What Is P&O’s Pacific Dawn’s Fate

[SinbadThePorter]

I see that there is a Fiji Cruise on Dawn being sold by P&O Oz for 30th October. About 2 months away.

 

That doesn't seem to leave much time for taking her out of layup, restocking, getting a crew onboard and then sailing 10,000km to Melbourne. 🤯

[MicCanberra]

Don't count on that happening.

[Aus Traveller]

21 minutes ago, SinbadThePorter said:

I see that there is a Fiji Cruise on Dawn being sold by P&O Oz for 30th October. About 2 months away.

 

That doesn't seem to leave much time for taking her out of layup, restocking, getting a crew onboard and then sailing 10,000km to Melbourne. 🤯

I am not a betting person, but I would bet that this cruise does not go ahead.

[IMSYDNEYAUS]

They are huddled together entering the Pirate zone!

[MicCanberra]

Hope they have some of those Pirate drills aboard, that will keep them at bay.

[By The Bay]

1 hour ago, IMSYDNEYAUS said:

They are huddled together entering the Pirate zone!

heading away from Oz.

[bazzaw]

Bit of a shame about Pacific Dawn - we had sailed on her several times over the past decade and always liked her as a cruiseship . We did a 13 day transit on her late last year after her refit in Singapore and she was in the best condition we had ever seen her in!!!! Most of it was kind of cosmetic - such as the artificial grass on the pool deck and the outside deck above that - now it looks like she may be scrapped. Such is Life!!! One day you are a Rooster - and the very next day, you are a feather duster!!!!

[NSWP]

5 hours ago, bazzaw said:

Bit of a shame about Pacific Dawn - we had sailed on her several times over the past decade and always liked her as a cruiseship . We did a 13 day transit on her late last year after her refit in Singapore and she was in the best condition we had ever seen her in!!!! Most of it was kind of cosmetic - such as the artificial grass on the pool deck and the outside deck above that - now it looks like she may be scrapped. Such is Life!!! One day you are a Rooster - and the very next day, you are a feather duster!!!!

Barry....Problem with the Pacific Dawn on conversion from Regal Princess was that they made a lot of 'Friendly Four' cabins from the two berthers.  Thus increasing the passenger capacity and that impacted on the public space ratios in lounges, theatre, dining areas. We were on board from LA to Sydney when they put about 50 carpenters on board, at Auckland,  changing everything, was not good, the inconvenience, like cruising on a construction site. After departure from Sydney she was further refitted in Singapore.

[Bowm54]

According to marine traffic app all 3 ships are now sailing off the coast of Eritrea.

  They are trundling along at 13 knots and appear to be escorted by a Bangladeshi warship.

Pacific Aria showing as destined for Limassol Cyprus, where an assortment of other  cruise ships are already at anchor.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

On 8/24/2020 at 4:24 PM, NSWP said:

Barry....Problem with the Pacific Dawn on conversion from Regal Princess was that they made a lot of 'Friendly Four' cabins from the two berthers.  Thus increasing the passenger capacity and that impacted on the public space ratios in lounges, theatre, dining areas. We were on board from LA to Sydney when they put about 50 carpenters on board, at Auckland,  changing everything, was not good, the inconvenience, like cruising on a construction site. After departure from Sydney she was further refitted in Singapore.

The ship itself had a high space ratio rating , but she also had a lot of waste space . Lots of walkways which made access easy , but cut down the size of the bars and lounges .

[Aus Traveller]

On 8/24/2020 at 2:24 PM, NSWP said:

Barry....Problem with the Pacific Dawn on conversion from Regal Princess was that they made a lot of 'Friendly Four' cabins from the two berthers.  Thus increasing the passenger capacity and that impacted on the public space ratios in lounges, theatre, dining areas. We were on board from LA to Sydney when they put about 50 carpenters on board, at Auckland,  changing everything, was not good, the inconvenience, like cruising on a construction site. After departure from Sydney she was further refitted in Singapore.

I don't know how many cabins they converted to four-berth, but maybe they did too many. Most times, many only had two or even a solo passenger - particularly out of school holidays. P&O couldn't sell them all as four-berth because there is a legal limitation on how many people can be on the ship.

 

We have cruised in a four-berth when we booked as a 'guarantee'. I'm not complaining - the price was good and any cruise is better than no cruise. The cabins that were originally designed as four-berth with the extra bunks in the ceiling are better than those that were retrofitted with the bunks on the side walls.

