Cruising the Kimberley coast on Le Laperouse, Darwin to Broome

[RooFlyer]

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.

Yes, our CCs were scanned at embarkation and processed I think early the morning of disembarkation. I had a mild panic when I realised this, as I wanted my 28 degree card to be charged in euro ( the on-board currency), not A$. No- one seemed to know, so I was shown to I think the pursers office and he confirmed euro charge.

I'm sure if the CC wasn't processed cleanly for the full amount owing, the passport wouldn't have been given back easily!

 

[RooFlyer]

Righto, time to finish off.

Also at the WA museum, I came across this exhibit in the rock section (natch);






Called orbicular granite and comes from near Mt Magnet in the Yilgarn. The orbs are about 4-6cm in diameter, but you have to think of them in 3D, as ball shaped. Given the black, grey, off white and whites are different minerals, try to think of a mechanism when a liquid mass of rock would crystallise into little structured spheroids. All the more interesting because I have a chunk of it at home - I visited the little quarry in 1983.



Oh, and some cool dravite crystals exposed within a chunk of gneiss



That night, I had dinner with @JohnM and @Daver6 and their +1s at the WA Club. I was a bit dubious about the venue, as the equivalent at UTAS would mean a pie & sauce, but it was a great venue with great food & wine. We got there with JohnMAir and readers may have already read a bit of byplay about the seating arrangements . But hey, it was a Reward flight, with no YQ, so who's complaining?

I dared not get in the way of the wine choice (except to suggest Rockford Basket Press 2017 was a bit young ..), so I take no responsibility for the excellent choices. Started with a sparkling from Vas felix (IIRC), then a Penfolds Chardonnay which went well with my seared scallops






Then a Castelli merlot (again IIRC ... I'm sure the others will gleefully correct me) which went well with my duck confit and roast leg






Three of us had the cheese, which was a mistake (too much) but again very nice.

 

[Daver6]

Righto, time to finish off.

Also at the WA museum, I came across this exhibit in the rock section (natch);

View attachment 289485


View attachment 289486

Called orbicular granite and comes from near Mt Magnet in the Yilgarn. The orbs are about 4-6cm in diameter, but you have to think of them in 3D, as ball shaped. Given the black, grey, off white and whites are different minerals, try to think of a mechanism when a liquid mass of rock would crystallise into little structured spheroids. All the more interesting because I have a chunk of it at home - I visited the little quarry in 1983.

View attachment 289494

Oh, and some cool dravite crystals exposed within a chunk of gneiss

View attachment 289487

That night, I had dinner with @JohnM and @Daver6 and their +1s at the WA Club. I was a bit dubious about the venue, as the equivalent at UTAS would mean a pie & sauce, but it was a great venue with great food & wine. We got there with JohnMAir and readers may have already read a bit of byplay about the seating arrangements . But hey, it was a Reward flight, with no YQ, so who's complaining?

I dared not get in the way of the wine choice (except to suggest Rockford Basket Press 2017 was a bit young ..), so I take no responsibility for the excellent choices. Started with a sparkling from Vas felix (IIRC), then a Penfolds Chardonnay which went well with my seared scallops


View attachment 289488

View attachment 289489

Then a Castelli merlot (again IIRC ... I'm sure the others will gleefully correct me) which went well with my duck confit and roast leg


View attachment 289492

View attachment 289490

Three of us had the cheese, which was a mistake (too much) but again very nice.

View attachment 289493

There was a Yalumba The Signature 2013 after the Pennies.

 

[RooFlyer]

There was a Yalumba The Signature 2013 after the Pennies.

Trust you to ignore the rocks and quibble about the grog.

 

[Daver6]

Trust you to ignore the rocks and quibble about the grog.

The only time I look at rocks is after too much grog and I happen to be facing downwards in the horizontal position.

 

[RooFlyer]

Next day, its PER-xSYD-HBA in QF business and I was again tracking my checked bag with Apple AirTags.

Been a while since I checked a bag at a major Qantas airport, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. HBA (not a major port) still have lovely check-in agents).

Check in kiosks; about 2 out of every 5 were inoperative..





