BON VOYAGE Coral Princess World Cruisers 2024

[Mareblu]

Thank you for taking me on this wonderful voyage.  I simply loved Cape Breton Island, more Scottish than Scotland🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿🇨🇦

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Kiwi_cruiser said:

After leaving Reykjavik, Iceland Coral Princess has 5 day at sea before she gets to her next port of call Sydney (Cape Breton Island), Canada.

 

She is currently on day 3 of her sea days.

Current position of Coral Princess:

 

Under way from Reykjavik to Sydney (Cape Breton Island)

 

 

 

Departure was 2 d 12 hrs 58 min ago. (at 23:00 h local time)

Arrival will be in 1 d 22 hrs 2 min. (at 07:00 h local time)

Traveled distance since Reykjavik: 966.42 nm (1,789.82 km)

Remaining distance to Sydney (Cape Breton Island): 727.96 nm (1,348.18 km)

Traveled distance since Dover: 3,076.48 nm (5,697.64 km)

Course: 226°

It's 4 sea days, not 5. I wish it was 5 though as I've been battling bronchitis for the last 6 days. I missed all the Iceland ports 😭. I'm just hoping I'll be well enough to go ashore at the Sydney port stop. It will be touch and go!

[Cbtours]

7 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's 4 sea days, not 5. I wish it was 5 though as I've been battling bronchitis for the last 6 days. I missed all the Iceland ports 😭. I'm just hoping I'll be well enough to go ashore at the Sydney port stop. It will be touch and go!

Oh no🥺

hope you come good soon.❤️

[Mareblu]

Hang in there Julie.  While on Oceania Vista in May, I was also diagnosed with acute bronchitis.  Wonderful medical care, but it came with a bill of over $AUD7,000 (ouch). Insurance claim is in, so fingers crossed.  Hope you’re able to avoid that, and you recover well and rapidly.

[Aus Traveller]

8 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's 4 sea days, not 5. I wish it was 5 though as I've been battling bronchitis for the last 6 days. I missed all the Iceland ports 😭. I'm just hoping I'll be well enough to go ashore at the Sydney port stop. It will be touch and go!

I'm so sorry to hear you have been crook and that you missed the Iceland ports. ☹️ Hope you are well soon. I wouldn't worry too much if you have to miss Sydney (Nova Scotia). There isn't that much to see.

[Blackduck59]

26 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I'm so sorry to hear you have been crook and that you missed the Iceland ports. ☹️ Hope you are well soon. I wouldn't worry too much if you have to miss Sydney (Nova Scotia). There isn't that much to see.

You were looking in the wrong places.

[windsor26]

3 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

You were looking in the wrong places.

I was also not over excited with Sydney Nova Scotia when we visited last year

[Blackduck59]

1 minute ago, windsor26 said:

I was also not over excited with Sydney Nova Scotia when we visited last year

Did you go to Louisburg? Did you engage with the locals, try fresh lobster. Enjoy some down home fiddling? I'm not sure what you expect from a small town in one of the smallest Provinces in Canada.

[windsor26]

8 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

Did you go to Louisburg? Did you engage with the locals, try fresh lobster. Enjoy some down home fiddling? I'm not sure what you expect from a small town in one of the smallest Provinces in Canada.

Always engage with the locals and did   No do eat lobster...  watched fiddling but not musical  Not knocking Sydney but I have been to places that offer more

[Mareblu]

We visited in autumn, and I loved everything about Cape Breton Island.  We were greeted in the dockside terminal by musicians playing Scottish fiddles and bagpipes, and tables of craft pieces made by the local folk selling their own ware.  Unlike some trinkets for sale in terminals, this craft was intricate, clever and of the highest quality.  Our tour that day was one of our most memorable in all our years of sailing:  a journey through hills of autumn trees with foliage like jewels.  The rich hues of crimson and gold were breathtaking.  
 

We finally arrived at Iona, a recreated highland village in the heart of the island, on the shores of Bras d’Or(arms of gold), the Island’s inland sea.  The village was historically faithfully constructed, and in its simplicity evoked the crofts and humble homes of the mother highlands the  immigrants to this land of a different beauty discovered.  Rereading my diary brought memories of Deanna, our erudite guide with a degree in history, and our witty driver, Julian.  They both spoke Gaelic fluently, and explained that their love and pride of their homeland, Canada is interwoven with a reverence for the true stories, myths and legends passed down from their Scottish ancestors.

