LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND WARMED US UP!

Monday, August 24, 2026
Liverpool, England
74F and sunny!!

The sun shined bright on a warm day as we stepped off the ship to waltz into Liverpool!  And Liverpool is a very convenient port—the main area of the city is within easy walking distance of the ship.  Another mixture of old and new, Liverpool is a dynamic maritime city famous for its music history and legendary football (aka soccer) culture.  Its population is around 518,000.  The main city sat just a short, easy walk away from the water.

Some fun facts: 

Old meets new in this busy sea town of 518,000 people. Here is what makes Liverpool special:

• The People: Residents are proudly called Liverpudlians.
• The Name: It comes from Old English. Lifer means muddy water, and pol means a small pool or creek.
• Chinatown: Europe's oldest Chinatown started here in the 1860s, built by arriving Chinese sailors.
• Hit Songs: Local music artists have produced more UK number-one singles than any other city in the country.
• Famous Faces: Home to the Beatles, Daniel Craig, and Stephen Graham.

This lovely building was the former

headquarters for the 

White Star Company (owned the Titanic)

Built 1896-1898/waterfront

Liverpool waterfront area

We took a nice walk along the waterfront into town, passing through the historic heart of the city's trade.  In 1715, Liverpool built the world’s first commercial enclosed wet dock.  By the 19th century, 40% of the entire world's trade passed right through these waters. The famous Royal Albert Dock opened in 1846 with a revolutionary fireproof design of iron, brick, and stone.  And this busy waterfront acted as the massive gateway where 9 million people emigrated from Europe to the New World.

Queen Victoria

After a leisurely walk,, our first stop was Dunkin for coffee—we have enjoyed VERY strong coffee in every port, but today we gave ourselves a break with Dunkin—and a toast to Friend J who also loves Dunkin coffee!

TK's choice-hazelnut filled donut

Next, we explored the giant shopping area, where the streets are completely closed to traffic so people can cross easily. The area has blocks of shops/stores/restaurants/banks/ cafes/department stores, and so much more.  We browsed a few shops with no purchases made--- I admit that I like big cities.   

Admittedly, we are totally unclear

as to why bicycles can zoom by

at any moment with

so many people walking

Since we visited Liverpool in 2024, Hotel Chocolat was on my mind, a coffee and chocolate shop.  I am wondering how well the chocolate raspberry “smoothies” that we purchased will make the voyage home.

Hotel Chocolat

British Cocoa Grower

Raspberry Smoothie

https://www.hotelchocolat.com/uk 

After a stop for a Coke Zero in a cute sidewalk cafe, we continued to Mathews Street, the famous Birthplace of the Beatles.

The original Cavern Club opened in a warehouse cellar in 1957 as a jazz venue styled after underground Paris clubs. It quickly transitioned to rock ‘n’ roll, and the Beatles played nearly 300 shows here between 1961 and 1963. It was in this music-filled basement that manager Brian Epstein first discovered the band in 1961. Though the original cellar was filled in during the 1970s, it was later rebuilt using 15,000 bricks saved from the original site. The entire street is dedicated to the Beatles!

Cavern Club

Cavern Pub

a play on Cavern Club

Sgt Peppers--another pub

Rubber Soul--another pub!

The Sign overhead says

"Birthplace of the Beatles"

More city views:

We circled back around the area, walking along the waterfront back to the ship. We have been averaging only 9,000-11,000 steps a day, but today was almost 15,000—and now I think we are definitely in shape for our 50 day cruise in October!

Who would expect the Santa Maria

to be in port??

On our way back to the ship, we saw the Santa Maria docked nearby—

And the Beatles said goodbye as we 

walked back to the ship!

Another great day in port!

TK’s Takes: Best day so far weatherwise! Liverpool is convenient to the port--everything right there. Dogs and seagulls today.

CRUISING THE MERSEY WITH THE BEATLES!

Regal Princess/Liverpool, England
Sunday, September 29, 2024
Partly sunny, 58F, windy

Liverpool skyline this morning-on the Mersey

Liverpool is a port city and borough of Merseyside, England with a population of approximately 496,770 in 2022. The city is located on the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary, adjacent to the Irish Sea, and is approximately 178 miles from London. Liverpool is the fifth largest city in the United Kingdom.

I love Liverpool!  We walked off the ship onto the waterfront and the city was right there. 

Near the ship

Two of these distinct sculptures sit atop the building

Toy shop

TK takes a photo of Dunkin'

Actually our preferred coffee

The Cavern

The Beatles played at the Cavern Club--there are 

three similarly named spots nearby

After a coffee and a mug purchase at Starbucks, it was an easy walk to the Beatles Museum on Mathews Street where we spent about an hour and a half. TK is not as big a fan as I, but he knew more about them than I did. 

The Liverpool Beatles Museum

There were three floors of memorabilia—albums, written notes, Pete Best’s drum set, clothing.  Three floors covered the 3 eras of the Beatles, 1959-1962, 1963-1966, and the last era, 1967-1970.  My favorite albums, the ones I purchased years ago, were Help!, Rubber Soul, Meet the Beatles, A Hard Day’s Night, and Revolution. My favorite song was always “Yesterday,” but I love most of the early and middle era songs.  TK said he purchased several albums back in the day, including The White Album. His favorite songs were “Back in the USSR” and “It’s Your Birthday.”  Of course Beatles music was playing throughout the museum.

John, George, Paul, and Pete Best

Pictured for Friend M--she will know why

Brother Bill brought lederhosen exactly

like this back from Germany when he

was in the US Army for

Randy and Brian

John Lennon gave a pair to his son.

Liverpool is easy to walk, and a gigantic shopping area is so close. We spotted a shop called Hotel Chocolat and went inside this for another coffee. A sweet clerk gave us each a triple cherry chocolate to eat, almost heaven! If only we could safely bring chocolate home!!

Triple cherry chocolate

We really wanted a British lunch, so we stopped at The Old Bank, originally a beautiful, ornate bank. We enjoyed Sunday roast (TK) and Scouse (Janie). What is scouse? A sort of beef stew with potatoes, carrots, and small chunks of beef—just like my mother made—my roots!! Sunday roast was beef, with potato, stuffing, Yorkshire pudding. Why on earth they call Yorkshire pudding a pudding I have no idea—it is really a flaky kind of bread to me, made of eggs, flour, milk, and water.  TK also had sticky toffee for dessert (a kind of sponge cake drizzled in chocolate, with a bit of vanilla ice cream.) 

Inside The Old Bank

Sunday Roast

The Yorkshire pudding looks like a baseball glove

The ball on top is the stuffing

Cheesy cauliflower, broccoli, potatoes, and beef

Scouse

It was time for us to walk back to the ship. We wanted to catch the famous Beatles statue—early this morning there was no crowd, but this afternoon the city was full of people.  Everything seems to be open on Sundays in England.

I loved this little street cleaner

Beatles statue on the Waterfront

Tonight for dinner TK had beef stroganoff to see how the current chef made it—I will try to find previous versions on other cruises which were quite humorous.  I had fish and chips, which were quite tasty.

TK’s Takes:  He thought Liverpool was a suburb of London.  He liked how clean and modern it was, mixed with older architecture.  

Note: Liverpool suffered the second highest number of civilian deaths in air raids in the country in World War II.  Nearly one third of the houses in Liverpool were damaged or destroyed.  Between 1940 and 1941 almost 2300 people were killed in Liverpool.

And another note: It’s going to be a boy!!  In January I am going to be a great aunt for the 3^rd time!!