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. A few of our longer joint trips include (any booked future travels are in red):

• 2024 - World cruise - Coral Princess
• 2023 - World Cruise Liner - Coral Princess
• 2022 - New Zealand cruise - Coral Princess
• 2022 - Europe river cruise - Emerald Destiny
• 2020 - South African Odyssey cruise + more (58+ days) - Sun Princess
• 2019 - Hawaii, Tahiti and South Pacific cruise (36 days) - Sea Princess
• 2018 - World cruise (106 days) – Sea Princess
• 2017 - Cherry Blossom cruise (42 days) – Dawn Princess
• 2016 - World cruise (107 days) – Sea Princess
• 2015 - Hawaii, Tahiti and South Pacific cruise (38 days) - Sun Princess
• 2014 - SE and Southern Asia – MV Voyager – 2 legs;
• 2012 - Caribbean and the Americas – MV Voyager – 3 legs

General travel

• Bridge cams - Princess
• Bridge cams - P&O
• Unofficial Travel Awards
• Equator Crossings
• International Date Line
• Brisbane Homeport Cruise Ships

About

• David
• The traveller
• The presenter
• The photographer
• The vexillophile (flags)
• The musician - Uke resources
• Lyn
• Countries visited (page 1 of 3)
• Summary of all cruises

Thank you for visiting our website.

Best regards

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

Cruise countdown

Links to major adventures
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
2010 – Paris
Blog (by David) - Jan 2010 Photos (by David)
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
Amamoor Lodge - various years  (including photography weekends)
Blogs: Various Photos: Amamoor Lodge B&B, Amamoor birds

Friday, 03 December 2021 - Brisbane catch-up #4

There has been a couple of catch-ups in Brisbane since July that we missed, so it was fabulous to have an opporunity to have lunch again with some fellow cruisers. A few we knew from past get togethers, and a few new friends. It was extra special having Kim and Michael visit from Cairns.

The hot topic of conversion was no longer about the now cancelled 2022 World Cruise, but the just released 2024 World Cruise which many of us transferred too. It's day 3 on the market and only a handful of cabins appear to remain!

Thanks to Wendy for organising the venue and for these photos:

Left to right: Andy, David, Kim, Cheryl, Wendy, Paul, Michael, Lyn, Lee, Peter and Joy.

Sunday, 11 July 2021 - Brisbane catch-up #3

Another wonderful catch-up, this time at Siam Thai South Bank. Around 25 people attended, some booked on the 2022 World Cruise, some booked on the 2023 World Cruise and some booked on both.

Sunday, 23 May 2021 - Brisbane catch-up #2

David was able to attend the second Brisbane catch-up at Mado Turkish Restaurant at Southbank. Once again people booked on both the next two World Cruises attended. There was also a few hoping to cruise New Zealand with us in November - fingers crossed. 

The food was excellent and the company even better...

Sunday, 14 March 2021 - Brisbane catch-up #1

Today a small group of around 40 keen fellow cruisers met at Portside, Hamilton (beside the Brisbane river) for a lovely lunch at Cruisers Alfresco. It's now only 433 days until our sail-away for the 2022 World Cruise and 814 days until our sail-away for the 2023 World Cruise Liner. With all the uncertainty caused by COVID-19, the catch-up has merged to include both 2022 and 2023 World Cruises. There was a good positive energy that we would be cruising soon....

As always, it was wonderful to meet so many like minded travellers.

Full size photos

Reference:

• Past blogs: Pre & Post Cruise Meet Ups

Start | 2022 - World Cruise | Cancelled
Start | 2023 - World Cruise Liner | Next
Start | 2024 - World Cruise | Next

Thursday, 25 November 2021 - Springwood, Logan / Brisbane

Great catch up with around 20 wonderful people. Hard to believe it's been 1,161 days since we disembarked the ship. Lots of talk about future cruising with many booked on the 2023 or 2024 world cruises. Thank you Alison for organising and these photos:

Tuesday, 22 June 2021 - Springwood, Logan / Brisbane

A very good turn-out of 21 people for today's get together. It's been three years since the 2018 World Cruise and we are still catching up with these lovely people.

Friday, 01 Nov. 2019 - Springwood, Logan / Brisbane

Another fabulous catch up at the Lions Club in Springwood with around 23 people attending. So many wonderful people - it's like a big happy family.

Friday, 26 July 2019 - Springwood, Logan / Brisbane

It was a wonderful catch up with around 30 people today.  We caught up on the past 12 months and heard about the many awesome future adventures that people are planning.

Thanks Alison and Phillip for organising. Look forward to seeing you all again soon.

Saturday, 10 Nov 2018 - Sandgate, Brisbane

Around 40 people attended the first Brisbane post-cruise get-together in the Northern suburbs of Brisbane. A wonderful way to catch-up with the many friends we had made on the cruise. Unfortunately, no photos from today.

