Cairns and Auckland will be the
departure ports for the first
sailings of Lindblad Expeditions’
new National Geographic Orion.
The former Orion, to be relaunched as
the National Geographic Orion, is set to be
converted into an exploration vessel with
more focus on SCUBA diving and less focus on
luxury.
Lindblad Expeditions, in association with
National Geographic, unveiled the inaugural
program for the newest addition to its fleet,
recently acquired from Australia’s Orion
Expedition Cruises, after an initial release to
past passengers last week.
The National Geographic Orion will officially
launch in March 2014, newly equipped with
kayaks, an ROV (remote operated vehicle
reaching depths up to 300 metres), snorkelling
gear for 100 passengers and a SCUBA program
that can accommodate up to 24 divers at once.
The expedition team is expected to resemble
that on the National Geographic Explorer
and will include a National Geographic
photographer on most departures.
On 19 March 2014, the first voyage is
scheduled to depart from Auckland for a
22-night cruise via New Zealand’s Bay of
Islands and Australia’s Norfolk Island to Papua
New Guinea, Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
National Geographic is selling the trip online
with flights departing from the US, creating a
25-day itinerary.
The final ports of call are Australia’s Thursday
Island and the Great Barrier Reef’s Lizard
Island, before ending in Cairns.
The second sailing departs Cairns on 9 April
2014, sailing back through Thursday and Lizard
islands and PNG, and then to Micronesia and
Palau.
The third voyage, to the Spice Islands and
the Coral Triangle, starts in Palau and ends in
Darwin, visiting West Papua and Timor.
National Geographic Orion will then resume
Kimberley cruises from May to August.
In September 2014, an expedition to Borneo
is also featured on the program, sailing from
Singapore to Bali.
Other itineraries later in the year include
Melanesia, Tahiti and Antarctica.
For details, see www.orionexpeditions.com.
