British Isles Explorer Ocean Cruise

Day 9: Wednesday, April 15, 2026 - Dublin, Ireland

The day's statistics:
⛅ Weather: mid 50s, overcast
👟 Steps: Linda 8,573; Steve 10,019

Our second country of the trip.
One reason we like these cruises - river and oceans - is that frequently we go to bed and wake up in a new country - or at least a new city.

This morning's excursion "Powerscourt House & Gardens" was scheduled to depart at 8:05, so we awoke at 6:45 instead of 7:00. After awaking, we got ready for the day by showering and such, then having breakfast, and returning to the cabin to prep to leave.
I heard some noise outside and took a peek. They were prepping the tenders.

It was very overcast.

Today's excursion didn't begin on a bus after disembarking. No, the ship was anchored so we had to tender to shore first.
We gathered in the Star Theater with the rest of Group 5. And 4, 3, 2, and 1. There was a little bit of a delay in getting started for some reason. But eventually we departed en masse and boarded the tender for shore.
Our group boarded the bus and after everyone was accounted for, we headed out.
Michael was our guide, and Raya was our driver.
We rode through some of the city, briefly on a highway, then passed through mostly countryside, then along a river, to the estate. While enroute, we learned that the city's population is 1.5 million.
Also, gas prices are rather high. But the high prices are partially attributed to the fact that €0.60 of each €1.00 for gas goes to taxes. The citizens held a Velvet Revolution to protest the excessive tax rate. The fact that the US war with Iran (at the time of the revolution and this writing) further caused prices to go up certainly didn't help any.
Lastly, the temperatures are rather moderate in this region, and in 2020, the country recorded its record high temperature of a whopping 92°!
Our route took us within sight of the country's highest mountain with a peak of 3,000 feet.







The bus squeezed through the gate opening and entered the property, but we still had a few minute drive as the original estate of 40,000 acres had been reduced in size to just 1,000 and some of the former property now has a golf course and hotel occupy some of the previous estate land.



The group debussed and gathered in the lobby as Michael acquired our tickets. We then proceeded through a small entryway and onto the vast garden grounds. In the distance is the main fountain, a replica of the fountain in Rome (obviously not the Trevi Fountain). It still uses the original pump, and the water can be sprayed into the air up to 30 meters (90 feet) though it usually only hits 10 meters (30 feet) like it is now.


Michael told us the route he was going to take which was through the gates to the right, through the gardens, and most of the way to the fountain. He explained that we could free roam at any time - as long as we were back on the bus by 11:30, follow him to the fountain areas and then back, or follow him to the fountain and continue on as there was a Japanese garden beyond the fountain.
At the top of the stairs were a couple statues, and more along the walkway at the top of greens. As we toured, we came across other statues, as well as gardens and fountains.

























At a distant spot, within the trees, we came to a fork in the road path. Next to this spot was the family pet cemetery, with some graves more than 100 years old. This isn't quite like Stephen King's Pet Cemetery...




At the fork, Michael told us that we could follow him to the left and back to the main house, or we could proceed to the right and travel further down the path to the sequoias, the fountain, and the Japanese garden. We chose to go to the Japanese garden as had most of our group.






Behind the fountain was another fork in the path - the left around the pond, the right to the Japanese garden.









The Viking resident lecturer and ornithologist Peter was with our group. Sadly, he forgot his camera. But we shared with him the QR Code to get to this site, so hopefully he will be able to relive his experience.
When we got to the gazebo, we took a selfie. We took another further up the path, but I'm putting them both here for convenience.


Our route continued behind the gazebo, up the path, and around to the front of the pond with the fountain at the bottom of the stairs.




At the bottom of the stairs were two Pegasuses (Pegasi? Pegasus - plural like fish and deer?)



The steps weren't too steep, but there were quite a few of them...






"Simba, I am your father."

Our walk began to the right, and we finished seeing the statuary to the left.




It was an enjoyable hour touring the grounds, but alas, we had to make our way to the bus.
We returned through the door near where we exited, and came across this sign. What makes it humorous is that it was pointing in the direction of the exit - sort of - and our ship was called the Neptune.

There was enough time for us to peruse the gift shop - of course - before boarding the bus.
It was more of a number of small shops with a variety of different items rather than one large shop.

A coat of armor was on display in the hallway to the exit.

All but one of the group was onboard. Michael set out to try to find the lost sheep. After a few minutes, they both returned and we departed the estate, and drove back through the town and to the ship.

Embarkation was quick, and we headed to the cabin to drop off our excursion items because it was time for lunch.
We headed to the World Café as usual since nothing else is open.
I caught Linda trying to take a picture of me while I was having lunch.


Some of the dessert selection.

After lunch we did something a little different and tried some lounging by the pool.

We passed the time this afternoon mostly in the Explorer's Lounge, playing cards.
We gave Overlap a go today too.

A 6:00 reservation at The Chef's Table provided tonight's meal. The menu is a changing-theme fived menu of five courses, four of which are paired with wine (the granita was itself a frozen alcoholic-based course).
On the Vesta, we enjoyed two meal themes at The Chef's Table: Mexican, and California (we had a third reservation, but canceled it because it was going to be Mexico again [not that there was anything wrong with it]).
Tonight's theme was Xiang, a Chinese-based theme.
By choice, our reservation was for a table for two. We were seated by the window, and given menus.



We both received the same serving - two servers deliver the dishes to the table and un-clouche them at the same time as one explains what it is that we will be enjoying.






In between our courses, the last of the tenders was returning to the ship.

We took our wine to the cabin and the sun was still fairly high above the horizon, and it was almost 8:00.

There was no trivia tonight, and no show, so we just hung out in the room, watched something and read the Daily. We also moved our shot glass acquired earlier into "long term storage" (read: luggage) for the duration of the cruise.

Not before long it was time for bed.

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