My wife and I just returned from a fantastic 10 day cruise aboard Noble Caledonia’s Island Sky, exploring the northern and western islands of Scotland. Like Host Jazzbeau, we cruised on one of the Australis ships in southern Patagonia, about four years ago, and after that great experience we swore we would never cruise on a large ship again. This was our first cruise since Patagonia, and our first with NC. We can’t wait to cruise with them again.
Jazzbeau has written so informatively and extensively about NC’s two ships, I hesitate to try to add anything new, but here are some random thoughts.
The expedition leaders (10 of them) were outstanding. Mostly gray-hairs like ourselves, they were all very well educated, physically fit and informative world travelers. They ate and otherwise mingled with the passengers, enthusiastically sharing their experience and knowledge. They were a delight to discover new places with.
The shore excursions were varied and well-chosen, with a good mix of history, culture and wildlife, many in places that would be hard to get to other than by ship. How many Scots have ever been to Fair Isle, Papa Westray (locally known as Papay), or St. Kilda?
While we were not the only Americans aboard, we were among a small minority, with the vast majority of the passengers being British, most of those English. One Brit kindly informed me that she was Welch, not English, and that we should be sure to include Wales in our future travel plans. Another was from Guernsey, which I guess is neither England nor Wales. A complicated nation that UK is. There were also at least two couples from Australia. I think at least half had cruised with NC before. In any event, all were very friendly, well traveled, very interesting, and great fun to meet and get to know.
The age demographic surprised me, as the average age appeared to be at least 70, and only a handful appeared to be under 60. Most were quite fit, making the sometimes tricky transfer between ship and Zodiac raft with ease and unphased by the longer and more hilly walks and hikes. A few needed and got some extra assistance and were told when a particular activity may not be a good idea for them.
Both the dining room and the lido deck were open seating, which was very conducive to meeting new friends or reacquainting with almost new ones. There were tables for 2 (dining room only), 4, 6 or 8. Sometimes it was fun to sit at a large unoccupied table and see who chose to dine with us. All very friendly.
The lido deck was surprisingly protected from the Scottish weather, and once we discovered how comfortable it was, we ended up eating a majority of our meals there. Thank you heat lamps.
As far as I could tell the only extras we could pay for were cocktails, premium wines and laundry. Absolutely everything else was included, including all shore excursions and associated admission fees. Wine and beer flowed freely at lunch and dinner. I’m sure many passengers had nothing extra to pay for when they left the ship.
At the end of the trip we were asked to fill out a survey . . . on mine, I refrained from answering any of the questions and simply wrote “Don’t change a thing.”