First Cruise With P&O.

Fearing the worst my wife and I succumbed to the temptation to actually see what P&O was like. Was it like the horror stories we had read, was the food as bad as the Sis Inlaw described from her October '17 trip on the Pacific Explorer, the very ship we were to go on?

Well the 10 days up in the Islands finished yesterday the 12th Feb, and as promised to JJ I'm giving my report which will be as a comparison to Princess cruises.

The ship was the old Dawn Princess now known as the Pacific Explorer, the millions spent on the changeover obviously went on the Pantry, the dining rooms, the re branding of everything with a P&O logo, including every cabin, redecorating the inside of the lifts with some very interesting wallpaper and resetting their overload alarms so sensitive that any more than 6 or 7 people would trigger OVERLOAD, and very little else. Oh yes, a couple of water slide tubes, one of which managed to try and digest the woman that managed to get stuck in it.

Food wise, both in the Pantry and the 3 free restaurants, had, according to my Sis inlaw who was travelling with us, made a dramatic improvement. A wide range of food was available in the pantry, all of a very acceptable quality for bulk prepared food, while the menu's available in the Waterfront, Italian, and Asian restaurant were not individually as wide as Princess, when added together they far exceeded Princess, with the quality being very acceptable indeed.

We ate one night in Shell & Bones, the seafood and meat speciality restaurant. One had the Rib Eye steak which was good, and the other 8 in our group had the Hot Seafood Platter for 2 at $60.00 a pair, very very poor value for money.

Daytime entertainment fell far below Princess but was fine if you loved Trivia or Bingo, Night entertainment was good, with one show about & Sins being equal to the best I've see at sea. The only problem with the night entertainment was the show started at 9.00pm which was hard for the late diners to make, 9.30pm would have been much better.

Staff attitude was very friendly, with a mix of seasoned veterans and quite a lot on their first or second contract and still learning the ropes.

So having started the cruise with some inbuilt bias we were pleasantly surprised, you would have to be a very picky eater not to enjoy the food, not quite Princess but very close. In all other respects it was similar to the food, not quite Princess but very close, some things that are included on Princess require payment on P&O, but bear in mind we were paying $150/head/night for a balcony cabin as opposed to our usual average $180 -$200/head/night for an Ocean View cabin on Princess.

So finally, P&O value for money? YES. would we go again? YES. Prefer Princess but wouldn't hesitate to go P&O again.

Thanks for great review, but we want to know...any BOGANS on board and how were dress standards in the MDR, in particular on formal nights. I want to take my Tuxedo and wife ye olde ball gown on Pacific Explorer, but don't want to look like a goose, with the bogan dress.:'):o

So finally, P&O value for money? YES. would we go again? YES. Prefer Princess but wouldn't hesitate to go P&O again.

I agree with your review.

Last year I spent 10 days on the Explorer and I just got back from 12 days on the Diamond Princess, and I'd have to say that while I prefer the Diamond, there is not as much in it as you might think.

P&O often gets a bad rap here from people who I think expect too much from a budget cruise line and then overstate the faults that they find.

I've also been on Aria and Dawn. The only ship I would hesitate to travel on is the Dawn, she's just too old and worn. Although the crew is pleasant and the public rooms have been nicely redone, the staterooms are very tired and dingy.

I found the shows on Explorer to be better than Diamond and the food on Diamond to be better than Explorer, with the exception of Angelos which I think matches Princess.

Yes, there is a difference in the mix of passengers. The tatts ratio is much higher on P&O, but it really didn't make that much difference to the cruise. I mostly ate in Angelos and I always wore shoes.

Thanks for the review. Yes, those show times certainly wouldn't suit us. We prefer to dine late.

A few questions:

What sort of live music was there in the evenings? Dance music, jazz, lounge music?

What were the bars and lounges like?

Were there quiet shady spots out on deck?

Is there an adults-only pool? ie the old Lotus Spa Pool aft?

I agree with your review too. [emoji3]

I was on there on the New Years cruise and didn’t have high expectations. It definitely was better than I’d expected.

The lifts drove us crazy as well with the overload light!

I would sail on p&o again for a family cruise (I went with my sister and her family) but I’d rather go on other lines when traveling solo.

I hope they sorted out that dining chair in the waterfront that my 3 year nephew drew over with a pen 🤭

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Thanks for great review, but we want to know...any BOGANS on board and how were dress standards in the MDR, in particular on formal nights. I want to take my Tuxedo and wife ye olde ball gown on Pacific Explorer, but don't want to look like a goose, with the bogan dress.:'):o

I have a confession.

I rarely dressed up for dinner 🤭

I wore shorts and a t shirt and jandals most nights. Some people dressed like me and others dressed up more.

If you wear a tuxedo in there you’ll be the best dressed man on the ship!

I didn’t see too many bogans around the restaurant. But then the company I kept was an embarrassment in its own right.

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The ship was the old Dawn Princess now known as the Pacific Explorer, the millions spent on the changeover obviously went on the Pantry, the dining rooms, the re branding of everything with a P&O logo, including every cabin, redecorating the inside of the lifts with some very interesting wallpaper and resetting their overload alarms so sensitive that any more than 6 or 7 people would trigger OVERLOAD, and very little else.

