Pacific Eden Christmas Cruise - Blog Notes

[macntosh]

Hi all,

 

Please find following a number of posts from my blog notes regarding our Christmas Cruise aboard Pacific Eden that departed Sydney on 16 December and returned to Sydney on 28 December 2015.

 

Before I start, can I make it very clear, that these are my personal notes and honest observations only. Please DON'T flame me for my comments!

 

Thanks

Mark.

 

---------------------------------

 

Pacific Eden review - Days 1 & 2

 

Embarkation 10 out of 10

 

The ship encounted norovirus on its previous cruise and boarding was delayed be 3 hours, so we were arriving at ship at about 4pm for a scheduled 7pm sailaway.

 

On arrival at White Bay terminal in the taxi we were immediately met by the green shirted P&O representative, Robert. From that moment on embarkation was a dream.

 

Let me preface all of this. Clearly, Robert immediately spotted the wheelchair coming out of the rear of the taxi and my partner, who is an amputee and uses a walking stick, struggling with suitcases. As for me, I am temporarily restricted to the wheelchair prior to having surgery in January. Before I had even stepped out of the cab, the bags had been whisked away and Robert had the wheelchair opened and ready for me to step out of the taxi and sit straight down.

 

From cab to cabin, Robert pushed me, much to the relief of my partner who would have struggled to do this. From wheelchair registration, checkin, security check, over the backup gangway bypassing the lines having photos taken and finally delivering us to our cabin door all within 15 minutes of stepping out of the taxi. Simply amazing! P&O, please hire more just like Robert. He gets 10 / 10.

 

Initial observations

Day 1

Some very unhappy travellers

No pools open (day 1 or day 2) noro problems? No one is saying.

Restaurant reservations appear to be a major issue

Waterfront full even before we sailaway. We get directed to Dragon Lady for dinner. Nice meal, but not the best Asian we've ever had.

Glad we did not book starboard on deck 6. It is the smoking section and you would have people outside your window 24 hours a day. The windows on deck 6 do have reflective glazing, but there would be continual noise and chatter right outside you cabin window.

Cabins to avoid would be 6131 back to 6175.

 

Day 2 at sea

Very comfortable beds with nice soft and ample pillows.

Huge queue waiting to book up restaurants, we decided to just risk it tonight.

Good coffee in Ocean Bar from early morning. $3.50

Being in wheelchair I decided to use the only handicapped toilet on deck 8 near the Blue Room. Disgusting! Loo had backed up. I let staff know it needed immediate attention. Only other public handicapped toilet on board is on level 11 at the entry to the Pantry. I will go back tomorrow to see if the toilet on level 8 has been fixed. This should give us a better indication of how well their maintenance dept. is working.

 

Tried to phone Angelo's restaurant to make a booking for this evening, but the phone extension listed in the Welcome Onboard directory (page 8 - Communication Telephone Directory - Angelo's ext 3633) has been "BLOCKED" according to the screen on the phone in our cabin.

 

When I could not make a booking I tried to phone Reception, but it just went into a queue that never got answered, so I just hung up and decided to go join the physical queue whilst sitting in my wheelchair at the Reception counter. Boy, was that an experience! Lady behind me telling everyone about her flooded bathroom with coloured water, the bloke in front of me asking about free laundry to wash clothes affected by water from somewhere above. Oh, some very unhappy campers on their Christmas cruise.

 

Lots of people all asking what are the plans for Christmas Day, but not getting any clear signals. Tonight one lady mention that for Christmas all 3 restaurants (Waterfront, Angelo's & Blue Dragon) will all serve the same menu, but you have to book which restaurant you want to be seated in. Nice that there is no communication from P&O.

 

And on that front of no communication, we did not receive last nights, nor tonight's, edition of the Pacific Daily. Hence, we turned up for breakfast at the Waterfront this morning at 7.30am, along with at least 50 others to find it empty. None of us had received our Daily advising that clocks had gone back 1 hour overnight to Queensland time. Good work P&O.

 

This resulted in everyone heading to the Pantry. Great for some, but when you are in a wheelchair and your partner is a double amputee needing a walking stick, who and how do you carry food to a table? Oh yes I hear you say..."just use a tray". Sorry, but they went the way of the dodo bird years ago.

 

It was at this point my partner "lost it" and I could hear it from the other end of the Pantry. How embarrassing...

