This was our 3rd Azamara cruise. We are very happy with the cruise line, service is amazing from the maintenance workers to the captain. Everyone is friendly and go out of their way to help with whatever.The ship was going in for an overhaul as soon as we all got off. Having said that, the ship was in excellent condition, wish we could have seen the change. The evening shows were excellent...they brought on a few different acts that were good. The singers and dancers on staff were great. The cruise director and her assistant have incredible voices and also entertained. After shows the piano bar was another place to go and watch talent at work. Food was wonderful and again service the best. I have nothing but praise for everyone involved and thank them for another wonderful cruise. Tours in Indonesia were a bit disappointing, but I would imagine even trying to put together things to do there would be a daunting task. Read Less

We chose this cruise for the itinerary and an opportunity to try Azamara. We were very satisfied with everything aboard ship. As suite passengers we had free access to the premium dining venues. Prime C was excellent and would have been worth the upcharge non-suite passengers paid. The other venue was hit or miss. Cabin and dining service were everything one could ask for. Entertainment we felt was a strong point. We've experienced the 'shows' on larger ships and been underwhelmed. Azamara's individual performers (esp. singers) were excellent. We enjoyed the White Night. It's a nice extra. The Azamazing (sp?) evening concert was much appreciated by the Ozzies on board but most of us North Americans didn't know the band. I took the 'behind the scenes' tour of the ship and heartily recommend it to anyone interested in what the crew does to make our trip pleasurable. We used private tours arranged by RCCL for Bali and Semarang as one of us uses a wheelchair. We cannot say enough about their efforts and those of the on-board staff to accommodate our needs. Tours: Bali and Komodo Island were fascinating and highlights of the itinerary. Semarang and Surabaya, not so much. Thursday island really isn't worth a stop but Darwin has much to offer. Cairns and Singapore were great start and end points. We've already booked our next cruise on Azamara. Read Less

This cruise was suggested by Flight centre to accompany our trip to Cairns. We chose to pay extra to have a cabin with a balcony however we were the last cabin at the rear of the ship which was a big mistake. Not only did we have the extra rocking from the propellers and the noise of the engines but we had to contend with the noise of the chairs being dragged along the deck early in the morning. No chance of a sleep in. Every area had music playing at a higher level than was necessary. We felt that shore tours were too expensive and no prior knowledge that to attend the dining rooms on board required a long pants dress code for the men. We were in the tropics so long pants were the last thing on our minds to wear. The area that you could eat at wearing shorts left a lot to be desired. The food in this area was disappointing to say the least. We were able to find some extremely good bar stewards but the drinks we ordered were not the same throughout the ship hence we tended to get them from one area. The highlight for us was the people we met which made our holiday a better experience. As this was our first cruise we would not be booking another with P & O due to this experience. Read Less

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

The ship & cruise were much better than I anticipated. I researched previous PNG cruises but there was not a lot of information available. The ports were Alotau (docked) Kitava Kirawina & Conflict Island (all tender). Best to have PNG Kina for purchases & donations to local schools,midwives, guides etc. There were no shore excursions on Kitava & Kirawina. The locals walk a long way to from their village to the beach to see the "rich" people off the ship & the children are happy to sing & dance. All the people appreciate donations of kina & colour pencils, books, games etc for the children. We had a midship oceanview cabin on deck 6 which was good. Close to everything. The Waterfront, Angelos & Dragon Lady Restaurants were reasonable. The nightly shows were average. Staff were friendly & helpful. I have been on many different cruise lines & I would rate this ship well below Celebrity & Royal Caribbean & slightly below Princess. It is however good value for money & well above Carnival. Read Less

