ceeceeDee

Yes, P&O tends to get a bad rap, but we have had several cruises with them over the years (the latest in late May this year) and honestly we have never had a bad experience. The ships are older (Princess 'cast offs' 😁) but that has never bothered us. We have also sailed on the mega, 'floating resorts' but we are still more than happy with little ole P&O. We have already booked our next cruise on Encounter and can't wait to get on board. Haven't sailed in an aft facing room yet, but it is on our 'to do' list. Just love watching the wake.

In our opinion, the Byron Beach Club is definitely worth it. In fact we have booked a Byron Mini Suite again for our next cruise. We cruised on Pacific Encounter. The area is on Deck 16 at the very front of the ship (amazing views) and is quite large and on two levels. Top level houses the bar, an under cover area (shade sails), semi glassed in which gives some protection from the wind, with lots of loungers, tables and chairs and cabanas. Most of the loungers (day beds) face outwards so you can lie back and enjoy the view. There are games like chess, giant jenga, etc. There are also loungers in an open area. The pool and spas are on the lower level On our last cruise the Club was never crowded and a really great place to relax and read a book The service is good, no fighting your way to the bar, drinks are delivered to wherever you are sitting and you can order food (for a charge) from Luke's Burgers or Pronto and it will be delivered to you Children staying in eligible suites are allowed in the Club area. Having said that, we only saw one family with small children in the Club once on our 7 day cruise. This may be different in school holidays, we'll find out on our next cruise, but have found in the past that most children tend to spend their time at the various kids' clubs Other perks we loved: Breakfast at Angelo's (restricted to Byron Beach Club passengers only and there is no upcharge for eggs benny. We had the same waiter every morning who quickly knew our preferences and the service was superb), canapes and a fruit basket delivered to the room every night from day two, priority embarkation and disembarkation and priority tenders, a glass of wine in the room on arrival, two complimentary large bottles of water and a coffee maker in the room (top quality coffee pods topped up daily), use of Byron Beach Club robes to wear during the cruise (you can't take them home) and P&O branded flip flops to take home We hadn't pre-booked our dining preferences prior to boarding and within 10 minutes of accessing our room a member of the maitre 'd staff was calling us on the room phone to assist with our dining bookings for the cruise That was our experience with a Byron room and we can't wait to do it again

How horrendous. We usually use a door to door transit service and it would have been an absolute nightmare, particularly if they took the phones and we couldn't contact our transportation to advise them of the situation and perhaps arrange to be collected at a later time.

A midship room on a lower deck would be the most stable. Avoid cabins at the front or stern as they experience the most motion.

We have also stayed at Royal on the Park and were very happy with it. We had a twin room (TWO queen beds!) and access to a shared terrace overlooking the Gardens. The room was spacious, well maintained and very clean. The buffet breakfast is also very good. It's a reasonably quiet location and an easy walk to the Queen Street Mall. Highly recommend it.

There is also a 'formal night' on P&O (probably just the longer ones?? We haven't cruised under 7 days). Not strictly enforced, but hubby usually dons a jacket and tie and I like to dig out the little cocktail number. Some people do likewise, others don't. Having been in shorts and t shirts all day, it's sometimes nice to glam up a bit at night. Totally our choice and I am definitely not casting aspersions on anyone who doesn't.

Don't know about a 'selection', lyndarra. I know they have Pepsi Max

There's always that old standby - the weather. When we were in Florida, Hurricane Dorian had just crossed the coast in the Carolinas so that was always on the conversational menu.

We found the social wi fi adequate. Just to touch base via email with the family and our pet sitter and for emergencies, such as our last cruise where there was a fire on Adventure and we wanted to reassure family that we weren't on that ship!). Other than that, we prefer to be off the grid. So far as drink packages go, it is a matter of doing the math to see if it is worth purchasing a package or just paying as you go. Everyone is different. Some people find the package worth it, others not so much. Also depends on how 'port intensive' the cruise is. If there are not a lot of sea days and you are planning on spending the majority of your time off ship in port, then a package probably isn't economical.

