Latest news with #IslandEscape
Sydney Morning Herald
17-07-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
New Australian cruise ship, converted from a luxury yacht, ready to sail
This article is part of Traveller's guide to luxury cruising. See all stories. True North and Coral Expeditions ran cruises in the Kimberley before most knew where the Kimberley was, with True North's fishing charter business there going back as far as the 1980s. Their guests had those distinctive blue waters, orange cliffs, astonishing tides and wondrous natural phenomena pretty much to themselves, when it came to commercial operators, for many years. But in recent times, small-ship cruising has taken hold in the Kimberley. Though the conditions in and remoteness of the region along the north-east and north of Western Australia dictate the ships be on the smaller size, the likes of Ponant and Silversea are now deploying relatively larger vessels carrying upwards of 150 passengers into the region. Almost 30 years after Coral Expeditions launched its modified submarine chaser, Coral Princess, in the waters where the Indian Ocean meets the Timor Sea, a famous Kimberley name is seeking to recapture the spirit of truly small-vessel adventure in one of the world's great wildernesses. The pearl company Paspaley, one of the Kimberley's best-known family businesses, has launched Paspaley Pearl, a former motor yacht modified to become a 30-guest luxury cruise vessel. The yacht, previously called Island Escape and operated by New Zealand's collapsed Island Escape Cruises, was initially bought to be a collaboration between Paspaley and Ponant.
The Age
16-07-2025
- The Age
Former luxury yacht, converted to Australian cruise ship, ready to sail
This article is part of Traveller's guide to luxury cruising. See all stories. True North and Coral Expeditions ran cruises in the Kimberley before most knew where the Kimberley was, with True North's fishing charter business there going back as far as the 1980s. Their guests had those distinctive blue waters, orange cliffs, astonishing tides and wondrous natural phenomena pretty much to themselves, when it came to commercial operators, for many years. But in recent times, small-ship cruising has taken hold in the Kimberley. Though the conditions in and remoteness of the region along the north-east and north of Western Australia dictate the ships be on the smaller size, the likes of Ponant and Silversea are now deploying relatively larger vessels carrying upwards of 150 passengers into the region. Almost 30 years after Coral Expeditions launched its modified submarine chaser, Coral Princess, in the waters where the Indian Ocean meets the Timor Sea, a famous Kimberley name is seeking to recapture the spirit of truly small-vessel adventure in one of the world's great wildernesses. The pearl company Paspaley, one of the Kimberley's best-known family businesses, has launched Paspaley Pearl, a former motor yacht modified to become a 30-guest luxury cruise vessel. The yacht, previously called Island Escape and operated by New Zealand's collapsed Island Escape Cruises, was initially bought to be a collaboration between Paspaley and Ponant.
Sydney Morning Herald
16-07-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
Former luxury yacht, converted to Australian cruise ship, ready to sail
This article is part of Traveller's guide to luxury cruising. See all stories. True North and Coral Expeditions ran cruises in the Kimberley before most knew where the Kimberley was, with True North's fishing charter business there going back as far as the 1980s. Their guests had those distinctive blue waters, orange cliffs, astonishing tides and wondrous natural phenomena pretty much to themselves, when it came to commercial operators, for many years. But in recent times, small-ship cruising has taken hold in the Kimberley. Though the conditions in and remoteness of the region along the north-east and north of Western Australia dictate the ships be on the smaller size, the likes of Ponant and Silversea are now deploying relatively larger vessels carrying upwards of 150 passengers into the region. Almost 30 years after Coral Expeditions launched its modified submarine chaser, Coral Princess, in the waters where the Indian Ocean meets the Timor Sea, a famous Kimberley name is seeking to recapture the spirit of truly small-vessel adventure in one of the world's great wildernesses. The pearl company Paspaley, one of the Kimberley's best-known family businesses, has launched Paspaley Pearl, a former motor yacht modified to become a 30-guest luxury cruise vessel. The yacht, previously called Island Escape and operated by New Zealand's collapsed Island Escape Cruises, was initially bought to be a collaboration between Paspaley and Ponant.
