Day 15 - Fri - 08/21/26 - Kerwick, Scotland

It seems that overnight our air conditioning system problem had finally been fixed.  When I woke up I could hear airflow and the temperature was clearly colder.  We had removed the fluffy comforter and replaced it with a lighter version we found under the bed. The thermometer measured 22°c and that was much nicer. Waking up was a little easier as the lifeboat outside our window was lowered with screeching and other accompanying noises. We finally gained an unobstructed view!

Today was our UK immigration inspection and we were scheduled for 9:45am.  Our independent excursion is scheduled to start at 9am, so we joined the immigration line at Club Fusion on deck 7 at 6:45am for a projected 7:30am opening.  At that time several hundred people were already in line.

When immigration started, it went very fast.  The inspector looked at my passport and said "Happy Birthday and have a good day!" There was no scanning or anything else.  As we exited the venue we scanned our medallion to prove we had completed it and were given a card that said "Immigration Cleared" on one side and Tender 4 on the reverse side.  Before we could return to the room tenders 1-4 were called so we were able to scan off very quickly.

The ride to shore was about 10 minutes.  Once there we did a quick walk around the closed up town and found a little cafe that was open so we could have a little breakfast (a bacon sandwich with hot chocolate and 1/2 of a banana.  They were yummy.  Promptly just before 9am, Grant, our guide, showed up and our little group of 8 was all present.  

We spent the day touring the South part of the island in a Ford minivan.  This Shetland Island is the subject of a popular British TV show called The Shetlands.  Grant was an extra in episode 2 of season 1 and I believe they are on season 10 or 11.  He pointe out many locations that were featured on the set.  

The Shetlands are a cold and windy location.  There are no natural trees on the island unless planted by man.  Shetland ponies are here in abundance as well as the Shetland sheep which looks more like a goat and has much darker coloring than the white sheep we are used to seeing.  However, there are some 300,000 of them throughout the island.

It's been a tough existence for the Shetland's inhabitants.  Slate stone was used for building homes and fences and much of the island is covered in peat which when dried was and is used for heat.  Lumber was salvaged from seaside debris.  We toured one and it definitely left a picture of a rugged existence.

At Bigby we stopped at a small convenience store and bought some souvenirs.  Near there was a beach which had two sauna units constructed out of horse trailers. Brave souls were enjoying the sauna before walking to the beach for a cold plunge.  It's a popular activity here.  

At the south tip of the island, we crossed an active runway for the island's airport.  That is, after we were stopped to allow a passenger jet to take off.  There's a nice Lighthouse nearby which until last week had resident puffins.  One was spotted before we arrived but we didn't see any.  The Lighthouse at Sumburgh also had a giant foghorn powered by two large twin cylinder diesel engines. It's sounded once or twice a year and the engines are very well maintained.  There's also a little gift store there.  

After this nice visit, we began driving north back across the runway and made a stop at a former military base.  About all that remains from this former radar operations are fences and concrete foundations.  Most all of the access roads remain blocked.  There are some terrific views from here. We got to finally see some Shetland ponies up close.    

Grant then deposited us back in the city where we said our goodbyes.  I highly recommend Grant Redfern and his firm, Shetland Mini Bus Tours. (A simple Google search will get you to his website.

We then walked back to a garage we saw near the beginning of the tour.  What was unique about this garage was that the roof was an overturned lifeboat.  It turned out that this was a very common practice on the island due to the scarcity of building materials.  We saw a number of them while we were on our tour.

Until we caught the ship's tender back to the ship, we walked around the little downtown area and I used an ATM to get some English pounds for the remaining UK ports of call ahead of us.  The water shuttle (tender) back to the ship was quick and easy. After scanning back on board we went to our room where I downloaded the day's pictures.  

At 5pm Kez had her port talk on Belfast and Liverpool.  Personally I prefer Jharumy's Princess Insider talks on the same subjects.  Hers is tomorrow. Our evening entertainment was Greg London, a West End and Las Vegas showman whose specialty there was celebrity vocal impressions. He put on a nice show and I'm sure there were stories he couldn't share with us.

I finished my night out watching the game show, Survey It! (A Family Feud knockoff).  It was interesting and afterwards I went back to the stateroom to nurse my cold and work on my blog.  Angela stayed up to sing at her daily karaoke.  

It was a good day in the Shetland Islands and I'd certainly like to return.  Tomorrow we're a few hundred miles south in Stornoway, Scotland.















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