No, that's inherited. Dawn Princess was running with the same very sensitive - and slow - lifts. Best avoided!

Thanks for the review Russell. I think P&O is just fine for the right price, I haven't had a bad cruise on them yet.

I may have to go on this ship to check out the interesting wallpaper in the lifts. :D

Thanks for the great review.

As a Princess cruiser like you and I too am interested it seeing what they did to the old Dawn.

Thanks for the review. Yes, those show times certainly wouldn't suit us. We prefer to dine late.

 

A few questions:

What sort of live music was there in the evenings? Dance music, jazz, lounge music?

What were the bars and lounges like?

Were there quiet shady spots out on deck?

Is there an adults-only pool? ie the old Lotus Spa Pool aft?

Thanks for great review, but we want to know...any BOGANS on board and how were dress standards in the MDR, in particular on formal nights. I want to take my Tuxedo and wife ye olde ball gown on Pacific Explorer, but don't want to look like a goose, with the bogan dress.:'):o

A wide range of music, and something I forgot to post was that the ship's sound engineer must be deaf as everything was too loud, way too loud for both of us and we are deaf.

The bars and lounges were basically the same as they were on Princess but were not staffed to the same level, more waiters needed.

Quiet shady spots? Well there was a wide range of people including quite a few kids who should have been in school, then about a 50/50 mix of early to mid 20 yo and typical Princess type people. Quiet if you looked, definitely not a rowdy lot considering the ages, in fact the standard of behaviour was pleasantly high particularly amongst the 20ish group.

Yes the adults pool at the blunt end is still there with, for once, all 3 hot spa pools working.

Bogans? Yep there were one or two to be seen but they must have been upper crust Bogans because at no time did we witness any untoward behaviour. The exception being at the final breakfast as we docked at White Bay, sharing a table for 6 we were having a conversation with a woman and she was joined by her husband, he proceeded to tell us about waiting 3/4 of an hour to get his Vila purchased bottle of grog back from P&O staff. He took great pains to inform us that he didn't drink very much as alcohol was a poison etc etc, as it turns out he must have had a guilty conscience because he finally admitted to being a Jehovahs Witness and was starting to throw biblical quotes our way and rave on in the best Saturday morning at your front door style. Now being one who would fight to the death defending the right for someone to have their own beliefs, and one who has made a very serious study of Christianity and the Bible in particular, for the purpose of obtaining a reasonably good idea of what I was rejecting to become a Buddhist, I then proceeded, after informing him that I was a Buddhist, to destroy him with my own set of quotations from the bible. My wife and I left him at the table with his mouth hanging open. I really don't need someone shoving their siht down my throat at breakfast time.

Dining room dress code? Ha Ha Ha! The three men in our group, one who had his suit and one who had his dinner suit on board, went to dinner every night no better dressed than trousers with a long sleeved shirt. We were equal to the best dressed in the dining room every night, the worst I saw was shorts, thongs, and a no collar T shirt. Some attempts were made on the theme nights, but not much, enough said?

Thanks, mate.

Hmm not really a dining conversation .

A wide range of music, and something I forgot to post was that the ship's sound engineer must be deaf as everything was too loud, way too loud for both of us and we are deaf.

The bars and lounges were basically the same as they were on Princess but were not staffed to the same level, more waiters needed.

Quiet shady spots? Well there was a wide range of people including quite a few kids who should have been in school, then about a 50/50 mix of early to mid 20 yo and typical Princess type people. Quiet if you looked, definitely not a rowdy lot considering the ages, in fact the standard of behaviour was pleasantly high particularly amongst the 20ish group.

Yes the adults pool at the blunt end is still there with, for once, all 3 hot spa pools working.

 

Bogans? Yep there were one or two to be seen but they must have been upper crust Bogans because at no time did we witness any untoward behaviour. The exception being at the final breakfast as we docked at White Bay, sharing a table for 6 we were having a conversation with a woman and she was joined by her husband, he proceeded to tell us about waiting 3/4 of an hour to get his Vila purchased bottle of grog back from P&O staff. He took great pains to inform us that he didn't drink very much as alcohol was a poison etc etc, as it turns out he must have had a guilty conscience because he finally admitted to being a Jehovahs Witness and was starting to throw biblical quotes our way and rave on in the best Saturday morning at your front door style. Now being one who would fight to the death defending the right for someone to have their own beliefs, and one who has made a very serious study of Christianity and the Bible in particular, for the purpose of obtaining a reasonably good idea of what I was rejecting to become a Buddhist, I then proceeded, after informing him that I was a Buddhist, to destroy him with my own set of quotations from the bible. My wife and I left him at the table with his mouth hanging open. I really don't need someone shoving their siht down my throat at breakfast time.

 

Dining room dress code? Ha Ha Ha! The three men in our group, one who had his suit and one who had his dinner suit on board, went to dinner every night no better dressed than trousers with a long sleeved shirt. We were equal to the best dressed in the dining room every night, the worst I saw was shorts, thongs, and a no collar T shirt. Some attempts were made on the theme nights, but not much, enough said?

Thanks for update, so one should not bother taking one's good clobber on P&O Straya. Got the message.:halo:

Thanks for update, so one should not bother taking one's good clobber on P&O Straya. Got the message.:halo:

Why not wear it, people may think you are the captain.;p

Why not wear it, people may think you are the captain.;p

Might put the medals on too.:halo::hearteyes:

Might put the medals on too.:halo::hearteyes:

Don't forget your cap.:D

Might put the medals on too.:halo::hearteyes:

Wish I'd had mine on during the breakfast episode, he may have even had enough brains to realise how much self restraint I was showing while he broadcast to all and sundry about being a conscientious objector during the episode a few years ago in the now popular Asian tourist country starting with V. The memories are why I'm a Buddhist. My wife congratulated me on my restraint, she remembers the last time some fool made a similar statement in front of me.

I may have to go on this ship to check out the interesting wallpaper in the lifts. :D

 

Thanks for the great review.

As a Princess cruiser like you and I too am interested it seeing what they did to the old Dawn.

Hi Sewgood,

The wallpaper murals that are in the lifts are great.

I have heard of people getting into every lift on the Pacific Explorer just to see all the different murals ,from Polar Bear facing you as you enter the lift, to a Wooden Suspension Bridge that faces you, to a Gothic Church Etc.

I have been on the Pacific Eden and they have the same setup.

I assume all ships that go into the P&O Fleet will have these Lift Murals.

Cheers Zac

Hi Sewgood,

The wallpaper murals that are in the lifts are great.

I have heard of people getting into every lift on the Pacific Explorer just to see all the different murals ,from Polar Bear facing you as you enter the lift, to a Wooden Suspension Bridge that faces you, to a Gothic Church Etc.

I have been on the Pacific Eden and they have the same setup.

I assume all ships that go into the P&O Fleet will have these Lift Murals.

Cheers Zac

More or less correct, I wouldn't necessarily call them murals but they certainly have a variety of bright and colourful decoration.

Thanks for update, so one should not bother taking one's good clobber on P&O Straya. Got the message.:halo:

We went on two seven-day cruises on the Pacific Dawn last year. P&O have a 'cocktail night' not a 'formal night'. We did not see even one dinner suit or full length dress. I suggest a lounge suit would be as formal as you would want to be dressed, without feel awkward. Your wife would be well-dressed in a something suitable for going to a restaurant - definitely not a full length dress or skirt. She would probably feel awkward in the 'old ball gown' you mentioned.

We went on two seven-day cruises on the Pacific Dawn last year. P&O have a 'cocktail night' not a 'formal night'. We did not see even one dinner suit or full length dress. I suggest a lounge suit would be as formal as you would want to be dressed, without feel awkward. Your wife would be well-dressed in a something suitable for going to a restaurant - definitely not a full length dress or skirt. She would probably feel awkward in the 'old ball gown' you mentioned.

One should never wear an old ball gown, surely it should be new.;p

Many years ago when Balls were a lot more popular than they tend to be now, I formed the opinion that Ball Gowns were a disposable item.

Hey Russell21; you where saying most of the passangers where in there 20's or Princess Crowd (Over 55).

So was there many like my-self Gen X (35-50 onboard)? As i have done 2 cruises with RCL which had mainly 25 plus in age people; but they where too North Shore (Yuppie, Upper Class for me) or 10 Carnival cruises with a broad range (Mainly Families) Kids, there parents & there parents to baby sit. So all ages & a very broad range of society. Loud though..

Thanx

We have just returned from our first P&O venture on the Pacific Explorer and I have to say it was far more enjoyable than we had begun to expect. This ship had some seriously bad reviews in the early days and I’m happy to report we experienced none of the plumbing issues or related smells.

I did not cruise on Dawn Princess but I do like the decor on the Explorer. The food in The Waterfront not so much. Fish they did very well, meat we found over cooked and tough. The Pantry exceeded our expectations in both variety and quality and we were very happy with our one meal in 400 Gradi.

Live music of an evening is a matter or personal taste and we thoroughly enjoyed it. The Blue Room, Explorer Hotel and Ocean Bar all had musicians of a very high standard, some we would pay to see.

We enjoyed our time aboard chasing (or avoiding) TC Gita around the islands and the secret for those used to cruising on more premium lines is, I believe, to manage your expectations.

I believe we got value for money, but at the end of the day I think I’d rather spend a little more to get a little more.

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Hey Russell21; you where saying most of the passangers where in there 20's or Princess Crowd (Over 55).

So was there many like my-self Gen X (35-50 onboard)? As i have done 2 cruises with RCL which had mainly 25 plus in age people; but they where too North Shore (Yuppie, Upper Class for me) or 10 Carnival cruises with a broad range (Mainly Families) Kids, there parents & there parents to baby sit. So all ages & a very broad range of society. Loud though..

Thanx

There were quite a few in your demographic usually accompanied by kids who should have been in school, particularly at the start of the new school year.