5 SHIP SPECTACULAR tips & photos HERE!

[Kiwi Kruzer]

A nice shot of Pacific Jewel from Pacific Dawn...

but what is the flag Dawn is flying?

 

 

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Eden heading to White Bay

 

 

Aria heading to OPT

 

[taxibabe]

Hi everyone,

 

Mum and I did a sunrise cruise out to the heads this morning to watch all the 'girls' form up, then they each sailed past us (with Dawn [my first cruise ship ever] leading the pack) leaving Eden and Aria out at sea.

 

We followed Pearl in and watched them all drop anchor then did a quick stop in Circular Quay to idle for a bit until we sailed back out past Fort Denison to watch the fire boat bring in Eden and Aria. We pulled in alongside Dawn to watch the daytime fireworks (!!!) and then returned to Darling Harbour with Eden bringing up the rear on her way to White Bay.

 

For those interested, the whereabouts are as follows:

Pac Pearl - at anchor, Point Piper - origin: Australia Offshore, destination: Australia Offshore (returns to White Bay tomorrow morning before heading to Dunedin)

 

Pac Dawn - at anchor, Naval Buoy number 2 - origin: Eden, destination: Tangalooma

 

Pac Jewel - at anchor, Athol Buoy - origin: Newcastle, destination: Australia Offshore (returns Friday morning for another 'Australia Offshore' before heading to Noumea on Monday)

 

Pac Eden - docked, White Bay until 4pm then anchoring near Fort Denison for tonight's fireworks etc - origin: Melbourne, destination: Noumea

 

Pac Aria - docked, OPT - origin: Australia Offshore, destination: Brisbane

 

Only a few more hours of work then hubby will join myself and Mum for our dinner cruise to watch it all again tonight! Yay! :-)

[GUT2407]

Hi everyone,

 

Mum and I did a sunrise cruise out to the heads this morning to watch all the 'girls' form up, then they each sailed past us (with Dawn [my first cruise ship ever] leading the pack) leaving Eden and Aria out at sea.

 

We followed Pearl in and watched them all drop anchor then did a quick stop in Circular Quay to idle for a bit until we sailed back out past Fort Denison to watch the fire boat bring in Eden and Aria. We pulled in alongside Dawn to watch the daytime fireworks (!!!) and then returned to Darling Harbour with Eden bringing up the rear on her way to White Bay.

 

For those interested, the whereabouts are as follows:

Pac Pearl - at anchor, Point Piper - origin: Australia Offshore, destination: Australia Offshore (returns to White Bay tomorrow morning before heading to Dunedin)

 

Pac Dawn - at anchor, Naval Buoy number 2 - origin: Eden, destination: Tangalooma

 

Pac Jewel - at anchor, Athol Buoy - origin: Newcastle, destination: Australia Offshore (returns Friday morning for another 'Australia Offshore' before heading to Noumea on Monday)

 

Pac Eden - docked, White Bay until 4pm then anchoring near Fort Denison for tonight's fireworks etc - origin: Melbourne, destination: Noumea

 

Pac Aria - docked, OPT - origin: Australia Offshore, destination: Brisbane

 

Only a few more hours of work then hubby will join myself and Mum for our dinner cruise to watch it all again tonight! Yay! :-)

 

 

Thanks for that.

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

A few photos from the P&O chopper.

[wagtail_syd]

Those photos are stunning. What a great event. Well done to P&O, a wonderful start for Aria and Eden.

[aussielozzie18]

The P & O promotions dept must be absolutely delighted with the Sydney weather today. What a perfect day weatherwise to showcase Sydney Harbour and the P & O fleet.

[Murgat]

I joined other members and guides from the Maritime Museum this morning to watch the five ships sail down the harbour. They did this in single file. Pacific Dawn, Pacific Jewel and Pacific Pearl entered about 7 AM and headed towards their anchor points around the harbour. Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden sailed in about 8 AM and headed towards Fort Denison for the naming ceremony. Lots of horn action. The restored Steam Tug Waratah decided to provide a close escort for each ship and was warned off by the Marine Police when she got a little too close to Pacific Pearl. All we saw of the naming ceremony was the "Day" fireworks from the barge near Fort Denison. The link below should take you to an album on Photobucket. I will try and post a sample below but my skills are very rusty.

 

http://s1082.photobucket.com/user/cjm660/library/Five%20Ships%20Spectacular

 

 

 

[Murrumbeena]

Thanks to everyone who has posted photos😀

[Hazydavo]

This is pretty good!!

 

[Murrumbeena]

This is pretty good!!

 

 

DThanks for sharing.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Heres a list of webcams that will come in handy on the day

 

View of Circular Quay

http://www.webcamsydney.com/

 

View to Athol Buoy and down the harbour

http://www.sydney-webcam.com/

 

View of ships docked at OPT

http://cafesydney.com/explore-our-venue/live-cam

 

View from YHA to OPT

http://captiveye-therocks.com/ptz/public/default.asp

 

 

Bridge cams

 

Pacific Dawn

http://www.kroooz-cams.com/pacific_dawn/pacific_dawn.php

 

Pacific Jewel

http://www.kroooz-cams.com/pacific_jewel/pacific_jewel.php

 

Pacific Pearl

http://www.kroooz-cams.com/pacific_pearl/pacific_pearl.php

 

 

Thank you for the links.

