Why this particular cruise?
My wife and I saw an advertisement for this cruise in July 2007 and we were immediately excited with the idea. Neither of had ever taken a cruise of this nature, or on a ship of this size
Where did the cruise go?
We left Fremantle just before midnight on the evening of 30/11/2007. The cruise went completely around Australia stopping for brief onshore visits at Esperance, Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane, Whitsunday Islands, Townsville and Cairns. Then we went to Alotou (or Milne Bay) in Papua New Guinea before continuing on to Darwin, Broome and then home to Fremantle, arriving on Boxing Day 2007.
Did the ship measure up to your expectations?
We had no pre-conceived ideas and, although the ship will soon be sold to other parties, we were quite happy with the facilities provided. We soon found our way around the various decks and generally enjoyed our time on board.
What were the cabins like?
The cabins were well appointed; the cabin staff customer services and the cleanliness could not be faulted in any way.
What were ships’ facilities like?
The Gemini is fairly small when compared to her sister ships and, in an attempt to cater for everybody, some of the facilities are not the best standard.
What was the food like?
There are two main eating areas, one slightly more formal than the other with an a la carte menu. We attended this on a few occasions, in particular for the Gala (or Captain’s) Dinner.
The other area had a buffet style, and we tended to favour this area simply for the fact that we could pick and choose as we pleased.
The range was excellent, and was varied regularly so we never wanted for anything extra. We both gained a little weight, due to the quality of the food and the tendency to eat a little more than usual for breakfast and the mid-day meal.
- Entertainment areas – The seating area was almost flat and there was a ‘race’ for the first row seats so that your view was not obscured. Also the ceiling height was limited and this caused some of the acts to be modified and restricted.
- Access ways – These were quite narrow, sometimes causing congestion. We became concerned about our safety in the event of an emergency.
- Gangways – Various gangways were used, depending on the port of call, and often these were not suitable for use of anybody using mobility aids such as walking frames, wheel chairs or gophers. This again led to safety concerns.
What are the best aspects of the ship/cruise?
We had the opportunity to meet new people and form new friendships. We also had the opportunity to ‘sample’ the facilities and lifestyles from a list of cities around Australia and to formulate future holiday plans.
What were the poor aspects of the ship/cruise?
The worst aspect was the high proportion of elderly and infirm passengers. In general these were the passengers with mobility aids, as mentioned above, and there was often difficulties if you got caught up behind them in the narrow access ways and gangways. My wife is 61 and I am 60, yet we were comparatively young to most other passengers. Unfortunately there were 3 deaths during the cruise.
Many of these older passengers are seasoned travellers. They were often critical of quite minor faults, were quite loud and rude and tended to direct their complaints to any of the cruise staff. At one point one of the cruise staff was reduced to tears, due to the intensity of the criticism directed at her, and she was not responsible for the ‘problem’.
Some passengers disembarked at Sydney and, when new passengers came onboard, we had an age range from 4 years old to 94 years old. There were 13 children under the age of 16 and on some occasions we were obliged to stand back from the activities because these children swamped the tables, demanding the full attention of the cruise staff. They also tended to take over the pool, leaving little room for the adults.
We were unhappy with the poor organisation at Fremantle. On embarking there was no indication of where the baggage was to be delivered, then there was a lengthy queue in the baggage handling area, followed by a second queue to fill in personal details before getting on board.
On disembarking our bags were not kept together, even though we had left them together outside our cabin, and we had a long and panicking search for both sets.
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Who would this cruise appeal to?
I think it would appeal to all ages, due to the wide range of entertainment opportunities, both active and passive. However, as indicated above, there should be some limitations based on mobility and perhaps on the number of children.
The full cruise was 26 days long, which might be too long or too expensive for some. But there was an opportunity to leave the cruise at Sydney, or to join the cruise at Sydney for the second half. I was also possible to leave the cruise at other major ports of call.
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