Greetings from MS Balmoral - Somewhere in the North Atlantic

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Tuesday 10^th April 2012

Ship's Log – MS Balmoral

Here we are – on the MS Balmoral, currently cruising towards the site of the Titanic's sinking.

Boarding on Sunday was a great day – lots of people turned up in period costume, which was great – the Ocean Terminal was decked out with displays, and a string quartet was playing music from the era. What fun! There were a couple of displays of some rooms on the Titanic – a “bedroom” and a “dining room”. The furniture was genuine, from the Titanic's sister ship “Olympic” as was the cutlery and decorations. It was a wonderful opportunity to see and touch the same sorts of things that would have been on the Titanic.

We docked yesterday afternoon in Cobh (pronounced “Cove”) in Ireland – what an experience!! We were astonished to see thousands of people lining the docks and streets to meet our ship (brass band included!!) – we felt like rock stars! We learnt that this year is a year-long celebration of the Titanic Centenary in Cobh, and the arrival of our Memorial Cruise meant a civic reception and a concert … turns out that around 30,000 people from the whole county turned out for the event. WOW!! Our ship was running late into port, so sadly our planned tour of the Blarney Castle and the city of Cork was cancelled, but we didn't mind!! We went ashore, and mingled with the crowds instead. We eventually found a little pub called “Kelly's” and chatted to fellow passengers and the locals – people were so excited that we were there, and we even had requests for photos to be taken with us! It was a blast. A few pints of Guinness, a lot of singing and laughter and it was back on board later in the evening. It was awesome. Ireland is one place that we definitely want to return to and spend more time there – such a friendly, wonderful country, and the countryside is so pretty.

Today, we are cruising in open ocean, and it's very rough. Many people are suffering some form of seasickness, and the crew put sick bags along the corridors this morning – which was a bit of a worry for the day ahead. Damian & I are reasonably okay – we're getting a bit woozy but not full-on sick so that's okay. We're both sleeping a lot, the cabins are lovely and comfortable, and if there's no lectures or events to attend, we find ourselves sneaking back to our cabin for an hour or two of sleep. I think it goes to show just how tired we really are – so whilst cruising at sea we think it's a great opportunity to properly catch up.

Tonight is our first gala event – dressing up in costumes etc. Should be fun!!

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Photos

MS Balmoral
Our ship!

String Quartet
A string quartet played music from the Titanic's era whilst we waited to board.

Bedroom Recreation
A bedroom was recreated in the terminal foyer, of a bedroom from the Titanic. The furniture was genuine from the era, and came from Titanic's sister ship, the Olympic.

Dining Room Recreation
The dining settings were also recreated - again using genuine furniture, crockery and cutlery from the Olympic - a wonderful opportunity to touch and experience what it would have been like on the Titanic.

Comments

[Paul Munford]

Bedroom Recreation??
Bedroom Recreation....too much information Deb.Still I supose if the boats going up and down;)

[TwoDees]

Harrharrharrrrr
Bedroom recreation? Too old and too seasick for that malarkey LOL

[mike]

sister
My sister Missy and her friend Kathy are on that cruise so good to read your travelogue since they're 'off the grid' so to speak. I'm in Atl Ga and they're from Florida (Panama City Beach and Pensacola).

[celeste]

:s !!
Don't mind me... I found them. Many apologies :s :) !!