P&O Pacific Eden Review 4 Mar 16 – Photo Review with Menus & Daily’s

[LuckiePuris]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

** THEME NIGHTS

 

There were two theme nights on this three night cruise. The first was Bianco white theme night for sailaway, which was up on the pool deck.

 

The second theme night was Gatsby which was a nice take on normal formal night.

 

Props were available for purchase from the gift shop if you wanted.

[LuckiePuris]

** THE EDGE

 

We didn’t try any of The Edge activities however they do offer a range of passes, depending on how many activities you’d like to do. For this short sailing, they were offering the premium gold pass for the same price as the bronze pass.

 

 

 

** COMEDY CRUISE / WILSON’S PROMONTORY ITINERARY

 

This cruise just so happened to be a comedy cruise! There were no big names that I knew of, however there was a good number of family friendly and also adult only comedy shows, and also comedy workshops on offer.

 

We didn’t see any of the shows so can’t give any feedback on this, however we did see The Marquee theatre on disembarkation morning which looked beautiful.

 

Cruising Bass Strait has a bad name for being rough, and I was nervous. However the water was like glass and was the smoothest cruise I can remember!

 

We sailed from Melbourne, to the north of Tasmania and around, to Wilson’s Prom, and back to Melbourne.

 

The first night and the next morning we could feel a little movement like with any cruise, and the very last night. The rest of the cruise, you could forget you were at sea it was that smooth.

 

We saw Tasmania in the distance on the Saturday. On the Sunday we sailed around Wilson’s Prom which was just beautiful and reminded me of sailing New Zealand. We were lucky to see dolphins swimming alongside the ship.

 

A great tip for cruising Wilson’s Prom – bring a pair of binoculars as the scenery is lovely.

 

 

Sailing path

 

Smooth sailing

 

Smooth sailing

[LuckiePuris]

Smooth sailing

 

Dolphins

 

Sailing Wilson’s Prom

 

Sailing Wilson’s Prom

 

Sailing Wilson’s Prom

[LuckiePuris]

Sailing Wilson’s Prom

 

** PAST PASSENGER P&O

 

This was my sixth P&O cruise and my membership number was definitely assigned to my reservation. There was no past passenger Welcome Back letter or offer or cocktail party. Not sure if this was because of the short cruise duration or if they no longer do this for past guests.

 

** COPIES OF PACIFIC DAILYS

 

 

 

 

 

[LuckiePuris]

 

 

 

 

 

[LuckiePuris]

** ONBOARD DINING TIMES

 

 

 

** PHOTO GALLERY

 

Great photo gallery onboard and they weren’t too pushy to stop and get your photo.

 

We purchased the embarkation photo for $30.00 which came with two copies of the photos (different framing), and also a complimentary P&O USB. With the USB, for any future photos you purchased throughout the cruise, they would also upload a copy to your P&O USB free of charge.

 

 

** DEMOGRAPHIC OF PASSENGERS

 

I think it was a combination of this particular P&O ship and also the short cruise duration, that set the demographic onboard. Although P&O tends to attract a large number of families and young crowds, from my experience as a TA they tend to go for the larger ships in the fleet such as Dawn, Jewel and Pearl.

 

Aria & Eden are selling themselves as boutique style cruising with the smaller ships and more adult offerings, and I believe it is working as the majority of passengers were older adults, with young adults (teenagers / early 20’s) and families being the minority.

 

** SHORT CRUISE

 

This was my first short cruise and I’m converted! My ideal cruise duration is 10 – 12 nights, and I’ve found 8 nights too short.

 

If I’m going to do a long cruise, I would still go for 10 – 12 nights. But at the same time, if I’m looking for a mini break or weekend away, I would definitely do a short cruise again!

 

It didn’t matter that the cruise didn’t stop anywhere, our favourite days are sea days.

 

My new thinking is that short cruises are good for the soul, good for relaxing, and would love to do one in between longer holidays where possible.

 

They really do give first time cruisers a great taste of cruising and life onboard, and the ship.

 

I’d really recommend a short cruise if you’re thinking to go on your first cruise, if you’d like to sample a new cruise line or ship.

 

** TEETHING ISSUES & SERVICE

 

There has been a lot of talk on CC and from past travelers of teething issues. We found the service fantastic throughout the ship, and very efficient from the restaurant staff to the bar staff to the pool deck staff.

We had two room stewards and they were both very friendly and always greeted us with a hello. Very efficient and room was always taken care of to a high standard.

 

Two little things if we’re being picky - we thought the wine tasting should be run by someone with more confidence and knowledge in wine.

I also found the reception / pursers desk staff to be unsure when asked about two basic things, so this would be the only place where I found that staff may have still been in training.

 

** DISEMBARKATION

 

Disembarkation was relatively easy with self assist. We had a quick breakfast in The Pantry , and waited in The Marquee theatre. Ship arrived at 7pm, as there was no customs, we were off the ship by 7.45am.

 

** WOULD WE CRUISE ON P&O / PACIFIC EDEN AGAIN

 

We had an absolute ball on this cruise and a few relaxing days was just what we needed. The most important thing for me was that this was my partner’s birthday present and he loved it, and we had a great weekend together.

 

Great value for money $600.00 for two adults for three nights.

 

Would we cruise on P&O or Pacific Eden again? We would cruise again for a short 3 / 4 night cruise to have a relaxing few days away.

 

However due to the quality of dining offered onboard and also the small little things such as the stateroom outside noise level and the beds moving apart during the night, I don’t think we would cruise on a longer voyage.

