Christmas on the Pearl - Review

We were on the inaugural voyage of the Pearl, and having seen some wildly differing views on the ship, thought I would chip in with our views. This is our 4th trip with P&O, but was our first in summer, the weather was fantastic with smooth blue seas and gorgeous temperatures – we WILL be cruising again in summer!!

Having just read what I am posting …you may see a big focus on food…. Food, Drink, and Relaxation are why we cruise and are critical to our overall enjoyment of the cruise!!!

The good..

Overall we loved the ship, the refurb has been done with taste and a lot of style. The balance of deck space to passengers was fantastic – the ship never felt crowded, and there was always somewhere quiet to sit and relax. The Bars were pretty much as expected, although we noted a slight rise in the price of drinks – this was mostly apparent with wine in the restaurants, on other cruises we have been able to find a Sauvignon Blanc we liked for $25 to $30 dollars, but on the Pearl we ended up at the $42 dollar level….

Our cabin was great, we chose an obstructed view on deck 8 and would choose this cabin again in a minute. Yes new décor would be nice but the overall size and amount of storage easily offsets any perceptions about a dated colour scheme. We were also pleased to find a fridge in the room – a first for us on P&O. Our cabin steward (Jose) was possibly the best we have had – particularly when dealing with some of the little issues that I will mention later..

The Food in Salt was exceptional – we ate their twice and it is easily as good as anything you would find on land. My highest recommendation for anyone eating here is to try the bone in rib-eye steak for two – over 1 kilo of the most tender, delectable meat you will ever eat, silver served tableside by the restaurant manager.

The Food in the Waterfront restaurant was a massive step up from the other P&O ships we have been on before – Xmas dinner in particular was very well done, Roast turkey with all the trimmings followed by xmas pudding Yum!. The layout of the restaurant was also very well done, even though it seats 800 you would never know it. The space is broken up so it feels more like a 100 seater…

The Food in the Grill (BBQ on deck 12) was also good – freshly grilled salmon fillet and salad for lunch, and bacon and egg rolls for breakfast stood out. They also had a selection of rolls at lunchtime (chicken, turkey, etc) that were great for a light, quick lunch..

Best of all the (pay for) coffee on board was fantastic (there is no better way to start the day than with a really good coffee!!) – easily the best we have had on a ship. They were even using fresh milk rather than the UHT stuff we have had in the past.

Xmas stuff – they pulled out all the stops on Xmas. Gingerbread villages, carols, Santa arriving, Xmas crackers and menus – it was fantastic for kids of all ages, and a superb way to spend Christmas day!!

The not so Good..

We expected a few “inaugural cruise” issues and were not disappointed… We are fairly laid back people but at times even our patience was tested..

The Pacific Daily was a mess – other ship names in sections, missing dining information and sometimes just “blank” spaces…..

The Food in the buffet was ok, but only if you ignored the food that was supposed to be hot – it was all cold, and this is something they will need to fix!!

The chefs in the Grill – I suspect being sent up to cook in front of passengers might be a punishment for naughty kitchen staff, they did not look or act like they wanted to be there.

Service in the Waterfront was a bit hit and miss – one lunch took 2 hours for 2 courses, the waiter just went AWOL for 45 mins…..

The Toilets – they had major issues all over the ship. We were without a loo for 24 hours, and it took a very polite tanty at reception to get the broken flush button replaced.

Air-con – again some major issues, we had one night at minus 300 degrees, but compared to some whole decks of cabins that had none at all. There were some very unhappy people – can you imagine trying to sleep in tropical conditions with no air (the temp in Vila was knocking 40!!).

But worst of all were the staff on reception. Current best practice in customer service is accountability and honesty (tell people if there are major issues, and take ownership of getting the problem fixed for them) and this was severely lacking in reception. They were only interested in “logging” the fault or problem and letting the correct department decide when to fix the issue. An example of this is on the last night at 3 in the morning an outside speaker broke off its bracket and was swinging on its cord, hitting our window with every movement of the ship – IT WAS LIKE BEING INSIDE A DRUM – this made sleep impossible. All reception would do is log a fault and have someone sent up in the morning – not a lot of help to us!!! We had similar attitudes over the toilet. P&O need to get onto this or it will cost them business in the long run.

Some of you will have noticed I haven’t mentioned the Cruise director – some things are best left alone!!

All of that said, will we cruise on the Pearl again ? YES… The ship is over all nice enough that it deserves another chance and we are hopeful that they will get the staff and systems bedded down. It is still a fantastic way to do Xmas….

Hi Rob99, I am glad that you had a good time. Thank you for your balanced review, hopefully they can sort out the teething problems soon then from what you've said she sounds like a lovely ship.

As for your last comment, some CD's are an aquired taste:eek:

Regards

Jenny

Thanks for the review,it was quite balanced and informative.One would expect P&O to fix the major problems fairly quickly

Ahhhh CruiseDirectors.We had Demo on our first 2 cruises and no matter how hard I try to stop comparing them ,I can't.IMHO he is still the best. :)

Thanks Rob for an awesome review...You have me intrigued about the cruise director now...perhaps a clue? :rolleyes:

Thanks Rob - it's great to hear those details first hand and your review sounds nicely detailed and balanced. It sounds like they did the Christmas aspect well, but still have work to do in the service department (which isn't the first time that's appeared).

