Coral Expeditions II Review
Rating by category
Additional details
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.
Cabin Review
- Pro:
Everything was so clean I walked barefeeted at all time throughout the boat. Never have had sand on the floor or sea salt on the lazy chair in the upper deck. My room was located next to the Cpt and the command “office” where the team has its meetings, which welcomed visitors when the door is open. Beautiful super quiet upper deck cabin with wooden panels, clicking doors, generous space and showers; I would not pay more to get a luxury cabin located at the corner with an extra window. Capacity for 3 occupants. Small beds may not satisfy tall passengers. Nice classical radio station in the back ground in my room, when the reception was possible as we sailed far away from land. No internet is a very welcome issue. Keyless policy provides a sense of absolute freedom and confidence. High quality toilettries that handled very well the aggression of sea, salt and wind to my problem skin and hair.
- Cons: low ventilation in the bathroom which fogged up with every shower, clothes hang on the line never get dry. Temperature on the boat and in the room in the 1st leg of 4 days in my trip was very very cold, while the weather outside was plainly beautiful and warm. The 2nd leg of 3 days did not have this temperature problem.