Just back - Pacific Princess

[mummsie]

Hi all, Just to fill you in. Pacific Princess is accually being chartered by P&O for the next few months. Most of the passengers on our cruise were from Oz - about 600. There were about 6 from the USA and Canada, a couple of dozen from Nz and the rest from Europe. The food and service is pure Princess 5 star. The entertainment is P&O with pyjama parties, Island nights and sock hop rock and roll nights - Princess don't do these. Let me know if you want any info. I will do my best to answer.

 

Best deserts - the Raspberry Creme Brulee and the souffles.

Best drinks - the Chocolate Banana (Princess speciality). Its an alcoholic banana smoothy.

Best meals - ALL of them.

 

We loved this ship so much we have booked another cruise next year on her. Gayle who isn't happy to be back at work today.

[cruiselover96]

Gayle, sounds like you had a ball. I've friends who also cruise the Princess and absolutely loved it.

Would love to hear more on what you did and where you went.

Kerri

[Kiwi Kruzer]

We loved this ship so much we have booked another cruise next year on her. .

 

 

Gayle,

Pleased you enjoyed the Pacific Princess.It is my favorite ship . I like the size and the friendly atmosphere on board.The Tahitian Princess is identical,so if you ever see any specials advertised ,you will know exactly what the ship is like.

All the best

David.

[davoni]

Hi Gayle,

Glad you had a good time and was hoping you would post before my cruise this Saturday 18 Dec. We are really excited now and I am in the middle of packing. I didn't realise Pacific Princess had theme nights and have now also packed some bits for Island night (if they have this on our cruise) How dressy are the formal nights....are cocktail dresses okay? or do ladies wear full length gowns? How crowded was the pool deck and getting a deck chair?

Finally, do they search carry on bags as I know there is a policy about taking alcohol on board apart from wine and champagne...just wondering how strict they are. Thanks, Yvonne:)

[mummsie]

Hi Yvonne, Yes lots of themed nights. the cruise director Mark is an Aussie. I just wore a long skirt and a classy top for formal nights. There is the whole range from formal to not so formal. There were 2 formal nights. The photographers on board are hilarious. The pool deck was ok. We never had trouble getting 2 deck chairs in the shade - I don't do sun, although I did notice that there were a lot that had towels and books on that were never used. Up on the sun deck there were always deck chairs available.

I didn't take much notice about them checking bags for alcohol as we never bother. Its cheaper on board anyway. They have VB on tap. Enjoy your cruise. Gayle

[Painter]

Hi Gayle...how did it compare to our Sapphire Cruise?

 

Hugs,

Marleneann.

[mummsie]

Hi Marleneann,

It was different. Sapphire was better in some ways and I enjoyed speaking to all the Americans and Canadians on it. Better in that there were more things to do and you could do more exercise walking around. Pacific was great because it was so small you got to know people a lot better - you kept running into the same people everywhere. The entertainment was great considering the size of the ship. You never had to fight for a seat in the cabaret theatre for all the shows which was really nice after the rush to get seats on the Sapphire in the theatre. The thing I didn't really like about the Pacific - there is only one pool so you could never go swimming like we could on the Sapphire - it was always full of people. Food was about the same quality except on the Pacific the buffet isn't open all day. Not that it mattered to us - we never eat between meals especially on cruises. There is enough food at mealtimes. Cabin stewards were just as good and the waiters were really friendly. Seemed to be a lot more relaxed on the Pacific with a lot more interaction with the staff. Gayle

[CruiseDirect]

Hi there,

 

how did you enjoy the sapphire princess cruise in jan 2005 was the service everything you hoped it would be

[claudio]

hey mummsie tell me me and a mac

te are considering doing a pacific princess cruise but are concerned it might be full of couples and middle class people and have this vision of ship being deserted after 10pm we are both late 40s early 50s and night owls we went on sky a couple of months ago and had a ball thanks claudio

[mummsie]

hi Claudio. We were also worried that they would all be old on the Pacific Princess but it was a fairly good mix. Not many kids - I think there were only 10 kids 15 years and younger. There were quite a few singles and honeymoon couples ranging to the usual oldies. We are 50 and we didn't feel out of place. We are dancers and were the only dancers on this ship so we basically had the dancefloor to ourselves except for the odd couple. The pyjama party and Island night rocked. There is a DJ that comes in at 11pm for the late night people and they were rocking until around 4am most mornings. Go for it.!! Its a beautiful ship and the crew were fantastic. Gayle

[mummsie]

to Cruise Direct. Sapphire was fantastic. Lots to do on a ship this size. We had a ball. I would definately go on her or the Diamond if the opportunity arose. The shops on the Sapphire were much cheaper than the Pacific even converting from $US - Gayle

[lias]

Hi Gayle.

