The crew were terrific, CD had a great sense of humor, our extended verandah cabin was nice but a bit short on storage (drawers and shelves). As for the itinerary, it had too many sea days for my liking. Of 24 days, 10 were cruising (although 1 sea day was scenic cruising close to land and another passing Willis Island was not close enough to see much).
Due to tendering for 4 days on the Great Barrier Reef, we were constrained in choosing non-ship shore excursions on some days. Those we took from the ship in Airlie Beach and Cairns were disappointing. In hindsight, a land tour in Australia would probably have suited us more. We did have a week on land prior to the first cruise in Melbourne and Sydney (this was the best part of our entire 5 week trip). If we had planned an additional week on land prior to the 2nd cruise, we most likely could have seen more of Australia and been gone only 4 weeks instead of 5.
Hindsight, of course, is always 20-20. But if someone were to ask for my recommendation, I would suggest doing a land arrangement in Australia and taking a cruise to New Zealand.
