We travelled last year with Azamara and greatly enjoyed the smaller ship feel, comfort and convenience. This cruise, from Cairns to Singapore offered us the chance to see some things on our ‘to do’ list, especially Komodo and Borobudur. Embarkation in Cairns was efficient and since Quest and Journey are almost identical, it was very easy to settle in. We enjoyed a quick look at Thursday Island which is otherwise quite difficult to visit.

Our only real disappointment in the whole trip was the docking location in Darwin. Instead of being at the cruise ship dock, we were more than 30 minutes away, each way, by the provided shuttle bus, at the spectacularly unscenic and inconvenient bulk container terminal. We had 3 things planned for Darwin but saw only one of them because of the docking location. Do visit the RFDS where you get not only the RFDS story but also an amazing virtual reality experience of the bombing of Darwin. The Azamazing Darryl Braithwaite concert was great but also meant 12 buses doing a one hour trip and the inevitable waiting.

Food was excellent again in terms of variety and freshness. We mostly used the Windows buffet for breakfast and lunch because we could choose salads and fruit. Dinner was mostly in Discoveries but we did have 2 meals in Prime C and one in Aqualina. Read more