Days seven and eight 19 & 20 June 2023

Day seven Monday 19th

Early start for our run ashore we are taking a trip that involves a coach trip. After breakfast we assembled in the theatre then we went to the dock yard and boarded a coach that drove us to Stirling. On arrival we had choice of either visiting the castle or the town. We chose the castle and as members of English Heritage we were admitted in free. It was a very interesting place. We learned a great deal about the history of the castle, Ranging from William Wallace and the battle of Stirling, through Mary Queen of Scots, Jacobite rebellion to its use as a barrack for National Service soldiers as recent as the 1950s

It’s now under the care of Heritage Scotland ( hence our free admission) who have gone to great lengths to restore the place back to its former splendour. We had a very interesting walking tour with interesting explanations of all the eras it covered. 

We left Stirling and drove to Falkirk to have a short canal trip and experience the Falkirk Wheel. What a marvellous piece of engineering this is. I took plenty of photos but due to the inclement weather and the fact I had to take them through a window that was obscured with rain drops they’re not the best but you’ll still see the splendour. (I urge you to look it up on t’internet and YouTube) We boarded up our boat whilst it was on the Forth and Clyde canal and were taken into what is known as a  gondola and then raised the 35 metres to the Union canal. Apparently it all works on Archimedes principle so that’s how a 1,800 tonne wheel can turn using the same amount of power as six electric kettles, once we were on the Union canal we went through a tunnel and arrived at a basin where we turned round and repeated the process to return. We then boarded our coach and returned to the ship. As we drove through Greenock we were told that this area was once a great ship building area, one of the biggest in the UK, all of which has now gone. We arrived at the port and returned to the ship. The ship set sail soon after and we were seen off by a pipe band. We quickly changed went to dinner then enjoyed the rest of the evening listening to a violin duet in the atrium before adjourning to the theatre for the music show. It had been a long day so we retired to our cabins.

Day eight Tuesday 20th

Sea day. After breakfast we went to reception for first time Princess cruisers where we met some of the officers. Afterwards we wandered around the decks visiting different attractions before stopping for elevenses. Afterwards we went and listened to the retail concierge about what was on offer. We then just chilled and enjoyed the moment. It was a lovely day doing nothing. The only problem with doing nothing is that you don’t know when you’ve finished. We had afternoon tea and shared the table with two other couples engaging in some interesting conversations. Later we were attending a reception that was immediately before dinner so it was necessary to change a bit earlier. It’s all go this cruising lark. We attended the drinks reception organised  by the agents we book through then went to the dining room for dinner. After the meal we moved to the theatre for another magnificent show. We stayed up top for a short while then decided to call it a day.