Did a 7 night Qld cruise on the Encounter sailing out of Brisbane in 2022. Embarkation was a nightmare that took a couple of hours just to get on the ship. I hope that process has since been smoothed out.

This was our first post COVID cruise. We have cruised previously on Royal Caribbean, Carnival and P&O (3 times). The ship was nicely sized, but lacking that wow factor compared to other companies we had travelled with. Compared to previous cruises we have done, the food and the variety in particular was not great. We were often disappointed with the choices onboard with the included dining options. Menus never changed much on the 7 nights which was quite different compared to the pre COVID era. Being charged for a simple food like pizza is another head scratcher.

Entertainment onboard was decent and the interior cabin we had onboard for the 4 of us was ok, felt a little pokey but we weren't on this cruise for the cabin, it was more just a place to sleep, shower etc. Read more