 

Nothing much of interest in Cape Breton Island?  I’d return in a heartbeat.

[Aus Traveller]

I have visited Sydney twice. On the first occasion I went on a Princess tour of the local area. It was OK. Last year I went on an all-day driving tour that was much more interesting. It would have been fantastic in the autumn with the trees in fall foliage. Lunch was the local delicacy - lobster rolls. This was a lovely day.

 

My original comment was meant to express my opinion that I would have been more upset to miss the Icelandic ports than Sydney. There are so many fantastic sights in Iceland!

[Kiwi_cruiser]

16 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

It's 4 sea days, not 5. I wish it was 5 though as I've been battling bronchitis for the last 6 days. I missed all the Iceland ports 😭. I'm just hoping I'll be well enough to go ashore at the Sydney port stop. It will be touch and go!

 

Oh, noooooooo! 😭

 

Hope you get better soon!

[Mareblu]

We absolutely loved our time in Iceland:  the viking history, the incredible and unique geology, and the culture, especially the belief in and legends about elves and their rock domains.  I would also return to Iceland in a heartbeat.  Cape Breton Island commands a different fascination, and captured my heart with a different history and culture.  They are diverse and magical lands, and I loved them both.

[Aus Traveller]

9 minutes ago, Mareblu said:

We absolutely loved our time in Iceland:  the viking history, the incredible and unique geology, and the culture, especially the belief in and legends about elves and their rock domains.  I would also return to Iceland in a heartbeat.  Cape Breton Island commands a different fascination, and captured my heart with a different history and culture.  They are diverse and magical lands, and I loved them both.

In Iceland I loved the incredible waterfalls and also the rift where the American tectonic plate meets the European plate.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, Mareblu said:

Hang in there Julie.  While on Oceania Vista in May, I was also diagnosed with acute bronchitis.  Wonderful medical care, but it came with a bill of over $AUD7,000 (ouch). Insurance claim is in, so fingers crossed.  Hope you’re able to avoid that, and you recover well and rapidly.

I had the right antibiotics in my medical kit, plus cough syrup and Panadol, so have managed to avoid going anywhere near the medical centre so far. But from past experience it's going to take me longer than I'd like to recover, damn it!

 

I used to get bronchitis quite a bit in the past but hadn't had it at all in the past 8-9 years. It takes a fairly powerful antibiotic to knock it out. My GP has been good about ensuring I have some when we travel.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We've moved into the Gulf of St Lawrence, in heavy fog. I'd wondered why we were tracking so far west. I'd expected we would be going down the eastern side of Newfoundland.

 

We've had a fair bit of fog on various parts of the cruise but, so far, we've had very light seas, just 3-4 bouncy bits since we started and they only lasted a few hours.

[Cbtours]

44 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I had the right antibiotics in my medical kit, plus cough syrup and Panadol, so have managed to avoid going anywhere near the medical centre so far. But from past experience it's going to take me longer than I'd like to recover, damn it!

 

I used to get bronchitis quite a bit in the past but hadn't had it at all in the past 8-9 years. It takes a fairly powerful antibiotic to knock it out. My GP has been good about ensuring I have some when we travel.

Great to have good relationship with GP. I’ve been with same one for 46 yrs! I keep telling him to let me know when he’s going to retire, cos then I’ll have to find new one closer to where we live. It makes such a difference when there is good Dr /patient trust.

[Mareblu]

49 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

I had the right antibiotics in my medical kit, plus cough syrup and Panadol, so have managed to avoid going anywhere near the medical centre so far. But from past experience it's going to take me longer than I'd like to recover, damn it!

 

I used to get bronchitis quite a bit in the past but hadn't had it at all in the past 8-9 years. It takes a fairly powerful antibiotic to knock it out. My GP has been good about ensuring I have some when we travel.

That’s wonderful protection and armament.  I carried antibiotics, but the class required for any incidental dental procedures, as I have a knee replacement, and a finger joint replacement,  Because blood supply doesn’t reach and nourish metal, an oral bacteria rush to the blood can result in dire consequences, so antibiotics prior to dental treatment is imperative.  
 

