ceeceeDee

1 hour ago, dazadelaide said:

Hi,

P&O are what you make of them.

We find them suitable for a nice easy holiday.

The food for us is ok, really love Dragon lady would eat every item on the menu but on most cruises you can only eat there twice.

We love decor and intimacy of Dragon lady it's dim and atmospheric in my opinion.

Angelos is ok we usually only go there once a cruise as Italian is not our fave but the food there is tasty and worth a visit.

The MDR in my opinion is just like having a meal at our local pub. About the same size and quality and we are always able to find a decent meal there.

The Pantry is hit and miss. Really like The Indian and Mexican but to me the rest are so-so.

Over the years we have cruised on Princess, Hal, a few adventure cruises and last Nov we were on Virgin from India to Singapore and all lines have their good and not so good points.

So enjoy your cruise on P&O and just take it for what it is, a nice break away from home.

Daz

Agree with what you had to say re the restaurants, Daz. We avoid the Pantry as much as possible and only go there if the MDR is not open for lunch (port days usually). Having said that, the baked ham last cruise was really nice. The rest of the offerings looked a bit 'blah' to me and I avoid the salad bar because you never know who has sneezed on it or stuck their fingers in (particularly kids. Don't get me wrong, I have got nothing against kids but a lot of the time they have their minds on things other than hygiene). There was no limit on how many times we could go to Dragon Lady and Angelos on our cruise. From memory we only dined once in the MDR for dinner. Had no trouble going to Angelos multiple nights.

Our last P&O cruise wasn't actually dedicated to footy, but the State of Origin was on the big screen on the Lido Deck. We just avoided the area whilst it was on. Footy jumpers were in evidence in the dining room, but that was pax wearing them!😂 Didn't really impact us at all.

16 hours ago, Cruisers47 said:

Hi Neil,

 

Thanks for your thoughts.   I appreciate it.   We are really RC now.  We have done over 40 cruises on various cruise lines.  We had to cancel a group of cruises we had booked because my husband got very ill and only now has he had the ok to go on one.  But the specialist said do not go overseas.   Hence P and O  this time of year.  Melbourne is cold in the winter and we so miss cruising but we will make the best of it and appreciate getting away.

 

thanks again.

 

eileen

Sorry to hear your husband has been ill, Eileen. I hope you are not too disappointed with P&O. Not much choice this time of the year. As for the food ...... We did the Queensland coast on Encounter last June. Whilst I wouldn't rave about the food (except in Luke's specialty restaurant - outstanding), we didn't find it as bad as some people have reported. It's not 5 star but then P&O isn't a 5 star line. I guess it depends on your expectations. We tend to accept P&O for what it is - a budget line. Having said that, we managed to find dishes we liked (and some we didn't) over the seven days. The fact that I didn't have to cook it or clean the kitchen and the food was served by excellent wait staff went a long way to making it more enjoyable.😂 Just expect pub food and you may be pleasantly surprised.

45 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

We are so sorry to hear that this has put a damper on your active lifestyle Les. Best of luck with the ortho.

Best wishes from the Great White North for a favourable result.

Be well, live life full,

Lyle & Lynn

We're all thinking of you Les and sending positive thoughts

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

A couple of hours ago, Pac Adventure changed course and appears to be heading for Mare or Lifou. They were going to Mystery Island tomorrow, so it looks like an itinerary shuffle. I am thinking Mare, although maybe the locals have given assurance and they are getting Lifou out of the way while they can.

 

As with Mic's thoughts of another Vanuatu port, it would also be the most direct course to Luganville.

Can Tanna handle cruise ships?

29 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I think an extra Vanuatu port may be required.

Yes, a bit far to throw in Fiji

2 minutes ago, arxcards said:

When they do it, it is just to get you to declare and sign that you are abiding by the duty-free limits that wouldn't normally be available unless you are leaving the country. 

 

That rule around Willis Island is an informal one, just a convenient arrangement, as it doesn't apply to cruising around Lord Howe or other similarly distanced islands. Customs just do a random thing to keep us on our toes, as the cruise lines have no intention of limiting your "duty free" purchases. If you have no arrival card in your cabin on the last evening, it can be an opportune time to check out the drink prices in the shops.

Thanks, Geoff. Seems a bit hit and miss, but I'm happy to go with the flow. We didn't bother with 'duty free' anyway. The prices weren't all that great and we don't buy duty free just for the sake of it. Totally different story when we go the Port Vila. Prices there are well worth investigating.

12 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

I was going to plant some herbs but I ran out of thyme

🙄😂

On 5/14/2024 at 6:40 PM, arxcards said:

It is just a walk through to hand over cards at most, to keep people honest with their duty free allowances and declaration. Our last one around Willis Island on Majestic, we were given cards, filled them out, then shredded them we we got home. There was nobody to collect them, on what was otherwise a domestic cruise. Over the years, it has been 50/50 for us.

 

@Astro Flyer

Note that according to the Brisbane terminal page, arrival is 8am. If that is accurate, you have lost a bit of valuable time toward a possible late AM flight.

https://www.portbris.com.au/cruise/cruise-ship-schedule

Unless both hubby and I have REALLY bad memories, we were not required to fill out any forms when we did a P&O cruise that sailed past Willis Island in June last year. I find it a bit strange to be required to fill in forms when Willis Island is an external territory of Australia. I'm not arguing the point, I just find it intriguing.

55 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

I have a Rose that is in bloom everyday of the year.

Awwww🙂

19 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

The tripod would weigh more than an extra pair or two of knickers, but I agree washing along the way is easy, and housekeeping would see much worse than clean undies drying.

