Our Second Cruise Adventure

Our Second Cruise Adventure

The next stage of our five-month, no-flying journey to Switzerland takes us aboard the Carnival Panorama for a 24-day voyage across the Pacific.

Going Against the Grain

This wasn’t originally part of our plan. One of the realities of travelling without flying is that you don’t simply choose the most direct route—you work with whatever ships, trains and transport options are available.

Most cruises departing Australia operate seasonally between October and April. Had we followed the traditional cruise routes, we would have needed to leave much earlier and would never have made it to Switzerland in time for Christmas.

Instead, we found ourselves travelling against the grain of Australian cruise itineraries and piecing together a route that would keep us moving towards our destination.

With cruise ships no longer travelling through the Red Sea due to ongoing unrest in the Middle East, our only practical option was to cross the Pacific via America before continuing towards Europe.

So far, we had travelled across the width of Australia by car and train before boarding our first cruise from Fremantle to Singapore. Now it was time for the next leg of the journey.

Our Route Across the Pacific

This 24-day cruise would take us from Singapore to Ho Chi Minh City (formerly Saigon) in Vietnam, Kota Kinabalu in Malaysia, Manila in the Philippines, Guam, Honolulu in Hawaii and finally Long Beach, California.

At least, that was the plan.

Our stop in Guam never happened—a story we’ll share later.

A Very Different Cruise Experience

Stepping aboard the Carnival Panorama felt very different from boarding our first cruise. We already knew the basics of cruise life, but this ship was on another scale entirely.

With more than 6,500 passengers and crew on board, the Panorama felt like a floating city compared with the much smaller Coral Princess.

Cruising with different cruise lines—and even different ships within the same company—can provide vastly different experiences. Carnival Corporation owns eight distinct cruise lines globally, and during our journey we would travel on three of them:

1. Carnival Cruise Line – the flagship brand, known for fun, lively and budget-friendly holidays.
2. Princess Cruises – offering a more premium, destination-focused cruising experience.
3. Cunard – famous for its classic and elegant ocean liners, including the Queen Mary 2.

Coral Princess vs Carnival Panorama

The Coral Princess featured live bands, enrichment lectures and the signature Movies Under the Stars poolside screen.

The Carnival Panorama, however, was packed with attractions including the Sky Zone Trampoline Park, the WaterWorks aqua park, the suspended SkyRide cycling experience, the Punchliner Comedy Club and the high-energy Playlist Productions shows.

Both ships offered wonderful experiences. As with all cruising, you can choose to join in the activities or simply find a quiet place to relax and watch the world go by.

Friendships Formed at Sea

One of the unexpected joys of long cruises is the friendships you make along the way.

We met some lovely people on board who are still friends today and who appear again later in our story.

Rosa, whom I met during craft sessions, will feature in our Chicago post later in the journey. Derek and Lisa became such good friends that they later invited us to stay with them in England during our UK road trip.

Those friendships became one of the most memorable parts of the voyage.

Stepping Outside Our Comfort Zone

Twenty-four days at sea also gave us time to slow down, relax, soak up some sunshine and enjoy the pool.

It even encouraged us to tackle a few attractions well outside our comfort zone.

With a fear of heights, the suspended SkyRide cycling experience was always going to be a challenge. Pedalling high above the deck while the ship sailed across the Pacific was definitely not something I would normally choose to do.

Let’s just say there was plenty of screaming—and not all of it was from excitement!