Cruising the Kimberley coast on Le Laperouse, Darwin to Broome

[Steady]

We sat for the reveal of an oyster to see if there was a pearl in there (I imagine it had been x-rayed beforehand!!)

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et voila!

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Later valued at $2K.

We had morning tea during the visit. Overall, very pleasant.

Then the drive home, being overtaken regularly b y travellers towing boats -

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Later, back for a gawk at Cable Beach itself. I didn't realise people actually swam there.

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Over to Zanders for a coldie

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And fish & chips watching the sun go down

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I also had a long walk around Broome - pleasant enough. The historical society museum was v good. I didn't trouble the pearl sellers.

Did they kill it for the pearl?

 

[RooFlyer]

Did they kill it for the pear?

Not so much for the pear, but the pearl inside. Commercially, they sell the adductor muscle to restaurants etc.

 

[Port Power]

Not so much for the pear, but the pearl inside. Commercially, they sell the adductor muscle to restaurants etc.

Not forgetting to mention that the frilly bit goes into making “pearl gin”, produced locally. Really delicious gin! Oyster meat sells for $1,000 per kilogram. I did a tour of Cygnet Pearls, but similar outing. They have accommodation too.

In June I stayed at The Pearl Resort in Cable Beach area. Very private units, nice and quiet. The front room with ensuite (where I stayed) can be combined with the one-bedroom luxury unit via a connecting door for a bigger group. Private little pool and bbq in the courtyard garden. Town Beach area where Matso’s is seems much more fun though.

Loved your trip report,

 

[RooFlyer]

In June I stayed at The Pearl Resort in Cable Beach area. Very private units, nice and quiet. The front room with ensuite (where I stayed) can be combined with the one-bedroom luxury unit via a connecting door for a bigger group. Private little pool and bbq in the courtyard garden. Town Beach area where Matso’s is seems much more fun though.

Oh. That looks more like it, thanks . My friends, who missed the cruise, are going to do it next year. I'll recommend this to them, thanks. I think its on or close to the bus route so access not an issue.

 

[drron]

Under Australian maritime law basically foreign flagged ships can not engage in coastal shipping. This means for the cruise Darwin to Broome the ship must leave Australian waters. So passports needed and any foreign citizens on board need a visa.
Australian flagged vessels do not have to do this.
Why? Because Australian flagged ships must have a predominantly Australian crew which would be much more expensive for foreign flagged ships as they predominantly hire from countries where lower wages are the norm.

One thing intriques me. Did you do any fishing on the cruise? Foreign flagged ships generally can not fish in Australian waters.
When we did that cruise in reverse we did it on an Australian flagged vessel,Orion. So quite a few chances to fish including off Montgomery reef which was very productive.

 

[RooFlyer]

This means for the cruise Darwin to Broome the ship must leave Australian waters. So passports needed and any foreign citizens on board need a visa.

Left Australian waters for international waters but did not enter 'foreign' waters (actually, I'm not sure we ever entered international waters)! Re-entered Australian waters in the 'migration exclusion zone' of an Australian offshore territory but remember the whole of Australia was declared 'outside the migration exclusion zone'. Yet Australian citizens still required passports (by the shipping line) and to fill out an 'arrivals card' before docking at Broome.

Passports were able to be collected prior to pilot (or anyone else) boarding the boat off Broome AFTER your bill was paid by your credit card.

Next explanation as to why I needed to submit a passport to board, other than to hostage paying of the bar bills?

PS I can provide some explanation in a later post.

One thing intriques me. Did you do any fishing on the cruise?

No. Someone asked and not allowed (but no opportunity to do so, really).

 

[Anna]

I still don't know why passports were required or if I can count Ashmore Reef as a country visited. @Anna ?

Without having stirred myself to bother looking anything up , I agree with you that the passport requirement was far more likely a Ponant thing than an Aust govt thing.

I did a Princess cruise a few years ago that took us up the Qld coast and to Australia's Willis Island 450km to the north east of the mainland. I don't recall passports being required. I seem to recall though that Willis Island gives Australia a 200 km zone of more fishing rights in the Pacific than we would otherwise have. (200 km radius around the island).

 

[Anna]

On the topic of cruise lines having no idea re passports - my last cruise was in Jan 2020 from Singapore to Vietnam, Cambodia and Thailand on Princess. I knew that if I used my Aust passport for Vietnam I would need to pay for a visa, but on my other passport no visa would be needed. So I brought along both my passports and handed them over to Princess and told them I would use the Australian passport for all ports except Vietnam.

At first the girl at the desk tried to tell me it is 'illegal' to use more than one passport on the same trip but eventually I convinced her that I had done it plenty of times and she finally took both passports.

Sure enough after a couple of days a Princess charge for 'Vietnam visa' appeared on my account (actual visa fee + large Princess admin fee). Then began absolutely days of me complaining and getting told they would look into it and nothing happening, and getting told the '2 passports in the same trip is illegal' cough, until eventually I happened to meet the Chief Purser at the captain's coughtail party. She was a very nice, competent South African lady who told me she would sort it out and get the charge reversed, and that the actual problem was that Princess's systems can only register one passport per pax per cruise The charge was reversed the next morning, and the following day I entered Vietnam with no visa and absolutely no problem.

So never trust what a cruise line tells you about passport and visa requirements.

 

[RooFlyer]

So never trust what a cruise line tells you about passport and visa requirements.

The Cruise Director did say, quite openly (and 'jokingly') that we could get put passports back ... when we had paid our bills.

I recall now a comment made that they only do Ashmore Reef every second trip, as they now need to do Indonesia every second trip. I can't check, because the current itinerary Broome-Darwin has disappeared (its in progress), but a third party site has the 'Ashmore Reef day' as "at sea", so maybe they sail into Indon waters then and our passport requirement was only for uniformity of procedures.

 

[Captain Halliday]

Companies "seizing" your passport at check-in is a complete nonsense. Have had a few hotels try it on and I always refuse.

While I'm sure that 99.99% of the time there'll be no issue... the hassle if your identity gets stolen simply isn't worth it IMO.

 

[Major]

Due to cabotage regulations our Kimberley cruise from Broome ended in Kupang and Airnorth were chartered to fly us from there to Darwin. Passports definately needed.

 

[tgh]

We are quite used to having our passports confiscated when boarding , this allows the ship to have folks ashore in wild places without formal entry.
Nothing as gauche as perceived retention for account payment has ever been imagined , let alone discussed among the passengers or crew in my experience….
I do agree that handing passports to the hotel is challenging, however in some places it must be that way or it's sleep on the street

 

[RooFlyer]

A day in Perth, but I was feeling a bit wasted through inadequate sleep. Went for a walk and came to the WA museum and paid to see there Patagonian dinosaurs. Pretty impressive














Also good pickings for meteorites

 

[RooFlyer]

Spelling error in title corrected courtesy @Major and SKS moderator .

 

[Port Power]

Not forgetting to mention that the frilly bit goes into making “pearl gin”, produced locally. Really delicious gin! Oyster meat sells for $1,000 per kilogram. I did a tour of Cygnet Pearls, but similar outing. They have accommodation too.

In June I stayed at The Pearl Resort in Cable Beach area. Very private units, nice and quiet. The front room with ensuite (where I stayed) can be combined with the one-bedroom luxury unit via a connecting door for a bigger group. Private little pool and bbq in the courtyard garden. Town Beach area where Matso’s is seems much more fun though.

Loved your trip report,

Yes, bus across the road, which also stops outside Diver's Tavern on the way into town. It was an enjoyable walk back to The Pearl after dinner, but only for those who like a decent long walk.

 

[Quickstatus]

passports confiscated when boarding

Easy enough to photocopy/scan/record details and return without holding on to it?

I think holding the passport until CC bill is settled makes sense because a passenger’s CC could decline at end of cruise and then just walk off with passport if not held as security. Detaining passenger to settle a CC bill would be illegal.

Alternative is a prepurchase CC charge

 

[tgh]

You mind is walking in a different social profile to mine, qsta..
Did you actually read my post ?
By holding the passports ,the ship is permitted to have guests ashore in many countries on a day in port visit, without entry formalities.
My cruises are all inclusive and suggesting that folks might abscond for the peanuts involved in spa treatment or Internet connection shows you do not understand my level of cruising…such is life...

 

[Pushka]

Companies "seizing" your passport at check-in is a complete nonsense. Have had a few hotels try it on and I always refuse.

While I'm sure that 99.99% of the time there'll be no issue... the hassle if your identity gets stolen simply isn't worth it IMO.

Unless your cruise is going to China. The port authorities of China were tendered on to the ship about three days prior to arrival in Shanghai and went through everyone’s passport before we berthed, and stamped it. On arrival we all collected our passports and then had to do an identity check once on land. Russia was similar. .

 

[RooFlyer]

You mind is walking in a different social profile to mine, qsta..
Did you actually read my post ?
By holding the passports ,the ship is permitted to have guests ashore in many countries on a day in port visit, without entry formalities.
My cruises are all inclusive and suggesting that folks might abscond for the peanuts involved in spa treatment or Internet connection shows you do not understand my level of cruising…such is life...

As a newbie cruiser, the practice of being allowed day visits in various countries en route without having to do the entry formalities ( as long as the ship holds ones passport) is news and interesting ( not doubting you). If you held multiple passports, you could leave one behind and 'skip'? In my case, no one on the ship held the passport up to my face to see I if it was me( but again, it wasn't a 'real' passport check ). Again, not doubting you, I just think it's curious.

BTW, an on board bill for our cruise could have easily reached $2.5K - for 2 heli excursions and 2 premium drinks packages, laundry, purchase wines etc. I think mine was abt $700, after E450 on board credits.

 

[Port Power]

As a newbie cruiser, the practice of being allowed day visits in various countries en route without having to do the entry formalities ( as long as the ship holds ones passport) is news and interesting ( not doubting you). If you held multiple passports, you could leave one behind and 'skip'? In my case, no one on the ship held the passport up to my face to see I if it was me( but again, it wasn't a 'real' passport check ). Again, not doubting you, I just think it's curious.

BTW, an on board bill for our cruise could have easily reached $2.5K - for 2 heli excursions and 2 premium drinks packages, laundry, purchase wines etc. I think mine was abt $700, after E450 on board credits.

Holding passports in the Purser's office for entering countries such as Vietnam and Bali/Indonesia is the norm. Authorities then just check and provide a blanket visa. In the past from a port stop in Malaysia, we found a stamp in our passport once we left the ship. Obviously that was not the case with you and I cannot see any reason for them to hold your passport. No authorities came on board and you did not enter another country. Perhaps it was just habit because it was required for Indonesia? In any case, wasn't your credit card scanned at check in or arrival on board the ship? Scanning the credit card is the norm on every cruise I have ever been on. So if you did abscond, your bill would have been processed anyway. The cruise director's joke was indeed just a joke.