Woke up at eight o’clock and went out on our balcony, to the iconic sight of Samson and Goliath, the massive yellow Harland & Wolff gantry cranes that dominate the Belfast skyline. The sky was that cool blue shade you see just before sunset and not long after sunrise, and the Belfast Lough was calm. While it was a crisp November day, we could expect sunshine later on. 😊
My mobile rang and it was my cousin-in-law Adam calling to ask what our plans were for today; we had a good long day in port as we weren’t due to sail until 11.00pm, and the all-aboard time was therefore half past ten. Adam said he’d organise tickets for us to visit the Titanic Experience, and would come and pick us up at 12 noon. This is because my cousin Brenda is disabled and it takes her ages to get up and get herself ready, hence we’d see them later rather than this morning.
We then went up to the View self-service buffet where I enjoyed a full English breakfast washed down with orange juice and strong, hot coffee. We could see a line of shuttle buses waiting to go into town, and we decided we’d have a brief visit this morning and a walk around to stretch our legs.
We disembarked the Borealis at around nine-thirty and boarded the bus for the 15-minute journey into the town centre, where it dropped us off opposite the impressive Belfast City Hall. We then took a stroll around the shops and wandered around for a bit before I needed the loo so, spotting a nearby Wetherspoon’s pub, we decided to go in there for a coffee and to use their facilities.
Adam called again to say we were booked onto the 1.00pm Titanic tour and he’d email me the tickets with the QR codes to allow us in, so we were good to go.
Afterwards we headed back to the shuttle bus pickup point; one was already waiting so it didn’t take long before we were on our way back to the ship. Then we got ourselves sorted out and ready to disembark again, leaving the vessel around 11.50am and walking to the large car park outside the cruise terminal. Soon, with a sense of déjà vu because we were only here four months ago, we spotted Adam’s blue car as he approached, and it was smiles and hugs all around before we set off for the Titanic Experience; Brenda would meet us later.
By now, the sun was out and it was a lovely, crisp late autumn day. Adam dropped us off outside the distinctive Titanic museum and said to give him a call about 20 minutes before we were due to finish, so he could come, with Brenda, and pick us up so we could all go for a drink and something to eat later on. 😊
Our tour time was not until one o’clock, so we had some time to kill beforehand. We therefore wandered around and I took some photos of this unique building, which has three large pointed sections shaped and designed to look like the bows of three massive ships, presumably the famous Olympic-class vessels Olympic, Britannic and, of course, Titanic.
Across the road from the museum in a small dry-dock was the SS Nomadic, which served as a tender of the White Star Line, launched on 25 April 1911 in Belfast. She was built to transfer passengers and mail to and from RMS Olympic and RMS Titanic. She is the only surviving vessel designed by Thomas Andrews who also helped design those two ocean liners, and the last White Star Line vessel in existence today.
Soon it was time to make our way inside the main building, and I stopped to take a photo of one of the cranes on the way.
Inside, we collected our head sets for the audio commentary, and made our way up the escalator to begin our tour. There were many displays, photographs, information boards and interviews with Belfast residents and ex-shipyard workers (on our audio guides) about the massive role the shipyard played in the lives of the everyday people, as well as the huge and illustrious ships that were built there. When people say “I can’t understand how the people of Belfast are proud of the Titanic when it sank”, their response to that is “Well, it was all right when it left here!”. 😊
There was certainly lots to see and do in the museum and, as I am a bit of a Titanic buff, I found it all extremely interesting and fascinating. There were several detailed reconstructions of what the different cabins looked like on board, and well as the first class and third class dining saloons.
Most poignant of all, and probably one of the most iconic things regarding the sinking of this luxurious and opulent vessel, was seeing the actual violin that belonged to the heroic band leader Wallace Hartley. The violin was one of the many items found floating around after the ship had sunk and an inscription on it from Wallace’s fiancée Maria Robinson authenticated it as genuine. It was discovered by chance in the attic of a house in 2013 and has been loaned to the Titanic Museum by its current owner.
After a very interesting couple of hours we called Adam back and said we were ready. We waited outside the museum for him which was no hardship as the sun on our backs was actually quite warm, if you could find a sheltered spot out of the nippy little wind.
Soon we spotted Adam and Brenda as we excitedly got into the car and set off. Brenda was absolutely tickled pink by the fact that we were supposed to be going to the Azores, but somehow here we were in Belfast! It’s a pity that my others cousin Alan (Brenda’s brother) is currently on holiday in China with his wife Margaret, otherwise it would have been a right old reunion, just like it was in July. 😊
We went to a lovely little restaurant, bistro and bar called Lewinters, regularly frequented by Adam and Brenda. It had an interesting selection of dishes as well as an extensive drinks menu. I ordered a chicken satay while Trevor opted for barbecue chicken pizza, Adam had a delicious-looking chicken supreme while Brenda selected prawn salad. The meals all looked really appetising; it’s no wonder this restaurant is a favourite of theirs. We were good and hungry by now and it suddenly occurred to me that we hadn’t eaten since breakfast.
We had a great time. As well as the amazing food, the drinks and the conversation flowed, reminiscing about things we got up to as kids and people who we knew and had known. As ever in these cases, the time passed far too soon and it was 8.00pm before we left the restaurant to return to the Borealis.
We may not have been at sea on the way to the Azores, but hey, here we were in Belfast and it was great to spend some time with Adam and Brenda and to visit the Titanic Experience for the first time. 😊
We arrived back in our cabin at 8.15pm and got washed and changed in record time for the evening showtime in the Neptune theatre in half an hour’s time. I wore my Irregular Choice nautical wedge sandals called “Gulls and Buoys” which feature ship’s wheels, ropes, waves, a life belt and an anchor – very appropriate.
Tonight’s featured entertainment was excellent. It featured opera singer Maxwell Thorpe, who was a finalist in the Britain’s Got Talent 2022 competition. He is a brilliant singer with a powerful voice and doesn’t come on stage as more opera singers do, in dinner suits and bow ties, but rather a t-shirt, cargo pants and work boots. It’s interesting because his appearance contrasts with his singing voice; instead of rock music you get classical. Fantastic! 😊
After finishing to a standing ovation, he was called back for an encore where he performed the unmistakeable and much-loved Nessun Dorma. What a great show!
Afterwards, we made our way to the Morning Light pub for the 10.00pm quiz with Colin and Angie, Richard and June, who asked where we’d been tonight when they missed us at dinner. We didn’t win the quiz, but we scored 12/15, which was one point better than last night.
After the quiz we were quite tired after our very full day. Despite the fact that karaoke was on tonight in the Observatory at 11 o’clock and I always get up to sing, we really didn’t feel up to it tonight, so decided to give it a miss. They’ll probably do it again later it the cruise anyway.
Just after 11 we noticed that the lights outside the windows of the Morning Light were starting to recede into the distance as the Borealis put to sea once again, and we decided to say our goodnights and head back to 6227.
Going out onto our balcony for a quick look, the wake was only faint once again as the Borealis glided along at a very sedate pace. Our next port of call would be Cobh, but tomorrow we would spend at sea en route, so there was no need to hurry. Hence Borealis was only doing about seven or eight knots, and the vessel’s motion was barely discernible. Once again we slept very well in our comfortable suite.