Below are the cruises on which I have been priviledged to serve as a speaker since cruising resumed, post-Covid, in June 2021.

JUNE/JULY 2021: I was thrilled to help Viking Ocean Cruises make their Covid-secure return to sea, on four week-long cruises on Viking Sky that circumnavigated Iceland from Reykjavik, also visiting Isafjordur, Akureyri, Seydisfjordur, Djupivogur, and Heimaey on the Westman islands, in perfect safety ensured by daily PCR tests.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2021: I returned to Viking Ocean Cruises for an Iberia to West Indies cruise on Viking Sea from Barcelona to San Juan, Puerto Rico, with calls to Valencia, Cadiz, Gibraltar, Madeira and a first visit to St Maarten in the Caribbean, with 6 days at sea cross the Atlantic. I then did part of West Indies Explorer, returning to St Maarten, St Lucia, and Barbados, and with first visits to Dominica for some excellent whale-watching and St Kitts. *

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2022: Sue and I joined two back-to-back cruises for Viking Ocean Cruises In Search of the Northern Lights, on Viking Venus, with return visits to (and excellent aurora sightings in) Narvik, Tromsø and Alta. Stormy weather prevented docking in Lerwick and Bodø, but Trondheim was added as some consolation.

MARCH 2022: Back on duty on Regent, on board Seven Seas Explorer, on a 17-night trans-Atlantic cruise from Miami to Civitivecchia (for Rome) via Madeira, Malaga and Cartagena in Spain, a first visit to Palma de Mallorca, then Marseilles in France and Monte Carlo in Monaco. *

JULY 2022: Another assignment on Viking Orion in the Inside Passage of Alaska, with return visits to Ketchikan, Sitka, Juneau, Icy Strait Point, Skagway, Valdez and Seward, I stayed on for the return trip, although my contribution was cut short when I was confined to cabin for 6 days having finally succumbed to the dreaded Covid! *

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2022: On Viking Star from Bergen to Montreal, via Iceland, Greenland, a first visit to L'Anse Aux Meadows on Newfoundland, and a successful whalewatch from Saguenay. We then stayed on the ship for Eastern Seaboard Explorer from Montreal to New York with a first visit to Gaspé and our first transit of the Cape Cod Canal.

SEPTEMBER/OCTOBER 2022: Back to Viking Orion for a much amended cruise with Russia and Japan off-limits for very different reasons. It included a perfect 13-day Alaskan cruise, including our first visit to Glacier Bay and return visits to Kodiak Island and Dutch Harbor, followed by 7 days at sea to Hawaii, with stops on Kaua'i and Maui islands, and a flight home from Honolulu.

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2023: Began a busy year with two back to back Amazon and Caribbean cruises on Viking Sea, enjoying return visits to Santarem, Parintins and Manaus in Brazil, as well as Puerto Rico, Antigua, St Lucia and Barbados, but with winds stopping both attempts to land on Iles du Salut. *

FEBRUARY/MARCH 2023: i joined Viking's new ship, Viking Mars, for two Australia & New Zealand cruises*, stopping at Melbourne and Hobart in Tasmania, then Dunedin, Lyttleton (for Christchurch) Wellington, Tauranga and Auckland in New Zealand (although the return itinerary had to miss Hobart because of engine issues, and replaced Lyttleton with the much nicer port of Ataroa, because of a broken-down ship on our Lyttleton jetty). I then remained on the ship for Komodo & The Australian Coast*, which included first visits for me to Newcastle, Townsville and and TI (Thursday Island) - which I especially enjoyed - plus a first visit to the island of Rinca, adjacent to Komodo, for much more 'sanitised' (and less exciting) sightings of Komodo Dragons, ending in Bali.

MAY/JULY 2023: Next up was eight weeks helping to break in Viking's latest ocean ship, Viking Saturn, beginning with Barcelona to Reykjavik, via Valencia, Malaga, Lisbon, Lexois, La Coruña, Dublin and Liverpool - certainly a varied cruise *. This was followed by a very weather-disrupted cruise from Reykjavik to New York * (for the ship's naming ceremony), missing no less than 5 ports but managing Seydisfjördur, Akureyri and Isafjördur, then Halifax in Canada. The reverse itinerary back to Reykjavik was much more successful, adding a first visit to Louisbourg on Cape Breton island, plus Djupivogur and Heimaey in Iceland to the itinerary.

100th Cruise: I then stayed on Viking Saturn for what I reckon was my 100th cruise as a guest speaker, on a totally new Viking itinerary, Iceland & Norways's Arctic Explorer from Reykjavik to Bergen in glorious weather with amazing wildlife sightings. We stopped at Isafjördur in Iceland, had a stunningly sunny sail by of Jan Mayen Island, before an overnight stay in Longyearbyen (complete with walrus watching), and the cloud also parted as we sailed past Bjornøya island to Honnigsvåg. The trip then continued via Tromsø, Narvik, Leknes on the Lofoten islands, and a rainy Geiranger to Bergen.