We only ate twice at the Waterfront for dinner (tended to go to Angelos and Dragon Lady) on Encounter. The beef with jus was melt in the mouth good. After reading so many negatives about the Waterfront I was surprised. The fish and chips at lunch was also excellent. Drinks packages are as follows: Soft Drinks Package: $10 per day per person (restricted to fizzy soft drinks and tonic water) Refreshment Package: $25 per day per person (soft drinks, juice blends, mocktails, bottled water, specialty coffee and tea) Premium Beverage Package: $99 per day per person - drinks priced up to $16. (Same as previous packages (but not specialty coffee and tea) but also includes beer, wines, spirits and cocktails) The Lot Package: $115 per day per person - drinks priced up to $19. (Same as previous packages but also includes specialty coffee and tea and energy drinks). Alcoholic drinks are limited to 15 drinks per 24 hour period, non alcoholic are unlimited. Packages can only be purchased pre cruise. All prices $AUD Wi fi packages are Premium $23 per person per day, Social Talk+ $18 per person per day, Social $12 per person per day.

We have sailed numerous times with P&O over the years, but have not cruised on Explorer. We have recently done a 7 day Great Barrier Reef on Encounter. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Keep in mind that P&O is a budget line so you certainly won't get all the bells and whistles. Yes, some dining options in the complimentary dining rooms come at an extra charge. However, it seems that most cruise lines are starting to nickel and dime. There is something of an uproar on line as there is a rumour that Royal Caribbean is considering charging for pizza! Sacre bleu!!!! Again, I don't know about Explorer, but on Encounter some categories of rooms have been partially updated. We had a Byron Mini Suite which had a bit of a facelift with the Byron livery (carpets, curtains, soft furnishing etc, but no change to the Princess bathroom - she's the old Star Princess). Our friends had a balcony room which looked as though it hadn't been updated (though it was clean and looked to be well maintained) and I think all categories have updated bedding. The refurbished public areas look great and in our opinion thoughtfully designed with plenty of seating. Explorer, Encounter and Adventure are all aging (20+ years apiece) so the old girls are showing their age in some respects. If you go in with reasonable expectations, you shouldn't be disappointed. As we always say, take a good time with you and that's what you'll have.

Just to clarify...... as I stated in a previous post, at this point in time if you are cruising to New Caledonia travel insurance covering Covid (and medical evacuation) is mandatory. From the P&O Australia website: The New Caledonia government requires that all visitors hold valid international travel insurance, which means if your cruise itinerary includes a call to New Caledonia, before you board, you must show printed proof of having valid international travel insurance. You may also be requested to present proof of insurance during the cruise. Any guest who is unable to provide proof of valid travel insurance on a cruise visiting New Caledonia, will be denied boarding.

Definitely ask your questions on the Australia and New Zealand board. By the way, P&O Australia cruises the South Pacific and the Great Barrier Reef year round.

Hi bugbuddybee, Aussie local here. As for the best time to cruise.... Are you planning on doing a cruise to Australia or doing one when you get here? As others have said, the 'best' time is somewhat subjective and is dependent on where you are thinking of going. If you can be a bit more specific, I'm sure other Aussie's will wade in with recommendations. By the way, travel insurance is highly recommended and New Caledonia in the South Pacific has made travel insurance mandatory if you were thinking of doing a South Pacific cruise.

P&O Australia states the following on their website: When you book your Shore Tours with P&O, you know you are getting great value. If you find the same tour for less elsewhere, we will offer a 110% of the price difference back to enjoy in the form of non-refundable onboard spending money. I can't comment further as I have never had to try to claim, but it would appear that at least one cruise line is not particularly over priced.

You're welcome, Lainie. Hope you have a fantastic time - we did! You'll probably find it a bit humid up Cairns way in October, so be prepared for a bit of heat.

