Pacific Aria cruise to Fraser Island

[davoni]

Just returned from 4 night cruise to Fraser Island 1-5 April 2016.

Took my 2 grand-children (15 and 10) and we had a great time on Aria.

 

Was not sure what to expect after reading some reviews and usually cruising on Princess. The ship was beautiful and our balcony cabin was spacious and clean. Nice bathroom with spa bath-tub. Even the single sofa bed was comfortable. Balcony had 2 chairs, small table and sun lounger.

 

Dined twice in Waterfront Dining Room (6.30-7.00pm) and did not have to wait for a table. Breakfast and lunch was no wait either. Food good and order steamed vegetables on the side as they don't seem big on veges with main course.

Had dinner in Dragon Lady which was average - small selection and service was rushed - maybe as it was complimentary on this cruise and they needed tables for next group.

Also dined at Angelos Italian (again complimentary) and found food much better as well as the service and we were not rushed.

The Pantry food was good and getting a table was no problem. Lots of variety.

Much better than the old buffet.

 

Kids Club - Shark Shack was only full on one occasion (went back 30 mins later and she was admitted) and my 10 year old used it every day.

Even though the cruise was sold out we were able to get a pool chair everyday but we were there at 9.00am. The Edge only had a few activities and we had to wait one hour for the flying fox which limited how much we used this attraction.

 

The staff and crew were happy and there were many waiters in Marquee serving drinks. Didn't have a problem getting a good seat for the shows which was also surprising being a full ship. Fraser Island was a good stop and the beach and resort are a few minutes walk from the ship.

We hired a double canoe direct on the Island for one hour for $20.

On the ship the Tour Desk was charging $60.

 

Would recommend Pacific Aria (even though I'm not usually a P&O fan)

but it was so good my husband and I are doing a cruise on Aria in June.

So if you're booked on this ship you should enjoy it as it is better than the Pacific Dawn - a bit more up-market with lots of lovely bars and areas to relax.

[peter.kath@hotmail.com]

Thank you for the positive review we too travelled on the Aria last month and had a great time. We were lucky enough to go on the Bounty Adventure visiting Tonga Fiji Vanuatu and Noumea I can throughly recommend it. A highlight for us was the guest speaker an historian that gave 4 or 5 talks on the history of where we're going. The Macquee lounge was packed every session.

[Boboz]

G'day all,

We too were on the Aria for the Bounty cruise last month.

The ship was great , the staff as usual were great.

The cruise was spoilt by an unfortunate incident.

It was my wife's birthday the day we sailed , so I had ordered some roses from a Brisbane florist to be delivered to the ship, I paid extra to have them

delivered by noon, as we were to sail at 2 pm. When we boarded there were no flowers in the stateroom so I enquired with the room steward who said he did not know and suggested we try reception, who also did not know.

Two days later we found a note under our door to contact the assistant manager at reception, who informed us that the ship had also ordered some flowers for a guest and their flowers had not arrived so they had made a "MISTAKE" and sent my wife's roses to the other guests.

I asked the Assistant manager how could this "Mistake" happen as the roses were addressed to my wife and included a card wishing her happy birthday and a personal message from me, I was told by this genius that they had removed my card and put in a card of their own.

They call this an accident ??? More like misappropriation at best and bordering on a criminal act.

As compensation we were offered the cost of the flowers or dinner in the Salt grill.

Poor compensation for the disappointment .

I have sent an Email to P&O also a hard copy by mail but no response as yet

I will not hold my breath waiting.

Sorry for the long winded post

Regards Bob

[davoni]

Wow, Boboz that's incredible.

Not sure about P&O but there is a florist onboard Princess ships.

Obviously not on P&O as they could/would have sent your wife flowers.

Hope P&O replies to your letter.

Good to hear the cruise was good apart from this bizarre incident.

[peter.kath@hotmail.com]

Dear Bob I can understand your disappointment.

I can't imagine the Assistant Manager keeping his job for too long if that his how he does his job or being silly enough to admit to doing it.

I am glad you still managed to enjoy your trip it really was a great.