More countries on the way

Garry and I have booked ourselves on a cruise for this year's Summer vacation. We'll be spending ten nights on the Royal Caribbean's Brilliance of the Seas (pictured above). The cruise takes us to Noumea and then on to Vanuatu, making five ports of call along the way. We depart from Sydney on 30 December and return on 9 January. As a result, we'll be celebrating NYE at sea this year.

The cruise ship has a maximum capacity of 2,543 passengers and carries 848 crew, making it the largest vessel we’ve ever sailed on. Believe it or not, it is one of Royal Caribbean's smaller ships. I must admit we're a little ambivalent about such a "large" boat after only ever booking small boat voyages. Until now, the Regent Seven Seas Navigator is the largest vessel we've been on.  It takes 482 passengers but was only three-quarters booked for our cruise in Alaska. 

Our South Pacific cruise will add another two countries to my growing travel list. Thanks to the COVID pandemic, it's been more than four years since anything was added. That was our long weekend in Krakow, Poland. As a result, after including our forthcoming holiday in the Cook Islands, a total of three countries will be added this year.  

This will bring the official count of countries I've visited to 71, plus another two I've briefly set foot in but don't count as genuine visits (e.g. crossing the Korean border into North Korea on two separate occasions while visiting Seoul).  Yes - I know New Caledonia isn't technically a country, but neither was Macau or Hong Kong when I visited them. 

However, global organisations like the Travellers Century Club count these territories as unique travel destinations. The Century Club even counts locations like Lord Howe Island, Tasmania, and Corfu as separate destinations. I've visited all of these. In fact, if I use Century Club's definition of unique territories, I've visited 88 on its list. Perhaps, if they're good enough for them, then they're good enough for me. However, for now, I'll stick with my nation-state and self-governing territory definition.

At some point, Garry and I hope to book a Caribbean cruise.  This will dramatically boost the tally.  Pick the right cruise and you can add up to ten new names in one fell swoop. Watch this space!