Cruising around the UK – Day 6

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Thursday 17 September 2026

Welcome back, readers! Here we are aboard the Cruise Ship – Bolette – the flagship of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines. It’s Day 6 of our 10-day sail around the UK.

The eagle-eyes amongst you will have spotted that although this IS ‘Day 6’, we’re not in Killybegs ☹️. The news came yesterday that the weather conditions weren’t in our favour, and the Ship headed, instead, for Belfast.

Yikes! 😳. Welcome to Ireland. Time to wrap up!

We docked around 6.30am to a very grey looking City. First task of the day? Get a seat in the restaurant for breakfast as we guessed it might be busy.

Actually, it was deserted! 👍

Belfast

Belfast is the capital and largest city and main port of Northern Ireland. It stands on the banks of the River Lagan, and is connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel. The city is the most populous in Northern Ireland and the second-largest, after Dublin. The recorded population in 2021 was just over 345,000.

We were last here almost 17 years ago, and came by car, so it’ll be interesting to see if we can spot any obvious changes. We’re off to the Titanic Museum later – it was being built last time we were here! 😮

Fred had laid on a free Shuttle Bus and we were soon in the City and outside the famous City Hall. There was rain in the air, but nothing serious.

Last time we were here, we recall it being congested with traffic and where a lot of the shops looked somewhat ‘tired’. Not today, in 2026, though! Although we only spent a short while looking around, it was long enough to see that the City had been transformed. There were a lot more modern skyscrapers, a greater area had now been pedestrianised, there seemed to be less traffic, and it all felt a lot cleaner and shinier. The shops also seemed to be a lot more ‘up-market’.

In short, for us, a complete transformation.

After popping into the local tourist centre (that looked like a set from Star Trek with its multiple screens, plenty of ‘crew’ and was about the same size as the Enterprise!) we enquired about the shortest/cheapest route to the Titanic Museum. Apparently the ‘Glider’ – G2 was the Bus we needed, and it stopped almost outside. Impressive! 👍😁

The only challenge was working out how to use the ticket machine located in the shelter. Tickets are required BEFORE you board the bus, and it took us a few attempts to master it. We weren’t the only ones, though, and Ann came to the rescue of others during our time today, struggling in the same way! 🥰🥰

The Titanic Museum

Wow! What an exterior! If it reminds you of the bow of a ship, you’d be correct – that was the intention. Titanic Belfast – to give it its official name) was opened in 2012 in the now-named (in 2001) ‘Titanic Quarter’ of the City. It covers some 12000 square feet across multiple floors, covering the same space, where the shipbuilders Harland & Wolff once built their Ships (including Titanic, Olympic and Britannic).

Today’s top tip: It’s best to buy your tickets online beforehand as that’ll save about a fiver each on the tickets. Ours cost £21.95 each, but there are a range of ‘bolt-ons’ and special prices for youngsters/oldsters and others.

Initial impressions were favourable, VERY favourable indeed. It was well lit and the use of a variety of media (static, video, actors overlayed on exhibits and audio) kept things interesting throughout.

To say the displays were very comprehensive would be a massive understatement. The level of detail they’d gone to was amazing and it was good to see actual parts of the Harland and Wolff Factory.

I thought I’d seen most of the stock photographs relating to the Titanic and its construction, but I’d say a good 70% here today, I’d NEVER seen anywhere else! 👍

Jumping on the reconstructed lift, we were taken to the next floor, where a real surprise awaited. Think ‘Cable Car’ but not one that takes you on a journey ABOVE the ground but instead, AROUND. We were taken on a journey showing the construction of the Titanic’s hull. What an innovation this ‘Car’ was! The journey may have only lasted under 10 minutes, but it gave a very realistic feel of the working conditions all those years ago, incorporating sound, heat and light, plus recreated commentary from the time. We were completely immersed in this perilous, everyday task of shipbuilding! 👍

In the next section was an incredibly detailed account of shipbuilding from scratch – and in particular, the extra challenges constructing Ships as large as the Titanic and its sisters.

Launch Day – May 31st, 1911 – covered in great detail, including the specifics of how they managed the crowds on the day. Apparently, around 100,000 turned up for the launch, with a special section cordoned off for VIPs that included J Bruce Ismay (Chair of White Star), J Pierpont Morgan (American Financier) and a host of White Star senior management plus selected guests! It was clearly a BIG occasion where they employed a number of staff carrying sticks to prevent trespassers on the day!

