The Unlock the Past cruise continues, but as we’ve not had internet, I’m rather late in reporting the happenings of it all. So picking up from the previous post, Sunday was a solid day of genealogy talks which was great, not to mention choc-full-of advice, but everyone was looking forward to some sightseeing in Scotland on Monday.

But firstly let me tell you something that makes this cruise different to every other one that I’ve been on to date, is the amount of land days included. Because of that it means less talks, and more touristing. So in reality it’s been quite a relaxing cruise in contrast to the previous ones. And as I’ve not been to any of the places our ship stops at, I’m making the most of it.

In my last post I told you that we’d arrived in London, and the fun and traipsing we did around London, so now I’d better tell you about the cruise itself.

DAY 1 – TILBURY, LONDON
Let me start off by saying that Unlock the Past’s 5th cruise (the British Isles one) has been “coming” for so long, that it really didn’t seem real when it actually arrived.  But Saturday the 19th of July finally came, so myself and the UTP team packed up at our London hotel, and taxi-d to the cruise terminal at Tilbury, London.

Well the 5th Unlock the Past cruise is underway, and as we’re stopped in port today (with internet of some sort, but it’s better than none), it has given me time to sit and write something.

But before I get too much into the cruise happenings itself, let me tell you about the two days before that started.

The Unlock the Past cruise team (myself included), arrived in London on Thursday (17th July). As it was in the morning, it gave us a chance to make our way to our hotel to dump our bags, and then go for a wander around.

Planes, maybe a train, and no doubt buses and taxis, as well as a big ship are what I will be experiencing soon, as in a few days time I’ll be on my way to London to go on Unlock the Past’s 5th cruise. So the suitcase is out, the passport is packed, and so are my European plugs, and my Unlock the Past cruise t-shirts. The rest I need to work out this weekend!

This is Unlock the Past’s 5th history and genealogy cruise, and it will be first real international one, as all their previous cruises have left from either Australian or New Zealand ports. This one starts from London, then goes up to Scotland, around to Ireland, stops at the Islands, touches on France, and then heads back to London. So it’ll be quite a trip!