An angry passenger has confronted cruise ship staff after her dream Christmas voyage came to a crashing halt off the Papua New Guinea coast on the weekend.

The NRMA-owned Coral Adventurer struck a reef on Saturday, stranding dozens of passengers and crew.

On Tuesday night they made the arduous journey back to Australia — transferred from the grounded ship to a passenger boat before boarding a 2.5 hour charter flight to Cairns.

Coral Adventurer passengers were led straight to a charter bus. (ABC News Kristy Sexton-McGrath)

German tourist Ursula Daus demanded answers from a Coral Expedition representative at Cairns International Airport, who was directing cruise passengers to two waiting charter buses.

"No one is here to help me," she told the representative.

"Someone from the company will be in touch, I'm just here for logistics," he said.

Ms Daus told the ABC she felt like her life was "in danger" as the ship hit the reef.

"It was chaotic from the first moment," Ms Daus said.

"Every five hours they would come out with a small bit of information."

German tourist Ursula Daus said she would "never" travel with the cruise company again.  (ABC News: Kristy Sexton-McGrath)

She said she began packing her belongings in anticipation of being evacuated, and would "never, ever again" travel with the company.

New Zealand tourist Cliff Inglis said he thought the ship was "going to sink" after the vessel hit the reef in the early hours of Saturday morning.

"But they came to the rescue in the end."

Marilyn Walter, from Wagga Wagga in New South Wales said she still enjoyed the cruise.  ( ABC News: Kristy Sexton-McGrath)

Marilyn Walter, from Wagga Wagga in New South Wales, said she was woken early in the morning as the ship came to a standstill.

"It was just a little jar, that's all," Ms Walter said.

"We had a wonderful time."

Regina Beliavskiene from Melbourne said she felt a jolt as the ship grounded on the reef off PNG. (ABC News: Kristy Sexton-McGrath)