The night before we were due to travel we got a call to tell us the trip was cancelled by the operator. We were unable to book an alternative trip as they were already booked out. Refund was offered which we still waiting for and refund does not include the credit card fee - not a significant amount but indicative of the tour operators attitude to customer care. Asked why the tour was cancelled and given four different excuses by the various people we spoke with - mechanical issue, crew shortages, insufficient number booked and weather.

Fantastic day trip sailing adventure suitable for the whole family. Those with sailing experience and first timers loved it! Good value for money with all snack, meals and drinks provided. Staff were fantastic organising the tenders to Whitehaven beach and the snorkelling. Best way to experience the Whitsundays.

Our day consisted of spending 9-10 hours on the ferry due to engine break down. The atmosphere was a full ferry with people sick everywhere. Horrific experience with no management. Came all the way from Scotland to see the reef. Company not contactable to discuss compensation ignoring emails and phone. Some points throughout the day to provide feedback on: 1. Regarding the engine fault: The engine broke down not long after Hamilton island, but they got it working and kept going. This is after a puff of black smoke and sitting still for a prolonged period occurred. Clearly there were early signs of the engine’s faults. Why not turn back now and let us tourists at least have a day on a beach instead of risking what was to occur. Later as we approached the reef the boat was at stand still for hours. Later about 2pm they decided we would go into the reef with only one engine. Why was this decision not made earlier? This would have allowed us a) to get off the boat and b) if moved the boat further from the doc we could have got at least an hour or two of snorkelling in. Even the fact we were on the pontoon for 30 mins when there were clearly displayed signs for reef sleep guests saying they could snorkel from 3.30-5pm, why not let us day guests do at least an hour? There was no need to keep the boat in the doc, or leave straight away when the rescue boat came. Lastly, there are multiple reviews online about engine having issues clearly the company know about this, to set customer expectations and knowingly send out a boat with engine issues is both negligence of safety and totally irresponsible. 2. Staff experience on the boat There was a clear lack of organisation and communication. The staff were too busy gossiping to organise or manage the situation. When asked members of staff for updates/advice etc the answer was either ‘I’m part of the dive team i don’t know’ or ‘I don’t know there will be an announcement soon’ (which there was not for over 2 hours of standing still) A severe lack of boat management and announcements from the captain who I believe made very poor choices with dealings with the engine issues as stated in point 1. For example, there was one announcement about the boat stopping and they would let us know ‘what it’s all about’ after that no management or captain announcements for two hours. Leaving us in the dark all day about what the plan was including hearing all sorts of gossip from staff such as no boat would be here until 7pm and we were not going to make it to the reef There was no announcement for lunch. When we eventually got to the manager (who was treating the reef sleep guests to individual updates and briefings on the situation - a luxury not shown to the day guests) she was very nice and tried to help, i don’t fault her understanding it was not her fault or her authority to help us saying it was the reservations team. However I do feel like someone on board should have been given the authority to support guests, as of course when we got back to Airlie that evening no one was there to help us. Overall seemed to focus on nothing but up-selling but could not provide any information or own the part of managing the crisis. 3. Experience on the pontoon As stated above, it’s frustrating as to why things were not organised to ensure we all got a short snorkel in. Submarine no announcement it was going, huge unorganised queue with two prongs and no one managing it, approx one boat load of people missed out on it yet when asked staff which was the correct que a girl said ‘there both a queue’. Of course when boat came loads of people pushed and shoved to get one. One member of staff saying there would be another one, the driver clearly stating that was the last one. Another disaster. you would think you would have ensured we all got a go after the day we had. Later staff saying oh I had a great day I got to ride a submarine and see the reef to everyone upstairs. So un-tasteful to those of us who could not ‘push and shove’ families and kids out to the way to get on like others did. Again this would have been avoided if a staff member took ownership of organising the crisis.

Great service, staff were enthusiastic and helpful all the way. Food was ok and beverages were very good. We had an awesome time with the family. 100% recommended!

This was amazing! We took our 2 year old with us on the full day cruise. She was able to snorkel out in the reef with us. Stinger suits and float vests were available for all of us including the 2 year old. Pool noodles were also supplied. We went scuba diving as well and also had a helicopter ride. Overall the cruise was fantastic and would come back again.

The family had the best time on the reef. The staff were fantastic great service. I will definitely recommend anyone to experience the Great Barrier Reef tour.

Great trip to Whitehaven beach and Hamilton Island loved the experience, even saw some Whales which was a highlight. I think you need to ask for people's dietary requirements I'm vegan and my husband vegetarian, we could not eat the sausages at the BBQ, instead were given a piece of bread with onion in it nothing else. At the lunch there was no vegan option, I eventually got a vegan burger and chips which was fine. We paid the same as everyone else to go on this trip and should receive the same value for money as everyone else. If you're not going to cater for everyone let us know, give us a discount and we'll bring our own food next time.

