Live from Silver Cloud July 19-29, 2024–Darwin to Broome Australia

[highplanesdrifters]

Our recent Seabourn expedition Scotland/Norway was filled with local newbies enticed by giant OBCs.  The trip turned into a expedition/ocean hybrid with lots of overpriced excursions. They had to claw back those OBCs somehow.

 

We chose Champagne.😁

Edited August 5 by highplanesdrifters

[RyanJCanada]

20 hours ago, Port Power said:

As I said, I’ve taken many Kimberley expeditions with various companies.  Some didn’t need passports.  I probably mixed them up. Some didn’t go out to Ashmore reef.  One was a round trip from Broome.

 

I totally agree Silversea never “dumped” any cruises in Australia, including the Kimberley.  Silversea doesn’t discount at all as far as I’m aware. They will offer no solo supplement closer to departure, which is the big draw card for solo travellers.  Australia’s would just have taken the opportunity of a close to home, luxury cruise.

 

We did manage a steep discount on our Greenland cruise last year, but we were already on board and they only approved it with less than 24 hours to go. So not a situation that most could hope to replicate.

[RyanJCanada]

13 hours ago, Port Power said:

I’ve been reading some posts on the CC Australian Cruisers thread.  It appears there are many Australian cruisers, mainly older folk who are used to sailing on Princess, who think of Darwin to Broome as “small ship cruising”. And very expensive, so are splurging!  “Small ship cruises” was mentioned repeatedly, but never once “expedition cruising”.  I agree, they seem to have no concept of expedition cruising!

I’ve said it before, but outside of veteran cruisers there seems to be a real lack of knowledge about expedition cruising. It’s a shame because it really is a fantastic way to explore the world, and I think there are a lot of people who would love it if they tried it - but alas they haven’t even heard of it, apart perhaps from the Antarctic and maybe Galapagos.

[Port Power]

21 minutes ago, RyanJCanada said:

I’ve said it before, but outside of veteran cruisers there seems to be a real lack of knowledge about expedition cruising. It’s a shame because it really is a fantastic way to explore the world, and I think there are a lot of people who would love it if they tried it - but alas they haven’t even heard of it, apart perhaps from the Antarctic and maybe Galapagos.

 

It seems all those who went on Silver Cloud did thoroughly enjoy their experiences.  No mention of going out in zodiacs, so possibly they rarely left the ship.  Certainly the "small ship cruises" were a hit!  At least the ship fills up, which is good for business, and the real expedition passengers still enjoy their expeditions.

[RachelG]

10 hours ago, Port Power said:

 

It seems all those who went on Silver Cloud did thoroughly enjoy their experiences.  No mention of going out in zodiacs, so possibly they rarely left the ship.  Certainly the "small ship cruises" were a hit!  At least the ship fills up, which is good for business, and the real expedition passengers still enjoy their expeditions.

There were definitely many onboard who didn't go out on the zodiacs much, if at all.  Often this cruise, they would start calling the zodiac groups down early as not many people were showing up.  I haven't really experienced that much previously.  

[highplanesdrifters]

3 minutes ago, RachelG said:

There were definitely many onboard who didn't go out on the zodiacs much, if at all.  Often this cruise, they would start calling the zodiac groups down early as not many people were showing up.  I haven't really experienced that much previously.  

 

Very interesting. We saw a bit of this on our last expedition. Some folks grousing about zodiacs. Always surprising when folks dont seem to know what theyZodiacs.

 

Thanks again for taking us along.😃

[taxatty]

2 hours ago, RachelG said:

There were definitely many onboard who didn't go out on the zodiacs much, if at all.  Often this cruise, they would start calling the zodiac groups down early as not many people were showing up.  I haven't really experienced that much previously.  

Wow. The Kimberley is certainly a strange (and expensive) "veg on the ship" cruise itinerary, given especially that there is relatively little to see from the ship itself (unlike, for example, Alaska), and very few on-ship activities during the day.

[PANK of Three]

On 8/5/2024 at 8:38 AM, RachelG said:

Likely possible.  I have received such offers in the past, but have never been able to take advantage of them.  And yes, as JP stated, there was a lot of availability on this cruise until about 6 weeks prior then all of a sudden it was full. So something happened.

 

George and I had the 3rd most days onboard which was really unexpected.

 

of course, a big draw for Aussies would be the relatively short flights.

RachelG, I wonder if that 'all of a sudden it was full' was due to Silversea assigning suites to those that had a guaranteed reservation?  Just a thought.

 

I was on the July 29 sailing which was a Venetian Society Sailing.  The top number of days was 358 on this sailing followed by 184, 148, 147, and then me and my husband at 141 days.

[sanne]

12 hours ago, taxatty said:

Wow. The Kimberley is certainly a strange (and expensive) "veg on the ship" cruise itinerary, given especially that there is relatively little to see from the ship itself (unlike, for example, Alaska), and very few on-ship activities during the day.

We were one of the couples who didn’t go on any of the zodiac rides due to an unforeseen medical problem. I can vouch that during the morning zodiac rides there were only a few people who stayed on board. The ship was deserted. We felt like we were on our own luxury yacht!