Eight nights round trip from Sydney aboard Anthem of the Seas, calling at Willis Island, Cairns and Airlie Beach. Four days at sea.
Every time on this page is ship’s time. It is set by the captain and does not always match the local clock — or your phone.
Three ports, and four days at sea. You end where you started.
Sydney is where you board and where you return. The line on the map is indicative; the course a ship actually steers is set on the day for weather and traffic.
Times are the ship’s scheduled arrival and departure and can move for weather or port traffic. All-aboard is normally 30 minutes before sailing.
The Overseas Passenger Terminal is at Circular Quay, a few minutes' walk from the Opera House and the Rocks; ships too tall to pass under the Harbour Bridge berth at White Bay instead, which needs a taxi or a shuttle. She sails at five in the afternoon, so the first evening is aboard. Which terminal you get is decided by your ship's height rather than your fare, and it changes every transfer for the day.
The first of four days at sea. She is running for Willis Island. Everything on board is open and the day is yours to spend on it.
The second of four days at sea. She is running for Willis Island. Everything on board is open and the day is yours to spend on it.
This is scenic cruising, not a port call. Willis Island is a low sand cay a few hundred metres long, far out in the Coral Sea, with an Australian weather station on it and nobody else. The ship slows and turns while a commentary runs, and what you actually see is a strip of sand, some buildings and a great many seabirds. Treat it as a sea day with something on the horizon and plan the day aboard accordingly. The ship cruises past rather than calling. Royal Caribbean labels this day 'Willis Island (Cruising), Australia'. The ship sails past a small Coral Sea cay; nobody goes ashore, there is no tender and there are no port times. Treat it as a cruising day, which is not the same as a sea day.
Two days compete here. The reef is the obvious one, out by catamaran to a pontoon or a dive site on the outer reef, and it takes most of the day. The other is Kuranda in the rainforest above the city, reached by cable car over the canopy one way and the old scenic railway the other. In town, the Esplanade lagoon is a free saltwater pool because the sea here is not for casual swimming. Cairns has a wharf terminal minutes from the city centre, but ships too large for the channel anchor off Yorkeys Knob and tender, which lands you a 15-minute drive north of town. Royal Caribbean calls this 'Cairns (Yorkeys Knob)' - the ship does not berth in Cairns city.
Airlie is the mainland doorstep to the Whitsundays and the day is normally spent on the water. Whitehaven Beach and the sand-and-tide pattern at Hill Inlet are the picture everyone has seen; snorkelling trips run to the fringing reefs, and light aircraft and helicopters go up over the islands and the reef. In town there is a swimming lagoon, a boardwalk and a row of cafes, which is a fair fallback and not much more. The ship anchors in Pioneer Bay and tenders to Port of Airlie, which is a short walk from the main street. It is a tender port and everything worth doing is weather- dependent, so a windy day can cancel the boats and the flights together.
The third of four days at sea. She is running for Sydney. Everything on board is open and the day is yours to spend on it.
The fourth of four days at sea. She is running for Sydney. Everything on board is open and the day is yours to spend on it.
The cruise ends here and you disembark in the morning. The Overseas Passenger Terminal is at Circular Quay, a few minutes' walk from the Opera House and the Rocks; ships too tall to pass under the Harbour Bridge berth at White Bay instead, which needs a taxi or a shuttle. Which terminal you get is decided by your ship's height rather than your fare, and it changes every transfer for the day.
Seven grades on this ship. The gap between the cheapest and the dearest is wider than most people expect, and so is the difference in what you get.
A solo cabin sold without the single supplement, of which there are twenty, each with a virtual balcony in place of a window. Around ten square metres, so genuinely tight. It is the cheapest way onto this ship by a distance if you are travelling alone, and it cannot take a second guest at any price.
The same interior cabin with a full-height screen showing a live camera feed from outside. It answers the one thing an interior cabin cannot - what time of day it is and what the weather is doing - for a good deal less than a window. Nobody mistakes it for a view, and it switches off.
A fixed window that does not open, mostly on the lower decks. Real daylight and a real horizon, which helps anyone who feels the movement; a fixed point outside settles the inner ear in a way a screen does not. There are relatively few of them on a Quantum-class ship, so they are worth asking about early.
