Luxury travel advisors Robyn and Murray Sinfield were recently on board Pearl Expeditions’ first bespoke expedition ship, Paspaley Pearl. Read their impressions in this exclusive review for Karryon Luxury.
Pearl Expeditions’ motto is small footprints, infinite horizons, and it’s that for sure. This is a very different style of exploration.
For just 30 guests, with 21 crew and four expedition guides or naturalists, things feel very relaxed on this 50 metre ship.
It was both an elegant and immersive adventure and sunsets have never looked finer.
This amazing product has been brought to life by our friend of cruise Sarina Bratton and expedition guru, Mick Fogg with day-to-day reservations by Craig Farrell of La Collection, and we’re thrilled to be one of the first to experience this exciting new product from Dili in Timor Leste.
Life on board
On board it’s all stylish surroundings and thoughtful inclusions. Brass highlights feature in bedside lighting, standing mirrors and other practical features.
There are muted colours throughout, including the patterned carpet, which is soft to the touch. For those with a balcony, beyond the sliding door, you have two chairs and a small table.
The bathroom dimensions are significantly larger than other ship bathrooms with a large walk-in shower with a window and pull-down blind on one side, a vanity and storage space in the middle, and a toilet on the other side.
There are eight cabins on the Ocean Deck, six cabins and one suite on Horizon Deck – seven of them with private balcony.
We are in the Pearl Suite, some might call it the Owner’s Suite. It’s spacious, well-lit, with a great-sized bathroom with a walk-in shower. There’s also a fridge, Nespresso machine and good wardrobe space.
It’s not formal, and barefoot is encouraged onboard and ‘crocs’ or reef shoes ideal for longer exploring off the vessel. A universal power plug is needed, and there are no laundry facilities; however, cabin stewards will do complimentary laundry.
There’s also Starlink Wi-Fi. We each had two devices at good speed with VPN access, with download and upload speeds of 4096 kbps.
Wine and dine
Chef Serge Dansereau (of Sydney Bather’s Pavilion fame) designed the cuisine overall, but Alex Bentley is on board executing what we would say is Asian fusion with contemporary Australian, with inclusive wines from Paspaley’s Bunnamagoo winery in Mudgee.
Breakfast and lunch is buffet style with a cooking station option and dinner is à la carte. It’s a two-choice for each of entrée, main and dessert, and I would say a ‘classic’ menu choice for dinner with simple foods like Caesar salad, salmon, and steak for those picky eaters or those who just need a break from rich food.
The restaurant seats 32 indoors on the Ocean Deck, and there is one outside with lounge and bar also catering to 32 on the Horizon Deck.
The Sun Deck has a lounge and bar and sunbeds, and a jacuzzi for eight. Breakfast and lunch are served on the Horizon Deck, and our dinners are in the restaurant on Ocean Deck, although I’d imagine for longer expeditions you could request dinner outside.
You can swim, kayak and paddleboard directly off the Stern Deck, and there are nightly expedition recap briefings held in the outdoor lounge and bar.
Port visits
The heartland for this vessel will be the Kimberley during six months of our dry season in the beautiful landscapes of the North West with seven- to 10-night voyages.
Outside of this time, there are visits to Borneo (Kalimantan) to see orangutans, Eastern Indonesia (Dili to Bali) with its Komodo dragons, Raja Ampat and the Spice Islands for marine biodiversity and PNG, so it’s very popular with Aussies engaging in village community life.
The verdict
The cruise is just perfect for a charter for a family celebration – around AU$2,000 per person, per night.
It’s more than a holiday offering; it’s immersion in extraordinary landscapes with expert leadership.
For more information, visit Pearl Expeditions.
