so three Linbergs and a Zarif walk into an Irish pub...

So!
It's been quite an eventful two weeks here on the MS Prinsendam...

The biggest news, of course, being that I had both my parents on for the whole cruise, plus the added bonus of having one of my best friends, Yaniv, on for the first four days!!! I was pretty much showered in love and support for these two weeks, and I am very thankful for it.

 

So here's what our itinerary looked like (ignore the Scotland/Iceland route, that's our current itinerary):

the one on the left

This was billed as the "British Isles and Celtic Cruise" or something along those lines, and it did not disappoint.

The cruise started off with a chorus of excited screams and lots and lots of hugs all around for my visitors, and then we pushed away from IJmuiden port on our way to St. Peter Port in Guernsey. Unfortunately, one of our passengers came down with some sort of really bad eye infection (or so I was told), and the ship had to turn around and re-dock in Holland to medically disembark the two passengers. True to form, our captain gave what I considered to be waaaaaaaay too much personal and detailed information about this change of plans over the PA system, but hey, what do I know.

We eventually made it to St. Peter Port, where Yaniv and I got to be tour escorts for a fun little walking tour of the city, complete with a trip to the old castle/fort. The town itself is absolutely charming, and the cobblestone streets were lined with bunting and very colorful flower basket displays. We later discovered that they were competing for the title of Most Beautiful Flower Basket Display in Britain, which is yet another indication that I truly do not understand the English mindset.

still, though. super cute.

That afternoon, I sat in with the orchestra for their jazz set, but this time, i surprised my parents with a duet of "Unforgettable" with Yaniv. It was a song we had done together in the show Gold back on the Maasdam, and it was such a joy to get to sing it with him again, especially in front of my parents. I also got to take Yaniv and my parents to the Pinnacle for dinner that night, which is the fancier restaurant on board. It was only my second time in the Prinsendam's Pinnacle, and it did not disappoint. We rolled ourselves out of there, happy and well-fed.

seriously, what is this thing??

Next I got to escort a tour to the beautiful Tresco Gardens off the Isle of Scilly (pronounced "Silly"....much to mine and my father's enjoyment), from the port of St. Mary's. Yaniv was suffering from some severe jet lag (from a non-stop red-eye flight from NYC to Amsterdam, bless him!!), so it was just the Lonberg clan who ventured forth. The day was a little overcast, but the sun absolutely came out and lit up the beautiful gardens. It was nothing like what I expected, with plants from every Mediterranean place you could imagine..I had to keep reminding myself I was in the English Channel! Apparently, the Isle get sthe benefits of the Gulf Stream to keep it temperate and avoid huge winter frosts like the rest of the UK would get. As such, we saw flowers and trees and plants hailing from Chile, South Africa, Greece, Italy, Spain, and the like. It was bizarre, but very beautifully kept up. Also, our botanist/tour guide was super cute and English, so I certainly enjoyed that part...

The next day was Dublin, which was also, sadly, my last day with Yaniv. I was tragically put on In-Port Manning (IPM) for the day, so Yaniv and I took it easy, relaxed outside by the pool, played a few rounds of Yaniv (a card game, not neessarily related to my Yaniv) with Matan out on deck, and generally just took it easy. At the last minute, our Culinary Arts host announced he was not getting off for the rest of the day, so we seized the chance and made it into Dublin for a few glorious hours. The weatehrw as absolute perfection ,and we said our goodbyes over a few sensible glasses of Jameson and Bushmill's Irish whiskey.

class. we haz it.

I am so grateful that Yaniv flew all the way to the other side of the world to spend just a few days with me. I am a very lucky girl to have a friend like him. :)

The next day was Liverpool, and I escorted a tour with my parents to the nearby city of Chester. Chester was once a Roman stronghold in Britain, and they seem to keep unearthing old Roman ruins from the soil. It was generally a very scenic little town, and it was a nice change from Liverpool, which I'd visited previously on the Maasdam.

so cute!

We made it back to Liverpool, where I set my parents off on their own because I was BEAT from the last four days! I had forgotten what it was like to have family/friends on board, who aren't used to my semi-sedantary lifestyle. I got my stamina up this cruise, that's for sure!

We docked the next morning in Belfast, Northern Ireland (UK), but I had a raft drill and a tech rehearsalf ro our show, Amour, that afternnon, so my time was a bit limited. My parents enjoyed their time on their own in the port, and I had a chance to roam around at my leisure. The shopping in Belfast is FANTASTIC, and I had to keep myself from going nuts (I did buy a great dress, however. I'm not a savage). On my way back to the ship, however, the streets became blockaded by a protest rally in support of Palestine. It was a disturbing sight to see so many people riled up, even so far from the conflict itself. I had to wander down to the waterfront and hail a cab to get myself back to the ship on time, and I arrived out of breath and more than slightly upset about the whole ordeal. I have people on both sides of the conflict, and it was just too much to process.

