I need a lot of help

Hi Larry,

I hope that you are feeling much better and will be able to enjoy your time with us very soon!

Thanks once again to Elizabeth for all of her suggestions and the advice on booking a taxi for the morning to make sure you get to the train on time.

The weather at the moment is unusually snowy, but we always advise on a suitable coat and layers of clothing to take into account the changes in our weather. Here is a wee article that you may find helpful on what to pack.

Are all of your plans in place now?

Martin

Hi Martin,
Yes, thank you I'm getting back into the saddle, but slowly. 

I appreciate the link you sent me about packing. Yes, I'm aware about the odd weather you are all having, including all over Europe. I hope things will get better by the time I arrive. Based on the current conditions, I will be packing my fleece lined jacket vs thin rain jacket that you could fold around your waist if it gets warmer, which I doubt it.

Thanks to Elizabeth I was able to changed lodging for a closer hotel to the train station in order to prevent complications to catch the train the next morning. I just contacted Belfast and they don't have snow at the moment, but I was advised about the cold weather with some rain. 

I also talked to one of the booking companies and they told me they have received several cancellations due to the weather. I hope the airport will be running on my departure date.

Again, Martin thank you so much for your help

Hi Larry,

So glad to hear that you are on the mend!

Our weather is also getting back to normal with the Emerald Isle returning to our 50 shades of green. All transport services are back up and running so there should be no issues when you arrive in a few days time.

Please keep us posted on your time with us, we would love to hear how your plans with us unfold!

Speak soon,

Martin

HI Martin,
Yes, I'm trying to get back to the regular schedule. I just finished talking on the phone with Irish Rail. They got over 8 ft of snow last week. However, the snow is melting down at the moment. I checked the weather forecast and it looks is going to be wet, wet, and very cold but no snow. I guess not good weather for photos.

Can you tell me wearing a regular rain hat its very common for me. I don't mean baseball caps.

I also made some changes. I will be skipping Galway and staying in Ennis due to some mix up with my lodging. I hope there are some interesting things to see in that area.

Hi Larry,

Sorry to hear that you had to make some changes in your itinerary. But don't worry, Ennis has plenty to offer and I'm sure you'll have a great stay there. There is a great art gallery and some lovely local pubs and restaurants if you need to escape the rain! 

Hi Emma
Well I think I might enjoy staying in Ennis. The hostel that I was booked at Galway sounded like they had too much partying going on. The place that I found in Ennis looks a bit nicer. If anything fails I might consider taking a day trip to Galway. Or should I stay around Ennis

Hi Larry,

Day trips are a good option! 
You can see how you feel when you are there as both places have loads to offer.
Who knows, you may fall in love with the place and never want to leave! 😉

Do you love taking pictures? I saw you've mentioned the weather potentially being an issue when it comes to getting the perfect picture.
Thought I would reassure you with this and I will be looking forward to seeing yours of course! 😊

Hi Everybody

I have sad news. Regretfully I am still at home. My flight was cancelled just the day before my departure due to bad weather in the East Coast of US.  I had to fly from my home base to Boston.  All the airport in the entire NE Region of the US were shut down since early Monday.

You have no idea how disappointed I feel, can you all imagine. After all the trouble I had caused all of you trying to plan my trip to Ireland. I had to make a tough decision. The airline were not even sure when they were going to reestablish any flights. Consequently, I had to act very quickly to cancel all of my reservations; otherwise, I'd have been charge a hefty penalty.

I had to spend many hours on the telephone trying to get a refund on my flights. At first, they were only offering credit for future travels. However, there was another catch a fee, a fee to use the voucher. Can you imagine the rip off. That was Aer Lingus. I am not the least impressed with them. I was on hold over 3.5 hours. At the end, they said "oh sorry we are closed now, please call again".

They are in the category of " bad experience while planning my trip to Ireland". I was very committed to ge a full refund. As a matter of fact, one of the airline that I was flying on my first leg posted on their website issued a waiver in order to allow passengers to cancel without any fees, or penalties. And yet Aer Lingus would not honor this waiver, and they insisted in issuing a voucher + $150.00. But because I was very persistent I managed to get a full refund, but it remains to be seein until I see the credit in my credit card.

On the positive side I have honestly say that I had a great experience talking to different people throughout Ireland. It was like taking a trip over the phone. Everyone, every was very friendly with a home down attitude.  They treated me on the telephone like I was their next door neighbor.

I got to distinguish the different accents from different regions in the country. Not once, I got a bad attitude, or unfriendly to me. They made me feel very welcome. I spoke with one hotel and the attendant was very familiar with my home state. He even named some of our cities. I asked if he had been here before, and he said no but he always checks online about our state.

So sorry to hear that Larry. I thought you would be in Belfast now enjoying the sights.
Why not make another reservation for May or September. My favourite month is May, the evenings are long, the weather can be lovely but all the places you wanted to go will be less busy than the peak months of summer.
Mary Burke.

Part 2
I called on several times some of the hotels I had made reservations. I asked some suggestions about places to visit while visiting their town. They were more than willing to tell me the ins and outs where to go, and what to do.

Even my dealings with Irish Rail I had a good experience. They were friendly, personable. I even had to called the Dublin airport for some information, again the man that answered the phone was extremely helpful. 

Overall, my limited experience (mostly by phone) with Irish people had been very positive. But I would like to name one place that was not positive at all. I was Clarleville Lodge Hotel. I contacted them to change the dates on my reservation even before my trip was cancelled. It took almost a week to get a response. I also worked with Booking.com, and they were dumbfounded the lack of response from this hotel. At the end, they didn't accept to change my dates, and got charge a full night because I cancelled my reservation.
 I also had made a reservation in Dublin for the night before flying back home. This was a non-refundable booking. However, when I called to cancel the desk clerk suggested to send an email to explain my situation and perhaps the management would re consider not to charge and allowing to make a refund. That was a very thoughtful suggestion.
So here I am think to myself " What, where would I have been doing now if I was in Ireland". I'd have been ready to travel to Belfast early the next morning.
Again, thank you to Elizabeth, Mary, Martin and Elodie for al the help and the time that you all put trying to help me plan my trip to Ireland. Best regards, Larry
One more good experience I had with Doolin Tours in Clare. They were extremely friendly.