Sydney to North America (62 Nights)

Menu

• Introduction
• Map of cruise (zoomable Google map)
• Cruise #1 - Sydney to LA Repositioning
  
• Cruise #2 - Pacific Wine Country
• Rocky Mountaineer - Discovery Circle
• Cruise #3 - Voyage of Glaciers (Northbound)
• Cruise #4 - Voyage of Glaciers (Southbound)
• Other Key Links

Introduction

The adventure begins 11 April 2025 when we board the Royal Princess in Sydney for the start of the 2025 - Pacific North America adventure and this blog. The blog will be updated when we find a few spare moments. Please check regularly as multiple blogs might be uploaded on the same day. The same is true for the photos.

This adventure covers 62 nights and includes:

• Sydney to LA repositioning on the Royal Princess (27 nights)
• Pacific Wine Country cruise continuing on the same ship (7 nights)
• Discovery Circle Journey Lake Louise on the Rocky Mountaineer (8 nights)
• Voyage of the Glaciers (Northbound) on the Coral Princess (7 nights)
• Voyage of the Glaciers (Southbound) returning to Vancouver on the same ship (7 nights)
• 6 extra nights in Vancouver

Cruise #1 – Sydney to Los Angeles repositioning

Cruise #2 – Pacific Wine Country

Rocky Mountaineer - Discovery Circle

Cruise #3 – Voyage of the Glaciers (Northbound)

Cruise #4 – Voyage of the Glaciers (Southbound)

Other key links:

• Just the photos:
• Cruise #1 and #2 - Sydney to Vancouver
• Rocky Mountaineer - Discovery Circle
• Extra days in Vancouver
• Cruise #3 and #4 - Voyage of the Glaciers (North and South)
• Full list of blog pages
  
• List of videos:
• Silent Disco Experience - 13 April 2025 (35 seconds)
• Tauranga sail-away (timelapse) - 15 April 2025 (30 seconds)
• Rough seas crossing the Pacific Ocean - 21 April 2025 (20 seconds)
• Our welcome to Moorea - 24 April 2025 (26 seconds)
• Love boat tune on ship's horn - 24 April 2025 (32 seconds)
• David's self-guided walking tours (with KMZ map files):
• TBA
• Other walking tours:
• Historic Downtown Honolulu (day 1)

Welcome from David and Lyn.

The format of our site is in three parts:

1. Blog server - our day-to-day travel blogs (this website)
2. Photo server - some of our key photos
3. YouTube channel - our videos (many linked directly from our blogs)

The site includes hundreds of searchable travel blogs. Some of our longer trips are listed below. 

General travel

• Bridge cams - Princess
• Unofficial Travel Awards
• Equator Crossings
• International Date Line

About

• David
• The Thalassophile (lover of the sea)
• The Musician - Uke resources
• The Presenter
• The Photographer
• The Ham (VK4DCP) - Ham resources
• The Vexillophile (flags)
• Lyn
• Countries visited: #1 to #25 | #26 to #50 | #51 to #75 | #76 to #100 | #101+
• Summary of cruises - Pre COVID-19 / Post COVID-19 

Thank you for visiting our website.

Best regards

David and Lyn
e-mail: brizzy@outlook.com.au

Cruise countdown

2025 Pacific North America - Blog Starting Page

2026 New Zealand Cruise - Blog Starting Page

2027 Circle Pacific Cruise - Blog Starting Page

Links to major adventures
2025 Pacific North America Cruise Blog - Apr 2025 to June 2025 Cruise #1 - Sydney to LA Repositioning Cruise #2 - Pacific Wine Country Rocky Mountaineer - Discovery Circle Cruise #3 - Voyage of Glaciers (Northbound) Cruise #4 - Voyage of Glaciers (Southbound)
2024 - World Cruise on the Coral Princess Blog - Apr 2024 to Aug 2024 Photos Segment #1: Sydney to Tangier - 35 Days Segment #2: Tangier to Dover (via Baltic) - 21 Days Segment #3: Dover to New York - 18 Days Segment #4: New York to Brisbane - 38 Days
2020 – Indian Ocean & South Africa Odyssey + Southern Australia Explorer Blog - Jan 2020 to Mar 2020 Photos
2019 - Hawaii, Tahiti and South Pacific cruise on the Sea Princess
Blog - Aug 2019 to Oct 2019 Photos
2018 - World Cruise on the Sea Princess
Blog - Jun 2018 to Sept 2018
Photos Segment #1: Brisbane to Dubai - 19 Days Segment #2: Dubai to London - 30 Days Segment #3: London to New York - 20 Days Segment #4: New York to Brisbane - 37 Days
2017 - Cherry Blossom cruise (a.k.a. China - Japan cruise)
Blog - March 2017 to April 2017 Photos
2016 - World Cruise on the Sea Princess
Blog - May 2016 to Aug 2016
Photos Segment #1: Sydney to Dubai – 20 Days Segment #2: Dubai to London – 35 Days Segment #3: London to New York – 11 Days Segment #4: New York to Sydney – 38 Days Home Leg: Sydney to Brisbane – 2 Days
2015 - Hawaii, Tahiti and South Pacific cruise on the Sun Princess
Blog - Jul. 2015 to Aug. 2015 Photos
2014 - South East Asia on the MV Voyager
Blog - Feb. 2014 to Mar. 2014
Photos Leg #1 Treasures of Asia Leg #2 Colours of the Indian Ocean
2012 - Caribbean cruise on the MV Voyager
Blog (by Lyn) - Nov 2012 to Jan 2013
Photos (by David and Lyn) Leg #1 Voyage to the Caribbean Leg #2 Caribbean Gems Leg #3 A Tapestry of Central America
2011 – Far East cruise on the MV Discovery
Blog (by David) - Dec 2011 to Feb 2012
Photos (by David) Leg #1 Treasures of the Orient and Vietnam Leg #2 Empires of the Sun Leg #3 South East Asia and Australia
2010 - Caribbean cruise on the MV Discovery
Blog (by David) - Nov 2010 to Jan 2011
Photos (by David)  Leg #1 Discovery of the New World Leg #2 Colonial Trails of the Caribbean Leg #3 Tales of the Old Spanish Main
2009 - Grand Voyage of Discovery from Mumbai (India) to London on the MV Discovery
Blog (by David) - Mar 2009 to May 2009
Photos (by David) Leg #1 India and The Persian Gulf Leg #2 Red Sea and Eastern Mediterranean Leg #3 Black Sea, Turkey and Greek Isles Leg #4 European - mainly the Mediterranean