Awesome day, large group 4 to 63yrs. Perfect weather. The Crew were amazing and nothing was too much. Food and drinks all day, was lovely. Very memorable day with Family & Friends.

So so disappointed. Travelled to Hamilton island to experience the reef suite. Booked 6 months + in advance and it was cancelled the night before we were due to depart. No option to reschedule less than 6 months in advance. It was to be the highlight of our trip

We did the full day tour to the reef with cruise Whitsundays. Not a great experience. They spent the majority of the 2 hour trip out to the reef trying to upsell various add ons like guided snorkel tours and helicopter flights. Unfortunately they didn’t bother to spend some time explaining their various rules about snorkeling at the reef eg must wear flippers, must only snorkel along the reef shelf. Therefore when everyone started to snorkel the staff were constantly setting off a loud horn because everyone was doing the wrong thing. It was very disruptive to the whole snorkeling experience. Why not stop upselling for 10 minutes during the trip out and let people know the rules and expectations? Surely most people would then understand and comply. The staff were ok but we certainly felt like we were being churned through a giant money making machine. We did another day trip with Explore and it was excellent. Very focused on the reef, the marine life and the guest experience.

with my family we did three excursions starting from Hamilton Island and we had a great time. I went on a dive in the coral reef with Vivien, in 35 years of diving I have never had such a professional guide! After the dive he also spent a lot of time explaining all the species we had seen... sincerely many thanks! However, all the staff and equipment are of a high standard! I hope to return to you soon!

Honestly very dissapointed. I did alot of research about which company to go with and I have used cruise whitsundays before and had pleasant experience. Firstly , you spend approx 4 hours travelling , waste so much time I understand airlie isnt close but so unnecessary going to hamilton island on the way and on the way back , perhaps you could do airlie first on the way back to make it fairer as hamilton guests spend way less time on the boat and essentially use it just as a taxi . We had a “ mechanical engine issue “ about half way out to the reef. Do you think they told us anything ? NO. My partner was sea sick and freezing cold wanting to move to sit elsewhere and we were told as if we were children that the seat belt sign was on and we couldn’t move , ridiculous as we were stuck NOT MOVING . We weren’t told anything about what was going on other than one announcement saying they had issues , as such we were delayed and instead of arriving at 11 we arrived at 12 although the staff said we were only 20 mins behind , don’t know where they got that math from !! We were treated like school children not being able to move I understand if it was a safety thing but be kind to your guests ! Particularly if they were unwell and freezing whilst being told to sit . Secondly Elise my goodness as the cruise “ officer” she was appalling . I have never met someone so rude when looking after guests she clearly was stressed but being kind and reassuring would’ve gone a long way considering the issues had with the engine. Do not book with this company waste of time , they try and upsell you everything !! $30 for one single photo , $70 for “ guided snorkelling “ when we already paid $300 and they ran out of morning tea but kept rushing us to queue but when we got to the front they had run out ..

I cannot rate this company high enough, after staying on Daydream Island we went for a day trip over to Hamilton Island where hubby left his phone behind on a picnic table near the cruise reception. Some lovely person handed it in & contacted our daughter in Tassie who let us know it was missing - totally unaware at this stage. One phone call was all it took to the lovely lady at reservations in Airlie Beach and they arranged to send it over to Daydream on the next connecting ferry for hubby to pick up… so thankful for your fantastic service!! .. and the ferry trips where great too, very clean, professional and punctual😀

This was a fabulous day out! I ended up going solo as husband not well, so treated myself to the 10 min helicopter ride over Heart Reef - do staggeringly beautiful it made me cry! Initially 4 hours seemed a long time to be out there, but in the end I didn’t have time for the submersible! Not a confident snorkeller so signed up for the ‘guided safari’ and Amber was terrific, giving us almost an hour of fascinating snorkelling! Met some lovely friendly folk too. Thoroughly recommend.

Amazing experience to explore The Great Barrier Reef under the surface. The hotel pickup worked great with really friendly and professional drivers. The boat is big and stable so it handled even big waves quite smoothly. The Captain and the rest of the crew were skillful, helpful, knowledgeable and very friendly. The facilities on the boat as well as the Reef World platform were great. Wet suits, fins etc all well organized by sizes from where everyone could pickup the ones that fitted. We started by taking the semi-sub boat to explore the reef via the glass bottom of the boat. Already from there we could see many colorful fishes and the beautiful reef edge and got even more excited to go snorkeling 😉. After lunch, which was delicious, we jumped into the water for snorkeling🤿 . Such an underwater beauty all over the Hardy Reef and especially by the reef edge where the parrotfishes were eating corals🪸 so that you even could hear it 😉. Excellent snorkeling 👌We did two rounds of snorkeling, which was just about right timing, in my view. The boat ride home was also a smooth ride and when exiting the boat the whole crew were standing in a line, on shore, and greeting everybody. Excellent experience! Thank you! 🐟🐠🪸🎉