Updated on: Wednesday November 19, 2008

Captain Cook Cruises "Road Test"

We thought the best way to could tell you about this cruise is to give you a road test account of the last time we went.

We did the four night Northbound Cruise up around Lizard Island and the Ribbon Reefs.  This cruise departs every Monday and returns on Friday.

We boarded at 1pm and was provided with a lunch on arrival. 

The boat left Cairns at 2pm, and we first made our way to Fitzroy Island.  We arrived there at around 4pm.  Everyone who wanted to get off of the boat and have a look around, could do so.  They did not recommend snorkelling there due to the possibility of stingers in the water and the fact that the better coral was a bit too far out.  Most people chose to walk to Nudey Beach or to the Lighthouse, which can be quite a strenuous walk.  Then there are people like us who just chose to soak up the remaining hours of sun on the boats ample sundeck.  Considering we have seen Fitzroy Island a few times before we figured was the best way to go.

At 6pm they weighed the anchor and started the journey northwards to Cooktown.  Dinner that night was amazing, with an a la carte menu to choose from.  You are allocated a table for the cruise dinners the same one every night bar one and this way you get to know some different people.    Everybody  has different stories to tell which makes for some interesting dinner conversation.

The next morning the boat arrived in Cooktown. We had the opportunity to do a Cooktown tour, but as we had already seen Cooktown countless times before we just decided to go for a walk along the foreshore's "River Of Life"  . The tour is worth doing for the small price of $16.50 per person and lasts around an hour and a half.

At 11am the boat left Cooktown for a small island called Two Isles.  Here everybody  got off of the boat to go for a walk around this tiny island seeing some reef sharks in the water, and some more energetic people doing some snorkelling.  We were only there for a short amount of time as we had a more important destination to start sailing for - Lizard Island.

We arrived there at around 7pm, with enough light still left to see the impressive Lizard Island Resort as we moored up.

That night was another a la carte dinner, with Karaoke festivities afterwards.  Later we spent some time out on the back deck soaking up the moon light.

 If you want to go snorkelling Captain Cook Cruises supplies all of the equipment for you. We snorkelled in a nice sheltered bay.  The coral was a little way off shore but it was a nice easy snorkel and once you reached it your breath is taken away by the amount of clams, from very small to one that would have been around 5 feet in size!  If you are not too sure about the snorkelling the crew that are on the island will help you out.  They also have snorkelling vests available to use.

There were also scheduled glass bottom boat tours heading out from Lizard Island every 45 minutes taking you around this small sheltered bay.  

We stayed at Lizard Island for the whole day with more activities on the beach after lunch.  Certified divers were also catered for with one dive available to participate in with the ships Dive master, Abbey.

That night was a tropical dinner where all staff and passengers were encouraged to wear 'Bali' shirts or sarongs.  The dining saloon was set up to a tropical theme with banana fronds and beach boys music.  We were all presented with Lei's when we arrived and sat down to enjoy a tropical dinner.  Good fun was had by all.

The next morning we arrived at Ribbon Reef No. 5.  More snorkelling was enjoyed as the visibility was 20 metres and we wanted to take advantage of it.  It was quite rough and the tender ride was an event in itself, getting totally wet before we even got in the water.  Once in the water though, it was spectacular!  We had the opportunity to stay out there for around 50 minutes.

After returning from our snorkelling adventure, we went on a tour of the Bridge. This is where the boat is steered from, and Captain Michael Head explained all of the different instruments and how they worked.

After lunch we went on the Glass Bottom Boat tour.  This was amazing!!  The marine naturalist explained all of the fish and corals that we were seeing (and in a very excited manner!).  We have to be very honest here and tell you that this reef was one of the most spectacular reefs you could ever see.  The marine naturalist said that it was the beginning of Ribbon Reef No. 6 in a buffer zone that only allowed glass bottom boat activities.  It certainly was beautiful.

That night was the Captains Farewell Dinner, and you should not miss that for the world.  After the dinner, the crew put on a spectacular performance. There are a couple of serious acts, but mostly, they are a lot of fun.  They had us all in stitches!!

The next morning we arrived back in Cairns.  We have to say that everybody was really quite sad to be home.  We had met some great people on the boat and enjoyed some wonderful experiences. 

As to the facilities there is a pool, gym, sauna, two spa pools and 24 hour tea and coffee facilities with four deck levels, some with shade and some without.  There is also the Reef Room with books and video's and a ship gift shop with souvenirs available for purchase.

We would recommend this trip to anyone and pulling into Cairns just after sunrise is a beautiful way to end four nights of luxury.

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