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
• Bridge cams - P&O (Currently disabled)
• Unofficial Travel Awards
• Equator Crossings
• International Date Line

About

• David
• The thalassophile (lover of the sea)
• The presenter
• The photographer
• The vexillophile (flags)
• The musician - Uke resources
• 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 World Cruise Blog Starting Page

2024 World Cruise Blog Starting Page

Links to major adventures
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

Sydney to Brisbane (112 Nights) - Revised Itinerary

Menu

• Introduction
• Map of cruise (zoomable Google map)
• Pre-cruise happenings
• Segment #1 - Sydney to Tangier (Revised itinerary)
• Segment #2 - Tangier to Dover
• Segment #3 - Dover to New York
• Segment #4 - New York to Brisbane
• Other Key Links
• Some More Fun Facts
• Updates
• Reference

Introduction

The adventure begins Thursday, 02 May 2024 Tuesday, 30 April 2024 when we board the Coral Princess in Brisbane Sydney 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.

This adventure is expected to include:

• 110 112 night Brisbane Sydney to Brisbane world cruise. Cruising over 34,000 35,400 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 42 ports in 32 29 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 Cape Town, Stockholm, New York and Lima
• New destinations include: Bali, the Greek island of Crete (maiden call), France's Corsica, Port Louis in Mauritius, Walvis Bay in Namibia, Mindelo in Cape Verde Islands, Las Palmas in the Canary Islands, Ijmuiden (for Amsterdam) in Netherlands, Warnemunde (for Berain Germany), Visby on Gotland Island (Sweden), 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), The Statue of Liberty (New York) and Rapa Nui National Park (Easter Island)

Pre-cruise Happenings

Segment #1 – Sydney to Tangier

Segment #2 – Tangier to Dover

Segment #3 – Dover to New York

Segment #4 – New York to Brisbane

Other key links:

• Just the photos:
• Segment #1 - Sydney to Tangier (Revised itinerary)
• Segment #2 - Tangier to Dover
• Segment #3 - Dover to New York
• Segment #4 - New York to Brisbane
• Pre-cruise photos
• Full list of blog pages
• List of videos:
• TBA - updated as created
• Self-guided walking tours (with KMZ map files):
• Mindelo, Cape Verde
• Ghent, Belgium
• Warnemunde, Germany
• Helsinki, Finland
• Visby, Sweden

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:

Some more fun facts about our 2024 World Cruise

Crossing 3 4 oceans and at least 25 9 seas, including:

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

Through at least 24 16 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 22 25 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:

• Tropic of Capricorn
• 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 party
• returning to Halifax for the "Order of the Good Time"
• completing a third continuous lap around the world - "Order of Magellan"

Updates

07 Feb 2024: With just 85 days to go, there was a major itinerary change annouced by Princess today:

Based on the current security environment and future uncertainties in this area of the world, we have made the difficult decision to reroute this cruise to bypass the Red Sea and surrounding region, including transit of the Suez Canal.

As a result, you will now embark two days earlier than originally scheduled and in a different port — in Sydney on Tuesday, 30 April, instead of in Brisbane on Thursday, 2 May.

In addition, we will no longer visit Asia, the Middle East, or the Mediterranean. Instead, after leaving Sydney we will travel to Fremantle then on to South Africa and up the west coast of Africa, exploring one-of-a-kind destinations along the way. From there we will resume our schedule in Tangier.

Princess will fly us down to Sydney and we will have two extra nights on-board at no cost (now 112 nights). In addition, they have been very generous and have offered a Future Cruise Credit of 15% of the cruise fare and $750 each onboard credit.

30 Jan 2024: The following was reported in today's press: MIAMI, Jan. 30, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Carnival Corporation & plc (NYSE/LSE: CCL; NYSE: CUK) is committed to the safety and well-being of its guests and crew and has been actively monitoring the situation in the Red Sea and surrounding region. Given recent developments and in close consultation with global security experts and government authorities, the Company has made the decision to reroute itineraries for 12 ships across seven brands, which were scheduled to transit the Red Sea through May 2024. This World Cruise on the Coral Princess is one of the 12 ships.

In another news release, the company advised that the itinerary for the upcoming world cruise on the Coral Princess is currently being “re-worked” and expected in three days.

14 Dec 2023: Final payment for this cruise was made today. After the challenges of the past few years, it's now very real. Fingers crossed we'll be able to cruise the Red Sea (due to attacks from Houthi militants in Yemen). Only 140 days to go...

01 Feb 2023: The two-day visit to St. Petersburg, Russia has been cancelled. It has been replaced by an extra day in Stockholm (now cruising to the port near the city centre) and adding a call to Visby, Sweden on the island of Gotland. That's very good news.

10 Nov 2021: Our expected 107-night 2022 World Cruise was cancelled 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...

15 Sep 2020: Today we booked the 2022 World Cruise on the Coral Princess - only 613 days until embarkation. The adventure begins 20 May 2022 when we board the Coral Princess in Brisbane. Note: Little did we know it would be changed to the 2024 World Cruise from Brisbane. That's 1,326 days (or 3 years, 7 months, 18 days) between booking and the new embarkation - a serious countdown!

Reference:

Sydney to Brisbane (115 Nights) - Revised Itinerary

Menu

• Introduction
• Map of cruise (zoomable Google map)
• Pre-cruise Happenings
• Segment #1 - Brisbane to Barcelona (Revised itinerary)
• Segment #2 - Barcelona to Dover (Revised itinerary)
• Segment #3 - Dover to New York (Revised itinerary)
• Segment #4 - New York to Brisbane
• Other Key Links
• Some More Fun Facts
• Updates
• Reference

Introduction

The adventure begins Friday, 06 June 2024 Wednesday, 04 June 2025 when we board the Crown Princess in Brisbane Sydney for the start of the 2025 - 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.

