My First long cruise!

L'Austral Cruise Review to Europe - Western Europe

Cruises: 2-3 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 48

Overall rating:

4.8 out of 5
L'Austral

11 Night Dublin To Tromso The Hebrides & Lofoten (Dublin To Tromso)

Sail date: May 13, 2019

Ship: L'Austral

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

This was my very first long cruise... I really enjoyed our trip!

Embarkation

5 out of 5
Very smooth. Personal greetings from the Captain was a great surprise!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

5 out of 5
Delicious! Lots of cheese selections & crusty baguettes :)

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
Being a smaller ship, the activities were limited. Swimming pool, sauna, fitness centre, which I was too busy to visit.

Entertainment

5 out of 5
Being a smaller ship, there were only several entertainers; however, they did very well!

Children's Programs

There was no child on board. There was a small children's play corner.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5
Great staff members, especially room service and restaurant attendants.

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5
Clean & quiet.

Ports of call

Dublin, Ireland

5 out of 5
Terminal 3: looked like a cargo bay. Traffic jams become worse year by year. But Doublin is such a charming city!

Portrush, Northern Ireland

5 out of 5
By tender. Local people were very nice. Lovely place to visit. Giant's Causeway is amazing; however, lots of walking.

Iona, Island Of Mull, Scotland

5 out of 5

Staffa, Inner Hebrides, Scotland

5 out of 5

St. Kilda, Outer Hebrides, Scotland

5 out of 5
By zodiac. Sheep & birds paradise. A lonely island.

JOHN O'GROATS, SCOTLAND

4 out of 5

Lerwick, Shetland Islands, Scotland

5 out of 5
Weather was miserable and it was on Sunday when we visited. Many places were closed. Felt a bit being unwelcomed...

Kirkwall, Orkney Islands, Scotland

5 out of 5
I loved this island. I wanted to stay longer. Staff at Tourist Information Centre at the port were very helpful.

Geiranger, Norway

5 out of 5
By tender. Fjord Centre exhibition was very poorly lit (to make a kind of authentic atmosphere, l guess) I suggest you to bring a headlight torch. ;) When we visited, it was not holiday season; however, it was getting busy. I wonder how they can cater so many big cruise ship visitors during summer. Surprising!

Leknes, Norway

4 out of 5

Svolvaer, Lofoten, Norway

5 out of 5
Lofoten War Memorial Museum is a nice place to visit, which is near the cruise terminal. Nice place to stay in summer.

Trollfjord, Norway

5 out of 5

Tromso, Norway

5 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5
We were told to vacate our cabin by 8 am but being a smaller ship, nowhere to hang around. Most of us were just standing around the small lobby area. We stayed Tromso overnight but most of the passengers flew back to Paris by chartered flight after a short excursion.

Traveler Photos

Svolvaer, Norway Ponant L'Austral Lobby Area Ponant L'Austral Swimming Pool
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3 Comments

Gwbigdog    2 years ago

Thanks for sharing

cruisereckoning    4 years ago

Looks like wonderful ports, so glad you enjoyed.

Cruiserike0322    4 years ago

Thanks for your review