Noble Caledonia

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Island Sky

Caledonian Sky

Hebridean Sky (Noble Caledonia)

We progress through day 6 of our Covid infection.

This cruise was booked after careful questioning regarding hygiene and Covid protocols. We were satisfied with the details provided. The practice, however, was not effective.

On the morning of day 6, the daily wake up call came with the information that there was one case of Covid on board. The case was isolating in her cabin with her husband. Day 7’s wake up call announced another 3 cases, with 8 passengers (around 10% of all passengers) in total isolating. No further information was forthcoming from management for the rest of the cruise, our information being gleaned from stewards and fellow passengers.

We started to noticed that several passengers were suffering from very obvious ‘colds’, one with a persistent cough. Each questioned said they’d tested negative ; they were allowed the full range of the ship.

No new precautions were taken and most passengers continued to ignore the on board guidelines that masks should be worn outside cabins. Little obvious use was made of plentiful sanitising stations provided.

We disembarked at Troon on the morning of day 8 and shared a coach with predominantly maskless ‘cold’ infected passengers for the 50 minute journey back to Glasgow Central station.

As we left the ship was being prepared for the next cruise, due to depart that same afternoon.

In hindsight, we had both started to develop some symptoms on the morning of  disembarkation though naively put it down to air conditioning and wind. We both tested positive on return home.

The clue as to what we think should have happened following discovery of the first case was in the comment from the ‘Expedition leader’ that the cruise would continue as planned for the time being.

Plainly, getting the current cruise into home port and offloaded in order to sail again with a new complement of passengers within 11 hours took maximum priority - above the welfare of the disembarked. Noble Caledonia in our opinion showed no duty of care to their clients and we would not recommend our ongoing experience of Covid as a consequence of cruising with Noble Caledonia.

DUTY OF CARE

this was our second cruise with Noble Caledonia.  This trip was called Madagascar and Beyond.  

The cabins are gorgeous with ample bathrooms and endless hot water from a powerful showerhead, even when everyone else is showering too!

The food is excellent and the waiting staff begin to know you are know exactly what you will be requiring.

there is no seating plan and everyone sits with everyone else and tries to be very inclusive of singles.  I would suggest that the tables are sometimes for an odd number, i.e. 7 or 9 and this would enable singles to join a group without massive rearranging of chairs.

the expedition staff are excellent and so enthusiastic.  They are all proactive and always willing to lend a hand to another member of the team to ensure the smooth running of the activities.  The team also go out of their way to 'make something happen'.  if a guest wants to do a particular walk or trip they will try to 'fix it'  We were very well cared for during the expeditions - again everything is done to make the guest feel cosseted.

If I had a criticism I would say that some of the itinerary was a bit samey and the expedition team a little over enthusiastic about what we might and did see.  Our local guides left a bit to be desired, basically because they were pretty unintelligible!  The guide we had in Reunion droned on for a whole day and most of the people in the coach had absolutely no idea what she was saying!  We were all threatening to try to swop coaches with some other passengers but then we discovered that their guide was even worse!  Perhaps we expect too much these days and want instant gratification.

an excellent ship with wonderful crew and extremely nice guests

Is there a better small cruise ship?

Rostock (Warnemunde)

We chose this ship due to it's small size (MAX 114 Passengers) and the advertising from APT that this ship can go where larger ships cannot.

The disappointments

On our first port of call (Senji) we were advised that the ship could not dock in the port so we were provided with another location (Zadar) which meant a extra 0.5 hour extra drive in a coach to the Plitvice National Park.

A further miss was one of the highlights of the Greek Islands (Mykonos) as the seas were too rough for our tender boat to take us to the wharf although there were 5 large cruise ships taking passengers to and from the wharf with one actually moored at the wharf. No attempt was made to go to another island or find a smaller bay out of the wind on the other side of Mykonos and use the our own tender boats to get to shore 

The final port missed was the one most Australians and the few New Zealenders on board wanted to see was docking at Canakkale to go to Anzac Cove, It appears the captain once again said the wind was to high to moor safely although the seas were not that rough and most were on deck as we just sailed past the monuments 2 Kilometers off shore.Once again no thought was made to provide a alternative destination (possibly a Greek Island on the way back to Athens.

