Diary/Review of Pacific Jewel J008 Tasmanian Treasures

[Riffraff]

Glad you enjoyed the review.. just some general comments:

 

The cruise - This was a different cruise for us, because it didn't go to the islands and because the average age of the passengers was so high. Cruises around Tasmania and NZ will always have a higher percentage of old people. It had it's advantages - made us feel like the youngest ones there! But it did have an effect on things like queueing. Even before the showlounge doors were open for the shows, there were queues out to the lifts... but come back once they'd opened, and there was no queues and it was reasonable easy to get a seat in the showlounge.

Queues in the buffet didn't seem a problem, and by having dinner at 6.30pm most nights we were avoiding the 5.30 'rush' at the restaurant.

 

We did have most of the usual things to be expected on a cruise, the ice-carving, bingo, liars club, culinary demonstration, galley tour, lots of trivia. There were some notable absences - no horse racing.

One comment I will make that I was pleased about - I had been worried that there would be a 'hard-sell' of the extras like the spa and Oasis, Salt Grill & La Luna. I'm pleased to say that I didn't think there was. Sure there were flyers delivered with the spa specials, and photo shop specials, etc. but I didn't feel they overdid the selling of these venues. In fact the only mention of the Oasis at all was in the Daily.

 

The ports - The ports were great, having the overnight stay in Hobart was good, and I enjoyed the mix of shore tours and doing our own thing. The scenic cruising in Wineglass Bay was great. We were lucky with the weather too.

Port Arthur was fascinating - although not everybody thought so. There was one group of people we saw early in the morning, half way through our wander around the site. They were going back to the ship because "this is boring, there's nothing to see here". Hmmm...

It was our first time to Tasmania, and the cruise has been beneficial to Tasmanian tourism because we definitely plan to go back there and stay longer and see more.

 

The entertainment - During the day there were the usual activites, although not much of the poolside stuff, mainly because of the age of passengers I guess. The pools were open most of the time though, even when it was a bit rough.

Like I said towards the middle of the cruise people started to comment that there weren't many shows. After the 1st nights production show, we had a guest entertainer show, then a deck party and movies in the showlounge, another guest entertainer show..but in the end we did get 2 more shows on the last 2 nights, plus the Pop stars show, so they caught up in the end. It was just odd to have a big gap in the middle with no shows. i put that down to the CD juggling the shows to be on the non-sea days, maybe he thought the oldies would be too tired after their day ashore :).

But overall the entertainment was good, after seeing him in the Passenger Pop Star show I regretted not seeing guest entertainer Mark Kristian's show earlier on. The juggler James Bustar didn't interest me much though.

The CD Paul Hancox was ok, not annoying, not wanting all the attention to be on him, so quite different to a previous CD we'd had..but he didn't make any announcements during the day about what was on, and didn;t intorduce the shows or the entertainers until after the last one. He's only been on for a few cruises so far I think.

 

The ship - MIND the doors!

I was getting apprehensive after reading lots of complaints on the blog and on here. I needn't have worried. There are always problems with maiden voyages and inaugural seasons, but while I'm sure there probably were some issues earlier on, we didn't experience any of them. We had good service, and although there were some times we waited a bit for a drink at Charlie's - the base of the Atrium - they did explain and apologise, they were busy with large coffee orders. Elsewhere we had the usual friendly service. (We found some passengers didn't bother to interact with the staff at all - they just tell them what they want and that's it. We got to know our waiters, and Tatiana and Samuel at bookings at the door of the restaurant, and the girls in the chocolate cafe as well.)

We spent time in Casbah which I really liked, nice atmosphere. the walls separating Casbah from the corridor are new, and give the bar a nice secluded feel. Connnexions was nice but always busy, there was always something on like trivia which can cause the walkway to get a bit blocked some times. The sound travels from there as well, which is why it's good that Casbah has the doors which they usually keep closed and it keeps the noise out.

 

The ship itself is brightly coloured inside, the red mosaic carpet took a day or two to get used to, but I decided I did like it. I really like the red lights by the doors, and even though the woman's voice in the lift can be a pain, especially if the lifts are following you as you go down the stairs, it's a talking point and a good chance to joke with the other passengers.

It was interesting to be on this cruise with my mother, she has not been on Dawn but has been on HAL's Statendam and said that Jewel was slightly less garish!

 

The absolute best thing is the Waterfront restaurant. It has a nice relaxing feel and is quite a different look than any other ship restaurant I've seen.

 

One thing we did notice, and it's going to sound a lot like comparing her to Dawn, but Jewel is one venue short. Because she doesn't have a venue like The Dome, or Terraces on Sun, or the Vista Lounge on Sun/Dawn Princess, events like the Country Hoe-Down and other things that would normally be on in there are held out on the open deck, or in the show lounge. Luckily the showlouge has advantages over Dawn's in that the front seats are removed to expose a big dance floor, so there is lots of space. And on nice nights, out on deck would be just as good too.

The Attic was ok, we didn't venture in there to hear DJ Dan, but when we did go there in the day (the one time it wasn't closed for a private function) it was nice to sit and look out the windows, like we did in The Dome on Dawn.

 

Jewel is also short 2 spa pools - she doesn't have the ones out the back on Deck 11 that Dawn does. They might put some in later maybe, but it did mean that the 2 on Lido deck were often full.

