Pacific Princess world cruise:segment 2

[sagittarius]

This may turn out to be longer than I first intended.

 

Recently went on Pacific Princess 3rd-26th March 2013, second leg of her current "world" cruise.

 

So short version is that we had a great trip, booked at last minute on a good price so was able to treat ourselves to a balcony. Wonderful itinerary, good food and entertainment, interesting fellow travellers as this was a segment of a world cruise we met lots more Americans and Canadians than previously. Would sail again on the Pacific Princess in a heartbeat and want to return to this part of the world. And sail on this size ship again too, as believe Ocean Princess goes around Hawaii etc which is also on my list of places I hope to visit.

 

Itinerary

Sydney to Hong Kong: 23 nights with 15 sea days..ideal for me tho not for everyone I know. Ports were Cairns, Guam, Osaka, Hiroshima, Inchon, Shanghai and finally Hong Kong. Never visited any of these places previously and that along with sea days and great price made for a trifecta that meant we just had to book. We did our own thing in Guam, Osaka and Hiroshima but as we booked at the last minute and it was part of a world cruise we missed out on privately booked tours. Though to be fair the ships's tours we did in China and Korea seemed reasonably priced and well run. And altho was unable to prebook found that once on board there were still spots on lots of ship tours. But from reading blogs etc am aware that private tours also were good. Guam is shopping paradise, allegedly, as did not go to any of the malls, and great place to snorkel or dive. May have done better to hire car as many did, so that we could have seen more of the island. In Japan public transport so easy to use that we got to our picks with no problem, Osaka castle and Hiroshima peace park/dome. Went to Seoul from Inchon and did tour of museum etc with lovely guide. Shanghai went to " Venice of China" which was interesting too. Only snag is that we wish to return to all of these places to explore further.

 

Ship

Personally I really liked the size of this ship and felt it was well maintained etc. Not to everyone's taste I know. But we do like the aft outdoor area at the buffet, ate there as often as weather would allow. Having dedicated spaces for Sabitinis/Steakhouse allows space for the elite/platinum/suite cocktail hour which we have not experienced on the other ships in Australia. Wish the promenade deck went all the way round, and people may miss the atrium that lots of other ships have, on the other hand the library is such wonderful room.

 

Crew

Most did a wonderful job, maitre D was superb and seemed a genuinely nice bloke, lacked the "smarmy overtones" from our previous cruises. Met great young man at purser's desk who was happy to change my currency from large to smaller denominations. Entertainment staff were friendly, cheerful and worked hard. Only negative was the girl who worked in the Internet area was, according to several accounts, unhelpful and bordering on rude. Cabin stewards, waiters, bar staff were great.

 

Food

For us this was the best food we have had on princess in recent trips. Maybe the smaller numbers allowed for individual requests to be met more easily. Case in point we like steamed veg with our eve meal and have found this to be a problem on Sun/Dawn but not so on this trip. Not perfect all the time but we could always find something to eat. Wonderful ice cream. Did not use the speciality venues as MDR was lovely. Were a couple of Sunday Brunch events which was new to us. Themed lunches in the buffet were good too.

 

Entertainment

Mostly good, and given the fact that the venue is quite limiting thought they did well. Good range and variety, we particularly liked the young Japanese classical pianist and judging by the response so did the rest of the ship. Obviously some not to our taste but we expected that. New films on offer in cabin and on large screen in cabaret lounge. Great guest speaker, Gary Shahan, who spoke on a variety of topics to do with pacific area in general, although his main subject was The War in the Pacific. Very informative and easy to listen to despite the difficult nature of some of his talks. Again very popular.

 

Other Stuff

Not sure if being part of a world cruise made a difference or if it was due to being on a smaller ship but for me everything felt "right". Loved all the sea days, being able to afford a balcony was wonderful for those, had great ports to visit, I really relaxed as there was "a laid back vibe" about the place. Difficult to put into words and may have been only my perception.

 

Only real hitch was with visa for Aussies with regard to Guam. Most of us were told that would be done onboard by ship and charged to our onboard account. Once on board we got letters telling us to get online and get our own! A lot of unhappy people, and when I asked at front desk the young girl was clueless. Thought it would be free if we did our own! Later Princess said it could have been done by ship and credited us the fee, Internet usage and also gave us a small amount of OBC. So in fairness they did look into the issue and resolved it in our favour.

 

So as I am a smaller ship fan this holiday was perfect for me and would want to sail again on this size of ship, as we could get closer into Shanghai and Hong Kong than some of the other vessels. Enjoyed getting to know our fellow passengers and crew.

 

Thanks for reading this far and hope it has given you a flavour of the Pacific Princess.

[Drews_Cruise]

Very Nice. I love the small ships and miss my time on the former Royal Princess.

[Love.II.Cruise]

Thanks for the review. This makes us look forward to our trip! ;)

[cnd crsr]

Glad to hear you enjoyed your trip. We will be joining the Pacific in Dubai for the last segment of the WC.

[sagittarius]

Love.11.cruise and cnd crsr I hope that you both have as wonderful holiday as I did. While I was onboard there was a great atmosphere and hope that it is the nature of this ship.

[cnd crsr]

Thank you Sagittarius. The Pacific is one of our favourite ships. We like the 'small ship' experience.

[kiwifarer]

Hi Sagittarius great to read your positive comments on Pacific Princess and agree with you re benefit of smaller ships Through your message we would be interested to hear from any folks who are booked to sail Venice to Sydney Aug 26th 2013 on Dawn Princess. We have cruised Alaska on the Dawn previously and on both Sapphire and Diamond on ocean voyages but are really looking forward to sailing thru the Med and Indian Ocean on a smaller vessel like the Dawn. If anybody would like to comment re possible noise associated with Balcony Stateroom R310 on Riviera Deck I would appreciate these. I believe the Buffet above may cause some overnight noise issues.

Would also like to hear of anybody that wishes to share Shore Exc transport.Where at and to point of interest. We have cruised most of the Med before but have not done Split, Malta or Sharm El Sh

[melody hounddog]

Great review! Never been on a small ship but will have to try it someday.

 

Thanks!

[sagittarius]

@kiwifarer: we have travelled on both the Dawn and her sister ship the Sun in the past few years. We had an inside cabin on Riviera deck on Sun P, can't recall exact number, but it was shown as below the buffet area. (Was 3xx tho) And to be honest I never heard any noise really from there, and I am the sort of person who can be woken by noises during the night.

 

We found it to be a great location as it was such a short walk to food/gym/outside spaces.

 

If you think the Dawn is small then the Pacific would be tiny.

[joll]

...... we would be interested to hear from any folks who are booked to sail Venice to Sydney Aug 26th 2013 on Dawn Princess. ......Would also like to hear of anybody that wishes to share Shore Exc transport.Where at and to point of interest. We have cruised most of the Med before but have not done Split, Malta or Sharm El Sh

 

You should join our Roll Call for people doing this cruise/sector. It can be found on Cruise Critic under Princess Roll Calls, Dawn Princess, 90 day Round Europe Cruise 2013.