Pacific Dawn Dining

We would like to try out the different dining options on our June holiday (school holidays).

What are we likely to expect?

Do you think that we will be able to dine when we choose or will it be over crowded at certain times?

I want to ensure that we do not miss the shows/performances. All suggestions and recommendations appreciated.

sorry wrong thread

We have just returned this week from a cruise on the Pacific Dawn during school holidays with two children aged 4 and 8 years. I will fill you in on our experience with the dining situation and then you can ask any more specific questions if you like. Hope this helps.:)

Breakfast: There are 3 main options for breakfast. Have it in the Palm Court Dining Room (which we never did), have it in the buffet or have it delivered to your room. The buffet breakfast is basically the same every day, but you would have to be pretty fussy not to find something you like. They have cereals and muesli, fresh or stewed fruits, oatmeal and yougurts, toast, fresh bread rolls, crossaints and pastries, bacon, ham, eggs (fried, scrambled or omlette) mushrroms, tomatoes, baked beans, pancakes (plain or banana) orange or apple juice etc.

You can also have breakfast delivered to your room for $3, which we did on a couple of mornings so we could enjoy it on the balcony. They always delivered way more food than we ordered and it was delivered hot.

Lunch: There are many options for lunch:

Palm Court Dining Room: you don't need a reservation for lunch and we never had any trouble getting a table to ourselves. The menu had plenty of choice, but we found there was not a lot for the kids and so we only had lunch there twice.

Buffet Lunch: This varies daily and can be a bit hit and miss with what is on offer, but is handy to feed the kids quickly after you drag them out of the pool to eat.

The Grill: This is a little hard to find and is not very well advertised, we didn't know it was there until 4 days into the cruise. It offers basic hamburgers, chips and what they call hot dogs (actually a sausage in a roll) but another good quick one for the kids.

Deck BBQ's and rolls: Every day of our cruise they would set up two stations on deck 12 and they would offer either a selection of (semi) gourmet filled rolls and cold pasta dishes or they would do a deck bbq which was quite good.

I have to go, but will post my info on dinner and reservations shortly. Sorry :o

Ok, in regards to dinner I can only offer my experience/opinion. Pacific Dawn is supposed to offer "anytime dining" which in their own words you can dine "when you want, where you want and with whom you want."

Even though we were staying in full suite which came with "preffered dining arrangements" we still found that we could only get a sitting at 5.30 - 6.00pm (which was too early as the kids were still swimming) or 8.15pm which was too late for the kids to eat. It was actually quite ironic as we found this was the best place for the kids to eat dinner, at night they offer a full kids dinner and dessert menu.

So as a result of this we ended up eating a lot of our night time meals in the buffet, even though a lot of the food was not suitable for young children ( a lot of curries and heavily sauced foods).

In the end we found a solution, drag the kids from the pool for half an hour between 4.30pm - 5.15pm when they have a kids sitting in the buffet (offering kids food) and then put the kids in the kids club at 8pm when we went to dinner ourselves. If the kids were a bit peckish when we picked them up we either returned to the buffet (which by then was dead quiet) for some fruit and dessert or bought them an icecream. Suited everyone!

My overall tip for dining, is try not to make any concrete plans, they usually won't end up happening, play each day by ear.

The other thing is, that the food is more than satisfactory, but don't go expecting a gourmet dining experience. You are out in the middle of the ocean and they are mass producing food for over 2000 people. Be realistic in what you expect and you won't be dissapointed. We weren't and I'm sure we had a better time than the other people we heard constantly whinging.:rolleyes:

We didn't dine at Salt Grill as we couldn't get in but if you want to know about La Luna, just ask.:)

Thanks Mum81 for providing such detailed information. I have found it really helpful.

Kind regards

I too found your info useful- many thanks. Have sailed on plenty of P & O but last few were on Rhapsody so I was a little behind with what's what on P & O.

Mum81 -We are at Macksville - where are you?

Di

I too found your info useful- many thanks. Have sailed on plenty of P & O but last few were on Rhapsody so I was a little behind with what's what on P & O.

 

Mum81 -We are at Macksville - where are you?

 

Di

Just "down the road" so to speak - Port Macquarie. We always stop at the Macksville club for lunch on our way to the Gold Coast. Glad you found the info helpful, I can be a bit long winded!:D

We are in Rocky, central qld

Hi, we just returned from the Xmas cruise on Pacific Dawn (1st cruise for us) and we found the dining food great. We never went to Palm court as the anytime buffet suited us better.

As previously mentioned the early buffet for the kids (4:30 - 5:15) was handy as it featured kid favourites. Another good one for the kids was the BBQ by the pool (free from 12-3), they serve chips, hamburgers and hotdogs.

We didn't have any trouble finding a table for breakfast, lunch or dinner in the buffet.

We (wife and 9 Y.O. boy) had an awesome cruise and would love to go again ASAP!!

Is there no pizza place on the P&O Australia ships??

Is there no pizza place on the P&O Australia ships??

Not any more. We went to the pizza place on Pacific Dawn afew years ago and it was absolutely beautiful pizza & pasta but that is now the Luke Mangan Salt Grill.

Is there no pizza place on the P&O Australia ships??

Not a free pizza place. :) I wouldn't miss the one on Princess ships as the pizza is not to our taste, but each to their own. :)

Not a free pizza place. :) I wouldn't miss the one on Princess ships as the pizza is not to our taste, but each to their own. :)

I didn't think there was even a pay one any more:confused:..........but I could be wrong.

I didn't think there was even a pay one any more:confused:..........but I could be wrong.

You could be right. We don't usually eat pizza so it could have disappeared and we wouldn't have noticed.

Sorry if my answer was not accurate.

Is there no pizza place on the P&O Australia ships??

I believe the only ship in P&O Australia's fleet with a pizza place is Pacific Sun (and she won't be around after July 8th). Although on the P&O promotional videos for Pacific Dawn (on youtube - they're a few years old), they show people being served pizzas... :confused:

I know where the pizza servery is/was on the Pacific Sun (at the back of the buffet area) and also on the Dawn, but I don't know if they are still there.

Ok, in regards to dinner I can only offer my experience/opinion. Pacific Dawn is supposed to offer "anytime dining" which in their own words you can dine "when you want, where you want and with whom you want."

 

Even though we were staying in full suite which came with "preffered dining arrangements" we still found that we could only get a sitting at 5.30 - 6.00pm (which was too early as the kids were still swimming) or 8.15pm which was too late for the kids to eat. It was actually quite ironic as we found this was the best place for the kids to eat dinner, at night they offer a full kids dinner and dessert menu.

 

So as a result of this we ended up eating a lot of our night time meals in the buffet, even though a lot of the food was not suitable for young children ( a lot of curries and heavily sauced foods).

 

In the end we found a solution, drag the kids from the pool for half an hour between 4.30pm - 5.15pm when they have a kids sitting in the buffet (offering kids food) and then put the kids in the kids club at 8pm when we went to dinner ourselves. If the kids were a bit peckish when we picked them up we either returned to the buffet (which by then was dead quiet) for some fruit and dessert or bought them an icecream. Suited everyone!

 

My overall tip for dining, is try not to make any concrete plans, they usually won't end up happening, play each day by ear.

 

The other thing is, that the food is more than satisfactory, but don't go expecting a gourmet dining experience. You are out in the middle of the ocean and they are mass producing food for over 2000 people. Be realistic in what you expect and you won't be dissapointed. We weren't and I'm sure we had a better time than the other people we heard constantly whinging.:rolleyes:

 

We didn't dine at Salt Grill as we couldn't get in but if you want to know about La Luna, just ask.:)

It is possible to book a table for a set time each night, as long as you do it the night before. You can't make a permanent booking for the whole cruise though.

Each night, as you are leaving the restaurant, stop at the booking desk and ask for the same table, same time next night. After a night or two you'll probably find they'll already have it marked off for you!

It is possible to book a table for a set time each night, as long as you do it the night before. You can't make a permanent booking for the whole cruise though.

 

Each night, as you are leaving the restaurant, stop at the booking desk and ask for the same table, same time next night. After a night or two you'll probably find they'll already have it marked off for you!

After a few nights, the booking person has usually asked us if we want that table for the whole cruise. Answer "Yes". :):)

We have just returned this week from a cruise on the Pacific Dawn during school holidays with two children aged 4 and 8 years. I will fill you in on our experience with the dining situation and then you can ask any more specific questions if you like. Hope this helps.:)

 

Breakfast: There are 3 main options for breakfast. Have it in the Palm Court Dining Room (which we never did), have it in the buffet or have it delivered to your room. The buffet breakfast is basically the same every day, but you would have to be pretty fussy not to find something you like. They have cereals and muesli, fresh or stewed fruits, oatmeal and yougurts, toast, fresh bread rolls, crossaints and pastries, bacon, ham, eggs (fried, scrambled or omlette) mushrroms, tomatoes, baked beans, pancakes (plain or banana) orange or apple juice etc.

 

You can also have breakfast delivered to your room for $3, which we did on a couple of mornings so we could enjoy it on the balcony. They always delivered way more food than we ordered and it was delivered hot.

 

Lunch: There are many options for lunch:

 

Palm Court Dining Room: you don't need a reservation for lunch and we never had any trouble getting a table to ourselves. The menu had plenty of choice, but we found there was not a lot for the kids and so we only had lunch there twice.

 

Buffet Lunch: This varies daily and can be a bit hit and miss with what is on offer, but is handy to feed the kids quickly after you drag them out of the pool to eat.

 

The Grill: This is a little hard to find and is not very well advertised, we didn't know it was there until 4 days into the cruise. It offers basic hamburgers, chips and what they call hot dogs (actually a sausage in a roll) but another good quick one for the kids.

 

Deck BBQ's and rolls: Every day of our cruise they would set up two stations on deck 12 and they would offer either a selection of (semi) gourmet filled rolls and cold pasta dishes or they would do a deck bbq which was quite good.

 

I have to go, but will post my info on dinner and reservations shortly. Sorry :o

And don't forget that by June Pacific Dawn will also have La Luna (as currently on Pacific Jewel); an Asian themed degustation restaurant. Lots small courses (about 10 I think it was). When we went on Pacific Jewel they had 2 menus, they started with one and about halfway through the cruise they switched to the second.

There's a small surcharge for La Luna, but we certainly found it worth it. And on Jewel it gave us a good vantage port for our evening passage up the Derwent River into Hobart.

Definitely no pizzeria on Pacific Dawn any more, and they already have La Luna. They block off an area of the buffet (at the stern) in the evenings, but I believe they are going to make a more permanent arrangement in the refurb. :)

I believe they are going to make a more permanent arrangement in the refurb. :)

pizzeria on Pacific Dawn was taken out some time ago and is know known as Luke Mangan/ Salt Grill, deck 12 starboard side forward.

Yes, this is true Sandy. :) I keep looking at vids and pics of the Dawn online. I swear, it's like I'm torturing myself! I really wanna cruise on her!

We're looking forward to Pacific Dawn again, too. Got a very soft spot for her. :) Meanwhile I'm counting the hours for our Sun Princess cruise. :rolleyes:

We would like to try out the different dining options on our June holiday (school holidays).

 

What are we likely to expect?

 

Do you think that we will be able to dine when we choose or will it be over crowded at certain times?

 

I want to ensure that we do not miss the shows/performances. All suggestions and recommendations appreciated.

Good memories of the Pacific Dawn : Luke Mangan food, good curries in the dining room, great shows, and the top deck walking track.

From our experience on the Pacific Dawn, "Anytime Dining" for the evening meal does not exist. Your preferences will not matter, despite words that indicate otherwise. When we challenged the unavailability of Anytime Dining, we got surly, inadequate, service. Play by their rules, or avoid the dining room in the evenings.

The food at the Luke Mangan Salt Grill is fabulous and it's worth going on the Pac Dawn just for that. We booked as soon as we got on the ship. Alas, we only booked one night. If we go on the Pacific Dawn again we will factor the cost of eating there into our cruise price, and book several nights.

At breakfast and lunch we did not have any problems in the dining room. We arrived, we ate. The buffet was too crowded for us, but maybe we picked the wrong times.

The shows on the Pac Dawn were excellent. I liked the theatre/stage layout and we usually sat in the front row to better admire the costumes and foot work. It would be a shame if the shows were missed because of The Dining Room Games. I do think there is an attempt to set the evening meals to work with the show times.

Just disregard any words that promise Anytime Dining or similar for the Pacific Dawn. The marketing people and the food service people are not on the same planet.

Enjoy your cruise Aussie71.

Regards, Ann

Thanks for all the information on Pacific Dawn Dining. :):):):)