Cruise virgins which ship?

I have been tasked with finding a short (2 or 3 day) cruise for friends who have never cruised before. I am not familiar with the P & O ships...generally speaking I am a Princess princess..however I dont want to rule them out since there are a few P & O cruises which fit the bill. I need suggestions for which ship...we are all in our 50's..pretty picky (well me anyway). But I have heard the entertainment is really good and on a voyage to nowhere thats a strong point.

All you experience P & O'ers which ship would you pick for my friends(and me) and why?

Sue

Probably Pacific Dawn or Pacific Jewel. They are both former Princess ships (although so is Pacific Pearl). The entertainment is fantastic on all P&O ships. I haven't be on either the Dawn or the Jewel but, from what I've heard, Pacific Dawn is the ship to sail on! :)

I have been tasked with finding a short (2 or 3 day) cruise for friends who have never cruised before. I am not familiar with the P & O ships...generally speaking I am a Princess princess..however I dont want to rule them out since there are a few P & O cruises which fit the bill. I need suggestions for which ship...we are all in our 50's..pretty picky (well me anyway). But I have heard the entertainment is really good and on a voyage to nowhere thats a strong point.

 

All you experience P & O'ers which ship would you pick for my friends(and me) and why?

 

Sue

Hi,

Having just come off a 2 day cruise on Pacific Sun today, I would NOT recommend the Sun. We have been on Pearl and had a great time and our next is on Jewel. We are a similar age. With Pearl and Jewel being larger ships, I think this makes a difference.

I know people love the Pacific Sun, but for us it was way too crowded!

Having sailed on Diamond Princess in November and December, I think you will find the food on P&O (in the Dining Rooms) great!:)

Very fond of Pacific Dawn. It has a huge DOME!. It is a happy ship with crew members on it preferring it to the Jewel, anyway. It's having a refurb and getting a big screen fitted in April - I'm looking forward to seeing what they do.

Don't chose the Sun or Jewel, both are kinda rubbish. The sun is far too run down now and is carries the same amount of passengers as the Dawn and Jewel which are twice the size. The jewel has been sorta destroyed because it has changed hands so often and kinda feels confused having had so many changes.

The Dawn is a nice ship. It seems as if very little has changed on board since its Princess days. Of course there have been great changes such as the dome and the new screen in april. The Pearl is also great it almost looks like a new ship, inside that is. It doesn't feel crowded at all and has the let amount of passengers in the P&O fleet.

Also the food and entertainment is better on P&O then Princess.

I have cruised on The Sun,Dawn and Pearl.I enjoyed all of them but I think I enjoyed the Pearl a little more.The only downside with the Pearl is the Marquee Theatre.You had to arrive early to get a decent seat.

But...I did like the Dome on the Dawn.Sorry,I am no help at all.

Regards Elaine.

Have sailed on Pacific Pearl and am sailing on Pacific Jewel in March. Totally agree we previous poster regarding the Marquee Theatre being inadequate and uncomfortable. As for the Pacific Jewel being confused because of so many name changes as mentioned by an earlier poster it seems a strange observation regarding a ship which does not appear on his completed cruise list, both Pacific Pearl and Pacific Jewel have had 4 other names their launch.Fair Majesty, Star Princess,Arcadia, Ocean Village then Pacific Pearl. Crown Princess, A'Resa Bluu, Alda Bluu, Ocean Village Two then Pacific Jewel. Iam sure that should you select Pacific Pearl you will be more than happy with the ship, the food and the whole experience.

I have cruised on Sun, Jewel & Dawn & loved all of them. It's been 6 yeras since we cruised on the Sun but we are back on her for 2 nights in 5 weeks and I can't wait. It will be interesting to compare her to the Dawn & Jewel. A lot would depend on where you want to cruise from. With Dawn sailing from Brisbane & Jewel from Sydney, I peronally wouldn't be paying extra for airfare for a 3 night cruises when both ships are basically the same. Just my opinion of course.

We have just done a 3 nighter on Rhapsody (our first mini cruise) and we had a great time. Beautiful ship but there were a few things that I preferred with P&O and entertainment was one of them.

Just remember, if you decided on P&O, the shows & food will be pretty much the same no matter which ship so go for whichever is most convenient.

If reviews are anything to go by Pacific Dawn is getting plenty of votes. Decisions decisions!

Hey rugbypopsie, I noticed in your signature that you were on Star Princess in 2006. Was that before or after the fire?? (hopefully not during)

I have been on all ships in the fleet and have recently completed two mini cruises on Royal Caribbean. If I was doing a mini cruise, my vote would be for Pacific Pearl. It has the nicest Oasis area in the fleet (adults only area), great swim-up bar, gorgeous waterfront restaurant, dome etc etc etc. P&O usually have a jam packed pacific daily and their entertainment is fantastic (unlike Royal Caribbean - their shows are terrible :(). The food in the restaurant is great but I found the food in the buffet area to be very simple and bland :rolleyes:.

. P&O usually have a jam packed pacific daily and their entertainment is fantastic (unlike Royal Caribbean - their shows are terrible :().

Those female singers were terrible. Sounded like cats crying:eek:. The bald guy was ok though.

To answer Karmac I was on the Star 22nd Feb before the fire...lovely ship.

Brossy I am leaning towards taking them on the Radiance on the 15th November for the cruise to nowhere...I realise its not the full cruise experience but they have limited time and it was a nice ship...she's a health nut so I think she will appreciate the gym area...it never gets any custom from me.:D

However I have been impressed with the constant comments on how good the entertainment is on the P & O ships...its my one criticism of Princess the entertainment is either very good or very poor usually both on the same cruise...so I may give the Pacific Dawn a run sometime soon.

