BRISBANE cruising couple Joan and Wayne Whitehead have seen almost every seaport in the world.
Over the past 25 years, this king and queen of cruising have spent five years on cruise ships and have taken a total of 14 world cruises and additional cruises to the Arctic and Antarctic, down the Mediterranean, to Papua New Guinea and through the Suez Canal.
And they say the only seaport they haven’t seen is the Ukranian city of Odessa (but they hope to get there next year).
This year Joan marks her 50th cruise, sailing on-board Sea Princess’ longest world cruise. This is the couple’s fifth round the world trip and Wayne’s 49th cruise.
The couple boarded Sea Princess in Brisbane in June for her 106-night circumnavigation of the globe. Sea Princess will clock 32,000 nautical miles (enough to make 1.5 trips around the Earth) sailing to 40 destinations across 27 countries.
The Whiteheads, both 73, have spent a combined 3445 days at sea as part of more than 65 cruises since their first cruise to New Zealand in 1993.
“Cruising is such a wonderful way to see our world,” said Wayne.
Joan agreed: “You unpack once and you can do as much or a little as you want. And, you can completely relax. You can completely switch off. If Wayne and I travelled any other way, I’d be cooking or washing or unpacking.”
The couple’s love for ocean cruising is in the blood, it seems. Wayne served for decades in the merchant marine in Australia and overseas while Joan is a direct descendant of Sir Francis Drake, the English sea captain who circumnavigated the globe in 1577.
Of the 3000 guests who are travelling on Sea Princess’ world cruise, about three quarters had already enjoyed part or all of a world cruise with Princess.
And as regular Sea Princess passengers, the Whiteheads already know more than 100 of the other guests aboard the ship.
Guests travelling onboard Sea Princess will experience a range of new ports across Greenland, Newfoundland and Eastern Canada as well as overnight stays in some of the world’s most sought-after destinations such as New York, Barcelona and Venice.