orion

[seabourndt]

anyone been on this cruiseline? i was on sun bay 1 some years ago as they are built at the same shipyard are they similar? se they are slight larger than the sun bay was. any idea whaty happened to sun bay 2?

dave

[Louise22]

Haven't been on the Orion yet but will be in mid-April. There is quite an extensive article in the most recent ITN Travel Magazine. The author writes that he is a veteran of approximately 20 small ship expedition type cruises with different cruise lines and that this ship is best so far. He also says the ship is exquisite, opulent and beautifully designed and compares it to a 5-star hotel. Orion cruises has obtained the Clelia 11 from Travel Dynamics and it will be sailing as the Orion 11.

[seabourndt]

thanks for posting, fantastic! you are going ion her i9n april where atre you going on her?what sort of price did you get? how about singles? is the magazine available to buy? are you in the uk? sop many question! i was on SUN BAY 1 some years ago thru NOBLE CALEDONIA to BALTIC she is a lovely ship, now XPEDITION for VCELEBRITY. but apart from being a bit larger much the same ship i guess. i looed at the pictures through their website they look really nice, the restaurant looks really like the one i had.

keep in touch, i am doing a presentation att mundy cruising on 26th jan in london.

dave

[Louise22]

Dave - I didn't realize until after I posted that you are in the U.K. I doubt you will be able to get the magazine. As to prices, I don't think I can help you on that either as I got a package deal with a 5 day Coral Princess cruise added. My price also includes international air, internal air, hotels and transfers. I am a single traveler and my single supplement was an additional 25% for the Orion - there was no single supplement for the Coral Princess at this time. I am thinking you might even be able to do better booking in the U.K. through Orion directly or a travel agency there or maybe an Australian agency.

 

As to the cruise, I am doing "New Guinea and Maluku" which ends in Darwin so am flying back to Cairns for the Great Barrier Reef portion. I started counting the small expedition type cruises I have done around the world in the past 10 years and it must be around 20 also. Obviously my favorite way to travel and I do love snorkeling although I have not been restrictive to warm-water expeditions having included Antarctica and the Pacific Arctic region. Louise :)

[seabourndt]

yes i am in the uk where are you u.s or australia? i have friends in melbourne we met on the FUNCHAL. when we attentn the presentation in london i wil se what they offer. no single supplement was good. i really want to go to new zealand mayne i will make it this year

dave

[Louise22]

Hello, again - I am west coast U.S. And, I take that back about the last 10 years - it has been more like 15 years. Louise

[NanciEA]

My husband and I were on the ten day Highlights of New Zealand cruise last February. Everything about Orion Expedition Cruises is amazing. We loved every minute of the cruise. The best thing for us was the amazing crew, especially the naturalists. We are so glad they have a second ship coming soon. We can't wait to cruise with Orion again. I wrote a review of our cruise which was published in ITN several months ago.

[seabourndt]

i certainly look forward to the presentation on 26th and seeing a full brochure. i looked at some prices some very dear but other so so bad. i certainly would like to go on the ORION not sure about the new ship she is larger and not the same. my ship SUNBAY was a lovely ship half the size of ORION and looked a lot like her coming from the same shipyard.

i really want to try thios line out and moreiover go to NEW ZEALAND av placve i have never been to but heard so many things about. i was in australia in 20o8 on FUNCHAL sadly were never made it on the ship! got to SAFAGA where we stayed ac whiole week and ended up flying to australia.any pictures of your cabin would be nice. any idea where i can get a copy of the review?

dave

[gbucky]

Was checking out this line with CC as I had just seen that Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel) is now doing several new for 2011 cruises with Orion. Usually Road Scholar is a good value when they book with a cruise line.

[Louise22]

I checked Road Scholar out before my booking and they are way more - like at least $4-5,000. I got a package with the added GBR cruise through my travel agent. Can't imagine why they are so expensive.

