Ireland
We spent 5 nights in Galway and took two bus tours (Cliffs of Moher / the Burren and Connemara). Both excellent and saved Richard from missing the scenery if we rented a car. Then four nights in Dublin with a trip with a historian to see Tara and Newgrange portal tomb. We also enjoyed a literary pub crawl!
Cruise to Norway
Then we boarded our ship in Dublin for our 20 night cruise. Highlights en route to Norway included the Isle of Man (to take the old trains and see the huge waterwheels), Kirkwall (the Orkneys) to see several prehistoric sights including Maeshowe and Scara Brae.
We visited several Norwegian ports on our way north and then more on our way back south to Oslo. Several of the ports were overcrowded because there were huge ships in port. Our ship only has about 650 passengers.