6-24 August. Leaking old ship poorly maintained. During the voyage constant leaks could be seen coming from overhead Water Tanks (so we were told). Drying machines and buckets were placed in hallway (Deck 9) We were told some cabins had damp carpets which they were trying to dry. On route to Komoda Island 16 th August the ship suddenly lurched to port (mid morning)causing concern to many passengers. The ship scraped along a coral reef so passengers were told. In the Waterfront Dining area we were finishing breakfast, suddenly cupboards and shelves were opened and china and utensils flew across the floor. Staff appeared from the galley, and started trying to sweep the broken china together. All looked very shocked, along with many passengers finishing their meal. There was a poor follow up P.A. about an hour later with an explanation “ the problem was caused due to an outgoing tide and the narrow channel the ship was in”! Constant maintenance, painting, welding etc. caused the walking deck (deck 6) to be blocked off in places. The Pantry eating area (deck 11) had water from the adjacent swimming pool wash into the food area when the ship leaned over suddenly. Read Less

Very hard to find with Google. I only found big ships; Coral Expedition (CE) with small boat was the only choice with key words such as "cruise the Great Reef Barrier”. Tougher to find Coral Expedition II (CE) in the Great Reef Barrier on Trip Ad search engine. This may be one reason why so few reviews are published and awardly mixed with Kimberley & Asia cruises comments. Besides, passengers are in majority from old to very old and probably not tech oriented. I must do justice to the exeptional team on my 7 days trip in August 2017. The reservation team: In spite of being a last minute reservation 2 weeks before departure, every inquiry on email were handled immediately by the reservation team as compared to other cruise lines competitors who did not answer to my inquiries. Dawn and Benjamin dealt with my contraints and changing schedules, found 4 + 3 days trip in an upper deck cabin without single supplement, 1st big pleasant surprise. CE kept my luggage at their office and brought it to the terminal at boarding time, which freed an extra day visiting Cairns. 2nd pleasant surprise. Even more exceptional is their after trip care: they wrote to me about forgotten items on my cabin asking for directives on what to do with them ! 3rd surprise. The weather challenge: - Many got sea sick, but it's a trade off for an intimate, small boat with limited number of passengers. It was not an obstacle for my fun. CE is so generous as to depart even when very few people registered. - Dry suits and all gears provided at no charge; I kept them on everytime I got to the ocean so I could last longer. The passengers : - Cons: average age of passengers in my trip was above their 70ies, oldest was 91 yo. In spite of clear warnings from the crew that some activities required a very good physical fitness, some elderlies overestimated their capacity, could not follow and might be limiting factors. I would have preferred a younger, more dynamic and sport crowd to team up with. - Pros: luckily, they were lively, happy, fun, well travelled with experienced to share. The very few young adults were more tensed, avoided eye contacts, nearly hostile or simply shy, but gradually relaxed towards the end of their trip. Packages were either 4 days length (North leg, my favourite) or 3 (South leg), new passengers joined in between; making up your group and bonding was facilitated compared to other formula with passengers joining any day for different trip lengths. The crew: Wonder how CE select their staff with such interpersonal social skills, personality, attitude. Those qualities could not be trained. Maybe all Aussies are as nice, kind and generous ?!? Coral Exp, please keep them happy so they could contaminate us with their strong spirit. 13 staff members multi-talented, with multiple professional expertise and skills, switching tasks and responsibility seamlessly, from captainship to skippers to general maintenance to restaurant assistance and back. Everyone does everything, yet tasks seemed well defined, nothing got overlooked. They knew our names, even though we don't wear our name tag all the time and passengers rotation is every 3 to 4 days. Maintenance team were so efficient and discreet that we don’t get to see them; the rooms were always made up regardless of how many times we used the room and the bathroom, unlike in major hotel chains, 4th surprise. Thanks to Jay, Samy, and Aaron (?). Charlie with a heart of gold provided first aid for an elderly who travelled alone and broke his wrist; they took him to the hospital and back to the boat. Everyone helped him up and down the stairs, in rough sea or for glass bottom boat trips. Carole the purser from France, looked after us. Dany the marine biologist presented the ocean inhabitants like romanced stories or a cartoon characters, each personalized with their funny peculiarity, temperament, specific job