Hip Synch

Thank you both for your answers. Every bit of information is helpful.:)

Pauline

Hi Everybody, :)

I'm thinking of doing a Food & Wine cruise from my home Port of Adelaide on the Pacific Eden next March '16.

I'd like to know if anyone has been on one of these cruises and if they were worthwhile. I suppose by that I mean were they informative and of good value. Were there well known Chef's who involved everybody (I did hear of one Chef on another cruise who rushed through it and didn't look anyone in the eye and the cruisers felt left out).

I did read the Brochure of what may be available and of course they made it sound fantastic and in the fine print I saw that some lectures would incur an extra cost.

Any feedback would be great thankyou.

Pauline :)

hi guys im going on my first cruise full stop. my partner and i are going on the jewel from melbourne on the 8/3 taste of tasmaina were staying on deck 10 in a inside room and wondering what the rooms are like and is it worth paying to dine at salt.

Hi melb78,

Welcom to cruising. :) I'm going on that cruise too with my son and his girlfriend and it will be my first. :)

I'm really looking forward to it and am presently looking at the tours to see which ones I will go on. I'm a lady in my sixties and not very fit and so a great deal of walking is out. :) We're going to have lunch at the Salt and have heard that it is worth the money.

I noticed you asked about drinks (I assume alcoholic) and although I'm new at this too I think you will have to start a new thread to ask about that to get any feedback. As people answer threads by looking at the main subject matter.

Happy Cruising!!

Thank you very much for your help everybody. The information was valuable and will help when we have boarded.

Hi everyone :)

This is our first cruise and my son and I have Diabetes and need to eat regularly. I would like to know if there is food available in any of the Restaurants when we first board. Maybe the Waterfront.

I don't know what is available at the Terminal and you can only carry so much in your bags before it spoils.

Also I would like to know if I can take a thermos of cold water on board with me to take tablets with as I don't know what the water there is like.

I asked my TA these questions and she didn't know the answers. Not happy. :(

Thank you for any help.

Thank you very much Sandielle for replying. We sometimes get a chlorine taste here at home to but like you have a filter to remove the taste.

Pauline

I agree with you on this one, I personally think the water on board tastes a bit funny and definitely has higher than usual chlorine in it. So this is an attempt at getting you to feed their bottom line with $6 bottles of water if you don't want to drink it

Sorry if I did the above wrong. :confused:

I was thinking of taking a handheld bottle with me that has a filter in it. I saw one in my local Health Food store. That should filter out any taste. I assume they would let me carry it onboard. Unfortunately I don't drink soft drink.

Cheers. :)

Hi there,

I rang P&O Australia and New Zealand and asked about bringing water bottles on board and they said that it is forbidden to bring water aboard but you can bring 12 loose cans of soft drink.

I know that people in the past have put clear alcohol in water packages but I am disappointed with the rule.

I forgot to ask if there is a water package on board that I can purchase because I have severe stomach problems and don't want to risk the on board water. :(

I am sailing on the Pacific Jewel on March 8th '15 and also want to know if you can take a Thermos of hot water to your room from the Restaurant so that I can make a cup of tea. :o

Hope this helps and I would appreciate any help in return.

Thank you for your positive thoughts. :) I've already starting buying little things I will need. Sad I know!! :)

Thanks for reminding me of this Barry. I have made myself relax about it now and I think noise is all part of the experience as will be other things like the antics of fellow passengers. I think a sense of humour is needed too. :)

I just realised that I did not specify which ship, it is the Pacific Jewel. That ship really gets a bad rap....

We are really looking forward to some R&R and are normally positive people who do not listen to those who are negative but it's getting ridiculous. After these people complained the staff were of no help either. The trip is over a year away and already I'm worrying but that is because cabins are selling fast.

Thanks for listening.

This may sound strange when we've booked on a ship with many people on it but my son and I suffer from MS and have booked a balcony mini-suite deck 11, cabin 11162.

We booked a big cabin as we expect to be in there a lot. We need a reasonable amount of quiet because if we can't rest a lot we become stressed and may suffer a horrible attack.:(

I have just read some horror stories about noise on that side of the ship coming from above. Scraping chairs and runners on the track and noise from a restaurant.:eek:

I know that cabins are filling fast and so what may be a good alternative. Unfortunately one of us suffers from claustrophobia so an inside cabin won't work.

Does anyone have any ideas to help us please?

I'm so worried. The main horror story I am worried about is *noise*.

We are in a mini-suite balcony cabin 11162 which is the biggest. My son and I both suffer from MS and we will be in the Cabin a lot of the time, this is why I got a big one.

Our main problem is that we are very sensitive to *noise*. If we become stressed because of it we can have a severe attack. I saw that the Plantation Restaurant was above us and thought that it would clear out by say 10pm and that would be alright.

