Just back from NYE cruise on Pacific Pearl

We have just got back from 12 night NYE cruise on Pearly. 27th dec - 8th Jan.

We have done quite a few cruises and the last few have been on RCCL. Haven't cruised on PO for a while. As we left it late the choices were limited (unless you wanted to pay a fortune) and as we can only have holidays at this time of the year, Pearly it was. I was a little worried as had read quite a few bad reviews, but I don't take much notice of them, so was looking forward to cruising on Pearl again. We booked (the only cat left) oceanview obstructed view guarantee. There were 4 of us. One couple received an upgrade to a disabled cabin :eek:

Biggest bathroom I have ever seen on a ship, and my husband and I were offered a paid upgrade to mini suite the week before sailing. So I can kind of say I had visit from the upgrade fairy, except we had to pay a bit to get it, so not sure if that counts. Lol. . Check in was easy, no probs. room was ready once we got onboard, room was spacious, with all the little perks of a suite, cabin was 11128 deck 11 (directly below the salt grill)

Food was fantastic, the buffet (or pantry as they call it now) still a buffet though was great, had excellent range, (never cold etc, as I had read in some reviews) never had any trouble getting table (95% of the time we were out on the back deck as there were many tables/chairs there, was great sitting out there. The dining room was wonderful as well. They call it anytime dining, but it's not really, we had choice of 5-30( I think, may have been 6, not 100% as never went early) or 8pm. We only went to the dining room a few times as we really enjoyed the buffet area, also went to Luna (Thai or Japanese) different nights for different cuisine, that was awesome, also went to Luke Managans Salt Grill for our anniversary, and we also did the Chefs Table, which was superb. We had done the chefs table on RCCL , they were so different but both excellent.

The entertainment as usual is the best on PO. Was fantastic. I really liked Gemma (the CD) but Will the assistant CD was the best, can see he will be a CD in the near future.

Tendering, can't really comment too much on that, as we had priority tender tickets so we just went off whenever we wanted to.. There were actually quite a few nice little perks in a suite :D. We received a fresh bowl of fruit daily, dressing gown and slippers, priority tendering, embarking and disembarking, canapés and deserts every 2nd day, a bath that you never use. Lol. ordered brekky to our room for our anniversary and there was n/c so guessing that was because of anniversary, they also put up balloons etc on door and we received a anniversary choc cake..

We had 3 theme nights. Back to school, the great gatsby, Bianco night (white night) white night was the most popular. They sold appropriate things at the shops if you didn't bring anything and wanted to join in.

Internet was a bit expensive. There were 3 packages, I got the big one as my daughter was with us and knew she would use. That was $100 for 250 min. The internet was very fast. Was only supposed to work in public areas but we got it from our room and balcony.

Movies on the big screen on top deck were great, so nice lying on a deck chair watching a movie out in the middle of nowhere.. One night they were screening Grease (with lyrics) so whenever the singing came in the words were on the screen, so everyone was singing away, was great.

Duty free gets delivered to your room if you purchase on the ship but if you purchase from Vila, you need to go and collect the morning of disembarkation, using your colour luggage tags as a guide for times. Another little perk, I forgot about was they delivered our duty free to room (from Vila)

Unfortunately on the way back to sydney we hit bad weather, I have been on many cruises and never, ever , have I been sick, actually prefer it when it rocks around lol. But, this time, I was very sick, am guessing it was because Pearly is a smaller ship and we felt it so much, like a cork bobbing around. Wasn't good. We didn't get back in to sydney until 4 ish, so as you can imagine, many cranky people who missed flights etc.. (Me inc. but that is why we have insurance) and it certainly wasn't PO fault, they can't control the weather, they were great in keeping everyone updated regularly, people that had the drinks package, they could use right up to when they disembarked , they put on heaps of entertainment and shows to keep everyone busy (those who weren't sick, that is :) and we didn't have to be out of our rooms till after 2.00, which was nice not to have to rush. This would be my first time I actually enjoyed coming into Sydney as it was at a reasonable hour and not early morning. Lol.

Phew, think that's about it. I just wanted to tell you all about our experience as I get so cranky reading bad reviews and people wingeing about their cruise. We had a great time, any cruise is great IMO..if anyone has any questions would be more than happy to answer if I can. Fiona :)

Great review, cheers for that. We only sailed on the Pearl for four nights but we had an absolute ball as well.

Rosie

Fantastic review Fiona! Great to hear you loved your time on the Pearl! [emoji4]

Thank you for that We are doing Pearl over to NZ this month and found your comments reassuring:D

Great review tassie cruiser :)

Its good to hear that P&O have not changed much on her yet!

A great, honest review with no complaints.......glad you had a great cruise!

Thank you for that We are doing Pearl over to NZ this month and found your comments reassuring:D

Are you doing the Sydney to Auckland 31st January? my son starts work with P & O Australia and is meeting the ship that day (flying from the UK) to be Pearl's new Video Producer on board - you can't miss him he is 6ft 4, answers to Sam and will be the one filming around the ship! Have a great time!:)

Do they have formal nights on ye olde Pacific Pearl, i.e. Tuxedo/dark business suit?

Enjoyed your review.

Keith

Cheers, great review and thanks for sharing.:D

Great review Fiona, thank you for taking the time to post.

There will always be some things that aren't perfect, but at the end of the day, it's important to enjoy your holiday which you've looked forward to :)

Glad to hear you enjoyed Salt Grill and Chefs Table, I'll be sure to enquire about them on my cruise :) Thank you again!

Do they have formal nights on ye olde Pacific Pearl, i.e. Tuxedo/dark business suit?

When we did the Pacific Pearl in May 2015, they had a formal night.

But when we did the Pacific Aria at Christmas, the formal night was quite different, but mind you we did not have our normal formal gear.