Was anyone on the stormy Pacific Sun Cruise that arrived back in Sydney on 9 June?

[Neilius]

I was wondering if anyone had any news or reviews about the Pacific Sun cruise that had to go through that rough storm before arriving back in Sydney last Saturday?

[SouthAussie100]

Hope somebody that was on the Sun in those conditions gets around to putting something here. I was looking forward to the reviews !

[Teegiee]

Hope somebody that was on the Sun in those conditions gets around to putting something here. I was looking forward to the reviews !

 

same here!

[aussiedisneyfan]

Can't help you there but have had an email from luckyone77 and she was on the one that left Saturday. Here is how she is going.

 

Just letting you know that we made it on board and are safe and well. We both felt a bit unwell on the first night, so turned in about 8:30pm and had some Phernergan tablets to knock us both out. We were caught in 10m swells with 5-6m waves on top of it that night! Luckily we have both been fine ever since then.

[qld cruiser]

Hi cruiser, had friends on board, (they are not CC'S)

arrived back last saturday.

said it was rough ....some front cabins had tv's fall to floor.

one young lady fell and broke her ankle

if I get any other news from them, I will let you know

kind regards, Lorraine:) :)

[new 4 cruise]

We took the kids in to see the ship last Saturday and walking through the terminal (to avoid the rain) there were plenty of people getting off that looked happy to be on solid ground.

[SouthAussie100]

We took the kids in to see the ship last Saturday and walking through the terminal (to avoid the rain) there were plenty of people getting off that looked happy to be on solid ground.

 

YES ! I definitely think it would be down on the knees and kiss the ground moment :eek:

[Riffraff]

Well I wasn't on that stormy cruise, (unfortunately), but all this talk about it has brought back many happy memories of my cruise on Pacific Sky back in July 2001. So I thought I'd write a review of my cruise or at least the last few days of it, to give everyone an idea of what it was like. (And so I can re-live it in my head!)

I'll do it over a couple of posts in case one gets lost or I crash the system.

Feel free to grab a coffee during the comercial breaks....

 

We left Sydney on the 18th of July, my first cruise on Pacific Sky. There were 4 of us – and we were a real odd bunch. I suggested the cruise to my mother, having been on Fair Princess with her a few years before. We got a good deal for a 4 berth cabin, so we invited along my mothers best friend as well. And for some reason best known to her, my mother also decided to invite an old flame she had recently met up with again after several decades. (Names will be changed to protect the innocent) :) She said that she was curious to see if they could still get along. In hindsight, it might have been better just to have lunch with him – rather than spend 11 days on a ship with him – but anyway, it seemed (to her) a good idea at the time.

I’d never realised how much fun (and how easy) it was to ‘hide’ from someone on board ship:D ! Especially on Sky, which had easy access across the ship in several places on Promenade deck. It was very convenient to be able to cut through Legends bar, or duck into the duty-free shop, or across in front of the photo shop. Don’t get me wrong though, mum’s friend was a nice guy and we all did have a wonderful time. It was all in fun.

The cruise went straight to Port Vila from Sydney, which meant sailing through the Havannah-Boulari passage in daylight which was great.

Then we went to Lifou, Isle of Pines, Noumea, and then back to Sydney.

I can’t remember a lot now (after 6 years – is this a record for the longest time between the cruise and a review?!) of the details of what happened in each port, except for walking to the white church on top of the hill at Lifou, and going on the shore tour to Luceila Beach on a hair-raising ride in the bus seeing the mixture of light blue houses (why were they all light blue?) and more traditional grass huts along the way.

 

We’d had really good weather all cruise, and by the time we left Noumea and headed back for Sydney we were all very relaxed. There was the usual tinge of sadness that the cruise was nearly over. We went to bed on Friday night after we’d put our packed luggage out to be collected, ready to disembark at Darling Harbour in the morning. I was planning on waking up early and going on deck to see us sail into Sydney harbour.

As we went to bed I noticed that the water was getting a little bit rougher than it had been. But during the night, it got worse. :eek:

More soon...

[Riffraff]

I woke up several times during the night to listen to the noises the ship was making, and I could feel it was definitely getting rougher. But the motion made it so easy to fall asleep again.

I had the upper bunk, and was able to lie in bed and look out the window. When I woke up in the morning, I was surprised to feel that we were still moving! I looked out the window and discovered that we were still at sea, and there was no sign of land. Not only that, but the sea was the roughest I have ever seen it – the crest of the waves was level with our cabin window – we were on Caribe deck. (That’s the deck in the yellow stripe.)

