Report on my first cruise, on Coral Princess

[MMDown Under]

15 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

We board Westerdam on Tuesday. We're staying in an apartment hotel in the city and have great views of the Queens Wharf part of the harbour over the top of buildings.

That is my favourite type of holiday, a land holiday in a unit with a kitchen, followed by a cruise, then a land holiday.  Enjoy catching up with your Kiwi relatives.  Will be interesting to compare Westerdam with Coral Princess.  Is it similar size?

[OzKiwiJJ]

4 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

That is my favourite type of holiday, a land holiday in a unit with a kitchen, followed by a cruise, then a land holiday.  Enjoy catching up with your Kiwi relatives.  Will be interesting to compare Westerdam with Coral Princess.  Is it similar size?

Yes, around 2000 passengers on Westerdam which is the same as Coral.

[NSWP]

1 minute ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, around 2000 passengers on Westerdam which is the same as Coral.

Westerdam is a Vista class ship like Noordam and Arcadia, been on both and I like them. Enjoy your cruise Julie and Rolf.

Bon Voyage.

[P&T]

Sorry to highjack this thread, but for those who have taken this cruise, were there any good duty free facilities at any of the ports? There was a great place in Vanuatu when we went there a few years back.

[cruiser3775]

My first cruise - last episode

 

The final stop was to the Conflict Islands.  This is a privately owned group of PNG islands, which are set up for tourism.  It was another tender port, but there were no queues this time.  

At the top of the pier was an elaborate shade shelter with intricately carved posts and a big welcome sign.  In the middle was a bar. The whole construction was empty, and I never saw any sign of welcoming locals.  Princess had set up the usual gazebos with chilled water and face cloths next to this.

The seas around this island were amazing shade of turquoise and jade, with darker patches of coral reef and crystal clear water. The beaches were fine sand and all the pathways were well constructed and had destination signs. The tropical vegetation was lush and green and shady in the heat.

I set off along the pathway marked "Excursions" past the small lodges that can be rented for the day (at a huge price) and came to a building with a wide verandah overlooking the beach.  I had wanted to go on the glass bottom boat excursion to see the coral reefs, but I left it too late to book and it was sold out. I asked at the meeting point if there had been a cancellation, but they said no. I'm sorry I missed this, as the coral reefs here are said to be in very good condition, and I am not able to go snorkelling.

Back at the end of the pier, I took another path that went across the small island to the ocean beach, a 10 -15 minute walk. The path had protruding tree roots that were a tripping hazard, but was otherwise well constructed. It had a few bench seats for resting part way. We passed a 'staff only' section, where you could see extensive vegetable gardens and an orchard.

The path came out at the main ocean beach,  which was very calm.  There was some development here. A Coconut Bar sold drinks at inflated prices, there was a food outlet, and a souvenir shop, all under a canopy of shade trees and coconut palms.  You could hire kayaks or take a ride on a motor boat. Some people had hammocks slung under the trees.  I bough an expensive beer and sat at one of the picnic tables with some New Zealanders for a chat.   The food hut didn't look very enticing, a very limited menu and I wasn't interested in a meat pie. But another passengers I had met on the trek down to the beach told me to try the ice cream.This was definitely a winner, served in a coconut shell, real high quality icecream with great flavours.

At the head of the track was a map of the island, and I could see that you could walk around much of it on the tracks, including one that went to the airstrip.

The final structure was an open sided souvenir shop. It sold commercial items like T-shirts and water bottles and hats with the Conflict islands logo, plus a smattering of locally made handicrafts at very high prices, compared to Kiriwina and Rabaul. There were no private  sellers, only this one shop.

 

I had thought to spend the remainder of my Kina on the Conflict Islands, but that wasn't possible. Despite the fact that the prices were quoted in Kina, the staff would not take cash. The only way to pay was by credit card.  This was annoying, because I had some Kina I wanted to spend at this last port, but fortunately I did have a credit card with me.  It would have been helpful  if Coral Princess staff had explained more clearly about money on land visits. They could have announced in advance that there would be a currency exchange on board in Alotau. They could have said that local people find it hard to exchange Australian dollars and want Kina, and they definitely could have told us all that the only way you can pay for anything on the Conflict Islands is by credit card.  I later met one disgruntled passenger who told me he had to take a tender back to the ship to get his credit card so he could pay for hiring a kayak.

After a pleasant rest and exploration of the ocean beach, I made my way back to the pier and along the beach track on the lagoon side. The seas were the most amazing colour, definitely the best I had seen on the whole trip and on a clear sunny day, it was a lovely last stop.

The last two days were sea days on our way back to Brisbane, good for rest and relaxation and there were still many parts of the ship for me to discover.

 

If anyone has any specific questions they would like to ask about this trip, I'd be happy to answer. Thanks again to all the contributors to CC who gave me much valuable information.

 

 

 

[lyndarra]

Thanks for your interesting and informative logs, I've been enjoying the read.

You wont find "locals" on Conflict Islands as they are privately owned (by an Aussie). The only residents on the island are staff connected to the turtle conservation and research facility. I believe the set up for tourism was done to help finance the consevation/research. The island owner, Ian Gowrie-Smith, was on board our ship Noordam and gave some talks on his background, island history and current work being done.

The coral there is the best I have seen but one has to purchase a ticket to view it and you are transported by power boat to a pontoon above the coral and the "abyss". Snorkelling equipment is provided.

When I was there last, Jan 2019, we needed to buy vouchers to purchase anything - my memory is hazy on how it worked but we knew this before we arrived thanks to info provided on  Noordam. I donated my remaining Kina to a PNG island school before we arrived - I've forgotten which.

Since my visit, I believe Eco resort development is happening.

 

 

 

[cruiser3775]

4 hours ago, P&T said:

for those who have taken this cruise, were there any good duty free facilities at any of the ports?

Not that I saw. The shops were mostly of the old fashioned 'general store' variety in Alotau and Rabaul.  They sold 'duty free' watches and a very limited selection of spirits in the shops on the ship, but you could not consume those spirits on board.

There also was no wi fi anywhere that I could find, though someone told me the Yacht Club in Rabaul might have it.  I quite enjoyed being out of touch of pesky emails and texts for 12 days and I liked the fact that PNG has not been overwhelmed by tourism to any great extent..

[Yaya_in_Oz]

Wonderful descriptive writing @cruiser3775. Its like I'm there already.

 

Did you see any postcards and places to buy stamps in the ports of Alotau or Rabaul? I like to send a few cards on my travels.

 

Thanks for the heads up about the Conflict Islands. About a week ago I was refunded my money for the Turtle Sanctuary excursion (not quite sure of the title). It must have closed for some reason but Princess didn't say why so I've booked on the lagoon cruise.

My Kina arrived today, so I feel I'm almost there. Thanks again 

 

 

[Ozwoody]

5 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

Not that I saw. The shops were mostly of the old fashioned 'general store' variety in Alotau and Rabaul.  They sold 'duty free' watches and a very limited selection of spirits in the shops on the ship, but you could not consume those spirits on board.

There also was no wi fi anywhere that I could find, though someone told me the Yacht Club in Rabaul might have it.  I quite enjoyed being out of touch of pesky emails and texts for 12 days and I liked the fact that PNG has not been overwhelmed by tourism to any great extent..

Loved reading your reviews of your cruise, really like your writing style, thanks again.👍

John

[cruiser3775]

16 hours ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

Did you see any postcards and places to buy stamps in the ports of Alotau or Rabaul? I like to send a few cards on my travels.

I didn't see postcards for sale anywhere, but I wasn't actually looking for them. There are post offices in Alotau and Rabaul. PNG stamps are beautiful.  Perhaps you can write an old fashioned letter and send it in an envelope decorated with PNG stamps?

On the Conflict islands, there was a strange old wooden post box attached to a tree at the head of the pier.

[cruiser3775]

16 hours ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

My Kina arrived today, so I feel I'm almost there

If you only have big notes, when you get to Alotau buy a bottle of water at one of the big stores, and you will get the change in smaller notes.  The handicrafts sellers mostly wanted 20 Kina notes or smaller.

[bvm49]

Thank you for your very interesting review.

The only port we've stopped at in PNG was Alotau in March 1916 on a cruise to Hong Kong. We walked into the town from the dock which in retrospect wasn't a good idea. It was probably the hottest we've ever been. My wife even used her travel umbrella to try and get some shade during the walk! Living most of our life in north Queensland, we thought we were used to the heat.

We did stay in the general/department store for a long while standing in front of their air-conditioner.

Yes, the locals were very friendly.

Brian

[Yaya_in_Oz]

7 hours ago, cruiser3775 said:

If you only have big notes, when you get to Alotau buy a bottle of water at one of the big stores, and you will get the change in smaller notes.  The handicrafts sellers mostly wanted 20 Kina notes or smaller.

Thanks for the tip. I only have one 100K note (which I may spend in the PO!), the rest 5K and 10K.

[Bpos]

On 12/16/2022 at 8:30 AM, lyndarra said:

Thanks for your interesting and informative logs, I've been enjoying the read.

