DISMAYED about Cleanliness

[subaru94]

47 minutes ago, resordanis said:

Apart from this mess. How did you find Pacific Explorer in 2022. Not a mini suite, but say a balcony or o/v? The reason I am asking as we are considering a cruise from Cairns, but these photos concern me.Could not think of anything worse, than being on a for 10 days if the cabin looked like this.Also,I have a phobia with rodents too! Every time book,I change my mind! Appreciate your opinion.Cheryle

We were on Pacific explorer for 3 nights in December and really enjoyed the ship, our cabin was lovely, we are going back on her end of March for 4 nights.  

[resordanis]

7 minutes ago, subaru94 said:

We were on Pacific explorer for 3 nights in December and really enjoyed the ship, our cabin was lovely, we are going back on her end of March for 4 nights.  

Thank you. What cabin type did you have please?

[Aus Traveller]

2 hours ago, resordanis said:

Apart from this mess. How did you find Pacific Explorer in 2022. Not a mini suite, but say a balcony or o/v? The reason I am asking as we are considering a cruise from Cairns, but these photos concern me.Could not think of anything worse, than being on a for 10 days if the cabin looked like this.Also,I have a phobia with rodents too! Every time book,I change my mind! Appreciate your opinion.Cheryle

After reading Chengkp75's post above, I think you should feel reassured that the mess wasn't caused by rodents.

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, resordanis said:

Thanks, Solomon Islands and then perhaps Auckland or just one or the other.. Our son lives in Cairns and I wouldn’t consider otherwise, but seems a way to do both. Yes, I know the cabins are small, that is why we might just for an o/v. Not a fan of the metal balcony railing and feel the o/v might make the cabin a little larger? Seems so long since we sailed on the old Sun Princess, but that is what i seem to remember.

Appreciate your input.

From what I recall of the deck plans the o/v cabins are no larger and there are two types of o/v - ones with the bed under the window and some on a higher deck that is the same layout as a balcony cabin with the bed facing fore/aft. 

 

I liked the balcony cabins on Sun Princess. The metal railings certainly didn't give as good a view as the more modern glass ones but there was better shade from the hot sun.

[arxcards]

51 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

From what I recall of the deck plans the o/v cabins are no larger and there are two types of o/v - ones with the bed under the window and some on a higher deck that is the same layout as a balcony cabin with the bed facing fore/aft. 

 

I liked the balcony cabins on Sun Princess. The metal railings certainly didn't give as good a view as the more modern glass ones but there was better shade from the hot sun.

And the ones on decks 9, 10, 11 have much larger windows.

[OzKiwiJJ]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

And the ones on decks 9, 10, 11 have much larger windows.

I never actually got to cruise in one. I had one booked on Sea Princess after swearing I would never do another cruise in an inside cabin on a Sun class ship again, then Covid came along, cruising got cancelled, then they sold the ship.😪

[resordanis]

3 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

From what I recall of the deck plans the o/v cabins are no larger and there are two types of o/v - ones with the bed under the window and some on a higher deck that is the same layout as a balcony cabin with the bed facing fore/aft. 

 

I liked the balcony cabins on Sun Princess. The metal railings certainly didn't give as good a view as the more modern glass ones but there was better shade from the hot sun.

Think we will go with a balcony,  it a great difference in price. Thanks for the information. Only had a couple of o/v but I do remember on the old Pacific Jewel or Pearl (not sure which one), I regretted have a balcony when I saw the size of the ocean views.

[Amaroo Andrew]

On 3/1/2023 at 12:42 PM, kent05 said:

We disembarked P&O Pacific Explorer recently. Attached are photos of what we found behind the curtains in our room. The holes in the wall, possible vermin debris and towel animal had been there a long time. 

The matter was reported to management, but this is appalling in COVID recovery times.

Would it be possible to explain which part of the cabin it is in these 2 photos? What was in place to cover the mess?

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, Amaroo Andrew said:

Would it be possible to explain which part of the cabin it is in these 2 photos? What was in place to cover the mess?

the OP will have to come back on and explain where the mess was. From the photos it appears to be in the very narrow space between the desk/dressing table and the balcony doors. I have come to this conclusion because of the glass shown in the second photo and the curly cord (probably from the hair drier) shown in the top photo. If I am correct, this is a space where no-one would normally look and certainly no-one would walk.

[resordanis]

Love to know the outcome.?

[RosieCanberra]

OMG I've never seen anything like that on any cruise. Yikes!

[LittleFish1976]

31 minutes ago, Aus Traveller said:

the OP will have to come back on and explain where the mess was. From the photos it appears to be in the very narrow space between the desk/dressing table and the balcony doors. I have come to this conclusion because of the glass shown in the second photo and the curly cord (probably from the hair drier) shown in the top photo. If I am correct, this is a space where no-one would normally look and certainly no-one would walk.

It looks like two separate messes in the two photos. I wonder what was under the towel - there was possibly a reason it was put there in the first place.

[Aus Traveller]

1 minute ago, LittleFish1976 said:

It looks like two separate messes in the two photos. I wonder what was under the towel - there was possibly a reason it was put there in the first place.

I agree - two separate spots. I suspect the towel animal has fallen down and the cabin steward hasn't cleaned the corner sufficiently to see it.

 

I would like to know if this was brought to the attention of a Housekeeping Supervisor (I would have) and what the response was.

[kent05]

33 minutes ago, Amaroo Andrew said:

Would it be possible to explain which part of the cabin it is in these 2 photos? What was in place to cover the mess?

