Disney Cruise with JJ

Vacation with Ali and family for the first time since covid on a Disney Cruise around the British Isles.  Jim and I decided to try nonreving to London on this vacation. We were in the back to Atlanta then scored great seats in Delta One for the flight ATL to LHR

London, England

We landed at LHR on September 7, 2023 arriving at our hotel at 9am. Of course, our room was not ready, so they provided us a "resting room" to use until our suite was ready. We booked a 2-bedroom suite at the Marriott County Hall Hotel on the Thames River. A few welcome gifts were awaiting our arrival

Alison, Rob and JJ arrived a few hours after us for a fun family vacation!

The hotel is located right on the Thames River and next to the Westminster Bridge. This photo was taken from our hotel living room window.

Ali, Rob and JJ went on a private tour of the Tower of London and the London Bridge. Jim and I just walked around Westminster. 

The London Eye and our hotel in the background.

September 8, 2023. Jim and Rob went to the Churchill War Museum this morning.  

We all met at Buckingham Palace for an inside tour. The tour is only available during a 2-month period per year. It was a great tour and JJ was engaged the whole time. Ali and JJ outside Buckingham Palace.

JJ couldn't wait to ride on the top of an open double decker bus. He said this "is the best 10 days of my life"!

JJ has been taking pictures and videos on his camera. He is very particular about making sure things are centered and you "show your teeth". Ali says..."Like Grandpa like Grandson". We took his pictures from his camera and produced his first book, "The Photographic Adventures of JJ: The British Isles 2023". We gave the book to him at Christmas, and he was so excited and exclaimed "I am published... this means I am famous".

Nighttime stroll along the Thames

September 9, 2023. Alison and Ina had a private Tea at Kensington Palace. Astrid was our guide and she was fabulous. We started our walk at the Italian Gardens.

The gardens were created in the 1860s by the inspiration of Prince Albert and commissioned by his wife, Queen Victoria.

The bronze statue of Peter Pan was created by James M Barrie. He erected the statue in the night on April 30, 1912, without permission and then placed a notice in the newspaper the following morning for all the schoolchildren to find a gift that the fairies had left for them.

Princess Diana's Garden was previously known as the Sunken Gardens. She lived here at Kensington Palace and was known to often sit in this garden after the park closed. The statue was presented by her sons Prince William and Harry in 2017 just before the 20th anniversary of her death. The statue depicts 3 children around her to commemorate her work with children. Charles and Diana lived in apartment 8 and 9 which was about 20 rooms in the palace. 

Alison and Ina had tea at Kensington Gardens next to the palace. Our Guide, Astrid, gave us all the history of Kensington Gardens, Hide Park and the Kensington Palace.

We toured the palace which had an exhibition of women's fashions influences from the Victorian Era to today. There were also a few state rooms that we toured. This is where Queen Victoria was born on 5/24/1819, raised and lived out her life. She was born of the Duke and Duchess of Kent and became queen on 6/20/1837. She married her first cousin, Prince Albert.

This picture was taken from inside the palace looking out on the courtyard. You will notice that the Royal Signet has changed from ER (Elizabeth Regina with Regina meaning Queen in Latin) to CR (Charles Rex with Rex meaning King in Latin).

Jim, Rob and JJ went on the London Eye while we were at tea.

Family photo: Rob, Alison and JJ

London to Southampton

September 10, 2023. We departed London via private transport to Southampton with a stop at Stonehenge on the way. The trip took us about 2 1/2 hours to get to Stonehenge.

The picture is very deceiving. It looks like there wasn't anyone around but in reality, there had to be several thousand people. You can no longer go up to the stones due to the damage that occurred from the tourists. A bus ride up and down the 1-mile trek from the parking lot and a few minutes observing took over an hour.

We did see the falcons but missed their exhibition. 

We finally got checked in to our ship, the Disney Dream. This is my ultimate failed selfie with JJ. I missed the name of the ship on the bow and cut half his face off. LOL.

JJ loved the slide!

We had some help from a fellow passenger for the family photo with the ship.

September 11, 2023 Day at Sea

Jim joined in the selfie and we got a great one with JJ

September 12, 2023 Belfast

We took a tour and stopped at Portaneevey which is a vantage point that overlooks several islands including Rathlin, Carrick-a-Rede and Ballintoy.

Dunluce Castle is perched atop some craggy cliffs in County Antrim. Legend says that on a stormy night in 1639, part of the castle’s kitchen fell into the icy water below taking the young servant girls with it.

The Giant's Causeway is a geological wonder that is steeped in legend and folklore.

Legend says that the Giant, Finn McCool, carved the coast.

The coastline looks very similar to the coastline in Iceland and strengthens the theory that they broke apart many years ago.

September 13, 2023 Edinburgh

Greenock is the port where we docked and boarded a train to Edinburgh. Greenock "boasts" at having built the unsinkable Titanic. This is JJ's first ride on a train other than the monorail at Disney.

Glasgow was a stop for a crew change. We were not allowed to exit the train but were told that it is the busiest train station in the world. Did not appear so to me.

Edinburgh is the capital city of Scotland and Edinburgh Castle is still a working site. The Royal Army barracks are inside the castle which holds the Scottish crown jewels. We did not have time to view them as the queue was very long.

We had some free time and wandered down the Royal Mile down from the castle. We ate at a cute little cafe called the Deacon's House Cafe. 

September 14, 2023

Liverpool, England the birth of the Beatles! We visited a museum dedicated the Beatles. 

The Penny Lane sign that Paul McCartney signed when he was doing carpool karaoke with has been a bit ruined with so many people touching it, so we took pictures at the untouched one.

Rob also got his picture taken.

Strawberry Field Park. The gates are replicas as the original were pinched and taken to a salvage. Luckily, the salvage guy recognized them and called the police, and they are now on display inside the park.

Matthew Street is where the Cavern Club is located. This of course is where the Beatles began. The street is still one of Liverpool's most popular nightlife destinations. 

Liverpool boasts having the most number one songs in the world with 38. Many have performed at the Cavern Club. The Cavern Club moved next door but was built with the same bricks as the original.

Jim posed with a John Lennon statue.

JJ enjoyed the waterslide even in this chilly weather.

We had dinner at the Animator's Studio. Jim's family knows my art challenges and I always draw Jim the same way. So tonight, we had to draw a character and I drew him (AKA Gene an inside joke with family). The drawings are then put into a video with everyone else's and shown as a movie.

September 15, 2023 

Republic of Ireland

We arrived in Cobh which is a seaport town on the South coast of county of Cork, Ireland. The population is ~13,000. Today is rainy and cold at about 50degrees F. 

Cobh is most famous for the launching of the Titanic in 1912. The story told is of a priest named Father Frank Browne, who was supposed to be sailing on the Titanic when his bishop had a dream of disaster and sent word for him to not get on the ship. He got off the ship and after his death, his family found the negatives for the only known pictures of the people on board the ship. There is a book published showing the pictures titled "Father Browne's Titanic Album: A Passenger's Photographs and Personal Memoir"

We traveled by bus to the Blarney Castle. Jim and I climbed the 130 steps to the Blarney stone at the top of the castle to kiss the stone.

The stone did not look like I envisioned. It was a smooth marble stone. You had to lie down on your back and hang out over the castle wall to kiss it. Legend says that we can tell lies for 7 years without getting caught! So far it is not working for Jim.

Ina kissing the Blarney Stone.

Jim kissing the Blarney Stone.

The grounds were beautiful and have a section of poisonous plants. Lots of signs to not let your children touch any of them.

Ali and JJ enjoyed the Fairy Garden while we stood in line for the Blarney Stone.

September 16, 2023 Portland, England

We arrived in Portland and traveled to Charmouth on the Jurassic Coast to hunt prehistoric fossils. We all helped JJ find his fossils that are over 200 million years old that are lying on the "beach".

He found lots of Belemnites which is an ancient squid-like creature and the most common found on the beach with their bullet shaped internal skeleton.

He also found flint, ammonites, beef rock and crinoids (Sea lilies)

There are other stone formations similar to Stonehenge. These are located at the entrance of Isle of Portland Sculpture Park at Tout Quarry.

September 17, 2023 Southampton, England

We took our private transfer by car to EHR. It was about a 90-minute drive and there was a lot of this going on.

Nonreving is a challenge these days. We scored decent seats in the main cabin...but we are not accustomed however the price was right!