Skyrules

Carnival policy, not Australian law. If it was Australian law the RCI and Celebrity ships based in Australia wouldn't be able to offer them either.

From P&O's facebook page

Skyrules - I am glad you didn't say the stripe would look better in "pink".

Saw Pacific Dawn yesterday with the new paint job.. The stripe isn't too bad, but the "Like No Place on Earth" advertising tag line painted across the stern is a bit much.

I always think that any work or upgrade on "any" cruise ship is an improvement.

 

This cruise on the P&O Pacific Jewel is going to be "very interesting", as we have never cruised on P&O before, only NCL, Celebrity & Princess. I am not sure just where P&O fit in on the grand scale of general cruising? We will certainly go with an open mind.

I read where other cruise critic members were critical of P&O for removing the buffet in main Dining Room. We always found the buffets to be a bit of a shamble, with so many people pushing etc, just to get that little bit of extra meat or sweets, etc on their plate. We made a point of eating in other dining areas of various ships, firstly, because some of the restaurants were almost empty, and it gave my wife & I some lovely quiet time together.

 

Because I don't lug around a dinner suit for formal nights, we tend to stay away from the main Dining Room when the formal nights are on, and instead we visited some of the Restaurants (for a fee) on those nights, and had the restaurant to ourselves almost, except for some of the officers who also frequented the restaurants (for a small fee)

You need to have a proper sit down restaurant, I wouldn't want to go on a ship where buffet (in whatever form) was the only dining option. In 21 cruises, nearly 150 days cruising, I could count on one hand the number of times we've eaten dinner in the buffet, and when we have it was usually out of necessity, mostly after a late shore tour. For us the buffet is there for Breakfast and Lunch. Dinner time is restaurant time, either the main dining room or the specialty restaurants.

Interesting reading. We are scheduled to be going to both Komodo Island and Bali on P&O Australia in mid-2015 while cruising from Singapore to Brisbane. While it wouldn't worry me if we don't go to Bali (been there, done that) it would be disappointing to miss Komodo Island.

I really wonder about the statement "people don't want schnitzel or buffet any more ".Wouldn't have anything to do with cutting costs would it.I'd like to see how they'd go in the USA with that change.I must have missed the day when people refused to eat from the buffet.I know it's not the healthiest way to get food but the lines are always crowded. :rolleyes:

No, I think it basically because this is the style of "buffet" that Ryndam & Statendam currently have, and the changes to Pacific Dawn, Jewel and Pearl will bring them more in line with the two newer ships when they become Pacific Aria & Pacific Eden

Just adding to my last posting - here is a list of things that will apparently be done to P&O Pacific Jewel in Singapore - June 2015

 

* No Buffet - food bar instead called The Pantry with new food venues.

* Dragon Lady Restaurant (Asian fusion food)

* Angelo's (Italian)

* Open Kitchen

* Salt Grill Bar for cocktails at Salt Grill Restaurant.

* Improved pool deck

* New Floorshows.

 

Also a blue stripe will be added to the outside of the ship.

Looking forward to experiencing these changes in June, as we are boarding her for the cruise back to Brisbane from Singapore.

The only thing I don't like the sound of is the blue stripe.... I've seen a photo shopped mockup of it, and it doesn't look that great.

There could be something in that.

Another possibility is the fuel she uses. She was one of the last ships designed to burn a very heavy "bunker oil" . (Not sure of all the tech jargon ) but you can see it sometimes , when she is belching a lot of smoke , while still sitting at the dock.

Could be she is not allowed to berth in the Residential Zone at Hamilton?

Could also be she has to dock at FI in order to refuel?

 

 

No, don't think it's that.. Some of cargo ships that come up to Hamilton wharf are pretty grubby. More likely to be something that would affect her maneuverability in the tight channels in the river and the swing basin at Portside.

It must be something about the ship, as Pearl's been in Brisbane several times in the last couple of months, and each time she's been at the Grain terminal, even when there hasn't been another ship at Portside.

