Review of Noordam - Dec 2018 cruise

[aussielozzie18]

Once I had walked/swum to the western end I decided to walk back to the island bar near the water activities "desk" via another internal sandy path which was shaded - it was very hot & humid. There were wooden seats set along this particular path but more often or not they were covered in ants.

 

Then I hopped back on board the tender to have lunch on board the ship and have a break from the sun.

[aussielozzie18]

Then it was time to return to the island for the glass bottom boat tour of which I had heard good things.  

 

I had read that a couple of the seats on the boat are in the full sun and they are to be avoided.  So I made sure that when boarding commenced that I was not at the rear of the queue as I wanted a seat in the shade and I did manage to do that.

Edited December 29, 2018 by aussielozzie18
typos

[aussielozzie18]

The tour runs for 45 mins.  You can see coral from the glass bottom boat or from looking over the side of the boat.  We also glimpsed a turtle and some fish.

[aussielozzie18]

You also get a nice view of the ship from onboard.

[aussielozzie18]

Our lovely local guide (in orange t-shirt) gave an informative continuous narration for the duration.  I did feel for him though as he was sweating like a pig as did the cruisers in the full sun that arrived late and got the hot seats and looked mighty uncomfortable during the tour.

[aussielozzie18]

I should add that for this ship tour, you make your own way to the tour on the other side of the island to the glass bottom boat.  You are not taken off the ship in a group per standard ship tours.  This was also the case for the turtle tour.

[aussielozzie18]

After the tour ended, I headed back into the water for what was the absolute highlight of this beautiful island.

 

I was snorkeling along in shallow water and spotted a green turtle grazing on the ocean floor.  Was able to swim alongside him for about 10 mins until he sped up and headed into deeper waters.  Magical.

[aussielozzie18]

Spent the rest of the glorious afternoon swimming and relaxing until I reluctantly dragged myself out of the beautiful water for one of the last tender rides back to the ship.

[aussielozzie18]

[aussielozzie18]

Now, that our visit to PNG was sadly over, it was time to open the pages of my stash of books for a relaxing sea day and the rest of our cruise as we headed for Far North Queensland and down the coast of Australia.

[aussielozzie18]

Unfortunately, on the morning of our arrival in Conflict Islands I woke with a sore throat and ended up with the standard cruise cold.  So the books certainly came in handy while I rested and recovered.  There is also a decent sized library on board for those who are interested.

[lyndarra]

Our group of four had booked and outrigger sailing tour for 11.30. This was a tour that started from the back Beach and, as Lozzie mentioned, you made your own way to the "desk" to check in for it. The outrigger tours were all cancelled due to lack of wind. We determined that in its place we would book a boat to the floating snorkelling platform which is situated right next to the dropover. Turns out it was a basically a USD69.95 water taxi ride to the plateform of about 2 minutes duration. A huge rip-off in our opinion. Snorkelling equipment was available and included if you did not bring your own. On the plus side, I saw the most beautiful coral and fish life I have ever experienced and would have loved to stay longer but we were only allowed one hour. Being the dropover there was coral and fish on one side and bottomless sea the other. Think Abyss, the movie.

[aussielozzie18]

Gala Dinner was on again on sea day night.  Unfortunately I was not well enough to attend but I did venture briefly downstairs at 5.30pm to the MDR to let my dining companions and waiter know. 

 

Gee, I got some looks for my casual attire while I briefly waited for the doors to open.  I wanted to make an announcement - I am sick - i am not dining - so don't worry I am not lowering the MDR dress standards...

[aussielozzie18]

3 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

Our group of four had booked and outrigger sailing tour for 11.30. This was a tour that started from the back Beach and, as Lozzie mentioned, you made your own way to the "desk" to check in for it. The outrigger tours were all cancelled due to lack of wind. We determined that in its place we would book a boat to the floating snorkelling platform which is situated right next to the dropover. Turns out it was a basically a USD69.95 water taxi ride to the plateform of about 2 minutes duration. A huge rip-off in our opinion. Snorkelling equipment was available and included if you did not bring your own. On the plus side, I saw the most beautiful coral and fish life I have ever experienced and would have loved to stay longer but we were only allowed one hour. Being the dropover there was coral and fish on one side and bottomless sea the other. Think Abyss, the movie.

I am so sorry your tour got cancelled.  Thank you for posting about your experience on the platform.  I was kicking myself big time for booking the glass bottom tour and not the platform snorkeling experience although I did think 1 hour was too short. Wanted to know what it was like. I even asked the "desk" on the island if I could book and they could squeeze me in but I was snootily informed I could only pay in USD cash which I didn't have. 

 

Lyndarra, if it's any consolation seeing the coral and fish from the platform sounds alot better than seeing it from the glass bottom boat. We saw ALOT of coral but it wasn't colourful.  

 

[lyndarra]

Having visited and snorkelled at many Pacific Islands I have come to the conclusion that reef shoes, of any type,  should be a no-no. I have seen so much damaged and broken coral that it saddens me. At Kiriwina I was talking to an American lady on the neach and she mentioned how a person came back from snorkelling saying how she found a big brown rock to stand on out in the water. She was informed that what she was standing on was not a rock but Brain Coral. I snorkel bare foot without fins and my water entering technique is to lie face down in the water as soon as it is deep enough, about one foot deep, and swim from there. Earlier this year at Lifou I noticed a degradation of the coral, at a popular snorkelling spot, compared to two previous visits in the last six years. Also, at Lifou, there are signs advising not to wear sunblock at the snorkelling spot.  I'm not aware of the science behind that but I respect their wishes and wear a rashie or a t-shirt.  Just my $0.02  worth.

[aussielozzie18]

25 minutes ago, lyndarra said:

Having visited and snorkelled at many Pacific Islands I have come to the conclusion that reef shoes, of any type,  should be a no-no. I have seen so much damaged and broken coral that it saddens me. At Kiriwina I was talking to an American lady on the neach and she mentioned how a person came back from snorkelling saying how she found a big brown rock to stand on out in the water. She was informed that what she was standing on was not a rock but Brain Coral. I snorkel bare foot without fins and my water entering technique is to lie face down in the water as soon as it is deep enough, about one foot deep, and swim from there. Earlier this year at Lifou I noticed a degradation of the coral, at a popular snorkelling spot, compared to two previous visits in the last six years. Also, at Lifou, there are signs advising not to wear sunblock at the snorkelling spot.  I'm not aware of the science behind that but I respect their wishes and wear a rashie or a t-shirt.  Just my $0.02  worth.

I agree with what you are saying and it saddens me to hear that the coral at Jinek Bay at Lifou has been damaged.  That is one of the best places to snorkel in the South Pacific and yes I adhered to the locals requests to not wear sunscreen at Jinek Bay.

 

Conflict Islands must have had some amazing coral from the shoreline once, now it is all gone and the only way to see any good stuff is to swim right out to the edge of the drop off zone which I didn't do. 

 

I wore "reef shoes" in the waters in PNG simply because I read several instances of people getting nasty cuts on the coral in PNG which got infected and also I am wary of stonefish (no idea if they exist in PNG).  I only walked briefly then once the water was enough to float, I start swimming.  I ALWAYS look to where I am putting my feet/reef shoes before standing and have never stood on coral in my life.  I saw that lovely brain coral at Kitava.  It supported so much fish life can't believe someone stood on it even if by accident.

[aussielozzie18]

After one relaxing day at sea, we arrived to the calm waters of Yorkeys Knob.  

[aussielozzie18]

As we had re-entered Australia, all cruisers were required to take their passport and meet with the Australian Border Force (ABF) in the Vista Lounge before being permitted to board a tender/disembark the ship.

[aussielozzie18]

I was given the time of 6.30am which seemed ridiculously early until I headed towards the Vista Lounge and saw the length of the line waiting to meet the ABF for a one on one meeting.  With 1900 cruisers on board and most wanting to get off and explore Cairns the early appointment time made sense.

 

Fortunately, the line moved relatively quickly - about 15-20 mins - until I was seated in the Vista.  Only had another 10 min wait until our section was asked to stand up and more towards the desks of the ABF border staff lined up on the stage.  A very well organised process.

[aussielozzie18]

I am embarrassed to admit I haven't been to Cairns before.  I had planned to do Cairns on my own until our port was changed to a tender port and we tendered at Yorkeys Knob.

 

Decided to book a ship tour - the first 5 involved the Skyrail with various add ons.  I had originally planned to do the train up to Kuranda and Skyrail back until I read several reports of those train carriages having no aircon and being unpleasantly hot in summer. Also, the price in USD was exxy.   Instead I booked the Skyrail up and coach back.

[aussielozzie18]

I am embarrassed to admit I haven't been to Cairns before.  I had planned to do Cairns on my own until our port was changed to a tender port and we tendered at Yorkeys Knob.

 

Decided to book a ship tour - the first 5 involved the Skyrail with various add ons.  I had originally planned to do the train up to Kuranda and Skyrail back until I read several reports of those train carriages having no aircon and being unpleasantly hot in summer. Also, the price in USD was exxy.   Instead I booked the Skyrail up and coach back.

[aussielozzie18]

Large air conditioning Reef Magic Catamarans are used as tenders for the 20-30 trip to Yorkeys Knob Marina.  Sat upstairs in the open deck seats which was nice.  

 

At the Marina, there were shuttle buses to Cairns and our tour coaches for various tours including mine.  We had an excellent female driver and guide.  Excellent commentary for the short journey to Smithfield - the departure point for the Skyrail up to Kuranda.

 

Guide picked up our tickets and handed them to us to join the Skyrail queue.  We then travelled on the Skyrail on our own and she and the coach met us in Kuranda with very clear instructions on the meeting point for the return coach trip.

[aussielozzie18]

We were seated in the Skyrail gondolas in groups of 4.  I had the good fortune to be seated with a Canadian couple and the English wife of the environmental Officer on the ship.  They had different tour stickers to me but we were doing the same tour, just in different coaches. The gondolas aren't air-conditioned but there had a nice airflow despite being enclosed so it was a pleasant ride despite being a hot day.

[aussielozzie18]

Views heading upwards from the departure point.

[aussielozzie18]

Sorry meant to upload this one.