Log of the Cruise – Belfast 30th May 2014

(The following log features extracts from the Ship’s Official Log Book, with the entries recorded by the Officer of the Watch on the Navigational Bridge - British Isles with Ruby Princess May 23 to June 4, 2013)  In the morning at 07:20 the bridge gave the engineers “Stand-by Engines” as Ruby Princess was made ready for arrival. We picked up the local pilot at 07:32 then proceeded through 10 miles of buoyed channel towards our designated berth, where we had the ship fast and gangways ready by 09:29. Visible from the Starboard side of the ship are the famous Harland and Wolf cranes and shipyard, marked H&W. This where the RMS Titanic was built and launched from in 1911.  In the evening, once all passengers and crew were back on board, the gangways were shipped at 18:45 and we let go our line at 19:04. We retraced our track of the harbor and buoyed channel were the pilot then disembarked at 19:59. Ruby Princess the cleared Belfast Lough and set an easterly course into the Irish Sea. During the night we will round the Isle of Arran to port and enter in the Firth of Clyde, and set courses towards Greenock. Weather experienced during the day: Sky: Partly Cloude Skies; Wind: North Easterly Beaufort Force 3 Temperature: 13ºC/55ºF; Barometric Pressure: 1026,4 mb Sunrise: 04:57; Sunset: 21:46
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Northern Ireland - Giant's Causeway (Ruby Princess Excursion)

PT// Giant´s Causeway...a Calçada dos Gigantes. O local onde perdemos as palavras e a respiração, tal é a sua dimensão e beleza.  Com duas horas para absorver todo o espaço, tentámos captar cada paisagem, cada pedra, cada sensação. Indescritível e fantástico! Aconselhamos a visita... de, pelo menos, uma vez na Vida!  É formado por um conjunto de cerca de 40.000 colunas prismáticas de basalto, que se encaixam como uma enorme calçada de pedras gigantescas, que se formaram após uma erupção vulcânica ocorrida há cerca de 60 milhões de anos.  A Natureza tem, realmente, coisas fantásticas. EN// Giant's Causeway... The place where we lose words and breath, such is its size and beauty. With two hours to absorb all the space, we try to capture every landscape, every stone, every sensation. Indescribable and fantastic! We advise you to visit ... at least once in Life! It is formed by a set of about 40,000 prismatic basalt columns, which fit together like a huge causeway of gigantic stones, which formed after a volcanic eruption occurred about 60 million years ago. Nature really has fantastic things.  Giant´s Causeway no TripAdvisor:  É uma daquelas coisas que temos de ver pelo menos uma vez na vida! Este fenómeno da natureza constituído por colunas poligonais em basalto é verdadeiramente espetacular. Mesmo já tendo visto muitas fotos deste local, chegando lá é que temos a verdadeira dimensão do mesmo. As colunas, inicialmente com cerca de 4 metros vão diminuindo de tamanho à medida que caminhamos para o mar. Ficamos com a sensação que foram colocadas uma a uma, muito bem encaixadas entre si!  Se for com tempo tem uma grande área de parque natural para percorrer!  É uma sensação única e espectacular!
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Northern Ireland - Dunluce Castle, White Park Bay and Portaneevey (Ruby Princess Excursion)

PT// Fizemos algumas paragens para apreciar a beleza da zona. Paisagens de cortar a respiração e desejar ter mais tempo  para ficar por lá.  Numa delas conseguimos apreciar de longe as ruínas do Castelo de Dunluce (Forte da Colina), um castelo medieval. Situado à beira de um precipício e apenas acessível por uma ponte.   A paragem seguinte foi no miradouro de White Park Bay com vista para a baía e uma praia de 4.83 Km.  A última foi em Portaneevey, mais uma deslumbrante paisagem, onde podemos ver uma ponte, bem alta, que atravessa duas montanhas sobre o mar, que não sei se tinha coragem de a atravessar. Mas quando estamos de férias... tudo é possível.  Esperamos que as fotos e o video mostrem o que sentimos, ou pelo menos transmitam uma parte disso. EN// We made a few stops to enjoy the beauty of the area. Breathtaking landscapes and wish you had more time to stay there. In one of them we have been able to appreciate from afar the ruins of Dunluce Castle (Fort Hill), a medieval castle. Situated on the edge of a cliff and only accessible by a bridge. The next stop was at the viewpoint of White Park Bay overlooking the bay and a beach 4.83 Km. The last one was in Portaneevey, another stunning landscape, where we can see a very high bridge that crosses two mountains on the sea, which I do not know if I had the courage to cross it. But when we are on vacation ... anything is possible. We hope the photos and video show what we feel, or at least share a part of it.  Dunluce Castle no TripAdvisor:  "O Castelo está localizado no extremo da rocha sobre o mar. Quando se olha de longe parece uma pintura tal a beleza do enquadramento do Castelo na paisagem. Excelente contraste entre o verde da relva à sua volta com os azuis do céu e mar! Belas fotos!"
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Belfast to Bushmills by Bus (Ruby Princess Excursion)

