31-day great barrier reef & far east passage collector

Hi all. I just found out that this would be DH's dream cruise- who knew?

We can't go this Nov but we were wondering if it's offered regularly.

Has anyone here has taken it. If so, any advice?

I'm not sure if this will answer your question; But I'll try. We've taken quite a few HAL "Grand" cruises -and our favorite was in and out of Southern California and went to Hawaii/Asia/Indonesia/down along the east coast of Australia -and on several similar cruises there were simply variations; The Pacific is SO huge-= but so interesting -the countries SO varied......These Grand cruises were from 70- 79 days depending on where you stopped etc -sometimes skipping China- OR Singapore or Darwin[Aus] -OR maybe all BUT went to 2 or 3 New Zealand ports.

So I won't go into where/etc etc - BUT if we loved ALL of them we took. [including a World that did many -but 'escaped' via India and the Red Sea into the Med.

The ANSWER is yes; We loved every one and Asia/Pacific will always be my FAVORITE destination. People were friendly/MANY spoke English easily and were helpful within the ports. Things were VERY different & unique -BUT that was the exciting PART! [ one of my dearest friends from several of these cruises lives just outside Sydney,Aust. Thank goodness FOR the Internet! we MET on one of the first cruises]

Open your heart & your mind [ and, Yes- probably your pocketbook as well] This is NOT Disney -Travel there is 'Real" and exciting, and fun, and a whole NEW learning experience. You will gasp at some unique finds [ we REALLY like Aust/NZ wines now & CAN buy them here] We've been traveling at least 2 months [ the World was 110 days -that WE felt was a bit too long away from OUR family; but only because we adore our family] We began cruising MANY years ago but both had WORK schedules; when we retired; we knew -"Get it done while you can" and we did and we are [probably] at that "end in sight" place -or ALMOST. Would I change anything? NO Was HAL a good choice [ the BEST for us; we ADORE the crew from Indonesia] Were ALL the cruises all THAT spectacular? YES yes and another yes yes yes!

Ages; we were 60 and 62 when we started the LONG retirement agenda. We are now 77 and 75. I would not [now] change a thing. and I'm SO glad we set this goal to do what we did! Anne

Hi all. I just found out that this would be DH's dream cruise- who knew?

We can't go this Nov but we were wondering if it's offered regularly.

 

Has anyone here has taken it. If so, any advice?

We've done the Sydney to Singapore portion of this cruise. So far it has been offered fairly regularly (at least annually). Very interesting cruise.

I've done Auckland to Sydney, continuing on to Singapore. I've also done Sydney to Vancouver, disembarking in Seattle. I think this second one may be closer to what you're looking at?

If you would post some of the ports, and something you want to ask about, I'll be happy to answer, if I can.

I will say, don't miss the King Neptune ceremony! It's always fun.

And if it's your first time crossing the Equator, do kiss the fish. You only cross the first time once, so don't blow the opportunity! :D You'll never regret it.

ANSalberg it sounds like you've had a lot of great experiences! And I know from reading here that you have too, Ruth.

I think we are thinking exactly as you were when you stepped it up- if not now, when? But while a world cruise sounds wonderful that's an awfully long time to be away. So I guess we're thinking of a segment.

DH was Vietnam era US Navy (although not sent there) so the Vietnam & Cambodia ports have a special interest. And we both want to see at least some of Australia. I guess we want to balance between richness of experience and the time away. I realize that's quite a challenge.

Oh and Ruth we did the King Neptune Ceremony on the Inca Discovery- it was a lot of fun! You're right, one shouldn't miss it!

Hi all. I just found out that this would be DH's dream cruise- who knew?

We can't go this Nov but we were wondering if it's offered regularly.

 

Has anyone here has taken it. If so, any advice?

Please, what cruise are you talking about?? Ship? Dates?

Please, what cruise are you talking about?? Ship? Dates?

It's in the title of their post - the name HAL has given the cruise, just like the better known here 'Voyage of the Vikings'. They also mentioned November in their post. I easily found it on the HAL site and thus confirmed what I'd suspected - I'd done the Sydney to Singapore portion of the Collector's Voyage. We haven't done the second part, the r/t Singapore to Vietnam and Cambodia.

What the OP didn't mention was that the Volendam is currently doing this cruise. Since they aren't going to be doing the currently scheduled cruise, who knows what ship will be doing this in the future?