Now I hear about smokers scraping chairs above and runners on the track and as cabins are filling very fast I'm panicking.:(

Anyone been near 11162 recently?

My son, his girlfriend and myself have just booked a mini-suite balcony cabin on the Pacific Jewel to Tasmania next March '15. We are over the moon excited about it.:D

My question is:

How is on board credit worked out? When I first looked up my cruise on the P&O web site they said 75 OBC but my travel agent stated 50 OBC. I will ask next time I speak to her but would like an answer from a cruiser on here.

Also, how do you use it? I admit I'm truly in the dark about it.

Thanks in advance for any help. :)

I can't believe it, I've finally booked my first cruise. :D

It's on the Pacific Jewel.

It is a 'Taste of Tasmania' one on March 15th next year. I'm going with my son 30 and his girlfriend 21.

I am so excited and it is over a year away. Isn't that tragic? :)

There are very negative reviews on Cruise Critic for the Pacific Jewel but my girlfriend has just came back from that same trip and said that it is a matter of attitude. If you are determined to enjoy yourself you will, if you are out to criticise then you will find faults. I think that is a great way to look at it.

I did look it up on YouTube and Sunrise made it look good.:)

My

Thank you for the info on P&O and alcohol.:)

Thank you for your comments everyone it was exactly what I wanted to hear and I agree that the SALT Restaurant is good for the money.

I know people just like to have something to complain about and want everything for free but another complaint was not being able to take a bottle of wine aboard. I would have liked to take a 2 bottles of bubbly or Muscato which I hear you can on most ships.

I am thinking of going on this ship in a mini-suite. I have read some bad reviews on other boards and am hoping that this ship has maybe has improved although most complaints were about prices of alcohol and food.:( This is even with Chef Luke Mon? Salt Restaurant.

I would appreciate any comments as I am planning a cruise from Adelaide to Hobart and it will be my one and only and I don't want to be too disappointed.:)

Thanks

I have looked up 3 cruises on this ship and this cabin is always the last to be sold. It is a disability mini-suite cabin. Thanks. :)

Thank you for your informative and quick answers, they really help. I think I meant that I would have to leave the forum for this cruise to find answers about mini-suites. I noticed that you also have MS and have used non-disability so you will be a great help. I will certainly have this as my main board because it answers all my needs.

I just went looking for both Tasmania trips in Dec and Jan '15 and both are booked out. I went right to the booking page and SOLD came up very quickly on what cabins were left.

I'm at quite a loss now and will perhaps try for a 4 day cruise. It's our first and we wanted at least 3 days at sea with 1 stop for sight seeing. Allowing for the wheelchair of course. For a first time cruiser this is disappointing as we wanted to go soon after June this year. Now, as you said when a trip is announced we will have to get in quickly.

ps: I didn't know there was a wait list and so should I put our names down for all balcony mini-suites on both cruises? And the stool, raiser and bedboard, are they available for non disability suites? My son just said that he can put up with a shower over a tub with help and also the small steps into the bathroom with help walking.

Thanks for your help. :)

Thanks for your help everyone. We will be on the Dawn Princess from Melbourne to Tasmania.

I have just looked at a map of the Dawn Princess and put in 3 people and a Disabled Suite and it claims not to have any, therefore we will have to go with a mini-suite.

We would like a balcony because my son and I both suffer from MS and get tired very easily. Because of this we have naps and we feel that we will rest in our room quite often. This is also why we need quiet. The balcony will be a great place to rest.

I suppose which deck won't matter, is that right? We are looking at Aloha or Riviera and I will have to leave the Disabled Forum and hope a mini-suite will be any good for my son. Any comments would help.

Thank you all. :)

Thank you for your help. We want to be away from the disco's and any other noise and so I'm not sure which deck would be best.

I rang 2 travel agents with my questions and they made me feel that if I wasn't going to go with them then I was wasting their time and so I would love to ask my questions on here.:(

My adult son (who can walk a little but then needs a wheelchair) his girlfriend and myself are taking a cruise from Sydney to Brisbane with P&O. I would like to know if disability cabins take 3 and if not is a mini-suite the next best? We want to be together and would like an unobstructed balcony view.

I've looked at the Princess line ship plans but would like to know which part of the ship is best for less noise and less traffic. Stern, middle or forward?

Thanks for any help. :)

A big Thank You from Hip Synch. :) It is so good of all you lovely people to take the time to answer my queries. I have learnt a lot. e.g.

There can be a big difference between Cruise Lines.

Some have lips in doorways that can be quite a barrier.

Some showers flood the bathroom floor.

Public toilets can vary with accessibility and can be hard to find.

Book well in advance to get the room you want.

It is best to take your own wheelchair.

What balcony with obstructed view means.

A big thank you to those who took the trouble to put up photo's. They have been a great help when trying to visualise a cabin.

Once again thanks!:)

Thank you so much everybody for your wonderful info and photo's.