You Can’t Eat Too Much Irish Fish Stew and Mussels

Day 12, 2023 North Atlantic Adventure

Tuesday, May 23, 2023; Ringaskiddy, Ireland.

My sister Elaine raved about the variety of fish chowder and stew she found in each Irish village during a vacation here a few years ago. So we developed the custom of sampling it whenever we can. We made sure to indulge in bowls and local pints recently in Dublin, Cobh and Oban, Scotland.

I continued that tradition today, taking a shore excursion to Kinsale on the southeast coast from Ringaskiddy. We had almost two hours on our own in the fishing port that now is a popular holiday destination, and my time included savoring a bowl of chowder rich in fish and shrimp. I added on an appetizer of mussels and received at least five dozen! I’m glad I didn’t order the entree portion. Of course, a Guinness washed it all down.

Kinsale is known as the closest port to where the Lusitania was torpedoed and sank, drawing the United States into World War I. Many in the village responded to the tragedy and saved a number of passengers. Today its downtown is full of cobblestone streets, shops and pubs. Shopping was tempting, but instead I passed about 30 minutes waiting for lunchtime by sketching one of the pedestrian alleys. I’ll add watercolor later.

A side benefit of my Kinsale trip was seeing the beautiful green Irish countryside. In the three weeks since we were last here the flowers multiplied and the trees fully leafed. The white blooms on the Hawthorne trees define every hedgerow. Even the markets were full of early Irish strawberries.

I had booked the ship’s shore excursion after researching the port of Ringaskiddy and learning there was nothing there. As we sailed into the world’s second largest natural harbor* this morning, we passed the Cobh pier where we moored three weeks ago. The huge Regal Princess hid the pier and nearby buildings. This time we moved on to the other side of the bay to dock in Ringaskiddy, tantalizingly close to Cobh but an hour away by road or train.

At the last minute (and after the cutoff deadline for canceling shore excursions without penalty), the cruise director announced the city of Cork would offer a shuttle bus from to the center of the city (second largest in the Republic of Ireland). A lot of passengers chose that option, so the line on the pier was frequently long. Worse was the return line – many people waited an hour or longer on a busy sidewalk in Cork with no shade or place to sit.

There was so much grumbling – well justified as there just weren’t enough buses for the demand – that Captain Frank and Hotel Manager Henk provided everyone with a complimentary glass of champagne at dinner.

I miss a lot of the evening entertainment on board. During the world cruise, the Main Stage shows were at 7 and 9:30 p.m. We frequently hadn’t finished dinner by 7, and more times than not I was in bed before the 9:30 show would have been over. The entertainers varied between singers and/or instrumentalists and comedians, and when I did go, I generally found they didn’t hold my attention.

A difference on this post-world-voyage cruise is that the ship has moved the later show up to 9 p.m. That works better with me to go straight from dinner, as I am eating later than when I sailed with my sisters who favor early meals. Tonight’s entertainment was Cantaré, a quartet of male singers who perform a couple of nights on many Holland America ships. I would guess when Holland America created the concept 10 years ago it was fashioned after the success of Il Divo.

In fact, there are multiple quartets with new entertainers coming and going between them, and they travel between ships. Tonight was their first appearance on this 16-day cruise, and I enjoyed it as usual. I was pleased to see Sergei, a singer from Ukraine, for the third time – he brings a lot of enthusiasm to his performance. I think they will perform two more times before this segment ends on Sunday, and I’ll look forward to both.

I tried to write about two ports in this post, after previously saying I might cut back on the frequency of posting by combining ports. My first attempt just resulted a post that was twice as long with too many photos. For now, I’m back to the original format of a blog post for each port.

*For the curious, the world’s largest natural harbor is Sydney, Australia.