Pacific Jewel vs Sun Princess

Hi all,

My husband and I have booked a cruise on the Pacific Jewel for us and our 2 children (aged 7 and 9). Since booking I have heard not great things about P&O cruises. I was wondering if anyone has travelled on both of these ships that can give me their honest opinion/comparison on the two ships.

Also, can anyone give me an up to date idea of how much drinks cost on board the Pacific Jewel? I have just seen the announcement that we can no longer bring our own bottled water and can only bring limited cans of soft drink so was wondering about both alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverage prices.

TIA

Bec :)

Welcome to Cruise Critic dame_coco_bery :D

I would take any reviews of any ships with a gain of salt :)

We have just recently done a cruise with P&O on the Pacific Pearl and we had a great time.

We have done cruises on both the Pacific Jewel & Sun Princess and had a great time on both ships.

In my option P&O have much more fun then Princess.

For a young family, I would recommend P&O, as they really know how to look after the kids and you wont even see much of them :D

I will see if I got a drinks price list from our last cruise on the Pacific Pearl, and post it here.

Have a great time on your cruise and go with a open mind and have fun!! :cool:

I would agree with everything the PP said, in that P&O are more the fun ships. We have cruised on both ships and have also enjoyed both.

However, my wife and I prefer Princess as our children are now grown up and don't come with us too much any more.

One thing I can confirm is the drinks are more expensive on P&O than on Princess.

Enjoy your trip.

Have just been on pacific pearl and sailed the jewel couple of years ago and have to say had great time and the children we saw on board seemed to be having fun too. Have also sailed sun princess and that's fine too. Drinking water available free of charge in buffet so bring along own bottle to fill from there. Big bottles of water were $4.95. Not sure of soft drink prices as didn't buy any and alcohol ranged from $9 - $15 depending on what you wanted. Go with a positive attitude and don't let others views put you off. Have a great holiday.

Fletch, I don't know about ALL drinks being more expensive on P&O. We've just come off Pacific Dawn and most cocktails are cheaper than on Princess. :) Wine about the same. Can't speak for spirits or beer but my husband was drinking one kind for $5 or $5.50.

Some observations.........

We have enjoyed ALL of our cruises on both P&O and Princess however there are differences. There are some minor hiccups, but you find those on any holiday.

Staff great on both. They adore children - they miss the children they have left at home so they can provide them with a good education, etc.

Food good on both, but Princess have more choices, including lobster tails on the last formal night, free icecream and pizzas as well as special theme meals/desserts in the buffet!

We have found a mix of ages on both, but overall Princess tends to have more older people (who mostly still want to have fun!)

P&O have great kids' clubs and sailaways and larger cabins, especially the bathroom and dressing areas.

Princess has great loyalty perks, while P&O has none, although their cruises count towards Princess rewards.

I know some people who absolutely love the Jewel, so don't be swayed by other people's opinions. Generally, it is the unhappy people who complain more.

Whatever you choose, I hope you have a great time. (No cooking, cleaning etc! :D )

Nicely said, Sandy. I agree wholeheartedly with your comments. Drink prices are about what you would pay on a night out in town. Beer about $5-6.00, wine about $8.00 and cocktails from $9.00 to about $15.00. You will always find a winger and the anti P & O group are out there but if you try to enjoy yourself, you will have no problems with the Jewel.

Thanks everyone,

I'm feeling much better about it all now. Really looking forward to it again. Now just got to get past the seasickness worry lol :)

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Now just got to get past the seasickness worry lol :)

I recommend that you buy some Avomine. It is available at Chemist Warehouse - 30 tablets for $9.40 (last time I bought some). It is an antihistimine that works very well to prevent seasickness.

Have a great cruise. :)

Thanks Aus Traveller. I'll give it a go :)

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I agree with the others - if you go on any cruise ship with the right attitude, you will enjoy that cruise.

My wife & I haven't been on a P&O cruise yet (doing one out of Singapore in June next year) - We have cruised on Sun Princess in the South Pacific, and loved the ship & the cruise, we also cruised with Celebrity Millenium from Hawaii back through the Tahitian Islands, Suva & Noumea to Sydney, and some years ago, we cruised the Hawaiian Islands with Pride of America (NCL Line) which is probably our favouite, as it was our first ever cruise, and we love Hawaii so much. We fly there every 2 years, thinking of going back next year to Oahu for a week, then fly over to Las Vegas, then back to Oahu for another few days before flying back to Australia.

We have never cruised on P&O (will in June next year out of Singapore back to Brisbane - our very first P&O cruise, so I will put a post on our feelings after that cruise.

Our short cruising history - 1st NCL Pride of America around the Hawaiian Islands (Loved it, but it was our very first cruise ever, and we loved the Hawiian Islands also).

2nd Cruise - Sun Princess around the South Pacific - again, a very nice cruise, which we both loved.

3rd Cruise - Last year, flew to Hawaii, stayed 5 nights, then board Celebrity Millenium ship, which cruised back via Tahitian Island, Papeete, Mooree & Bora Bora, then Suva & Noumea, to Sydney, Australia....Not real fussed on numerous sea days crossing the Pacific Ocean, but loved the Tahitian Islands, just gorgeous people, customs, etc. As they say in Tahitian, Mar RuRu (which means thank you)

Our next cruise is on the Sapphire Princess in February 2015 starting & finishing in Singapore, visiting Vietnam, Thailand, etc.

Then the last cruise will be on the P&O Pacific Jewel out of Singapore in June 2015 (after a refit, etc) then visiting various ports in Indonesia, Dili, and PNG, finishing in Brisbane.....so this cruise will give us an idea of what P&O are really like? - I guess that's not fair, as we cruised on more upmarket cruise ships, before taking P&O. However, DW & I are not critical of any company, providing the service is "reasonable" (doesn't have to be over the top), and the people we socialise with & meet, are "nice" people, not bogan type, which unfortunately, we get here in Australia.