OP - the Collector's cruise you mention isn't a segment of a Grand Voyage (World Cruise). You could very well sail the same areas on a World Cruise, but what you cite as DH's 'dream cruise' is a different experience.

It's in the title of their post - the name HAL has given the cruise, just like the better known here 'Voyage of the Vikings'. They also mentioned November in their post. I easily found it on the HAL site and thus confirmed what I'd suspected - I'd done the Sydney to Singapore portion of the Collector's Voyage. We haven't done the second part, the r/t Singapore to Vietnam and Cambodia.

 

What the OP didn't mention was that the Volendam is currently doing this cruise. Since they aren't going to be doing the currently scheduled cruise, who knows what ship will be doing this in the future?

 

OP - the Collector's cruise you mention isn't a segment of a Grand Voyage (World Cruise). You could very well sail the same areas on a World Cruise, but what you cite as DH's 'dream cruise' is a different experience.

I guess we just have to wait for the 2016-2017 itineraries to come out. Here's hoping...

I'm not sure if this will answer your question; But I'll try. We've taken quite a few HAL "Grand" cruises -and our favorite was in and out of Southern California and went to Hawaii/Asia/Indonesia/down along the east coast of Australia -and on several similar cruises there were simply variations; The Pacific is SO huge-= but so interesting -the countries SO varied......These Grand cruises were from 70- 79 days depending on where you stopped etc -sometimes skipping China- OR Singapore or Darwin[Aus] -OR maybe all BUT went to 2 or 3 New Zealand ports.

So I won't go into where/etc etc - BUT if we loved ALL of them we took. [including a World that did many -but 'escaped' via India and the Red Sea into the Med.

The ANSWER is yes; We loved every one and Asia/Pacific will always be my FAVORITE destination. People were friendly/MANY spoke English easily and were helpful within the ports. Things were VERY different & unique -BUT that was the exciting PART! [ one of my dearest friends from several of these cruises lives just outside Sydney,Aust. Thank goodness FOR the Internet! we MET on one of the first cruises]

Open your heart & your mind [ and, Yes- probably your pocketbook as well] This is NOT Disney -Travel there is 'Real" and exciting, and fun, and a whole NEW learning experience. You will gasp at some unique finds [ we REALLY like Aust/NZ wines now & CAN buy them here] We've been traveling at least 2 months [ the World was 110 days -that WE felt was a bit too long away from OUR family; but only because we adore our family] We began cruising MANY years ago but both had WORK schedules; when we retired; we knew -"Get it done while you can" and we did and we are [probably] at that "end in sight" place -or ALMOST. Would I change anything? NO Was HAL a good choice [ the BEST for us; we ADORE the crew from Indonesia] Were ALL the cruises all THAT spectacular? YES yes and another yes yes yes!

Ages; we were 60 and 62 when we started the LONG retirement agenda. We are now 77 and 75. I would not [now] change a thing. and I'm SO glad we set this goal to do what we did! Anne

We did this cruise in 2012 and I have to say it was definitely a standout cruise for us. It was not a cruise I probably would have chosen (DH wanted to go) but I am sooo glad we did it. We sailed out of Sydney (our home port) on the Volendam and stopped at Hamilton Island, Cairns, Darwin, Komodo Island, Lombok, Semarang and Singapore where the first part of the voyage ended. We continued on to Hong Kong, stopping at Koh Samui and Bangkok, Ho Chi Min City, Da Nang and Halong Bay and finally Hong Kong. It was 27 days. I think it's likely HAL will continue to run this cruise, even if some ports change as it's a one-off because subsequent cruises don't seem to go any further south than Singapore. The last few years, the Volendam has cruised further and further north until it finally leaves Asia and does the North Pacific across to Vancouver for the northern summer season.

I hope this helps you to decide.

Ozcruizer

ANSalberg it sounds like you've had a lot of great experiences!

 

DH was Vietnam era US Navy (although not sent there) so the Vietnam & Cambodia ports have a special interest. And we both want to see at least some of Australia. I guess we want to balance between richness of experience and the time away. I realize that's quite a challenge.

On one cruise where we had 2 stops in Vietnam -table mates came back to dinner one night practically in tears! They had been in Vietnam and Japan [ the wife was a nurse there where severe cases were sent -then] To see Vietnam in the 21st century meant everything to these two military veterans; the new highways with separate BICYCLE/motor bike lanes -separated by BEAUTIFULLY blooming flowerbeds-and to see the smiling /laughing young people with their children....Jim said afterward "THIS visit probably saved my life";) True story and one I'll always remember!