Have you sailed Celebrity and Pacific Dawn?

[elena7seas]

Hello...

 

Friends of mine will be sailing the Pacific Dawn for the November 2012 itinerary that includes the solar eclipse, and have asked me to give them some tips on cruising. This will be their first cruise ever.

 

From what I have been reading in this forum, there are some significant differences between the way that P&O Australia operates, and what I am used to on Celebrity, so I don't want to give my friends any misinformation.

 

If you have sailed Pacific Dawn and cruise lines like Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, can you tell me a little bit about what my friends can expect on the Pacific Dawn?

 

I would greatly appreciate any help that you can provide. :)

[aussie57]

Hi elena

I haven't specifically been on the Dawn but have sailed on 4 other P&O Aust ships. Also I was on Celebrity Mercury to Alaska in 2009.

 

Your friend will find the layout of the ship similar to older Celebrity ships as all our P&O Aust ships are 2nd hand US or UK ships. The Dawn was formerly Regal Princess. The ships are kept well maintained but are certainly older.

 

There is no tipping (gratuities) on Australian-based cruise ships as it's not part of our culture & ship crew are paid fair wages. You can tip table waiters & room stewards in cash at the end of the cruise if you like.

 

The atmosphere is also less formal than on US-based ships as we are a laid-back people & many prefer comfort to formal dressing when on holidays. There will be "cocktail" nights, though, where more formal wear is encouraged but you won't be evicted from the dining room if you're not in a tux or ballgown. A shirt & tie is acceptable, jacket preferable, but it's an individual choice. Alternative Dining is available if you wish to avoid dressing up altogether

 

There are coin-operated laundrettes on P&O Aust ships so you can do your own laundry. You can also pay to have it done as per Celebrity. I believe the adult-only area no longer costs an extra fee.

 

The no smoking policy is very strictly policed. There are specific smoking areas on deck in public areas but no smoking anywhere inside the ship, including cabins & balconies.

 

I hope that helps

[horrie33]

We have sailed several time on the Pacific Dawn out of Brisbane. Easy place to board and well organized by P & O. It is also quite close to the airport.

The Pacific Dawn is lovely boat, well maintained, pretty good food, NO tipping, good entertainment and happy crew (well they were on our trip around NZ last Nov/Dec). As first cruisers, I'm sure that your friend will love it and the waters up the Queensland coast can be magic, especially for people from cooler climes.

[lorry like a truck]

We are going on Celebrity Cruises for the first time next year, so I have done a lot of research. I believe that our cruises are not as upmarket as Celebrity and a lot less formal. We only get the ships that the Americans don't want. In saying that, I can't say that I have ever had a bad time on the cruises going from Aussie. The dawn is a nice clean ship. As has been stated we don't tip as you people do. Just as you think you might want to. Your friends should have a great time as we Aussies are a friendly bunch. I hope they enjoy.

[Aus Traveller]

The Pacific Dawn is our favourite of the Australian P&O ships. I can endorse what has been said in the previous posts.

 

We will be on this cruise. The eclipse will be observed early (from sunrise) on the Port Douglas day and special solar glasses will be given to all passengers. There will be a presentation on the eclipse on a previous sea - presumably on the first day after leaving Brisbane because after that there are three sea days in a row.

 

If your friends want to take a trip to the reef I suggest Reef Sprinter from Port Douglas that does a trip to the reef at the Low Isles. It costs less than $100 pp and wetsuits & snorkelling equipment is supplied. When I went I booked the 11am trip because I was sure I would be there in time and because it only takes two and a half hours, I didn't have to worry about missing the ship.

[claudio]

basically the differerence between p&o and celebrity is when you are by the pool on p&o you will notice lots of tattoos and bintang singlets wheras on celebrity you get more of an eastern suburbs type crowd

[Royalty X]

basically the differerence between p&o and celebrity is when you are by the pool on p&o you will notice lots of tattoos and bintang singlets wheras on celebrity you get more of an eastern suburbs type crowd

LOL! Wow, generalise much!?

[Bella cruiser]

basically the differerence between p&o and celebrity is when you are by the pool on p&o you will notice lots of tattoos and bintang singlets wheras on celebrity you get more of an eastern suburbs type crowd

 

Hmm, I am not quite sure what you mean. I think what you describe is fairly usual in the Eastern Suburbs given the socio-economic and ethnic makeup of the place.

 

By the way you have misspelled several ships in your signature.

 

I believe it is Guglielmo Marconi, Galileo Galilei and Funchal.

[Rictar]

I have cruised with the Princess cruise ships on a couple of times and 3 with P&O. I have also cruised with Celebrity (Century). I was very disappointed in the Celebrity cruise. the food was very ordinary, there was really no late night food. Because it is an American line although they are operating out of australia the whole slant was on American things. I am not a US knocker, but the Australia Day spent onboard was a complete fizzer. They just did not really know what to do. In fact I don't think they even realised it was OzDay until I asked if there was something organised at reception in the morning. The onboard talks were very "boring", and I usually love them. Princess cruises are good. Food entertainment and general activities are good. i believe Pacific Dawn is a very good ship.

Hello...

 

Friends of mine will be sailing the Pacific Dawn for the November 2012 itinerary that includes the solar eclipse, and have asked me to give them some tips on cruising. This will be their first cruise ever.

 

From what I have been reading in this forum, there are some significant differences between the way that P&O Australia operates, and what I am used to on Celebrity, so I don't want to give my friends any misinformation.

 

If you have sailed Pacific Dawn and cruise lines like Celebrity and Royal Caribbean, can you tell me a little bit about what my friends can expect on the Pacific Dawn?

 

I would greatly appreciate any help that you can provide. :)

[Rictar]

Hey! I live in the Eastern Suburbs and I have cruised P&O and Celebrity. Give me P&O anytime. P&O cater for the $100 per day cruisers on most of their ships sailing from Sydney on the island run, so it attracts those who can afford to take the family at that price. I sailed on Pacific Pearl and did not like their dining procedure which took me a few days to come to terms with, also felt that dress regs at night should be more strongly enforced; ie NO T shirts or Jeans on formal (cocktail) nights in the dining room. Other than that...a damn good value for money cruise. you get what you pay for. Loved Oriana and Dawn Princess both class ships.

basically the differerence between p&o and celebrity is when you are by the pool on p&o you will notice lots of tattoos and bintang singlets wheras on celebrity you get more of an eastern suburbs type crowd

[lorry like a truck]

Well we have been on P&O, Princess, RCI, and plan on going on Celebrity next year. Enjoyed each and every one of them. I must admit that Princess is a little above all the rest, but you get what you pay for. I hope to enjoy Celebrity Millenium as we will be spending 22 nights on her. Lots of ports of call. I will give my opinion when we get back. But in the meantime we have a cruise on RCI and a cruise on Princess to go on first. Its such a dull life. LOL

[claudio]

i live in eastern suburbs too and i find p&o NOT VERY GOOD VALUE GREAT LINE IF YOU WANT TO PARTY HARD

PRINCESS FOR SOME REASON HAS CHEAPER FARES ALSO YOU WILL FIND NIGHTCLUB USUALLY DESERTED ON PRINCESS FOOD IS MUCH BETTER THOUGH

I WILL FIX SPELLING