Pacific Star REVIEW - Sail Date 15th April 2006

PACIFIC STAR REVIEW

Sail Date 15th April 2006

2 Adults

2 Children (3 yrs & 6 yrs)

Hi Everyone.

Firstly I want to state that I believe your cruise holiday will be what you want it to be - never take to heart what others may say. I have been told plenty of times during my travels that it’s not worth going here or that’s not a great place – but as I am the one that wants to go and see for myself, I’ve been, and I’ve absolutely loved it. Everyone has a different idea of what they like and don’t like, or degree of effort they actually put into exploring a place or enjoying the moment.

If you plan to have a great time - you will. If you’re the type of person that whinges about everything, you’ll probably do that about the ship and destinations. It is what you make of it. Go on enjoy it, it’s cost enough!!!

We had car parking reservations at the Priority Airport Parking – arrived around 10.20am, at that stage lots of people there and given tickets for Bus 6 (the last bus). Sat around waiting around 1 hour – there is not a lot of seating and basically no cover, so if it is raining be prepared. Transfer was via coach to the Pinkenba Wharf. You will be told what you need to have available for check-in. The Wharf unfortunately is a bit like a cattle yard following everyone as you zigzag your way thru the queue – but what better time to people watch and check everyone out! It was around 12.45pm once we got on board.

Once on board find your cabin, peek out the window (if you have one), get greeted straight away by your cabin steward who will ask your name and remember it for the entire cruise, even calling out good morning “Kerri” from the other end of the hall (they do a wonderful job!). The girls absolutely loved the attention from the stewards too.

Now head off for some lunch. We headed for the Lido Buffet on Deck 10 for lunch, but the line was massive. So my first TIP would be to head to the Dining Room on Deck 4 – walk straight in, be seated at a table, served a lovely lunch from the menu, and have a chat with others seated at your table.

At 1.45pm there is the muster drill. You need to return to your cabin when the alarms sound, get your life jackets and head to your muster station. Our cabin was mid ship Deck 6 and muster station was B on Deck 8 near the casino. The back of your cabin door shows where you need to go. This takes about 20 minutes.

We set sail out of Brisbane on time at 2pm.

If you have children you can utilise the Youth Activities Centres – Turtle Cove (3-6 years) and Shark Shack (7-12 yrs). These operate from 9am till midday; 2pm till 4.45pm and 5.45pm till 10pm. Group kid-sitting is available after 10pm till 1am, if you let them know by 8pm, for a cost of $5 per hour for the first child and $2 per hour for siblings. You will be assigned a beeper to carry around, which they can contact you via if the children need you or are sick etc. There would be a charge of $50 if lost. On your first visit to the centre take photo ID (passport of licence) they will photocopy and keep on file – only these people can collect your child. There was a kids dinner on our cruise at 5pm daily in the dining room. Daily activities brochure delivered to the cabin each night outlining what is on for the children for the next day. The children have the same theme nights as the adults – PJ Party, Island Night, Retro. Each night mattresses and sheets are laid out in front of a big plasma on the wall and the movie of the night is put on to watch (and hopefully your child will be that exhausted they fall asleep). Any questions about kids club please feel free to ask.

We explored the ship from top to bottom starting with the “Oasis” Adults only spa and sunlounge area on top deck. No bar facility up here though, you need to go down to Deck 9 for the bar.

Deck 9 has the main pool area, table tennis, pizzeria ($7.50 upwards), pies – yes meat pies $2.50 each and the Lido Buffet is situated on this deck.

Deck 8 – casino (2 non smoking nights), theatre/library, piano bar (non smoking – a good spot prior to dinner), art gallery and photo gallery, Casablanca Bar, Club Bahia (pay $20 each to dine here – specialty steak restaurant – we tried it on the last night, it is good if you like steak - I would suggest the Blooming Onion; Rib Eye Fillet and New York Cheesecake). Didn’t think the service was fantastic here seeing we had paid extra, but just my opinion. Aerobics and art auctions are also held in Club Bahia. In the Piano Bar there are the spa & fitness seminars throughout the day. Here you will also find another pool and two small spas and sunlounges.

Deck 7 - Pacific Show Lounge, Kids Clubs.

Deck 6 – duty free liquor, perfume, jewellery and general souvenir store. Duty free examples were 2 Litres for $35 of J Walker Red; Gordons Gin; Smirnoff Red; Bacardi, Dewars or Captain Morgan. They sold out of most of these by end of Day 2, so get in if you want it at this price, otherwise Port Vila is the alternative, with good bargains, even better than these, i.e. Jim Beam $14; Tia Maria was $16 – bargain!!! Probably changes though. Perfume – buy 3 x 100ml and take extra 20% off.

