May 10, 2018

   The sky had lots of clouds in it this morning, but there were lots of patches of blue sky as well, a light breeze with a +7 C temperature. We ate breakfast in The Radisson Blu Royal restaurant and were joined by Randy and Cathie. After breakfast, we walked 15 minutes to Hugo’s restaurant to get an exterior photo.  We had passed the Gaiety Theatre and taken a picture of its exterior. Then went to the Eason store and to the Hodge & Figgis bookstore to look for books. We had some time to wander about the area passing St. Stephen’s Park, Grafton Street mall, Trinity College before returning to the hotel for noon to checkout. We got our luggage ready to be taken to the lobby to await the bus.  Instead of waiting for 45 minutes in the lobby for the bus, we took a short walk to Scoops for a gelato.  We chose a scoop of pistachio and a scoop od tiramisu from the flavours in the display case. There were 17, of the tour group of 21, staying at the Radisson and riding the chartered bus to the port to board the Celebrity Equinox for the nine night cruise with the final day docked in Dublin. It was a 20 minute ride, mainly along the Liffey River to Dublin Port, plus an extra five minutes to find the semi-permanent building used for the check-in.  Check-in went smoothly taking about ten minutes including the Welcome Aboard photograph. The photographer advised us that we can see the photo in the Celebrity Eclipse’s Photo Gallery tomorrow after the ship leaves Belfast.

  In our stateroom, the TV has interactive features so that you can view your on-board account of purchases, such as massages, drinks, excursions and photos.  It is useful to find general information about the ship’s restaurants, bars and even the menus for the different restaurants. On the bed was a list of special activities for our status in the loyalty rewards program, Captain’s Club; an envelope containing the tickets for the excursions (day trips) that we had pre-booked; and the daily “Today” bulletin listing the activities for the day and the times that the Eclipse’s restaurants, bars, spa, gym, shops and other things are open.

   There was the mandatory safety drill to remind passengers of where their muster station is in case of an emergency at sea.  We did not need to take our lifejackets for the drill.  It took about half an hour since 15 minutes was needed to get all the passengers accounted for.  The safety drill was different this time. Instead of a staff person demonstrating the technique of putting on a lifejacket, there was a five minute video including the safety messages in a James Bond kind of format.

   The daily activities bulletin stated that Captain Michael Sympouras will be navigating the voyage to Akureyri, Iceland and back.  After the drill one of our large backpacks had been delivered and we unpacked it before going to supper in the Moonlight Sonata Restaurant. Nine of the group members gathered at one table – Brian; Brendene; Cathie; Randy; Joanne; her sister, Pat; Joanne’s niece, Caroline and us.

Supper started with Goat Cheese & Roasted Red Beet salad, which is a standard first night salad choice on the first night on a Celebrity ship. Also, on the menu was carrot & cumin salad and wild mushroom soup. The main course choices were Prime Rib of Beef with mashed potatoes, carrots and green beans or roasted jerk spiced chicken with black bean & pineapple rice and green beans.  The desserts chosen were Dulce de Leche Crema Catalana and Chocolate Cherry Trifle.  The first night service was slow taking 2 hours and 15 minutes.  Cathie had spoken to some staff members who said that there were a lot of staff that embarked today.  Hopefully the rest of the trip the service in the main dining room will be a bit quicker.  We will be in the Tuscan Grill tomorrow with the other 19 group members for dinner.

   There was ballroom dancing listed in the bulletin from 7:15 to 9 pm in the Sky Lounge on Deck14.  We changed to dance shoes and went to see if the music was good dancing rhythms.  Karen and Peter were just leaving.  They had finished dinner a lot earlier having eaten in the dining room, but in the open seating, which has no assigned table or time. The music was acceptable and there were only two other couples on an area that could easily hold ten couples and still not be crowded.

   We stepped out on to the open deck a level up from the pool and took some photos of the peninsula were Howth is located which we had visited on our second day here and Dublin at dusk. The sun set tonight at 9:09 p.m.  The ship left port at it scheduled time of 10 p.m. on the way to Belfast, Northern Ireland, which is 167 nautical miles from Dublin according to Google. The Celebrity Eclipse docks in Belfast about 7 a.m. and excursions start about 8 a.m.

We walked 10.9 km today.