calm as tourists climbed, posed and took selfies at Northern Ireland’s top attraction.
There were more giants as Silhouette glided past Samson and Goliath, the huge yellow cranes at the Harland and Wolff shipyard, on our way out of Belfast harbour. Finally, I had realised my dream and left Northern Ireland in style.
Celebrity Cruises (celebritycruises.co.uk, 0844 493 2043) offers a British Isles fly-cruise on Celebrity Silhouette from £2,279pp.