Bag drop - maybe 1 out of 4 were not working. Then to 'departures'. Hmmm ... two streams, one for T3 departures and one for T4, with access to different gates. Who the hell looks at departure gate # before you get to the lounge? No departures board in sight. Took a punt and chose one and it turned out to be correct. QP not bad, except toaster and pancake maker ... not working

Anyway, flight over to SYD was v good. A Henschke Riesling PDB and regular top ups through the flight. Wonderful cabin crew. Lunch was a choice of barra and tomato sauce, something chicken and a salad. the barra was good, but the tomato got watery, of course.



Wi-fi across the continent and on approach to SYD I checked that my bag was on the flight. WTF?



They've jettisoned my bag at Leichardt???? I know I say some unkind things about Qantas on AFF, but sheesh!



Fortunately, by the time we taxied, the bag had bounced as far as the airport grounds



My bag kept bouncing and rolling until it eventually came close to the plane



A stop at the QP and on the flight to HBA they offered a 'refreshment' which turned out to be a 'full' butter chicken meal,



My bag looks like its gone to Gate 1, notwithstanding we are leaving from Gate 9





I and my bag arrived safely at HBA and that was that. Just picked up my car and drove the hour home.

 

[tgh]

Thank you for an interesting and entertaining tr , when is the next cruise ?

 

[Port Power]

Next day, its PER-xSYD-HBA in QF business and I was again tracking my checked bag with Apple AirTags.

Been a while since I checked a bag at a major Qantas airport, and it wasn't a pleasant experience. HBA (not a major port) still have lovely check-in agents).

Check in kiosks; about 2 out of every 5 were inoperative..

View attachment 289495

View attachment 289496

Bag drop - maybe 1 out of 4 were not working. Then to 'departures'. Hmmm ... two streams, one for T3 departures and one for T4, with access to different gates. Who the hell looks at departure gate # before you get to the lounge? No departures board in sight. Took a punt and chose one and it turned out to be correct. QP not bad, except toaster and pancake maker ... not working

Anyway, flight over to SYD was v good. A Henschke Riesling PDB and regular top ups through the flight. Wonderful cabin crew. Lunch was a choice of barra and tomato sauce, something chicken and a salad. the barra was good, but the tomato got watery, of course.

View attachment 289497

Wi-fi across the continent and on approach to SYD I checked that my bag was on the flight. WTF?

View attachment 289499

They've jettisoned my bag at Leichardt???? I know I say some unkind things about Qantas on AFF, but sheesh!

View attachment 289498

Fortunately, by the time we taxied, the bag had bounced as far as the airport grounds

View attachment 289501

My bag kept bouncing and rolling until it eventually came close to the plane

View attachment 289503

A stop at the QP and on the flight to HBA they offered a 'refreshment' which turned out to be a 'full' butter chicken meal,

View attachment 289505

My bag looks like its gone to Gate 1, notwithstanding we are leaving from Gate 9

View attachment 289507

View attachment 289506

I and my bag arrived safely at HBA and that was that. Just picked up my car and drove the hour home.

Why we you in the QP instead of the J lounge? I am glad you are a cru8sing convert, but there are more options than Ponant. So much choice out there!

 

[RooFlyer]

Why we you in the QP instead of the J lounge? I am glad you are a cru8sing convert, but there are more options than Ponant. So much choice out there!

I'm pretty sure I was in the J lounge ... (or were you ). I passed a sign with something blocked off, and I thought saying 'We welcome you to the Business Lounge'. I thought that meant to QP was closed ... but anyway, something was closed.


One of the problems for me with getting into cruising IS the choice. I actually started looking at cruises first in 2019 - you can imagine where that went!! I did start checking out SilverSea but I got sucked into the cabin pricing thing, which I noted here and the experience really put me off:

My first SilverSea experience

Spoiler alert: Hell may be about to freeze over. I'm contemplating doing a blue water cruise. :oops: https://www.silversea.com/destinations/russian-far-east-cruise/nome-to-seward-e4200914012.html

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

Ponant will continue to be my preferred choice, but my TA is on the case, so you never know ...

 

[RooFlyer]

Discussion on future cruise to the Antarctic is now here:

Planning an Antarctic expedition type cruise

So, that was that. A very enjoyable first cruise on the French expeditioner Le Laperouse. I'd happily recommend it and the itinerary down the Kimberley coast. The Captains hijinks didn't detract from the cruise, other than providing some pursed lips amongst the passengers. Weather and sea...

www.australianfrequentflyer.com.au

 

[ExpeditionCruiser]

A thoroughly enjoyable review.

