Welcome back Pacific Sun

[Megawat]

And Bon Voyage to all the luckies leaving this afternoon. Again will flash a mirror when she gets between us and Rotnest.

Can't wait to hear of the adventures.

Cheers

Richard

[fishtaco]

And Bon Voyage to all the luckies leaving this afternoon. Again will flash a mirror when she gets between us and Rotnest.

Can't wait to hear of the adventures.

Cheers

Richard

 

 

Just got off this morning,great cruise fantastic ports "all of them" (for those that missed the ship in Bali,and those that got off in both Geraldton and Broome lol).

 

Flattest seas I have ever seen and people got off with seasickness???

 

Food was much better than my last Pac Dawn cruise.

 

Second night was given a permanent 8pm booking in the Bordeaux as all table guests were happy with each other and suited us all.

 

very calm seas all the way, very hot everyday,no rain.

 

Would do this cruise again Pac Sun or not.

 

Lots of people moaning about stuff but most enjoyed this cruise a lot!

 

Way too many grumpy older people (over 70) who thought they owned the place and didnt stop bitching about everything from the colour of the tea to getting two eggs at breakfast when they only asked for one!

 

Plenty of happy go lucky over 70,s as well who had just as much fun as everybody else!

 

Some prices onboard are way over the top given the class of ship.

 

Empress deck midship was excellent and much better than my previous upperdeck cabin on the Pac sun,it looked newer and not a single noise or shake,

 

Staff were fantastic,shows were ok.

 

Removed my auto tips for the first time and tipped individual staff as we thought it was unfair that the majority of cruisers paid less than half what we paid in Perth for this cruise and they got free flights from East!

 

We sign tipped staff who brought drinks to us, $40 to wait staff and $40 to cabin staff last day and kept the other $90.

 

Wine photos and smokes are silly prices as is the oasis lounge at $15 9.30 to 5.30 full day and $10 9.30 to 12.30 half day

 

The food was so good there was no need to use the steakhouse or pizza bar with plenty of deck BBQs and very late buffets on shore days.

 

Snacked at the Buffet as it seemed to be open all the time but had breakfast lunch and dinner in the dinning room each day.

 

Best parts of this cruise was sea days the ports and excellent food/service.

 

 

Den

[Sandielle]

Great review, Den. Thanks for posting. ;)

[suexxx]

Hi all. Just got home. DH & I had a ball. Review to come. Suexxx

[fishtaco]

Hi all. Just got home. DH & I had a ball. Review to come. Suexxx

 

 

Home already sue!

 

hope you didnt drop too much of them winnings back in the pokies on the last night:D

 

 

Den

[Megawat]

And I can't wait to see your review Suexxx.

Den, I had to laugh at some of your comments, eg the "over 70's bitching about getting 2 eggs" it took me straight back to our cruise, but with such joy, especially the steak house! I really did enjoy the Waygu Beef.

 

Glad that it was a good cruise and good ports of call. Hope the next bunch have as good a time.

Richard

[Megawat]

Just curious if anyone may have noticed a flash of light when they were on the first day near Rottnest, about an hour out from the wharf?

Richard

[kiwigirlcruiser]

I heard that all staff have to give the tips in to the pool and there is no point tipping individuals.

[bizzygurl]

We are cruising in April for the first time on the Pacific Sun.. To say I am excited could possibly be an understatement! We are leaving our kids at home and travelling with another couple. So far, everything I have heard about the Pacific Sun is good. If anyone has any 'must have' tips I would love to hear them. Thanks to all of you seasoned cruisers. I am so grateful that I 'accidently' found this site. :)

[fishtaco]

I heard that all staff have to give the tips in to the pool and there is no point tipping individuals.

 

Without opening a can of worms,I have been a strong supporter on this forum of auto tips in the past!

 

But Auto tips will be done away with by P&O in October in favor of individual tips,In my mind onboard prices have gone up heaps and this is to cover the loss of Auto tips in october! They are just getting it in advance!

 

A glass of cheap wine $9.50 smokes $11 photos $30 and $20 etc.

 

I don't really care if staff have to pool tips as they appreciate the tip in the same way as they would if auto tips were left in place and you gave them extra. Most places ashore pool tips anyway.

 

if they put some onboard prices up anymore I doubt many would bother cruising with P&O again.

 

The service was good so I tipped but if i wasnt happy with it i would have had no hesitation in leaving nothing!

 

I now understand peoples views on individual tipping as opposed to Auto tips on a cruise.

 

Basically this is an inclusive holiday and you tip because you are"Very"happy" with service,same as ashore!

 

I doubt anybody would be happy having an auto tip put on a restaurant bill when service and tax charges were already included, But are happy to tip extra most of the time.

 

Even if p&O were to have kept Auto tips in place after October i still would have removed them this trip as the price increases were too much in my opinion.

 

I see many many people removing their auto tips at the pursers desk throughout the cruise but didn't see many envelopes left at the dinner table like I did so i feel guilt free.

[fishtaco]

tips:D

enjoy your self, book the dinning every night before you leave the dinning room,its a great ship , and have fun.take off auto tipping as soon as you can if you want to thats up to you.

 

 

With the Bordeaux restaurant if you are happy with your table and Waiters the front desk will now give you a permanent booking for the rest of the cruise without having to book each night! Just turn up and take your seat without waiting to be seated!

 

I think this is a staff only initiative and makes things easy for them,plus they are more likely to get a tip if all table guests are the same each night.

 

On this last cruise it was just like old times! Turn up at 8-8.30,sit at same table and got to know your waiters and table guests well.

 

They also got to know you well and the little things you requested at first were automatic,wine waiter didn't need your card as they knew your name and room number.

 

This stopped many meal mix ups and distasteful looks from waiters you may not have encountered before and didnt quite understand your needs or gluttony lol.:D

 

I could see in the future that P&O may make Burgundy freedom/anytime dinning and Bordeaux permanent bookings as most in the bordeaux were same as us,same table every night.

[musicorn]

Like you Den I removed the auto-tips and tipped individuals. The way I got around the pooling of tips issue was put it in an envelope with a letter so that the individuals could say it was just a letter and pocket the money. Our waiters did exactly that.

[njm39]

We tipped our favorite staff individually when we left as we were generally very happy with our service. I agree we would have bought more photos if they had been cheaper (we still bought some)we even waited till the last full day of sailing to purchase , they must have thrown away a great deal of photos. I also think the spa & beauty rooms should have been cheaper as we did intend on visiting these but they were out of our price range . I thought the prices of the drinks were ok my Dad said his beer was cheaper than his local club, soft drink cans were $2.50 my local service station is $2.80 a can . JUST WANT TO SAY THAT WE ARE NOW HOOKED ON CRUISING AND ALREADY LOOKING AT OUR NEXT CRUISE . WELL DOWN PACIFIC SUN