Earl & Turner Travel Associates

01/11/2026

Welcome aboard the Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Solstice for a 10 day Australian W**e and Tasmania Adventure.
Sailing out of Sydney Harbour has to be right up there with New York and Rio for creating incredible memories.
The crew were giddy with excitement, taking selfies from the Promenade Deck with the Sydney Opera House in the background.
Such a great expression of joy and energy.
This 5 star ship is large at 128k tonnes with 2800 passengers, however she’ll handle Bass Strait like a boss and we’ve not encountered queuing for restaurants… gotta be careful though as the extras are all in $USD, pre purchase the premium drinks package if you want “no holdbacks”
We’ll visit Hobart, Kangaroo Island, Adelaide then Melbourne where we’ll disembark before Eden then back to Sydney.
The Parlour has kept us entertained with sports and board games, as have the Trivia and Game shows at other venues… this is a great passport free holiday for the whole family and we thoroughly recommend it.
Bizzy at Sea again:)

31/10/2026

The Shangri-La Sydney is a superbly located luxury hotel adjacent to the historical The Rocks of Sydney.
For a pre cruise evening it is absolutely ideal, and if you’re clever, you can walk to your ship at The Overseas Passenger Terminal without stairs and an easy stroll with your bags.
Ask us about our special Luxury Circle Rates. Room upgrades, breakfast and a room credit.
Our last night …. Only $440, with breakfast and $140 room credit for dinner or a spa treatment.
Amazing value, great location with views of the Harbour Bridge.
Message us if this sounds like the kind of stay you’d like for Sydney.

29/10/2026

Who’s ready for a sale? Give us a call or come in.

11/10/2026

11/10/2026

🇨🇦 Merrilee's Canadian Adventure with APT 🇨🇦

What an incredible journey!

Our consultant Merrilee recently explored the spectacular Canadian Rockies on an APT Canada tour, travelling in style aboard the Rocky Mountaineer GoldLeaf Service and staying at the iconic Fairmont properties in Banff, Lake Louise, Jasper and Vancouver.

Highlights included: ✅ Spotting bears and moose in the wild ✅ Meeting the famous Royal Canadian Mounted Police ✅ Experiencing stunning mountain landscapes and turquoise lakes ✅ Enjoying world-class accommodation and service throughout the journey

Canada truly delivers unforgettable experiences at every turn.

✨ If Canada is on your future travel wish list, get in touch with our team. We'd love to help you create your own Canadian adventure!

APT

27/09/2026

Aswan and Abu Simbel with Travelmarvel Sirius

Sirius had delivered us to Aswan for a 2 night stay.

And… included in this stay is a return chartered flight to the magnificent Abu Simbel and her relocated Great and Small Temples dedicated to Ramses II, the gods Amun, Ra-Horakhty, Ptah and Queen Nefertari.

The statues are colossal considering their relocation in the 70’s and the works were successful in recreating too the solar alignment phenomenon specific to the ancient temple.

The afternoon sailing from Travelmarvel Sirius to the central Quay in Aswan was sublime, kids paddling out to sing for tips was fun to watch.

Both Abu Simbel and the Felucca are included in this 7 night cruise, I did opt to join the night market guided tour conducted by Dinah, our super funny and knowledgeable Egyptologist. This market tour was a relaxed insight into local life… the market itself being that which caters to all… and not just for tourists.

Aswan is certainly the most picturesque Nile settlement, with a relaxed feel and whilst it’s still busy, there are places to wander and not be hassled to buy!

Aswan is the gateway to Nubia and our final treat was a wonderful performance of song and dance from a Nubian troupe.

Day Two in Aswan we enjoyed a fantastic boat ride to view the stunning Philae Temple after a fascinating visit to an ancient Aswan quarry and the Aswan High Dam.

Using basalt cutting stones, timber wedges and water, the obelisk is shaped horizontally straight out of the granite wall in a single piece, the quarry features an incomplete obelisk which had cracked, rendering it non-viable and thus abandoned in place.