in the food chain & in keeping the reefs. Ford, the engineer, is one of the lesser known crew member. He worked round the clock and fixed plumbing, engine, everything maintenance, you name it. Ford has worked for so many years on cruise boats and will tell you about diving in the area and in New Zealand. In the kitchen, Karina and the other chef (forgot his name and lost a point on the trivial pursuit !) did magic with the unreal sea food buffet. I am impressed with the prawn avocado salad; steamed red snaper; Morton Oysters; impossible roquette salad with parmesan, pine nut and pear; prawns marinated in coconut, lemon grass; or seared, Asian style salad, coconut & lemon grass fried scampi, chow mein; lamb racks. I ate so much and wished that one of the meals would be less appealing so my stomach could rest ! I would have loved more Australian fruits on my next trip with you, promised ? Here come the activities: I was not aware of all the land activities, I won't list them all here to leave room for surprises. That makes my 5th surprises. Land activities do not seem to be included in other live board cruises. Bring your sport walking shoes. Picnic, wonderful snorking and kayaking on Lizard Island beach till sun set; the next day mooring there, we went for a 3 hours walk up to the top of Lizard island only for the fittest ones; getting down the same steeped path seemed scary but actually much easier. Stunning views that compensate for the wake up call at 5:00 am. Check the wild orchids; the yellow flower shrubs (similar to the yellow flowers that bloom at the Vietnamese New Year and turn black and red after they ripen) contrasting with the deep blue back ground; the piles of rocks and stone that each visitor is supposed to bring up to the peak of the island. Fish feeding sessions night and day: we were in the water and saw a huge humphead Maori wrasse all blue and green, bigger than me, staring at me. I was scared for nothing as Maori humphead are only kind and curious. Very interesting visit to the very expensive Cooktown sea front; museum entrance fee on your own. Not as many dives as in other liveboard bc of land expeditions. 2 bottom glass trips at each site, for those who don't want to get wet or unfit to swim. Very skilled, precised skippers holding the boat still above interesting spots, positioned aside so to let the sun light gets through; parked the boat of 15 passengers with only one trial on top of the boat lift. Even though I dove and snorkelled, I went on all bottom glass trips to listen to Dany’s explanations, to have a sample of what to expect, then decide if I wanted to snorkle there. We love you Dany ! We were unlucky with the mangrove expedition at high tide. No fauna, birds, crocs visible. Turtle farm very instructive but nothing to see there. My baptism to diving with Ricardo: Con: no dive site layout. I suggest that we have a printed itinerary on the daily new bulletin. Pros: the 1st test dive of my manipulation of the equipment took 30 mn; 2nd dive 11,50 m (= 37”) at Ribbon Reef #3 spectacular, 33 mn; 3rd dive 11.90m, the max allowed 12 m for beginners, 36 mn fabulous. Wordless. In 1st dive, I was alone w Ricci. 2nd, Sami and David got along but followed us autonomously. Saw a cleaning station w neon blue damsels, Nemo the clown fish in ocre and blue collar in and out of anemone. Big yellow fish with brown polka dots under the corals. Huge califlowers bolders, jack fruit, bamboo, clayfish antennae, butterfly fish, no angel fish, yellow trumpet fish with green lines, square black flat fish with yellows stripes, dark blue box with yellow spots. Big bénitiers no colour, probably victims of bleaching. I dreamt, years ago, of swimming with a school of fish friends, no one else, in the deep blue. Dream came true ! We were given feed-backs after every dive. Everybody looked after you so that you set your equipment adequately for your comfort and fun. Colours are dissapointing in the South leg, even under the sun. Without the sun, even the North leg could be blah. Out of my 4 dives, only 2 really did wonders, the 1st being a test dive. You could see as many with snorkling alone, although you will miss out on the tall walls, the deep blue above you, shoals of fishes. Snorkling in Polynesia was much better years ago. While passengers were loading on and off in between the 2 legs of my trip, a visit were organized to Thapukai place, at the foot of Kuranda rain forest. We had to wait for unecessary period of time and missed out on visiting the wonderful facility. We snorkled and dove at Dunk and Lizard Island, Nathan reef, Watson's Bay on Cooks Island ?, Ribbon Reefs 3 and 9 and Escape Island No tip policy in Australia, so I managed to offer small gifts to express my gratitude, which the crew really appreciated. Dropped me off to my after cruise hotel. I did not keep track of all the beautiful details daily and must have missed quite a bunch, so please amplify the pleasure. Thanks to all the team of Coral Expeditions. Go with them ! (same comments posted in Trip Advisor) Read Less

