Welcome home fellow N627ers! (N627 reviews)

Hi everyone!

Just wanted to let you know that we are back safe and sound and wanted to let you know we had an AMAZING time- I will be back to do a review the moment I come down from my cloud!

It was brilliant! I couldnt have imagined or wanted anything more.

It was nice to meet you Deb! (at least I hope it was you! Hahahah!) Hope you had a great time.

We can use this thread to post all our reviews, thoughts and opinions about our cruise- hope to chat with you all more! I will be back with a review later.

Now the dreaded unpacking. :rolleyes:

Welcome back, glad you had a wonderful time.

Welcome home. Hope the wedding went well. Will you be posting some photos for us all to see?

Karen

Welcome home Tinalou. So glad all went well. Did your wedding go off ok. Now you are MRS Tinalou. Looking forward to review and photos. Suexxx

I second all the above. Welcome home and congrats of your wedding. Looking forward to hearing all about it.

Kerri

Thanks everyone!

Well, its about time for me to do a review I think- it beats doing the washing. :o

I'll work through each aspect of the cruise- hope you find it enjoyable and helpful!

* * * * * * * * * * * *

Arrival at Sydney & Embarkation

After flying up to Sydney from Melbourne, we were pleased to find a P&O rep flitting around the luggage pick-up area for our flight. We had been a little worried that we wouldnt find the 'P&O person' but they were there, wearing a P&O shirt and easy to spot. After collecting our luggage, we approached the P&O person and for $10 each we secured ourselves a spot on the coach over to Darling Harbour. We got there in no time, with minimal fuss. It was great- no stress.

At Wharf 8, there was a huge line and within minutes, I was already a little annoyed and as I would come to learn, the one thing that I could not handle about this whole holiday was all the waiting in line. Waiting in these huge lines to embark, to disembark, to get on the tenders, to eat....I am impatient by nature I guess, so to me, all the queuing up was a massive off-put.

We decided to sit down and grab some food from the 'kiosk' though I am not sure I would call it that, it was really a hole in the wall with sausage rolls and nothing else available. :rolleyes:

When the line had died down a little, we lined up, filled out a form declaring we hadnt been sick in the last two days and then proceeded through to customs and signed up our credit card, got our cruise cards and FINALLY made it through to the gangway.

Getting up that gangway was pretty steep- I am unfit I guess, but I also had to lug up my wedding dress bag, suit bag and carry ons and coupled with the terrible wind, I thought I was dog-food!

In fact the wind was so bad, the captain later revealed that an hour after we left the port, Sydney and Newcastle were closed! :eek:(the ports)

When we finally got on, we had to have our pic taken to link with the cruise card for ID purposes and then we were guided to our cabin. There are staff stationed around the ship to guide you to your cabin- without them, I dont think we would have ever found it!

Our Cabin

We were on Empress Deck, cabin E72, which was in a good location, midship and right next to the elevators, which was good for us lazies!

The cabin completely surpassed my expectations. It was spotless, smelt good and wasnt as cramped and tiny as I imagined.

Our bed was huge (2 mattresses pushed together, this later turned out to be a pain in the butt!)- the wardrobe had one side for each of us and ample coathangers. There was also a promotion for 20 items washed and pressedf for $25 that you could do for your clothes.

The bathroom was better than I had expected. The shower was clean, big enough for two and I loved the detachable shower head. The water pressure was great for me and the temp was fine, it was only in the last few days that I noticed the temp started to become erratic- one minute it would be fine and then it would go hot and when I would adjust it, it wouldnt respond in the way it should. Weird.

There was an abundance of thick, fluffy towels, sachets of shampoo, body lotion, etc (which went straight into my bag! Lol) and the toilet and sink were clean.

You even get the washing line thingy in the shower to hang up any clothes or towels- it was a great addition!