 We followed a great set of shows (expertly pimped out by both my parents) with a sea day, which was chock-full--in true Linberg fashion--with trivia, trivia, and more trivia. And wine. Definitely wine. And bingo, and slot tournaments, and Name That Tune....my parents have definitely taken to the cruise life!

We  next stopped in Killybegs, Ireland, which is a teeeeeeeeny little place in county Donegal that's renowned for hand-knotted carpets and as a good jumping off point for some spectacular cliffs and whatnot. We didn't go to see these, but we did enjoy our time in th elittle town, and finished up our day listening to live Irish folk music....and even having a wee sit-in with the band singing "Brown Eyed Girl" (I was only slightly mortified).

also, this happened.

The Officer's Bar hosted a 50s/60s night that night, and I somehow got talked into several games of Jenga and Twister.

I refuse to say any more on the subject.

Galway, Ireland was our next port, and the city surprised us by being much more developed than we had expected. On the advice of my cab driver from Belfast, we went to the cathedral, and we were not dispapointed. Although it was only 50 years old, it was a spectacular inside and very surprising.

right?

 

At the recommendation of the guitarist from Killybegs, we also found our way downtown to the pub Tig Coeligh (pronounced "Tee Co-lee" or something...Gaelic is baffling to me), and enjoyed a few pints and some great live music out in the square.

charming view, innit?

I got to escort another tour with my parents in Dunmore East, Ireland. It's traditionally the jumping-off point for Waterford (Where Waterford Crystal is made), but we went instead to a huge estate about 90 minutes away that had acres and acres of beautiful gardens from the bygone era. It was stunning, and we got to see  a bit of the cute little town (with yet another unpronounceable Gaelic name) beneath it, but it was quite a long haul from the port, so we were all pretty pooped by the time we got back.

still though...

We totted back to England for a stop in Fowey (pronounced "Foy"), a town in Cornwall. It was just about the cutest place on this cruise, with pasty shops and cobblestone alleys and pirate stories everywhere you looked. We took the little tourist tram around the city which was wonderfully narrated by a very enthusiastic guide ("Viv" maybe? She seemed like a Viv). She regaled us with town gossip, old stories, fun facts, and kind of made me want to adopt her as my new auntie. Unfortunately, the rain started just as we got back, so my mom headed back to the ship while my dad and I stopped into the pub for some crab sandwiches, fish and chips, and some local ales.

it was a wise choice.

Our last port was a re-route from our original itinerary. We were scheduled to port in St-Malo, France, but at some point it was changed to the city of Cherbourg. This was another lazy-ish day for me, as I simply could not get my body to rally early enough to get off ship with my parents. Which was not such a bad thing, as the city was not much to write home about. I wandered around with Matan, roaming through the street fair and using my halfway-decent French on unsuspecting locals (most of whom seemed to understand me!). We took a nap in the sunshine up by the waterfront and headed back to the ship. A relaxing day, if not a particularly interesting one.
We also performed our final show, Rock at the Opera, that night, and I got so many wonderful compliments from people my parents had befriended over the cours eof the cruise. It was very clear to me that my parents were incredibly proud of me and were so happy to be able to watch me perform. It probably didn't hurt that they got to play the Proud Parent card to anyone unwise enough to linger by them for more than a few minutes!! I kid...but I also have a feeling that the ratings for Entertainment for this cruise are going to be higher, and reflect the expert "pimping" my parents had been doing for us for two weeks.

The cruise wrapped up with one final sea day. I got my  mom a massage with my favorite diminuitivbe Ukraninan masseuse, Tania, who was very happy to work on my mother. My dad and I did the Walk for the Cure, a HAL-wide event that has so far raised over $3 million for cancer research. We spiced things up by changing our home stretch entrance for every lap. I sure we weren't annoying at all. :) I later toured my parents around the crew areas of the ship and introduced them to my itty bitty cabin (but she's mine, all mine....).

The next morning, I made it into Amsterdam to spend a few last hours with my parents. We went to the Royal Palace, the interior of which I'd never seen, despite visitng Amsterdam many times. It was very beautiful, but I was startiung to flag a bit. We refueled with a few pints of Amstel and a cone of pommes frites before I had to say goodbye at Centraal Station and make it back to the shuttle bus in Haarlem in time....which I did, but by the skin of my teeth (and to the amusement of all my friends who were pleasantly surprised to see I'd actually made it aboard).

This was definitely my most involved cruise so far, but I cannot repeat enough how happy I was to have my parents and Yaniv on board with me. It's such a treat to get to show people how you live, especially once you've gotten the hang of how things work and what special little treats you can give them. My parents (and Yaniv!) are already apllaning to come on another cruise, probably when I'm on the ODyssey next summer in the Mediterranean!


I'm looking for to it.  :)

This current cruise will encompass Scotland and Iceland...so, until next time...lots of love to you all!