Today Lauren and I went on the Shore excursion "Dublin Highlights". Dublin means "Black Pool", and I can see where the name comes from as we are docked at a gritty-looking harbor with no real view of anything from the ship. The Vikings founded Dublin in 755 AD, introduced the first form of slavery to the world, as well as the first coins. The great uprising of 1016 involved shooting in the streets, and resulted in a Lady Liberty statue receiving a bullet hole in...

I did not surrender my US Passport upon boarding the cruise ship in Southampton, UK, and I did not receive any notification as to where to meet the Irish Immigration officials to get my passport stamped with an admission stamp to Ireland (which is a visa waiver country). I just got in the line to exit the ship for my shore excursion, figuring I was flagged in the ship's system, and I was. So, I was escorted up to the 6th deck of the ship to have my passport stam...

Free Day (no shore excursion). Lauren and I decided to stay ship-board today. Transportation from the Dublin dock is complicated and restrictive, so we are checking out the gym on-board today, and may try to do some laundry. Neither of us were very impressed with Dublin, and I saw everything I wanted to yesterday. UPDATE on my immigration issue. I was not denied entry today to Ireland at Dublin, the second port we entered, although Princess Cruise Lines p...