We are not Cruise virgins, but realize when you pay rather cheaply for a cruise, you can't expect the very best all the time. After boarding in Perth, we thought it a bit bizarre we only cruised 100 klms overnight to our first Port, Bunbury. We got 'sucked in' by the Shuttle bus operated by the Ship, to the tune of US$7 each. We had been told we should prebook all our shuttles, to avoid lengthy queues for the buses at each Port.

Luckily hubby thought this was bunkum, so we asked if we could just rock up to the bus, and pay then. Thankfully the reply was yes, and duly did this for our first, and last, Ship Shuttle. We were barely a few klm from the center, as we found out, so ended up walking back after our day out. We were to find out at each Port, that public transport was readily available nearly every time.

We were impressed by the Ship's appointments and public areas, had no problems at all with the very efficient service from all the attendants in the Cafe and Restaurant, and our Cabin. This was the first time we had been on a Cruise with such a variety of folk from around the world. 800 Aussies, 300 each from UK and US, 200 from Canada, and assorted others from Europe (Note to the Germans - a little courtesy wouldn't go astray towards your fellow passengers, I found them to be quite rude). Read more