I went for a walk up on deck and soon discovered that there was no sign of land anywhere. Walking was difficult – everyone who was walking around was banging into walls. All the plastic furniture on the back deck was stacked up and tied down, and the area out the back was roped off so you couldn’t get there..you could only walk down the outside along the side – but not many people were game enough to do that. All the doors leading outside had signs on them warning of the extreme weather if you ventured outside, to be very careful.

I went back to the cabin and we all went down to the restaurant for breakfast, which was being served as normal. While we were having breakfast, the captain made an announcement to all the passengers. He said that due to the bad storm, Sydney harbour was closed and there was no way we would be allowed in. They had no reports of when it would be re-opened, and so the plan was to continue to sail south. I think from memory the plan was to make for Melbourne, unless Sydney port opened again before we were too far south. The captain also said it was unlikely the port would be open until the next day. He advised us that the cruise staff were working to put together another day’s activities and that there were more than enough supplies on board of food and drink.

He also told us that P&O head office in Sydney were currently working through the passenger lists, contacting all the emergency contacts that we had advised them of before boarding and advising them of the situation and that we would be at least a day late.

(This lead to a very interesting conversation in the show lounge between one of our party on her mobile talking to her ‘emergency contact’ (partner) and explaining why she hadn’t told him she was actually going on a cruise when she said she was ‘going to Sydney’ – but that’s a whole other story!) :D

Shortly after this announcement the cruise director came on (can’t remember who he was now) and explained what activities would be on. Considering that by this stage at least half the passengers and doubtless some of the crew as well were seasick, they did an extremely good job of coming up with activities for another day at sea. The whole day was basically ‘more of the same’ – repeats of things that had been on earlier, but that was OK because it was still a good mix of things. Unfortunately because they had closed the night before and done their stocktaking and accounts for the cruise, none of the shops except the kiosk were open. As the day wore on, looking into the shops looked like more of a disaster area. One of the large glass doors into the duty free shop broke it’s hinges, and in the shops the stock was thrown off the shelves and lying in a real mess on the floor.

As the day wore on more and more people were looking less and less well…

Lunch was served as normal, and again it was really nice. It was a repeat of the day’s menu from one of the first few days of the cruise.

I spent the day wandering around the ship, watching the crashing waves and enjoying the excitement of the storm, and feeling sorry for the people sitting or lying on the floor in the main lounges. When I ventured down to Dolphin deck, I could see on the stairs the end of the queue of people waiting for the medical centre to give them the magic injection – (apparently it works really well). My mother and her friend were feeling a bit queasy, they were not too keen to hear my graphic descriptions of what the ship was doing and how many people were sick!

It was difficult to stand anywhere without holding on to something. And the best place of all to be (for me) was the Horizon Lounge. With the windows facing out over the bow, you could see all the troughs and crests of the waves. I wish I’d had a video camera. As the ship would go over a crest, you’d see the huge trough behind it, and then the bow would plunge down and the waves would crash up on either side of the bow, and cover the Horizon Lounge windows. Then Sky would give a shudder as she came out of the water and the bow headed skywards over the next wave. And that was how it was for the whole day! We could, by this stage, make out land on the starboard side of the ship.

 

Part 3 to follow...

[Riffraff]

Sometime in the afternoon the captain came on to say that we were turning back to Sydney. The announcement also came with a serious warning. During the turn, all passengers should go to their cabins where their lifejackets are handy, and remain there until the turn is complete. The captain would announce when the turn was starting, and when it was complete.

When it started we all went down to the cabins, but there was no need to worry because it was only a few minutes later he announced the turn was complete and we were once again heading for Sydney! Once on deck we could see the land had indeed switched sides.

We had dinner in the restaurant – it was only about half full. I can’t actually remember if there was a show or not – I think the entertainers had organised another passenger talent show or karaoke, or something like that.

The next morning, Sunday, the sea was still rough, but not quite so bad. We went to the back of the ship and watched a large container ship following us, battling his way through the waves.

As we got closer to Sydney virtually all the passengers were up on deck lining the railings – all still wearing what they had had on the day before of course, since the luggage was all stowed below. The Channel 9 helicopter flew overhead a few times, as did 7...everyone waved.

Once we were through the heads it got even calmer still, and we finally cruised past the Opera House and under the bridge back to Darling Harbour. I can’t remember what time we berthed, but probably around midday or early afternoon.