As I said in an earlier post, my bikini briefs aren't that shocking!😂

24 minutes ago, Ozwoody said:

That's the one, your welcome.

John

Problem solved! Gotta love this forum. 🙂

2 hours ago, SinbadThePorter said:

One last remark about P&O. I did not realise that they bill your credit card daily, not at the end of the cruise. So you end up potentially with dozens of small transactions turning up in your credit card account.

 

Had I realised this I would have put cash on the ship account instead.

That's why we check our cruise account at least once a day so we can potentially pounce on mistakes immediately. Never had a problem, but there's always a first time for everything.

Absolutely. It's like film reviews. Critics have panned movies that I have actually enjoyed and conversely praised movies that I thought were rubbish.

Yes, you can get some guidance reading cruise reviews, but frankly I've found that most reviews are written by people who wanted to have a good rant and complain about everything. Unfortunately, most people who have a good time, don't bother to leap into print to say so. Honestly, I've read reviews from people who were on the same ship and at the same time as us and couldn't believe the negative comments. Their experience certainly wasn't ours.

1 minute ago, cruiser3775 said:

Thanks for the trip report. Always good to hear about other cruisers' experiences.  Coral Princess is so far my favourite ship, and I know a lot of people here just love it.  I'm doing my first P & O AU cruise later this year, so will be interested in making comparisons.

Just bear in mind that P&O is a budget line and Princess' poor cousin.🙂 (P&O ships are Princess cast offs). Don't get me wrong, I'm not knocking P&O. We've sailed with them a lot over the years and always had a good time. Just that Princess is a cut above (but then again it is also a price above). You will probably find things that compare and things that are different or not as good between Princess and P&O. A matter of individual taste and individual expectations.

10 minutes ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

@ceeceeDee Time and experience certainly influences our preferences! I definitely wouldn't want any back packer communal style cruising now but I am pretty sure when I was 19 I would have loved it! 

 

It's  like P&O Au to Princess I suppose, I do like P&O but there were things about the Coral Princess that really catered to my evolved tastes 😂

Every cruise line is different (for better or worse depending on your individual point of view and taste). For instance, we cruised on Symphony of the Seas a while back and I'm sure the Americans around us were amused to see four Aussie tourists' jaws simultaneously hit the deck when we exited the gang plank and stepped on the ship to discover ourselves confronted by a glittering shopping mall! Definitely not what we were expecting. If we wanted bells, whistles and whizz bangs this ship filled the bill. It was all very slick and we did enjoy it, but prefer the smaller ships to this floating metropolis.🙂

2 hours ago, Sparky74 said:

Price is a driving force for us as we are on a fixed income but we do enjoy natural light coming into the cabin. So if the price difference isn’t too great we spring for an obstructed oceanview rather than an inferior interior cabin. 😁

I've only ever been in an interior cabin once and that was way back in (I think) 1971 in a 4 berth cabin on the old P&O Iberia. That was sailing by the seat of your pants - sharing a cabin with strangers and trekking down the hallway to the communal bathroom!😯 And we plebs were separated from the first class passengers. Not that we cared, it was only a 3 day cruise to nowhere and it was a girls' weekend away for my friend and me.

These days there is no way I'd go interior. I'm not claustrophobic, but I do like natural light. An obstructed oceanview wouldn't bother me (though if I'm completely honest, I prefer a mini suite 😂). All comes down to dollars in the end.

20 hours ago, Mycruiseobsession said:

Did they offer a cheaper wifi option on Embarkation day? Will be on Explorer later in year and I am conflicted about the cost being worth it.

Depends where you are going. If it is a domestic cruise, there are usually enough port days to use fee wifi in a local cafe or library, unless you're desperate to be contactable.

We bought a wifi package for our next cruise as it's the South Pacific and I want our pet sitter to be able to contact us in case anything goes wrong with our fur babies (and since I will have wifi, probably post to CC).

On 5/11/2024 at 12:21 PM, arxcards said:

Looks like it is back on the table - just a different table.

A cross between the Mad Hatter's Tea Party and Musical Chairs (Ships) 🙄

I can't make up my mind whether Princess is Juggling or practicing Sleight of Hand. Either way, I wish they'd get their act together. I'm easily confused.😂

5 hours ago, NSWP said:

Happy mothers day to all on cc. enjoy.

Thank you, Les. I actually did get ferrero rocher! Along with a whole heap of stuff for our next cruise. 😉 

My girls know me too well. There was also a sweat shirt with the message printed on the front:

Coffee, Dogs and Crime Shows

I don't think they could find one that added Cruises to that list!😂

4 minutes ago, mr walker said:

A number of years ago I decided to not comment on tips/tipping. I'm sticking to that 🙂 

Me too! I have an opinion, but I keep it to myself!😂

Just now, arxcards said:

$250pp OBC - phfff.

Yes, like 'big whoop'!😠

10 minutes ago, sewgood said:

I'm disappointed for you as that was a fantastic cruise.

In no way does the round Australia cruise even come close to being the same cruise.

It makes me think twice about booking any Princess cruise too far in the future with them.

Yes, now I'm beginning to wonder. We were toying with the idea of a cruise to NZ return in 2026. Due to work commitments, we are 'locked in' to a time frame, so a cancelled cruise would leave us high and dry so to speak. I guess we'll keep watching the situation before making a final decision about booking with Princess or looking at other lines.

Good luck. Let us know how you go

9 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

Nice photos with the last one showing a faint 2nd rainbow 🌈 

Well spotted! I was so enamored with the 'principal' rainbow I didn't see it's delicate sibling.🙄🙂