MS Caledonian Sky

The cruise on the Caledonian Sky was once again a wonderful adventure. This was the fourth time we have travelled on this ship. Previously we had toured with Noble Caledonian tours and we can honestly say that the service from the expedition team and hotel staff was the same which was of high quality The highlight of the trip was Montgomery's reef. ...read more If you thinking of taking this trip it would be better at the end of the wet season as when we where there in September the waterfalls were dry but the landscape was beautiful. The knowledge of the expedition team was fantastic.

The only negative was that on arrival in Broome we had not been booked into the hotel that we originally booked and paid for due to confusion between Oaks and APT but the staff of Oaks Cable Beach were able to organise with Oaks Town for us to stay with them sat the Oaks Cable Beach Sanctuary. Thank you Rachael from Oaks Cable Beach.

We had a wonderful time on the Kimberley cruise. The Caledonian Sky was very comfortable, the meals and drinks were first rate and the crew were excellent, very attentive and always polite. Overall, we’d give it 10 out of 10.

We thoroughly enjoyed our Kimberley cruise. The crew were lovely, and efficient, and the expedition team were great… very knowledgeable and helpful. The cabin was spacious and comfortable. The food was great.. with lots of variety, but also not huge portion sizes ( which I appreciated ). We did have a few COVID cases on board… but the Captain was very ...read more good with keeping us informed on what was happening. A great and comfortable way to see the Kimberley coast.

Everything was superb bar one. The boat, the cabin, the hotel staff on the boat, the expedition team and the musicians were all wonderful. We had a totally enjoyable time. Fellow travellers were all very nice. Food and drinks were very good.
According to our personal itinerary we were supposed to go to Hilton Darwin at 3.30 pm May 6 2022 to be taken ...read more by bus at 3.45pm to the embarkation pier. But it was changed to 12.30 pm, No one informed us. No phones calls, no SMS, no email. Quite a few of our fellow passengers who stayed at Hilton Darwin also were not informed of the change. As our luck had it we went to Hilton Darwin on May 5 2022 just to check out the place and found out that departure was changed to 12.30pm. Even then we thought it was only for travellers staying in Hilton Darwin. In any case we went to Hilton Darwin at 12 noon to have lunch and only then did we realise that the 12.30 pm departure applied to everyone.

Travelled on APT Caledonian Sky 9 night cruise from Broome to Darwin late May 2022. We had the most wonderful time. The sights and experiences were unforgettable and we loved every moment of the cruise. Very professional, very organised, food above expectations. Cannot fault any aspect of this trip. Special thanks to Hannah at Global Journeys for ...read more her assistance over the past couple of years as we maneuvered our way through COVID and cancelled trips. Hannah was always timely in her responses and kept us informed of any new developments. Will certainly book through Hannah and Global Journeys for future trips.

We would book with Global Journeys again and this is our 3rd very happy trip with APT. Caledonian Sky was fabulous. Staff, food, music, rooms all first class. However, we wouldn't do a cruise again on this particular ship because of the zodiacs. They are difficult to sit on for any length of time and quite often you get very wet which is to be expected ...read more I suppose. On another APT cruise they used Explorers and we found them so much better. Overall tho, we really had a fabulous holiday.

The Kimberley is a once in a lifetime experience and one that all Australians should undertake. The landscape, coast, wildlife, Aboriginal art and culture are unique. The APT vessel, crew, expedition team and service were faultless. We have been on many trips, cruises and independent travel - this experience was the best we have ever experienced. We ...read more can recommend it without reservation.

Great trip well organised but I suggest people do the land trip first and followed by the cruise.The food, accomodation and itinerary for land and sea trips were first class.

Our first APT trip - and what a trip. Everything was wonderful - the experiences, the learning, the company, the food, the wine, the cabin, the entertainment and best of all - the amazing crew. We loved that there seemed to be genuine respect and appreciation between all staff (different to other big ship experiences). Despite having to answer the same ...read more questions and give out the same information hundreds (1000's?) of times, everyone acted as if it was the first - and with a big smile. The cabin attendants (hi Savio!) and catering and other hospitality staff always looked and sounded as if they were delighted to see you, the deck guys were amazing AND entertaining and the expedition team were just wonderful - enthusiastic, generous, knowledgeable and skilled. We were sad to arrive in Darwin at the end of the cruise. Thank you everyone.

The holiday was fine but in a few respects, lacked attention to detail. The least satisfactory component was the lack of coordination related to the travel plan and the pre and post activities. APT claimed that they provided detailed options to clients for both but none of this information made its way to us. APT staff said that if clients booked direct ...read more they got all details but clients who booked via second parties missed out because agents fail to pass on information. The truth might be different?

We thought the trip overall was excellent but multiple journey APT clients seemed to be grumbling that the execution of arrangements fell short of previous experiences. Some are hard to please!

One real deficiency is that there was no meet and greet activity on arrival in Tokyo. We arrived at the hotel and found one other couple wandering around. We didn't see an APT representative until next day.

On departure we were scheduled to leave the ship at 9 am but not fly out until 11.45pm. Last minute changes were made by APT, at additional cost, but we still reached the airport almost 8 hours before fly time and five hours before luggage could be handed over.

Once on the ship we were well catered for and most daily plans seemed appropriate. We saw rather too many temples and gardens. With a little thought the program could be enhanced. For example, the staple Japanese food is rice. It would be possible to visit a rice farm and hear about production, transport and marketing of this important crop. We just drove past farms like they didn't play any role in society. Further, several major car manufacturing plants were observed being Mazda and Toyota. Many on the trip would have loved an opportunity to see a robotic car production line. Japan is a great manufacturing country and they have enormous price in their products. Surely more diversity is possible?

A lasting impression will be the friendly welcomes provided by locals in all of the small ports visited. Their efforts were remarkable. The brief visit to South Korea was no different.