British Isles Explorer Ocean Cruise

Day 11: Friday, April 17, 2026 - Holyhead, Wales

The day's statistics:
⛅ Weather: rainy, mid 50s
👟 Steps: Linda 7,120; Steve 10,727

The alarm was set 15 minutes early as our excursion was scheduled to depart at 8:45.
So after our usual waking, prepping, eating, and such, we gathered in the Star Theater to wait for our departure. Usually gathering in the theater meant we were tendering to shore. But this time we were bussing off the pier - the roadway was narrow and bus departure had to be more controlled.

While the ship's port was Holyhead - and what the trip itinerary showed - we wound up driving clear across the country from the west coast to the east coast to visit Beaumaris Castle.
Today's excursion was "Beaumaris On Foot", and our guide was Dave, and our driver was Tony.
The bus made its way to the port entrance / exit, and we continued on, passing an old church, and [Captain John MacGregor] Skinner's Monument (which was up on a hill overlooking the port).




We passed the train station - which is relatively new. Someone can now take a train from Holyhead to London in about five hours.

Most of the journey was through the lovely, but flat, countryside. The yellow flowers in some of the landscape are Gorse flowers and are on of the first to bloom in the season, bringing the some color to the region after a dreary winter.







A long half-block from the destination, we were dropped off. When we arrived at gift shop / ticket counter, Dave acquired our access, and we entered the grounds.



Beaumaris Castle was built in the late 1200s and early 1300s. Obviously the bridge is new, but the walls are original. The original structure was intended to be three stories high.
We began a trek around the outer ring of the castle, learning about the structure and the history of the castle, and how it became too much of an expense for the owner to maintain.






Dave showed this one section of wall that had 5 (or 6) holes in it. But it is believed the holes (from the lower left to the upper right) were used to hold beams for the workers to put up the stones. There are also long narrow slits that could have been used by archers in case of an attack. And there was a second section with these holes too, but a little higher up.


We continued on.


Just past the main entrance into the inner grounds, we came upon a section of wall that had a large crack it in. It is unsure why more cracks haven't appeared over the centuries, and it is unclear if this crack was a contributing factor into the abandonment of the construction of the castle.

We passed through the gate, and entered a room on the right. We were on the lower level - and there was evidence (such as support headers) and stairs for a second floor, as well as windows.





There are no permanent residents at the castle - except maybe for the pigeons.

A large open courtyard was in the middle of the castle grounds.
The guided-tour portion of the visit to the castle was wrapping up. As we were being set free to do some touring on our own, Dave pointed out a few highlights to consider - such as the walk on top of the wall, and or the chapel, and or any other sights we already visited.

I took the climb up to the wall top. There was a maze of steps and narrow walkways.




This is looking down a chute to the lower level, believed to maybe be a toilet of some sort (so the view is looking down, not out).

There was a nice view overlooking the courtyard.


I got a nice picture of lovely wife, but did she return the favor? Nooooooooooooo...

There was a nice view of the countryside and waterway from up here too.






Time to head back down into the courtyard - went down a spiral staircase (not pictured), and then a small flight in the corner.


After meeting Linda in the middle and chatting, I continued across the courtyard to another flight on the other side, and into that side of the castle.
It was a narrow passageway, with stairs, the eventually led to a small chapel. There was a tour group in the chapel, so I did the best I could and couldn't get a shot of any altar.




The passageway was so narrow that the only way to get out was in the other direction as two people couldn't pass.
After exiting the passageway and descending a small flight of stairs, I joined Linda back in the courtyard. We then headed toward the exit. To the left was a small open air seating area with a statue in the corner.

On the other side was a video about the castle that was only a couple minutes long. After watching that, we headed out.


We perused the giftshop, I saw someone that not only just looked familiar, but also looked like someone on the library board of directors with me. I approached him and told him he looked familiar - and it turns out that he and his wife were on the Mediterranean cruise at the same time we were.
As we headed toward the bus stop, Linda spied a plate in a shop window that she just had to have. We stopped in to inquire about it and found out that the shop supported a non-profit hospice. So we wound up purchasing it, and I gave a little extra as a donation too. The clerk wrapped it up really well in bubble for us for our travel (and the plate eventually successfully arrived home).
The bus couldn't wait at the pull-over the entire time, and it was early - pick-up was 11:30.
The group gathered in front of a restaurant.