[rojaan19]

I have been on the Orion twice. 18 months ago we did the Kimberley cruise - Broome to Darwin, and we have just finished 18 nights cruise to Antarctica- Mawsons Hut. Both times we were in a French Balcony suite on level 5. If you have any specific questions I might be able to answer.

 

:)

[seabourndt]

you have done the orion quite a bit then, iu'd just love to go on her but doubt iof i can be good though and gice me a few ideasafford it, theb presentayion this wednesday in london should give me some ideas.

dave

[seabourndt]

had an enjoyable evening seeing ORION, hearing the single supplement is a bit high unless you get 25% and finding it does not include drinks is a bit of a shock!! but the pictures were fantastic, i sure hope i get a chance to try it out

dave

[seabourndt]

had a good evening in london seeing all things ORION. heard thev single supp was not great and no drink are incliuded. maybe try her one day

dave

[Lirio]

I am considering the Antarctica expedition with Orion in 2013. I have done Antarctica Peninsula with Silversea (PAII) and would love to get further information about Orion such as: cabin selection tips, amenities, rubber boots, parka, life on board, etc.

 

Thanks in advance.

[Fletcher]

Orion II - formerly Clelia II - is a sister ship to the Island Sky with certain modifications. In some respects, the original Orion may still be slightly more luxurious, though I do not feel the top cabins are worth the extra money as they do not have proper balconies. Orion II, however, does have proper balconies and would be worth the extra.

 

We did three back-to-back cruises on Orion, from Auckland to Cairns via Melanesia and PNG, and had a great time despite some disappointing elements. We thought the expedition team were a bit thick, frankly, and every evening they would give a so-called 'briefing' which actually was a sales pitch for the following day's excursions. That made the whole thing feel a bit crass and cheap. We also had major issues with the food - those Serge Dansereau menus were scarcely better than business class airline food but breakfasts and the on-deck buffets were outstanding. Service levels were incredibly high and we liked little details such as complimentary sunscreen and bugspray and the whole zodiac operation is the best we have ever encountered. Passengers, by the way, were 95% Australian.

 

Orion and Orion II do have some nice itineraries but I warn anyone thinking of doing a Far East trip that includes Sulawesi and Borneo which I don't think are cruise destinations. The trip inland to Torajaland is incredibly gruelling and not worth it - I did it on the Clipper Odyssey this year and the Orion does exactly the same trip. Also, I wish Orion would stop calling their some of their trips 'Spice Island' because they don't call at a single spice island. Banda, Ternate and Tidore are the only Spice Islands and Orion doesn't go there which is a shame.

 

The inexorable rise in the value of the Aussie dollar makes Orion even more expensive nowadays.

[Louise22]

I leave in a little less than 2 weeks for my Orion cruise and hope I'm not that disappointed in the food after reading your review, Fletcher. Maybe I won't gain weight! Thanks for the bugspray and sunscreen information - I will leave mine at home.

 

One of the cruises I have done on the the Odyssey included Torajaland about 3 years ago. It has remained one of my all time favorite places. I sure didn't find it gruelling and not worth it.

 

Thank you for your input. :)

[Fletcher]

Louise - Maybe my memories of the food were because we did a month on the ship and dinners rapidly became repetitive. Anyway, that trip you are on, from Darwin around the top of PNG and West Papua to Cairns, has an fabulous routing, starting in Rabaul - we spent three days there on the Orion and it's one of the most unforgettable places I've ever seen. Not especially pleasant, but apocalyptic with that belching volcano and the black ash that covers most of the town. A pity Banda isn't on the itinerary as that's a uniquely beautiful place where we stayed for a week and encountered our very first expedition cruise ship - the World Discoverer called in for a day. But I envy you visiting the Kei Islands - I've always wanted to go there because the beaches there look second to none. Have a great trip and maybe you'll write a little report when you get back.

[Louise22]

Hello again, Fletcher - actually, I was to Rabaul 3 years ago on the Odyssey. One of my favorite memories was being hosed down when we got back to the ship. A combination of rain and a "belching" volcano makes a muddy mess.

