Everything to do with embarkation and disembarkation was smooth. The ship is relatively small and there were under 30 passengers on board. A good number as we got to meet everyone. The cabin we had was small but compact and we were only in it to shower, get changed and sleep. There was so much else to do with snorkelling, swimming, scuba diving and two off shore excursions.

The food was excellent and couldn't be faulted in any way. The first night was a seafood buffet which was amazing.

On board was a marine biologist who organised the expeditions, two off board - Cooktown and Lizard Island. The main activities though were snorkelling, scuba diving and using the glass bottomed boat. If you're on the Great Barrier Reef it's what you want to do and there was plenty of opportunity to do that and at places where no other boats went or were able to get to, so it means the Coral Expeditions II passengers had exclusivity at all the anchorages. The glass bottomed boat was used to ferry people to Lizard Island and also bring drinks and snacks to everyone on the beach. Those were the nice little touches which peppered this cruise. Read more