Pearl has, however, been up to Portside in the past so it must be something new.

Hi, we are travelling on Celebrity to Vietnam over Christmas and new year and I have emailed about visas and had two responses, one yes they do visas and one no. I want to organise accommodation in Ho Chi Minh city for the night and get the ships transfer so can I be assured that I can get an overnight visa on board for the family? I'm sorry if I'm repeating what others have asked I just want to be reassured. Has anyone done it? I just don't want to pay for a hotel and not be able to go. Thanks in advance

Yes, you'll be able to get that on board. Make sure you take passport sized photo's for each person as they'll be needed for the type of visa you'll require to stay overnight off the Ship.

I was on a cruise that stopped in Vietnam and the ship took care of the Visa. It cost $43 last year. No photos were needed and you can always google Vietnam Visa for more info..

We did the Hong Kong -> Singapore cruise on Millennium in 2012.

The requirement for photo's depends on the Visa you are getting.

If you are planning to stay off the ship overnight (ie doing an overnight hotel stay in one of the overnight ports, the Visa requires a passport.

If you are just doing day trips from the ship, and staying onboard overnight then no photo is required for the Visa.

In either case, the Visa are arranged on board and charged to your onboard account.

I understand with select dining you can make a reservation ahead of time if you would like

You can. We got such good service on our first night that we booked at the same time & table for the rest of the cruise (14 nights), except the nights we went to QSine & The Olympic Restaurant.

We would normally book fixed dining, but at the time we booked the cruise, fixed dining was already full. Being able to book in the Select Dining meant we still effectively had fixed dining

The Solstice was $7/person as well on the May 23rd Alaska cruise.

Must have gone up with the start of the US Summer season. We were on Solstice in April out of Sydney and it was still $5. Even $7 is worth it. Yummy crepes.

Am I correct that on the Austin-NZ Solstice itinerary you cruise three sounds in one day and Milford is last, so if you get off for the overnight Queensland excursion you have gotten to cruise Dusky Sound? Is the scenery in each of the "sounds" different? Thank you

I also assume you mean Queenstown excursion, not Queensland?? :)

Cruises from Sydney to Auckland go to Milford Sound first, as you go into the Sound and back out the same way, then head further south to Dusky & Doubtful Sounds, entering from the Tasman and exiting into Fouveaux Strait at the bottom of NZ and then continuing around the bottom of NZ and up to Dunedin on the east coast.

So if you're doing the overland tour to Queenstown you'll get off the ship in Milford Sound and miss Dusky & Doubtful sounds.

Milford Sound is the most spectacular. of the three, and the beauty of what you'll see going to Queenstown will more than make up for not seeing Dusky & Doubtful sounds.

Yes, lovely places and a lovely idea. I had suggested that but they are time limited (as well as money I would assume) as they also are travelling across Canada and the US. I think their best option is to do the cross country and then come back for Alaska on the Solstice . This is more or less what they wanted but they will need to shuffle the order around somewhat.:D

Yeah, I think we'll wait and see what's available when the Alaskan itineraries for 2016 are released and work it out from there.

You can still do Solstice if you board in Sydney instead of Honolulu

 

 

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We'd like to, but that would make 5 weeks cruising, and we're looking at at least 2-3 weeks touring.. All well and good, but we both work, and probably wouldn't have enough time off available.

Yeah, if you have status with X , at least you have reciprocity status on RCI:D

Indeed, although at the moment we're at the same level on both Celebrity & RCI.

You can do the Honolulu cruise disembark and trip across the US and Canada and then do your Alaskan cruise and have no issues with the PVSA. Alternatively as already mentioned, cruise from hawaii and then board a different ship to cruise Alaska. There are normally lots of cruises (X, princess, hal, etc) that leave every other day. :D

Yeah, lots of options, just not our preferred one on our preferred ship!! Oh well, more research needs to be done.

