This morning we had a (scheduled) late arrival in Regensburg, Germany. Before arriving we passed by Valhalla. Our guided tour started at 10:30. The tour took us around the old town of Regensburg. There was a large Roman army camp in town and the guide showed us what was left of the main gate. The…
Category: Cruise
River Cruise – Day 10 [Day 6 of Cruise – Salzburg, Austria]
This morning the ship arrived briefly in Aschach, Austria. I walked around a few minutes before getting on a long bus ride to Salzburg, Austria. The bus left at 08:30 and arrived in Salzburg at around 11:00. We took a brief stop along the way for some photos and the bathroom. Once arriving in Salzburg…
River Cruise – Day 9 [Day 5 of Cruise – Durnstein and Melk, Austria]
This morning we arrived in Durnstein, Austria. They brought us through the old town and gave us an optional hike up to the castle ruins. The hike was about 180 meters of an elevation change. The view from the castle was wonderful. After walking back down from the castle on the hill I went into…
River Cruise – Day 8 [Day 4 of Cruise – Vienna, Austria]
This morning out ship sailed through Vienna and docked in Nussdorf. It is a little distance from the city. After breakfast we left the ship at 08:30 for our tour of the city. The bus drove us around to see some of the beautiful buildings and then dropped us off at Hofburg Palace. We walked…
River Cruise – Day 7 [Day 3 of Cruise – Bratislava, Slovakia]
This morning I took a bit of rest, the ship will not arrive until the afternoon, so the tour of Bratislava is scheduled for after lunch. In the morning before we arrived I got a tour of the wheelhouse. It was quite interesting with two large radar screens and a large gps screen. The ship…
River Cruise – Day 6 [Day 2 of Cruise – Budapest, Hungary]
This morning I woke up and had breakfast, it was nice to have an American breakfast for a change. Eggs, bacon, sausage, toast. It was all good. We started our adventure at 0900 with a bus tour of Budapest. The tour guide was great and gave us a lot of information. I was surprised we…
River Cruise – Day 5 [Embarkation Day – Budapest, Hungary]
This morning I planned to visit the national archives, but when I arrived I was told it was closed. I walked around Castle Hill a little before taking a bus to Wekerle estate which was interesting, but not worth the time to travel there and back. Castle Hill Photos: Wekerle Estate Photos: I took the…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 17 [Day 11 of Cruise – Auckland, New Zealand]
Unfortunately it’s time to disembark. The cruise was great with the exception of one tour. I dragged my bags for 20 minutes to the Sheraton. I walked back to the Queens wharf to find the tour guide. The tour visited many of the places I already had seen already walking to the tour. After the…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 16 [Day 10 of Cruise – Tauranga, New Zealand]
It appeared that it would be another chilly and rainy day. I had reservations to tour the Hobbiton Movie Set at 12:30, so it was a bit of a struggle to find things to do in the rain. I did find a small aviation museum near the airport. Like all aviation museums they had a…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 15 [Day 9 of Cruise – Sea Day]
I spent part of today resting, and part of it going through a few photos from Sydney. Tonight was the fancy formal dinner complete with prime rib and lobster. The lobster was fantastic. My prime rib was also good. For the starter I had French onion soup. For dessert I had baked Alaska and creme…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 14 [Day 8 of Cruise – Napier, New Zealand]
I woke up this morning to a cold, windy and rainy morning. I was nearly covered in Gore-Tex from head to toe when I left the ship in the morning (my Red Wing boots are waterproof, but not Gore-Tex unlike my pants, coat (with a hood), and gloves. Mysteriously the rain let up almost immediately…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 13 [Day 7 of Cruise – Picton, New Zealand]
Today’s weather is cold and rainy. I went on an excursion by boat through Queen Charlotte Sound. The sound here is very inspiring, lots of green ferns and other trees. After the cruise they took us back to the bus after making a comfort stop. The only interesting thing at the comfort stop was this…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 12 [Day 6 of Cruise – Akaroa, New Zealand]
This morning the ship used the life boats to tender us to shore. I took the Christchurch on your own tour. I was a bit disappointed in the late meeting time. Once we got on the bus the driver said we were supposed to have 4 hours of free time in Christchurch, but we wouldn’t…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 11 [Day 5 of Cruise – Dunedin, New Zealand]
Today is my first day on land since boarding the ship. I chose the Taeri Gorge Train and Dunedin Highlights tour. The weather didn’t cooperate today, it was chilly, rainy and a bit foggy. I walked onto the train from the ship. There were a few outside areas between the cars that allowed for better…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 10 [Day 4 of Cruise – Fiordland National Park]
I’ve technically arrived in New Zealand today, although I didn’t get off the ship. I set up my GoPro to create time lapse videos. The first Fiord was Milford Sound. We entered about 7:30 AM after the Princess ship. We stopped briefly to let a few passengers off that was doing an overnight experience. I…
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 9 [Day 3 of Cruise – Sea Day]
Finally able to catch back up. Sea is cold and choppy. The ship will be sailing through the Fjords tomorrow. I’ll have the GoPro set up.
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 8 [Day 2 of Cruise – Sea Day]
Just a relaxing day at sea with a Turkey dinner for Thanksgiving.
Australia and New Zealand Cruise – Day 7 [Departure from Sydney – Day 1 of Cruise]
This morning I visited the Chinese Garden of Friendship in Darling Harbour. It’s a nice garden in the midst of the city. I took a walk through Paddy’s market in Chinatown for souvenirs. There were a number of good deals. The uber took a while to get to the hotel, but eventually I made it…
Cuba cruise, Day 6 [disembarkation]
We had our breakfast at 8 AM in the main dining room. The last shuttle bus to the airport was at 10 AM, so we wanted to make sure we had enough time to get through customs and immigration. Going through immigration and customs was very painless. They looked at our passport and let…
Cuba cruise, Day 5 [Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas]
Today is the last day of the cruise. The ship is visiting Great Stirrup Cay which is a private island in the Bahamas. I started the day by taking the tender to the island and snorkeling. I wasn’t in the right area, so I didn’t see too much. I had some lunch on the…