Despite the fact she looked a mess and had minor damage, I thought Pacific Sky handled the storm really well. The whole experience really cemented my affection for her. As well as the broken shop door, there was a smashed window on Promenade deck by the photo shop, and possibly one in the Pizzeria, and the small radar and flagpole that she had at the front of the bow had been ripped off – as well as the small railing around the flagpole.

As we disembarked I saw the painters already busy at work giving her a fresh coat. Waiting at the terminal were busloads of passengers waiting for the cruise that should have left the day before – they had been put up in a hotel for the night. Once we were disembarked, had gone through customs and collected our luggage, we got on to the buses the others had got off and were taken to the same hotel. At the hotel there were airline representatives set up to re-schedule our flights home. I ended up arriving back in Brisbane on the Monday afternoon, so I only missed a day of work.

After I’d got back I sent an email to P&O complimenting them on the way the whole thing was organised, both on board for the extra day and the arrangements for when we got off. I thought they’d done a great job. On board, the Captain was great at keeping everyone informed and the cruise staff did a wonderful job of keeping everyone as happy as they could be. They needn’t have worried about me; I was having a great time, didn’t feel sick at all and was thoroughly enjoying the whole experience. That must have really annoyed my travelling companions! :)

I haven’t been through anything that rough since then – all the subsequent cruises have been really calm. I think even this latest Sun cruise wasn’t as bad as what we had – although it was probably close and I’m sure for most people it would have been bad enough!

[aussiedisneyfan]

Thanks for the ancient review. :) It sounded very scary. Like the story about the woman who "wasn't on the cruise".

[qld cruiser]

Hi riffraff, we too have been through storms and cyclones on board the Pacific Sky, and has I have mentioned before on CC. she handled rough weather like no other ship I have been on.

thank you for the review of your cruise.

kind regards, Lorraine:) :)

[i_love_cruising]

Riffraff,

 

What a great review!! Although I wouldn't have wanted to be on the Pacific Sky during THAT cruise, it would certainly have been an experience. I thoroughly enjoyed reading your review and hopefully someone will post about the Pacific Sun from last Saturday.

[AuzzieCruiser]

Apparently, a so called 'expert' who predicted last weekends floods, stated that the next big storm, which will be bigger than last weeks, will occur towards the end of October!!:eek: That just happens to be when I leave.:rolleyes: Would be my luck too for him to be correct!!:p

[Neilius]

Riffraff - great review. Many thanks.

[karmac]

My DH went through a similar experience on the Fairstar about 23 years ago. They were caught in a cyclone and couldn't go outside at all. They were outside Suva, unable to dock. He loved it. Was probably too drunk to even care:p (and he doesn't drink at all now).

 

 

I too loved the story about the woman that didn't go on a cruise. Busted big time hey????

Karen

[SouthAussie100]

loved reading your review Riffraff :) great job !

[Charlie Girl]

Hi cruise fan Please tell me the story of the lady who wasnt on ship must have missed it CHEERs

[SouthAussie100]

yes, Charlie Girl, I must have missed it too :confused:

[kaseyoz]

it just goes to show it is never too late for a review so anyone else need to write one, age doesnt matter. That was a great read.well done

 

I think the lady that didnt go on a cruise just told her partner she was going to sydney.....

[Skyrules]

I'll answer for Riff Raff, I know the story!

 

The lady in question wasn't on good speaking terms with her partner at the time,and she "forgot" to tell him she was going on a cruise. He knew she was going to Sydney (from Auckland) but I guess he wasn't clear on all the details.

 

She, perhaps stupidly, still put him down as her emergency contact and when the ship was delayed, P&O called him, leading to a heated call to her mobile phone, along the line of "I thought you said you were going to Sydney...... etc".

[karmac]

Just trying to get Skyrules' post to show.

 

KAren

[Skyrules]

Just trying to get Skyrules' post to show.

 

KAren

 

Thanks Karen, appears to be there now!

 

Kym

[DencruiserNZ]

Hi everyone

my partner and I were on this cruise and have only just arrived back in NZ last night. Luckily we decided to head to surfers after the cruise for some sun and warm weather. I will post a review of the whole cruise in about a week as you know what it's like. washing, work, etc

 

cheers

Den

[SouthAussie100]

Hi everyone

my partner and I were on this cruise and have only just arrived back in NZ last night. Luckily we decided to head to surfers after the cruise for some sun and warm weather. I will post a review of the whole cruise in about a week as you know what it's like. washing, work, etc

 

cheers

Den

 

I'll come and do your washing if it helps to get your review up quicker :D