Dublin crossing the Irish Sea to Holyhead, Wales

---

Geo: 53.3096, -4.63347



July 17, 2010

Dublin, Republic of Ireland

Got up at 5:15 a.m. and had breakfast at 6 a.m. It was a continental breakfast of fruits, cereal, and breads. They did have the ham and cheese selection, so I had a bowl of cereal and a ham and cheese on toast. We then boarded the bus to get to the ferry that would carry us across the Irish Sea. I am going to use the motion sickness wrist band that I bought from the travel store in Santa Monica. You place the hard pellet over your pulse on your wrist and then tighten it slightly. This is suppose to keep you from getting sick.

On the way to the boat, Dylan let us know that at the beginning of the trip, we were told to “show our appreciation” to any local tour guides that are used. Being new to traveling, I did thank the tour guides very nicely. Dylan let it be known now that to “show your appreciation” means money tips, and only one person on the tour of Dublin and of the Castle, gave our local guide, Sally, a tip. If I had hired them myself, I could see tipping them. But since I was part of a tour group, surely the price would be included in the tour package. I'm pretty sure that it said all tipping would be included in the tour package price. Just imagine if everyone (32) on my tour gave at least € 2, the guide or driver would get € 64 ($100 for about an hour or two of work and most of that sitting on the bus pointing out things). Some people mentioned after getting off the bus, the tour guide wasn't near the exit of the bus so that they could give her a tip. Only once did I see a basket for tips and that was on the Orkney Islands when we had a different bus/guide. I left a £ 2 tip then, but giving money directly to some one is not very comfortable. I spoke with a few others who have traveled greatly while waiting for the ship to sail. They pretty much agreed with what I had said. Tipping for something that you were hired to do is enough unless you were personally hired or did a great job. I asked about tipping Dylan and Dave (our driver) and one of them said that the Insight website suggested £ 2 per day for the driver and £ 3 per day for the guide. That means if everyone followed this suggestion, Dave would make £ 64 per day ($100) or ($2,200 for the whole trip) and Dylan would get £ 96 ($144) per day ($3168 for the whole trip), and that‘s on top of their salary!!! Well, I gave Dylan that book and it nearly cost me £ 25 ($38) and that is good enough for me. I'll give him a thank you card expressing my appreciation and reminding him of the book. For the driver, I'll try to get a gift card or something like that.

Crossing the Irish Sea

We boarded the Ulysses about 7:40 and left port about 8. The ferry is much larger than the one we took to Northern Ireland. Instead of just one deck level to explore and relax, there is 3. The top, 11th floor, is for outside viewing of the ship. You can't get to the very front of the boat, but you still have a good view of what is ahead of you as well as the sides. The 10th floor has cabins and suites you can rent for the duration of the trip, in this case 3 ½ hours. You can also upgrade to a more luxury lounge with free snacks, wine, and salmon for € 18 ($27) on this level (With the amount of children running wild on the level I am on, this may be worth it!). There is a lounge area that goes around the staircase that is supposed to be the quiet area, but again with the kids running around or the younger travelers taking up most of the lounge couches, I may head up there soon. The main level where I am, 9th, has 3 places to grab a bite to eat and drink, a family/children area, small casino machine rooms, a large gift shop, wifi (must pay for it though), and a cinema (Sex in the City or Toothfairy….no thanks!). I grabbed a packaged sandwich of ham and cheese, but it wasn't that good, so I only ate half of it. During the voyage I stayed mostly in the front of the ship in an area that wasn't very crowded. I sat at the one of the coffee bar's table. Towards the end of the voyage, I read a little and studied up on the cities that we were going to be visiting in Wales and England. Just before landing, I went back out on the outside decks and took some pictures. At 11:15 an announcement was made for passengers to make their way to their vehicles, and at 11:30 we rolled off the ferry.

---