Pacific Encounter, info on cruise 27/8/22

[Aus Traveller]

In an earlier thread I detailed the frustration of dealing with P&O's VeriFLY system. I shouldn't have bothered. Some practical information about the Encounter.

 

Embarkation - Our boarding was to be at 12.30 but we decided to go a bit earlier. When the doors to the terminal opened at 11am there was quite a queue outside. People were allowed inside in groups of maybe 15-20 at a time. Before we entered the terminal the 'door person' asked to see our E Ticket (yes - P&O still have them). Someone told me that they had to dig out the paper version as the version on their phone wasn't accepted.

 

Upstairs to check-in. No-one asked to see the paper copies of our vaccination certificates. Even though we had taken the mandatory RAT test the previous day and photographed them as instructed, no-one asked if we had taken the test or asked for proof. Other passengers reported the same. Although we had up-loaded photographs of both of us onto VeriFLY, we had photos taken again at check-in. I had the impression that the VeriFLY was a total waste of time and effort.

 

Onto the ship. Outside our room (14303) there were two envelopes. One held our cruise card (yes - the old style cruise card) and the other one held a letter with our dining bookings. More about that later. We went to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch (open 12 noon to 2pm). I asked if I should check that our dinner reservation was on their system and was told that it would be OK. It wasn't. Our luggage had arrived only half an hour after we had, so now I had to unpack.

 

Unfortunately I didn't open the second envelope waiting for us outside our cabin until we were leaving the room to go to dinner. I had booked us into the Waterfront restaurant for early dining (starting 5pm to 5.45pm) for the whole cruise. The letter from P&O helpfully told us we were booked at 7.15pm, at the Waterfront on day one, then Angelo's, then Dragon Lady (we aren't fond of Asian food), and so on for the seven nights. I decided to just front up at the Waterfront and smile nicely as I said that we had a booking. We had superb waitstaff. Dinner in the MDR is run virtually as the old style traditional dining. We had the same table every evening we were in the MDR and obviously the same waitstaff. However, they don't do 'share' tables. People are seated only with their own travelling party. There are a lot of tables for two, many of them close to another small table, but the staff often don't seat people so close together. Because my husband doesn't get out of bed early enough to go to the dining room for brekkie, often I had a lonely breakfast. On the second last morning I took a book.

[Aus Traveller]

Room. We had booked a guarantee balcony way-way back when the cruise was going to Noumea, Lifou and Port Vila. We were allocated 14303 right beside the forward lifts. It was a great location.

 

The room had a barrel chair (yes - there are some still in captivity but apparently not on Princess ships). There was also a dining style chair. The TV was a good size and the fridge was actually quite cold. There is a Aussie style double power point over the desk. The bathroom had no tissues, but I had noticed these were no longer supplied in our last couple of P&O cruises before the COVID lock-down.

 

The only negative about our cabin was that it was a bit too hot at night and the air-con control was totally dead.

[Aus Traveller]

Waterfront MDR. In my previous post I mentioned the size of tables. I also have to mention that the dining room has a modern look - no tablecloths. I feel it works well, although I would have liked tableclothes for the dinner service. The breakfast menu is the same for the whole week. I think the lunchtime menu changed, or maybe they just swapped a few menu dishes around. The dinner menu changed only once in the week.

 

To my surprise the MDR was open for lunch when we were in Airlie Beach. It is open on 'tender-port days' but not when the ship is alongside at the wharf.

 

Other dining. We really liked Angelo's. It is a full-size restaurant on deck 6 (above the MDR). It is beautifully decorated. The tables all have the classic white starched tablecloths and artificial flowers. The food was excellent. During the week there were only two different menus. It changed over in the middle of the cruise.

 

We didn't go to Dragon Lady, the Asian restaurant at the back of the ship.

 

The Pantry (the buffet) is open only for limited hours, but this has been usual for P&O for years. It is open from 6.30-10am, 11.30-3pm and 5.30-9pm. The selection of food was quite OK. An important difference between P&O and Princess (our other usual cruise line) is that there is no table service. The staff do not serve coffee at the tables - they only clean up.

 

There are other specialty restaurants (for a fee) - Grandi Pronto (hamburgers on deck), 400 Grandi, Luke's Bar and Grill.

