You can read about Cruising Ireland: Pre & Post Cruise - London here and about our experience Cruising Ireland: NCL Star here.
Our first port of call was Cobh. This was the final port of call for the Titanic, which you see on a memorial wall when you come into port. The ship docks right in town next to a train station that takes you to the nearby town of Cork. We decided to explore Cork first, re-board the ship for lunch, then go back out on foot to explore Cobh. Cork is a bigger city than Cobh. We walked around, checked out the public market, and found a fort, which was free to visit.
Cobh is small and easily walkable. I decided to have pint in Cobh vs. Cork since we weren’t pressed for time, and it was later in the day. As much as Ireland has a reputation for pubs, they were not open as early as I wanted to drink on vacation! We picked Kelley’s Pub and enjoyed the atmosphere with a single musician playing guitar and the pub had a lively group. I met an 80-year-old local, Joe, who you could tell was loved by all.
The bar next door had a great musician that drew a huge crowd. I might have wished we had picked differently but with a lot of the trip still to come, I figured no rush. Ah…famous last words!
We could see the catholic church from below and decided to follow the windy road vs. the straight shot up a huge hill. The views were beautiful and worth the extra breath it took to reach it. We also popped inside for a quick tour than visited an old fortress. After a little more wondering, we boarded the ship saying goodbye to this quaint town.
The following morning, we received the devastating news that we would not be able to port in Dingle. The weather and rough seas made it unsafe to transport passengers on the tender. This was a port we were so looking forward to as it would give us a chance to see the Irish countryside. NCL refunded the excursion we had booked, and I was able to book a last-minute excursion for later in our cruise in Killybegs. It turned out to be a good thing because later that evening we also learned it was not safe to dock at the next two ports, Foynes and Galway. We were told Tropical Cyclone Agnes was working her way up the coast and we were forced to move north between Ireland and Scotland to shelter in place until the storm passed. In one moment, we lost out on visiting the entire western side of Ireland, the prettiest and the portion we were most excited about. It was very disappointing.
Three unplanned sea days later…
Our fifth second port of call was Killybegs. We had booked a Killybegs Walk & Talk Tour at 10am and so there was no rush to exit the ship. When the time came we made our way into foot and search for a jewelry shop to get a ring my sister Jenny requested. Again, I though we had plenty more stops along the way but after missing three ports, we found the ring in her size and bought it. We then joined the tour group for an hour tour around the tiny town.
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| Our Walk & Talk Tour Guide Margie |
We were pressed for time to meet our excursion at the pier so we popped into a hotel for a bite to eat and a pint as all other iconic pubs were packed with tourists. We boarded the bus to see historic Donegal as we drove to visit the thatched roof homes.
While this was not our first choice in excursions, we really enjoyed it. The countryside was beautiful and the homes were very quaint. We also had scones and tea before boarding the bus to head back to the ship.
Our sixth third port of call was Northern Belfast. In lieu of an excursions, we chose to go on our own using the hop-on-hop-off bus. NCL had a dedicated shuttle into the town center and we boarded the bus from there. My first order of business was to get my Starbucks Ireland mug. Since I had no idea if we would be able to dock at our tender port in Dun Laoghaire and visit Dublin, I decided I better get a Belfast mug just in case. Once we arrived in Dublin the following day, I much preferred the Ireland mug over the Belfast mug and brought home two from this trip! Since the Ireland mug had the thatched roof homes on it, it made that excursion even more special.
I found a pub I wanted to visit and not only had a pint but also an Irish coffee since I missed that opportunity in Foynes. It was amazing and if I lived nearby, I’d be in trouble.
We rode the bus for a city tour, which stopped at the Peace Wall for anybody that wanted to sign and the driver shared the story of when there was turmoil between two neighboring towns where a wall had to be put up with entry gates to stop the violence. Afterward, we walked around Belfast a bit and after enduring several hours of rain, it was time to rebound the ship and warm up!
Our seventh forth port of call was Dun Laoghaire, which is a tender port where you then can make your way to Dublin. I much preferred Dublin to Belfast and wished we had more time. The tendering process was a mess and long delays meant a short port day. We will for sure have to visit Dublin again on a future visit.
We purchased an NCL excursion for the hop-on-hop-off bus as it also included the transfer into Dublin from the cruise port. This saved us from having to navigate the train station and turned out to be a wonderful idea. Although our time was short, we rode the bus listening to the city tour, had a bite to eat at a local pub, and visited the Jameson Irish Whiskey Distillery.
I chose Jameson over visiting the Guinness Storehouse as the distillery had a more interactive tour vs. the self-guided tour of the brewery. On a future visit, I will for sure stop into Guinness. Our city tour on the hop-on-hop-off bus took us by the entrance.
I’ve heard the saying “A bad day on vacation is better than a good day at work.” We had a great time with some overshadow of disappointment that separated it from being the trip of a lifetime to just a vacation. I guess this means in the remainder of my lifetime, we need to get back to Ireland.
