We spent 4 nights sailing around the Great Barrier Reef. Most of the excursions are snorkelling the reef which was absolutely amazing.The ship was very comfortable with good size cabins and nice common areas. The food was very good, well presented and more then enough to eat. The staff were wonderful, very friendly and went out of their way to help. My mother is a weak swimmer and the trip director pull her around with life ring every time we went snorkelling. The staff was very careful to keep an eye on everyone in the water and ready to help you with your equipment. There was glass bottom boat rides as well as snorkelling at each reef. Getting on and off the boat was very easy. This has been my favourite thing we have done on our trip to Australia. I would come back just to do this cruise again. Everything went very smoothly. Highly recommend. Read Less

We are not typical cruise travellers but an opportunity arose to sail with Coral Expeditions ll and I am so glad we went. Embarkation was simple ,the ship has its own wharf space, so our arrival and delivery of luggage was easy. We were greeted and guided onto the vessel, then given a introductory talk and explanation of the itinerary and housekeeping notes. The overall tone of this ship is professional but relaxed and very friendly. It was easy to introduce ourselves to other guests and enjoy mutual excitement about the trip ahead. The ship is a great size , small enough to be easy to access all areas and large enough that if you wanted a little space it is available. The food on this boat was very, very good. Dinners and lunch particularly offered excellent choices of meat, fish and vegetarian options, backed up by fresh, interesting salads and vegetables. I nearly forgot the yummy fresh fruit platters and beautiful desserts. Hats off to the chef and his assistant, they were the least visible of the crew but no less appreciated. Activities on this ship are based generally on exploring the reef , and what wonderful access we were availed by Coral Expedition ll and it's wonderful staff. Snorkelling , scuba diving, glass bottom boat tours and several hikes kept us busy and all passengers were blown away by the beauty of the reef and its treasures. The staff make these pursuits hassle free, they fit you for snorkel and dive gear and provide guidance according to your experience and confidence in the water. The drop down platform at the rear of the ship means that entry into the water and return is smooth. I would add there that is never pressure to participate, and the glass bottom boat is a wonderful way for non swimmers to see the glorious corals and tropical fish. Safety is obviously paramount but the camararderie of the very capable crew kept the tone light and the jokes flowing. It really did seem like a priviledge to be on this ship, accessing some of the stunning parts of the Great Barrier Reef and enjoying the beaches and sights of Lizard Island. There are several beach visits for snorkelling and hiking and we all loved the drinks and canapes delivered to the beach by the crew, along with deckchairs and fresh towels - luxury !!. The crew impart plenty of knowledge about the reef and general history of the area. Bear in mind there is some sailing time involved, in order that one can enjoy a varied programme. This wasn't a problem for us , providing an excuse for a lie down and a read. One can never guarantee perfect weather, sometimes the ship will encounter swell that is a bit uncomfortable but the captain informed guests in good time , and I gather in some cases he will amend journey plans so that guests are provided optimum comfort and experience. The four days we had on Coral Expedtions ll were incredibly good. Congratulations to the Captain and his wonderful, smiling, hardworking crew . Read Less

Well as all my previous reviews I try to keep things real giving my honest opinion of good and bad, the good news is there is not much bad to report here! a real pleasant surprise. First we have never considered a P&O cruise before, this is mainly due to the 41% ratings by previous reviewers, very offputting. We have mostly travelled with Princess.who regularly have 80% ratings. However never say never, we were made an offer on a suite which we could not refuse, embarkation was a breeze due to priority check in, took about 20 mins to suite. I did notice that even without priority check in the queues were moving quick, my impressions were they were very organised. Our suite was incredible, huge amounts of space inside and out, so good we eat breakfast on our balcony each day, a lovely perk. We were concerned about kids on board due to school holidays but there were only around 50 and were mostly well behaved. We found the food at the pantry very good, the watermark very good and Angelos very good. If I was to find fault it was not easy to eat healthy in the pantry, I had one choice per day, the rest pretty junky. There was much confusion regarding the Asian restaurant, on booking we were advised that Gluten free was not an issue, but upon checking at the restaurant we were informed that there were no GF option so it was back to the Watermark. My wife has a sweet tooth, but unfortunately requires Gluten Free, despite numerious little tasty afters, most days she was limited to ice cream or jelly! At night we eat at 5.30pm with no problems, however I think readers should be aware that if you are a 7.30pm diner you face long queues and can be sent away with a buzzer to await a table. You are in a different table each night so you don't really build any rapore with staff. Also as per other diners there does not seem to be enough drink staff, we were left on many occasions with a meal with no drinks. We solved this issue by buying a bottle of wine with our meal. There did not appear to have dedicated drinks staff. TIP You need to book the speciality restuarants in person as soon as you board, they do not answer the phones and get booked up quickly. The excursions were interesting, however we were unable to visit Kiriwani, although as stateroom passengers we had priority tendering this was nil and void because the ship had stopped tickets to get ashore, we sat along with 200 others in a very hot corrider which did not move for an hour so we gave up. Also very disappointing we could not get to the Conflict Islands due to swell, they did not have a plan B and sailed away shorty after arrival. Bars were very good and the service was excellent, I had a drinks package but unless you are a very serious drinker you will not get the full value of this. Cant' comment on the shows as we did not attend any but can say the entertainment in the Mix Bar was very good with acoustic and piano sessions very enjoyable. Kudos to the young passenger who played a few tunes on the piano after the show, very entertaining and must have took a lot of bottle! For people (like me) who want to stay in shape I was very impressed by the gym, it was never crowded and was larger than average. Disembarkation was again a breeze. So overall we had a great time and really cannot believe the amount of bad reviews this ship has had in the past, I definitely recommend it and as we speak we are trying to book another! best value cruise we have ever been on. Do not believe the bad reviews, you will not regret it if you go on this cruise. Read Less