Review of cruise on Pacific Dawn

[Aus Traveller]

We have just returned from a seven-night cruise on the Pacific Dawn. We cruised many times on P&O prior to 2013, and with other lines (Holland America, Celebrity, Carnival) but mainly with Princess up to the present time.

 

Ship. The Pacific Dawn has been refurbished and looks good. Many of the additions are aimed at children and young or adventurous adults. There are a flying fox line that crosses the main pool deck, a rock climbing wall, 'walk the plank' experience and the Titanic Experience - all for an extra charge. There are two enormous water slides available (weather permitting) for no extra charge. For the younger children there is a water-park facility on the pool deck.

 

The interior of the ship looks bright and fresh. It is hard for me to say what is new because the last time we were on the Pacific Dawn was in November, 2012. Certainly, the Waterfront restaurant has had some work done and the buffet (Pantry) has been totally re-designed. We felt the Pantry worked very well with different serving stations. Here, all the food is behind glass and is served.

 

We had an oceanview cabin on deck 6. It was very conveniently located and was spacious enough for us. I don't think the bathrooms or the cabins have been refurbished, although the carpet in our cabin was fairly new.

[Aus Traveller]

Demographics. As expected, the average age was much younger than on Princess. The majority were young adults, many with children. I was surprised how many children were on board when it was not school holidays. Only a small percentage of passengers were 'retiree age'.

 

I noticed on the smoking side of the Promenade deck 7 there were usually a large number of smokers. Usually on Princess there would be two or three smoking.

 

Even though the alcohol package on P&O is expensive ($79 if pre-purchased and $84 if bought on board), there were an enormous number of people with the drinks package. In some cases it was part of the cruise 'deal', but obviously they had to pay for it. Although people were drinking, I did not see anyone adversely affected by alcohol, however, we did not stay up late.:)

[Aus Traveller]

Boarding. We booked only 10 days or so ahead of the cruise and we could only get a late boarding time. From memory it was 1pm to 1.30pm. After asking advice on this forum, we arrived at 11am. Boarding had already started so we didn't have to wait very long. I mention for people going in winter, it was quite cold in the waiting lounge. Some of the passengers were dressed for Port Vila weather, so they must have been very cold.

 

I noticed that passengers interested in 'The Edge' activities - flying fox, Titanic experience, walk the plank, could book while in the waiting lounge and receive a 10% discount.

 

The Entertainment Director, Willie Lee, was on deck 7 greeting people as they arrived.

 

After dropping our hand luggage in our cabin, we went to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch. This is always a relaxed way to start a cruise.

[Aus Traveller]

Entertainment. There was the usual bingo (we don't go) but thankfully, no art auctions. P&O don't have lecturers now so there were no port lectures or general-topics lectures.

 

On the first night, the Welcome show was a disappointment. It started with one song/dance number by the dance cast. The music was very modern. Then Willie Lee talked enthusiastically for around 20 minutes. He does a great job, but it was a big 'ask' for one person to fill in this time. Then the guest entertainer, a hypnotist, talked for around ten minutes telling us what he intended to do. Sorry - I have to assess the entertainment as 40 minutes wasted.

 

The song/dance cast has eight members. Their first production show "Disconnected" was 'fresh' and different. The theme was young people trying to connect with someone using modern media - Facebook, phones etc. The cast wore modern every-day clothes. The songs were modern ones. We rated it 5 out of 10, mainly because it was different.

 

The next night the hypnotist put on a show. We are not keen on using hypnotism for entertainment so didn't go. People told us they enjoyed the show.

 

The next show was "Slumber". There was no story line, but apparently it was meant to be various dream sequences. I would rate it at .5 out of 10. I gave it a half mark because they sang half of the song "Major Tom" very well. By the way, I am not criticizing the cast, just the show they have to perform.

 

The next show - can't remember the name at the moment - we rated at 3 out of 10. The next show couldn't be performed because of rough weather. The hypnotist helped out by putting on a show. I watched this and found it reasonably entertaining.

 

The 5-member band that played in the Atrium was very good. The last night, the lead singer sang a duet with his mother who was in the audience. It was a Chinese-language song, but was so well done, that it didn't matter that we couldn't understand the words. There was also a duo who sang and played in the Orient Bar. They sounded quite good.

 

There were a few other activities - trivia and other games like Taboo or Scattagories (spelling probably wrong!). When there were prizes, they were often a voucher for 4 servings of coffee and cake.

[Aus Traveller]

Ports. The Pacific Dawn now departs at 2pm, instead of the previous departure time of 4pm.

 

Noumea. After one day at sea, the ship arrived in Noumea just before 3pm. Some passengers were surprised that we weren't getting there in the morning. Apparently they hadn't read the detailed itinerary for the cruise.

 

Because this visit was at the end of May, it was dark by 5.45 meaning some of the tours were running after dark. Having been to Noumea many times, we just went ashore and walked around.

 

Lifou. A tender port. Pacific Dawn didn't operate a tender ticket system. People just queued up on deck 5. We had been to Lifou many times so waited until the queue was diminished then went ashore. There were fewer market stalls than we had seen previously. The young children sang a few songs. I noticed that the locals had snorkel equipment for hire as well as push bikes. While we were on the jetty before returning to the ship we saw a large turtle very close by.

 

Port Vila. The market stalls are now within the port complex rather than lining the road outside. As usual, there are plenty of taxis. We just wanted to go into town to buy duty free alcohol. The ship offered 10% discount before Port Vila. We didn't take advantage of this because two of the brands we wanted to buy weren't available. However, the Jamisons and Wild Turkey were maybe one dollar cheaper on the ship (with the 10% discount) compared with the prices in Port Vila. We bought our duty free at Fung Kuei. He has an incredibly wide range of alcohol at good prices. After wandering through town we got a taxi back to the ship for $5. It cost us $10 to get from the ship to Fung Kuei's shop.

[Aus Traveller]

Food. Not having been in P&O since November 2012, we were disappointed.

 

The layout and look of the Pantry (buffet) is superb, but the selection was very limited. As far as we could see, there was no table service of tea/coffee etc. The food we had was OK, except for one breakfast where the food was cold.

 

Waterfront Restaurant. We booked when we went for lunch on embarkation day. We were asked if we wanted to book that time for the whole cruise, so we did. As usual with Pacific Dawn, the Anytime isn't that. It is either early (5.30 or 5.45) or late (7.45 or 8pm). The menus had a very limited number of items and only fairly plain food. No lobster, no beef Wellington, no escargot etc. Maybe most of the passengers travelling on the Pacific Dawn wouldn't go for these menu items. Some of the servings were very small and in many cases, the main course had virtually no vegetables. Even when an item was listed as having 'chunky fries' it would come with string fries. The eggplant parmagiana consisted of two circles only a bit larger than a 50cent piece. I don't think there was any menu item that I would say was outstandingly good.

 

Coffee shop on deck 12 - the cakes were superb as was the coffee.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for your review, I like how it is categorised.

[Aus Traveller]

A few more comments.

 

Prices of bottles of wine started at $27. As usual, they don't keep any balance until the next night. Passengers have to take it away with them.

 

They don't have a cocktail party for all passengers - just for guests in suites and the most cruised passengers. Probably 40 or so guests are invited to the "Meet the Officers Party" held in the Oasis. Drinks and canapes are served.

 

Although we had a good time and met a lot of lovely people, I don't think I will rush back to P&O. We went this time because it was a very good price and we figured a week's cruise would be a good break. Many people we spoke to had also got a great deal.

[Aus Traveller]

Thanks for your review, I like how it is categorised.

I set it out like this so it is easier to read, rather than trying to 'wade through' one long post. :)

[MicCanberra]

A few more comments.

 

Prices of bottles of wine started at $27. As usual, they don't keep any balance until the next night. Passengers have to take it away with them.

 

They don't have a cocktail party for all passengers - just for guests in suites and the most cruised passengers. Probably 40 or so guests are invited to the "Meet the Officers Party" held in the Oasis. Drinks and canapes are served.

 

Although we had a good time and met a lot of lovely people, I don't think I will rush back to P&O. We went this time because it was a very good price and we figured a week's cruise would be a good break. Many people we spoke to had also got a great deal.

I think that is key when looking at P&O compared to some of the other lines.

[MicCanberra]

I set it out like this so it is easier to read, rather than trying to 'wade through' one long post. :)

It works well.:D

[Thepominlaw]

We did our first cruise on the Pacific Dawn last August and loved it and the places we visited (noumea, santo, mystery island etc). Now we have the cruise bug and a booked with P&O to sail the Norwegian fjords next month (a lot closer to home as we are UK based)

 

 

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[lagoon380]

Great review and yes P & O works when the price is right.

[easyboy]

Thanks for your review.

 

 

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[Kinkacruiser]

Thank you for your very comprehensive and honest review. Your review echos the comment "you get what you pay for" that I've heard before. I understand you also have to pay for a pie out on deck :rolleyes:

[MicCanberra]

We did our first cruise on the Pacific Dawn last August and loved it and the places we visited (noumea, santo, mystery island etc). Now we have the cruise bug and a booked with P&O to sail the Norwegian fjords next month (a lot closer to home as we are UK based)

 

 

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I think you will find that there are some differences between the two P&O companies. Another cruise addict in the making.