Aus Traveller is right - The photos are of two separate areas in corners of the wall and sliding door along the balcony, hidden by the curtains.  My husband was looking for power outlets to connect our C-Pap sleeping machines. As we have health issues, good quality air is crucial. The filthy areas were reported to head of Housekeeping. It took 3 hours to resolve relocating us from midship to stern and getting to bed at 12.30am. Housekeeping had no further contact or follow up. Accidents can happen, but this had been there a long time. In COVID times when cleanliness is promoted by a Company, this is not good enough. We have done 15 prior cruises and never experienced something like this.  

[OzKiwiJJ]

8 minutes ago, kent05 said:

Aus Traveller is right - The photos are of two separate areas in corners of the wall and sliding door along the balcony, hidden by the curtains.  My husband was looking for power outlets to connect our C-Pap sleeping machines. As we have health issues, good quality air is crucial. The filthy areas were reported to head of Housekeeping. It took 3 hours to resolve relocating us from midship to stern and getting to bed at 12.30am. Housekeeping had no further contact or follow up. Accidents can happen, but this had been there a long time. In COVID times when cleanliness is promoted by a Company, this is not good enough. We have done 15 prior cruises and never experienced something like this.  

Thanks for the update. Yes, disgustingly poor given the current cleanliness requirements. I hope your new cabin was nice.

 

We just discovered this year that we really enjoy aft cabins - we get lots of exercise walking to and from midships dining and bars. 🤣

[subaru94]

9 hours ago, resordanis said:

Thank you. What cabin type did you have please?

We had a mini suite, this cruise we will have an oceanview.

[MicCanberra]

That is horrible, cant think why that mess was not seen regularly.

[resordanis]

1 hour ago, subaru94 said:

We had a mini suite, this cruise we will have an oceanview.

Thank you. No minis on offer, so might do a balcony guarantee. $475 each for 6 nights + $100 obc.(which I think is the military credit). Anyway will look at it again tomorrow. Airfares are much more unfortunately.

Edited March 2, 2023 by resordanis

[Aussieflyer]

If I am correct, Explorer is the old Dawn Princess - that is a ship I would avoid at all costs - the layout is weird with dead ends in passageways and there was certainly a pervasive sewerage type odour in some areas when we sailed on her as DP. Sun Princess, as one of the three 'sisters' was similar. I could not even contemplate a long cruise on one of the old sisters. From what I have read, the old HAL ships that moved to P&O (Aria and ?) are better.

It is funny to me that many people seem to love the old Dawn, Sea and Sun, but then that is what makes life interesting.

Edited March 2, 2023 by Aussieflyer

[OzKiwiJJ]

39 minutes ago, Aussieflyer said:

If I am correct, Explorer is the old Dawn Princess - that is a ship I would avoid at all costs - the layout is weird with dead ends in passageways and there was certainly a pervasive sewerage type odour in some areas when we sailed on her as DP. Sun Princess, as one of the three 'sisters' was similar. I could not even contemplate a long cruise on one of the old sisters. From what I have read, the old HAL ships that moved to P&O (Aria and ?) are better.

It is funny to me that many people seem to love the old Dawn, Sea and Sun, but then that is what makes life interesting.

P&O no longer has the old HAL ships. The three ships currently in operation are all ex-Princess ships - Dawn, Golden and Star.

 

We cruised on all three Sun class ships and, yes, Dawn was the worst but that may have been because she was winding down her Princess time. Sun was a bit odd as it had modifications for the Japanese market. We really enjoyed Sea and were sad to see her leave the Princess fleet. 

[arxcards]

9 hours ago, Aussieflyer said:

If I am correct, Explorer is the old Dawn Princess - that is a ship I would avoid at all costs - the layout is weird with dead ends in passageways and there was certainly a pervasive sewerage type odour in some areas when we sailed on her as DP. Sun Princess, as one of the three 'sisters' was similar. I could not even contemplate a long cruise on one of the old sisters. From what I have read, the old HAL ships that moved to P&O (Aria and ?) are better.

It is funny to me that many people seem to love the old Dawn, Sea and Sun, but then that is what makes life interesting.

For their era, I quite liked the Sun class sisters, but their time has almost passed. The 4th sister. Oceana, was looked after by P&O UK and more highly regarded. The other three sisters are still laid up. If Explorer didn't have an expensive makeover just before the lockdowns, she could well be in the same boat. Another couple of years should see another castoff announced to take her place.

 

Those ex-HAL Eden and Aria were really comfortable and nicely laid out ships, even though Eden already had many signs of old age when she arrived. Eden and Aria were both older than Sun/Dawn/Sea Princess that had already been here for several years.

 

[MicCanberra]

Those Hal ships had larger cabins compared to the Princess ships.

[arxcards]

13 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

Those Hal ships had larger cabins compared to the Princess ships.

Yes, much nicer cabins all round.

 

PS, I was thinking Volandam or Zaandam would make a nice replacement for Explorer, but they are getting long in the tooth too.

Edited March 2, 2023 by arxcards

[kent05]

On 3/2/2023 at 7:32 PM, Aussieflyer said:

If I am correct, Explorer is the old Dawn Princess - that is a ship I would avoid at all costs - the layout is weird with dead ends in passageways and there was certainly a pervasive sewerage type odour in some areas when we sailed on her as DP. Sun Princess, as one of the three 'sisters' was similar. I could not even contemplate a long cruise on one of the old sisters. From what I have read, the old HAL ships that moved to P&O (Aria and ?) are better.

It is funny to me that many people seem to love the old Dawn, Sea and Sun, but then that is what makes life interesting.

Thank you for your valuable comments. We had cruised on Dawn Princess in previous years - it is now time for a change. The words, "You get what you pay for" are relevant. We will do better research in future as all cruise lines povide different experiences.