Voyage of the Vikings -Liverpool - Greenock

Friday, August 14th Port# 13 Liverpool, UK The skies are cloudy as we arrive at the Liverpool harbour. We decided to take our time getting off the ship, hoping that the weather will improve. There was a very steep climb up a long ramp to the port and by the time we reached the top, I was pooped! They had a golf cart for the "gray-hairs" and I should have taken it! Anyway, we walked a while, until I couldn't go any more than we jumped on the Hop On/Hop Off for a spin of the city. It is a very old city that still has war-damaged buildings. It is also not a very pretty place, in fact, quite dreary! Yes, this is the home of the Beatles, but we weren't too interested in all that hype!

Saturday, August 15th Port# 14 (Greenock) Glasgow, Scotland Ok, what's new? We woke up to drizzle! We had a private tour planned today, but I decided to stay in; still tired from Liverpool and not ready to spend the day in the rain. As it turned out, Jack went and stood out waiting for the tour for over an hour then he finally went into the Tourist Office and took a local bus tour! Sooo glad I didn't go! Jack was back by 1130am, so we went "grazing" in the Lido then returned to our room. The sun did come out in time for us to leave port. I was talking to Jim while the Scotsmen were piping and drumming away on the pier, again! We were at dinner tonight, seating in the back of the ship watching the wake as we sailed out of Grennock. All of a sudden, we started to list very far to on side, sending many dinner meals flying off of the waiter service areas, crashing on to the floor! What racket, glasses and dinnerware breaking and people a goggle and watching the entire thing out the huge windows! Many people had to wait for new meals to be brought from the kitchens! We were given no explanation, but we were in view of land, in the channel and the seas were a lot rougher than before because the wind had picked up during the day.

Sunday, August 16th At Sea We slept in again today. We had a Cruise Critic gathering in the Crows Nest this morning. We decided to go, as we have become friendly with a lot of others from Cruise Critic. Immediately following we followed the gang to the theatre for a Mariner's Club Thank you gathering. We drank Mimosa's and ate little snacks with the others until we realized that we should have been in the Dining Room having a Brunch with a different group...so off we skipped to the dining room for more wine, etc and brunch. We sat with another couple, who were also late, and they were once from New York and they also had airline children, so we talked airline shop talk! The captain, during the brunch said that we listed the night before because "the wind caught us when we slowed to let the pilot off" We knew better because we were watching out the window! This couple said that they took pictures of the pilot getting off and it was later, when they were in the elevator, that they ship listed. I really believe that someone fell asleep at the wheel, missed a bouy in the channel (there were many) and made a very fast turn to get us back on course. That is what we saw from the windows. Our wake showed a huge curve toward the center of the channel. Anyway, we had a bumpy night last night, not terrible but enough for us to know we were at sea. Jack has gone to another seminar so I might go for a walk or read for an hour. Tonight is formal night, again, so we'll have to decide about this!