 

You have us really thinking about switching to Pacific Princess rather than trying out the "new" Pacific Star for our next cruise.

 

Would you be kind enough to help with a couple of questions:

 

Do they have freestyle dining or are you allocated a set table each evening for meals?

 

What are the approxoimate charges for the other restaurants onboard?

 

For cruising, how did you find a 30,000t ship compared to something like the "sapphire"?

 

Thanks for any help.

[mummsie]

Hi Lias,

They don't have any of the anytime dining that the larger ships have but they have Sabatinis and the steak house which alternate every night. They also set up half the buffet area most nights as a Pizza restaurant. I believe the cost if $20Aus but don't quote me on that. We didn't use it at all. In the traditional seating they don't rush you as much as on the Sapphire so meals were a lot more relaxed.

Both ships have their good and bad points. I would have no hesitation cruising on either ship again and in fact we have booked for the Pacific Princess with the same cabin for February 2007. The service was actually better on the Pacific Princess than the Sapphire, partly due to the fact of the different size of the ship.

The Pacific had a little but more movement when the seas were choppy and in fact the first 2 days, the captain slowed the ship down to make it more comfortable for the passengers. We still got to our first port on time though so I guess they have some sort of allowances to cater for rough weather. - Gayle

[lias]

Thanks for all that Gayle. It is very helpful.

 

My wife sent the request to you regarding the ship, so she too will be very thankful for your help when she gets home and reads the thread..

 

I am sure we will be looking at around the same time as you, early 2007 with probably the Tasmanian offering getting the wife's vote. Hmm. I have always wanted to cruise around NZ, so there could be a debate or two coming up here;) So I guess that means we will be going to Tasmania :confused:

 

Thanks again Gayle.

[mummsie]

we are booked on the one around Vanartu.

Enjoy your cruise.Gayle

[jessica3152]

I got an email from Zuji this week advertising a 10 night cruise on Pacific Princess in February in balcony cabin for $2600.00. This is unbeatable value and is not dissimilar to what you'd pay for an A deck window cabin on any of the Pacific triplets.

[DonahCBrown]

Hi all, Just to fill you in. Pacific Princess is accually being chartered by P&O for the next few months. Most of the passengers on our cruise were from Oz - about 600. There were about 6 from the USA and Canada, a couple of dozen from Nz and the rest from Europe. The food and service is pure Princess 5 star. The entertainment is P&O with pyjama parties, Island nights and sock hop rock and roll nights - Princess don't do these. Let me know if you want any info. I will do my best to answer.

 

Best deserts - the Raspberry Creme Brulee and the souffles.

Best drinks - the Chocolate Banana (Princess speciality). Its an alcoholic banana smoothy.

Best meals - ALL of them.

 

We loved this ship so much we have booked another cruise next year on her. Gayle who isn't happy to be back at work today.

 

Hi Gayle -

 

We're going to be on board the Pacific Princess in April when she moves back from P & O to Princess and wanted to ask you what type of electrical plugs the ship has. We have adaptors for New Zealand (from U.S.) do we need to bring?

 

Thanks!

 

Donna:)

[mummsie]

the plugs on board are US 110V. The laundry takes American quarters which are available from the purser. - Gayle

[Krueger]

Hello :)

 

I was on the Pacific Princess Cruise to New Caledonia from Dec 1 to Dec 10 2005 - is this the same cruise as you?

 

I am trying to contact one of the crew members - name was Daniel and he worked as a bar steward in the Cabaret Lounge - any ideas?? Really need to speak to him

 

This was my first cruise and it was so fantastic i am going back on the Pacific Princess for Christmas and New Years in 2006 :)

[DonahCBrown]

the plugs on board are US 110V. The laundry takes American quarters which are available from the purser. - Gayle

 

Appreciate the answer. One less thing to pack!

 

Donna

[mummsie]

Hello :)

 

I was on the Pacific Princess Cruise to New Caledonia from Dec 1 to Dec 10 2005 - is this the same cruise as you?

 

I am trying to contact one of the crew members - name was Daniel and he worked as a bar steward in the Cabaret Lounge - any ideas?? Really need to speak to him

 

This was my first cruise and it was so fantastic i am going back on the Pacific Princess for Christmas and New Years in 2006 :)

 

Hi, Yes was on the same cruise. I believe you can't email direct but if you email the generic email address for the ship and put in the title that you are trying to contact a particular person, they may pass the message on. Not sure what the email address is but I think it could be pacific_princess@princess.com or something like that. Sorry can't help more - if you go to the princess web site they may have more information. Gayle