A Photo Journal of Our British Isles Cruise and Land Adventure

Our Ship, the Oceania Nautica,  Accommodates 670 Lucky Passengers

The Ship Offers an Elegant and Understated Interior

It Offers Good Amenities Including a Pool, Hot Tub, Fitness Center and Spa as Well as a Casino.

The Nautica Has Two Specialty Restaurants Which Are At No Additional Cost.

Our Stateroom Was Spacious and Included a Comfortable King Sized Bed.

As Well as a Balcony. Because Our Room Was Towards the Aft of the Ship, It offered Options for Both Sun and Shade.

Starting from Amsterdam, Our First Cruise Port Was Picturesque Bruges Belgium.

Our First Port Within the British Isles Was the Small Port of Tilbury England Which Had This Impressive Fort.

Queen Elizabeth I Spoke Here Confidently Stating that She Had the Heart of a King and Could  Take On the Threat From The Spanish Armada, Which She Was Correct, She Could!

After a Day At Sea, We Were Excited to Arrive in Dublin, Ireland.

We Toured Dublin Castle.

Which Was as Impressive on the Inside As It Was on the Outside.

Including This Grand Hallway

And Lavish Public Spaces Like This One.

We Visited the Famous St Patrick’s Cathedral

And Then Joined an Organized Tour To See the Famous Book Of Kells and Library at Trinity College.

We Had Beautiful Weather On Our Day In Dublin and Even The Seagulls at Trinity College Were Making the Most of It.

We Finished Our Day in Dublin By Checking Out the Molly Malone Statue and Then Heading for Pints at Two of Dublin’s Top LGBT Pubs.

Moving On to Belfast, Northern Ireland’s Capital, We Had a Wonderful Private Tour Chronicling the Country’s Long Term Religious and Political Struggles Which Included Appreciating the Many Poignant Murals,

And Memorials

And Seeing the Street Where they Filmed the Movie “Belfast”.

We Went On to Tour Downtown Belfast With Its Impressive City Hall

And Other Impressive Buildings in Its Vicinity

Belfast’s City Hall Includes Impressive Decor Inside

And Stained Glass Windows.

We Also Toured the Well Conceived and Executed Titanic Experience.

Our Next Port Was Waterford, Ireland Where We Toured the Waterford Factory.

Got To See First Hand How Their Fine Crystal is Created and Detailed.

As Well As See Their Larger Limited Edition Pieces.

Our Waterford Tour Then Continued On to the Attractive Medieval Town of Kilkenny

We Toured Its Large Castle,

And Enjoyed the Pretty Views from the Castle

We Also Enjoyed Walking Around Kilkenny To See Its Many Colorful Buildings and Shops

Which Included a Barber With a Sense of Humor.

Our Next Port, Dartmouth UK, Was Surprisingly Beautiful and Interesting. This town in County Devon Is Where Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Phillip Met, and Where Agatha Christie Lived. Here We Are Pulling Into Port. 

The Town of Dartmouth Was Quaint.

Features Its Own Castle

And Attractive Water Views.

Our Final Port Was St. Malo In France’s Brittany Region Where We Hiked the Towers and Had a Seafood Tower Lunch. That’s Our Ship in the Background.

We Saw This Seaside Town’s Oldest Buildings

And Rainbow Sailboats Enjoying the Good Weather. 

The Cruise Ended in Southampton, UK and We Took Advantage of That By Spending Three Nights in London.

We Stayed at the W Leicester Square Which Was a Great Hotel in the Heart of All the Action, Including Chinatown.

We Saw Two Shows on the West End Including “Standing at the Edge of the Sky”, The Olivier Award-Winner For Best New Musical.

And “Hello Dolly” at the London Palladium.

Starring Imelda Staunton from the “Crown”.

We Saw A Wonderful Exhibit on Expressionism at the Tate Modern Museum Including Works by Kandinsky,

And Some Lesser Known Artists Who Included Themes of Feminism, Transgenderism,

And Gender Fluidity.

And Toured Buckingham Palace’s Staterooms, Art Galleries and The Royal Mews Showcasing Spectacular Carriages Like This.

Jonathan Couldn’t Resist Having His Own “Royal” Moment at Buckingham Palace.

After 3 Nights In London, We Took the Train Up to Storybook Edinburgh, Scotland.

The Rooftop Bar From Our Centrally Located Hotel Offered Great City Views

And Views Of Carlton Hill.

We Wandered Through Many of the City’s Narrow Closes.

We Also Did a Day Trip to the Highlands to See Loch Ness (No Monster Sightings)

And the Other Beautiful Vistas

And Fauna Scotland’s Highlands Area Offers.

Back in Edinburgh, We Toured the Royal Yacht Britannia. Here See Queen Elizabeth’s Stateroom.

And This Dining Room Where the Royal Family Entertained Many Foreign Leaders Including the Clintons.

Our Final Trip Stop Was Glasgow. Scotland Where We Took a City Tour Including of This Modern Mural of the City’s Patron Saint,

And Enjoyed the Festivities of Their Pride Weekend Which Included Excited Crowds

And a Pride Parade With Floats,

And Color Added to Glasgow’s Most Famous Cone-Headed Duke of Wellington Statue Corner

We Of Course Had to Celebrate Pride After the Parade with a Cocktail With the Locals.