Friday, 26 Oct 2018 - Labrador, Gold Coast

John and Jan organised a post cruise catch-up on the Gold Coast attended by around 14 people. We also had a special guest, the World Cruise's Cruise Director Corey - who was in town for his birthday celebrations.

Reference:

• Blogs: Pre & Post Cruise Meet Ups

Previous (Brisbane)  | 2018 - World Cruise | The End!

Prague to Paris (23 Nights)

With Australia and New Zealand continuing to ban cruise ships, Princess last week have cancelled our planned 2022 world cruise. The rest of the world has successfully and safely recommenced, so we need to leave Australia if we are to cruise.

We have decided to do a 14-night European river cruise from Budapest to Amsterdam. This includes 3 nights at the beginning in Prague and six nights at the end in Paris.

The adventure begins 20 July 2022 when we land in the Czech Republic and spend three nights in Prague. We are then coached to Budapest, Hungary where we board the Emerald Destiny for our 14-night river cruise to Amsterdam, Netherlands. Travelling through Slovakia, Austria, and Germany on the Danube, Main and Rhine Rivers. Then it’s a coach trip to Paris, France for six nights in the “City of Lights”.

This web page is the reference page for our blog for this trip and 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.

Prague to Budapest

Budapest to Amsterdam River Cruise

Amsterdam to Paris

Other key links:

• Full list of blog pages (to be updated)
• 2022 Europe River Cruise Photos

Reference:

Brisbane to Brisbane (110 Nights)

Our expected 107-night 2022 World Cruise was cancelled in November 2021 due to Australian COVID-19 restrictions. Princess offered to transfer to the 110-night 2024 World Cruise on the Coral Princess for the same price and we accepted. Just over 900 days until embarkation.

The adventure begins Thursday, 02 May 2024 when we board the Coral Princess in Brisbane for the start of the 2024 - World Cruise 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.

Pre-cruise

Segment #1 – Brisbane to Civitavacchia

Segment #2 – Civitavacchia to Dover

Segment #3 – Dover to New York

Segment #4 – New York to Brisbane

Other key links:

• Full list of blog pages (to be updated)
• 2024 World Cruise Photos

This trip is on the Coral Princess. Click to open a new tab of the current ship's bridge cam. The ship's current location is available on Vessel Finder and Sea Scanner. A recent view of the ship's bridge cam: (currently not working).

This adventure is expected to include:

• 111 day Brisbane to Brisbane world cruise. Cruising over 34,000 nautical miles (or more than 1.5 times around the world)
• Sailing on the Coral Princess operated by the Princess Cruises line (that's her above). With 2,000 passengers and 895 crew, the ship is 294m long and with 16 decks
• Visiting 47 ports in 32 countries, including extended visitis to Aqaba (for Petra), Barcelona, Copenhagen, Reykjavik, Cobh (for an Irish Australia Day celebration), Boston and Tahiti.
• Spending a couple of days in St Petersburg, New York and Lima
• New destinations include: Bali, the Greek island of Crete (maiden call), France's Corsica, Ijmuiden (for Amsterdam) in Netherlands, Warnemunde (for Belin, Germany), Aarhus in Denmark (maiden call), Kristiansand in Norway, Le Havre in France, Edinburgh in Scotland (maiden call), two additional new ports in Iceland, Bar Harbor (Maine, USA), and hopefully this time Easter Island.
• Access to over 27 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including Old and New Towns of Edinburgh, Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana (Pisco) and The Statue of Liberty (New York) and Rapa Nui National Park (Easter Island)

Some fun facts about our 2024 World Cruise

Crossing 3 oceans and at least 29 seas, including:

• Pacific Ocean (north and south)
• Indian Ocean
• Atlantic Ocean (north only) “The Pond”
• Mediterranean Sea
• Baltic Sea
• Caribbean Sea - "Order of the Spanish Main"
• Tasman Sea - "Crossing the Ditch"

Through at least 21 gulfs, straits, fjords and channels, including:

• Gulf of Aden (aka "Pirate Alley")
• Strait of Gibraltar - "Order of the Rock"
• English Channel
• Fjords: Eyjafjörður and Ísafjarðardjúp in Iceland - first time for both of these fjords

Into at least 13 canals, rivers, lakes, bays and harbours, including:

• Suez Canal plus Great Bitter Lake - "Safari to Suez"
• Panama Canal plus Gatun Lake - "Order of the Ditch"
• Brisbane and Hudson Rivers
• Sydney Harbour

Crossing five different major invisible lines, including:

• Equator crossing (twice) - "Shellback"
• Tropic of Cancer (twice) - "Ducking and shaving"
• Prime meridian (three times)
• International Date Line – westward for the "Domain of the Golden Dragon"

We will also be:

• visiting Cobh for their wonderful Australia Day and party
• returning to Halifax for the "Order of the Good Time"
• completing a lap around the world - "Order of Magellan"

Reference: