Pacific Pearl Review (9th -17th June)

Hi all. We have just returned from the Pacific Pearl and happy to report that we had a great trip. I was travelling with my three children (ages 13, 12,12). DH couldn't come due to work committments and I was a bit apprehensive about being "single" but I found that I had plenty to do.

We arrived in Auckland earlier than expected and were able to board very quickly at about 11.30am. Our cabin was pretty well placed behind the Beach Culture shop on deck 6 which made it easy to find (especially for directionally challenged Miss 12). The room was very spacious even when all four of us were in it. Our cabin steward Marc was friendly without being outstanding. Overall we were happy with the cabin and our only complaint was the noise of the stabilisers on the sixth and seventh nights. However they obviously worked well because we had incredibly smooth seas for the whole trip!

We ate at the Plantation for breakfast and the food was pretty good for standard buffet fare. I especially like the addition of the nescafe coffee machines which are much nicer than the old brewed coffee on the Pacific Sun and Star. I guess they can't please everyone though as I overheard one woman yelling at a poor waiter that she didn't like the hot chocolate and why couldn't they get Milo instead. She must have yelled at the poor guy for five minutes. There were always plenty of tables which made a nice change from the other P&O ships I've been on.

The lunch buffet was O.K. but i must admit I preferred to just grab some chicken or a sausage at the grill. We tried lunch twice at the Waterfront and while the menu was good, the service was quite slow and the kids were keen to get back to their friends so usually we gave it a miss.

We did go to the Waterfront for dinner and we enjoyed the food. We tended to stick to a 5.45pm sitting so that the kids didn't miss out on the HQ Club activities. One strange thing at the Waterfront was that not once were we asked if we wanted drinks. Oh well I missed my glass of chardonnay but I saved some money! I'm still not sold on Anytime Dining as I missed the rapport that builds up when you have the same waiter.

The HQ kids club was great and all three kids had a great time and rarely returned to the cabin before midnight. In fact the activities were a bit too good as I had been hoping to rope at least one of them into playing trivia with me but had no luck dragging them away from their new friends.

I loved the set up on Deck 11 with the adult pool and the unofficial kids pool. It meant that the kids could have a great time splashing and jumping without annoying anyone (except on Island Night when they had a special bingo game up on deck - kids and fanatical bingo players not a great mix). The big screen was great and there was a great selection of movies such as The King's Speech and Knight and Day. There were also plenty of deckchairs even on the hot days. In fact there always seemed to be plenty of room everywhere on the ship with the exception being the early shows at the Marquee. However i preferred the later show at 9.30 and it was never crowded.

As others have said previously, the Marquee has a lot of seats with only limited view of the stage. The big pillars are a real pain.

The shows were good but I have to agree with people who have said that the entertainment has become more "Americanised". There seemed to be less genuine humour and more "slickness" if that makes sense. Adam Dean, the magician/comedian, was outstanding and was my personal highlight. I also liked Zoltina-J. I know some people don't like her, but i thought she was pretty good.

The ports were all ones we had been to before: Lifou, Port Vila and Mystery Island and we had a great time at all of them. My kids love snorkelling so that's what we did. At port Vila we booked the Crystal Blue beach tour which turned out to be a turtle conservation resort where you can hold baby turtles and even feed the giant sea turtlee (for $5.00). The snorkelling was quite good and the resort owned threw some food into the water to attract the fish which waas a nice touch.

As I mentioned we had smooth seas and we were really lucky with the weather and we only had two cold days, sailing in and out of Auckland. I didn't hear of anyone getting sick and it seemed to me that the Pearl is a very stable ship.

I did notice that there is definitely a little less emphasis on personal service but it didn't really bother me as I hate feeling too fussed over.

If I did have one complaint it would be the definite lack of alcohol in the cocktails.I have always doubted that there was any in the drinks so I took my husband's breathalyser with me. One night I had three cocktails in an hour and my breath test was nil!!! After that I stuck to the mocktails which tasted just as nice and were half the price.

Disembarking was a breeze. Ielected to be in the last group since DH had a three hour drive to pick us up and so we finished eating breakfast at 8.45 and were off the ship and had picked up our luggage by 9.10.

We are alreaady planning another cruise (this time with Hubby) in 2012. Time to start saving!

Thanks for a great, well written review. :D

We are planning a cruise on the Pearl, and after cruising on the PS last time, I'm pleased to hear that it has plenty of room. We enjoyed the Sun, but found it very crowded at times.

