wagtail_syd

I feel I have a pretty low tolerance for children misbehaving despite having 3 of my own. I've never really experienced bad behaviour by children on Carnival or P&O, including during school holidays. See much worse on an average day out at the beach or lunch at a cafe in Sydney.

The kids were all either in the pool, at kids club or doing the kid-oriented activities. Very easy to avoid by just going to the adults pool, to later dining or activities that wouldn't interest kids.

As soon as my kids have taken themselves off to kids club my main cruise aim is always to avoid all children as much as possible. I've always found that was pretty easy just by going to quieter parts of the ship. Obviously the main pool deck is not the place to go for peace and quiet. :)

I think I once had someone do a knock and run on our door and that is about it.

As for the trivia, game shows, deck games etc, I thought having kids there enhanced the atmosphere as they are all so enthusiastic.

Of course if you can't stand children at all then it is going to be an issue.

If you want an early sitting at Waterfront to get to the early show you can book. I think it was for seating before 5.45pm. Otherwise just rock up.

Where are you boarding? We boarded in Sydney White Bay and it was smooth and efficient. Got to the terminal about 10 minutes into our allotted boarding time and there was almost no queue. We were on board within about 20 minutes and that included buying the Edge passes for the kids. Much smoother than we've found with other lines at the OPT but then I guess there are fewer people boarding as Eden is a smaller ship. I liked the process of getting your cruise card before going through passport control etc. Seemed easier than doing it the other way around.

We did an 8 night cruise on Eden and could book as many nights as we liked at Angelos and Dragon Lady. However the line to book was long on the first day. I think I waited about 45 minutes. Calling looked like a better option as people who called seemed to jump the queue.

We loved Angelos; Dragon Lady not so much.

In January it was a bar. A tiny bar but still a bar! Not a fan of the Eden's Oasis though. Dirty lounges, almost no shade, very little atmosphere and the sound quality coming out of the speakers is dreadful. Such a waste.

School holiday Easter cruise!

13 nights voyager of the seas

6 April 2017

New Caledonia and Fiji

Inside twin from $999

I so wish we could do this one but no chance of getting more leave from work. Hardly ever see a school holiday cruise for less than $100 per night! Of course if you don't have children you probably want to avoid this one like the plague. :p

P&O had a youth security guard monitoring the pools on our last cruise. Thought this was a great idea. On our cruise I had to jump in and pull a little girl out. There were people swimming all around her but none of them noticed that she had gone under. It happens so quickly. I only noticed because she was playing with my daughter so I was looking right at her.

Found it: http://boards.cruisecritic.com.au/showthread.php?t=2327093

There's a good Eden review on the P&O Australia board with pictures of many of the menus. It's the one with several pages of replies to it, you might have to go back a few pages to find it. I'm assuming Eden and Aria menus would be similar. Of course they would change over time but at least it would give you an indication of what the food will be like in each restaurant.

Thank you for posting replies. So glad my review was helpful and hopefully means you can look forward to your cruise worry-free. Have fun! I am jealous and wish I was hopping back on-board soon.

I started writing this in the reviews section but it ended up pretty long so thought I'd post it here instead. Hope that is ok.

We have previously done 2 cruises on Carnival Legend so that is the only other ship I have to compare to.

Before going I had read some of the not-so-great reviews and was prepared for a very mediocre cruise but I have to say we were all pleasantly surprised and had a really fun holiday. Overall I found Carnival and P&O to be comparable. Some things Carnival did better (service, cleanliness), some things P&O did better (decor, entertainment) and some things were on a par (food, cabins). If we were booking again I would probably choose Eden over Legend.

We were a family of 5 with kids aged 13, 10 and 6 and did an 8 night cruise to the South Pacific.

Overall decor and layout - very good. Loved all the small spaces. In the evening you could walk from one small bar to another and there would be live music going on in each. The public spaces are beautifully decorated. Love the feel of the Lido deck with its striped deck chairs. Only let down was the adults area which has almost no shade and just wasn't that nice to hang out in.

Cabin - we had an inside on deck 4 as we wanted a cheap option. We had a few rough days and were very glad that we were low and midships as the movement didn't bother us at all while many others were looking very green. Cabin was clean, a good size and bathroom very good. We had a shower, not a shower over the bath so that was good. The cabin steward was lovely but service definitely a step down from Carnival. However it was still adequate and didn't detract from our cruise at all.

Food - a very nice surprise. We ate in all the venues so I'll describe each.

Pantry - loved this concept and found the food excellent. We ate there every breakfast, most lunches and two dinners. All were delicious. I don't think I had a bad meal. Healthy and diverse options. Particularly liked the Indian, the salads and the sandwiches at lunch. Also loved all the fresh tropical fruit available at every meal. In 8 days I didn't get to try all the options. No burgers, pies or pizzas so that might be an issue if that is what you like. My kids missed these but they are not fussy eaters and were very happy with the other options. There was a bit of a weird smell at times in the Pantry and the seating was in short supply. We carried our food outside to eat on the back deck or on the pool deck...much nicer out there.

Waterfront - ate there for two lunches and one dinner. Food was very good. Have the chicken pho as a main for lunch if you are looking for a lighter option. So tasty. Lots of seafood on the menu the night we ate there. Decor is lovely and light. Service was ok but not like Carnival. My order was mixed up on 2 out of 3 occasions but fixed quickly. Didn't detract from my experience but didn't enhance it either. Wish we had eaten there more.

Angelos - my favourite. Loved the decor, the food and the service. We tried both menus and both were very good. Was hard to choose as all options looked good. I found the serving sizes to be just right but if you have a big appetite you can easily order more than one main and a few sides. They won't mind at all.

Salt Grill - went for my son's birthday. Food was delicious but too heavy for me. Probably should have just gone to Angelos again. Lovely service though. For me I didn't think it was worth the extra money.

Dragon Lady - I really did not like it here but it was my kid's favourite so go figure. We ate here twice. I had the worst meal I think I have ever had on a cruise ship there. I ordered the vegetable noodles and got a plate of noodles. No vegetables. That was the main. Just noodles and sauce. Entree also bad. A plain chicken tenderloin sitting on a pikelet. No sauce. Yuk. Service was lovely though. They noticed I was unhappy and brought me something else. My kids had the sushi and the beef short rib and loved them. I will say the desserts were very good. Best of the cruise. Decor looks lovely but I found the combination of the dark interior and small booths and the movement of the boat made me feel a bit ill.

Gym - so good! Great size for the size of the boat. Able to get on the cardio machines even in peak hour (7-8.30am). Very clean and well-laid out with a great view. Staff were very friendly. Weights area also excellent. I saw boot camp going on and there were only 3 people doing it so that would have been excellent value. Basically personal training.

Entertainment - I enjoyed the shows by the Pacific Performers. Much, much better than Carnival. The live music was also great. Loved the Soul Music evening particularly. No kids comedy like on Carnival which was a shame. We love trivia but found it was at awkward times and in venues that were too small so we hardly did any this cruise. I was in the cabin with my 6 year old so unfortunately missed the white party and bianco night as they were on after her bed time but they sounded like they were a lot of fun and lots of people were dressed up.

Tendering - excellent. We like to get off early and were on the first or second tenders each day. No waiting whatsoever. Couldn't fault it. Not sure what the wait was like later in the day.

The Edge - we had lots of OBC so used it to buy gold passes for our kids. They loved it. Not sure if we would have bought it if we didn't have the OBC but they definitely got good value for money. Took a few days for us to get the booking system figured out then smooth sailing. Some days things were cancelled due to wind but they ended up being repeated later in the cruise. Kids' favourites were the flying fox, walk the plank, abseiling and laser tag. Staff were lovely.

Kids club - very good. Much better than Carnival. All 3 kids loved it. Had to drag them out of there to spend time with us. The kids events were also good. There was a kids bianco party, kids great gatsby party and kids karaoke. Particularly loved the kids talent show on the last day. So, so cute! My teen had a great time and the older teens also seemed very happy. All kids were well-behaved throughout the whole cruise. There are kids security guards (female) who monitor pool safety and make sure the kids stay safe and don't misbehave.

Downsides - NOT ENOUGH SHADE! This is Australia not England and most of us don't want to bake ourselves all day. They really need to sort this out. In the end we found some shady deck chairs on Deck 6 and also in a little 'secret' area at the back of deck 9 under the Oasis. Otherwise we camped out on 2 of the few shady deck chairs on the lido deck and stayed put so we didn't lose them. If you didn't get in by 8am you wouldn't get a shady chair.

Also didn't love the Cruise Director. She wasn't around much. At one event I was at it was very rough. A poor boy in the front row threw up everywhere and all over his dad. The dad was freaking out and didn't know what to do. Instead of helping him she started dry retching (please, you work on a cruise, surely you have seen people vomiting before) and then she made a joke of it and continued the event. She left the poor man to deal with it on his own with 2 young kids. Quite a few other people started throwing up too from the smell and she still didn't stop and ask the crew to help. In the end one of the other passengers stepped in to sort it out and help them back to their rooms. So unprofessional and cruel of her. I was dumbfounded.

Disembarkation was also not great. We were almost 2 hours late getting back in to port due to bad weather. So that was no ones fault but it meant that it was mayhem in all the waiting areas and there were no announcements to let us know what was happening. We couldn't hear anything and everyone was worried that they had missed their number. Made for needless stress.

Other than that it was a great trip. Islands were gorgeous as always. Just wish it didn't have to end.

Looks nice, but I could not be bothered doing conversions anywhere in the world, that's the currency, that is what you pay.

 

I get cranky when one is overseas and some boofhead says..that cup of coffee for 4 pounds, just cost you $8 in Australian money, in Coles Cafeteria in Melbourne it is only $3 for a cup of coffee. Give me a break, you are there you pay it. If you cannot afford to spend, don't go. !!

Hmm fine for essentials (like my morning coffee:)) but I definitely want to know how much extras cost. E.g. is that kayak hire $5 or $50 for 30 minutes?

Most things in Noumea cost an arm and a leg, I'm assuming due to transport costs, so it is good to keep track. We accidentally paid $50 for 5 cans of drink at Antse Vata last time! Oh well, it was hot and they were delicious but we probably should have just told the kids to drink from their water bottles...

6666oz that is such a good idea with the conversion chart. For some reason I always find the CFP to AUD conversion a tricky one to do in my head and have accidentally paid well over the odds for a few things due to my own stupidity. We leave next week and I am making myself a chart right now.

Maybe bring a cake topper from home in case you can only get a standard cake shapes.

Ha, I'm a control freak when it comes to planning family holidays too.

I was waiting to see if someone else would reply as we haven't cruised on P&O yet, only Carnival. On Carnival you can choose to link your cruise card to your credit card or load cash onto it. You also have the option to prevent any charges being put onto the card (good for really little kids). The linking of the credit card and turning off of charging could be done online before cruising. We didn't try loading any cash so not sure if that can also be done online or needs to be done in person at reception after boarding.

So assuming P&O is similar you could just not link the kids cards to your credit card and instead put $100 cash credit on each and then when it's gone it's gone. They can check their balance as they go to monitor spending.

Hope that helps and someone can confirm that P&O has the same set up.

Hi

We've been lucky enough to score a hefty $700 in OBC and we're planning to spend most of it it on gold edge passes for the kids and shore excursions.

I just had a quick look in cruise control and the only option seems to be to pay with credit card. How does this work? I was thinking of booking before we board to get the 10% off the Edge passes and just to save time so we don't have to to queue up when boarding.

And on a separate note, do the Jinek Bay excursions for Lifou sell out? I remember on Carnival they did but obviously Eden is a smaller boat so I'm unsure whether it is worth booking early or seeing how we feel.

Thanks!

Grrr I am so annoyed to hear about those changes to the free pick-up parking at Sydney airport.

We have young kids and I much prefer to take the train rather than get a taxi. I find the taxi queue at the airport can be horrendous and I've had really bad luck with taxi drivers having old or damaged car seats that they don't install correctly. It's also personal preference but I'd be uncomfortable with my 4 year old travelling without a child seat even though this is legal in a taxi. Your children will be free on the train so this is probably the cheapest option and arguably the easiest as long as you are able to wrangle your luggage.

Thanks for posting this. We've cruised twice on Legend and now booked on Eden over the summer holidays. I was a bit worried based on the negative reviews but feel a bit reassured now. We loved the food on Carnival Legend so I think would be disappointed if it is really bad on Eden. I found we were able to get a cheaper deal on P&O than Carnival during school holidays. It's a tough time to get a bargain on any line.

There is free public wifi in Place des Cocotiers in the centre of town and a short walk from the cargo terminal.

Most of the nice cafes along the Baie des Citron also had wifi if you venture over there.

Some cheap short cruises out of Sydney.

3 night pacific pearl 6 Aug. Ocean view quad $297.

3 night carnival spirit 11 Aug. Balcony triple $350.

I hope they stay free. I had heard they were free on eden and aria because the mdr is very small. Is that right or just a myth?

Can you make all your bookings in the first day or do you need to go back each morning? And what about early dinner on mdr?hoping it is easy to book as the kids aren't as good at waiting patiently for food as I might like them to be.

Good last minute school holiday deal.

Pacific Aria 9 nights South Pacific from Sydney

14 April

Balcony twin $968

Balcony triple $905

I assume the child quota was filled long ago but might be a good last minute trip for a teacher out there.

I'd love to try Aria now it sounds like they've ironed out the teething problems.

I'm struggling with this for my 8 and 11 year olds, I doubt they will get value (and I'll be enforcing water a lot just as I do during normal days). I do think they'll enjoy the independence of getting their own drinks, and I want to treat them, but if I let them have a glass at dinner, that will still be a big treat, and I can then spoil them with sushi or the lolly shop instead with the cost difference.

 

For a 3 year old I'd probably not bother - just give him an occasional sip of yours. He's definitely not going to get value. There's cordial available all the time too from what I've been told.

 

 

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Yep, my kids are very similar ages and I really didn't want to encourage them to drink lots of soft drink especially considering the quantity of pizza, soft serve and burgers they managed to put away after a day of snorkelling on the islands. In the end we didn't get the package but I did treat them to a few mocktails in the comedy club instead. They loved that!

There are different prices for kids for the bottomless bubbles. Sorry can't remember how much it was though. We don't buy the package and just buy the odd soft-drink here or there as didn't want to encourage the kids to drink tonnes of soft drinks. There is free iced water and lemon squash (kind of like lemon cordial) plus hot chocolate.

So jealous! Hope you have a wonderful time and look forward to your updates.