Pacific Explorer Review

Nice 3 day cruise with a stop at Eden

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Pacific Explorer
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DarylD
10+ Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Sep 2019

To celebrate our 30th anniversary we decided to take a 3 day cruise which fitted in with work and having somebody to keep an eye on our kids while we are away.

We had done a comedy cruise earlier in the year and had a great time so when the price and timing was right we booked.

Embarkation,

Cabin Review

Cabin Balcony

The room is small but functional and clean with a fairly spacious balcony, the weather wasn't great so we didn't use the balcony often but certainly a nice area in better weather

Port Reviews

Eden (Australia)

The local community had put on a festival with stalls and entertainment, with picnic rugs and plenty of places to eat and buses to shuttle us back and forth to save the walk up the hill but we never made it that far, just as you get out of the wharf there is a small marina where you will find a whale watching charter boat, we got there about 9am and noticed a sign saying the tours run daily at 930 and we figured it would be a nice way to spend the day so I rang the mobile number and spoke to Lana. As it turns out there were still plenty of spaces available so we put out names on the list at $95 per person for a 3.5 hour tour, a short time later we were on, paid by card and set off on a whale watching adventure.

Some words of warning, it does get cold out there so take a good jacket and it does get rocky so if you are even the slightest bit likely to get sea sick I suggest you take some medication before you leave the cruise ship and an extra tablet with you just in case.

The cat was very spacious with room for about 70 people although it would seem awful crowded at full capacity, we had about half capacity and finding a good place was never an issue.

Our nature findings started with some dolphins who seemed to be enjoying the attention swimming alongside us and under the bow for a while but the whale sighting were few and only from a distance, we would see a bit of a blow and splash from way out but by the time we got near they were gone, just as I started to think the best we would see was whale tales from a distance we found ourselves as the spectacle for a couple of larger whales showing off, breaching and flapping their pecs from about 50 metres away at first before they wanted a closer look at us and started swimming around and under our boat for about half an hour. We ended up seeing a few other pods of whales including mother and calf and a group of at lest 3 larger whales with a few others by themselves.

Not the highlight at all after seeing the whales up close but the tour included some information about the local landmarks and history with some light refreshments also served as part of the price. Not that I indulged but they did have some beers and soft drinks available for purchase if you were so inclined.

I am sure you can pre book through "Cat Balou Cruises" (spelling may be wrong) but my only fear is that the cruise lines will eventually have this is a shore tour, double the price and restrict the opportunity for passengers to do it independently which is more reason to book the day before your cruise.

Its worth keeping in mind that if you will be there on a Sunday a lot of the local shops will be closed

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