 

Staff to assist carrying food to the table for those less mobile? Sorry, try again. They seem to be far too busy looking at all the dirty dishes piling up on tables so those arriving have nowhere to sit. Yes, I know I'm being a tad 'sarcy' here but the frustration just kept building. All I wanted to do at this point was step out of the wheelchair and carry the plates back to the table.

 

So, lesson 1. When your in a wheelchair, your blood sugars are low and you need to eat in the Pantry, just stay in the line and eat it at the food counter. That's sure to get their attention that you require assistance.

 

Lesson 2. Passengers are not impressed by what they are seeing and experiencing on board Pacific Eden.

 

Come on P&O, we know you can do much better than this.

 

Have any of your senior management actually sailed on this ship to see and experience the problems first hand? Well as it turns out, the President and second in charge of P&O Aust., Sture Myrmell is on board with his family for Christmas. Clearly, incognito.

 

Tonight's dinner update. Yes we got into Angelo's for Italian. Great vibe in this restaurant, really quite upbeat. Sadly, the menu over promises and under delivers. Eg. the roast peppers entre only had a "garnish" of yellow pepper about the size of my finger nail. I would have expected more roast pepper when that's the name of the dish. Yes, I've got the pics of the dish to validate that statement.

 

If P&O ever think people will pay extra for either Angelo's or Blue Lady, then they need to rethink their marketing strategy to ensure they can meet customer expectation, which clearly they aren't currently.

 

more to come....

[macntosh]

Days 3 & 4

 

 

Day 3 Mooloolaba

 

Well we finally made it to breakfast in the Waterfront. So nice to have it served to you at the table. Finally we feel we are on a real ship.

 

Good news, the pools are open and the weather is warm. Perfect.

 

Update: the disabled toilet on deck 8 is fixed and clean.

 

Now for today's woes. This is the first of several tender ports of the itinerary. Dangerous ocean swell has delayed and slowed the entire tendering process. It is now 2pm and there are families around the pool and in the Pantry still awaiting for their tender number to be called. Certainly some frayed tempers with some now not expecting to get ashore as the scheduled departure time is 5pm. Yes, the joy of mother nature's hand to disrupt peoples holiday plans. Let's see if they can get everyone back on time.

 

Some very disappointed people, particularly young kids now running around the ship that did not get to go ashore today. Personally, I was hoping to have the ship to myself, but so many still awaiting to go ashore and with no chance to get back to the ship in time for departure. Another triumph P&O, no communication to those left waiting on board.

 

Have finally had dinner in the Waterfront tonight. Phoned the restaurant at about 4pm but got no answer, so I hit the "call back" button on the phone and it said "accepted". Lo and behold, someone actually phoned us back! Catch was, the only booking time available was 5pm. Way to early for us, so again we just turned up and got a table immediately. I did notice them turning people away shortly after we had been seated. Most of them had beepers in hand, so they were prepared to wait in the bar.

 

As for tonight's food in the Waterfront, it was ok, although I did send back the dish of stone cold fries that accompanied my main course. The plate was hot, but the chips were dead cold.

 

Tonight was white bianco dress night, so we strolled up to the pool area after dinner to soak up the vibe which was great. It was after 8pm and dark, but we were still awaiting for the tenders to get everyone back on board. Again, no communication from anyone in charge to update passengers. It is now 9pm and we have just left Mooloolaba, many hours behind schedule and some very disappointed people who did not get ashore.

 

The lesson for today, learn to laugh it off ! You are on holidays people, it's time to de-stress!

 

More from P&O's Faulty (with a "u") Towers Afloat tomorrow. Oh come on people, laugh with me, not at me! It's MY Christmas, not yours and it beats the usual Christmas fairy-tale. It's certainly funnier. Now, where's Basil? Mr. Fawlty...

 

 

 

Day 4 At sea

 

Breakfast in Waterfront

Mid-morning coffee in Ocean Bar. Great team working that area. Clearly they enjoy what they do and have a laugh with passengers.

 

Sat out on deck 6 promenade and watched the walkers. The promenade is such a nice feature of this ship. Really under utilised, but a nice place to sit quietly and enjoy the journey.

 

Lunch in the Pantry, listened to Yorkshire couple next to us complaining about yesterday's tendering problems. You just can't escape it.

 

Then out by the pool for sweets. Enjoyed a scoop of New Zealand ice cream. $5.00

 

Afternoon nap.