JULY/AUGUST 2023: Iceland's Majestic Landscapes* on Viking Jupiter, from Bergen to Reykjavik and back again, returning to 3 ports in Norway, Torshavn on the Faroe Islands and 3 ports in Iceland.

NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 2023: Two more cruises on Seven Seas Voyager, the first returning to West Africa, with stops in Cadiz, the Canary Islands, and São Vicente in then return visits to Dakar (Senegal), Banjul (the Gambia), Abidjan (Ivory Coast), Sekondi-Takoradi (Ghana), Lomé (Togo), and São Tome island, Walvis Bay in Namibia and Cape Town. Despite a severe knee injury, I was able to maintain my speaker duties on the subsequent Cape Town to Cape Town cruise, calling again at Walvis Bay, Gqeberha (the new name for Port Elizabeth), Durban, Maputo in Mozambique and Richards Bay *

MAY/JULY 2024: Three cruises on Viking Mars. The first was a repeat of the brilliant Iceland & Norway's Arctic Explorer itinerary from 2023, but this time in the opposite direction from Bergen to Reykjavik. It was mostly successful with two days of great wildlife watching in Svalbard, but no sighting of Jan Mayen Island because of the prevailing weather. This was followed by two sailings on the Iconic Iceland, Greenland and Canada itinerary, from Reykjavik to New York then back to Reykjavik. Southern Greenland was once again blocked by dense pack ice, but on the first cruise we managed a visit to brief Paamiut but delays there meant we couldn't reach L'Anse Aux Meadows in Newfoundland. On the return trip we had time ashore in L'Anse but not Greenland.

AUGUST 2024: Inspired Iceland, on board Seven Seas Navigator from Southampton, visited Kirkwall in Orkney, Torshavn in the Faroe Islands, then Akureyri, Isafjordur and Reykjavik in Iceland. A crossing to Greenland allowed us a stunning, early morning transit of Prins Christian Sund before visits to Nuuk and Qaqortoq in Greenland, although strong winds stopped us visiting Paamiut. A stormy transit southwards led to stops in Killybegs in the Republic of Ireland and Belfast, before ending back in Southampton. *

MARCH 2025: After a break to recover from knee surgery, I was back at sea on Viking's newest ship, Viking Vela, In Search of the Northern Lights once more, successfully visiting Alta and Tromsø in Norway, missing Narvik because of strong winds, but with time in IJmuiden (Amsterdam) before ending in Tilbury.

APRIL/MAY 2025: I joined Viking Venus for the 24-night North Pacific Passage, the third time I have done this cruise. It began in Tokyo, with a visit to Sapporo, Japan, before eight days at sea (one of them the same day twice as we cross the International Date Line!) before visits to Kodiak Island, a first visit to Homer, Seward, Valdez, Hubbard Glacier, Glacier Bay, Sitka, Icy Strait Point, Skagway and Juneau, all in Alaska, before ending in Vancouver, Canada.

MAY/JUNE 2025: Three back-to-back, seven-day Alaskan cruises on Seven Seas Explorer took Michael to many of the typical Inside Passage ports, including three more visits to Hubbard Glacier, plus a second visit to Wrangell and first visits to Whittier, Klawock and a cruise up to Endicott Arm Fjord to Dawes Glacier. *

JULY/AUGUST 2025: I joined Seven Seas Voyager for a 21-night cruise Lovely Norway & The Fjords which visited 15 ports in Norway, 7 of which were north of the Arctic Circle. It included first visits for Regent to Vik, Alta, Brønnøysund and first visits for me to Vik, Svolvær, Harstad, Brønnøysund and Nordfjordeid. It was blessed with spectacular weather and was one of my favourite recent cruises. I stayed on for a cruise round the British Isles, including Newcastle, Newhaven (for Edinburgh), Invergordon, Liverpool, Belfast and Riskaddy for Cork (we missed Dun Laoghaire, Dublin because of stormy weather).  *

AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2025: Next up was Atlantic Ocean Rhapsody, my first trip on Seven Seas Splendor, starting from Barcelona and visiting Alicante, Motril and Cadiz in Spain, Funchal on Madeira, Ponta Delgada and Horta in the Azores, then a wonderfully short Atlantic Croissing with just two days at sea to St John's and Cornerbrook in Newfoundland, then Quebec and ending in Montreal. I stayed on for the subsequent cruise from Montreal, with first visits for me to Saint John on the Bay of Fundy and Portland in Maine, and stopping also in Quebec and Saguenay, Sydney and Halifax in Nova Scotia and Boston, before ending in New York.  *

* = with Michael on sole speaking duty; on all others Sue joined me on wildlife-watching duties on deck.

RUNNING STATS: Total cruises: 117, including Viking Ocean Cruises: 32; Regent Seven Seas Cruises: 37.