2 Day Great Barrier Reef "Reefsuites" Experience

Posted By : Patrol64
OMG! This exceeded our expectations totally! When i booked this as a surprise for my husbands 60th birthday, i was concerned that we might only see a couple of fish swim past, IF we were lucky. How wrong could i have been. From the moment we stepped inside our suite, to the moment we had to be nearly dragged away 24 hours later, THOUSANDS of fish from the smallest of small to the largest being the 400kg Groper "George" paid a visit.
The staff were simply the best, with nothing too much trouble. Drinks were continually offered and the food....Just wow!
A private safari snorkel was experienced with those that were in the other suite as well as the reef sleepers (Swag sleepers).
This whole experience was worth EVERY cent paid. Would absolutely highly recommend.
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Posted On : 2024-04-28 01:31:57

Posted By : Ruth_H
From the moment you board the boat we were looked after by designated staff. Would definitely recommend this experience if you love the ocean & snorkeling. The reefsuite room was an absolute highlight.
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Posted On : 2024-04-18 22:31:13

Posted By : Waimate01
An incredible experience if you like fish. We have dived and snorkelled extensively in many countries, so the idea of snorkelling off a tourist pontoon was not a drawcard for us, but the idea of spending a night in an underwater hotel room with floor to ceiling glass, even in the bathroom, and more glass in the floor -- certainly was a drawcard. And it did not disappoint.

Be sure you get the "reef suite" and not the "reef sleep", as they are substantially different. Three hour trip out from Airlie with 100 randoms who then spend a couple of hours splashing around the pontoon, then they thankfully depart back to the mainland and you have the place to yourself. The staff are amazing, the food is plentiful and of good quality, and the drinks flow freely. But you won't want to leave your room, and watch the daytime fish get replaced with the nighttime GTs and their various moods that change minute by minute, and the lurking presence of a 1.75 metre Qld Grouper and his little 1.5m friend.

This is an experience best suited to people who don't sleep soundly, because you'll want to keep waking again and again throughout the night to see what's going on.

There are two suites, each just like a compact hotel room and *very* nicely appointed, given they are under the water. There are also a dozen tents on deck, but tbh I think it's well worth just paying the extra and doing it properly.

In the morning, after a great breakfast, some snorkel time, and some morning tea, the boat returns with more punters ready to have a thrash around in the water. But you're having lunch somewhere separate and then get back on the boat to head back to land.

Basically, the flow is: 3hrs on the boat in transit, 4hrs with randoms thrashing the water snorkelling in lifejackets, 20hrs of sane serenity on the pontoon spending as much time in your room as possible or snorkelling in peace, 4 hrs of randoms and 3hr boat trip. The "busy time" on the pontoon is the price of admission, and once the boat departs the vibe completely changes.

This is a unique experience.
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Posted On : 2024-03-10 03:13:32

Posted By : Vicki_B
Staying in the underwater Reef Suite was amazing! The staff, food, room and overall adventure including snorkeling exceeded every expectation.
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Posted On : 2024-02-15 12:32:38

Posted By : Pickedanyname
This was the highlight of our holiday.

If you have time to do this trip, I would suggest it to anyone. Amazing value for money.

All staff members are friendly and give great advice, the reefsuites are really smart and the once in a lifetime opportunity to stay underwater in the rooms are breath-taking.

The food is great, the unlimited drinks which include alcohol.

There are no more issues with the workers on strike like you can see below.
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Posted On : 2024-01-22 09:43:32

Posted By : Jeannine_T
The staff, the food, snorkeling, but especially watching the fish from the bedroom and bathroom of the room was a once in a lifetime experience!
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Posted On : 2023-10-31 12:39:04

Posted By : bsadej
Like many people my trip was suddenly cancelled after booking this months ago

Unlike many others this was going to be the highlight of my and my wife’s honeymoon, the event that we planned absolutely everything around, we also travelled 13,000 miles to attend this once in a lifetime trip as we live on the other end of the world

This is how it played out and what info you need to know if you plan on booking within the next few months

How it played out:

We were two days before our trip was due to leave, we provided all of the details to the company they were asked, paid everything on time and constantly checked if there was anything else the company needed, we even double checked that our booking was confirmed so we could start getting excited about this and were excited for months

All of a sudden at lunch I get an email about a cancellation, surely this must be a mistake, read through it and and the email made it seem like it was a last second work stoppage, the email even provided a list of place we may have to rebook to stay at since ya know it’s an overnight accommodation, we thankfully didn’t need it as we had our original hotel booked through our stay

On Hamilton island there’s a check in booth for the tour, we walked over to it and I called the customer service line, I waited on hold for 20 minutes then was disconnected, I asked the nice ladies at the booth what happened they said they didn’t know and couldn’t really help me but they tried, their supervisor who was very nice also helped out a little to the extent that she could, but couldn’t provided info or tell me what actually happened, they told me I could still go out on a day trip to the pontoon as that was still going on but the overnight stays were 100% cancelled, she told me she’d message her boss who would tell me how much the day trip would cost us by the end of the day

The phone call never came, I sent out an email the following morning, overnight I read a bunch of newspaper articles about the strike, went to customer service booth again, spoke with another lady who was also helpful, called customer service sat on hold for 45 minutes, scheduled a call back

A few hours later I received the cal back, ironically enough from the supervisor who I spoke with the day before, she was concerned why no one from the company had reached out about the price of the day trip or at all

