Thursday, May 27, 2010

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.


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