frantic36

6 June Misool, Indonesia We are in the pristine waters of Rajat Ampat which is a highly regarded dive spot. The area here is full of limestone karsts so reminds me of Halong Bay in Vietnam. We did a zodiac trip in the morning driving around the various karst formations. In the afternoon it was snorkelling of a beach. I opted out of this as it was very cloudy and I wasn't convinced visibility would be good. A friend who went was happy as the sun came out briefly and he went to a different area from the initial landing site and so some good coral and fish. zodiac trip with interesting eroded rocks. I see a rhinoceros though others saw a rabbit. Blue Heron sunning itself In some of the karsts were caves and in some have been found indigenous paintings going back 30 - 50,000 years. These ones intrigued me as to whether there were paintings inside? We came across a fisherman who had caught bait fish and one big red snapper. There is also Misool Resort. It doesn't look luxurious but you come here for the experience. If I can get some photos from my friend's snorkel I will post them later.

Nolly and Reniel are our attendants and have been lovely. Nolly will be disembarking in Darwin. Loving the suite but have been checking other suites out as won't be able to do this for every other expedition cruise.

The whole event took over an hour from greeting by the canoists to the ceremony ashore and then at the end there were products for sale. Some looked very interesting but because we had to go through border security in Darwin we opted not to buy. I did have about a reasonable amount of Indo Rupiah from a previous Bali trip so I donated that to the expedition leader so he could give it to the chiefs to be used by the whole village. Due to the remoteness they cannot take anything but Rupiah but Seabourn could exchange other currency to Rupiah at the village. Some young boys showed off their tree climbing and jumping skills. As I mentioned the ground was muddy and the "mud room" back on the ship came in handy as this stuff was very sticky. It was an amazing experience and for all it's challenges I'm glad I didn't miss it.

The next challenge we face was getting ashore as even though it was high tide the river bank was muddy though the villagers had put boards and palm leaves down to help. A doctor and nurse also came with equipment which thankfully no-one needed. The villages performed a ceremony showing how on returning from a expedition to fight the men were greeted by women, children and elders with twigs to beat out any evil spirits that might also have returned with them and then totems are erected to celebrate.

Agat is in the Asmat region of West Papua, Indonesia. We visited one village but all the villages surrounding were invited to attend. It was a long day starting at 12MD when the 21 zodiacs went in convoy for almost an hour ride as the tidal depth meant Pursuit had to park a distance out. We had a short window between 12 - 4pm to access the village due to tides. It was hot and humid so make sure if you do this bring lots of water and maybe a cooling neck tie. We had a short wait at the river entrance before escorted down where we were met by multiple Agat men in canoes greeting us as warriors would. Their ability to paddle while standing upright the whole time was amazing. There was many hundreds surrounding us which was a little intimidating at first.

Even though a sea day yesterday it was one of those days. Catching up with emails, an hour in the gym, checked out a friends normal suite as our current suite is an abnormal splurge. Sommeliers lunch, a quick nap, Chef's galley tour, a short break before getting ready for Seabourn Club Party which we attended because a friend got most sailed days then dinner with Captain Ertan. He is had 10 year expedition experience with Silversea before being moving to Venture and Pursuit. A very convivial dining companion. Enough excuses I will follow up with a recap of Agats as promised.

Amazing day in Agats today but heading out for pre-dinnner drinks so will post tomorrow including photos.

I am going to keep things short as I have been kept busy enjoying myself on the cruise. The Shangri La In Sydney is a reasonable hotel in a good location. Though would not be my first choice as it is looking dated and lots of hills to climb. There was confusion re luggage as we received a letter from Seattle Seabourn a week before saying we could take 2 x 23kg checked but Seabourn Australia initially said only 1 x 23Kg though I got an email saying otherwise just prior to departure which I printed off to show. In the end it didn't matter and we put our bags out the night before and got them collected. Seabourn put on 2 charter flights one left at 8am and the other at 10am. We were on the 10am and in Business because we have a Signature Suite but it looked like those in economy had an empty middle seat. Be prepared for a long bus ride from the airport to the port as traffic is bad. The buses were air conditioned. Our suite is lovely and we are enjoying using the spa. If it is windy or raining, which it has for a couple of days the outdoor cushions are placed in a large wicker basket outside on the balcony. We asked our stewardess to place the Indian capsules for the coffee maker with others we prefer and she has made sure of this each day. Our Papua itinerary was changed a few days before to Alatua and Conflict Islands. The included excursion in our first stop was to a Cultural Village Dance and presentation which we enjoyed but people on earlier buses said it was a bit disorganised when they arrived. Conflict Island included excursions were glass bottom boat trip, going to a turtle sanctuary and snorkelling nearby, going to a pontoon and snorkelling from there. There was an outer reef trip which was paid for and a 3.5 hour picnic to a private beach also extra cost. We chose the private beach as it allowed us the chance to snorkel, kayak and do stand up paddle board (which we didn't do). It was great as there was a good distance between each group. The included cheese, crackers, nuts, olives and fruit were good and the sparkly wine was fine. It felt special in such a gorgeous place. There were two big rugs which we placed over the paddle boards as a tablecloth and a couple of tree stumps that made good seats. On our way to 4 Indonesian Islands now and we are enjoying catching up with friends. We are having a small cocktail party in our suite pre-dinner tonight. Lots of interesting lectures about wildlife, geology and some WW2 history from the previous region of PNG.