Over the next 12-24 months we're going to see several new / returning entrants in the Kimberley, from Scenic's Eclipse, to Swan Hellenic and Seabourn, Lindbald are bringing back Nat Geo Orion, Ponant will also have Le Ponant here and of course Silversea will return as well. So lots of options when considering which cruise to choose, whether you go with the perceived 'luxury' and dining options of the prestige international lines, or the Australian experience, knowledge and access that Coral and the smaller local operators provide.

 

[RooFlyer]

Welcome back @ExpeditionCruiser and thanks. I wonder how much Le Ponant will be

 

[RooFlyer]

I'm very interested in what if any refund Ponant offer your friends and/or what their TI paid out. This is one of the scenarios I am concerned about for our 2023 Mauritius and Seychelles cruises. Ponant's policy is very silent on this scenario (as far as I can see).

They were quickly offered a choice of credit for a substitute cruise or claim on their TI (which, being the same as mine, would have paid out) but if the TI didn't pay out, they could come back and claim the credit. They were OK with that. After hearing my experience, they quickly decided to re-book the same cruise next year.

 

[ExpeditionCruiser]

Welcome back @ExpeditionCruiser and thanks. I wonder how much Le Ponant will be

Thanks for the welcome back, I have been lurking as always but truth be told have been flat out as folks start looking at polar cruising again!

Le Ponant is generally only doing seven night trips north or south Kimberley, plus two extra nights in Broome pre or post and priced at close to 18k pp lead in including the EB deals.. so more expensive than the other Ponant ships on a daily rate. Being sold as a partnership with Paspaley Pearls. Still, they will have a lot of takers.

 

[TheRealTMA]

They were quickly offered a choice of credit for a substitute cruise or claim on their TI (which, being the same as mine, would have paid out) but if the TI didn't pay out, they could come back and claim the credit. They were OK with that. After hearing my experience, they quickly decided to re-book the same cruise next year.

“INFLUENCER”!

 

[drron]

We cruised the Kimberley on the Orion some 15 years ago. We docked beside it in Tallinn -now the National Geographic Orion -in 2018. The crew were basically the same as when we cruised the Kimberley. Of course the Expedition crew had gone but Linblad has a good reputation so I would prsume still up there for the Kimberley. However it is not a luxury cruise like SS and Le Ponant. Down a notch or 2.

 

[ExpeditionCruiser]

One other ‘new’ ship I forgot to mention is the Heritage Adventurer, operated by NZ’s Heritage Expeditions. She starts in the Kimberley 2023, and long time fans of expedition cruising will recognise her as the original Hanseatic, a legendary expedition ship. Over recent years she was with One Ocean Expeditions before they went into liquidation and now popped up with Heritage who have the expertise to do very well with her. And currently 20% off usual prices too!

 

[tgh]

The Hanseatic in her new clothes, has an eclectic range of destinations including Macquarie Island and The Ross Sea.
I made an early booking enquiry , had some personal availability issues and pulled the pin as cancellation conditions were onerous.
Its a largish ship with plenty of cabins leads to decent solo availability...

 

[Port Power]

One other ‘new’ ship I forgot to mention is the Heritage Adventurer, operated by NZ’s Heritage Expeditions. She starts in the Kimberley 2023, and long time fans of expedition cruising will recognise her as the original Hanseatic, a legendary expedition ship. Over recent years she was with One Ocean Expeditions before they went into liquidation and now popped up with Heritage who have the expertise to do very well with her. And currently 20% off usual prices too!

The expedition crew really make the difference. Coral Expeditions are really good with their expedition team and very relevant guest lecturers. The shortage of appropriate expedition members on the international ships is a real problem. However, the majority of guests usually don’t notice the lack of local knowledge.

 

[drron]

The expedition crew really make the difference. Coral Expeditions are really good with their expedition team and very relevant guest lecturers. The shortage of appropriate expedition members on the international ships is a real problem. However, the majority of guests usually don’t notice the lack of local knowledge.

Though in our SS Expedition days we had plenty of Aussies on the Expedition team plus others with extensive Australian experience such as the lovely Robyn Aiello who is a marine biologist who worked for many years in tropical QLD. She knows her stuff and always entertaining.