Latest Pacific Dawn review...cruise w126 23rd July 2011

[golfer76]

Our review in a nutshell - we had a great time and have now got two more people hooked on cruising!! The service was a hell of a lot better this time around in our case at least, as compared to our cruise on this ship 4 months ago. We missed the stop of Mystery Island due to rough seas unfortunately so this place will remain a mystery indeed. :(

 

So that's my brief review, but here is a different perspective from a passenger I overheard onboard whilst eavesdropping in the buffet...I can't confirm or deny how accurate this following info is!! :D

 

 

Embarkation: Bloody awful!! How dare they make my wife and I wait an hour to board the ship! We arrived at 7am. The ship was sitting in the water - we should've been able to board immediately!!

 

On board (public areas, cabin): We had booked an inside room and were horrified to find we had no view of the ocean for our entire cruise! Can you believe it?!? The carpet had at least one stain on it and I counted 3 marks on the wardrobe and counted at least 369 dust particles on the fake window sill. The wife and I agreed that our cruise experience was already ruined!!

 

The public areas were no better. I mean they had fake pot plants at the lift entrances and in the atrium...how tacky especially considering this is a 3 and a half star ship!! It's certainly not up to Queen Mary 2 standards which is what we were expecting before boarding!!

 

They charged us $4.59 for a coffee at Charlie's Bar which I normally would only pay $4.53 for back home...not acceptable P&O!!

 

The pools had cold water in them and the ship bloody moved whilst we were out in the ocean which made walking too difficult. Thanks for warning us about the rough seas in advance P&O...NOT!!

 

Onto the food...the hot buffet food was anything but. The temp reading from my thermometer was 59.993451 degrees celsius when placed in the marinated chicken breast, pan fried bassa fillets and other "hot" selections...clearly a breach of WH&S regulations!!

 

Don't get me started on the cold food temperature!! 5.00000000000215 degrees is not acceptable P&O!! You will be hearing from an ombudsman about this!!

 

The entertainment was sub par...I fully expected an Andrew Lloyd Webber production whilst onboard. I mean, I paid at least $1000 each for this holiday!!

 

The destinations: a great place with a lot of crap thrown in too. Noumea?!? Wonderful place!! The best port my wife and I have ever visited bar none!!

 

As for the other tropical islands...what a waste of time!! Who seriously loves sandy beaches, snorkeling, swimming and exploring little deserted islands with a picture postcard view?!? I don't know why P&O bother visiting these places!! Booooooring!!!

 

The best part of the cruise was getting back but even this bit was stuffed up!! Can you believe P&O made my wife and I wait in line with everyone else to disembark?!? I mean, I paid top dollar for this holiday and we were treated like ordinary individuals!!

 

Will we cruise with P&O again?!?...maybe one day. ;):D

[Sandielle]

Thanks for the morning laugh, Golfer. Unfortunately this is too near the truth sometimes.

[thied]

Welcome back and glad to see you enjoyed your cruise and great review btw;)

[golfer76]

Thanks for the morning laugh, Golfer. Unfortunately this is too near the truth sometimes.

 

:D That's what makes it both funny and sad at the same time Sandielle...all we can do is laugh and smile at such people!! One only has to look at some of the more recent official reviews of the Pacific Dawn on this site to see where I got some of my material from lol. ;):D

[suey]

Very funny review, I think I must have been sitting near the same people in the buffet;)

Also had a great time on this cruise, found the cruise staff very friendly and great fun. First time I had used the new ''cashless'' system in the casino, felt sorry for the staff who had to keep explaining it to people and nice to see a change in machines, although they took away one of my favourites. Also enjoyed the ladies night at the casino Noumea night, free mini massages (actually there were a lot of these around the ship at different times), gaming lessons (and mini-tournaments with prizes), cup-cakes and wine, and a free blackjack tournament entry for use later in the cruise. Great night!! Sister won the bingo Jackpot and we were sharing, yippee!!!:)

[golfer76]

Very funny review, I think I must have been sitting near the same people in the buffet;)

Also had a great time on this cruise, found the cruise staff very friendly and great fun. First time I had used the new ''cashless'' system in the casino, felt sorry for the staff who had to keep explaining it to people and nice to see a change in machines, although they took away one of my favourites. Also enjoyed the ladies night at the casino Noumea night, free mini massages (actually there were a lot of these around the ship at different times), gaming lessons (and mini-tournaments with prizes), cup-cakes and wine, and a free blackjack tournament entry for use later in the cruise. Great night!! Sister won the bingo Jackpot and we were sharing, yippee!!!:)

 

Well done!! Your sister was the one with the crosswords scratch-its onboard was she not suey?!? If so we were speaking to you and/or her outside the Bengal Bar whilst waiting in line for the galley tour!! :eek::D

[suey]

Well done!! Your sister was the one with the crosswords scratch-its onboard was she not suey?!? If so we were speaking to you and/or her outside the Bengal Bar whilst waiting in line for the galley tour!! :eek::D

 

I remember you!:) We always take scratchies on board, this time I won $28 for my $50 outlay (hmm not exactly a win).:rolleyes:

[golfer76]

I remember you!:) We always take scratchies on board, this time I won $28 for my $50 outlay (hmm not exactly a win).:rolleyes:

 

:D suey.

 

Hmmmmm 191 views of this topic and yet only 6 replies...half of which are mine!! I just wonder if many of the people reading this "review" have been guilty of such gripes as mentioned in it lol?!? ;):D

[rugbypopsie]

If they have not replied they are probably still laughing...I wouldn't want to accuse anyone around here of lacking a sense of humour! I enjoyed it immensely...thanks.

[Debsta]

:D suey.

 

Hmmmmm 191 views of this topic and yet only 6 replies...half of which are mine!! I just wonder if many of the people reading this "review" have been guilty of such gripes as mentioned in it lol?!? ;):D

 

LOL I wondered if the same people stayed on the ship didn't get off our cruise :p

 

Thanks for the laugh :D

[golfer76]

LOL I wondered if the same people stayed on the ship didn't get off our cruise

 

Thanks for the laugh

 

lol...no worries Debsta!! :D The problem is, as I said earlier, if you read some of the latest official Dawn reviews on this site, you'll see what I wrote isn't far off the mark in reality!! ;):eek::D