Vista’s  medical officer was a very  knowledgeable and efficient doctor, and immediately admitted me to the ship’s hospital, and administered specific intravenous antibiotics targeting acute bronchitis.  This followed comprehensive blood tests and lab analysis, a 2-hour nebuliser session, and lung xrays.  Wonderful care, and fairly rapid improvement, but Kerchung!!!

Edited July 7 by Mareblu

[ceeceeDee]

11 hours ago, Cbtours said:

Great to have good relationship with GP. I’ve been with same one for 46 yrs! I keep telling him to let me know when he’s going to retire, cos then I’ll have to find new one closer to where we live. It makes such a difference when there is good Dr /patient trust.

Absolutely and I hadn't thought of taking antibiotics in my medical kit on a cruise. Great idea and I know my GP will see the logic.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Just now, ceeceeDee said:

Absolutely and I hadn't thought of taking antibiotics in my medical kit on a cruise. Great idea and I know my GP will see the logic.

We've been carrying them for some years now, both a broad spectrum antibiotic plus the ones I need for bronchitis. This is the first time I've had to use any of them though - they've usually ended up getting chucked out when they are past their use by date. Still, it's worth having them. I wish I could get anti-virals as well but you have to test positive to Covid to get those in NSW.

[Aus Traveller]

We have been carrying antibiotics with us on cruises since 2008. I have had bronchitis several times and two bouts of pneumonia (before I had my own meds with me). My doc prescribes very strong antibiotics and has told me to 'hit' bronchitis early and hard. If I went to the Medical Centre on board, they would probably prescribe 500 mg Amoxicillin. For all the good it would do me, I might as well flush it down the toilet. In the delay to get appropriately strong meds, I would develop pneumonia and be very sick.

 

Like Julie, I usually don't have to take the antibiotics and end up tossing them when they reach their expiry date.

[Bubbeh]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

We have been carrying antibiotics with us on cruises since 2008. I have had bronchitis several times and two bouts of pneumonia (before I had my own meds with me). My doc prescribes very strong antibiotics and has told me to 'hit' bronchitis early and hard. If I went to the Medical Centre on board, they would probably prescribe 500 mg Amoxicillin. For all the good it would do me, I might as well flush it down the toilet. In the delay to get appropriately strong meds, I would develop pneumonia and be very sick.

 

Like Julie, I usually don't have to take the antibiotics and end up tossing them when they reach their expiry date.

I have recently discovered that antibiotics can maintain their effectiveness for up to 18 years past their use by date.  Apparently, when the Govt required all food etc to have either a Use By or Best Before date the pharmaceutical companies did not have sufficient data or time to fully investigate this so, in order to comply, they simply nominated a conservative date to drugs and have never reviewed these.  I travel with broad spectrum and specific issue antibiotics.  I do believe that you need to take the full course but I don't toss them when the supposed use by date expires.

[Aus Traveller]

33 minutes ago, Bubbeh said:

I have recently discovered that antibiotics can maintain their effectiveness for up to 18 years past their use by date.  Apparently, when the Govt required all food etc to have either a Use By or Best Before date the pharmaceutical companies did not have sufficient data or time to fully investigate this so, in order to comply, they simply nominated a conservative date to drugs and have never reviewed these.  I travel with broad spectrum and specific issue antibiotics.  I do believe that you need to take the full course but I don't toss them when the supposed use by date expires.

Thanks for that info. 😁 I have to admit I have used antibiotics when they are maybe a year past their use-by date, but when they are a couple of years out of date I have got new ones for my next cruise.

[Kiwi_cruiser]

After 4 days at sea, Coral Princess has arrived in Sydney (Cape Breton Island), Canada today:

 

 

Coral Princess has been join by the Emerald Princess:

 

 

[Mareblu]

3 minutes ago, Kiwi_cruiser said:

After 4 days at sea, Coral Princess has arrived in Sydney (Cape Breton Island), Canada today:

 

 

Coral Princess has been join by the Emerald Princess:

 

 

Two princesses, amazing. Coral P following Viking routes.  Fascinating evidence on Canadian coastlines of their presence so long ago.

How are you feeling, Julie?