Deck 5 – pursers desk, shore tours, currency conversion, internet café.

Deck 4 – dining room. First sitting 6.15pm, Second sitting 8.15pm. Most nights the entertainment is after each meal sitting. We had second sitting. If you have children like we did, there were a few nights when we paid for the extra sitting service so we could see the show. There were two nights thought that the 2nd sitting show was at 6.15pm. You may wish to take first sitting to make it easier.

Our entertainment was 3 stage shows by the onboard entertainers, a hypnotist, a ventriloquist. The hypnotist was the magician for 2 kids shows. There is a passenger talent quest one night, also the children learn songs and skits and perform one morning at the kiddies curtain call – very cute! There is a band on board that plays at the different bars and pool decks and a DJ too. There is bingo, mini golf, movies, trivia, art auctions, cooking demo & galley tour, pacific star horse racing, beer quoits for a coldie, mini ship tour, shuffleboard etc. Plenty of activities to keep you busy if you wish or just laze around in the sun and by the pool. There are in-room movie channels x 4 - with movies showing throughout the day starting at set times.

Formal nights are Sunday and Thursday with formal portraits available on these nights. The Captains Cocktail Party is Sunday night. Children meet the captain at the Coketail Party on the Thursday afternoon.

There are photographers when you initially board the ship, at all ports as you get off the ship, at all the theme parties etc. Photos are on display the next day on Deck 8. Boarding and port of call photos were $11.95 or $16.95 if you buy the duplicate with a different background. Theme night and formal portraits were $24.95 each. TIP – there is a loose leaf sleeve in a box at the photo counter (filed by your cabin number). I collected all the photos from the boards that were of us and put them in this sleeve till the last night and then picked which ones we wished to purchase. You will only get a sleeve if formal portraits taken (they don’t put these up on the boards).

Duty free is delivered to your cabin on the Friday morning, so if like us we had purchased a bottle of Jim Beam and proceeded to drink this on the Friday, just purchasing cans of soft drink from the bars ($2 per can). Cheap day at sea. TIP: We were sneaky and took some bourbon aboard in our sports water bottle and carried it on board in our day backpack. There are ways!! Your cabin steward provides ice in your ice bucket each morning and evening.

TIP – the ship was very rocky even in what seemed fairly calm seas. Maybe not much in the way of stabilisers – it took 2 days after cruise to stop feeling like we were walking sideways!!! Take your seasick tablets with you or wrist bands if you need them. There were plenty of seasick injections taking place. After hours I believe this costs $90!!!

All if all the family had a great time, what a special experience for the girls and for us watching them enjoy it so much. We meet some fantastic new friends and explored some new places. Kick back, grab a cocktail and ENJOY.

I’m sure there is heaps I haven’t mentioned, but feel free to contact me with any questions you may have. I have a copy of the drinks menu and shore tours list if anyone would like it.

Kerri

I would love a copy of the drinks menu and shore tour list Kerri :)

my email is s.vanekeren@student.qut.edu.au :)

Excellent review, Kerri! I love that it is so detailed!

Thoroughly enjoyed reading your review Kerri. Loved the tips too. So true too what you said in your first two paragraphs. I would also love to see the drinks menu - my email is sherrie.rallings@nrm.qld.gov.au

Thanks again.

Excellent review. Could I too have a copy of the drinks menu and shore tour list? My email is patty.tanzer@minterellison.com. Thanks.

who is the captain/ cruise directors / maitre d and ececutive chef thanks

who is the captain/ cruise directors / maitre d and ececutive chef thanks

On our cruise in March;

Captain - Captain Marco Fortezze

Cruise Director - Dan Styne

Maitre 'd - Eduardo Ramos

Executive Chef - Eddie Ramos (no relation to Eduardo)

TIP – the ship was very rocky even in what seemed fairly calm seas. Maybe not much in the way of stabilisers – it took 2 days after cruise to stop feeling like we were walking sideways!!! Take your seasick tablets with you or wrist bands if you need them.

Hi All,

Just thought I would mention when we were on in January we were informed that you feel the motion more on the Star because she is a narrower ship. The most obvious place you can see this is in the bathroom in your cabin as the toilet is almost straight up against the wall!!

Cheers,

Chaz:)

TIP – the ship was very rocky even in what seemed fairly calm seas. Maybe not much in the way of stabilisers – it took 2 days after cruise to stop feeling like we were walking sideways!!! Take your seasick tablets with you or wrist bands if you need them. There were plenty of seasick injections taking place. After hours I believe this costs $90!!!

 

Kerri

Maybe it was because we had such a rough first 24 hrs that the rest of the cruise seemed OK, but I didn't really notice any more motion on Pacific Star than on Pacific Sun or Pacific Sky. Maybe I just got my sea legs better. I also found that I got my shore legs back much quicker when we got home than I had on previous cruises.

Thanks for your happy & detailed review Kerri! May I also add myself to the list for the drinks menu & shore tour list...nerissanshane@ledanet.com.au

Thanks!

It's great to hear that ice is provided to your cabin! The temptation to sneak a drop onboard is now overwhelming!:D

thanks heaps for the email Kerri :)

makes it even more exciting, but November seems like a lifetime away at the moment :)

Bumped for Cruising4FirstTime

Rallo

What does bumped mean? Re your previous message.

I am new to all this so I am on a steep learning curve.

Ally

Bumped means putting in a new post to "bump" it to the top of the list of threads.

Thanks alot.:o

Hi Kerri

I hope you are still around here somewhere, I note that your review was a while ago.

I loved it! Heaps of detail which was extremely useful to me.

We are travelling on the Star in March with our 3 year old so I have some questions that you may be able to answer.

We are booked for the 1st sitting of dinner. Did you have dinner with the children and then take them back to the kids club so that you could watch the show? Is the show somewhere separate to the restaurant or does it take place during the dinner? Or do we need to book the child minding after 10pm to be able to watch the show?

I am just trying to work out the logistics of how to get organised. :confused:

Also any other tips about travelling with a 3 year old would be great. What they like, don't like etc. What shore tours are good for a 3 year old. My son loves trains so I thought "Le Petit Train" in Noumea would be great for him....? What is your advice? Did you take your kids on any shore tours? If so which ones.

Was your child still drinking milk in a bottle? If so how did you manage that issue. I want to try to avoid in on the ship as there are no heating facilities in the cabins but thought I would ask....

Anyway, would love to hear from you and also receive any drinks lists, menus or shore tour information you may have kept. Email: daley.ally@flindersports.com.au.

Thanks again

Ally

Ally, Kerri did do a grea job with her report on the Star and also answered a lot of my queries. I noticed yesterday on the P & O site if you type in your tour no. eg: R711 it will bring up the cruise you are taking and if you go to it and look at the islands you go to and click on the island that has the S symbol it will tell you the tours. (never had this info. before) Hope this helps.

Kerri (not the same as above)

Ally

I don't think Kerri (Hookedup) is around these days but I have kept the drinks list and tours list that she sent me back in April and I will forward them to your email. The show is definietly somewhere seperate to the dining room, I can answer that question but can't help you with any others sorry.

Sherrie

Ally, our daughter ate with us a first sitting. When she finished one of us ran her up to the kids club. For first sitting dinner your show would be at 8pm and will be finished in time for the 10pm pick up. Otherwise one person can leave early and go and get your child.

I think your son would like the Petit Train. We did a similar one but it was a horse and carriage. Our daughter is 9 so not much help with other info.

Will scan some kids activity schedules tonight.

Ally, our daughter ate with us a first sitting. When she finished one of us ran her up to the kids club. For first sitting dinner your show would be at 8pm and will be finished in time for the 10pm pick up. Otherwise one person can leave early and go and get your child.

I think your son would like the Petit Train. We did a similar one but it was a horse and carriage. Our daughter is 9 so not much help with other info.

Will scan some kids activity schedules tonight.

oops!

I'm back. Haven't seemed to be getting a copy of these posts, so I'll make sure I'm subscribed at the end of this one.

We sat late dinner and were able to have our girls eat at 5pm at the children's dinner session. Kids club reopens at 5.45pm, so after they had finished a meal and we had taken a bit of a walk around one of the decks, we would drop then off at the kids club for the evening (till 10pm). So if they have kids meal time on your sailing date this would also be suitable for you to do the same. There are generally 2 sessions for each show which means no-one misses out. For yourself on early dinner, you would see the show straight after dinner in the showroom. For us it was sometimes a show before dinner then our meal. We usually didn't finish our meal until just before 10pm (straight to get the children then). Sometimes hubby would head out to the comedy show etc after that, I'd go to sleep in the cabin with the kids.

Hope this is helpful, any further questions please ask.