Thursday, 01 May 2025
Lots of military aircraft flying this morning. A major US military base is located at Pearl Harbour … 13 kilometres west of Honolulu.

We visited the Kamaka ukelele factory which has been in the same family since 1916. The tour was insightful and educational.

A long walk to the Ala Moana Shopping and Dining District for lunch, followed by an even longer walk to Waikiki Beach, at which point we needed a nice cold beer.

Aloha.

For more photos / album slideshow:

Reference:

• Previous Honolulu visits: 1976, Dec. 2005, 27 July 2015, 11 Sep 2019 + others
• Wikipedia: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, Hawaiian Islands
• Wikitravel: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

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Wednesday, 30 Apr 2025
The Royal Princess docked just before 7am to a beautiful sunny day in Honolulu. Everyone onboard (including crew) needed to go through immigration. By the time we got through it was 1.30 pm! We hoped to find a private tour, but there were no tour operators at the port … maybe it was a little late in the day.

We decided on a walk through Downtown, visiting some very interesting sites.

The beautiful ‘Iolani Palace (built in the Italianate style) was home to the Hawaiian monarchy before it was overthrown in 1893. Unfortunately, we were unable to look inside. The ‘Ioloni Barracks and Bandstand are also situated within the palace grounds.

The 18-foot bronze statue of King Kamehameha stands proudly across the road.

A quick security check and we were allowed free access to many parts of the Hawaii State Capitol building. We couldn’t believe we were allowed to visit the offices of the Governor and Lieutenant Governor. We also sat in on a session in the Senate. Everyone was relaxed, extremely friendly and helpful. A replica of the Liberty Bell is located outside the building.

The Hawaii State Library built in 1913 still serves today as the downtown branch of the Hawaii State Public Library. Outside is a statue of Patsy Takemoto Mink (1927 to 2002) … the first woman of colour elected to the US House of Representatives. Surrounding her statue were some very poignant quotes which caught our attention.

“American is about having the greatness to offer help where needed.”

“No person in the United States shall, on the basis of gender, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”

“I believe that there is still hope in our country; that we do not need to be content with mediocrity; that we do have the right to hitch our stars to the heavens and strive for excellence; that we do have the innate goodness to recognise evil and demagoguery and to see that right shall overcome all obstacles and succeed. I believe all this because you are and you must be that hope if this nation is to resemble in your future what it set out to be 200 years ago.”

Other interesting places visited:

• Aloha Tower (now a university campus)
• St Andrew’s Cathedral
• Eternal Flame Memorial for War Veterans
• Washington Place (a Colonial Greek revival-style house)
• Kaealaha’o Church and Lunalilo Mausoleum
• Honolulu Hale and the Eternal Flame for 9/11 Victims
• Mission Memorial Building and Liberty Bell of Aloha
• Early Mission Houses
• Kaka’ako Fire Station.

Lovely architecture … a nice long walk … a very enjoyable day.

For more photos / album slideshow:

Reference:

• Previous Honolulu visits: 1976, Dec. 2005, 27 July 2015, 11 Sep 2019 + others
• Wikipedia: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii, Hawaiian Islands
• Wikitravel: Honolulu, Oahu, Hawaii

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At the end of the ceremony, it began to sprinkle with rain and a beautiful rainbow filled the sky. It truly was a moment to remember. Lest we forget.

ANZAC Ceremony photos / slideshow:

Sunday, 27 April 2025 - Equator Line Crossing Ceremony, Captain's Circle Party & Formal
This afternoon was the crossing the equator ceremony for all the Pollywogs (people who have never sailed across the equator before). The Slimy Pollywogs were inducted as Trusty Shellbacks by King Neptune and Queen Double-Dee.

Previous blogs: Equator crossings

Tonight was another formal and the Captain’s Circle Party with Captain Andrea Spinardi and Beulah Greef, Future Cruise Consultant. They provided a few statistics for this cruise:
Loyalty levels
First timers: 937; Gold: 513; Ruby: 388; Platinum: 843; and Elite: 748, for a total of 3,429 passengers. There are 1,332 crew from 61 countries. The youngest passenger is only 1 year old and the oldest is 95 years.
Most travelled guests
Third had 1,601 days, second 1,774 days, and first a massive 2,400 days (around 6.5 years).
Consumption figures
10,000kg meat, 4,800kg fish, 5,000kg chicken, 4,000kg of flour, 10,000kg of fresh fruit, 2,000kg rice, 4,000kg potatoes, 33,000 eggs, 1,400kg cheese, 2,000kg yoghurt, and only 100kg of prunes that must work really well for 30,000 rolls of toilet paper.

Monday, 28 April 2025 - Just another day at sea...

For more photos / album slideshow (excluding ANZAC Day):

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