Bye bye Pacific Sun

[Bella cruiser]

Yep me too, I totally agree with Finetuneit, well said.:)

 

I have heard the saying of 'Build a bridge and get over it' but I think with this poster (first post and all), I think it is more a case of 'Build a bridge & live under it' (with the other trolls):rolleyes:

[Royalty X]

Why does something have to be the biggest or the newest to be the best...?

And following on from that, why does something have to be the biggest or the newest to be enjoyed...?

[Sandielle]

Gorgeous photo Sandy.

 

Aus T, when I did my morning sweep of the web cams (sad, isn't it?) I felt as excited as if it was my first cruise coming up. I don't care if I'm on a tub, - and it certainly isn't - as long as I am at sea I am happy.............and so, so lucky.

[Aus Traveller]

Aus T, when I did my morning sweep of the web cams (sad, isn't it?) I felt as excited as if it was my first cruise coming up. I don't care if I'm on a tub, - and it certainly isn't - as long as I am at sea I am happy.............and so, so lucky.

It is better to be a 'glass half full' person than a 'glass half empty' person:D:D.

[thied]

Glad to see P&O have posted they have sold The Pacific Sun, but not glad to see her go.

[Royalty X]

Glad to see P&O have posted they have sold The Pacific Sun, but not glad to see her go.

How was your latest cruise Thied? Anymore news on a replacement for Pacific Sun?

[thied]

How was your latest cruise Thied? Anymore news on a replacement for Pacific Sun?

Thei cruise was great, and I have all ready stated what veiws and news about the Pacific Sun in a post along time ago.

[Royalty X]

Thei cruise was great, and I have all ready stated what veiws and news about the Pacific Sun in a post along time ago.

Glad you had a good time. You'll have to post some photos of the trip on cruise critic. So you still think Costa Victoria will replace Pacific Sun? Any idea when that might happen?

[lorry like a truck]

We are going on the Sun for the 4th time in Feb. It broke down last time we sailed and P&O gave us a 11 day free holiday with 25% off our next cruise. You can't ask more than that. As you can see it hasn't stopped us from going on her again. I agree that she is a better ship than the Jewel. No passenger areas on board her at all. The old girl {THE SUN} has been a beaut. Each to their own but as I say any cruise is better than no cruise.

[Aus Traveller]

I agree that she is a better ship than the Jewel. No passenger areas on board her at all. The old girl {THE SUN} has been a beaut. Each to their own but as I say any cruise is better than no cruise.

I agree with your comments wholeheartedly. :):) Glad to see you are going on her again. I don't think we will be able to because of other commitments.:( Enjoy your cruise.

[Guest012]

We are going on the Sun for the 4th time in Feb. It broke down last time we sailed and P&O gave us a 11 day free holiday with 25% off our next cruise. You can't ask more than that. As you can see it hasn't stopped us from going on her again. I agree that she is a better ship than the Jewel. No passenger areas on board her at all. The old girl {THE SUN} has been a beaut. Each to their own but as I say any cruise is better than no cruise.

 

Good to hear from a passenger whose cruise was far from great but is happy with the outcome, enjoy your cruise in Feb . We booked and had confirmed yesterday her final cruise in July ... two happy cruisers here cheers Shiona

[Sandielle]

Hmmmm, I'm beginning to think maybe we should try her before she disappears. I know several people who are very fond of her - and have had very enjoyable cruises .... there is one I'm watching. :rolleyes:

[Brossy]

This is my first post here as I have just found out that Pacific Sun has been sold. We are a couple from Sydney, I am in health care/emergency services and my husband is a 20 year vetran of the RAN and currently part time worker/stay at home dad. All we can say is that we are extremely glad to see the back of that ship. It is rubbish!

 

Background:

We are regular cruisers with various lines from Celebrity to Holland America, Princess, P&O World Voyages, Carnival, and more recently P&O Australia.