[challis]

had a wonderfull evening watching the fireworks from mrs maquaries chair last night thanks to P and O

 

the north easterly wind gently blew the fireworks close to us and it was a spectacluar show-great crowd-enough room to sit on the grass-no pushing-so much better than new years eve-a few police on pushbikes-

 

3 seperate barges were loaded with fireworks east of fort denision-garden island and shark island.what a show-perfect balmy sydney late spring

 

who needs to be a multi millionaire and have a mega yacht-when i can book in on a cruise ship and have the best views in town,in the best harbour city .

 

:):):rolleyes:

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

News article about the White Party here: http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/news.cfm?ID=6676

 

More pics on the Facebook page.

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

And history made in Sydney: http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/news/news.cfm?ID=6674

 

It really was an amazing event!

 

Sad news is Pacific Jewel had to briefly return to Sydney to drop off an ill passenger.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks all for the links, photos and various commentary. The Aria is wonderful and the Party was absolutely awesome. as for the cruise itself, the crew needs some fine tuning with operations etc, and I am sure that all the bugs will be sorted out soon. it was great to meet our CC editor and have a nice conversation.:D

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

Great to meet you too! Shame I was too busy working most of the time, but not a bad way to work :)

 

I agree the service needs to pick up speed, so let's hope these "teething issues" smooth out soon. The ship itself, no exaggeration, was just as nice as five-star luxury ships I have sailed on. I also loved Dragon Lady, the specialty Asian restaurant, which is free of charge (for now).

 

A few pics of the highlights: http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/slideshows/?ID=560

[MicCanberra]

Great to meet you too! Shame I was too busy working most of the time, but not a bad way to work :)

 

I agree the service needs to pick up speed, so let's hope these "teething issues" smooth out soon. The ship itself, no exaggeration, was just as nice as five-star luxury ships I have sailed on. I also loved Dragon Lady, the specialty Asian restaurant, which is free of charge (for now).

 

A few pics of the highlights: http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/slideshows/?ID=560

 

Wonderful pics, I loved the décor in most parts of the ship. We had an inside room which was very large, it even had a three seater lounge in it.:eek:

It was a shame the bookings went so quick, we tried to get in even before the word got out that they (specialty restaurants) were free.

Loved the Aria.:D

[CruiseCriticAUeditor]

Yes, I remembered your praise of the inside cabins. You are the person referred to in this caption:

 

"Luckily, the cheap accommodation is pretty good too. Other passengers told us their inside cabin (category F) was about twice the size of other local cruise lines."

 

We'll have more info about all the cabins when we publish the major review.

[cruising kirby]

Yes, I remembered your praise of the inside cabins. You are the person referred to in this caption:

 

"Luckily, the cheap accommodation is pretty good too. Other passengers told us their inside cabin (category F) was about twice the size of other local cruise lines."

 

We'll have more info about all the cabins when we publish the major review.

 

I am very keen to see the review, the couple that are up already are not good at all. Let's hope those early service issues are ironed out quickly.

[Murgat]

I am very keen to see the review, the couple that are up already are not good at all. Let's hope those early service issues are ironed out quickly.

 

MicCanberra has been more realistic than the reviewers I have read so far. Inaugural (aka Shakedown Cruises) are risky business. Before you get too worried read the May 2015 CC blog post on Shakedown Cruises.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/blog/index.php/2015/05/01/we-try-it-sailing-on-a-shakedown/?isalt=0&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+CC%2FTheLidoDeck+%28The+Lido+Deck+-+Cruise+Critic+Blog%29

 

Our Aria cruise is in May 2016 and I am not rushing to cancel.

[Gnomey]

Make no mistake folks the Inaugural cruise on Pacific Eden wasn't great. Unfortunately for ship, captain, crew and passengers the first stop at Esperence with tendering was a dangerous fiasco. Other stops both docked and tendered were much better. Dining room service was poor and this mainly due to seriously insufficient staff. The waiters tried hard but what they needed was extra staff. The basic service errors, like cold food and wrong orders will probably cease with more practice, but they do need more staff. Other aspects were good and some were great. The rooms were lovely big comfortable areas with generous bathrooms. We had an ocean view on deck 5 and our stewards were terrific. The TV was hopeless, but we don't cruise to watch tele do we? The bars were all different spaces with different themes and you would be an impossible person not to find somewhere nice for a drink. My preferred area was the Blue Room which had a jazz band playing in the evenings which was good, and I don't even particularly like jazz!

At one stage I pointed out a hygiene issue to the Pantry Manager which I though was serious. Subsequent trips to the Pantry showed a much cleaner area. So, things were getting better all the time and I do think the new ships will become the "jewells in the crown" that P&O wanted, in time.

 

Steve.

[Host Walt]

Having sailed on the maiden voyage of Statendam I recall similar difficulties with food service and other matters (they ran out of towels, for example). Being the first ship in HAL's "S" Class ships, we loved the huge (relatively speakng) size of the cabins and the variety of adult beverage venues, along with a very comfortable show room.

 

Oh, and if I recall correctly, the only thing we were able to watch on TV was the periodic chats by the Cruise director). No broadcast TV at all.

Edited December 3, 2015 by Host Walt

[Gnomey]

Ha ha Walt, things seem not to have changed much eh! We did have plenty of towels though and the rooms are still lovely.

 

Steve. :D

[Wastegirl]

An Australian HAL cruiser has posted on the HAL Board that she has a friend on the Pacific Eden who claims that P&O charge $9.50 each way to the islands for their tenders.

 

I have never seen it mentioned anywhere, has anyone heard of this or is it something they are trialling on the refurbed ships or is it the usual 'my friends, best friend's cousin's brother in law says" and as a result is incorrect info.

 

I know P&O have competitive rates, and quite a few things I am used to being inclusive are extra as a result - but this one would surprise me if it was true.