I had the opportunity to travel to the Great Barrier Reef with my partner for 3 nights in November 2015. This is only my 2nd time on a cruise ship (the other being a large ship experience) but am comfortable in saying that the small ship experience definitely surpasses that of the larger.

The smaller guest numbers meant that I got to meet and share the experiences of the trip with almost all of the other travellers. So by the end of the trip it felt like I had really connected with everyone and made some good friends.

The staff were brilliant, with special thanks to Roberto in the kitchen, who continually amazed with the variety and flavour he was able to deliver. The fresh scones and cake were great after the snorkelling / diving (if you hadn't guessed I loved the food, still the most important part of any trip in my opinion). Yasmin and Bec were both excellent in their knowledge, helpfulness and professional attitude. They were still friendly very late one night when my partner and I couldn't work out how to change the air conditioner settings and needed to wake them up. Read more