Sue

And, on the plus side, you still get cruise credits!

Have sailed on Pacific Pearl and am sailing on Pacific Jewel in March. Totally agree we previous poster regarding the Marquee Theatre being inadequate and uncomfortable. As for the Pacific Jewel being confused because of so many name changes as mentioned by an earlier poster it seems a strange observation regarding a ship which does not appear on his completed cruise list, both Pacific Pearl and Pacific Jewel have had 4 other names their launch.Fair Majesty, Star Princess,Arcadia, Ocean Village then Pacific Pearl. Crown Princess, A'Resa Bluu, Alda Bluu, Ocean Village Two then Pacific Jewel. Iam sure that should you select Pacific Pearl you will be more than happy with the ship, the food and the whole experience.

I don't think Cruise Ship Fan was referring to the number of incarnations that the ships have been through but the amount of changes since designed/built that they have been through.

Pacific Dawn remains largely as designed.

Pacific Pearl is also largely unaltered from her original launch as Sitmar Fairmajesty (I have a forward release Sitmar brochure which contains her original deck plans) with the exception of a large chunk of superstructure added over the sports deck to provide extra area for the kid's club which was added when she became Pacific Pearl.

Whereas the Jewel has had her Dome divided into numerous smaller rooms and converted to a spa during one of her previous lives to suit German tastes. This removes a large valuable public space and this would obviously make her feel a bit more crowded than her sister Pacific Dawn. I would like to eventually try them all:)

Have sailed on Pacific Pearl and am sailing on Pacific Jewel in March. Totally agree we previous poster regarding the Marquee Theatre being inadequate and uncomfortable. As for the Pacific Jewel being confused because of so many name changes as mentioned by an earlier poster it seems a strange observation regarding a ship which does not appear on his completed cruise list, both Pacific Pearl and Pacific Jewel have had 4 other names their launch.Fair Majesty, Star Princess,Arcadia, Ocean Village then Pacific Pearl. Crown Princess, A'Resa Bluu, Alda Bluu, Ocean Village Two then Pacific Jewel. Iam sure that should you select Pacific Pearl you will be more than happy with the ship, the food and the whole experience.

I may not of been on it but I have relatives who have been with me for almost everyone of my cruises, and they believe it is a confused ship. Also may other reviews I have heard have supported this. Its a ship that they refused to sail on again and they have been on some rough and ready ships.

The difference between the Jewel and the Pearl in the amount of name changes is the amount of money P&O spent on them. The Pacific Pearl was almost completely remodeled so the ship looks like one. While the Jewel had much less money spent on her and didn't go through as big of a change and therefore has a mixture of ships all in one.

I may not of been on it but I have relatives who have been with me for almost everyone of my cruises, and they believe it is a confused ship. Also may other reviews I have heard have supported this. Its a ship that they refused to sail on again and they have been on some rough and ready ships.

Don't take this the wrong way but they must be easily confused. What is confusing about it? I have cruised on her and didn't find anything confusing..........so now I'm confused:confused:

I may not of been on it but I have relatives who have been with me for almost everyone of my cruises, and they believe it is a confused ship. Also may other reviews I have heard have supported this. Its a ship that they refused to sail on again and they have been on some rough and ready ships.

 

The difference between the Jewel and the Pearl in the amount of name changes is the amount of money P&O spent on them. The Pacific Pearl was almost completely remodeled so the ship looks like one. While the Jewel had much less money spent on her and didn't go through as big of a change and therefore has a mixture of ships all in one.

I found the Jewel okay. Now the Sun, that's a confusing ship!

I found the Jewel okay. Now the Sun, that's a confusing ship!

Yes that is mixture of everything.

Don't take this the wrong way but they must be easily confused. What is confusing about it? I have cruised on her and didn't find anything confusing..........so now I'm confused:confused:

I don't mean they got confused I mean that the ship seemed to have many personalities. As some rooms were not as heavily changed as the pearl.

Pacific Pearl gets my vote. Have been on Pacific Dawn a few times but Pearl is just that bit better in my opinion. The dining room was just georgeous, so many areas to sit, never ever felt crowded. Top deck has lovely timber furniture and lounges outside coffee place on top deck. (not the plastic/metal) like on other P&O ships. As said the theatre is a bit of a shocker and the revolving doors out from the buffet to top deck is bit scary, they would have to be the only 2 negatives...... Loved Pearly, can you tell :D Fiona

Having sailed on the entire P&O fleet the Pacific Pearl is absolutely 100% hands down the best ship they have in their fleet.

Excellent staff, great public areas, heavily refurbished and the best entertainment staff. Only things I can possibly fault with the Pearl is it does creak a little bit more then other ships in the cabins in inclement weather and the theatre has an odd setup with poor sightlines.

Jewel, Dawn and Sun would all come in equal second as they have areas that they do exceptionally well and others not so well, the Pearl is just the most well rounded ship, particularly for a first timer!

I don't think Princess is the best cruiseline for a first timer really, they are a specific style of cruising most preferential to more 'mature' aged cruisers so to say.

RCI are pretty well rounded as well, if only they had better entertainment and more activities/ fun stuff during the day and night then they would definitely be the ideal choice as they have pretty much everything else perfect.

A definite NO to the Jewel on a shortey. You would hate it! It's crowded, it's overly noisey and the food is yuk :P

Dawn and Pearl - yes

I think they have settled for a shortie on the Radiance in November but the price will have to come down as it is way too expensive for two days to nowhere.

Sue

Enjoy your cruise tomorrow Rugbypopsie :)