Day 18 - Mon - 08/24/26 - Liverpool, England

Once again, after an over night transit we arrived into Liverpool quite early and we were in no hurry to get off the ship.  We had our customary LIDO breakfast and met our friends, Kevin & Kathleen at 8:30am in the Crooner's lounge on deck #7.  We scanned off of the ship and walked along the River Mercy waterfront to the Beatles statute where we took the obligatory pictures.  Later in the day this area gets quite crowded, so being there early was nice.

We easily found our taxi touring company nearby,  John Murphy was our driver and his Big Beatles Taxi Tour Peugeot van.  While it would hold 6 people, Kevin only arranged for a 4 person tour.  There were 3 seats facing each other and we took turns swapping seats.  I really don't like facing backwards when driving or riding on busses or trains, but I could contort my body to look forward most of the time when it was my turn in the rear facing seats.  

John took us to all of the Beatles growing up homes and the place at St. Peter's church hall where John Lennon and Paul Macartney first met in 1957. For the homes of Beatles who have since died, they have a blue identifying plaque.  We also visited Penny Lane and Strawberry fields.  Strawberry fields is now owned by the Salvation Army and they have a large gift shop and garden area.  The tour ended on Matthews Street where the Cavern Club is located and where the Beatles played before they became so popular.  

After saying our goodbye to John, Kevin and Kathleen joined local friends for lunch and we sought out a local fish & chips place that John recommended.  Yanni's was the fish & chips place and it was really good!! 

We spent the rest of the time walking up to the cathedral which is the largest in Great Britain and 5th largest in the World.  After visiting, we walked to St. Luke's church which is a bombed out ruin from WWII.  The exterior stone walls are standing but the roof and interior is gone.  From there we walked to the ship down a very busy shopping street that was pedestrian friendly.  Once we reached the waterfront, we shopped in the Fab 4 store where I purchased a Beatles Abby Road crossing shirt.

Onboard time was an early 4:30pm and we made that easily.  Angela, our new Princess Insider, gave a presentation on Cobh (Cove) and Cork at 5pm and we followed it with dinner.

Our evening entertainment was a three person group, the Trawlermen.  They sang Irish songs and sea shanties and were really enjoyed by the audience.  In fact they were so good that for the first time this cruise we went back for the 9:30pm performance.  In between, Allwyn, our CD, hosted a game show that had the audience divided into two groups and each group had to decide which city name of two names displayed was an actual city.  It was fun and interactive.

Angela did her daily karaoke session and I returned to the room and chilled out.  

Tomorrow we are in our last European port stop at Cobh (Cove).  We're planning an unusual activity we've never done here.  Stay tuned.




















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