The same solo deal with a real balcony rather than a screen, and there are only eight on board. Worth knowing about, because most ships that sell single cabins sell them without a window at all. Still around ten square metres, still strictly one berth, and dearer than one person's share of an ordinary balcony cabin booked by two.
The standard balcony and the default cabin on this ship. Outdoor space of your own, which changes a sea day completely, and the grade we would point most people at first. On a northern European or transatlantic sailing the weather may mean you use it far less than you imagined when you booked it.
A larger cabin with a separate sitting area, a bath, and a bigger balcony. It is not part of Royal Suite Class, so it carries none of the suite dining, lounge or concierge access - a distinction that catches people out regularly, because the word suite is in the name. Good value read as a big cabin.
Sea, Sky and Star tiers, separated mainly by what they let you into rather than by floor area: a private restaurant, a lounge, a concierge and priority everything, with an attendant at the top tier. Floor plans run from a one- bedroom Grand Suite to a loft. The daily gratuity is charged at the higher suite rate.
Midship and low is the calmest ride. A ship pitches around its middle and rolls around its centreline, so the middle of the ship low down moves least. Forward and high is the worst combination.
A “guarantee” fare is a category, not a room. It saves real money and the line assigns your actual cabin whenever it likes — sometimes days before departure, sometimes with an obstructed view. Fine for a couple who do not mind. A poor choice if you are travelling with children, need a specific location, or are prone to seasickness. On some lines a family of four booked this way can be split across two cabins.
The fare you compare online rarely covers everything. Tick anything you want priced with the cruise — bought with the booking it is usually cheaper than on board, and you know the total before you go.
Australia. Cambodian passport: Visitor visa (subclass 600), Tourist stream, applied for from outside Australia. Not eligible for the ETA (subclass 601), whose eligible passports are Brunei, Canada, Hong Kong SAR, Japan, Malaysia, Singapore, South Korea, Taiwan and the United States; not eligible for eVisitor (subclass 651), which is for European passports. Home Affairs states the subclass 600 Tourist stream covers going on a cruise. Australian passport: Australian citizens have a right of entry to Australia and hold no visa. Home Affairs states that Australian citizens are ineligible to apply for an ETA and directs them to Entering Australia instead.
We have not yet confirmed the position for Australia (Coral Sea Islands) from an official source, and will do that for you before you commit.
Checked 2026-08-12. Immigration rules move, so we re-check yours when you book — and we arrange the visas ourselves.
The fares above include taxes, fees and port expenses. The line charges an automatic daily gratuity to your onboard account, and drinks, specialty dining and shore excursions are extra. We set the whole total out for you before you pay a deposit.
Many standard travel policies exclude medical treatment beyond a set distance from land — which is exactly where you are on a sea day — and cap or exclude evacuation from a vessel. Helicopter evacuation from a ship runs into six figures.
Buy a policy with explicit cruise cover, and buy it on the day you pay the deposit, not before you fly. Cancellation cover only works if the policy is already in force when the thing that cancels your trip happens — and cancellation penalties on a cruise typically begin months before departure, not days.
Check the evacuation limit as a number. “Unlimited medical” does not always mean unlimited evacuation.
Seasickness is a smaller problem than most people expect — about one in ten visits to a ship’s medical centre. Slips and falls, and ordinary coughs and colds, are both more common.
If you are susceptible: take something before you sail rather than after symptoms start, pick a cabin midship and low, and get where you can see the horizon. This route is sheltered by comparison with open ocean, and a ship this size moves very little.
The medical centre is an urgent-care clinic, not a hospital, and it is not free — consultations and medicines are charged. Bring your own of anything you take regularly.
Tell us how many of you there are. We will come back with the cabin grades, the total including gratuities, and what the flights and any visas will take — before you commit to anything.
Enquire about this sailing→Tell us who is travelling and we will come back with the cabin grades in US dollars, the total including gratuities, and what the visas will take — before you commit to anything.
If you do not hear from us, email info@dltravel.net and we will pick it up.