Pacific Pearl- Tahititian Treasures review

[cruisin-m]

Embarkation: 1st July, Tahitian Treasures, embarkation easy as always.

 

 

Food: Was delightful. Always hot, tasty and something appealing on the menu. For the most part dined at Waterfront and found the food here to be amazing, the only minor complaint we had was that some portions were quite "gourmet" so to say (small) and expensive meats were used less frequently then other lines such as Princess, but that is to be expected with the price difference.

 

The Plantation restaurant always had plenty of variety and the food was always hot when I dined here. The selection and variety of teas was astounding, I never even knew that many teas existed till this cruise! The single line format was occasionally annoying when you wanted one thing at the very end and had to line up right the way for it... hmmph :P

 

Chefs Table ($75 cover charge) : VERY recommended. It was a 7 course degustation menu which included the most amazing food ever, wines to match the course, pre dinner drinks and capapes, tour of the galley in a peak time and 4 portrait photos. Absolute must! Great atmosphere and service here.

 

Salt Grill ($40 cover charge): We did this after the Chef's Table and well expected a lot more from how much people rave about it. It's probably because the food in Waterfront is prepared to such an exceptional standard that the Salt Grill food just seemed... average. Definitely do the Chef's Table over the Salt in my opinion.

 

The Grill: Was yum, but the food was a bit hit and miss with heat sometimes.

 

Service: What a friendly, warm and accomodating crew this ship has. Our dining room waiter was the best we have ever experienced by far, so friendly and obliging. The barstaff on this ship were the most down to earth and genuinely friendly bunch of people out!

 

Entertainment: No surprises here, left Princess and Royal Caribbean for dead. Stage shows were superb. Guest entertainers were often average but I think they catered to the older crowd on this cruise.

The magicians/comedians were great, James Galea was the highlight of the entertainment.

 

Public areas/the ship itself: The ship itself is of quite an age but P&O have really snazzed her up. It is comfortable and modern without been too over the top or glitzy which I really liked about it. The bars on this ship were another highlight such as connexions, the orient, the dome, swim up bar and oasis bar. All very well and no other cruise line does them this well.

The Oasis is now free of charge and has two really nice spas and for sailaways there is an acoustic singer which makes sailaways something really special and memorable.

 

The room: Is old fashioned and creaked abit but that was compensated by the amount of space it had. Our room steward was pleasant and made towel animals for us but wasn't the best at actual cleaning. P&O should replace the old bed stands as they are starting to sag, other then that beds are really comfy.

 

What could have been done better: The cocktails/drinks!!! They had such non-existent amounts of alcohol in them and they now use really dodgy cheap house spirits in them unlike Princess/Royal Caribbean. Watching them pour the cocktails you notice how stingy they are with the already stingy spirits been used.

 

I found normal spirits overpriced heavily e.g. Smirnoff and cocktails with "real" spirits e.g. the ones at mix also very overpriced. Beers were a bit on the steep side as well.

 

I also thought it was ridiculous they charged you extra for whatever you mixed with your spirits, no where else on the planet does this, including cruise lines. Also just a hint, Pepsi is used as the mixer on this ship but Coke is given if you ask for a cola... strange. So if you like Coke as a mixer with your whiskey going to have to byo.

 

The tendering on this ship was really slow, I understand they operated all of the tenders onboard but somehow something just wasn't working for them, it often took 3 hours from when you collected a ticket to get off the ship.

 

Overall: I would definitely cruise with P&O and Pacific Pearl again, the ship itself is my favourite liner so far as it has such a great layout and the outside decks and tiered back are simply great!

 

There were whingers on this cruise often whinging "wah wah wah Princess has a 24h buffet, wah wah wah I've been sitting here on deck for 20 minutes Princess would have offered me a tea or coffee" and in the end I got sick of them and blatantly said "well this is P&O not Princess, if you wanted Princess you should have cruised Princess, there's a reason they cost more!!!"

 

After experiencing Pacific Pearl myself and how amazing it is alongside the whingers, I would have to say the people that did not enjoy themselves on this ship are just ungreatful people. They certainly seemed that way on this cruise.

 

Granted Princess do have some nice extras and really go that EXTRA mile, but this ship offers similar levels of service, a genuinely friendly crew (that don't seem fake looking for tips)and gives you the absolute time of your life or holiday of a lifetime.