She called me back 10 minutes later offering us free transport to the pontoon but any activities we’d have to pay for as they were through third party vendors, we declined and instead booked a scuba trip with another company

HERES WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW:
Roughly 60 employees unionized under MUA are on strike over better working conditions and an increase in pay similar to their competitors

The negotiations have been ongoing since March with no progress made

The strike has been happening on and off since the middle of September the only time the strike is off is when the MUA doesn’t file strike extension paperwork on time and the employees are required to go back to work for a few days

No progress has been made on salary, a pitiful offer was made by Cruise Whitsundays which has been rejected by 87% of the employees, google “cruise Whitsundays strike” if you don’t believe me

The MUA has stated they’re prepared to strike until Christmas, no progress on negotiations has been made as both sides point the finger at each other

The company won’t tell you any of this before your trip, but until the strike is resolved which could take several months your stay will probably be cancelled at the last minute as the customer service reps told me “they try and exhaust all possibilities before cancelling” so check your emails before hand

I still haven’t received any word from management regarding my email or my stay and it’s been almost a week, I received an email saying my complaint has been forwarded to management days ago with still no response, I also received an automated message asking if ny complaint was resolved and that the matter would be closed in 24 hours if I didn’t respond, but nothing from management

The people you talk to will try to be helpful but there’s not much they can do, the people who can do something probably won’t talk to you, it’ll be impossible to get through to anyone in the meantime, their emails even say it’ll take up to 72 hours to respond to you, and you’ll wait on hold with customer service for hours

The stay is probably mind blowing if you can go, but management isn’t trying to make sure your dream experience happens, just look at the other 1 star comments and how the company literally copy and pasted the exact same response to two people below that had similar experiences

Our one chance to experience this in life was ruined probably forever as I would not trust traveling 13,000 to experience this with a company that isn’t honest, doesn’t communicate and does not care about your experience

Also there’s rumors in the newspaper articles that the company is attempting to fatten its profits to try and sell itself off, just an FYI I hope this is helpful, I know the companies response will point the finger and say they’re sorry and wont do anything further to end the strike or make sure your experience you booked months ago is actually going to happen
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Posted On : 2023-10-16 20:08:11

Posted By : JacquiF91
We booked over 12 months ago and paid in full to experience the reef suite for a special occasion. We were informed 12 hours prior that it had been cancelled due to industrial action being taken by staff. We were beyond disappointed and quite frankly gobsmacked that a company as large as @journeybeyond which owns Cruise Whitsundays, could deliver such sub standard results for their customers. Failed miserably ! We would never trust our dream holiday to them again. Definitely would NOT RECOMMEND.
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Posted On : 2023-09-25 02:15:57

Posted By : J8296GQsarahh
I want to share my deeply disappointing experience with Cruise Whitsundays, a company that I had high hopes for when booking a special trip for my partner's birthday over a year in advance. However, just two days before the trip (ie, today!) we received a call that left us utterly devastated.

Cruise Whitsundays informed us that their staff were on strike, resulting in the complete cancellation of our much-anticipated "Reefsuites" experience. While they assured us that we would be reimbursed for the cost of the experience itself, what followed was a shocking lack of empathy and responsibility on their part.

Firstly, they failed to offer any compensation for the flights we had booked or the accommodation arrangements we had made on both ends of the trip. It's a lack of accountability and a failure to go above and beyond to rectify this is beyond me.

What adds insult to injury is the timing of the strike. We were planning to visit Airlie Beach during the school holidays, a period that's already notoriously challenging for travellers. To discover that their staff had strategically chosen this peak season for their strike potentially show's me that they haven't been looked after by their employer?? To lose an entire crew on the actions of a "few", doesn't hold much merit.

When I inquired about how long Cruise Whitsundays had been aware of the impending strike, I was shocked to learn that they had known it could of been looming for "months." Despite this ample lead time, they evidently failed to adequately plan, train, or have backup staff in place to minimise the impact on their customers. This lack of foresight and preparation is inexcusable, especially considering the significance of the Reefsuites experience to their customers.

It's disheartening to witness an organisation that simply cites "Ts&Cs" as a justification for their actions and fails to go above and beyond to mitigate the losses experienced by their customers. The then offer of a mere 20% discount on a future booking does little to restore our faith in Cruise Whitsundays, and frankly, we have no interest in risking another disappointing experience with them.

It's safe to say, we're well and truly rattled. Their inability to handle a strike situation that they were aware of for months, coupled with their refusal to compensate us for our losses, has left a bitter taste in our mouths. We trusted Cruise Whitsundays with a significant and highly-anticipated celebration, and they failed us miserably. We will be taking our business elsewhere in the future, where we hope to find a company that values its customers and takes accountability seriously
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Posted On : 2023-09-19 03:33:32

Posted By : Dusty1986
Absolutely gutted! Payed a lot of money for this experience and waited a long long time, only to find out two days before travel our trip is cancelled because the staff are on strike. We Booked and locked in the date 9 months in advance! The agent on the phone breaking the news to us said they had been in negotiations for a while which means they could have organised contingency plans or let us know prior to us booking flights accommodations etc! Zero compassion shown by agent on the phone no offer of compensation or even another booking option, when requesting our full refund told would take 7-10 days. Completely unacceptable and unprofessional will never try to do this experience again. Extremely frustrated and dissatisfied customer, would highly NOT recommend this company to anyone ever! Also the fact your staff are striking indicates they must be getting treated horribly onboard this vessel. Do better!
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Posted On : 2023-09-19 03:31:44