Interesting that you detected no alcohol in the cocktails! That's one to remember. I might stick to mocktails too!

Great Review, sounds like you had a great trip.

We were at Princes Wharf the day you sailed. Here are some photo's of your sailaway

Thanks for a great, well written review. :D

We are planning a cruise on the Pearl, and after cruising on the PS last time, I'm pleased to hear that it has plenty of room. We enjoyed the Sun, but found it very crowded at times.

 

Interesting that you detected no alcohol in the cocktails! That's one to remember. I might stick to mocktails too!

You'll notice the difference between Sun and Pearl.. On Pearl there's always space, there's nowhere that's ever particularly crowded.

I'm surprised about the alcohol, normally it's the other way around, they're much stronger than you'd normally expect on land.

Croydon Cruiser, You will really notice the difference in space. I loved how roomy the ship felt. P.S. I'm originally from Kilsyth so it's nice to talk to an almost neighbour.

Skyrules, the lack of alcohol was only noticeable in the cocktails. My usual drink is rum and coke and they were at full strngth!

Great review, thanks Bomber. We like to build up rapport with our waiters, too, so always ask for the same ones at dinner. :)

Croydon Cruiser, You will really notice the difference in space. I loved how roomy the ship felt. P.S. I'm originally from Kilsyth so it's nice to talk to an almost neighbour.

Skyrules, the lack of alcohol was only noticeable in the cocktails. My usual drink is rum and coke and they were at full strngth!

We had quite a few cocktails on Pearl in April, and they certainly had alcohol in them!!

Which bar were you buying yours from??? We mostly got ours at Mix, or in the Showlounge

Its nice to read a good Review about the Pacific Pearl!, especially since I am about to spend 32 days on her!!

I like the look of this ship - ESPECIALLY the "tiered" stern. I will never sail on a cruiseship that has balcony cabins across the stern of the ship again!!:mad: (So that basically excludes me from all these mega-monster newer ships about to hit our shores)

Two question please - re show times (Are they 7.30 and 9.30??) - and , when are movies screened on the big screen ( and is that the only place they screen movies??)

Thanks for any advice

Barry

Skyrules

Thanks for the great photos - do you have larger (original size) versions of these uploaded anywhere to a photo storage site ( that I could view) ??

Barry

The cocktails the night I tested them were from the Plantations bar. I didn't try MIX as they seemed to be more expensive but maybe I should have:)! They were still delicious - especially the Toblerone one and the lack of alcohol didn't really bother me. The shows are at 7.30 and 9.30 but as I mentioned the 7.30 gets really busy, I would definitely recommend the 9.30.

You will love your cruise Kiwi cruiser, the Pearl is a great ship. I would love to be on her for 32 days!

I agree that the photos are awesome. Thanks for those Skyrules.

Yes the big screen was the only place movies were shown which is a bit of a pain when the weather is nasty. They seemed to be shown throughout the day on seadays with a few breaks when they show music videos. on port days they started later in the afternoon or evening.

Thanks for the great photos - do you have larger (original size) versions of these uploaded anywhere to a photo storage site ( that I could view) ??

Also have a look at these: https://picasaweb.google.com/KiwiCruiser07/PacificPearlLeavingAuckland & https://picasaweb.google.com/KiwiCruiser07/PacificPearlLunchAndTour & https://picasaweb.google.com/KiwiCruiser07/PacificPearlNamingCeremony

I like the look of this ship - ESPECIALLY the "tiered" stern. I will never sail on a cruiseship that has balcony cabins across the stern of the ship again!!:mad: (So that basically excludes me from all these mega-monster newer ships about to hit our shores)

 

Two question please - re show times (Are they 7.30 and 9.30??) - and , when are movies screened on the big screen ( and is that the only place they screen movies??)

 

Thanks for any advice

 

 

Barry

Showtimes - genearlly they're at 7.30 & 9.30, but there were expceptions. Check the Daily's to mke sure

Movies - because of the weather we had on our cruise (NZ South Island, brrrrrrr), very few movies were shown on the outdoor big screen, most were shown in the Marquee. Might be different on the South Pacific cruises where it's a bit warmer!

Hi

Thanks for your wonderful review I look forward to everyone's review and get so excited for my impending cruise in October.

It's interesting what you saying about the cocktails because when I went on the Pacific Dawn a couple of years I too questioned the alcohol content of them. In fact I even took one back and said I want to see you PUT the alcohol in this time! I was so pi&^%^ off! I spent $120 on cocktails one night and wasnt even slightly tipsy. This time I'll be getting straight with a mix like vodka and orange etc.

Also how did you enjoy your shore tours? Did you do any of the cocktail making classes? and one more :D did you have any of the massages or similiar? Thanks :D:D

Liz

Skyrules

 

Thanks for the great photos - do you have larger (original size) versions of these uploaded anywhere to a photo storage site ( that I could view) ??

 

 

Barry

Sure do Barry, they are in the folder called Various Ship Photos on my webshots page . These ones are at the end of the folder. There's also photo's in the Pacific Pearl Kiwi Adventures folder.

Kym

Hi bomber

Thanks for posting your review. Having cruised on the Pearl in April, I agree with most things you have said. It's great to hear that you enjoyed her so much too.

I liked most of the shows except the last one - didn't appeal to me at all (can't remember the name of it but it was dancing from the 1920-1950's?). I did enjoy "Please don't stop the music".

I love Zoltina J too. I have cruised a lot on P&O ships and have found her to be the best CD :).

Also have a look at these: https://picasaweb.google.com/KiwiCruiser07/PacificPearlLeavingAuckland & https://picasaweb.google.com/KiwiCruiser07/PacificPearlLunchAndTour & https://picasaweb.google.com/KiwiCruiser07/PacificPearlNamingCeremony

Hey Kiwi,

Great albums! Have a fantastic 32 day trip!

Bomber -- great to hear you had a good trip! I was a bit hesitant the first few reviews that hit the web, however, you expect some teething issues for the initial few cruises.

Thanks for the review!

Hi Leggyliz: We only did the one shore tour in Port Vila. it was good although quite expensive. We went because we had already been to Port Vila and i knew the kids wouldn't want to walk around the town so I chose the Crystal Blue tour so that they could snorkel. It was quite a basic resort although the sea turtles were a nice surprise. It was quite expensive for only 3 hours. I was quite keen on some of the other tours such as the horseriding or the dune buggies but the kids wanted the beach! Talking to other passengers the helicopter ride and the dunebuggies were very popular.

I didn't have any massages. I tried to get one when they had some specials but they were fully booked so it might pay to sign in early.

Great review, but yeah I'm dissapointed to hear about the cocktails but alot of people have told me this and people suspect that they only half nip them.

I'm definitely going to notice it either way because my last cruise was on Rhapsody and well their cocktails are absolute monsters, they don't measure and most the time all you could taste was the alcohol!!

On the Pacific Dawn I've had cocktails that don't affect me at all and others that force my eyes closed after a few sips. I think it depends on who is serving them. ;)

Don't drink Cocktails - but the few G&T's I have had on Pacific Dawn have been weak. Those on Oriana and Arcadia were much better - but the "free" white wine that they served up at Captain's receptions was dreadfull!! :)

Booze on P&O UK ships varied from "cheap" to VERY cheap - you could even buy litres of spirits at around $12 AUD per litre and take it to your cabin for consumption. I saw absolutely no instances of public drunkenness onboard for the whole 12 weeks at sea - but they were generally an aged passenger list. (well pickled!! :p)

Barry

Thank you for such positive feedback. I made a spur of the moment decision last week to book a cruise for my partner and I and 4 older children - aged 15, 16 and 2 x 17. We will be on the Pearl in November (for all the kids birthdays) and after reading some of the reviews I was starting to think I had made a bad decision. I have just read a daily account from another person as well and his feedback was excellent so I feel like I can get excited again. Thanks again.

Enjoy your cruise. I have no doubt you'll love it!

Thanks for the review.

Doing my first Cruise on the Pearl next Wednesday and I'm pretty pumped for it. Have done a few ship inspections (Travel Agent) but this will be a bit more detailed :)

Liking the site and its interesting to hear some feedback from the Cruiseships.

The Pacific Pearl sounds brilliant. Cant wait to get on board!!!!

Hows anyone have any info on the Karaoke options including range of tunes. The list on my last cruise on the Jewel was a bit limited :)

Also has anyone done the Cascades in Port Vila. After three visits i have done two jetboat rides, Ekasup (which was brill) and the Lagoon Cruise. Just wondering what the Cascades are like:confused: