By Anita Kainrath and Shane Gross.
Our stay at the Seven Seas Cruises was exceptional. We were blown away by how spacious and beautiful the boat was. Our cabin was gorgeous, super comfortable and the shower was awesome! We also love the fact that everybody gets a personal drinking bottle for the cabin and one for the boat rides to eliminate the use of plastic bottles.
No better sound to wake up to than the coffee machine (this little thing was working hard on our 12 day stay) and too much choice at the second (!!) breakfast after the first dive. We felt so spoiled sitting on the beautiful deck after a dive, enjoying the view and chatting with crew and guests.
We didn’t have to lift a finger for anything. The crew was absolutely lovely and super helpful, great in handling our gear and camera equipment. We did three dives a day and sometimes we had the option of doing a night dive. If you’re not a fan of night dives yet, this might change your mind: after the dive the crew will offer you hot tea or chocolate and a hot towel.
The dive guides were fantastic in finding creatures and Karl, the Cruise Director (who knows every dive site like his pocket) advised us ahead of time which lens we should take for the dives which was super helpful. The dive groups had a maximum of six divers in our case but most of the time it was just the two of us with one guide, which was perfect for taking pictures.
We went to the east of Flores and saw beautiful healthy reefs with soft and hard coral, lots of fish and many little critters I have never seen before and I wouldn’t have found them without our guides.
The food was very good and we definitely didn’t go to bed hungry. My partner and I are vegetarians and Toto, the chef, and his crew made sure that we have lots of options – thank you!!
I had to skip one day of diving due to a cold so I went kayaking instead and it was so much fun. They also have paddleboards and will launch them for you right away if the conditions allow.
Yovin, one of the crewmembers even offers massages so if you would like to simply relax after a day of diving here you go! Our twelve-day stay passed by too quick. We came home with tons of pictures and more important: many beautiful memories.
We owe a big thank you to Seven Seas for sponsoring the Our World Underwater Imaging Competition by donating this generous prize. While on board many of the return divers (most of them) told us stories of amazing diving on the other Seven Seas itineraries including the Forgotten Islands, Raja Ampat and Komodo. We will be back!
Anita Kainrath and Shane Gross
October 2018