You wont find "locals" on Conflict Islands as they are privately owned (by an Aussie). The only residents on the island are staff connected to the turtle conservation and research facility. I believe the set up for tourism was done to help finance the consevation/research. The island owner, Ian Gowrie-Smith, was on board our ship Noordam and gave some talks on his background, island history and current work being done.

The coral there is the best I have seen but one has to purchase a ticket to view it and you are transported by power boat to a pontoon above the coral and the "abyss". Snorkelling equipment is provided.

When I was there last, Jan 2019, we needed to buy vouchers to purchase anything - my memory is hazy on how it worked but we knew this before we arrived thanks to info provided on  Noordam. I donated my remaining Kina to a PNG island school before we arrived - I've forgotten which.

Since my visit, I believe Eco resort development is happening.

 

 

 

The Australian owner of the Conflict Islands is trying to sell the islands to the Australian Government (apparently PNG is not interested in PAYING for them) for a large sum of money.  His latest effort to extract the maximum amount of $$$ from the Australian Taxpayer for the islands is his claim that the Chinese will be interested in the islands due to there location in the Pacific and ability to build "facilities" there and upgrade the airstrip to military grade status.  Anyone want to buy a tropical paradise?

[arxcards]

On 12/17/2022 at 11:34 PM, Bpos said:

The Australian owner of the Conflict Islands is trying to sell the islands to the Australian Government (apparently PNG is not interested in PAYING for them) for a large sum of money.  His latest effort to extract the maximum amount of $$$ from the Australian Taxpayer for the islands is his claim that the Chinese will be interested in the islands due to there location in the Pacific and ability to build "facilities" there and upgrade the airstrip to military grade status.  Anyone want to buy a tropical paradise?

PNG is pretty clear that the islands will not be privately sold to a non-PNG entity and couldn't work out how it became privately owned in the first place. Money talks it seems and was seen as a real estate transaction. They are certainly not going to let a sovereign state own PNG land, as it would no longer be a PNG island.

[Bpos]

On 12/19/2022 at 9:55 AM, arxcards said:

PNG is pretty clear that the islands will not be privately sold to a non-PNG entity and couldn't work out how it became privately owned in the first place. Money talks it seems and was seen as a real estate transaction. They are certainly not going to let a sovereign state own PNG land, as it would no longer be a PNG island.

Don't be to certain about that Geoff, money  indeed does talk in places like PNG, I lived up there for three years some time ago and greasing palms is a way of life in many situations up there unfortunately.

[NSWP]

4 hours ago, Bpos said:

Don't be to certain about that Geoff, money  indeed does talk in places like PNG, I lived up there for three years some time ago and greasing palms is a way of life in many situations up there unfortunately.

And we keep feeding their corrupt government $$$$$$ that is a lot of Kina.

[cruiser3775]

Well there is greasing palms in business transactions and then there is international security. Australia will provide an estimated $479.2 million in bilateral funding to Papua New Guinea in 2022-23. Then there's the $650 million loan we gave them last December to assist with the ongoing health and economic impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic.   I can't see Australia turning a blind eye to the sale of the Conflicts to a foreign power.  It is such a beautiful group of islands, so I hope the new ownership continues to invite visits from cruise ships.

[Bpos]

1 hour ago, cruiser3775 said:

Well there is greasing palms in business transactions and then there is international security. Australia will provide an estimated $479.2 million in bilateral funding to Papua New Guinea in 2022-23. Then there's the $650 million loan we gave them last December to assist with the ongoing health and economic impact of the COVID‑19 pandemic.   I can't see Australia turning a blind eye to the sale of the Conflicts to a foreign power.  It is such a beautiful group of islands, so I hope the new ownership continues to invite visits from cruise ships.

I certainly agree with you and hope that remains the case.  But the Chinese did buy their way into the Solomon Islands so there is form there to not take anything for granted.

[NSWP]

After the 2018 APEC conference in PNG, many of the leased luxury vehicles loaned to senior PNG ministers and officials were not returned.  Finders Keepers syndrome, lol.

 

Perhaps they thought it was a gratuity, lol.

Edited December 22, 2022 by NSWP

[silverladypurple]

Thanks Cruiser3775 for your information from your cruise. My husband and I were due to go on this cruise and a couple of the excursions with you but had to cancel everything including those tours due to us getting covid a few days before sailing. We have booked this trip again for April this year 2023 and taken note of your founding's. We are considering the Volcanic Princess Excursion in Rabaul due to your experience. Thanks for all of your info.

Gayle & Wolfgang

[cruiser3775]

It was a great introduction to  cruising for me.  The two sea days at the start were good for getting to know the ship.  The ports were all interesting and it is a part of the world that is difficult and expensive to visit as an independent traveller.

I'm tempted to do it again!

Happy to answer any questions about the excursions.