Thanks Nancy. I am learning all the time. Only 5 more days till my first expedition cruise and we are having a few frustrating learning experiences. I won't post the resolution until we board the ship because I do think it is best to see how problems are resolved.

We always do long cruises usually of a month at least but around three a year so how does that work out? I am asking because I am used to a Milestone Cruise Award with Seabourn based on days sailed so I am thinking if based on cruises it wouldn't be a good result?

@caviarforme thank you for posting the email. I was only interested in clarifying who the email was from whether Seabourn, a charter company or a tourism consortium. I have also experienced a drunken group but I don't think a partial charter but a consortium travel agency which was part of why I asked the question.

I'm curious, was the email from Seabourn or from another travel site you have signed up to receive offers? Living in Australia we for example have known of APT for many years, not that I use them, but I as yet haven't received anything like this from them or Seabourn even since the announced affiliation.

Have never seen this after many Seabourn days and would likely go to the Maitre D discretely and ask them to get them to stop as I don't want to be in their video. It is a privacy issue.

We visited Nero's Golden Palace in 2022 and it was fascinating. We booked tickets in advance. https://smarthistory.org/domus-aurea-golden-palace/

Thank you! We are counting down the days to board as we have never done the expedition ships before and your comments about the suite has heightened our excitement. We have friends in the Wintergarden, Panorama and Verandah Suites so we will be able to see a good range. I will try to ask around to get viewpoints for various excursions. I am interested in village culture as well as scenery and wildlife so we will be interested in the lectures and what excursions they offer. Hope your flight is good and you enjoy your time in Hawaii.

My husband laughed when he read this as I am exactly the same. I used your tip and checked out Silversea and Ponant for what their excursions are in the Kimberleys. Our first 15 day segment is remote islands of Papua and Indonesia so we will just have to wait and see. As to your issue with Flight Ease I agree that's bad and I would be a very unhappy soul as well about your changes. We had an issue for our flight home after our South America Grand Voyage last year after they changed a flight and the alternative wasn't great. I was able to find a better alternative but had to push hard while onboard to get Flight Ease to accept it but they did. From now on we have decided to keep our flights under our control.

Agrred. With tender ports if there is a lot of movement of the tender it can be very risky for people with mobility actions. I have watched some people who were unsteady on their feet insist on getting on the tender as it was bouncing. It took 2 or 3 crew to help them on and off and I must admit I had concern either crew or passenger was going end up injured. Might I suggest if the weather is rough on those days to think about the risk of boarding the tender.

Enjoy your last day and safe travels home. Thank you for all the details you have shared. Oh and don't do a Keith Moon(Who) and trash your suite as you leave as I'm looking forward to being their soon 😁.

Thanks Ed, I knew you weren't but for people that don't know me I just wanted to be clear we do things on the "down low". I'll let you know if we get the same letter on our upcoming Pursuit cruise. Though you know I will also say something to the HD about my disapproval if it occurs while onboard. I would be curious to find out their reasons why they thought this was a good idea.🤔

Oh we don't do it to get special attention and actually tell them that when donating. We used to donate last day but then found out some of our favourite crew were also going home at the same time. Having been on a cruise where they had held special dinners for the crew from the crew fund I didn't want our favourites to miss out.

I wonder why you didn't get it but texanaust did? I agree the letter isn't great but since I always contribute to the fund as opposed to tipping everyone who serves me I would just ignore it. We contribute part way through the cruise rather than the end because some of the great crew who served us might leave at the same time we do so not benefit from any special event put on. On our last couple of cruises we have noticed a lot more overt tipping to bar and wait staff. You couldn't miss it as they weren't discrete. I feel it has lead to some staff hovering waiting to be tipped and I for one as an Australian find this uncomfortable. So maybe as @Cantara24 suggested it is a nudge to people to contribute to the crew fund that supports all staff rather than individuals.

For a period of time we had to sail during the Northern Summer School holidays on Seabourn so have sailed on some B2B short cruises with many children. Having said that though some of the worst behaviour I have seen on those 7 day cruises were groups of adult friends travelling together. It is why we now, since we can, avoid 7 day cruises at that time. I'm a Marriot member so I will try them at some point out of curiosity.

I will be on Pursuit's first Kimberly cruise in June. So I can let you know what expeditions we get then. Having done a Kimberley cruise last year I am not expecting them to use the submarine due to tides in the area but I might be surprised.

Agree with both these as we experienced this on our Jan/Feb '24 cruise. We ask the Sommelier for the premium wine list and take photos of the list so we could go through it later to make a list if some of our favourites. We also ask the Sommelier for recommendations because sometimes there are odd bottles tucked away not on the list. On longer cruises the list can be updated if they get new provisions loaded as happened on our cruise. We were lucky on our last cruise we had Joanne and Phillipe and their backups, though not as knowledgeable, were learning quickly with Jo & Phillipe's mentoring.

Maybe Keith and I are too out there 🤔. I am frequently surprised by crew saying hello. That's great your stewardess is a good one most are I think but the not so good do impact. I'm glad you are having a brilliant cruise as the previous one especially wasn't so great so you deserve a good one. Best regards to you and Alf. Julie