[Aus Traveller]

We did our first cruise on the Pacific Dawn last August and loved it and the places we visited (noumea, santo, mystery island etc). Now we have the cruise bug and a booked with P&O to sail the Norwegian fjords next month (a lot closer to home as we are UK based)

 

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P&O UK has a totally different product to P&O Australia. You will find it much more up-market, very similar to Princess.

[Aus Traveller]

Thank you for your very comprehensive and honest review. Your review echos the comment "you get what you pay for" that I've heard before. I understand you also have to pay for a pie out on deck :rolleyes:

There were several options to pay more. We didn't bother with the pie or hamburger on deck. On the MDR menu there were always a couple of 'pay more' items. We were very disappointed with the food in general. The comment was made that there was no risk of putting on weight, but maybe my problem came from a few visits to the coffee shop for coffee and scrumptious cake.

 

We cannot complain about value for money because we paid very little for this cruise, but we couldn't help noticing how it had changed a lot in the few years since our last P&O cruise.

 

Four or five years ago we felt there were only small differences between P&O and Princess - now there is a big difference.

[Aus Traveller]

In addition to the Luke Mangan restaurant, the Pacific Dawn has a seafood and steak restaurant called Shell & Bones. Seafood dishes ranted from $15 (1) to $25. Chicken is $15 and beef short ribs $20. Sides included are garlic bread, grilled corn, coleslaw and potato wedges. No prices are listed for these so presumably they are included. Apple and rhubarb crumble is $9.

[Aus Traveller]

When I typed an earlier post I couldn't remember what the entertainment was on all the nights - so memorable! I now have the "Good Times" papers to refer to. The shows were usually 7pm and 9pm. They were -

1. Welcome aboard show that 'featured the Pacific Entertainers and Hypnotist Peter Powers.' There was one song and dance number, long (but entertaining) talk by the Entertainment Director, and a ten minute talk by the hypnotist. No - it didn't quite put us to sleep.

2. Show by Hypnotist Peter Powers.

3. 'Disconnected' a Musical comedy about life, love, social media and coffee. We rated that at 5 out of 10.

4. Gameshow Marriage Match at 8pm. We didn't go.

5. The Pacific Entertainers in a show called 'Slumber'. We couldn't wait for this to end - we don't like to walk out part way through.

6. The Pacific Entertainers in a show called 'The Velvet Rope' set in the early 1930s, but with current music. We rated it at 3 out of 10.

7. The Pacific Entertainers were to do a show called 'Seven'. The Entertainment Director Willie Lee told us the night before, that they had "kept the best till last" which maybe indicates his opinion on the earlier shows. Unfortunately we had rough weather and the dancers couldn't put on this show. It was based on the Seven Deadly Sins in scenes of fantasy.

 

Instead, the Hypnotist put on a second show. I stayed for it. It was clear that several of the volunteers were hypnotised. The hypnotist had the audience laughing but was careful not to unduly embarrass his volunteers. No - I wasn't one of them.:)

[castaway01]

Thanks for the write up on the Dawn, I have just booked for a Dawn cruise next week, it will be interesting to see any difference between the Jewel and the Pearl, this trip is more to test out winter cruising, and we are going to 3 new ports, it is a bit of a pain in the butt having to fly to Brisbane, I like the idea of the water slides, we had them on the Legend and were good fun, I will check out the food in the MDR, so far on the Jewel the food has been more than sufficient especially when you add ice cream to the sweets , I will try and report back after our trip.

[MicCanberra]

I am not a fan of hypnotists or jugglers. Other acts I will give a go.

[cheznandy]

Thanks for your review Aus Traveller, interesting to see the changes.

Like you, we first cruised Pacific Dawn when she arrived, we also did 28 nights to Tahiti return, then she was more similar to Princess.

We havent cruised P&O for a long time but have booked the Aria from Singapore in August next year, I think it is after a dry dock. Wonder if they will put water slides on the Aria and Eden? We booked it for the itinerary, it's only 14 days....and the price;p

Appreciate you insight having cruise both as well.

[Aus Traveller]

I am not a fan of hypnotists or jugglers. Other acts I will give a go.

I know what you mean. For us, hypnotists have dropped off the 'go to' list and I think jugglers have just about done so also. Some of the regular old-style comedians have also dropped off our 'go to' list because we have seen their shows several times and the shows haven't altered by even one word. :)

[Aus Traveller]

Thanks for the write up on the Dawn, I have just booked for a Dawn cruise next week, it will be interesting to see any difference between the Jewel and the Pearl, this trip is more to test out winter cruising, and we are going to 3 new ports, it is a bit of a pain in the butt having to fly to Brisbane, I like the idea of the water slides, we had them on the Legend and were good fun, I will check out the food in the MDR, so far on the Jewel the food has been more than sufficient especially when you add ice cream to the sweets , I will try and report back after our trip.

The scoops of icecream are so small, we asked for two or three scoops. :)