[NSWP]

10 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I don't know how many cabins they converted to four-berth, but maybe they did too many. Most times, many only had two or even a solo passenger - particularly out of school holidays. P&O couldn't sell them all as four-berth because there is a legal limitation on how many people can be on the ship.

 

We have cruised in a four-berth when we booked as a 'guarantee'. I'm not complaining - the price was good and any cruise is better than no cruise. The cabins that were originally designed as four-berth with the extra bunks in the ceiling are better than those that were retrofitted with the bunks on the side walls.

The retro fitting of friendly four cabins increased the passenger capacity by a few hundred, from memory as Regal Princess she carried a max of 1590, upon conversion to Pacific Dawn, the increased pax capacity of 1900 rings a bell, although not quite sure on that, have to look up the specifications.  Extra life rafts would have had to put on board for the additional pax, if she was sailing full.

[Aus Traveller]

Just now, NSWP said:

The retro fitting of friendly four cabins increased the passenger capacity by a few hundred, from memory as Regal Princess she carried a max of 1590, upon conversion to Pacific Dawn, the increased pax capacity of 1900 rings a bell, although not quite sure on that, have to look up the specifications.  Extra life rafts would have had to put on board for the additional pax, if she was sailing full.

The capacity of the Regal Princess was quoted the way they usually do for cruise ship - lower berths only. There were four-berth cabins in the ship when it was the Regal P. We can't easily come up with that number now, but I know there were quite a lot.

 

The legal capacity of the ship was 1,900, but she usually sailed with around the mid 1,800s, however that is not 300 more passengers.

[woodscruise]

Yesterday I posted on Facebook a question regarding the Pacific Dawn and Aria going to Europe when Sture Myrmell commented on the Australian operations:

 

Will P&O make a comment on where there ships are heading too. Marine traffic is showing Pacific Aria going to Cyprus and Pacific Dawn heading to the Suez. It is quite apparent that they will not be back in Australia waters this cruising season

 

• P&O Cruises Australia

  Hi Michael we really appreciate the interest that all the friends of P&O take in our beautiful ships. Yes, there has been some social media discussion about Pacific Dawn. The explanation is actually pretty straightforward. The much loved Pacific Dawn is among a number of cruise ships relocating from Asia to Europe and it is for a very practical reason. Being in Europe makes it easier to maintain crew requirements to staff the ships during the pause in cruise operations. Thanks again for your interest. Thanks -Kate

   

   

[Chiliburn]

1 hour ago, woodscruise said:

Yesterday I posted on Facebook a question regarding the Pacific Dawn and Aria going to Europe when Sture Myrmell commented on the Australian operations:

 

Will P&O make a comment on where there ships are heading too. Marine traffic is showing Pacific Aria going to Cyprus and Pacific Dawn heading to the Suez. It is quite apparent that they will not be back in Australia waters this cruising season

 

• P&O Cruises Australia

  Hi Michael we really appreciate the interest that all the friends of P&O take in our beautiful ships. Yes, there has been some social media discussion about Pacific Dawn. The explanation is actually pretty straightforward. The much loved Pacific Dawn is among a number of cruise ships relocating from Asia to Europe and it is for a very practical reason. Being in Europe makes it easier to maintain crew requirements to staff the ships during the pause in cruise operations. Thanks again for your interest. Thanks -Kate

   

   

Apparently a lot of the older ships will be layed up in the Mediterranean and Baltic’s.

[NSWP]

30 minutes ago, Chiliburn said:

Apparently a lot of the older ships will be layed up in the Mediterranean and Baltic’s.

 

4 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

The capacity of the Regal Princess was quoted the way they usually do for cruise ship - lower berths only. There were four-berth cabins in the ship when it was the Regal P. We can't easily come up with that number now, but I know there were quite a lot.

 

The legal capacity of the ship was 1,900, but she usually sailed with around the mid 1,800s, however that is not 300 more passengers.

With all due respect, I have  had several heated discussions re pax capacity of Old Regal v Pac Dawn over the last 10 yrs on here.  I know from dining with Capt Andrew Froude, through a friend of the Capts wife, on last cruise of Regal, 1590 was all they took, then a couple of years later on Pac Dawn, it was Chockas, couple of hundred extra pax, friendly 4 cabins, full, public areas maxxed out...end of story. So I have seen both sides.

[NSWP]

1 hour ago, woodscruise said:

Yesterday I posted on Facebook a question regarding the Pacific Dawn and Aria going to Europe when Sture Myrmell commented on the Australian operations:

 

Will P&O make a comment on where there ships are heading too. Marine traffic is showing Pacific Aria going to Cyprus and Pacific Dawn heading to the Suez. It is quite apparent that they will not be back in Australia waters this cruising season

 

• P&O Cruises Australia

  Hi Michael we really appreciate the interest that all the friends of P&O take in our beautiful ships. Yes, there has been some social media discussion about Pacific Dawn. The explanation is actually pretty straightforward. The much loved Pacific Dawn is among a number of cruise ships relocating from Asia to Europe and it is for a very practical reason. Being in Europe makes it easier to maintain crew requirements to staff the ships during the pause in cruise operations. Thanks again for your interest. Thanks -Kate

   

   

Nice reply, thank you.

[Aus Traveller]

16 minutes ago, NSWP said:

 

With all due respect, I have  had several heated discussions re pax capacity of Old Regal v Pac Dawn over the last 10 yrs on here.  I know from dining with Capt Andrew Froude, through a friend of the Capts wife, on last cruise of Regal, 1590 was all they took, then a couple of years later on Pac Dawn, it was Chockas, couple of hundred extra pax, friendly 4 cabins, full, public areas maxxed out...end of story. So I have seen both sides.

With all due respect (genuinely) here is an extract from a website about ships. These are the details on the former Regal Princess (later Pacific Dawn)

Entered service: 1991 – Refits: 2002-2007-2009 - 2014 - Gross tonnage: 70.285 - Pass. lower beds: 1582 - All berths: 1748 - Passenger decks: 11 - Length: 245,10 m. - Beam: 32,25 m. - draught: 8,1 m. -  Drive: diesel/electric: 4 diesel engines make MAN-B&W type 8L58/64  - Total installed power: 24.000 kW. - Propulsion: by 2 electric motors and 2 fixed propellers. - Service speed 19,5 knots - Max. speed 22,5 knots - Built: Fincantieri - Italy - Yard no. 5840 - Flag: United Kingdom - Classification: LR.

Regal Princess is shown as having 1,582 lower passenger berths with a total 1,748 berths. After she was converted to Pacific Dawn, she is listed as having a capacity of 2,020 (on some websites) but others show 1,950.

[NSWP]

58 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

With all due respect (genuinely) here is an extract from a website about ships. These are the details on the former Regal Princess (later Pacific Dawn)

Entered service: 1991 – Refits: 2002-2007-2009 - 2014 - Gross tonnage: 70.285 - Pass. lower beds: 1582 - All berths: 1748 - Passenger decks: 11 - Length: 245,10 m. - Beam: 32,25 m. - draught: 8,1 m. -  Drive: diesel/electric: 4 diesel engines make MAN-B&W type 8L58/64  - Total installed power: 24.000 kW. - Propulsion: by 2 electric motors and 2 fixed propellers. - Service speed 19,5 knots - Max. speed 22,5 knots - Built: Fincantieri - Italy - Yard no. 5840 - Flag: United Kingdom - Classification: LR.

Regal Princess is shown as having 1,582 lower passenger berths with a total 1,748 berths. After she was converted to Pacific Dawn, she is listed as having a capacity of 2,020 (on some websites) but others show 1,950.

Explains all, I was pretty right, thank you.

[Bowm54]

Pacific Dawn, Pacific Aria and Pacific Princess are now at anchor off Limassol Cyprus.

 Also at anchor there is Sky Princess, a couple of smaller ships and Regal Princess, which is the earlier name of Pacific Dawn.

Edited September 2, 2020 by Bowm54
change

[NSWP]

17 hours ago, Bowm54 said:

Pacific Dawn, Pacific Aria and Pacific Princess are now at anchor off Limassol Cyprus.

 Also at anchor there is Sky Princess, a couple of smaller ships and Regal Princess, which is the earlier name of Pacific Dawn.

Pacific Dawn was renamed from ye olde Regal Princess in 2007, I was on her last cruise from LA to Sydney as Regal.

 

I don't like the new Regal Princess nor her sister 'Royal Class ships.'  Ye olde Regal was a real ship with the Bengal Tiger.

Edited September 3, 2020 by NSWP