Bella cruiser

I'm so sad about this, love Pearl she's my favourite P&O ship. I'll miss all those beautiful open raked decks at her stern, her roomy cabins, her atmosphere and her size is perfect.

I'm actually surprised we are losing her and not Jewel as I've heard the Pearl is in better mechanical condition and her maiden voyage as Star Princess was only one year before Jewel's as Crown Princess so there's not much difference in age.

Maybe they want to keep the Jewel, Dawn combination for cost savings as they are sisters and parts would be common to both.

I'm a Sitmar tragic and I will miss her. [YOUTUBE][/YOUTUBE]

I'm so sad about this, Pearl is my favourite P&O ship. :(

Thanks everyone, good news😀

Hi all

There's a report on FB this morning of a fire on board VOS anyone know if this is true or not.:confused: Any info??

Sorry duplicate

For years people have been complaining that P&O Australia only get hand me downs, now we are getting a new build, I think that's exciting. :) Although, personally, this ship will be a bit too big for my taste.

The news release has stated that the new ship will be an upgraded 'Dream class' to be built at Fincateiri in Italy. This class is a bit bigger than I would have expected to be targeted at the Aussie market as tendering will be a challenge, I'll be very interested to see itineraries.

Fortunately for myself I posses a superior level of intellect so high that I have the ability to perceive in advance what I will like and not like. When I look at booking a cruise I look at the demographic that the cruise line markets to and make an informed choice if it will suit me or not. That level of sophistication when knowing what I like and what demographic the cruise line caters do has enabled me to sail with P&O UK, Princess, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean and enjoy what the lines have to offer.

 

Some say that you need to experience something to judge it, well let me challenge you with this. You don't have to fly with RyanAir to know its crap and you don't have to physically smoke a cigarette to know that it is bad for you. When you apply that logic to making informed judgments about things then picking a cruise becomes so much more easier.

 

So sticking to the topic in hand I know that P&O Australia is not the demographic that I chose to associate with and as a result new ship or even my favourite recycled ships I have no desire to sail with that line. The new ship will not draw me to P&O Australia.

Lol, that's hilarious, best post I've seen from you in any of your many of equally narcissistic, intellectually superior alter egos.

Looks like it's still safe to cruise P&O. 😀

In a press release they have indicated that the new build will be based on an upgraded 'Dream class spec'.

Exciting news😀

I watched the vid, that's 14 minutes of my life I'll never get back, lol. What a beat up, this is a new ship to the line and a short break cruise at that, I think it makes sense to limit the pay restaurant bookings to an amount they can comfortably handle.

New staff who may not have worked together before dealing with teething problems etc.

The guy says that he was probably the only passenger to get to interview the Matre' D,..... of course he was. Everyone else was up and about by the pool, doing activities, having cocktails with friends etc and generally enjoying their limited time on board. Not sitting in their cabin waiting for the phone to ring or running around with a Gopro pretending to be a hard hitting journalist, overtly & covertly filming people doing their job.

Hi I believe it's caused by the balance mechanisms in your inner ear getting confused signals due to the 'motion of the ocean' your inner ear detects movement which is abnormal and this causes headache, vertigo and vomiting. In time most people's body will adjust and compensate, allowing people to get their 'Sea legs' in a couple of days on board.

In your case maybe wise to take Avomine each night,starting two nights before you board. You can probably stop taking them after a couple of days anyway.

Luckily I am not a sufferer. :)

It's really hard to feel sorry for this guy, I think it's a very light sentence. He's such a show pony, no remorse, seems to only be sorry for himself.

Right on Steve, Ryndam for instance max pax 1268, but P&O will load more.

Hmmm, never let the truth get in the way of a good story... These ships carry 1268 pax standard occupancy and 1538 pax all berths. No changes needed.

I am quite excited about trying out these ships :) I think that they look lovely ships and a great size for P&O to be able to offer new and interesting ports. I hope they take advantage of this opportunity, after all, no matter how much you love to cruise I think there is a maximum number of times you can voluntarily go to Noumea.

You'll just have to book another cruise:D

I don't think the Pearl has stabilizers does it ? I do know that in the past it has certainly taken on water as ballast in rocky conditions.

Pacific Pearl has stabilizers and thrusters. All ships move water in their tanks for stability and passenger comfort. Actually Pacific Pearl has double bottom tanks as well which saved her from disaster when she suffered a massive hull breach on her grounding on Poundstone Rock in Alaska when she was Star Princess. If you are interested Google the US Accident Report, it is a very interesting read.

You are not alone. Lol :D

Sorry I can't answer your question as we are not going on Carnival spirit until next March but I suggest you try posting this question on the Carnival Australia FB page, I am sure some will have a copy to share. ;)

Pretty sure the Australian market is the only one where a quad share (4 people) crusie costs MORE than a twin share (2 people) for a comparable cruise in the US or UK market.

 

Plus the Aussies have to put up with ancient ships (with ancient wiring) other markets would never accept. Hence the crackdown on powerboards etc.

 

We love cruising but would never cruise any of the ships "tailor made" for the Australian market.