Our cabin steward was nice though he didnt speak English that well. They work so hard, I just couldnt believe it and yet they were always smiling and greeting you all cheery from early in the morning until the evening. I cant praise them enough- when it comes time to consider the automatic tipping in place, even the biggest tightarse would feel bad removing it because the stewards just work so hard. I mean, we made an absolute pigsty out of our cabin (I was on holiday, I didnt have time to be tidy, lol) and yet every time we returned to our cabin, it was straightened up. Our steward would make up the bed no matter how badly the sheets were twisted and pulled off (I am a messy sleeper, what can I say). The would fold up stray clothes and place them aside and vaccuum....pick up things off the floor...and all without being too invasive or going through your things or disrupting things.

Every night when we would return after dinner, the lamps would be on, the bed would be turned down and the room cleaned again- it was great!

Motion Sickness

As I mentioned earlier, the weather was very bad coming out of Sydney and although we were chewing down those Kwells like there was no tomorrow, both myself and my new hubby (!!!!!) we were still feeling quite ill for the first 2-3 days coming out of Sydney. We felt sick but didnt hurl (pardon me!) but the constant motion really did our heads in. You kind of didnt want to do much because you felt so crappy and you felt too sick to eat, but eating actually helped.

The roughness settled for us during the middle of the cruise but on the first night coming back to Sydney from Noumea, the ocean was really rough, probably the roughest night yet and I had to leave dinner because I wasnt coping and DH ended up throwing up five times in the cabin and blocking up the sink- it was incredibly embarrassing...and disgusting. I didnt want to have anything to do with him at this point. The cabin steward was great though- by the time we picked up the courage to tell him the next day, he was all bright and cheery and said he had already reported it and somehow by the end of the day it was fixed!

There is a little shop onboard and thank heavens for it because I bought an extra pack of Kwells and Disprin and I thought they were reasonably priced.

Food

Well, where do I begin.

I was a little disappointed, however I think that’s only because I went there with such high expectations.

Breakfast, lunch and afternoon tea were at the buffet, or you can have them in the restaurant (we never got up early enough to do breakfast in the restaurant, so always ended up in the buffet at 11am).

I have to say one thing before I continue. There was one thing was really bothered me about the Outback Bar and Grill where the buffet was and that was the smell. Almost every time we were in there, there was this stomach-turning eggy smell, that’s the only way I can describe it. Eggwhite, eggish, hot eggy goop- I hated it, it really turned me off.

Okay, the food.

Breakfast: there was always slices of fresh fruit like papaya, melon, pineapple, bananas and apples (I was stockpiling bananas and sneaking them back to my cabin where I added them to my stash!).

The hot buffet comprised of pancakes (my favourite were the pear and raisin, I think that’s what they were!), bacon (crunchy perfection some days, greasy clumps of fat some other days), gluggy scrambled eggs (normal or with salmon and dill), roast potatoes (at breakfast??), baked beans, a different omelette every day, grilled tomato, hash browns, brekkie sausages, hard boiled eggs (you can get poached in the restaurant, I heard) and bread rolls and toast with jams/butter/marmalade. The toast is always cold- your days of hot toast are over. I also found the toast to be barely brown enough.

Off further down, there is a selection of cereals, poached fruit/compote, dried fruits and pastries/Danish.

Lunch: Fruit again, trays of cold cuts like salami, ham, mortadella and sliced up yesterday’s roast of the day (the turkey was fantastic in a roll for lunch). The hot buffet varied every day but everyday there was always a chicken dish (I am a chicken eater only really, so that was important to me) and some kind of pilaf/rice. Some that I remember were chicken fricassee, paella, roast potatoes, chicken stirfry, Indonesian noodles, samosas and spring rolls (the best!), lots of baked fish- there was a smoked cod potato bake and even though I am not a fan of fish, I loved it!

Anyway, you get the idea with the hot buffet- different every day and reasonably good food. The only true criticism I have is that all the chicken cooked was in the skin so I was constantly having to sit there and take it off.

Moving along to the salad bar, which was my favourite. There was everything you could need to make up your own salad- capsicum, tomatoes, mushies, onion, cucumber and then there were big bowls of pasta salad, crab salad, chicken salad. They were delicious and changed daily. There were also mini rolls and sandwiches- the best one I had was with bocconcini, tomato, basil and pesto. The others had ham and roast beef with salad or relish.

There was only French and Italian salad dressing available from what I could see.

Over to the curry and pasta corner. There was some yummy curries and rice available most days and although the pasta was tasty, it was cold and not cooked long enough. The sauce was tasty though.

Dry fruit and cheeses and desserts like carrot cake, jelly, chocolate mousse and muffins were there as well.

The staff are wonderful. They are busy tottering about, clearing tables so quickly and politely. There is a drinks cart that goes around- all the Coke is Vietnamese and smaller than what we have here. The cans are $2.

Afternoon tea was served in the Bordeaux or in the buffet. It was fruit scones with jam and cream, mini sandwiches and rolls, fruit cake and sponge cakes and all kinds of delicious little treats, it was great.

Dinner was held in the two restaurants every night. Our table attendant was Raymond, who was just beautiful! He learnt our names and our cabin numbers from the first night- we didn’t have to give him our cruise cards for any drink purchases, he already filled out the receipt with all our details without us having to tell him. He was so sweet, I just wanted to take him home. I cant remember the other waiter’s name, but he was a little older and also very nice.

The menu was interesting. There was always a starter like prawn cocktail or fruit cocktail, pumpkin soup, etc followed by a pasta entrée. There was pasta with pesto type sauces and with oil, garlic and chilli, which I enjoyed.

The main always had a chicken dish and almost always had a fish dish and then alternated between lamb/pork/beef. The chicken kiev was the best I have ever had. The sides that accompanied were a bit interesting. We had beetroot, a lot of zucchini and squash (so sick of it!), snap peas, roast potatoes, a tomato, mash, etc. I think its there to make the plate look fuller really. The portions aren’t huge, but they are good considering you are having like four courses. We usually got a few bowls of French fries for our table with our dinner because we asked for them- it was really good. There are heaps of bread rolls as well, easily enough for two per person if you wanted. Other mains included a beef roulade type of dish stuffed with fetta; grilled chicken topped with pineapple and cheese (weird but good), Caesar salad (always on the menu and a favourite of mine usually, but to be honest, their version wasn’t flash) and broiled salmon (always on the menu and crappy).

The desserts were great- the chocolate soufflé, raspberry crème brulee, Grand Marnier chocolate cake, MMM! I missed out on the raspberry crepes the night I was sick and had to leave dinner and I was spewing! Well, you know what I mean…

Desserts were really good and beautifully presented. There was also a different bowl of ice-cream every day and very generous scoops I might add. We had rum and raisin and then cookie dough another night. As a joke, someone at our table asked for chocolate topping, well, he got it! There was lemon, mango, passionfruit sorbets or you can opt for a fruit and cheese platter.

Some nights we got caught up and missed dinner in the restaurant, so went over to the Outback Grill. For $15 per person, you get to order a steak of your choice (they are huge) and all your sides like corn and veggies and all that jazz. For an entrée, I had the blooming onion which was interesting. We had a table to ourselves and it was nice to have a nice quiet dinner together in the solitude of the grill and the staff are just amazing. Like in the restaurant, your glass is never empty, there are heaps of bread rolls, they put your napkin on your lap and pull your chair out for you. No request is too much trouble and they talk and laugh with you- they’re just gorgeous!

The dessert there is great- New York cheesecake, strawberry and blueberry cheesecake, panna cotta. We wanted to try the panna cotta but weren’t sure about it so our lovely waiter brought out a plate in addition to our desserts for us to try. He was lovely.

The pizzeria was a lifesaver on those nights where we were up late and got the munchies. The pizza isn’t like any pizza you have had here- there is all different flavours- our favourite was the one with pepperoni and bell peppers and the one with avocado and sweet chilli (I think). The pizzas were about $7 and very thin and crunchy with lots of cheese. Someone who is lactose intolerance would be on the loo all night in agony lol…

You can also get French fries, wedges and pies down there, all night.

Room service wasn’t up to scratch in my opinion. There are a selection of sandwiches served with potato chips, French fries, fruit salad, cheesecake and Caesar salad. The selection wasn’t great, you ate it out of desperation really and the quality wasn’t really thrilling.

We had a continental brekkie in our room a few times- juice, hot chocolate, tea or coffee, Danish, croissants, toast, etc. Some mornings we had that and still headed to the buffet later, lol.

Entertainment

There is a casino, arcade, table tennis, showlounges, shuffleboard, a golf tournament, jewellery making, flower arranging, dance classes, quilling, library with games and computers with internet. ($15 for 60 minutes- it wasn’t as slow as I thought it was going to be and there is even a webcam to send photos back home), art gallery, trivia, bingo ($6000 on the last day and we were waiting on two numbers!) and audience participation games like marriage match, perfect match and the horse racing game.

Captains Cocktail Party was a free glass of punch and sitting and listening to the captain speak in the lounge.

We missed the champagne waterfall, but bought the cruise DVD and it was on there. The Thomas and Moore comedian show was great, the magician was lame, Brad snuck down and watched the Piano Man show and loved it.

We watched the DaVinci Code in the lounge one night and there was always a movie showing here and there- American Dreamz, Ray, some horny movie with Salma Hayek and Colin Farrell.

Don’t sit up the back in the Atlantis Lounge…despite being higher up, you cant see anything.

Demo was great- I found him hilarious. He really is an asset to the cruise. Kevin makes bingo fun- he’s really cheeky.

Theme nights were Island Night, Country and western and rock and roll night.

You can buy photos of yourself on theme nights- they are about $11 each which can add up. We did a thing on the first day where we bought the two embarkation photos and for an extra $10 (totaling $50), you got a P&O scrapbook and two photos of the ship, so I got suckered in and did it!

Pursers Desk

Beautifully decked out with granite/marble type floors and gold columns, its gorgeous however the men working on the pursers desk were rude, rude, rude. And the ones that weren’t rude treated you like a parasite. It was a harsh hit after the sunshine and fluff upstairs with the cabin stewards and dining attendants and then down in the pursers desk, it all came crashing down. I noted this on the feedback form at the end of the cruise. I hope those boys get a good spanking.

Ports

It rained for the duration of our cruise so I feel jibbed, but there is nothing a little Photoshopping cant do to make our photos look all bright and tropical instead of overcast and gloomy.

At our first port of Isle of Pines, we were stupid enough to rush down and get tickets for the tender and spent forever waiting in line. Stepping out onto the tender was terrifying for me the first time, I didn’t think I could do it, but the friendly chaps there grabbed my hand and helped me over and they are so nice!

The tender boat was really rough because the sea was so choppy and despite the rain, we went on over to the Isle of Pines. We sat on the beach, despite the rain and took some photos. There wasn’t a whole lot to do without going into town. You could hire little buggies and drive around on a tour- not sure if that was pre-booked with P&O or you could do that on the spot, but it looked like fun.

At this point, we had to get in another huge line and wait to get on the tender and had to endure a charming bunch of young men. Every holiday you go on, there is always one group of young boys (I wont even use the term men) who have to ruin things for everyone. They were rude, arrogant and obnoxious, hogged the spa and did a running commentary on almost every passenger to have the nerve to cross their path. They had the nerve to stand behind us and backstab us the whole time and just be obnoxious and thought we couldn’t hear them and then when the ugly one got caught out, he looked around and pretended like he hadn’t said a word. What a cowardly little ****. Anyway, all I have to say about them is that people in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones, my dears. And put a shirt on next time you’re on holidays. Please.

Mystery Island was one of my favourites. It was raining pretty badly and by midday the tenders were open, so you didn’t have to cue up for tickets. Mystery Island was gorgeous and a lot of fun. There was singing when we arrived and the beach was beautiful. We walked around the island and then went to the marketplace where there was all kinds of stuff for sale- you can buy stuff for Island night here, all the leis and head wreaths, sarongs and tropical shirts. Cheap too!

The weather was the hottest in Port Vila and although it rained, it was still humid. There is a market set up at the wharf so as soon as you get off the ship, you can go and look at the stalls. I didn’t get to do any tours in Port Vila but from what I saw driving around, it was very poor, dirty and they are crazy drivers. Didn’t get to shop and from what I heard, we didn’t miss that much.

Ouvea was our other favourite- no competition. The water is like nothing you have ever seen in your life. So blue-green and crystal clear, even on a rainy, horrible day it was stunning. We were told that this was where the Tom Hanks movie, Castaway had been filmed. Don’t know if that’s true.

A few locals drove down to the jetty and negotiated fares to be driven around the island or to the town. We grabbed a ride with some new friends we made for 50franc (for four of us) we were driven around and stopped at the church, the bridge (you HAVE to go to the bridge, it is the highlight of the island, it’s the closest to heaven you will ever get) and we saw some exquisite beaches- the sand is like powder. Its amazing. Great island. The locals all speak French so its very hard to communicate. We weren’t going to go across to Ouvea because of the weather, but we were glad we did.

Noumea was a bustling city. People had told us it was a hole and not to bother and for shopping, they were right. There was a little market set up at the port when you get off the ship which was good but don’t bother with any of the shops in the city. Noumea has a 40% tax on everything that comes into Noumea (virtually everything needs to be imported) and sellers need to make a profit on top of that 40% tax, so the prices are steep.

We did the Le Petit Train tour, which was $48 per person and I am glad we did it. We drove around the city and had the commentary which really made it interesting to learn about Noumea. We went up to the hilltop where you could Noumea and other islands around- it was gorgeous. Up here, we had some champagne (out of plastic cups, how classy) and some little French pastries- translation, 1 pastry between the two of us- they went fast and with no regard for anyone else.

People in Noumea aren’t very friendly. There was lots of waving and ‘Bonjours’ coming from the train but most of the locals looked at them with disdain and only a few waved back. Very rude and snotty and French. Everyone in Noumea drives nice cars, I only saw a couple of rust-bucket cars and they are mostly Renaults.

Le Petit Train was a great tour, I wouldn’t go to Noumea and NOT do it, you’d have to be crazy. I enjoyed Noumea because of the train tour. Really great. If you want to go at Noumea on your own, good luck. I wouldn’t do it.

Well that was a long review…I hope you have found it of some use for those of you going soon.

If anyone has any questions, I’ll be glad to help.

- T xxx

Thanks for the review Tina. Are you going to be posting some photos? Would love to see some, especially of your wedding. How did it go? I'm very surprised at your reaction to Vila. Most people love it & when we were on our cruise, even all the crew said it was their favourite place. We loved it. But I guess everybody's different.

Karen

Great review Mrs TinaLou - but what about the wedding?????? We want lots of details and pics?????

Rachxx

Thanks for the review Tina. Are you going to be posting some photos? Would love to see some, especially of your wedding. How did it go? I'm very surprised at your reaction to Vila. Most people love it & when we were on our cruise, even all the crew said it was their favourite place. We loved it. But I guess everybody's different.

 

Karen

Hi Karen.

I will be posting some photos but I need to organise them all as we took about 3000 between the both of us so there are a lot of 'junk' shots if you know what I mean, lol... as soon as I upload them, I will be sure to share!

I have to wait about six weeks for the wedding pics to arrive but I think I have one or two of us together to share.

As for Vila, like I said, I didnt get a chance to see any of the touristy stuff, it was just a drive down to Mele for the ceremony and on the way back we went through the main town...from what I saw, it didnt really appeal to me...We drove past all of the local properties and saw the other, non-tourist side so maybe thats why I feel like that?

I am not sure. I hope that if we get a chance to go another cruise we get a chance to do some tours and shopping in Vila. The weather put me off too, all rainy and humid. Ick! :p The people are so friendly though!

Thanks Tina, it's a great review. It is a shame about the weather tho. We had 1 drizzly day at Champagne Bay and we also sat out in it on the beach and it was beautiful. it sounds very similar to Ouvea with the beautiful water even when it is raining.

Look forward to the photos.

Kerri

Hi Tinalou, sorry the weather wasn't the best for you, and glad to see it didn't stop the wedding so congratulations! By the way, if you had gone to the earlier breakfast like 8 am etc, then you would have had fresh toast which is only toasted when you ask for it and it is done exactly how you would like it. But, honeymoon etc, who expects you to get up that early. And, yes as others say, it's a shame you didn't get to shop at Vila, it's truly the best for bargains. Terrific review, you remembered so much.