 

Pacific Sun Cruise:

We were on the ill-fated Pacific Sun cruise earlier this year to New Zealand. We went as a party of four and convinced our long time friends to come on their first cruise with us to New Zealand. They are from Newcastle and told us of sailings from their city. We thought it would be the perfect opportunity to convince them to cruise and for us it was our first time cruise with P&O Australia. Unfortunately we almost had a falling out of our life long friendship over this ship and the treatment from P&O Australia.

 

The Problems:

From day 1., the cruise was a nightmare. The cabin stank, had stained and mouldy carpet, the ship was falling apart and was in foul condition. As the voyage progressed the ship was running continually late to ports of call resulting in shortened excursions. They attempted to make up for late arrivals by staying longer but shore excursions were finished within the initial time frame not taking into account the delayed departure time.

 

The Earthquake

Sadly Christchurch suffered an earthquake and we were advised we would not be going there. We did not have a problem with this as it was dangerous and New Zealand authorities needed to deal with this emergency.

 

The Breakdown

As the ship had severe mechanical problems from day one apparantly plans were made to repair it in Lyttleton (Christchurch). This did not eventuate as we went to Akaroa instrad. After departure we were informed that the cruise was now terminated and that we were heading home. Compensation for missed ports (Dunedin and Fiordland) were to be $50 each.

 

The Probmels Began

In light of the paltry compensation offer for missed ports due to a broken down ship (not passengers fault) there were a series of meetings between the passengers and Captain/ships staff. They were held by the pool and often became heated with threats exchanged between the passengers and the Captain and Vice Versa. Even the Cruise Director was not immune to abuse by passengers announcing shows and responded in kind by abusing the passengers from the stage.

 

Summary

In general allot of people did not have a good time on that ship and the response from P&O Australia was appaling. The ship was in poor condition and it was clear from early on that the ship was not up to the task of completing the voyage. The earthquake aside, Pacific Sun would not have been able to keep up to schedule and the decision to turn back was based on getting back in time to board new passengers to endure this horrible ship and its terrible condition. No thought was given to us the passengers who missed out. P&O Australia was seen to use the NZ earthquake as an excuse to rort us passengers and give us a lousy compensation deal for their shonky ship and poor maintenance.

 

Passenger Mood

The vast majority of passengers were upset with this trip early on due to late arrivals, poor condition of the ship and very unfriendly/abusive staff. The staff were terrible and became worst as the situation on the ship became worst. In fact the only people having a good time on that ship were the inebriates.

 

P&O Rip of Merchants

We tried to make the most of it by attempting duty free shopping. One item on sale were Citizen eco drive watches. Duty Free! " pigs fly " we almost bought a few of their watches when my husband messaged home to our daughter to get a comparative quote from a shop near where she works. An ideal gift for family at Christmas. We backed out of the sale when we found out P&O was selling them several hundred dollars more than RRP. Other onboard gifts were expensive compared to other lines we had been on, and P&O had the hide to charge for deck food where other lines offer it as part of the fare!

 

Falling out with Friends

As we suggested to our friends and convinced them to go with us we had a falling out due to the onboard mood and lousy compensation. We had no idea that P&O would be foul service with lousy food and unprofesional staff. We ate around Honeysuckle in Newcaslte the weekend prior and found a restaurant called twist to be far superior to anything on Pacific Sun. There are also a few restaurants in Hunter Valley Gardens (I forget the names) that make Pacific Sun look like a floating slum. Our friends were not used to this and felt we wasted their hard earned money. We did manage to patch things up after we helped fund a future cruise with them which they did enjoy.

 

Summary

Overall Pacific Sun was a lousy ship in poor condition with a sad and miserable lot of passengers (us included) due to the break down and lack of adequate compensation. The ship has seen better days. As said the only people having a good time were not the ones into travel and cruising, but the inebriates who like to call themselves die hard P&O fans. Life on the Pacific Sun might look good through the eyes of a drunk. The level of drinking even disgusted my husband who himself likes the good drink and made it through the ranks to a Warrant Officer in the RAN. His comments were that he had served on older ships that were in better condition than the Pacific Sun. His exact words were "It would reduce a cheif bosun to tears if he saw a ship like this" Even the cleanliness and hygene standards were inferior to what he was used to in the RAN. We met when he was in the Navy and I was a junior healt care provider assisting them.