 

That was the Odyssey "Best of Melansia and Micronesia" cruise with Yap and Palau. Unfortunately, there was a glitch with the immigration officials in Yap who chose to no-show whenever we were supposed to meet with them so they could accept our papers. We did stop at one island and the captain offered the chief $5,000 to let us just snorkel off shore but he refused because we were not cleared. As a result, we spent 3 days at sea by-passing Yap. Zegrahm was very good to offer a credit of 25%.

 

I have always wanted to go back and see more of New Guinea. The cruise I will be on starts with a flight to Rabaul from Cairns and ends in Darwin. I hope everything goes well with all the "under the ground activity" going on over there.

[Friscorays]

I leave in a little less than 2 weeks for my Orion cruise.....

 

How was it?

[Louise22]

I sure have been lax about reporting on the cruise - I have been feeling guilty. The cruise was wonderful. The ship is absolutely gorgeous, the smallest rooms large and the staff wonderful. They make you feel like you are the most important person in the world. Funny thing was I knew the captain and his wife from cruises years ago on the Clipper Odyssey. We had a good time talking about the trips, crews and passengers from before. The meals were excellent and because they weren't huge, I managed to not put on any weight.

 

Mostly Australians on board with about 20% Americans. I came away with so many new friends.

 

The places we visited in New Guinea were very interesting and the snorkeling in the Rajah Ampat area was the best I have ever seen so far. I have been in most of the South Pacific and a good bit of Micronesia and Melanesia. I would love to go back to the Rajah Ampat area just for snorkeling.

 

The one glitch we had was our charter flight from Cairns to Rabaul. The plane was not functioning properly after waiting about 3 hours at the airport in Cairns. All the passengers were taken back to Cairns for the night - the best hotel and meals paid. A big expense (maybe the charter airline paid) as it was a full ship but it must have been worse arranging for the people in Rabaul waiting to take the plane back to Cairns - their onward flights would all need to be changed. Everyone received a $500 credit for a future cruise on the Orion.

 

I had one problem in which I had to go to emergency in Darwin the end of the cruise. Two days before I was in such pain I couldn't walk. The ship's doctor took excellent care of me putting me on pain killers. Everyone was so concerned for me. I have 3 pins in my hip from a horse accident and thought for sure one had come loose from some of the activities. An Australian doctor who was a passenger insisted on going to the hospital with me. Ended up for x-ray, doctors consultation and the emergency it was $280. A bargain compared to here in the U.S. and I did have insurance which also covered the $180 for the ship's doctor and pain meds. Turned out it was an inflammation and I limped with medication on my way to my mid-afternoon flight.

 

I sure would not hesitate to take an Orion cruise again and do recommend cruising with them. I am sure the same attention to detail and comfort would apply for the OrionII.

[Friscorays]

Thank you for sharing your thoughts Louise22. I'm thinking about going on one of their Borneo itineraries.

[Fletcher]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip, Louise, despite the pain!

 

Friscorays - I didn't rate Borneo as a cruise destination at all. The towns have become huge and traffic choked, the orang-utan reserves are just like zoos, there are far too many cultural villages and it's just one long coach ride. Not 'exotic' at all. Now, I did this last December on a ship called Clipper Odyssey, the same size as Orion but less luxurious, and we didn't visit Kalimantan, just Malaysian Borneo and Brunei (which was great), but I think Borneo is a land-based, up-country destination, not a coastal one.

[seabourndt]

i am still hopingh to try out ORION and see for myself. i see there is a cruise around tasmania anyone done this one before/

dave

[rugbypopsie]

i am still hopingh to try out ORION and see for myself. i see there is a cruise around tasmania anyone done this one before/

dave

 

I have friends (Sandra and Allan) who have done a number of the Orion cruises...they love them! As for Tasmania..seas in that area can be very rough...I think I would rather be on a bigger ship...however it must be very good they go all over the place with it.