Sorry but I don't understand your post or what the PVSA is. I plan to book a cruise on the Millennium next April from Shanghai to Vancouver and then either stay on board for a 10 day Alaskan itinerary that returns to Vancouver or stay 10 days touring Canada from Vancouver and then reboard Millennium for B2B Nth and Sth bound Alaskan cruises from Vancouver and return.

Will there be a problem with this? Mick if you could also kindly help with your experienced advice it would be appreciated.

From what I've read, PVSA only applies if you board & disembark from US ports. If I read your proposal correctly you'd be boarding in Shanghai & disembarking in Vancouver, or boarding & disembarking in Vancouver, so you wouldn't face the same problem as we are. Our problem is that we'd be boarding & disembarking in US Ports (Honolulu and Seattle).

Unfortunately, we were stuck by the PVSA a few years back where we couldn't do the two cruises in a row. We ended up having to do something totally different.:D

Yeah, I've just been looking into it and I think we'll have to come up with a Plan B..... Possibly drop the Honolulu -> Vancouver cruise and do a longer Alaskan cruise, or do the Honolulu one, then the trip across Canada down to New York, and then come back to the west coast and do the Alaskan cruise.

Sorry, you cannot do this itinerary. Check out the rules for PVSA.

One way trips between US and Canadian ports are outside the PVSA except when, as here, you join up two trips on the same ship and end up with a trip from one US port to another one, as yours would be from Honolulu to Seattle, without visiting a distant port. You could get around this by choosing a different ship sailing to Alaska from Vancouver. I hope I haven't ruined your day but best to know this in advance.

 

By the way, we loved Brisbane.:)

Even though it would be two separate bookings, so technically we'd be disembarking in Vancouver at the end of the first cruise and re-boarding the second cruise on a separate booking???

Choosing another ship isn't really an option as timing is an issue.

Strange rules, we'll need to look into it.

One way around that is to sail from Australia to Seattle via Hawaii and Alaska.:D

Hmm, yes, we'd like to but unfortunately it would make for too long a trip.

This sounds like a wonderful itinerary, thanks for the review.

We're hoping that in 2016 this itinerary will be the first cruise after the Honolulu to Vancouver cruise that finishes Solsitice's 2015/16 Australia/South Pacific season, as we're looking at flying from Australia to Honolulu to do the cruise to Vancouver, followed by the first Alaskan cruise, Alaska before heading by train across Canada to Toronto & Niagra Falls and down to New York.

We were on Solstice recently...

The coffee in the machines in the Ocean View Cafe was undrinkable. I was having tea in the mornings with breakfast.

The (percolated) coffee in the main dining room was just drinkable, so again, I usually had tea.

The (expresso) coffee that you paid for in Cafe al Baccio and the Passport Bar was drinkable, apart from the taste of UHT milk

No, but they do a really really hard up sell when you walk in the door!:rolleyes:

It is in the works to remove them from all the ships this year tho.

We were on Millennium for 14 nights over Christmas/New Year 2012/13 and I don't think I ever saw anyone using the dispensers in Cellar Masters over the course of the cruise.

We are so pleased that we went on the Festival cruise -- I do really recommend it http://www.youtube.com/audio?feature=vm&v=Msvs1W7L-Xg

 

 

Barry

When we booked ours (on board Pacific Dawn on a previous cruise) we were told that the one we selected was the one that featured the festival. We only found out later that it wasn't..... Oh well, we still had a good time, and we went to Kitava, which the first cruise didn't, and we got to see the volcano erupt, so all was good.

There's another PNG cruise in September but I read the Canoe & Kundu Festival is held in November, which is the main reason we want to do a cruise then.

 

Or is a mini Canoe & Kundu Festival held each time P&O is in port for cruise passengers, does anyone know?

 

Thanks!

Go for the earlier one, that does the full Festival.

We went on the 2nd cruise, which went a couple of weeks after the Kundu Festival. They did have some Canoe's out racing, and they did some dancing at the Festival Grounds, but I think being there for the full festival would be much better.