We boarded on March 2nd 2017 for A ½ World Cruise of 65 days. The ship is old, but very stable and met all my requirements for a 3 Start rating. The cabins and facilities were as expected- not 5 Star but we were not expecting that. When booking, it was confirmed, by multiple emails, that our cabin was to be midships. We were allocated one 2nd from the bow and were awoken periodically by the thrusters and anchor chain coming on at odd times directly under and above us. Going to the reception, we were met by an unfriendly notice ‘Don’t talk to us about relocation as we are full’! So much for public relations! The staff at lower levels, from 23 countries, was excellent, however, at a higher level, they seemed wanting! The captain, Felipe Souza, was very friendly when approached – one on one - but seemed to be out of place as an ambassador, looking intimidated by any public role. Under him seemed to be a problem. Senior staff did not mingle or interact! On boarding we went, by invitation from the Captain to a ‘Captians welcome drink’, to be met by waiters……… I had reason to speak with a senior manager (Alister) after a letter of complaint. Not having typing facilities available, I hand wrote a 2 page letter outlining some concerns. He set up a meeting and said that ‘my handwriting was so bad that he could not read it’! So much for public relations! He asked me to outline my concerns and said that he had made some notes – that was it. To others, he stated that ‘that was only your opinion. We happen to disagree with you……’! Again, so much for public relations! The music on the ship was average. They had a resident American keyboard player who was brilliant. The also had a singer who was good. During the voyage she was replaced by a (Very good) West Indian singer. On one occasion I sat through one session and half of the next, WITHOUT KNOWING ONE OF THE SONGS. I don’t know what era songs they were but the were not suited to ur age demographics – 50 to 90 years of age! Then you would sit in the Captain’s Cabin, listening to music you did not know, and they would walk off for a ‘break’, except that these breaks lasted fpr an average ¾ hour+ during which time all atmosphere was lost, and people simply left to go to their cabins. No background music was available until a lot of us complained, and then it was put on sporadically. We, and many others, do ballroom dancing, and wanted some strict tempo music suitable for this type of dancing. It was put on for us on occasion, but without seeming to want ot do this! Lastly, we have been on many cruises, and usually a band asks for requests. Not so on Magellan. They seemed to operate from an I pad to a pre-planned programme and that was it. The main theatre was usually ice cold! This required us to rug up to watch a variety of excellent shows by an excellent 13 person show team. Stuff like…. Le Mis ….. Phantom of the Opera etc! Excellent! The band too, was really good, but when on the stage could not crack a smile and, while playing great music, looked like they were conducting a funeral. The biggest gripe of all, and one that caused a mass meeting of cruisers to complain and form an ‘action group’ was the Indian Visa Problem. When we booked and paid everything was settled, we then got a phone call that it was urgent that we apply for an Indian Visa. ‘We could not board without this’ we were told! One week before sailing!!!! The travel Agent said that this would cost $550 and that they had only just been advised of this requirement. No visa – no boarding! We said that, as it was only an 8 hour stay over in Chennai, we would forgo the visa and stay on board, but, no, that was not OK! ‘What if we were shipwrecked?’ was the reply! No visa – no boarding! They arranged this for us for and we duly boarded only to be told by the Indian officials in Chennai ‘why did you purchase a visa if not going on shore?’ Some Americans had to fly interstate to get this ‘urgent’ visa at the cost of $1000s extra. CMV declined to accept blame for us collectively having paid around $500,000 for visas that were only necessary IF one went ashore! This is a disgrace and CMV seem to just write it off as something from the past! ‘Would I use CMV again’? Probably ‘yes’, as the cruise, ignoring these serious irritations, was as expected and we made fantastic friends! Want more details? Mikeauret2@gmail.com Read Less

booked this cruise from our home port of Cairns with a drinks package at a good price. We were concerned by the reviews and we had also just finished a cruise from Hawaii to Sydney on Celebrity Solstice. So we went with our eyes wide open. it was going to be a 3 star ship which is typical of P and O australia and we were not expecting the bells and whistles of Solstice. We went with 3 other couples and had a great time. embarking and disembark worked well. the ship was fine, obviously an older ship but in reasonable condition. particularly liked the lounges and bar arrangements. entertainment was consistent.The dancing and music in the theatre was high energy but missed the mark in my opinion. One of the shows was just too dark and a lot of the music i have never heard before. choreography was great but music choice poor and did not relate to the audience.it felt like they had done the choreography .and then picked the music to match it. if they had chosen music the audience could relate to the shows would have been better received The pantry worked well. plenty of choice and no issues with the food being not warm enough. they have to do something about the crazy decision to put coffee tables into this area. what were they thinking?? its an easy fix and will complement the area by giving every diner a table to sit and eat at. The main dining room is big and very well done....but its half empty every night. It looks like they dont have the staff so you are lining up for a table and there are empty tables every where. speaking of staff, it was very hard to get any inter action from them in any of the dining areas. The food was fine if a little on the small size with some serves. Actually some serves were miniscule. The same can be said for the asian and italian restaurants. good food, small portions and unsmiling stiff staff serving you. the swimming pool at the aft is a great idea, no kids and a small bar. but it was almost comical to see almost everyone gathered around trying to find what little shade is on offer. the drinks package was a first for us. we like a drink but at $79 a day you have to be drinking non stop to get value. with 4 port calls in 7 days you spend a lot of time off the ship so i found myself drinking just because i was on a package and not necessarily because i really wanted "another cocktail". we did not get close to drinking $79 worth on any day, which surprised me and were happy it was an add on to our booking. the last day i only had 2 drinks as i had had enough of alcohol. P and o certainly have it right with their drinks staff. plenty of them walking around and getting you drinks and we met some lovely staff in the bars. Alatau was nothing special, walked down town. the memorial had interesting info re the war in milne bay. Kitiva and Kiriwini were very interesting. walked with a local guide and had an interesting time with the natives. Conflict was very pretty, the owner has done a great job with the facilities in such an isolated spot Apparently previous ships have had trouble tendering to this island. the jetty needs some modification as there is a big gap between the tender boat and getting onto the jetty. its an accident waiting to happen with older cruisers for sure, but even the young would have to be careful. our cabin was fine, ocean view on deck 6 and was in good condition for its age. little things like wardrobe doors not closing properly, otherwise it was a good size, bed was great and both stewards did a great job. Overall we had a good time on a 3 star ship that had the bonus for us of being a $20 taxi ride from our house. would i go on Eden again. probably yes , from Cairns. but if i had to hop on a plane to go to Brisbane or Sydney i would most likely cruise on Princess, RCI or Celebrity. Read Less

We could not fault this cruise. Weather obviously plays a big part in the enjoyment of a cruise on the Great Barrier Reef. The staff were friendly, helpful and altogether amazing. Nothing was a problem. We were given plenty of information on the reef and the life on the reef. The food was restaurant quality with plenty for all. A highlight was the scones one afternoon, the best we have ever had and my mother was English and cooked great scones. The cruise has two sectors, a four day and a three day sector. We did both. If you are specifically travelling to do the diving on the coral, whether snorkelling or scuba, the four day northern sector is the highlight. They travel the outer ribbon reefs and the reef is opposite rain forest on the mainland. The water quality and underwater scenery is generally better. However there is more for the non divers in the southern three day sector. however on the last day we swam with turtles and had good visibility on Fitzroy Island just off Cairns. The accommodation was very acceptable and the upper lounge area was a pleasant relaxing area with amazing views. As we were disembarking my wife and I said we could easily have turned around and walked back on board for another seven days. We travelled in May which was a good time because the water was still warm (28 degrees) and the vessel was not full as June and on wards is their busy time however the water begins to cool down. The age group was over 50s mostly with the occasional family or couple in there 40s. We are 62 years old but very active. An amazing trip!! Read Less

We were so looking forward to this cruise as we had travelled on the Azamara Journey previously and had thoroughly enjoyed the experience. This recent cruise was a different kettle of fish and not high on our list of good experiences. The embarkation was a debacle. It was very hot & humid in Cairns and standing waiting in line for 2 hours was not a good start to the cruise. When we finally boarded we were directed to our cabin. We had booked cabin 8008 but this was changed to a junior suite 8050 - good start! The cabin we were allocated was excellent & Ravin our butler was very helpful in explaining everything. The ship is easy to move around & is setout exactly the same as the Journey. After eating a fairly ordinary meal in the Windows Café we retired for the night. The next morning we both woke with very bad colds & felt very seedy. Unfortunately we never really felt well for the rest of the cruise and spent most of the time in our cabin. We did attend a couple of the lectures - Lectures about Russia & Putin were excellent. Lady who talked about the barrier reef not so good - her aim seemed to be to frighten everyone. Only went to one show - Australian/Vietnamese pianist Kym - excellent! Did not use Dining Room. What little we did eat we ate in our cabin or in Windows Café. Food was OK but definitely not 5 star. Only went ashore briefly at Hamilton Island & Mooloolaba so we could make phone calls to family to check on family member in hospital. Can't comment on any shore excursions as we were not able to participate. Missed Azamazing evening in Newcastle - again because of illness. Debarked in Sydney with no trouble. If only the embarkation had been as quick. We have cruised with various ships over the last few years - twice with Azamara. The first one from Hong Kong to Singapore would have to be the best cruise we have done. This last one from Cairns to Sydney the worst, & not just because we were unwell. Read Less

Embarkation was quick & trouble free as we had the help of staff at the terminal for my 86 yr old mum with her wheelie walker. It was unfortunate that we (and others with disabilities) were expected to walk right around the building past the buses to the mini bus at the back of the carpark for transport to Fisherman's island wharf. Our room was a disability room #8106 which was spacious, well fitted out & clean when we arrived. We were only a few doors from the casino but this was about the only noise we didn't hear. There must have been children in the corridor above as we had a " herd of elephants" coming through the ceiling every time they ran to their cabin. We didn't need to go to the bars on deck 7 as we could hear every word sung by their entertainers at night. There was plenty of food in the buffet & the staff were very quick to offer mum help with her tray. There were many times when most things (including roast potatoes when lamb roast was served) were covered in chilli or other spices. This made it hard for those who cant eat spicy food. It is so easy to provide a sauce to be added to food but impossible to remove it. Having cruised on Sun Princess 18months earlier I find it impossible not to compare the two experiences. The entertainment was a standout difference. The quality & number of choices of both daytime & nightime entertainment on Pacific Dawn were disappointing. The in room TV could have had a movie on it during the day for those who were feeling a bit too seedy to sit on top deck. The same episode of Packed with the Rafters was on every day & 2 years old. There was too much reliance on karaoke & talent quest to provide what the entertainment crew are being paid for. Unfortunately the weather was bad so we had rough seas & strong winds for the 7 days with only a few hours of calm seas. This could not be avoided but P & O could have done a lot more to entertain the passengers who were unable to do what they had paid their money for. We arrived in Noumea 3 hours late which made sightseeing tours a waste of money. There wasn't much provided for those who were unable to use the pools due to the rough seas. As I didn't have children on the cruise I cant comment on the kids clubs but there were a lot of kids with their parents during the day which we didn't see on Princess. Missing out on our days in port was disappointing but safety must come first. We did go to Champagne Bay which was lovely but I waited for over an hour in the queue to return to the ship. The tender boats were operating but not full on each trip. Fortunately all those waiting did so with good humour & we were able to stand in the shade of the huge trees. It would have been difficult on a hot day. Thanks to the help of the staff we had a super easy disembarkation when we arrived in Brisbane even if we were an hour later than our requested time & second last to leave the ship. Mum is pleased that she has faced her fears & survived the cruise ( she has had a fear of boats all her life)but we are both disappointed with the cruise itself. I will cruise again but probably not with P & O. Read Less