Cruise News - Coral Adventurer returns to Freo, and so much more

Are you a cruise-a-holic? Or a cruise ship spotter?

We’ve already welcomed our first three cruise ships of the season – the Coral Geographer, the Coral Princess and the magnificent Queen Elizabeth.

You may have missed the 5am arrival of the Queen Elizabeth on 7 November or her 10pm departure on the same day.

Coral Adventurer in Fremantle, March 2021. Credit Deanna Shanahan

If so, you will be glad to know that the lovely Coral Adventurer small cruise ship arrives at Victoria Quay on Saturday 12 November at the respectable hour of 9am. She is a regular visitor to the Port City and has just completed a Kimberley Cruise.

The Coral Adventurer is operated by Coral Expeditions and is a sister ship to the Coral Geographer who visited Freo three weeks ago. The third ship to complete the fleet is the Coral Discoverer. All three ships are Australian flagged and crewed.

Launched in 2019, Coral Adventurer has the perfect balance between being large enough for ocean voyaging in comfort yet creating an intimate and relaxed atmosphere. She weighs 5516 GT, is 93.4m long with a beam of 17.2m.

Coral Adventurer in Fremantle, March 2021. Credit Deanna Shanahan

Like her sister ships, she is a purpose built expedition boat offering exploration cruises around the remote islands of the Indian Ocean. She carries a maximum of 120 lucky passengers who have four different en-suite cabin types to choose from. Most of the 60 cabins have a balcony.

There are seven decks with multiple bars and a gym. A crew of 36 looks after the passengers with promises of world-class expedition experiences. Because of the small number of passengers, there are no queues or long waits.

The Coral Adventurer itinerary program is based on Asia-Pasific cruises to the Kimberley region, Papau New Guinea, Indonesia and South Pacific Islands. Prices start at $10,920 per person for 10 nights.

This ship has a draft of 4.5m and was purpose designed to access remote wilderness shores that are often inaccessible to large cruise vessels.

The ship’s two Xplorer ‘safari jeeps’ and six zodiacs are perfect for exploring shallow bays, remote islands and small villages.

IN OTHER CRUISE NEWS: Big cruise ships are now visiting the east coast, with both the enormous Ovation of the Seas and the Quantum of the Seas, from Royal Caribbean International, there for the upcoming season.

The Quantum of the Seas is now set to offer regular departures from Brisbane visiting Queensland, Tasmania and the South Pacific. She also offers three night cruises to nowhere.

Onboard, you can skydive; ride bumper cars or roller skate. The Quantum has a jewel-shaped, glass capsule that transports guests over the ocean and over the sides of the ship to deliver 360-degree views.

If you are fed up living on land and want to live at sea – you can now buy a Vacation Home on a cruise ship sailing around the world.

CLOSER TO HOME: You can join Great Southern Culinary Cruise with Coral Expeditions from Hobart to Perth in 2023, with chefs – Paul West and Nigel Braithwaite.

Or catch the Solar Eclipse Cruise, 17-22 April 2023 from Fremantle to Exmouth, to see a total eclipse of the moon off the Ningaloo coast. An inside cabin will cost $2598 for five nights.

As the weather gets warmer, and the cruise season swings into full flow, there will be lots of opportunities for getting up at ‘cock-crow’ and head to the best Victoria Quay viewing spots, the Maritime Museum and South or North Moles to capture images of arriving cruise ships.

LOTS OF VISITORS: The Coral Adventurer is the fourth cruise ship to visit in the past four weeks, and it’s only the beginning. We are expecting more than 10,000 visitors sailing into WA before Christmas. By the way, Coral Adventurer departs the same day she arrives – 10pm on Saturday 12 November.

* STORY by our Shipping Correspondent, Jean Hudson @jeansodyssey. Jean is also a regular feature writer and photographer here on the Shipping News. You may also like to follow up her informative Places I Love stories, as well as other feature stories and Freo Today photographs, right here.

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