Australia circumnavigation on Mariner 12/15/18 , 37 days, commentary?

Regent is offering a rare circumnavigation of Australia Sydney to Sydney December 15, 2018, clockwise, on the Mariner

37 days

It is rare to see luxury cruise lines offer this, so I am interested

I am interested in commentary from experienced Regent and/or Australia cruisers, as to what they see as pro and con on this cruise

I have only done one Regent cruise, Med, 2012, I rated it 4/5 due to some service and vibration issues ( it was not on the Mariner) and have been considering taking the plunge to retry Regent

DH and I have only seen Melbourne in Australia. DH is most interested in photography

We do not swim or snorkle and I have limited tolerance for heavy exertion when it is very hot, scenery, wine and food and photography are our focus

We have a MS Europa cruise from Melbourne to Bali booked Feb 2018, 19 cruise days, but DH would prefer an English line for Australia south and west if I can find one

He cannot be away the whole time, so we are considering having me on the whole time and DH joining me for half the trip over Xmas and New Year

https://www.rssc.com/cruises/MAR181215/summary/default.aspx

Catlover54, we had also not been on Regent since December 2012 but in January we boarded the Voyager for a 40 nite Grand Voyage that included NZ/Aus/Asia (5 ports; Sydney, Brisbane, Cooktown, Cairns, Darwin). We absolutely loved our Grand Voyage and if we had not also been to Melbourne (on Silversea) we would have considered this circumnavigation too. Regent hit a Grand Slam on the voyage (Cuisine, Service, destination services, entertainment (day & nite) and a beautiful refurbed Voyager, along with amiable/fun fellow pax). Bet they use Terry Bishop (best enrichment lecturer we have heard) and Michale Scott from the Smithsonian for your voyage--every lecture they presented had 200-350 folks packed in the Constellation Theater. If you care to read about the five Australian ports (and regent excursions we took) you can read our Voyager thread (Jan 26-March7th, 2017). Strongly recommend Regent--we have booked the Mariner (while on board) for Shanghai to Tokyo a few months after the Circumnavigation.

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Thank you, Wes! And thank you for all the trip reports you post, they are a lot of work.

Catlover, we are Australian and have 100+ nights on Regent, so I guess we're qualified though I wouldn't call us experienced Regent cruisers when you consider this board. We have also been to every port of call on this itinerary bar the two in Papua New Guinea and Komodo.

In short, unless it's on you bucket list to circumnavigate Australia, I would give this a miss. Australia is big place with a smallish population. There are many interesting bits - often inland - and some areas with just nothing. They are running this cruise as a holiday cruise with Xmas in Port Moresby - a rather unsafe city. And NYE in Bali, which might be fun bit it will be full of young Australians kicking their heels up; a bit like Cancun on spring break.

It will be hot, with added humidity from 17 Dec to 5 Jan whilst in the tropics. Most of the time you will not be anywhere near a winery, and when you are (say Adelaide or Perth) the heat will be oppressive and this will just be day bus trips to fairly commercial well-trodden venues.

In addition, this trip is travelling during the Australian summer school holidays. So there's a possibility of a number of children on board. And there will also be large family groups at most stops.

Kangaroo Island is a new Regent destination and fascinating place, but the tours with the exception of the Seal Bay encounter, will not reflect the unique qualities of the Island; the KI wine is not the best. This is a tender port and the waters of the Southern Ocean can be a bit treacherous.

Given your preference for wine, food, photography and scenery I think I'd stick to a smaller area - perhaps just visiting Tasmania, and island with all your requirements. It's compact, easy to get around, has great food, scenery, history and great wine. Though I can't actually see a cruise at the moment that would encompass that.

Sorry if this seems a bit negative - there's an awful lot to see here - I just wouldn't come that time of year to do it. Feel free to ask any questions as didn't want to get into too much detail.

Catpow, I'm pleased you offered your thoughts, because I was thinking the same thing (but wasn't brave/experienced enough to say it!) We love Australia and have good Aussie friends who we've visited several times, taking the chance to travel around this vast country whilst there. Yet our Regent cruise from Sydney to Singapore was one of the least satisfying because of something Catpow identified: "this will just be day bus trips to fairly commercial well-trodden venues." One of my main criticisms of our cruise was the focus on "tourist activities" and I longed for a chance to see the real deal (which I knew was out there!) Sure, Jumping Crocs were fun, but not much more than a circus...it was interesting to take the train from Cairns to Kuranda again, but that was just a different kind of circus :cool: I recall a conversation with ?Michael? ?Freddie? at the time about how we'd have much preferred to have visited a fruit farm, to have tasted some of the amazing products grown and made in Queensland or to have learned more about those beautiful old homesteads Australians have built - for example. Australia is so much more than the tourist spots and I'd have liked Regent to have offered something a little deeper as part of the programme than just the rather artificially constructed tourist "experiences". Having said all of that, one has to start somewhere and the rest of the cruise experience was terrific fun!

Conversely, we really enjoyed Port Moresby - though it wasn't Christmas!! We felt we spent a valuable day there and learned a lot, though were lucky to have a brilliant guide and chose our tour well (lucky again). Others on our cruise were far less enthusiastic than we were. (A couple of blog posts here and here might illustrate what we enjoyed about that day and the comments on the second might offer a little additional insight, though please bear in mind it's a few years ago since we were there) Other blog posts tell the story of the rest of the cruise (and a few days in Tasmania) if you're interested. (Starts here)

Many thanks catpow and Gilly for your frank and detailed comments! They provide excellent food for thought

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We just finished a 34 day circumnavigation of Australia April 9 on Oceania. It was late summer and the season changed to fall while we were there. I echo NOT going during summer. It was plenty warm while we were there and cooled down only as we rounded the southern area headed back to Sydney. They were also just coming out of a very rainy season. What made our excursions so enjoyable was that we booked almost all private tours (except Papua New Guinea), even getting off the ship in Melbourne and spending 2 days doing the Great Ocean Road - one of the highlights.

Your did not have to deal with shopping stops and were able to plan our own itineraries with the help of our guides and had anywhere from 5-10 in our groups. Since Oceania doesn't include excursions, (and theirs are ridiculously priced) we didn't feel like we were wasting money by not doing ships tours. We did do a PH because we wanted more space and we had to buy drinks, but we had amble OBC to cover that and more.

It was our second trip to Australia, the first being by land and including the outback. We loved it. We did get a lot from the circumnavigation, and I think it was because of using the private guides that got us to some interesting places that the tours didn't go to and also that extra interaction. So I wouldn't discount doing a circumnavigation, but just not suring summer there and do it with at least some private guides.