 

NZ icecream is on sale on deck 14.

 

Room service is charged per item. For example, breakfast is $4 per bakery item, beverage (juice or coffee) $4, cereal $6, hot dish $11 or a combo (1 drink, 1 bakery and 1 hot dish) for $16. I didn't investigate the price of other room service items.

 

 

Edited September 3, 2022 by Aus Traveller

[Aus Traveller]

Alcohol. Passengers cannot take any alcohol onto P&O ships. Soft drinks are restricted to a limited number of cans. The drinks package is expensive and we don't drink nearly enough to make it an economic proposition.

 

We bought a Bluesand Pinot Grigio which we enjoyed. It cost $36. I see on the internet that it is available for $16.99. I feel that the mark-up is quite reasonable. There seemed to be a wide selection of wine available. Angelo's restaurant had a different winelist so we chose one from de Bortoli.

[Aus Traveller]

Entertainment. During our seven-day cruise to Cairns, we had the production show Seven (the Seven Deadly Sins). It is quite a spectacle. The other production show was Musicology, visually great, but for my older generation, the songs were unrecognizable. There were a couple of guest entertainers who were quite good.

 

There was a show in the Black Circus (the former Vista Lounge from when the ship was the Star Princess.) I heard it was superb. Tickets are required ($20 pp). We left it too late to book but plan to go on our next cruise on the Encounter.

 

I felt there were many more quizzes etc. than on Princess. They were almost back to back throughout the day starting at 9am with trivia. Prizes were usually key rings, except for the 'coffee and cake' trivia around 2pm.

[Aus Traveller]

Other facilities. The cafe on deck 5 is similar to the International Cafe on Princess ships, but there is a charge for each food item. I saw some were $3.

 

Library. There is a superb library with a couple of hundred books, midship on deck 5 on the starboard side.

 

Laundrettes. I didn't investigate them, but there are several self-service laundrettes on board.

[Aus Traveller]

The capacity of the Pacific Encounter is around 3,000 passengers. Some websites say the capacity is 2600, but this is lower berths, a 'measurement' often used. There are 1298 cabins and many of them can accommodate more than two people so it's obvious the 2,600 figure often quoted isn't the full passenger capacity of the ship.

 

There were several supervisors in the MDR who were waiters or supervisors on the Pacific Dawn. We felt the ship was nowhere near full so I asked one of them we know well. We felt the Encounter was about half full, but the dining room supervisor said there were 2,000 passengers on board. On the previous cruise they had 1,600 and the three-day comedy cruise leaving today, will have 2,400 passengers. They are gradually working up to full capacity.

 

On the 27th Aug-3rd Sept cruise, I very rarely saw a passenger getting around not wearing a mask. We had to wear them all the time we were outside our cabin unless we were eating or drinking. The compliance was very good.

 

We didn't hear any rumours of COVID on board, so I can't report either way on this. Passengers who were staying on B2B had to do a RAT test on the last day.

[Aus Traveller]

Finances. I had $200 OBC and my husband had $100 OBC. I registered my credit card and as usual (at check-in) we asked for the accounts to be linked.

 

On deck 5 mid-ship there are several machines where passengers can check their account balance and get a print out on a slip of paper. All good so far.

 

We were told that we would each receive a paper print-out of our account details, delivered to the room in the early hours of the morning. My husband got one, but I didn't. I had bought a few items and knew that I had spent more than my $200 OBC. We took care that our drinks for the last few days were on my husbands cruise card to use up his $100, even though the accounts were linked and it should not have made any difference. Probably by now you have guessed what happened. His account was left with a non-refundable credit balance and the drinks were debited to my account. Grr.......

 

On the last morning we went to the Passenger Services Desk where we were told that our accounts weren't linked. Incorrect. We were then told "You should have checked with us during the cruise." Yeah - it was all our fault! When we pointed out that my husband didn't have a separate credit card registered, we were told that many people don't register one. They pay cash. Yeah! I can just see P&O allowing someone to neither register a CC nor pay cash. They would have chased him up to one or the other. Anyway, we were told they would refund to my credit card the amount left on my husband's on-board account.