 

The air conditioning was working well on our cruise - it was always nice and cool everywhere on the ship, except the casino - I put that down to the extra heat generated by the pokie machines, and the heat of nervous gamblers.

Paciifc Jewel handled the rough seas very well, and our cabin, 9133, was one of the quietest we'd ever had - and it was right by the lifts, a great location.

 

The 'extra features' - Salt Grill, La Luna & the Oasis.

Salt Grill -

On the first sea day we went and booked Salt Grill for one night - they had lots of bookings available at that time. I would definitely recommend Salt Grill, the food was lovely and the service was so attentive. The whole experience was enjoyable, and we all felt we got good value for money at $30 per person. It's also open for lunch on sea days, at $20 per person.

Well worth it. It can be booked for any night of the cruise once you're on board, so if you know you want to go, book early.

La Luna -

La Luna might not be to everyones taste, but if you like proper Asian food, it's worth it. It's only $20 per person, and again we thought it was good value. You can either order like a banquet of dishes which are brought to the table, several dishes for each course, or you can order individual dishes.

The Oasis -

We didn't bother to pay to use the Oasis, but we did find ourselves there a few times. It was being used, but the gates at the stairways were always open meaning you can still freely walk up and down all the decks at the back. It does seem a bit strange to pay money to lie on one deck, when you can lie on the deck above for nothing..and you have people like us walking through it on their way up to the buffet.. but the sun loungers are comfier and there is the extra service that you get. At nighttime it's all open so you can wander around freely on that deck.

 

Comparisons to Pacific Dawn -

Comparisons to her sister are inevitable given they both look the same. It's something we tried not to do, and I got annoyed by overhearing people use the 'Dome' word - but after a day or two we stopped comparing her to Dawn, becuase we got used to her and her subtle differences. Well, the decor's not subtle, but apart from that, in some ways she feels very similar to Dawn, and other ways totally different. Apart from having to use the outdoor decks and showlounge instead of The Dome, and having a smaller nightclub, the other differences are a wider deck 14 area, better stairs down to deck 12, stairs inside the showlounge, only 2 spa pools, (none on the back of deck 11 like on Dawn), a different location for the shops, and the photo shop. Having Connexions (Bengal Bar on Dawn) open makes a big difference to this area too. Those are the main ones.

For the serious ship-spotter there are around a dozen external differences that can differentiate between the two sisters in a line-up, but apart from that she has the same spacious feel as Dawn and the same spacious cabins (except Jewel's cabin doors are colour coded by deck - deck 9 is light yellow, 10 is bright yellow, 11 is red, etc).

 

Overall, I liked Pacific Jewel and would be quite happy to cruise on her again. Given a choice of ship I would still prefer Dawn, but Jewel comes in a close second.

[Neicy& Ron]

We have a group of 5 going on the Jewel tomorrow and it has been great to read your review.

 

Like yourself we will also compare to the dawn.

 

Thanks for the detail in your review.

 

Regards

Ron

[barnsey1802]

We have a group of 5 going on the Jewel tomorrow and it has been great to read your review.

 

Like yourself we will also compare to the dawn.

 

Thanks for the detail in your review.

 

Regards

Ron

 

 

Hi Ron & Neicy,

 

Hope you have a great time on your cruise.

 

Deidre.:)

[MISHELL1968]

I am cruising on Jewel for the first time on March 4 - J208; it's my fifth P&O cruise, my daughters third and finally my sister & her husband are taking their first cruise. Can't think of a better way to get them hooked on cruising than 14 wonderful nights in the South Pacific :D

 

Originally we were looking at 7 nights on Dawn but got such a great deal on this cruise that I convinced them to take the big plunge. Appreciate your positive review - I love cruising and have not had a bad experience yet.

 

Can't wait!

[Sandielle]

I am cruising on Jewel for the first time on March 4 - J208; it's my fifth P&O cruise, my daughters third and finally my sister & her husband are taking their first cruise. Can't think of a better way to get them hooked on cruising than 14 wonderful nights in the South Pacific :D

 

Originally we were looking at 7 nights on Dawn but got such a great deal on this cruise that I convinced them to take the big plunge. Appreciate your positive review - I love cruising and have not had a bad experience yet.

 

Can't wait!

 

I feel your excitement Mishell - DH and I are the same. We've finally convinced one son and DIL to cruise. We've loved every sea voyage we've had and can't wait for the next. :) I hope you all have a wonderful cruise together.

[cruisin-m]

Great review, going on the Jewel soon.

 

Nearly thought this one as a real recent review though as it is back on the first page! haha

[Sandielle]

Great review, going on the Jewel soon.

 

Nearly thought this one as a real recent review though as it is back on the first page! haha

 

I knew it was an "old" one - but worth reading again. Riffraff always writes a great review. :)

[bazzaw]

Re the lunch menu.

 

When we went on Pac Pearl earlier this year, we hadn't been on a P&O AUS ship for a couple of years . I have to admit that I was disappointed to get a strong sense of "deja vu" with the menus. Personally, I think they were the exact same as previous cruises - or very close to it !! Wouldn't matter for new cruisers - but I felt that it is not a good idea to have an unchanging menu.

 

 

Barry