 

For longer voyages, we would prefer to spend more to cruise on RCI or Celebrity, where we find the dining of a higher and more consistent standard. After all, eating onboard a cruise is a 3x daily occurrence (minimum!) and a highlight for us.

 

Hope you enjoyed the review and please feel free to ask if there is anything I can help with :)

[marinating]

WOW! What a brilliant review, thank you so much for taking the time to do such an in depth report with detailed photos.

My husband and I are boarding the Eden tomorrow for a four day cruise and he is very apprehensive about sailing P and O! He is a Celebrity man!

I've done a couple of P and O short cruise with girl friends and have enjoyed them, more about the company of friends rather than the ship.

Love the idea of having mini breaks from Melbourne between longer cruises so hope husband will just relax and have an open mind! May just have to pop a Valium in his coffee!

 

Thanks again for the review, great to get a balanced view.

 

Marina

[LuckiePuris]

WOW! What a brilliant review, thank you so much for taking the time to do such an in depth report with detailed photos.

My husband and I are boarding the Eden tomorrow for a four day cruise and he is very apprehensive about sailing P and O! He is a Celebrity man!

I've done a couple of P and O short cruise with girl friends and have enjoyed them, more about the company of friends rather than the ship.

Love the idea of having mini breaks from Melbourne between longer cruises so hope husband will just relax and have an open mind! May just have to pop a Valium in his coffee!

 

Thanks again for the review, great to get a balanced view.

 

Marina

 

Hi Marina, that's so exciting! Hope you have a fantastic time onboard!!

 

I really tried to be honest and write about the things I like and the things I didn't like. I wanted to give a fair and true review.

 

Like you said, it's about the company and I'm sure you will enjoy the time away together as we did. The ship itself is beautiful and we both commented saying that it would fit in as a ship in Celebrity's fleet.

 

Have a great cruise!

Edited March 10, 2016 by LuckiePuris

[Tara Jane]

A wonderful read, thanks for your thorough report, and the pics of the daily and menus are a great help to all.

[Thorpe]

Im currently on Eden and just a small point about fridges that has been mentioned before. Balcony cabins have fridges, not just suites :)

[cruising kirby]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a comprehensive review. I am on a Pacific Eden "Food and Wine" 3 night cruise soon, I am pretty apprehensive now, given your comments on the food! However, it sounds like the ship itself is quite good.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks, fantastic review and love all the pictures and commentary.:D

Edited March 10, 2016 by MicCanberra

[MicCanberra]

** PAST PASSENGER P&O

 

This was my sixth P&O cruise and my membership number was definitely assigned to my reservation. There was no past passenger Welcome Back letter or offer or cocktail party. Not sure if this was because of the short cruise duration or if they no longer do this for past guests.

 

I think the only way they really acknowledge a past cruiser is by saying you are a 'Cruiseling' where as first timers are not. As they do not have a loyalty program, these P&O cruises do however count towards Princess's loyalty club Captain's Circle.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for your report.

[LuckiePuris]

Im currently on Eden and just a small point about fridges that has been mentioned before. Balcony cabins have fridges, not just suites :)

 

Oops thanks for the clarification!!

[LuckiePuris]

I think the only way they really acknowledge a past cruiser is by saying you are a 'Cruiseling' where as first timers are not. As they do not have a loyalty program, these P&O cruises do however count towards Princess's loyalty club Captain's Circle.

 

Thanks for the clarification! I haven't cruises with P&O for a few years but they used to have the welcome back cocktail party.

[LuckiePuris]

Thanks for taking the time to write such a comprehensive review. I am on a Pacific Eden "Food and Wine" 3 night cruise soon, I am pretty apprehensive now, given your comments on the food! However, it sounds like the ship itself is quite good.

 

To be honest, I really wanted this review to be fair and food is such a big part of our travelling experience which is why I did go in so much depth.

 

The ship definitely is beautiful and I'm sure you'll have a great time onboard.

 

It really is what you make of it. While the food did disappoint, we still had a fantastic cruise and would definitely do another short cruise on this ship.

[LuckiePuris]

Thanks all for your kind words, glad you enjoyed the review :)

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the clarification! I haven't cruises with P&O for a few years but they used to have the welcome back cocktail party.

 

I have only done the shorter cruises recently so maybe they do have a party but without a loyalty club (with levels) nearly everyone would be invited anyway.

[Rosieg30]

We just got off the Eden this morning and totally agree with all aspects of your review. Being Victorians we particularly liked the ease of boarding in Melbourne and will defiantly be doing future shorter cruises.

[ariomD]

Hey, thank you for such a detailed review. We are travelling on the Eden in May and I had been wondering how we'd get on. :)

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

 

Keith

[LuckiePuris]

thank you all for your kind words :)

[steve1970]

This is a really great review. Very comprehensive and impartial. We used to do a fair few P&O cruises (still do the odd one). P&O have basically lost our custom. We have been on Royal Carribean in the last few years (P&O last August) and I would say the quality of Royal Carribean food over the last 2 years has dropped but P&O has improved their game. I remember fondly where on most days P&O main meat in the Buffett was Silverside (nothing wrong with silverside, but for a main for 6 days out of a 10 day cruise).

For us all the little extras that P&O charge for and other lines do not charge for do make a difference.

Last P&O cruise no welcome back cocktail party, but we got an invite to the captains cocktail party (in the dome on the Jewel) and received a photo!

Thanks for the photos - I nearly gagged when I saw P&O charge $15 for a room service full hot breakfast.

Otherwise, they are all good days on holidays.

[MicCanberra]

I knew they were charging for room service but I didn't see or look at the prices. Wow, that is a price I do not want to pay fro breakfast every day, I would rather the MDR or the Café.