 

Why are you complaining about a cruise that occurred back in March 2011? I was on the next two cruises after yours, both of mine got cut short...big deal :rolleyes:, I still had fun. There were no problems with my cabins, my food, the staff, the passengers.

 

You obviously don't like P&O and your very first post on this site reflects that, Build a bridge and get over it.

 

By the way, I'm not a drunk, in fact I rarely drink and I enjoyed all my cruises on the Pacific Sun. I too have cruised on other lines including the large American ones and i'm happy to admit that I would cruise on P&O anytime :).

[Guest012]

Hmmmm, I'm beginning to think maybe we should try her before she disappears. I know several people who are very fond of her - and have had very enjoyable cruises .... there is one I'm watching. :rolleyes:

 

Where is the "LIKE" button.... we need one here...

[karmac]

Hmmmm, I'm beginning to think maybe we should try her before she disappears. I know several people who are very fond of her - and have had very enjoyable cruises .... there is one I'm watching. :rolleyes:

 

We ended up booking the 2 nighter, Newcastle to Brisbane on 17th March. I just had to see her again before she went. Our first family cruise was on Pacific Sun and we had a fabulous time and have very fond memories of her.

[thied]

why so much dome and gloome about a ship leaving ? why not some happy ness about a ship ariving.

[Royalty X]

why so much dome and gloome about a ship leaving ? why not some happy ness about a ship ariving.

Because a replacement hasn't been announced yet. I wish they would just hurry up and announce one (IF there's gonna be one). :(

[PaxtonA]

Because a replacement hasn't been announced yet. I wish they would just hurry up and announce one (IF there's gonna be one). :(

 

It has a replacement, which has already been announced, with Itineraries...

 

 

:D

[Royalty X]

It has a replacement, which has already been announced, with Itineraries...

 

 

:D

LOL! Ummm, no...

[Kiwi Kruzer]

It has a replacement, which has already been announced, with Itineraries...

 

 

:D

 

LOL! Ummm, no...

 

 

 

Oh Yes indeed...

You are looking at the future of Australian cruising.

Once the locals have had a taste of the Spirit ,

you wont get them back on those old ships.

 

 

[Royalty X]

Oh Yes indeed...

You are looking at the future of Australian cruising.

Once the locals have had a taste of the Spirit ,

you wont get them back on those old ships.

We're booked on the Spirit in September but that's not gonna stop us going on Pacific Jewel or Dawn. I think P&O know they've gotta keep up so if (and it's a big if) they announce another ship is joining the fleet, it'll be bigger and newer than all their other ships. If Carnival/P&O want to compete with RCI, then having the Spirit will be their answer to RadianceOTS (built in 2001) and they would probably bring in a mid 90's ship (maybe 96) to compete with RhapsodyOTS (built in 1997).

[Brossy]

Oh Yes indeed...

You are looking at the future of Australian cruising.

Once the locals have had a taste of the Spirit ,

you wont get them back on those old ships.

 

 

Lol Wanna bet???

 

I have done Carnival and much prefer P&O :D

[Aus Traveller]

Lol Wanna bet???

 

I have done Carnival and much prefer P&O :D

Us too. :)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Lol Wanna bet??? I have done Carnival and much prefer P&O :D

 

Us too. :)

 

 

Ah, but have you done the Aussified Carnival?

Just wait till that is up and running.

P&O Australia in a Carnival ship...:D

It will Rock there little socks off...

 

but hang on...

isn't that what we have now?:eek:

 

 

[Aus Traveller]

Aussified Carnival will be different - some changes on the ship and different clientele. :D It will probably suit the Australian market better than a Carnival ship in the USA does.