A guide to Expedition Cruising… with Cathy Bartrop
Expedition cruising is like no other type of cruising. I’ve joined the Caledonian Sky as she cruises the islands of Papua New Guinea to find out why
What makes this so different is that it’s less about the ship itself and more about the destinations. In remote parts of the world like this if you tried to do a similar tour by land it would take you a very long time indeed. Once you get on board the ship, you unpack only once, you’ve got the consistency of your delightful cabin, you’ve got great food, wonderful service from the staff on board and each day you are going out on adventures and exploring really remote parts of the world.
This style of cruising attracts like minded travellers as Cruise Director Peter Graham explains:
The general atmosphere on board is created by the passengers themselves. On the smaller ships it becomes rather like a private club I think. We have guests that sometimes do 2 or 3 trips a year. So there extremely well travelled and they are adventurous, they want to try something different.
We go to places that are difficult to get to but the other thing is that the people who are on board are like minded, they’re all people who love to travel, and that’s what we love.
Carrying a maximum of 108 passengers Caledonian Sky is ranked as a small ship but offers surprisingly spacious cabins… indoor… and outdoor dining areas… comfortable public lounges… there is even a beauty salon and a small gym. And of course out on deck there’s space to relax and enjoy the warm weather as well as admire the passing scenery. But as expedition leader Kristine Hannon explains, the ships smaller size that offers the biggest advantage
Shallow drafted ship means we can go in areas where no big ships can come and that is the main benefit to explore the unexplored. And you see the natural world, you encounter fantastic cultures and for us, the key thing is our zodiacs.
Going out on the zodiacs is great fun. You go down to the departure deck and there’s lots of people to help you get on to the zodiac. You sit down, take your place, do as you’re told and then off you go across the waves to where you are landing. Dry landing is on a jetty, wet landing is straight into the lovely sea, you walk up to the beach and there you are.
When we’ve gone out on the zodiacs its incredible easy actually, well managed by the staff.
I’ve found it really exciting, it’s a great feature of this ship
On this cruise exploring by zodiac meant visiting what would be otherwise inaccessible islands.
Every island has something unique to offer. This is Fergusson island and we’ve walked about half an hour through the rainforest and discovered these amazing hot springs, a reminder if you needed a reminder of the volcanic origins of these islands
On every island we’ve stopped at the locals have come out to greet us and very often they’ll put on a cultural display. This morning we are on Kitawa island and we’ve practically got the whole village down here putting on this amazing performance
Back on board, experiences on land are enhanced and expanded upon by lectures from the expedition team and guest specialists
I really do appreciate lecturers who know what they are talking about and can fill you in on the local, in this case, anthropological aspects and we also have the naturalists and the birdman. Because even though you bring your guide books with you and you read them they don’t give you the real insights and the depth that we’ve been getting from our lecturers so that’s a very strong feature
You do tend to find on expedition cruises that most people come for the experience to relax and do not want to be entertained by bingo or dancing girls or casinos. They are very happy to listen to the lectures, experience the landings and just enjoy the ship as a whole
Vox pop We like the experience of off beat places, and going ashore in the zodiacs.
It’s different every time, and that’s what we want, we don’t want routine, we want to see the people, the places and that’s what we get on this ship
You really do get the best of both worlds here. During the day go ashore exploring, safe in the hands of the expedition team. You are in a group but the numbers a small enough that everyone can kind of do their own thing. If you want to go off birdwatching for example, snorkeling or perhaps just have a look around the islands. And the after a day ashore you return to the security blanket of the ship, knowing that you’ve got your luxury cabin, delicious food and like minded company to look forward to.
When it comes to visiting remote parts of the world in style, this type of cruising is hard to beat. Just of one word of warning, chatting to passengers on board I’ve not met anyone who has not done at least 2 or 3 different voyages. Clearly, this style of cruising is addictive