LOL.....UMMM I am not sure that any quad cabin in Oz could be more expensive than a twin share on your chosen line Silverseas ...... anywhere in the world.

Most Aussies have to factor in the cost and time of long haul flights to take advantage of the prices I think you are talking about. If you add the flight costs and accommodation before and after, the comparison is not so favourable.

The cruise lines know this and price what the market will take....fair?? You be the judge of that.

Personally I think cruising out of Australia is a fantastic and relatively cheap holiday compared with land based resorts.:)

Oh and by the way this issue with power boards is across many lines based here and visiting utilising new & older ships, so I don't think it's due to 'Ancient Wiring' at all.

It is a bit misleading I think because, as Barry pointed out GRT (or GT as it is now termed) is the cubic capacity of enclosed space on board a ship and not it's weight.

Ships, like Voyager of the Seas as mentioned by the OP passenger space ratio looks artificially better than some other ships of a similar size due to the huge fully enclosed swimming pool and atrium. If this pool was unenclosed then it would not be included in the calculation but would still be available for passenger's usage.

Thus, ships with more open deck space are penalised in this system. You guys work out for yourself if this calculation is helpful but I am doubtful.

I hope you all have a fantastic time. Don't forget to tell us all about it when you get back:)

I've put up a quick report of the cruise here http://pacificdawntopng.blogspot.com.au/

 

Barry

Thanks Barry, great photos too. I think this cruise is a must do.

Thied

Sorry to hear of your damage at home, glad all your family and pets are OK. I hope they can repair it quickly. Wouldn't wish this on anyone, I hope you can salvage most of your stuff. Lucky it didn't happen whilst you were away.

Wow, your experience couldn't have been more different than ours when we cruised on Pacific Pearl last year. We were on her for 11 nights and found her to be a very nice ship. The entertainment, and shows were great, the crew was brilliant and couldn't do enough for you. We had a great group of friendly passengers and didn't see any drunkeness or antisocial behaviour whatsoever . We had an outside on deck 10 and it was very quiet and convenient.

To those contemplating Pacific Pearl, go with an open mind, I am sure you will have fun, we did.:)

To the OP, just recently there was a thread complaining about Booze Cruises,lack of security controlling drunk passengers and antisocial behaviour on Radiance OTS. It would not stop me booking a cruise on her though.

I can't wait to see this movie, sounds interesting.

Well my daughter has now decided she is a cruise snob. After returning from a 7-nighter on Pacific Dawn after cruising Princess, she does not want to travel P & O again.

Her major gripes were:

No drink package - said it cost her a great deal more (especially at $9.50 a thickshake)

No free ice-cream (didn't like $5 a scoop)

No pizza place (only room service that she had to pay for)

Also no free room service

Lack of snack opportunities especially late at night

Staff not as friendly anymore

No free internet (she is platinum on Princess)

Too many staff clogging up the passenger bars at night

But she did have a good time overall.

She is trying her first RCI cruise on Rhapsody next year, I will be interested to hear how she likes that.:p

I guess that makes her a Princess then. lol. I want to try Princess too, when our son has grown up and we are older.:)

I doubt anyone would starve only eating included food on a P&O Ship, seriously there is more than enough, Just not 24/7. I personally think P&O are great value for money and would cruise with them again. You will find a lot of people on here who will agree with you and seem to think the are superior because they choose not to cruise P&O. Oh we'll.....she should enjoy Rhapsody, she's an older ship in the RCI fleet but beautiful by all accounts.

Thankyou Bella cruiser, very interesting ,:) what I thought is if you have a lifeboat in front of you , you weren't allowed to use the balcony at all , you have put my mind to rest thanks .your research is very well explained.

Travel agent wasn't very helpful when I contacted him today:( .Won't be using them again .:(

I hope so to , it is the luck of the draw.

Deb

Hi Deb I forgot to say if you want to check out what these cabins/balconies look like just search 'obstructed view balconies Carnival Spirit or Carnival Legend '(sister ship) on youtube heaps of people have posted short videos.

I think I can answer this one, I have done a fair bit of research regarding Carnival Spirit's obstructed balcony cabins prior to our booking.

If you have booked a balcony guarantee then the lowest category you can be allocated are the obstructed view balcony cabins on deck 5 (upper deck).

These cabins have fully usable balconies and the ones adjacent to the tender boats ( the first 3 boats on each side) have the top of the boats coming up to the railing on their balconies so you can see the sea looking out whilst standing but are obviously quite obstructed when sitting on your balcony. All the other cabins in this category (aft of the first three boats) are adjacent to the much lower life boats and the top of these boats only comes up level with the floor of your balcony so they are only obstructed looking straight down.

I think the cabins you are referring to without usable balconies are the "French Door" cabins on deck 4. From what I understand these are almost totally obstructed and whilst you can open these doors they have no actual balcony there is just a narrow walkway and the hull of the boats out side these cabins. If you booked a Balcony guarantee you would not be allocated one of these as they are a lower category referred to as 'obstructed inside cabins'. If you're not sure maybe check with Carnival or your TA.

I hope you get a good one.:)