If only I lived closer....

A Super Itinerary

The program for Unlock the Past's 5th Genealogy Cruise, The British Isles Discovery Cruise, looks
fantastic and the itinerary around The British Isles very interesting.  I would love to join this cruise but I have to limit my geneajaunts.

If I lived in the UK or the US a bit closer to the departure port than Sydney, Australia I would definitely be hopping on board this cruise. Why?

Among the lineup of speakers for this cruise are some speakers who are new to me and some from whom I would love to hear more.

I first met Marie Dougan from Scotland at Rootstech 2011 and this year I co-presented in a panel presentation with her. Marie is an engaging, knowledgeable and polished speaker with a depth of knowledge about technology and Scottish research. Having enjoyed a wee chat or two with Marie I now that she is great company.

Another bright personality joining the cruise is Jackie Depelle whom I have not met but whom I follow on social media. I would love to corner Jackie to learn a few Family Historian tips from her and to find out all about her hat collection. Jackie has a fascinating list of talks on her website, I would enjoy hearing any of these.

Jayne Shrimpton is on my list of experts to meet. Jayne is a fashion historian and photo detective. Hearing the stories of how she has analysed and dated thousands of photographs has great appeal for me. For now I will just have to be satisfied to reading about Jayne's work online.

What a cracker of an itinerary is planned for this cruise. Visiting ports in England, France, Ireland and Scotland the cruise calls at several islands including The Scilly Isles and Guernsey, places that are off the regular tourist trail.

This cruise appeals to me because it is on a small ship rather than on a megaliner with several thousand other people. The ice-skating rinks, climbing walls and other attractions of these ships leave me cold, my preference is for a more peaceful atmosphere.  Of course one of the issues with a small ship is that there is a limit to the number of people who can join this cruise.

If you are thinking of joining this geneacruise you had better follow this link to see how you can make a booking.

Trove Tuesday - Modern Cruise Ship

This week finds me on the high seas on board a modern cruise ship, The Voyager of the Seas, learning about genealogy with over 140 other family history enthusiasts from the Unlock the Past crew .

Wondering what Trove could tell me about cruising on modern ships I entered the search term "modern cruise ship" into the newspapers search there and selected the following items to share.

1927 'BOWLING.', The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), 28 February, p. 5, viewed 7 February, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29664661

As the text from 1927 is a bit fuzzy here is what it says:

LIKE AN HOTEL.                

Fix this text

This photograph shows portion of the writing-room of the Cunard- line s.s. Franconia, which is due at Honart on a world cruise today.

The Franconia is one of the most modern cruising ships in the world, and, is employed almost exclusively

in that service.     

1927 'BOWLING.', The Mercury (Hobart, Tas. : 1860 - 1954), 28 February, p. 5, viewed 7 February, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article29664661

The Cunard . 20,000-ton R.M.S. Franconia, which with nearly 400 British and American tourists aboard, is due at Hobart

Fix this text

early this, morning ; The Franconia, which is a sister ship to the Carinthia, is chartered to Thomas Cook and Sonearly this morning. The Franconia, which ls a sister ship to the Carinthia, is chartered to Thomas Cook, and Son for

this cruise. 

Gone Fishin'

As I am setting sail tomorrow on a ship with exhorbitant internet connection fees I may not be able to blog. If I do blog my posts may have to be text based without any pretty pictures.

So that you don't have Geniaus withdrawal I have scheduled a few posts during my absence.

I'll be back with a lot to report from the Unlock the Past History and Genealogy Cruise on 19th February.

Trove Tuesday - Pacific Cruise

Together with around 150 family history enthusiasts I will be setting sail on a Pacific cruise next Sunday when the Unlock the Past cruise leaves Sydney on board the Voyager of the Seas. We will be calling at Noumea and Fiji.

For today's post I turned to Trove to see what I could find out about cruising in the Pacific.

1934 'MOONLIGHT IN THE PACIFIC.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 3 January, p. 14, viewed 4 February, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article17037404

1933 'No title.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956), 5 January, p. 5, viewed 4 February, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article4517829

1906 'MAIDEN CRUISE OF THE SUVA.', The Sydney Morning Herald (NSW : 1842 - 1954), 5 July, p. 8, viewed 5 February, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article14783871

1937 'CRUISE TO FIJI.', The Argus (Melbourne, Vic. : 1848 - 1956), 18 August, p. 14, viewed 5 February, 2013, http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article11116959

I wonder how our experiences will mirror those of these journeys in the past.

Frequent Cruiser

Life on the high seas is fun. Mr Geniaus and I are becoming frequent cruisers having recently returned from a 27 day cruise and with bookings for two more under our belts.

My cruising will take on a different focus when, in February 2013, I set off on the 3rd Unlock the Past  History and Genealogy Cruise. I look forward to spending time with people whose eyes won't glaze over when I start talking about dead people. I am thrilled to be presenting on a number of topics on this voyage so for me January will be a month of preparing and polishing up presentations.

