Cruise Passenger, Author At Cruise Passenger

Cruise Season Over – Or Is It?

It’s lonely on Sydney Harbour now that the cruise season has officially ended, but thanks to Carnival Australia we still see ships regularly from P&O Cruises and Princess Cruises that are based here all year round.

The top tips to combat sea sickness

Don’t let seasickness, or the fear of it, ruin your cruise planning and enjoyment. There are plenty of remedies that can help you out and remember: prevention is better than cure.

Azamara Journey, Day 8: Pompeii

Attempt No. 2 to catch the train from Sorrento to Pompeii worked – a 30-minute journey that takes you right to the gates of arguably the most famous archeological site in the world. Having had local guides at Valletta and Mt Etna, we knew we’d benefit from the services of an official guide here, and, after paying the entrance fee (11 euros), were lucky enough to find the wonderfully informative and entertaining guide Mario Visconti (10 euros).

Avalon Panorama Part 1

I am sitting here in my Panorama Suite on a rather chilly and gloomy day as we approach one of the locks west of Klobenz on the Mosel River.......

Azamara Journey, Day 7: Sorrento

Our plan was to take the train from Sorrento to Pompeii but when we arrived at the station we discovered that there was a rail strike – these occur at random with little or no warning. Plan B was to take the local bus along the Amalfi Coast to Positano – but of course that was everyone else’s Plan B as well, so the queue was horrendous.

Azamara Journey, Day 6: Sicily to Sorrento

Best of the Best was a memorable dinner, hosted by Captain Ikiadis, cruise director Eric De Gray (very funny guy), hotel director Scott Daniels and chief engineer Evangelos Miskedakis. It was served in the Drawing Room while we sailed through the Strait of Messina...

Radiance of the Seas, Day 6: Panama Canal

For cruise traditionalists the three “must do” voyages are an Atlantic crossing and the two great canals – the Suez and Panama. I’m determined to savour every minute of the Panama Canal. But there’s a timelessness in an inside cabin so my alarm bleats in the dark. I turn on the TV and the bow cam shows we are approaching the entrance of the Panama Canal and it’s bright daylight outside. That certainly galvanizes me into action and a few minutes later I’m dressed and on the bow with a few hundred others. Looking up I see similar crowds on the open spaces facing forward on the upper decks.

Radiance of the Seas, Day 5: Colon

For most of us, Colon is just a jumping off point to the nearby feature synonymous with the whole country of Panama – the Panama Canal. There are some human achievements that show that grand plans can come to fruition and we should be proud of what we can achieve. In an age when laying national broadband cables seems all too difficult, it’s hard to imagine looking at 77 kilometres of mountains and disease-ridden jungle and picking up pick and shovel and thinking “we can dig a ditch through this and link two oceans”...

Azamara Journey, Day 5: Taormina, Sicily

We had booked a day-long 4WD trip to the lava fields of the 10,800ft high volcano but as there were not enough takers it had been cancelled, so we set off for Taormina to see if we could find a local tour operator offering something similar.

My life in travel: John Kerr

Radio presenter John Kerr is known for delighting Australian audiences with his talkback panache, so it’s no surprise that he has a lot to say about his recent cruising experiences.

My life in travel: Paul Harragon

Family man, former footballer and sometime ‘Chief’ from Channel Nine’s The Footy Show, Paul Harragon, is a man of many talents, but in his free time he loves to go cruising with his family.

Radiance of the Seas, Day 4: Cartagena

Not visiting Colombia in general and Cartagena in particular is one of the regrets of my travel life. I’ve seen Romancing the Stone and remembered the dramatically beautiful scenes around the port of Cartagena.The first port of call on this Radiance of the Seas voyage is Cartagena, so one travel regret is about to be redressed.

Radiance of the Seas, Day 3: Exploring the ship

I expect there are people who walk on to a ship for the first time with a deck plan etched into their brains. Not me – I read the reviews and get a feeling for the ship but I love the joy of discovering things for myself. It’s even better if the journey of discovery finds enough hidden nooks and crannies that it continues for a few days.