From what it seems to me the Island Sky does not have side/front/rear thrusters on it's ship to be able to assist with docking and getting the Ship through small spaces.

The advertising on the itinerary for this tour at no time mentioned that we would be brought to shore by tender boats and having a small ship with a small draft it was anticipated that we would be docked at each location. The larger ships note anchored if not going to dock / under tender etc.

There is little or no entertainment whatsoever except someone playing the Piano after dinner in the lounge

The positives.

The ports that we docked at were interesting and all shore excursions were well organised and the guides very knowledgeable

The crew and staff on board were great and always appeared to be happy.

Our Cruise director was always available and very friendly and helpful.

The cabin rooms were large and the beds wonderful. Shower and toilet was good and everything was cleaned daily.

The meals were great with lots of different choices and if you went hungry it was your own fault.

The upstars bar served drinks and cocktails all day at no cost as it is all included in the price

The open areas on board were ok for the number of passengers although a little tight in the lecture room each evening to discuss the next days events

All in all the overall experience was good but I was a bit disappointed with the ports missed and the message put out by the tour company APT in the advertising and Itinerary (yes it does say unforeseen things can change an itinerary) but in this case no alternative was offered.

Check the details of the cruise

Saint-Tropez

I chose the cruise because of it being a small ship that would transit the Corinth Canal and I had enjoyed a previous cruise on island Sky. Labelled Land of Gods and Hero's it featured daily visits to classical Greek  / Roman historical sites. We are not knowledgeable in the subject but open minded and impressed by what the ancients achieved B.C.

We are a couple, mid-60's, middle management, engineer, looking for a small ship experience with an interesting itinerary. Not seeking on board entertainment, but with an enjoyment of being on the ocean.

The ship and the tour lived up to the advertisement and the price.

The shore visits were fascinating if you like ancient ruins and we really enjoyed the tours and seeing the less visited parts of Greece.

Ship board food was excellent, lunch and dinner were 5 courses with multiple choices each course and often some speciality sourced in each port of call. Occasionally a dish was less than excellent but never bad.

Crew / staff were very pleasant, mostly Filipinos.

Negatives were Noise:

Noise 1: Given the high prices it is to be expected there were many toffs aboard although it was more like Keeping Up Appearances (and multiple Hyacinths, male and female)  than Downton Abbey, with overloud bragging matches at meal and other social times.

Noise 2: Small ship and cabin 345 in proximity to engineering spaces gave rise to sleep loss due to machinery noise, in particular the hydraulics whine from the stabiliser motors.

Noble Caledonia exceeded expectations of lesser travel companies in making re-arrangements when there were difficulties.

1. This cruise was due to end in Istanbul but 3 days before the start there was a terror incident in Istanbul. 2 days later Noble Caledonia contacted us to advise they had re-scheduled to end the cruise in Athens, not Istanbul and they had re-booked new flights at no cost to us. Plus included tour of Athens and Acropolis and lunch and rest areas in a hotel. Brilliant.

2.One Greek island could not be visited because of rough weather preventing transfer to a tender. Instead at 1 days notice the ship arranged to dock in another island and a tour / refreshments was provided. Well done.Lesser ships / travel companies would just have stayed at sea.

In summary, no regrets, a good tour. Now just to put out of mind the obnoxious travelling toffs and remember the sites and sights.

Noble Caledonia and Island Sky;  Excellent!

The cruise itinerary and description sounded amazing but most of it turned out to be advertising fantasy.

What was described and what actually occurred were worlds apart.

Positive points were a good group of passengers and an amazing catering staff who were always a delight both for catering and entertainment.

The rest is downside. Cabins are tired and our suite had a broken balcony door. The curtains opened and closed with the rocking and rolling of the boat which crashed and shuddered with every Pacific roller it hit. The ship even had to stop and make emergency repairs on the last night approaching Fiji. It is not a boat for open ocean unless flat calm.

Ports of call were not really as described and some destinations were cancelled as the boat could not make sufficient progress.

The ships principal officers were ignorant and impolite and the Expedition crew were on the whole boring and inefficient. One freely admitted that the sales team of Noble Caledonia have no clue what actually occurs on these cruises and promised highlights are often never seen.

We had to ask on a daily basis for chairs and loungers to be put out on deck and the brochure photos of the sundeck are a joke.

The main forward lounge had to be closed because of the weather and coffee machines crashed over and the carpet stank of rancid milk.

Myself and other passengers complained bitterly after the cruise but to no avail.

Noble Caledonia did not wish to know so the best I can do is warn every prospective passenger to tread carefully, read the T&C's, take any itinerary information with a pinch of salt and basically my advice is to take your custom elsewhere.

Never ever again. You don't get what you pay for!

We booked a Melanesian Odyssey with Noble Caledonia believing from friends that it was a luxury company and really good. Compared to Peregrine Quark they were terrible. Expedition crew were rubbish except for one or two. No names. Unfortunately the seas were very rough which was no ones fault and the hotel staff were good and did help when possible. However the expedition staff were not helpful and the leader was very muddled. No clear directions as as to terrain ,walks etc were given and it looked like the pre cruise research had not been done correctly. One passenger was quite badly injured getting off a Zodiac, another spent most of his time in bed as he couldn't stand up , others slept in the lounge, cabin too bouncy, others were ill. it was most disappointing. The flight from up in the highlands of New Guinea (pre cruise trip) to Port Moresby went missing, we were late to the ship and missed lunch and a tour, the coaches were hired in as the lodge coach was being used by others and not suitable for the age and passengers. We had to change rooms as the allocated lodging was so far away from the main building my husband would never have walked it. It was not a luxury lodge, flight to Singapore and hotel in Singapore were excellent. Then it all started to go wrong. We wanted business class to Port Moresby from Singapore but were told by Noble Caledonian there was no such thing with Air Nuiguini but there was. A mistruth. So we sat up all night in economy. We would never go with this company again but have had good trips from other companies.A very expensive and disappointing cruise and so far no comment from Noble Caledonian. We have left it in the hands of Trailfinders which we highly recommend.

Not what it was supposed to be

Kusadasi

I have sailed on a few itineraries with Noble Caledonia and have reviewed positively and negatively. I am happy to report our recent cruise on the Island Sky was a very good cruise. I was last on board in 2011 in the Baltic, and had no zodiac landings. This was an expedition cruise so we mostly used Zodiacs to land. The initial safety drill was very thorough, much better than on the Serenissima. I believe one passenger fell and had to leave the cruise, and by what I saw the situation was professionally dealt with, and after care extended to the passenger.
It was a great relief that the crew were just as pleasant this trip as the previous one on the Island Sky. Everything was very shiny and clean, food hygiene of a high standard. Quality of food (we are vegetarian) was a think a little higher than last trip, but it is still more about the ship and itinerary, so we were satisfied with standard of the food as we were not expecting a gourmet experience. A couple of yuk meals, but all the rest we were happy with. The only two meals we ate in the dining room were the Captain’s welcome and farewell, every other meal we happily sat on the Lido for. Even the roughest and windiest times they managed to keep the Lido open, it was great.
Our cabin was excellent, as was our cabin attendant. The internet connection was abysmal – worst than previously. I couldn’t even load gmail or facebook from my laptop, but I could at least load gmail on the public computer, which was difficult as we needed access both to work and keep in touch with our business. Others also complained about the satellite WIFI, or lack there of.
The first two days we experienced quite rough seas and a big swell, so many passengers were a little seedy and numbers were down at meal times. After this it was fairly good sailing with no need of medication. We unfortunately could not land on Sark due to this, Islay was changed to Jura and we had to have an afternoon on Soay instead of Skye in the Hebrides. Other than that we completed the whole itinerary. We were thrilled when we found our EL had arranged for us to land on Staffa one night, and it was a brief landing, but so very memorable. All the expedition team were excellent as I have previously experienced with NC, and it’s good to travel with familiar faces. The only thing lacking in this area was that we were on a garden cruise and there was no botanist on board. There were some amazing gardens on the itinerary, and all in all it was a well planned and carried out cruise.
We are booked on another 3 dates with NC on the Island Sky and Caledonian Sky and am pleased to be able to post such a positive review â˜º
 

Enjoyable and relaxing cruise

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