 

Trivia in Ocean Bar. Entertainment team need to understand they are now working almost exclusively with Aussies, why so many North American based questions. What would we know about Canadian ice hockey players, nor why would we care. P&O please learn to engage you audience, not isolate them.

 

Tried to get into Dragon Lady, but turned away as full. Then tried next door at Angelo's and shared a table with 2 fun couples where the conversation flowed freely. Sadly, the food was disappointing. Uncooked pasta, cold soup, cold sardines. Could not eat main course and had already returned the soup as it was cold, so ended up going upstairs and eating Indian in the Pantry just before they closed.

 

The late night R18+ rated Comedy show in the theatre was rude, but funny. Just what the people on this ship need at the moment. A good belly laugh.

 

Then late night karaoke at 11.30pm in the Ocean Bar. Only a man and his dog there as everyone had gone to bed for the early morning start for Hamilton Island at 7am.

 

The laugh for today. Over dinner tonight one of the couples we were seated with said they had been to Reception to ask for a feedback (complaint) form, only to be told they had run out of them. Seems to have been a rush for those forms on this cruise.

 

Keep on smiling people!

[macntosh]

Days 5 & 6

 

 

Day 5 Hamilton Island

 

Smooth arrival before 7am.

Tenders started immediately and they were calling the last numbers before 9.30am.

 

Amen. Happy travellers at last.

 

Breakfast in the Waterfront. Finally the poached eggs are runny, just how I like them.

 

Everyone has now gone ashore and the ship is now peaceful and relaxing.

 

I can now say, I'm enjoying the ship. Just love the deck 6 promenade for sitting back and taking in the view. Comfy teak deck lounges, shade and a nice tropical breeze. Am I making you jealous yet? Ah! Why has it not all been like this since the start of the cruise?

 

Quick lunch in the Pantry, then sat back out on the promenade deck. So nice out there.

 

Early dinner at Waterfront. Soup was cold so sent it back twice. 3rd time it came steaming hot, how it should have been in the first place. Then we shared the slow cooked veal with extra veggies. They made sure that came to the table hot as we keep sending cold food back. Overall, the food is fine in the Waterfront, it just needs to be hot.

 

Drink at the Martini Bar, listened to the guitarist, then a late night coffee.

 

Arrived back to room and the Daily was in the mail slot. You have to laugh, tomorrow is Monday, but it is showing that at 8am tomorrow is the Catholic Mass. Even I know that it should have been on Sunday's edition. There does not seem to be a lot of attention to detail on this ship. The only explanation would be that Sunday was a port day and everyone was going ashore so Monday is better for religious services.

 

 

Day 6 at sea enroute to Cairns

 

Quiet day at sea. Warm and clear. Woke late, breakfast in the Pantry, coffee from the ice cream bar by the pool.

 

Did the morning quiz and then enjoyed lazing on deck 6 promenade.

 

Late lunch, afternoon coffee in the cool of the Ocean Bar. Really warm and humid outside now.

 

Dinner in the Waterfront.

[macntosh]

Days 7 & 8 In Cairns

 

Hot & humid.

New breakfast menu in the Waterfront today. Quite good actually!

 

Finally got off the ship via deck 3 gangway.

 

Free wifi in the Cairns tourist areas. Great to send all the Christmas wishes and emails.

 

Visited the lagoon, tourist shops and had a great chocolate milkshake in the Orchid Plaza. I'm a man of simple pleasures.

 

City is very wheelchair friendly. Good footpaths and kerb ramps.

 

Great seafood lunch at the Boatshed. 500 metres from the ship. $22.50 incl. a glass of wine or beer. Facebook: boatshedcairns

 

Returning to the terminal, the Tourist Information desk had a nice fresh fruit tasting table. Nice touch from the local tourism authority. Lady there advised us that the ship would not be leaving port tonight for Cooktown due bad weather and we would be in Cairns another day.

 

We are pleased not to be faced with rough seas, and another day here in Cairns could be nice.

 

Now, today's problem is getting me in the wheelchair back onboard as deck 3 gangway was closed.

 

It's too steep to get me back up the main gangway that goes up to deck 5, so I had to wait 30 minutes for them to set up gangway again on level 3.

 

Very poor situation for elderly passengers and disabled to get up a dangerously steep gangway from ground level to deck 5. It's a 45degree angle up to the ship to deck 5.

 

Day 8 still in Cairns

 

Wet today, stayed onboard until lunchtime then decided to return to the same seafood restaurant from yesterday for another great seafood lunch.

 

Went to Reception to enquire about level 3 gangway. Full credit to Amile (Reception team) for his follow-up with Security regarding getting off the ship via level 5 with the assistance of 2 housekeeping staff members.

 

Disembarked from level 5 steep gangway with the assistance of 2 crew members and 1 from Security. Very dangerous for everyone in the rain, not just the elderly and disabled.

 

Took cab to the restaurant and back due rain, another fabulous lunch.

 

We return to the ship after lunch and again face the gangway to level 5. It's difficult for less mobile guests to get up the extremely steep gangway to deck 5, impossible for wheelchairs, but with the assistance of a team of 'sherpers' I was pushed up the notorious gangway.

 

Dinner in the Waterfront then to karaoke in the Ocean Bar where some fool behind me kept complaining that the guy in front of him in the wheelchair (me) was blocking his view. No consideration for anyone but themselves. We were there to "hear" them sing, not review their outfits. It is a bar, not a theatre and not everyone can see the singers in this bar anyway.

[macntosh]

Days 9 & 10

 

 

Day 9 Christmas Eve

 

Nice breakfast in Waterfront.

Then watched our arrival at Willis Island for a very short stop to "drop" anchor so the cruise can be deemed "international" to allow the tax concession for GST, duty-free, casino etc.

 

Skipped Lunch. Early dinner in Waterfront.

Christmas show, watched karaoke, then drink at Martini bar.

 

Awaited Santa's arrival. Not.

 

The beds are so comfortable and I am sleeping well. In fact, the beds are one of the ship's saving graces. Just imagine if all these grumpy people were not sleeping well... too awful to contemplate.

 

Many on board went to the mid-night mass service in the theatre, I had a heavy date with my comfy bed & pillow.

 

 

Day 10 Christmas Day

 

A very relaxed day. No stress, no fuss. That's why we booked the cruise.

Late breakfast, then siesta.

Light lunch in Pantry

 

Santa arrived onboard at 2pm on deck 12 for the kids. Well organised by the crew onboard. Full marks to the team organising it all.

 

Early dinner at 5.30pm in Waterfront. Same menu in all three restaurants. Good selection on the menu and it all appeared to run smoothly.

 

After dinner drinks in the Mix Bar, then wonderful pianist, Duncan, played and a couple of individuals sang. Just amazing impromptu performances by fellow passengers singing whilst Duncan accompanied them on the piano. Fantastic night.

[macntosh]

Days 11, 12 & 13

 

 

Day 11 Boxing Day - Morten Island

 

Breakfast in Waterfront

 

Sat on deck 6 and enjoyed the view as all the tenders took everyone ashore.

Ahhhh.... all quiet onboard. Bliss

 

Noticed an oil slick around ship. Not sure if something got spilt overboard, or if something got pumped out.

 

Morning coffee & trivia in the Ocean Bar.

 

Have mobile reception so sent texts to all the family, made phone calls and caught up on this review.

 

Lunch in the Pantry whilst there is no one onboard and I can just wheel up to the counters and see what is on offer. From the wheelchair you can't do that normally.

 

Afternoon nap. Dinner in the Waterfront. It's after 8.30pm and dark, but the ship has not sailed. We understand that the evening dolphin feeding tour has not as yet returned to the ship.

 

Decide to go to the Mix Bar and listen to Duncan the pianist. He is fantastic!

 

Day 12 at sea enroute to Sydney

 

Enjoyed a sleep in, so late breakfast in the Waterfront.

Mid morning coffee and trivia in the Ocean Bar.

 

Skipped lunch.

 

Been told that the Captain did not turn up to the scheduled Q&A session today in the theatre. Apparently lots of passengers there with lists of questions and issues they wanted to ask him. Brave man! Let's face it, he could read the mood of the crowd. Not exactly sure who the 'lamb' was that they sent to the 'slaughter' to answer passengers questions.

 

Considering that Sture Myrmell (P&O's President) is onboard, I'm surprised he has not stepped up to address passenger's complaints. Actually, given the sheer number of issues being raised by passengers, maybe I should not be surprised.

 

Bags packed and put out before we head off to dinner in the Waterfront. Nice meal.

 

Personal observations:

- overall, the crew are fantastic. 10 out of 10. They are all doing a magnificent job under very difficult circumstances. Seems to be that they are short staffed everywhere.

 

Sadly, if P&O don't look after their best assets (their crew) then I feel they will start jumping ship, making a bad situation even worse.

 

I know we have had norovirus onboard since day 1, but surely they can clean the watch & jewellery display cabinets in the shop. Come on, retail one-o-one, make the merchandise attractive. Being in a wheelchair where the display is at eye level, I wrote "please clean me" with my finger in the layer of 'film' on the outside one of the cabinets and 8 days later it is still slightly visible. I have dropped a hint about Windex to two different sales people on 2 different occasions, but they are clearly not interested in what customers are telling them.

 

Oh, I can just hear you now as you read this. OK, I'll admit to being a grumpy old man, but at least I have a sense of humour...

 

Future predictions:

- turnover of crew will be very high for a considerable amount of time (at least 6 months)

 

- there won't ever be a surcharge for Dragon Lady or Angelo's. (the food just isn't good enough to warrant it)

 

- as a port, Mooloolaba will be dropped from future itineraries. (too unfavouable for sea & weather conditions)

 

- given the way Aria and Eden have been introduced to the Australian market with all the hype and lack of quality control onboard, the word will quickly get out and affect future bookings. Yes, I am questioning the longevity of these ships in the P&O fleet unless something is done immediately to stem the flow of negative feedback. Step up to the challenge P&O.

 

Never thought I would ever say this about a cruise, but I will be glad to be getting off in the morning, had enough of this 'Faulty Towers Afloat' episode.

 

Day 13 disembarking in Sydney

 

Again, the ground crew manage the elderly and disabled particularly well. Like Robert upon our embarkation, Leslee does the same brilliant job of getting us off the ship, collects baggage and gets us into one of the many waiting taxis. Again, 10 out of 10 for the ground crew.

 

Only issue is that P&O have failed to hand out the customs and quarantine forms to passengers to complete before they all appear in the terminal without them. Some got them in their cabin last night, others like us have to fill them in at the last second before we leave the ship.

 

We are home 15 minutes later and now reflecting on the holiday that was.

 

Have just checked my emails to see that P&O have sent me their passenger survey. Yes, I have completed it, but guess not much will result from it, and yes I was perfectly honest with the poor /negative feedback to them.

 

Lesson for today: Go with very low expectations and maybe you will be pleasantly surprised when thing go well and improve onboard Pacific Eden.

 

I should also mention that there were so many loyal repeat P&O customers onboard that were complaining and comparing the poor experience onboard to the excellent experiences on the other P&O ships.

 

P&O, you need to be throwing everything you've got at this ship to stem the flow of negativity coming from it. Failure to do so would be an expensive financial disaster for Carnival Corp if this fleet expansion fails.

[Gnomey]

Great story Mark. It is sad to see my thoughts and observations repeated on your cruise. It seems that some aspects of staff performance have improved a little as there was a huge gap between the new and experienced crew on our trip. Amazing that they are still serving cold fries in the restaurant, glad the $3.50 coffees are still good! The beds really are great aren't they. We also didn't see the Captain and also only rarely heard from him, one time was when he was booed by all in the Waterfront trying to gloss over the dangerous tendering at Esperence.

 

I might mention too that while our trip from Freo was called the Inaugural Cruise, it was actually the third trip with passengers for the Eden. Most of the issues many of us raised have still not been rectified.

 

The messages are here on the forums of Cruise Critic for P&O. Most of us are prepared to accept the cast off ships from Carnival Corp, but they need to lift their game.

 

Steve.

[kunnocat]

Thoroughly enjoyed your review Mark. I have two cruises booked on Eden, cabin both on the Prom deck but port side. I do hope by June they have sorted some or all of the problems. The only ship I have ever said I would prefer not to sail on again was the Pacific Pearl. I love the smaller ships so am keeping my fingers crossed for the future of Aria & Eden. k

[SeaDog-46]

Macntosh

Thank you for sharing your experiences from the Pacific Eden Christmas cruise.

 

From reading it I could not believe that it is the same HAL Statendam that I was on for 30 days from Seattle to Singapore.

 

P&O Aust. made a serious mistake in thinking they can take over 2 more ships when they can draw experienced crew from only 3 ships. Why did they not retain experienced HAL hotel staff & crew to help train the 60% of new crew that joined the ship in Singapore.

Capt. Chris Norman & Staff Capt. Ryan Whitaker are on loan from HAL to P&O for 2 years. They should have also borrowed some hotel staff & crew to help train up the new crew.

[Aus Traveller]

Macntosh

Thank you for sharing your experiences from the Pacific Eden Christmas cruise.

 

From reading it I could not believe that it is the same HAL Statendam that I was on for 30 days from Seattle to Singapore.

 

P&O Aust. made a serious mistake in thinking they can take over 2 more ships when they can draw experienced crew from only 3 ships. Why did they not retain experienced HAL hotel staff & crew to help train the 60% of new crew that joined the ship in Singapore.

Capt. Chris Norman & Staff Capt. Ryan Whitaker are on loan from HAL to P&O for 2 years. They should have also borrowed some hotel staff & crew to help train up the new crew.

I agree with you that staffing two new ships was going to be difficult. I made this point early in discussions on this topic. I know that when Pacific Jewel joined the fleet some crew were taken from each of the other P&O ships and integrated with new hires and also crew who had come from Ocean Village that only had buffets and no restaurant service. We saw poor and slow service in the restaurant by inexperienced staff.

 

The above comments do not explain the reports of rust/mould etc. Maybe more time and attention should have been paid to these issues that the passengers will see.

 

I suppose with two new ships P&O had a great PR opportunity. It is a pity it has rebounded somewhat.

Edited December 29, 2015 by Aus Traveller

[Guest012]

Great read Mark...........and thanks for sharing hopefully sometime in the near future problems can be addressed.........would love to have said and corrected but think thats aiming too high at the moment......... and by the way nothing wrong with being a grumpy old man, i am a practising female version, as long as you keep that sense of humour going no matter what;);).... cheers

[Tara Jane]

Great read, glad you still had a sense of humour and as some say, being on any cruise is better than no cruise but perhaps not everyone would agree.

I notice you didnt make mention of the gastro outbreak that "half" the passengers contracted that was all over the tv last night.

BTW - We had Basil Faulty on our November 30 2011 cruise from Sydney to Auckland on celebrity century. After going on about 20 cruises since we still have a laugh when we remember his behavour, antics and outfits when both on board and when we saw him in port. There can only be one Basil !!!!!

Edited December 29, 2015 by Tara Jane

[kuldalai]

All the reasons why P & O Australia has a poor image . Tired old hand me downs from other brands in the Carnival fleet, re badged and hyped as new ships which they clearly are not. P & O Australia need to get their act together and address the significant maintenance debt on these Holland America hand me downs . As for cold food how simple is that to fix . Basil Fawlty would be proud . Again Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware . Where is Ann Sherry during all this debacle ?

[Haoie]

Nice review! Can you put these notes in as a proper ship review? It'd certainly make better reading than the current ones.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Pacific Sky revisited...:eek:

 

It all sounds a repeat of Pacific Sky . Lets hope that one or other of them does not break down or get stranded in port.

 

 

[cruisermsoon]

Our Christmas cruise on the sister ship Pacific Aria [ex Holland America's Ryndam] was a similar itinerary to Eden's, with perhaps similar problems [but not the novovirus].

Let's be clear about one thing. These ships, although vintage [1994], are lovely ships, with a great ship "feel" about them [and that wonderful wide wrap-around promenade deck]. P&O have done quite a good job at refurbishment, and have left some areas "original" [particularly the attractive Waterfront dining room and that lovely main pool, all Holland America blue-and-white, with luxurious lounge chairs bequeathed from HA].

Staff are great, with some refreshingly friendly faces from Vanuatu and elsewhere in the Pacific, and Aria also put on some surprisingly sophisticated and professional shows in the theatre ["Twice Upon a Time" was incredible, and everybody loved the Tap Pack].

Food ranged from acceptable to good, with a good range of dishes in the Pantry, which predictably became crowded at times. The worst meal we had was in "Angelo's" [tip: don't order the osso bucco - it was not only bad, it was spectacularly bad!!]

[Mustangsally58]

Disappointing to read of your Eden experience.

 

With 5 cruises on Starcruises and Princess Lines .... I have booked a sample cruise on P&O Eden for April and now thinking the money would have better put towards another holiday.

[Cyrix400]

Our Christmas cruise on the sister ship Pacific Aria [ex Holland America's Ryndam] was a similar itinerary to Eden's, with perhaps similar problems [but not the novovirus].

Let's be clear about one thing. These ships, although vintage [1994], are lovely ships, with a great ship "feel" about them [and that wonderful wide wrap-around promenade deck]. P&O have done quite a good job at refurbishment, and have left some areas "original" [particularly the attractive Waterfront dining room and that lovely main pool, all Holland America blue-and-white, with luxurious lounge chairs bequeathed from HA].

Staff are great, with some refreshingly friendly faces from Vanuatu and elsewhere in the Pacific, and Aria also put on some surprisingly sophisticated and professional shows in the theatre ["Twice Upon a Time" was incredible, and everybody loved the Tap Pack].

Food ranged from acceptable to good, with a good range of dishes in the Pantry, which predictably became crowded at times. The worst meal we had was in "Angelo's" [tip: don't order the osso bucco - it was not only bad, it was spectacularly bad!!]

It would be great if, in the interest of BALANCE, you could expend your post to a full review and post in the Reviews thread, please.

[NSWP]

Thanks for the story Mark. No doubt it will assist those wishing to cruise on Pacific Eden.

[goodycruising]

Thanks for taking the time to blog. It sounds like you had some good times along the way. A bad atmosphere can be a very big downer. A comfy bed is very high on the priority list for me, so that was nice to hear :)

 

I felt for you with the steep ramp issue. We were on Solstice over a year ago, and at Port Chalmers NZ there was a very steep ramp, and you can see the passengers behind looking on in amazement, while the staff try and do their backs in helping this fellow. I couldn't believe it, hence taking the pictures.

 

We had not long gone up it and were not happy with the steepness. A short while later they opened an entry that was at ground level. Why do they do things the hard way? So your experience is not isolated. It is however very wrong that they do this to both staff and passengers on any cruise line.

 

 

 

Edited December 30, 2015 by goodycruising

[The_Big_M]

We had not long gone up it and were not happy with the steepness. A short while later they opened an entry that was at ground level. Why do they do things the hard way? So your experience is not isolated. It is however very wrong that they do this to both staff and passengers on any cruise line.

 

Solstice has issues with gangway access.

 

I suspect the tide was probably out earlier so they weren't able to use the lower gangway doors (too low) and had to use the upper ones. As the tide came in the level rose that they could use the bottom ones.

 

Or it could have just been a mess-up. ;-) But we did have similar issues in some ports on Solstice at certain times, and that was the reason.

[lyndarra]

Last November it was the same deal on Radiance as Solstice. They did open an exit on deck three (right next to our cabin) for those leaving on ship excursions but when all excursions had gone it was closed back up. This left a very steep re-entry for those coming back on board and we saw the same problem of staff trying to get wheelchairs back up the gangway.

[macntosh]

Thanks for taking the time to blog. It sounds like you had some good times along the way. A bad atmosphere can be a very big downer. A comfy bed is very high on the priority list for me, so that was nice to hear :)

 

I felt for you with the steep ramp issue. We were on Solstice over a year ago, and at Port Chalmers NZ there was a very steep ramp, and you can see the passengers behind looking on in amazement, while the staff try and do their backs in helping this fellow. I couldn't believe it, hence taking the pictures.

 

We had not long gone up it and were not happy with the steepness. A short while later they opened an entry that was at ground level. Why do they do things the hard way? So your experience is not isolated. It is however very wrong that they do this to both staff and passengers on any cruise line

 

That's not steep! ☺ This is steep! 😲

 

One long gangway that ran right to inside the terminal in Cairns.

Check out the angle of the ramp.

 

Now this is steep!

 

You can see the lower gangway from deck 3 was still out at this point.

 

And yes Manfred, I think tides are the issue that deck 3 gangway kept disappearing.

 

See attached. ( Not sure how to get these images to display in the message.)

[The_Big_M]

That's not steep! ☺ This is steep!

 

One long gangway that ran right to inside the terminal in Cairns.

Check out the angle of the ramp.

 

Now this is steep!

 

You can see the lower gangway from deck 3 was still out at this point.

 

And yes Manfred, I think tides are the issue that deck 3 gangway kept disappearing.

 

See attached. ( Not sure how to get these images to display in the message.)

 

Haha - where does that gangway go? It's like going down a scary tunnel not sure where it ends.

 

Regarding the photo question, if you've uploaded the photo elsewhere (to another site) you can then place a link to it in the message (using the picture icon at the top when composing your message).

 

If you attach/upload it to the message here on cruisecritic it can only be the small size in your post).

[Kiwi Kruzer]

If you want steep you should see the gangways they use at Broome.

The tides there are horrendous and they have to keep changing the gangway position all the time. Once ,with Pacific Princess , the gangway fell into the tide.:eek: