marcia

We are thinking about taking one of the Great Barrier reef cruises with Captain Cook Cruise or the Coral Princess. We are also researching joining a chartered yacht that has a skipper & crew. Would love to hear from anyone who has done this. Were you happy with it? If you did it again what would you do differently? How many days would you recommend? Is it better to cruise the Whitsundays or more North? We have changed our travel time to Sept 2002 from Feb so we can hopefully see the whales migrating. Also, I know here in the U.S. very few people who cruise the major cruise lines pay full brochure price. There are early booking discounts or agencies that reserve group block spaces & can when sell it a little cheaper. If anyone knows of any for the above Cruise lines I would appreciate the info.

TC

Marcia: We did a 4 day cruise with Coral Princess. Love it. The capt. and crew are a delight. Food was good - buffet style. Snorkeling was wonderful, not as good with diving. Ship held 50 passengers - a nice size group. Good mix of ages 20+ to 70. The cabins are generous sized with lovely full private baths and plenty of hot water. A few stops on islands were fun, but if you want strickly diving this is not the place. As for whale watching, you might be better off with a ship with less "fixed" route. We would do CP again. If you have more questions, email me.

sue

Just got back from Australia and did the <BR>7 day cruise on Captain Cook Reef Endeavour. LOVED IT! Highly recommend it! If you can only do half, we would choose the 4 day trip because there is more snorkeling, prettier stops. The crew is fantastic, food is wonderful, snorkeling awesome. We were also blessed with wonderful weather. I'll be happy to answer any more questions. The only discount I know of is we got 10% off by booking through Travel Mall. They give a discount for booking anything for 7 days or longer. <BR>

KEC

Hello~<BR>I found this post while I was searching, and I have the same basic question.<BR><BR>My husband and I (29 and 30 years old) are thinking about doing one of these cruises in July/Aug. We thought that it would be a good way to experience the reef for more than one day. <BR><BR>We are also planning on spending a few days on an island, and also Port Douglas, and in/near the rainforest. This will be toward the end of a 6 week trip, so I'm sure we will be looking forward to relaxing on a beach!<BR><BR>Any thoughts on the cruise?<BR><BR>I am also wondering about discounts from the internet prices????<BR><BR>Thanks!

Chris

My wife and I did the<BR>4 day cruise on Captain Cook Reef Endeavour in May 2001. It was great. food, snorkeling, diving, room (we had a state room) were all fine! Met some very nice people on board. Our weather was OK (Windy) but it was no problem. I'll be happy to answer any more We used the Travel Mall and got the 10% off. It was the best deal I could find.<BR><BR>Good Luck<BR>Chris<BR><BR>

KEC

Hi Chris-<BR>Thanks for your reply. I do have a few questions about the Captain Cook cruise...<BR><BR>- What was the age group of people on board? Were there people in their 20s and 30s?<BR><BR>- What sort of food did they serve? Someone else on this board wrote that the food was horrible.<BR><BR>- Was an intro. dive included? <BR><BR>- Were there activities at night?<BR><BR>- Were the seas rough? Any seasickness?<BR><BR>- Did you shop around a lot for the cheapest price for the cruise? <BR><BR>Thanks so much...I appreciate you taking the time to help me figure this out!<BR><BR>Keri

Abby

Chris-can you speak to someone at TravelMall or do you have to book entirely online? I was looking at their website and there was no phone number. Can you get a price quote but not have to book? How much did you pay for the cruise? I'd like to try Hayman Island but it might be too expensive, so the Captain Cook option could be a possibility. Also, did you look into a Windjammer cruise? If so what made you pick Captain Cook? Thanks!

Melodie

To Marcia &amp; KEC,<BR><BR>I've done both the Capt. Cook 4 day cruise, which was wonderful and also rented a yacht (my husband can sail) and done a 3 day on the Whitsundays. Obviously 2 different experiences, as with Capt. Cook, you leave the &quot;driving&quot; to someone else and with a rental you pick up your provisions and head off.<BR><BR>The food on the cruise was wonderful - they have a lovely seafood buffet. The age group? Well, it will of course, vary on every cruise! We had an age range from 30's to 70's on ours with people from all over the world, which makes it fun and interesting. Evening entertainment? There isn't any Not unless you count a crew member with a guitar! But that's not what you go on this type of a cruise for anyway, or if it is, you should investigate a &quot;real&quot; cruise ship.<BR><BR>Hope this helps!<BR><BR>Melodie<BR>Certified Aussie Specialist

raerose

Any more recent experiences on either of these ships?

raerose

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