There was a small market nearby that we stepped into for a price check.
The Welsh Beef was £6.60 per "unit" (which appears to be "per set of 4", or, more likely, per pound [as opposed to be kilogram because there were only 4 burgers and each would have weighed at least 8 ounces - which isn't likely], or $8.78 per pound. And the milk was a whopping $6.98 per gallon (£1.40 / liter, 3.75 liters in a gallon, converted to USD @ 1.33 per)


The bus finally arrived, we boarded, and headed back to the ship, driving along the waterfront of the Menal Strait.











Without Googling, what is the longest town name in the world?
It happens to be "Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch".
How long is it? 58 letters. And what does it mean? "St. Mary's Church in the hollow of white hazel near a rapid whirlpool and the Church of St. Tysilio near the red cave." Seriously. All of it.



The two main industries of Wales - beside tourism - are sheep and cattle.



A couple of windmill bases (formerly the millers' residence) - the structure without the blades - have been converted into hotels / places to stay.

The main supports for the pedestrian bridge looked like they were in the form of mammoth tusks, though it was too long to fit in the picture.

Tony waited for the bus coming at us to pass before entering the narrow roadway to the ship.

After embarking, we headed to the room to drop off our excursion items.

It was time for lunch.
Between each pair of elevators, outside the Explorer's Lounge, next to the Living Room bar, and in a number of other locations throughout the ship, there are information boards. The home screen has a menu of six or eight items that show the ship location, restaurant menus, the ship schedule, and more. When the excursions are departing, they show something like this - primarily because disembarkation can take place on Deck 2 (Star Theater, or even the gangway), Deck 1, or even Deck A Aft (Deck A Fore is the Medical Room, and the two ends of Deck A aren't [publicly] connected).

But what makes this particular screen... different, is the little figure on top of it. It's a tiny Jesus figure with his arms open wide. (I should have taken a closer-up when I saw it.)

We enjoyed our usual light buffet before heading out with our wine.

We did something a little different this afternoon.
When we were on the Vesta, we were told we could get the "house wine" at any bar as long as the restaurant was open. This ship was a little different in that we could only get "house wine" from a restaurant bar while the restaurant was open (this excluded the Explorer's Lounge, and the Living Room - those were "premium-only" bars).
The Pool Bar served house wine while the Pool Grill was open.
Rather than go to the Lounge, we sat at a table near the pool so we could get refills - which we did while we played cards.
We were yet to have a meal at a Pool Grill - even after five weeks of ocean cruising. And technically we still haven't. However, I had the idea to get an order of onion rings - one of Linda's favorites - for a light snack. There were only five, after all.
They were OK. Admittedly they were too oily for our preference. But they were whole onion rings (rather than chopped) with a light batter on them.

At one point in our journey around the ship, we passed by the Star Theater control booth.

After some more cards and relaxing, it was already time for dinner.
To help maintain portion control to the best of our ability - we went to The Restaurant.

Linda had Roasted Rutabaga & Parsnip Soup, Seafood Ravioli, and Apple Tart.



I had Lapskaus, Lamb Skewers, and Fancy Brownie.



After dinner, we took our wine to the atrium for a couple songs.

One of the amenities on the ship - in addition to a number of board games - are a half-dozen or so digital game tables. The games can play 1 to 4 players (depending on the game) and included Air Hockey, Checkers, Chess, Backgammon, Poker (I'm pretty sure), Blackjack (I think), and more.

Tonight was yet another trivia night.
We sat on the far side of the Lounge, and were joined by Marty and Sally (VA), a couple of teachers.
On that side of the Lounge (and upstairs) there are some bookshelves, with... books, but a few other decorative items such as this old wooden box.

We only scored 8 of 15, but Simon did admit it was difficult tonight.

We chatted with the ladies for a little before returning to the cabin for the evening.

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