You are correct, there are three theme nights - Bianco, Back to School and Gatsby. Sorry, I can't remember precisely what nights for the first two, but Gatsby was on the last night on the cruise we took to GBR at the end of May. I remember it was the same for just about every cruise we have sailed with P&O. The reason I distinctly recall Gatsby being the last night is that I was wishing it was earlier in the cruise so I wouldn't have to worry about fitting into my dress after all the delicious food on the cruise. 😂

Absolutely correct, Michael. The M1 category of mini suites (listed on website as Byron Mini Suites) do have the coffee maker. The MA category of mini suites have recently been changed in that you can opt to pay an extra fee (around $160-$190) on top of the standard room rate and get 'Byron Beach Club privileges'. I'm assuming the MA category does not have the Byron livery in the room and I'm not sure of the total scope of 'benefits' other than access to the Byron Beach Club (if anyone has sailed with the MA upgrade, I'd be really interested to know please) but I would think that the coffee maker would not be part of it as standard categories of mini suites don't have one and I can't see housekeeping putting coffee makers in rooms and taking them out again at 'turnaround' for MA suite passengers who didn't pay the upgrade.🙂

Hope you had a great time on your recent cruise, Mic. Less than two months to your next one!!! Magic! The clock is barely ticking on our next one - 489 days. Cheers, CeeCee

I can't comment on the other lines, but P&O Australia apply the responsible service of alcohol and limit number of drinks to (I think) 15 per day regardless if you have a package or if you charge to your cruise card. Never happened to us, but they also used to put a limit on the number of drinks per hour. Not sure if they still do as we have never been refused service. They also breathalize adult participants in adventure activities such as on board zip line, rock climbing, etc. to ensure they are under the blood alcohol limit.

We sailed mid September 2019. Hurricane Dorian was hovering around the Caribbean when we flew out of Australia. We weren't sure whether or not our cruise would go ahead since Miami was said to be in the path. However, by the time we changed planes at Houston, Dorian had veered away from Miami so the cruise went ahead four days later as scheduled. There was damage to some of the islands (including Coco Cay), but we still had a great time. Yes, the weather was hot but we are somewhat acclimatized as we live in Queensland which ranges from a tropical to a sub tropical climate. Would we do the Caribbean in September again? Absolutely.

Do give P&O a go. We've sailed RCL (Symphony of the Seas) so we do know about all the bells and whistles, but to be honest we prefer the much maligned P&O. Sailed with them multiple times and never had a bad experience. Sure, it's not perfect but definitely doesn't deserve the disparaging reviews.

Poor P&O tends to get a bad rap. We've cruised with them multiple times and never had a bad experience.

If it's a ship I haven't been on before, I like to watch a cabin tour of the category I have booked/interested in booking. Just so I know what the facilities are like. As for 'exploring the ship', I'll do that once on board.

As others have said, people are very quick to complain and not so quick to praise. I've read disparaging reviews from people who have been on the same ship on the same cruise as we were, complaining about just about everything. I'm left scratching my head wondering if I am in a parallel universe! Rude crew (we found them extremely efficient, accommodating and pleasant), shabby room (we were in the same category and it definitely wasn't shabby), disappointing food (we ate at the same restaurants and were really happy with the food and we are reasonably fussy), not enough to do (really?!!!), it was really rough (hardly the cruise line's fault - it's the ocean, not a mill pond. We had a forward cabin (not an ideal location if you get motion sickness) and apart from the occasional lurch, nothing to write home about), it was a floating nursing home (ok, a lot of folk used walkers - not us, we're a tad younger than that - but so what? Yes, you might get stuck behind them in the corridor but what's an extra 60 seconds to get to the lift lobby, you don't have a bus to catch), kids running up and down corridors (granted, a bit annoying but that's kids). So don't be put off by keyboard warriors nit picking everything. I'm sure some people spend the entire cruise actively looking for something to complain about and taking notes so they don't miss anything! Take a good time with you and that is exactly what you will have. No ship or cruise line is perfect and everyone has different expectations.