Day 13 – Sea Day Three, Happy and Sad
The final day of a cruise is always a mix of emotions. We love travelling and we love cruising, but we also love our home and, most importantly, we love...
Day 12 – Sea Day Two, Calm Seas and Sunset Skies
Thursday was our second sea day on the run back to Sydney, and it couldn’t have been more different from the day before. The sea was calm, the wind light,...
Day 11 – Sea Day One, Wind, Trivia and a Bit of Luck
Wednesday marked the first of three sea days as we began our journey back to Sydney. The slower routine continued, although the weather had clearly turned. Following the forecast we’d...
Day 10 – Bay of Islands, A Change of Pace
Today was our final port of call before beginning the journey back to Sydney. We arrived at the Bay of Islands, right at the northern end of New Zealand’s North...
Day 09 – Auckland, Family Time and Trivia Wins
Our arrival into Auckland Harbour was a bit of fun. As Discovery Princess entered the harbour, we were greeted by water cannons and a small fanfare. The skipper joked over...
Day 08 – A Perfect Day in Tauranga
Tauranga is one of those places that just works. It’s beautiful, relaxed and, when cruise ships are in town, very busy. We visited here in April when we sailed on...
Day 07 – A Long Sea Day North
Day seven was another sea day as Discovery Princess made her way up the east coast of New Zealand’s North Island. After departing Picton, the ship first headed south to...
Day 06 – Picton, Wind, Wildlife and the Sounds
Picton was our port of call today. It’s very much a working port, and that’s obvious from the moment you arrive. One of the first things we noticed, even standing...
Day 04 – Dunedin Wildlife and Steep Hills
Today was our first port of call. Discovery Princess docked at Port Chalmers right on time, but we had only an hour to spare before our excursion started. Because it...
Day 03 – A Quiet Day in Fjordland
After a hectic embarkation and two full days at sea, yesterday was exactly what we needed. Slow, quiet and restorative. We took the morning gently, drifting between reading and watching...
Day 02 – Turning 60 feels like…
I never thought I’d spend my 60th birthday somewhere on the Tasman Sea, on a luxury cruise liner between Sydney and New Zealand. But Mardi, who always plans ahead, booked...
Day 01 – The day the ceiling fell in, quite literally!
After a long travel day yesterday we slept well, but the morning gave us a shock. Around 6.00am ship time I got up to use the bathroom. While I was...
Day 00 – Discovering a Princess
It was already 30 degrees when we left Canberra at 8.00am. Three hours later we arrived in Sydney where it had climbed to 35. We moved quickly from the air-conditioned...
Sydney to Eden and Back
Anthem of the Seas felt less like a ship and more like a floating little city that we got to call home for a while. From the moment we walked...
Cruising Sydney to New Zealand to Sydney
In April Mardi and I decided to cruise from Sydney around New Zealand and back to Sydney. I'd had a couple of very tough months. Well, not only me, my...
Day 35 – 41: It’s a Long Way Home…
X marks the spot and we arrive back in We arrive back in New York on Saturday morning exactly where we left seven days earlier for our cruise. We have...
Day 34: Sea days are fun
Our last full day is a sea day. The skipper has put the foot down and we are en route to New York. As our trip winds down we take...
Day 33: Thanks (giving) Bermuda
Another glorious day greets us with a temperature of 23 degrees and stunning sunshine. The turquoise water of Bermuda shimmers at us as if saying goodbye as we prepare to...
Day 32: Turtles, pink sand and spectacular views
We are up early today. A quick breakfast in the main dining room starts us off well before we head ashore. Our tour today starts at 9.00am. We arrive in...
Day 31: Beautiful Bermuda
The ship docks at 8.00am and we rise to a warm day with scattered cloud. We have a shire excursion a little later in the day, but manage to time...
Day 29/30: All at sea, in a good way
Wow. What an awesome experience just cruising across the vast expanse of the North Atlantic Ocean. For two days we cruise in a south east direction. We make about 11...
Day 28: Prima to Bermuda
This trip has been bookended by cruises. The second phase starts today. We head off and say goodbye to the team at the AKA. They are always awesome and so...
Day 13: NYC, we’re back!
Wow, just wow. That’s a different way to arrive into NYC. All of our previous visits we’ve flown into JFK airport. Invariably late at night and exhausted after 24 hours...
Day 12: Nearing the end in Newport
We made a very slow journey from Boston to Newport Rhoda Island. part of our journey over night was navigating the very narrow Cape Cod Canal. Opened in 1916 as...
Day 11: Beautiful in Boston
We wake this morning in the birthplace of American democracy. The same day the American people elected the biggest threat to democracy, not in in the USA, but around the...
Day 10: Passing through Portland
We arrive into Portland at u.00am. It’s wet, but warm. It’s a funny morning as 670 of us need to get cleared through immigration before being let loose in the...
Day 09: Sub zero in St John
By now you’ll be noticing the weather theme in the titles. It has been colder than we expected and it is unusually cold for this time of year. We are...
Day 07: Sydney, but not as we know it!
We had breakfast in our room today. We’ve just arrived at Sydney. The name sake of my home town. But this one is in Nova Scotia. We are a long...
Day 06: Chipper in Corner Brook
We made it to Newfoundland overnight and docked at Corner Brook, another tiny port as we make our way around eastern Canada. The bay of islands, where Newfoundland is is...
Day 05: Water, water everywhere
Today we are at sea, well we are tracking eastwards along the St Lawrence river into the Gulf of St Lawrence and tracking towards Newfoundland. About 36 hours. We relax...
Day 04: Shivering in Saguenay
If we thought Quebec City was cold, it simple served as the entree to the main dish, Saguenay. Minus 6 kicked us off with a howling northerly off the water....
Day 03: Quivering in Quebec
We are up early today, 7.00am. We’ve pre-arranged breakfast in our room and it is served at 8.00am. We are heading off for a walking tour around Quebec today. We...