This was my 16th cruise (my 2nd cruise on Carnival ). We chose this cruise because the price was great and the ports were potentially interesting. It was a repositioning cruise from Singapore to Sydney, stopping at Bali, Komodo Island, Darwin, Airlie Beach, Moreton Island and Sydney.We stayed in Singapore for 3 nights before the cruise which was great.
Embarkation in Singapore was very smooth.
Unfortunately, this was where the positives ended. The ship had been in dry dock before our cruise for a refurbishment, so we expected some hiccups in the running of the ship. We were told that most of the crew were new to this ship, and it was obvious that their training had either been forgotten or was not completed as it should have been. Guest services were on the whole very defensive and sometimes aggressive.
We booked ourselves on a tour organised by Carnival. It was to see the dragons and go the the Pink Beach.(you were not allowed to get off on this island unless you had a tour booked). In the tour description provided by the cruise ship there was no mention of fitness level required to do this tour. We have quite a few passengers doing the tour who struggled with the conditions given their physical abilities. Our walk around the island was good (very hot though). We then travelled to Pink Beach by a small boat. The pier and steps to embark on our trip to the beach were broken in parts, slippery and very steep. Once we had spent an hour at the beach we went back to our boat to transfer us back to the Splendours tender. Out small boat broke down and we were transferred to another boat. Unfortunately by the time we returned to the main pier the tide had gone out considerable. This meant there was a 1-1.5 metre drop from the pier to the boat. Passengers were hauled roughly from the boat up onto the pier, with at least 2 people bruising their legs.
Had fun doing our own thing and having a real coffee