Alan Phillips (Mr UTP) contacted me recently and invited me to present on the 4th Unlock the Past  History and Genealogy Cruise details of which have been announced. I was delighted to accept his invitation as I hold the two main presenters, Thomas MacEntee and Chris Paton, in high regard and enjoy listening to and learning from them. I also like the itinerary for this journey that highlights several Australian cities.

There is plenty of time to save your pennies for this event in February 2014  so how about filling up your piggybank and joining us for some leisure and learning at  sea.

Genealogy on the High Seas

I love cruising. Unpacking my bags once, travelling overnight  to a new port each day and being fed and watered each day without having to consider that infernal travel issue of "Where will we eat tonight?"

Some of my cruising experiences have been enhanced by the personal enrichment activities on offer. I learnt the ins and outs of Photoshop elements on a cruise up the Eastern Coast of the US and Canada and gained great photography tips from Peter Simon on a cruise round the Caribbean. Sadly I have not yet struck a genealogy cruise that fits in with my requirements and schedule.

While I was on my most recent cruise around the Hawaiian Islands details were announced for the 3rd Unlock the Past History & Genealogy Cruise in February 2013. While I'd like to join this cruise I don't think I can make it as I'll either be at Rootstech 2013 (if there is one) or on a South American cruise that I am trying to convince Mr Geniaus that we need to take. I had to miss the 2nd Unlock the Past cruise due to my Hawaiian excursion.


The 9th Annual Legacy Genealogy Cruise that is in two parts, to be held in May 2012, will visit Norway, France, Ireland, England, Scotland, and Denmark is my pick so far for 2012. It travels to some places in Norway I have never visited, visits some favourite ones and does nothave too many days at sea to bore the sox off Mr Geniaus. Unfortunately I cannot justify purchasing the international airfares to join this cruise so soon after returning from Rootstech in March.


This March genealogy cruise from Bombay to Luxor has appeal to me - I do hope this company offers more genealogy cruises in the future as I like travelling on smaller ships rather than the monsters that are used for some genealogy cruises.


Perhaps the Wholly Genes cruise that is usually held later in the year will suit me. I do wish that announcements for these events were made earlier so that people like me could watch out and take advantage of airfare specials to the Northern Hemisphere.


Some day my genealogy cruise will come!

Whither shall I cruise?

When attending a genealogy function recently I reflected on the benefits of getting together with like-minded people to discuss a common interest.

For the past couple of years I have been reading about genealogy cruises. As I enjoy cruising this type of event where I can do a bit of sightseeing while learning more about my hobby appeals to me.

As a user of The Master Genealogist I am attracted to their cruise. It is on a reasonable cruise line, although I am not a fan of huge ships and visits a range of interesting ports in Mexico and Honduras that I have not visited before. The lineup of international speakers is most impressive. Being able to meet with people who are expert in the use of my chosen software would provide wonderful learning opportunities for me. I haven't ruled out a last minute booking for this event , however, it is a long way for someone who has already had one US trip this year.

The Legacy Genealogy Cruise 2010 would be my choice if it didn't clash with the predicted birthdate of my next grandchild. I just cannot plan to be out of the country at this time. This cruise leaves my home port of Sydney Australia on November 8th for a 13 day cruise to New Zealand. Once again it is on a huge ship of the Princess line, a line of reasonable quality. New Zealand, a land of stunning landscapes, is a very attractive cruise destination.

Although I do not use the Legacy program the program promises to have topics of a general nature and of appeal to those not using the Legacy software. Before I would book this cruise I would like to be able to view the program and list of speakers; unfortunately the Legacy Classes - Schedule & Descriptions page has no details of speakers or topics.

The Mennonite Heritage Cruise appeals to me because it visits a part of the world I have not yet explored and on my preference of a small ship. It would be unlikey that, on a cruise devoted to an area and people with whom I have no realtionship, I would learn a lot to apply to my family history reaearch. The 2010 October Mennonite Heritage Cruise will be their sixteenth and last annual cruise.

A note on the Rootsmagic site simply states "Please check back later for information about our next cruise."

Australian group Unlock the Past have bravely organised for March 2011 a History and Genealogy Cruise of 7 nights cruising the South Pacific. I hope that this is a successful venture for them.

As the content of the program for this cruise should have a markedly Australian bias it has much appeal. I am concerned that the cruise will only highlight Unlock the Past speakers and be a promotional vehicle for the wares of Gould Genealogy. Hopefully the speakers will be chosen, not just for knowledge in their subject area but also for their communication and presentation skills. I look forward to seeing a call for papers and following that a draft program on the website soon.

The cruise leaves the port of Brisbane on the east coast with three island visits. It will be easily accessible by air to Australians on the east coast. I am nervous about travelling on a P&O tourist class ship but if the speakers' program is appealing I will certainly throw caution to the wind and sail away with P&O.

DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog: Legacy Cruise: NZ

This cruise starts and ends in our home town, Sydney, - hope that I can make it.

DearMYRTLE's Genealogy Blog: Legacy Cruise: NZ & Australia Nov 2010

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Legacy News: Cast Your Vote - Legacy Genealogy Cruise 2010

Legacy News: Cast Your Vote - Legacy Genealogy Cruise 2010

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