Expedition Cruising
If you love the idea of exploring new frontiers, cruising a little more of the beaten track, enjoy great cultural interactions and a great educational trip, then expedition cruising is definitely something you should consider :)
I have just returned from 2 weeks onboard the National Geographic/Lindblad Expiditions Orion, exploring the Coral Sea, with our ports of call starting in Alotau in PNG, located in the Milne Bay province, before exploring some of the smaller islands of Eastern PNG, including Samarai, Dekka Dekka Island, Panapompom and Nivani Islands. Next stop was Honiara in the Solomon Islands, followed by Santa Ana - an amazing little island, really a piece of paradise still out there!! Next we enjoyed a day on Espiritu Santo and Lelepa Island, before finishing the trip in Fiji.
Expedition cruising is generally on smaller ships, and the National Geographic Orion is no different. With approx 100 guests onboard, and 75 crew, it is a small, more intimate cruising experience for sure, and one filled with lots of opportunities to learn about the cultures/underwater world and history of the places on your itinerary. The Expedition Team on board will give lectures on sea days about the areas you are in, the villages and people you may get to meet, the underwater world you are about to see and also current issues ie. climate change effects on reefs, cultures that may be on the verge of extinction and the ways that National Geographic is helping to try and overcome some of these issues that we are facing in today's world.
The days we were able to get in the zodiacs and explore the shores, the Expedition Team would join the various groups, and would always be on hand to explain the birdlife/nature around us, and on our cruise, we also had specialist photographers and videographers, who were always more than happy to share a few tips on how to make fantastic pictures, that would tell stories for years to come.
Working up an appetite was never a problem, with days filled with some fantastic walks, diving and snorkelling with amazing visibility (in some places of 40+ metres), heading back to the ship, whether it was breakfast, lunch, dinner or morning/afternoon teas, the food was always amazing as was the service of the crew - very personalised, and definitely the way to travel!
Feel free to check out some of my pictures of the trip by clicking on the following link.