It was good to see that they have retained the actual launch area, and it helped to visualise how big these craft were

Next, everything you need to know about the maiden voyage – 2nd April, 2012.

For obvious reasons, the sinking of Titanic was covered in great detail. This caused the mood of us visitors to switch to something more quietly reflective. It was very noticeable, especially as we moved into the next area that displayed another very comprehensive account – the Official Enquiry and the lessons learned. It seems amazing that up until the loss of the Titanic it wasn’t mandatory to have enough lifeboats to accommodate EVERY passenger! 😮

The display that showed the ship’s complement – and who survived and who didn’t – was being studied at length by a lot of people and was comfortably, the busiest part of the Museum. Around 1500 out of 2200 passengers perished, whilst the crew made up the largest percentage of losses (685/700).

In a fitting conclusion to the whole Titanic story, visitors were brought right up to date with the various expeditions to locate the wreck of the Titanic. It wasn’t until September 1, 1985, when a joint American-French expedition led by Robert Ballard of the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Jean-Louis Michel of IFREMER (the French National Institute of Oceanography) was the Ship eventually found. There was plenty of information here surrounding this eventual success, but it wasn’t without some false starts in previous years.

It was good to see a few of the items from the Ship on-show, including the violin played by Wallace Hartley, the Ship’s Bandleader and one of the Ship’s deckchairs

It took us around two hours to get around, but I can see why some publications suggest it could take 3 to 4! As we headed for the exit, the final display (a rotating scale model of the Titanic accompanied by an ethereal bespoke musical theme) provided a great opportunity for a final reflection of this sea tragedy that just won’t go away in people’s minds.

Worth the trip? Most definitely!! I think without doubt, that was the most comprehensive and engaging Museum we’ve ever been to. The final part that included what was learned from the tragedy was especially moving.

We weren’t done yet! After a quick bite in the Museum’s Café, we remembered there was another Ship to see nearby.

SS Nomadic

The SS Nomadic, launched in April, 1911, is the last surviving Ship of the White Star Line -and it was right outside! It was used as a Tender for passengers destined for the Titanic and the Olympic because those Ships were too big to dock in Cherbourg Harbour. Nomadic accommodated 1000 passengers (surprising, given its small size) and prided itself on doing its job with the same levels of luxury as White Star’s more famous sister Ships.

The Ship was saved from the wrecker’s yard and was now in ‘better than new’ condition, having lived past its working life in various locations around the globe. Inside, it felt very small and cramped – just how they fitted up to 1000 people in it, we’re not sure! ☹️

Because of the deteriorating weather, they had closed off the deck area (for safety reasons), and we were therefore limited to just the interior. There wasn’t that much to see, but as the last remaining White Star Ship, it was worth visiting.

Just as we left the Ship, right on cue, the downpour began. Luckily, the bus stop for the G2 was just a two-minute walk away. At just £1.80 each back to City Hall, they were great value. We’d just missed one, but just 10 minutes later another arrived (and we’d dried out by then!) 😬

By 2pm we were back on the Bolette enjoying a cuppa 🍵🍵

Tonight’s Meal – Thursday

Here we go again!

Oh no, I think we’re beginning to suffer from ‘Four-Course Fatigue’. This is the first time (after 6 days) that the volume of continuous food has finally beaten us! (I know, ‘poor loves!’) 😁. We both avoided the advertised Desserts and opted for (just!) a portion of ice-cream! 😉. Lightweights, ehh! Hardly!!! 😉😋

Entertainment

Tonight’s entertainment was Berni Flint, an Irish comedian and singer who famously appeared on Opportunity Knocks back in the 70s and won for a record number of consecutive weeks. Apparently, he’s in the Guinness Book of World Records. We liked his style. very relaxed and chatty – a natural raconteur with a good, clean sense of humour (no swearing and no smuttiness) – and he sang and played guitar too!!! 😁😁😁😁😁

Tomorrow

Friday means we’re back on schedule and arriving in Tobermory on the Isle of Mull, Scotland – approximately 120 miles northwest of Edinburgh, 76 miles northwest of Glasgow, and 91 miles west-southwest of Inverness. Population? Just over 1000 and famous for the BBC series from the 2000s called ‘Balamory’.

And just to keep us on our toes, the Captain has just announced that due to ‘prevailing weather conditions’, we MAY not head to Kirkwall on Saturday! ☹️

See you here on Friday! Sleep tight! 💤💤. It feels like a rocky night ahead… 🤢🤢