This adventure is expected to include:

• 113 115 nights Brisbane Sydney to Brisbane world cruise. Cruising approx. 33,500 36,000 nautical miles (or more than 1.5 times around the world)
• Sailing on the Crown Princess operated by the Princess Cruises line (that's her above). With 3,000 passengers and 1200 crew, the ship is 290m long and with 19 decks
• Visiting 49 ports in 28 countries, including extended visitis to Singapore, Aqaba (for Petra), Galilee/Nazareth, Barcelona, Cobh (for an Irish Australia Day celebration), Dover, Reykjavik, Tahiti and Auckland.
• Spending a couple of days in New York and Lima
• New destinations include: Israel, Crete, Naples, Elba, Livorno, Toulon, Gibraltar, Valencia, Mallorca, Cartagena (Spain), Casablanca, Cadiz, Bilbao, Le Verdon, Greenock, Liverpool, Norway (5 3 ports), and the new Panama Canal locks
  
• Access to over 25 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, including the Lines and Geoglyphs of Nasca and Pampas de Jumana (Pisco), The Statue of Liberty (New York) and Rapa Nui National Park (Easter Island)

Pre-cruise Happenings

Segment #1 – Sydney to Barcelona
Approx. 26,220 km

Segment #2 – Barcelona to Dover
Approx. 6,130 km

Segment #3 – Dover to New York
Approx. 11,127 km

Segment #4 – New York to Brisbane
Approx. 23,098 km

Other key links

• Full list of blog pages (to be updated)
• 2025 World Cruise Photos
• Videos:
• TBA - updated as created
• KMZ files for self-guided walking tours:
• TBA

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:

Some more fun facts about our 2025 World Cruise

Crossing 3 oceans and at least 32 seas, including:

• Pacific Ocean (north and south)
• Indian Ocean
• Atlantic Ocean (north only) “The Pond”
• Mediterranean Sea
• Irish Sea
• Artic Sea - completing the "Order of the Sparrow"
• 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: Sognefjord in Norway, and Ísafjarðardjúp in Iceland

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 six different major invisible lines:

• Tropic of Capricorn (four times)
• Equator crossing (twice) - "Shellback"
• Tropic of Cancer (twice) - "Ducking and shaving"
• Prime meridian (three times)
• Arctic circle - "Order of the Blue Nose"
• 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 forth continuous lap around the world - "Order of Magellan"

Updates

26 April 2024: Today the Coral Princess arrives in Auckland to start WC24 for the NZ passengers. Also today, the revised itinerary for WC25 has been released with the following changes:

• Leaving from Sydney two days earlier (instead of Brisbane)
• Stopping at same ports as the revised WC24 cruise for Fremantle, Port Loius, Cape Town, Walvis Bay, Mindelo and Las Palmas
• New ports for this cruise: Adelaide, Gibraltar, Valencia, Cartagena and Cadiz
• Still visiting Casablanca, Barcelona, Palma and Tangier (different days)
• Resumed schedule from Lisbon, Portugal with the follow two exceptions:
• Svolvaer and Tromso in Norway have been removed
• Reykjavik and Isafjordur in Iceland have been swaped

10 April 2024: "Given the ongoing situation in the Red Sea and surrounding area, and following extensive consultation with global security experts and government authorities, we have made the decision to reroute our 2025 World Cruise to bypass the Red Sea and surrounding region, including transit of the Suez Canal and destinations in Asia. <snip> We are currently working to finalize details for all voyages, and will send you updated information about your itinerary by the end of April." John Padgett, President (BTW, 422 days until embarkation)

04 April 2023: Booked the Brisbane to Brisbane Princess World Cruise - only 795 days until embarkation...

Reference

Friday, 29 March 2024 - Last Oz stop before WC24 cruise

Good Friday and the Coral Princess has arrived in Brisbane on its 35 day Hawaii cruise. The next time we see her back in Australia will be on 30 April in Sydney when we start this year's World Cruise (of course our New Zealand WC24 friends will board a few days earlier).

Funnily enough, we also visited the Sea Princess the month before we boarded her for the 2016 World Cruise. Arrrhh, the memories....

This time we had an added bonus of catching up with our good friends Chris and Sandie (who we first met on WC16). It was lovely spending the day with them, especially as it was Sandie's 70th birthday - Happy birthday Sandie.

Saturday, 23 March 2024 - WC24 get-together - Brisbane

Around 28 people turned out for the 2024 World Cruise get-together at Siam Thai in Southbank. Only 38 days to go...

Thursday, 01 Feburary 2024 - Gift Hamper

Late last year we started using a Travel Agent for our future world cruises. They were able to give us personal service far begond the current Princess contact, extra on-board credit, and we'd heard about the annual get-together on top of Marina Bay Sands in Singapore for all their world cruisers. What more could you want? Well, to our delight they contacted us a few weeks back to organise our transport to the Brisbane International Cruise Terminal - yes please!

Now we recieve a gift hamper with French Champange and other goodies as we "may wish to celebrate" our fast approaching World Cruise. Wow! Thank you Jane and the Clean Cruising Team. If you're interested too, please use the QR-code (or this link) to join and we'll both recieve a $50 referral credit! How good is that?

Reference:

• Photos from all 2024 pre-cruise happenings
• Past blogs: Pre & Post Cruise Meet Ups

Previous | 2024 - World Cruise | Next

08 December - 15 December 2023

Coolangatta, Queensland:

Cooly Carols (at Queen Elizabeth Park) - 10 Dec 2023:

Drive to Pottsville, NSW:

Our photos / album slideshow: