Pacific Explorer 5 May 2023 - 3 day

[Purples]

I have friends leaving tomorrow from Perth on Pacific Explorer for 3 nights. They have just been informed that the ship will be anchored from Sat morning to Sunday afternoon to have the hull cleaned before it goes to NZ! Also the casino will not be open for the cruise because they are not in international waters. So for most of the cruise they will not move. This last minute information  is very poor. Interested to know what others think. Doubt they will go again.

[rkmw]

55 minutes ago, Purples said:

I have friends leaving tomorrow from Perth on Pacific Explorer for 3 nights. They have just been informed that the ship will be anchored from Sat morning to Sunday afternoon to have the hull cleaned before it goes to NZ! Also the casino will not be open for the cruise because they are not in international waters. So for most of the cruise they will not move. This last minute information  is very poor. Interested to know what others think. Doubt they will go again.

If it’s only a 3 day cruise they normally go out to sea and go anywhere so looks like they won’t be going far but they are still being entertained and fed 

[sewgood]

1 hour ago, Purples said:

Doubt they will go again.

Is this their first cruise?

[Purples]

Not her first cruise but is for her partner who she is hoping to convert to cruising!

[arxcards]

Cruises to nowhere are usually that. Some move around a bit, some not.

 

It was done on short notice as the ship only decided to get this done on short notice, and thankfully they aren't on a longer cruise and missing ports because of the maintenance. Unfortunately for your friends, they have picked a slot, but the ship isn't going to be in Auckland for another 8 weeks, 

 

This butt scaping has caused a few ships to divert from their normal schedule this past summer. Mostly this is done in a day, so hopefully they can line-up some good weather, get it done quickly, then head to sea.

Edited May 4, 2023 by arxcards

[sewgood]

A pity for her partner as it's great to be on the promenade deck and watch and listen to the ocean go by especially the wake view.

On the plus side there will still be lots of activities inside and on the pool deck to entertain them.

Still beats being at home.

 

 

[Yaya_in_Oz]

A big part of cruising is the ship actually moving. Otherwise you may as well just sit in the port. Also if the casino was meant to be open, it would disappoint some. I think passengers should be offered a refund if the P and O can't deliver on the cruise. I expect to get pretty much what I pay for, not something else.

I suspect they knew in advance of the hull cleaning and thought most would not complain. If they offered the cruise as "sail a short distance from the port, anchor for 2 days, experience hull cleaning and sail back", I suspect most would pick a different cruise.

[Ozwoody]

46 minutes ago, Yaya_in_Oz said:

A big part of cruising is the ship actually moving. Otherwise you may as well just sit in the port. Also if the casino was meant to be open, it would disappoint some. I think passengers should be offered a refund if the P and O can't deliver on the cruise. I expect to get pretty much what I pay for, not something else.

I suspect they knew in advance of the hull cleaning and thought most would not complain. If they offered the cruise as "sail a short distance from the port, anchor for 2 days, experience hull cleaning and sail back", I suspect most would pick a different cruise.

Would depend on the cost of the cruise, and if your trying to get a feel of being on a cruise ship, I suppose.🙄

[ceeceeDee]

Wouldn't be my cup of tea, but then again I don't cruise for less than 7 days. Still, as others have been saying, you still get to experience ship board life.

[dazadelaide]

We did a 3 day cruise a few years ago with 2 ports and both were cancelled due to bad weather!

We were disappointed of course but that's cruising sometimes. 

So we ended up with all days at sea but still had a great time enjoying all the ships amenities.

Daz

[icat2000]

How much did they pay for the three days?  I know some people were complaining about the Carnival Luminosa on FB page too. And I'm like you got the cabin for a steal and you got wad of OBC and your still having a grumble. Let me introduce you to a dime and nickel line haha.

[dazadelaide]

Our 3 nighter was about $450 per person For oceanview cabin but that was just before covid

[arxcards]

Well. From a friend aboard, it was too bumpy to scrape, so they went out to sea for a bit so they could open the casino.

[Aus Traveller]

A three-day cruise to 'nowhere' from Perth would not be scheduled to call at any ports. Whether it was anchored or cruising, it wouldn't affect activities on board, although there is a vibe about cruising. I suppose having the casino open would matter to some people, but it wouldn't to me.

[reeves35]

19 hours ago, arxcards said:

Well. From a friend aboard, it was too bumpy to scrape, so they went out to sea for a bit so they could open the casino.

Does that mean the scraping will not occur and, if so, what does that mean for the upcoming Pacific Explorer NZ season commencing at the end of June?

[arxcards]

9 hours ago, reeves35 said:

Does that mean the scraping will not occur and, if so, what does that mean for the upcoming Pacific Explorer NZ season commencing at the end of June?

That is a good question that I don't have an confident answer for. Chances are that at sometime between now and the end of June, one of the itineraries will be advised that their cruise will be affected. It could also be done off Tauranga after arriving in New Zealand. Auckland hasn't had any hull restrictions on other affected ships, and that is the only NZ port until September. They have a cruise to nowhere ex-Auckland in August.

[fishtaco]

Our last cruise we didnt get off at any port! lol Everything is on the ship, It was a bit of a strange thing to do though, bit like return sea days with less people

[OzKiwiJJ]

15 hours ago, fishtaco said:

Our last cruise we didnt get off at any port! lol Everything is on the ship, It was a bit of a strange thing to do though, bit like return sea days with less people

We've been to most of the Australia/NZ ports a number of times so sometimes just stay on the ship during a port day although we haven't done that for every port on a cruise ... yet! We came close on one of the Queensland cruises we did last year but decided to go off the ship for lunch in Cairns.

[MMDown Under]

On 5/4/2023 at 10:38 AM, Purples said:

I have friends leaving tomorrow from Perth on Pacific Explorer for 3 nights. They have just been informed that the ship will be anchored from Sat morning to Sunday afternoon to have the hull cleaned before it goes to NZ! Also the casino will not be open for the cruise because they are not in international waters. So for most of the cruise they will not move. This last minute information  is very poor. Interested to know what others think. Doubt they will go again.

I'm pleased the cleaning of the hull didn't happen for your friends. I did a cruise from Sydney to Perth, where nothing opened until after the ship left Perth, so I understand the disappointment.  

[arxcards]

13 hours ago, MMDown Under said:

I'm pleased the cleaning of the hull didn't happen for your friends. I did a cruise from Sydney to Perth, where nothing opened until after the ship left Perth, so I understand the disappointment.  

It sort of did. The tried to get the cleaning done twice, so they only spent part of the cruise at sea.