Saturday Sept 16
Boarding day - we spent our last morning in Bali doing a final beach walk followed by showers and a late lunch at Gado Gado. We had booked a car & driver for 2pm through our hotel which only showed up when the concierge flagged one from the depot next door. The 30-40 minutes drive to the port where we were to board at 3pm took a bit longer as our driver got lost - Dieter saved the day with one of the trekking apps on his phone. Anyway we made it in plenty of time - we boarded, had a glass of bubbles (FC and cocktails seem to cost extra here) - we settled into our cabin and unpacked. Unfortunately I had developed a sore throat and was not 100% but in true trooper style I soldiered on.
We had a briefing and happy hour then dinner - all excellent. We started meeting some of the other guests who, to our great surprise, were nearly all South American (Chile, Peru, Brazil and Mexico) some of whom were on travel agent freebies. The exceptions were ourselves, a dutch couple, a German couple (with their 19 YO son) and a HK Chinese couple. Nearly all the South Americans spoke passable to excellent English.
Sunday Sept 17
Disaster - I hardly slept as I had a raging sore throat - at 5am Dieter decides to call the bridge at 6am and tell them I might have covid - they sent a couple of RAT tests and a thermometer. Good news - negative - bad news - I still felt very poorly. Nevertheless we had brekkie and did the first snorkel - which was excellent.
After lunch there was a land tour to village with a walk and swimming at a waterfall - I decided to give it a miss and spent the afternoon trying to rest. When Dieter returned (close to 5pm) he said I did not miss much and had made the right decision to stay back - it was very hot with a steep rough walk.
I made it to happy hour and dinner - then off to bed early. In fact dinner is at 7pm and by about 8:15 or 8:30pm - almost everyone retires to their cabin - no night clubbing here. Some of the South Americans are a group of 6 fairly young guys (say 30ish) - perhaps they stay up later - not sure when the bar closes.
Of course everyone wanted to get to bed early as the daily briefing had advised that swimming with the whale sharks would commence at 5:30am.
Monday Sept 18
Another disaster - I was awake from 3am feeling really really sick - I had to give the whale sharking a miss. So Dieter went off at 5:30am while I tried to get a bit more rest - not easy with a raging sore throat and now a splitting head ache.
I started to very slowly improve - managed a bit of breakfast - a movie and a whale shark presentation then lunch. At 2pm we did a snorkelling trip - very good perhaps not as good visibility as the first day. The back to boat for a short break and finally kayaking in the late afternoon. The kayaking was in a volcanic crater lake - however it was not particularly scenic. We were in the second group - when we arrived at the lake the first group was just paddling in - as they arrived they all commented on how difficult it was !! and these were the “young guys” - ha ha we showed them, Dieter and I managed the paddle with no issues - all other members of our second group chickened out and spent the time wandering around the island - a local ranger kept an eye on them due the danger ??? of snakes.
Back on the boat it was a quick shower then happy hour before the daily briefing then dinner.
Dinner was again excellent - we sat with our Dutch friend (Anthony and Sylvia) and 2 ladies from Santiago, Chile (Veronica and Karen)
Tuesday Sept 19
I was a lot better - no sore throat or headache but a bit of cough and runny nose - we started the day at the Komodo National park - where we visited a ranger station and saw 6 dragons quite close up.
After lunch and short boat relocation we did the best snorkelling so far.
At 4pm there was optional SUPs, kayaks and swimming off the back deck - getting in and out of the kayak looked a bit tricky so I opted for a G&T and Dieter had a beer. Finally it was time for happy hour, daily briefing and dinner - off to bed early as the following day’s activities started at 6am.
Wednesday Sept 20
I was still struggling with a cold but still snorkelled in the morning. In the afternoon was a land based tour to a village with a walk to a waterfall - and a fresh water swim.
In the afternoon there was a walk (hike up 815 steps) to a get an outlook where you could see 3 different coloured beaches.
Thursday Sept 21
We were up at 6am for the sail into the volcanic inlet - Horseshoe Bay. There was an 8am zodiac tour of the inlet where we saw several komodos roaming the beach. The morning snorkel was in cold water to I gave it a miss - Dieter needed a wetsuit and was still cold. The afternoon was a beach party - with a bar setup, water toys, chairs and umbrellas on a lovely beach with excellent snorkelling right off the beach.
Friday Sept 22
In the morning we went drift snorkelling - you got dropped off at one end of a reef and drifted long the reef at a very fast rate of knots (3 knots at least) then you re-join the boat - so much fun. The boat then motored to near Flores island - where the afternoon activities were swimming, kayaking, snorkelling etc from the boat.
The farewell dinner was pretty much the same as every night - family style dining - excellent cuisine - the only exception was the Wagyu steak was tough - but the grilled asparagus was a 10 out of 10. The free flowing wine was good (not great) as usual.
During the afternoon you had to settle the bill - Dieter took care of this - we already knew the tipping expectation was outrageous ($70-$95 USD per person per day) - we opted for $AUD 1500. The big surprise was to be presented with a bill for the 4 G&Ts I had - @ $20 AUD each made with “bathtub” gin - you are not told this when ordering - either that it would be charged and/or the price - fortunately they missed one or two. When Dieter complained to the cruise director (a Pommie named Glenn) he said he understood our “outrage” and the next G&T would be on him - too late - by that time I was on to the Chardonnay.
Saturday Sept 23
Disembarcation day - up early - bags ready by 6am for those going directly to the airport - 8am for others. We had an early breakfast - saying farewell to new South American friends particularly Carol and Veronica from Santiago Chili, a Greman family and a Dutch couple.
We disembarked at 9am - tender to shore at a hotel dock where we left by car and driver and one of our guides (Rifley) who accompanied us to make sure we made it safely !!??. As all the guests (and 2 guides) went their separate ways there was much hugging etc and saying fond farewells.