Today we returned from a five day getaway cruise aboard the MS Astor. We were joined on the trip by our good friends, Glenn and Tricia and also on a last minute whim, by Rod and Vicki. It was wonderful company for the trip and we had many good times trying to do as much damage as we could to our livers!
The ship departed Fremantle on Saturday 7 March and sailed around Cape Leeuwin and direct to Esperance. The seas where generally kind to us on the way to our first port which helped to ease Paula's nerves a little as she was worried about suffering from sea sickness. Apparently the same cruise a week earlier encountered some rather rough weather. Paula and I didn't disembark in Esperance as we had been there a couple of weeks earlier so we enjoyed the food and drinks onboard whilst our friends had a look around the town or in Vicki and Rod's case caught up with family and friends.
On Monday evening we departed Esperance and sailed towards Albany. The seas were a little rougher on this part of the trip and discretely positioned sea sickness bags appeared around the ship. Fortunately we were all made of sterner stuff and had no problems in this regard at all. We pulled into Albany early on Tuesday morning to be greeted by a lone piper on the wharf. Albany really turned it on for the ship (unlike Esperance) and provided free shuttle buses into town. The weather was glorious and Paula and I did go for a wander into town with our friends.
We sailed out of Albany on Tuesday night and then headed back towards Fremantle. Once again, the seas were a little rougher than our first few days, but we all handled this fine and it didn't stop us partying on. Once we rounded Cape Leeuwin the seas settled and we had a pleasant return home to Fremantle early on Tuesday morning.
What can we say about the cruise? The ship was small, but very well appointed and maintained. The crew were generally very couteous; the food was OK (this was probably the weakest part of the service); the drinks package was wonderful and saved us a heap; and the cabins were more than adequate for a short cruise. We are planning to do something similar in the very near future and would sail on the same ship again, so we guess that sums up what we think about the experience.
More photos of our trip can be found here. (Thanks to Tricia for sharing her photos as well.)