Having cruised P&O, Princess and Royal Caribbean I would put the Pearl a notch under Princess and on par standards as Rhapsody of the seas, if anything maybe a tad better.

 

 

Any questions feel free to ask, after 28 nights I'd say I'd be able to answer most questions :p

[icat2000]

Did they say when they were going to offer this cruise again?

[bazzaw]

I have to agree with you about the "whingers" !

 

We Ozzies have always ostrasized the Poms as being whingers - and the Yanks as being demanding. I don't know what has happened over the past 30 years or so - but the table has turned. We Ozzies are now quite a whinging race of people. - could actually be the older ones of us???

 

We are so lucky and have it so easy in our country - so why is it that SO MANY of us are whingers?? Certainly, I don't see much ANZAC spirit in this country now - not many KOKODA track heroes.

 

I had a fantastic cruise to Tahiti - probably more memorable than any other we have done. Bit hard to come to grips with exactly why - but those beautiful Pacific islands, with their blue blue waters seemingly day after day had a lot to do with it for me.

 

To all the whingers - you could be living in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan. It is only a pure accident of birth that you are not!!

 

PS

 

No indication of when/if P&O is doing this itinerary again.

 

Barry

[bazzaw]

Lady:- "This is a terrible cruise- the worst I have ever been on. I will never go on P&O again"

 

Me: -"Why?"

 

Lady:-" There are too many sea days!"

 

Me:- "Well, it's a long way to Tahiti"

 

Lady:- "Well, I've been on cruises before and it has never been as far as this!"

 

Me:- (Silently) - " Stupid old F***, did you read the itinerary???"

 

Barry

[Sandielle]

I have to agree with you about the "whingers" !

 

We Ozzies have always ostrasized the Poms as being whingers - and the Yanks as being demanding. I don't know what has happened over the past 30 years or so - but the table has turned. We Ozzies are now quite a whinging race of people. - could actually be the older ones of us???

 

We are so lucky and have it so easy in our country - so why is it that SO MANY of us are whingers?? Certainly, I don't see much ANZAC spirit in this country now - not many KOKODA track heroes.

 

I had a fantastic cruise to Tahiti - probably more memorable than any other we have done. Bit hard to come to grips with exactly why - but those beautiful Pacific islands, with their blue blue waters seemingly day after day had a lot to do with it for me.

 

To all the whingers - you could be living in a cave somewhere in Afghanistan. It is only a pure accident of birth that you are not!!

 

PS No indication of when/if P&O is doing this itinerary again.

 

Barry

 

Well said, Barry. We are so lucky. There are many people who would give anything to be able to live as well as we do. :)

[cruisin-m]

Lady:- "This is a terrible cruise- the worst I have ever been on. I will never go on P&O again"

 

Me: -"Why?"

 

Lady:-" There are too many sea days!"

 

Me:- "Well, it's a long way to Tahiti"

 

Lady:- "Well, I've been on cruises before and it has never been as far as this!"

 

Me:- (Silently) - " Stupid old F***, did you read the itinerary???"

 

Barry

 

 

This sounds surprisingly familiar to me after that cruise :p.

 

Don't get me wrong I'm 100% for people been entitled to their opinions and been vocal when they are wronged but some people complained about the most trivial and ridiculous things.

 

It almost seemed as though they had convinced themselves before they left they hated P&O and went looking for every single little thing that wasn't perfect or that Princess did better :eek:

 

I can't tell cruiselines apart that much really, they all share the same basic formula with slight variations.

[Kinkacruiser]

That was so funny Barry. I like this itinerary because you have the long rest breaks beween ports.

[Itachi]

That was so funny Barry. I like this itinerary because you have the long rest breaks beween ports.

 

I have to agree with that - the islands are great, they break up the sea days and get you in and among foreign culture. However, at the same time, i could go for 5 - 8 days at sea anytime. Just the thought of it washes away all the stress of work and everyday life

[Kiwi_cruiser]

Did they say when they were going to offer this cruise again?

 

I spook to the Future Cruise sales lady and she said P&O might do the Tahititian Treasures Cruise in 2013.

 

But I don't know how good her information is.

 

But if you want to do this cruise, keep an eye out for it in the brochures or even give P&O a ring and see what they say. (Most likely they wont say much)

[erewhon]

crusin-m,

 

Thank you for this great review.

Sounds like you had a really good time.

 

Sorry to read about the whingers, some people are only happy when they are complaining.