The National Geographic Orion is advertised as a luxury ship. Has anyone travelled on this ship lately or before when it was part of the Orion company in Australia? How does it compare to Silversea in terms of accommodations and services?
I have had clients that have been on the Orion and found it very luxurious for that type of ship. \
To my knowledge this is not a "National Geographic Ship" just chartered or used by them for particular voyages. Many times ships are chartered by A&K or similar tour operators and then sold as that operators ship.
For instance Regent used to charter the Explorer 11 for Antarctica and sold as a Regent cruise. It was not a "Regent" cruise same staff, cooks etc that were on the ship when Regent was not chartering it. They did send a person on board to oversee things and a chef to try to guide the kitchen but it was nothing like a Regent ship.
Not a big distinction just thought I would mention that.
Thank you very much. My understanding was that National Geographic purchased the ship and it is called National Geographic Orion. I was hoping that they have kept the luxury aspects of the ship, especially the dining.
Actually, National Geographic Orion is, as are NG Explorer, NG Endeavor, NG Sea Bird, NG Sea Lion and NG Islander owned and operated by Lindblad Expeditions. A few years back, Lindblad and National Geographic formed a partnership combining mission, staffing and marketing of expedition voyages.
My husband and I sailed aboard Orion a year before the ship was sold to Regent. We sailed the Borneo itinerary. The cruise was fabulous...excellent naturalists and guides, terrific guest lecturers, wonderful fellow travelers. Seeing orangutans up close was an amazing experience.
The cabins were comfortable but there were a few minor issues... the air-conditioning in the dining room was not powerful enough but I believe the ship was dry-docked before moving over to Lindblad. Those issues have probably been corrected.
The ship reminded me of a new, perhaps larger version of SeaDream's yachts.
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