PT// No caminho para Busshmills  e sem saber bem o que nos esperava, fomos surpreendidos por uma paisagem assustadoramente verde e belíssima, sempre com o mar a nos acompanhar. O que nos faz "apaixonar" logo pela Irlanda do Norte. O contraste com o lindo azul do céu e o magnifico dia de sol ainda tornou tudo mais belo. Ainda se pode encontrar vestígios do Giro de Itália, que na edição de 2014, começou por aqui, com ovelhas, casas e diversos objectos pintados de cor-de rosa. EN// On the way to Busshmills and unsure of what awaited us, we were surprised by a frighteningly green and beautiful landscape, always with the sea to accompany us. Which makes us "fall in love" with Northern Ireland. The contrast with the beautiful blue sky and the magnificent sunny day made it even more beautiful.  Descrição da Excursão em princess.com  Your tour begins as you board your motorcoach for a two-hour, panoramic drive to Giant's Causeway, an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns. Your drive includes sweeping views of farmlands, villages, and rolling moors. En route stop at Dunluce Castle for an opportunity to photograph one of Ireland's most romantic and breathtaking castle perched on the rocky Antrim Coast.  Your ultimate destination, Giant's Causeway, is next on your itinerary. Renowned for its polygonal columns of layered basalt, the Causeway is considered the Eighth Wonder of the World, and is the only UNESCO World Heritage Site in Northern Ireland. According to myth, the giant Finn McCool used the basalt columns to form the causeway into stepping stones so he could travel from Ireland to Scotland to visit his lover, a Scots giantess. Scientists, however, believe the mainly hexagonal columns resulted from cooling lava flows. Since it was first documented in 1693, the Causeway Coast has been the subject of much controversy concerning the origins of the Earth.  Upon arrival, you will visit the newly constructed Giant's Causeway Visitor Centre. The Summer of 2012 marked the opening of the new Visitor Centre at the Giant's Causeway. This new interpretative centre allows you to decide for yourself which explanation of how the causeway's 40,000 basalt stones were formed is most likely (or simply most interesting!) Stories about the area's rich mythology, history, geology, flora and fauna will paint the Causeway in your mind's eye before you make your way to the stones themselves.  Next, you will travel to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge viewing point. Spanning a chasm some eighty feet deep, this bridge once consisted of a single rope handrail and widely spaced slats, which fishermen would traverse while holding salmon caught off the island - an endeavor that was not for the faint of heart. Visitors today are delighted to discover that this has since been replaced by the National Trust in 2000 - there is now a more sensible two-railed bridge minus the wide gaps and missing boards.   You will not cross the bridge as your tour concludes with a relaxing return drive to the pier. With Giant's Causeway behind you, you will leave with a myriad of unforgettable memories.
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Belfast - Panoramic View from Ruby Princess

PT// Como optamos por uma excursão que nos levava a outros destinos  da Irlanda do Norte, não chegamos a visitar Belfast. O pouco que temos é a vista do Ruby Princess, onde se pode observar a maior doca seca do mundo e onde foi construído o Titanic, zona que se mantém quase intacta desde essa altura e que merece um pouco de "respeito". Existe, também um museu totalmente dedicado ao Titanic. EN// As we opted for a tour that took us to other destinations in Northern Ireland, we did not get to visit Belfast. The little we have is the view from the Ruby Princess, where you can see the largest dry dock in the world and where the Titanic was built, an area that has remained almost intact since then and deserves a little respect. There is also a museum totally dedicated to the Titanic.
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