OMG! Only 3 Months Till Unlock the Past’s 5th Cruise
It goes without saying that the year is zipping by. It seems the older you get, the faster it goes. That’s just the way it is!! Anyway it seems like it wasn’t that long ago when I hopped on the big ship in Sydney for the 4th Unlock the Past cruise and travelled around the southern states of Australia. And I know I still haven’t even finished my reports on it. That’s really been a case of too many blogs I want to and need to write, and not enough time to write them all. So some get done, while those got put on hold. But they WILL get done, I promise, just very belatedly.
Anyway today is the 19th of April, which means in three months time on the 19th of July I shall be boarding another ship in London and setting sail for my first cruise around the UK with Unlock the Past’s 5th cruise. I’ll be arriving in London a few days beforehand so hopefully I’ll at least be in the right timezone by the time the cruise leaves … but then it’s 10 days of cruising, sightseeing, and of course genealogying on the ‘Marco Polo’ ship, the one that’s at the top of this post.
This will be my first trip to England, so that’s a bit scary and rather exciting at the same time, which is a really wierd feeling. And while this will be my 4th genealogy cruise, this will be my first cruise on a small ship, so that’ll be a whole different experience. And it’ll be the first time meeting (let alone hearing) a whole bunch of fabulous guest speakers.
The Unlock the Past organisers have 10 guest presenters on this cruise (see the list below), who hail from 5 different countries:
- Jackie Depelle (England)
- Paul Blake (England)
- Marie Dougan (Scotland)
- Eileen Ó Dúill (Ireland)
- Sean Ó Dúill (Ireland)
- Lisa Louise Cooke (United States)
- Rosemary Kopittke (Australia)
- Helen V. Smith (Australia)
- Lesley Silvester (Australia)
- Mike Murray (Australia)
With a eight stops along the way, the cruise includes a whole bunch of sightseeing, so the conference program is lighter that previous Unlock the Past cruises. Still, the program offers 40 topics in up to two streams, and it still offers geneacruisers plenty of choice, as well as their usual Research Help Zone which allows cruisers one-on-one or small group sessions.
With topics such as British probate records, How the genealogist can remember everything with Evernote, Timelines as a research tool, Genealogy software panel, Resources and records of the National Archives of Scotland, TheGenealogist: what’s the difference, What were the quarter sessions?, Genealogy on the go with the iPad/tablets, Reading the original: hints and tips for deciphering old documents, How to make your online searching more effective … and whole heap more, there’s plenty here to learn and get brain-overloaded from. You can see the current program schedule here.
- day 1 – depart Tilbury, London – 6pm (boarding from 12.30pm)
- day 2 – at sea
- day 3 – Invergordon, Scotland – 7.30am-10pm
- day 4 – Kirkwall, Orkney Islands – 7am-6pm
- day 5 – Stornoway, Outer Hebrides – 7.30am-10pm (transfer to shore by tender)
- day 6 – Tobermory, Isle of Mull – 7.30am-4pm (transfer to shore by tender)
- day 7 – Dublin, Ireland – 8am-5.45pm
- day 8 – St Mary’s, Isles of Scilly – 9am-6pm (transfer to shore by tender)
- day 9 – St Peter Port, Guernsey – 7.30am-6pm (transfer to shore by tender)
- day 10 – Honfleur, France – 9am-5pm
- day 11 – arrive Tilbury, London – 9am
So as you can see this 5th Unlock the Past cruise will be 10 days of cruising, genealogy, learning, socialising and sightseeing. And while three months sounds a long time away (sometimes anyway), I know that time will literally fly by. So the countdown is now ON!
And if you are interested this genealogy cruise, but haven’t yet booked, do so now as there are still some places available. To find out more about this cruise (or others), visit the Unlock the Past cruise website. And you love genealogy but your other half doesn’t, leave them home, and share a room with another geneacruiser which helps keep the costs down. As I mentioned before I have been on 4 genealogy cruises so far, this will be my 4th. And I do have to say that they are a perfect way to socialise, make new friends, learn a HEAP of genealogy and sightsee all in the one trip!
2 Responses to “OMG! Only 3 Months Till Unlock the Past’s 5th Cruise”
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I am also going on the 5th UTP Cruise to the British Isle and it is my first Unlock The Past Cruise. I am a hobby genealogist and plan to write my Scottish ancestors family history.
I also am from South Australia in the suburb of Hove (near Brighton). I will look forward to meeting you in July.
Hi there Judy, great to hear that you’ll be joining me and the others on the 5th cruise.
It’s not long now, only 2 months to go!! Trust me you’ll have a ball on the cruise, and you’ll make so many new genie friends, and you’ll learn so much and be inspired to start putting it all into practice that you almost wish the cruise would finish sooner (in some ways), so you can get right into it!
And if you are a Facebooker, you might like to follow the Unlock the Past Cruises Facebook page, as they’ll be reposting some tips for first time geneacruisers there soon.
See you onboard soon 😉