Thanks for the great review. You 'told it like it was' and that is the most useful review in my opinion. Hopefully the problems will be sorted out soon. :)

Thanks Rob for an awesome review...You have me intrigued about the cruise director now...perhaps a clue? :rolleyes:

Jas, the CD is Zoltina-J Medwick-Daly. Apparently, you either love her or hate her. We had her once, and I found her quite OK for some laughs, but then we only saw her at the shows. (We are not the kind of people who get upset if we don't see the CD walking all round the ship talking to people, although apparently some people like the CDs to do that.) :rolleyes:

Rob99,

Thank you your interesting review.

Sorry about the problems you encountered.

Thank you for the great review.

Thanks for the great review. You 'told it like it was' and that is the most useful review in my opinion. Hopefully the problems will be sorted out soon. :)

It would seem the older ships do have problems with the toilet system. I recall when we cruised on her as Arcadia in 1998, we were woken up in the middle of the night with a machine running outside the cabin. The neighbouring cabins toilet had overflowed and they were using a wet/dry vacuum to soak up the water.....

When I stuck my head out the cabin door to see , and ask what was going on , the staff said...

"No problems sir, just shampooing the carpet":eek:

Thank you for a balanced review...however I was alarmed at the cold 'HOT' food...that is serious. Food not kept or stored at correct temperatures is just asking for an outbreak of food poisoning.:eek:

I guess like the Jewel the initial teething problems will be sorted out fairly quickly.

yes Zoltina-J has been comfermed by my on board source and the band Hit Machine.

I believe I have already informed Jas that Zoltina-J is the current CD on the Pacific Pearl.

Great Review! Enjoyed reading it for balance and perspective.

yes Zoltina-J has been comfermed by my on board source and the band Hit Machine.

by the way great review Rob and glad to see you had a great time.

Thanks for the review,it was quite balanced and informative.One would expect P&O to fix the major problems fairly quickly

 

Ahhhh CruiseDirectors.We had Demo on our first 2 cruises and no matter how hard I try to stop comparing them ,I can't.IMHO he is still the best. :)

How true this is, every cruise director since Demo seems like they're doing a real dud job.

Not having Demo as the CD makes comparing entire cruises seem hard :p

Good review, seems like the Pearls keeping in line with the Dawn and Jewel having its fare share of problems to begin with.

Good, honest review, Rob. I like your attitude. Even though there were problems, you are more than willing to give it another try.

As for the cold "hot" food......this is why I don't like buffets at all (either at sea or on land) and we always eat in the dining room when on a cruise.

Sandy, you will only see Zoltina at the shows. On our back to back cruises in Sept, we were half way through our second cruise and hadn't been to a show. DH asked me if she had go back on board for the second cruise as he hadn't seen her.

Cruiselover, we too had Demo on our first cruise and he is certainly hard to beat. We have since seen him on 2 cruises at the sit down comedy club but persoanlly, I don't think he's all that good at that.

I believe I have already informed Jas that Zoltina-J is the current CD on the Pacific Pearl.

Thanks Sandi! Yeah i have heard of her through the threads...PS How awesome are our countdown clocks looking :p I wonder if Cheryl enjoyed her cruise?? :)

Thanks Sandi! Yeah i have heard of her through the threads...PS How awesome are our countdown clocks looking :p I wonder if Cheryl enjoyed her cruise?? :)

Hmmm, Jas, I haven't seen any posts from Cheryl for a while! Hope she is OK. Then again, I haven't visited here as much as I used to.

Time is flying by now - finally getting around to sorting out shore tours! :)

Are you allowed to take some soft drink on board with you.

Thanks.

Cruiselover, we too had Demo on our first cruise and he is certainly hard to beat. We have since seen him on 2 cruises at the sit down comedy club but persoanlly, I don't think he's all that good at that.

Yes I can understand that.He was brilliant at being on the stage for a short time.It's hard to actually do a comedy routine.Still he was a great introduction to cruising.

Are you allowed to take some soft drink on board with you.

 

Thanks.

P&O allow you on their other ships, so the Pearl would be the same.

Are you allowed to take some soft drink on board with you.

 

Thanks.

Yes sheep, you can take your own soft drink & bottled water aboard

Are you allowed to take some soft drink on board with you.

 

Thanks.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1326774

ok please dont think me silly as i have only been on one cruise, but what does the cruise director do and why does everyone put so much emphasis on this person etc?

i have no idea what everyones talking about!

also for the captains cocktail night someone mentioned you had to have cruised before to get invited?

i have cruised before but p and o apparently have no record of me ever being onboard on one of their ships lol!

ok please dont think me silly as i have only been on one cruise, but what does the cruise director do and why does everyone put so much emphasis on this person etc?

i have no idea what everyones talking about!

also for the captains cocktail night someone mentioned you had to have cruised before to get invited?

i have cruised before but p and o apparently have no record of me ever being onboard on one of their ships lol!

The Cruise Director is in charge of all passenger activities and entertainment and (in my opinion) makes the difference between a good cruise and a great cruise.

To be invited to the captain's cocktail party, passengers need to have sailed on P & O previously and also fill out the form in their cabin. P & O don't access their records to work out who to invite to the party. Sorry if you missed out on the past passenger party.