 

The other important point to note is that the amount debited on the account is processed to the passenger's credit card every day, not just at the end of the cruise.

[NSWP]

Excellent review, well done.

[Aus Traveller]

Just now, NSWP said:

Excellent review, well done.

Thank you. I cut it up into separate posts to make it easier reading.

[Ozwoody]

Hi Evon

Great review of cruising with P&O, very helpful for our future cruise, answered almost anything I could think to ask.

Thank you.

 

[Aus Traveller]

36 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

Hi Evon

Great review of cruising with P&O, very helpful for our future cruise, answered almost anything I could think to ask.

Thank you.

 

I have thought of something else. P&O actually had a 'formal night', but there weren't any special activities. I saw some people - maybe 20% who had dressed up a bit with the men in suits. Other than that, P&O have their 'bianco' (white night where most people follow the theme) and back to school night where the younger ones dress in the theme. They have a party, on deck if weather permits.

[Ozwoody]

31 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

I have thought of something else. P&O actually had a 'formal night', but there weren't any special activities. I saw some people - maybe 20% who had dressed up a bit with the men in suits. Other than that, P&O have their 'bianco' (white night where most people follow the theme) and back to school night where the younger ones dress in the theme. They have a party, on deck if weather permits.

No way am I getting dressed up for school night, I couldn't get out of school clothes quick enough 63 years ago, not about to do it now.

Besides I would look silly in short pants and blue shirt and cap.

Hang on my cruise clothes don't look much different than that......😱

Edited September 3, 2022 by Ozwoody

[CCC's]

17 hours ago, Aus Traveller said:

 

Unfortunately I didn't open the second envelope waiting for us outside our cabin until we were leaving the room to go to dinner. I had booked us into the Waterfront restaurant for early dining (starting 5pm to 5.45pm) for the whole cruise. The letter from P&O helpfully told us we were booked at 7.15pm, at the Waterfront on day one, then Angelo's, then Dragon Lady (we aren't fond of Asian food), and so on for the seven nights. I decided to just front up at the Waterfront and smile nicely as I said that we had a booking. 

Hi.  Thanks for your excellent review.   Just one question..... were you able to book Waterfront prior to embarkation?  I have read somewhere that it can only be done when you are actually on the ship.   Hope you can clarify for me.   Many thanks. 

[Aus Traveller]

5 minutes ago, CCC's said:

Hi.  Thanks for your excellent review.   Just one question..... were you able to book Waterfront prior to embarkation?  I have read somewhere that it can only be done when you are actually on the ship.   Hope you can clarify for me.   Many thanks. 

Pre-COVID we could only book the Waterfront restaurant after we boarded, but now the system has changed. On P&Os VeriFLY system, there was the option of 5.00-5.45 or 7.15-8pm - virtually early or late sitting. I opted for the earlier timeslot, planning to arrive at the dining room around 5.40pm. However, somehow that didn't work out as we were allocated late dining. 

 

When we arrived at our cabin, one of the envelopes in the letter-box outside the door had a letter with the dining times etc. If it isn't what you want, simply front up at the Waterfront restaurant to have it changed. They are open from 12noon to 2pm for lunch on embarkation day. 

 

Similarly, if you aren't happy with your waiters, or the area you are seated in, just ask at the front desk of the restaurant to have it changed. There are a lot of new staff who are rather slow. Our senior waitress had been on the Pacific Jewel and she was excellent. Her Junior Waiter was also quite OK.

[joejoe 59]

On 9/3/2022 at 2:41 PM, Aus Traveller said:

In an earlier thread I detailed the frustration of dealing with P&O's VeriFLY system. I shouldn't have bothered. Some practical information about the Encounter.

 

Embarkation - Our boarding was to be at 12.30 but we decided to go a bit earlier. When the doors to the terminal opened at 11am there was quite a queue outside. People were allowed inside in groups of maybe 15-20 at a time. Before we entered the terminal the 'door person' asked to see our E Ticket (yes - P&O still have them). Someone told me that they had to dig out the paper version as the version on their phone wasn't accepted.

 

Upstairs to check-in. No-one asked to see the paper copies of our vaccination certificates. Even though we had taken the mandatory RAT test the previous day and photographed them as instructed, no-one asked if we had taken the test or asked for proof. Other passengers reported the same. Although we had up-loaded photographs of both of us onto VeriFLY, we had photos taken again at check-in. I had the impression that the VeriFLY was a total waste of time and effort.

 

Onto the ship. Outside our room (14303) there were two envelopes. One held our cruise card (yes - the old style cruise card) and the other one held a letter with our dining bookings. More about that later. We went to the Waterfront Restaurant for lunch (open 12 noon to 2pm). I asked if I should check that our dinner reservation was on their system and was told that it would be OK. It wasn't. Our luggage had arrived only half an hour after we had, so now I had to unpack.

 

Unfortunately I didn't open the second envelope waiting for us outside our cabin until we were leaving the room to go to dinner. I had booked us into the Waterfront restaurant for early dining (starting 5pm to 5.45pm) for the whole cruise. The letter from P&O helpfully told us we were booked at 7.15pm, at the Waterfront on day one, then Angelo's, then Dragon Lady (we aren't fond of Asian food), and so on for the seven nights. I decided to just front up at the Waterfront and smile nicely as I said that we had a booking. We had superb waitstaff. Dinner in the MDR is run virtually as the old style traditional dining. We had the same table every evening we were in the MDR and obviously the same waitstaff. However, they don't do 'share' tables. People are seated only with their own travelling party. There are a lot of tables for two, many of them close to another small table, but the staff often don't seat people so close together. Because my husband doesn't get out of bed early enough to go to the dining room for brekkie, often I had a lonely breakfast. On the second last morning I took a book.

Thank you for your great review, I loved reading all about the Encounter. I'm not going to bother with VeriFLY at all now. I have my eticket with barcode & haven't seen any info telling me to use VeriFLY.

[Aus Traveller]

Just now, joejoe 59 said:

Thank you for your great review, I loved reading all about the Encounter. I'm not going to bother with VeriFLY at all now. I have my eticket with barcode & haven't seen any info telling me to use VeriFLY.

You should be all good to go with your E Ticket. I can't see that VeriFLY helped at all in the embarkation procedure and it certainly wasn't used at all on board.

[AKAMum]

1 hour ago, Aus Traveller said:

You should be all good to go with your E Ticket. I can't see that VeriFLY helped at all in the embarkation procedure and it certainly wasn't used at all on board.

 

VeriFLY isn't designed to be used on board - there's a separate P&O-specific app to use on board, has your boarding pass, etc.

"VeriFLY is a free and secure health app available for Apple and Android devices, which is used by many travel destinations, airlines, and cruise companies to simplify the pre-travel process of completing COVID-19 requirements and documentation."

 

[Aus Traveller]

11 hours ago, AKAMum said:

 

VeriFLY isn't designed to be used on board - there's a separate P&O-specific app to use on board, has your boarding pass, etc.

"VeriFLY is a free and secure health app available for Apple and Android devices, which is used by many travel destinations, airlines, and cruise companies to simplify the pre-travel process of completing COVID-19 requirements and documentation."

 

That is  the point I was making. The VeriFLY system seemed to me to be a waste of time and effort. It wasn't used at embarkation and it isn't designed to be used on board. In this latter respect, it is different from the Princess Medallion although there it probably doesn't matter for the on-board use whether or not a person entered their info prior to the cruise.

 

I didn't come across any other P&O specific app to use on board, but then I wasn't looking for one.😄

[arxcards]

43 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

That is  the point I was making. The VeriFLY system seemed to me to be a waste of time and effort. It wasn't used at embarkation and it isn't designed to be used on board. In this latter respect, it is different from the Princess Medallion although there it probably doesn't matter for the on-board use whether or not a person entered their info prior to the cruise.

 

I didn't come across any other P&O specific app to use on board, but then I wasn't looking for one.😄

I agree, VeriFLY was largely a waste of time, as you still had to go through all the covid stuff at check-in anyway, as well as getting "security" photos retaken. I think the only use was for pre-loading your vaxx status so they could count you in the 95% of vaccinated travellers.

 

The P&O app was more useful. Not as complete as medallion, but you could view menus, book restaurants, communicate with others in your group, view the Pacific Daily and a few other bits.