At the Aswan High Dam we saw the scope of that immense project credited now for saving Egypt (mostly) from the historical severe effects of floods and drought. They say, “if this dam is breached it’ll be the end if Egypt “ and as it holds back Lake Nasser which extends all the way into Sudan.. it’s easy to believe.

Philae Temple is one of Egypt’s most beautiful and romantic temples, dedicated to goddess Isis, a short boat trip from the Old British Dam of Aswan, she was relocated to avoid the flooding.

Philae temple was one of the final places of worship of the ancient Egyptian religion, it was built during the Ptolemaic period and expanded by the Romans, being surrounded by water the approach by boat is jaw dropping.

These excursions are also included with your 7 night itinerary.

If there hadn’t been enough to do, we also had an opportunity to enjoy High Tea at the stunningly beautiful Old Cataract Hotel… think colonial charm with sunset views of the palm fringed Nile and feluccas lazily catching a breeze… the perfect end to our incredible discovery of Aswan.

Travelmarvel has exceeded our hopes for a great visit to Aswan and Abu Simbel!

26/09/2026

Welcome aboard Travelmarvel Sirius .. Luxor.

Following a flight shorter in duration than the airport transfer and check in at Cairo, we have arrived in the port town of Luxor.

Luxor is located on the site of the ancient capital of Thebes, and occupies ground which has an extraordinary concentration of ruins and temples.

Of these, we were treated to a guided tour of both the massive Karnak Temples site and the Luxor Temple, both at the extremity of the Avenue of Sphinxes.

Karnak has the forest of columns famously featured in The Spy Who Loved Me, which was fun to see and walk through whilst Luxor Temple has incredibly well preserved carvings and less visitors. A temple

Once back aboard our ship we enjoyed great food and a highly entertaining performance from a local dance troupe.. belly dancing and Tanoura (twirling)

This is the third sailing for Travelmarvel Sirius and to keep with tradition, the Captain has been chosen from a family of Nile River captains, the vessel is refurbished from an existing ship, adhering to tradition of style, and the crew are all Egyptian.

She is a modern vessel with traditional bones, the crew are eager and it’s great to see that they love learning and interacting with the passengers.

Stay tuned 🙂

20/09/2026

Breezing through Cairo International Airport supported by Sun Island Tours and an upgrade from Cairo Marriott Hotel… woo hoo, this trip is off to a great start!

A good point to note though is … you are always better off getting visas done before arrival whenever possible.. even if visa on arrival is an option, VOA’s are great until the technology stops working… don’t leave it to chance.

So here’s a myth breaker, you can’t pay cash for an Egyptian visa every time and there’s no “skip the line” through immigration, but having an agent meet you before immigration is still great even if you’re a seasoned traveler.

Cairo is mostly a dusty, dirty ramshackle city of constant beeping horns, improved markedly by sunset and darkness:)

Yes, I’m not glowingly endorsing the city but then the juxtaposition of Cairo/Giza against the Sphinx and Pyramids is an amazing shock to your senses.

Cairo Marriott Hotel is on the Nile island, originally the Gezira Palace, built in the 19th Century by Austrian design for French Aristocracy it was linked to Egypt’s attempt to become “European” through their Suez Canal project and thus return to their powerful glory days!

A good stroll tonight along the river walk was delightful, seeing locals out socialising, I wandered through market streets as I meandered back to the hotel… yes it’s beeping noisy, and crossing the road is “Saigonesque” but the energy is positive, fun and in no way threatening.

It’ll be an early rise for dawn on the Giza Plateau… from my hotel balcony I can just see a pale triangle between distance buildings.. I can’t wait!

Follow along tomorrow for more!

Ben

20/09/2026

The Luxe Solo circle club!

Once again it was great to see everyone creating connections on our first Solo night event… get in touch if you’d like to join us for the next one!

04/09/2026

Viking