Pacific Eden Christmas cruise

[Floki]

Hi

 

Here I am on my first P&O cruise. I booked this Christmas Cruise months ago and then started to read the reviews in horror. There are four of us and one couple has a balcony and my husband and I have a suite. With great trepidation we made our way to White Bay. We were curious whether the ship would be ok and whether they had fixed the problems she had experienced on the previous cruise.

 

We arrived at the terminal and were quickly shown where to drop our bags and taken to the priority boarding line. They had no problems letting the four of us join the priority checkin together despite only us in the suite entitled.

 

Onto the ship we were pleasantly surprised by the nice decor and the quick escort into a lift and up to level 10 for us suite dwellers. We opened the door and after reading the reviews expected a tired, dirty hovel and instead were treated to a huge room with a beautifully made up bed, lounge, massive balcony, dressing area and reasonably sized bathroom. Our two room stewards explained everything and off we went to book restaurants.

 

A walk through the pantry convinced us we wouldn't eat there. I like the concept of being served the food but..it just seemed like hard work to line up and then try and find somewhere to eat.

 

Sail away was a bit of a fizzer because of the weather not P&Os fault but cold and a little bit rainy is not ideal weather to have a party by the Pool.

 

That night we went to the MDR the Waterfront. They had no tables but gave us a beeper and we went and had a drink or two until it buzzed. Food in the Waterfront was disappointing. The serving sizes are small and the food is served at a tepid temp. I think if you ordered more food they would bring it to you though. Service was ok but they did try and sell you the upgrade meal.

 

Variety show that night was a bit hit and miss. The poor lady singer had her cues missed and she was stuffed around.

 

Next morning breakfast in the MDR and us two joined 2 other lovely couples for a table for six. I had eggs benedict and one egg was poached perfectly and the other was a little golf ball. My husband had the big breakfast and it wasn't the best. The bacon was hardly cooked.

 

During the day they had the usual type activities like trivia, bingo, cocktail classes.

 

Dinner was at the Asian Dragonlady. Really nice decor but pretty woeful food. If they charged I would want my money back. They did say they will change the menu mid cruise do hopefully this will be better.

 

We are in Gladstone today and I will post more about that later.

 

So far the Eden is a lovely little ship with a great crew. There are loads of places to sit without feeling crowded. The negatives not enough shade by the adult pool and the food.

[mrs and mrs]

Hi

 

Here I am on my first P&O cruise. I booked this Christmas Cruise months ago and then started to read the reviews in horror. There are four of us and one couple has a balcony and my husband and I have a suite. With great trepidation we made our way to White Bay. We were curious whether the ship would be ok and whether they had fixed the problems she had experienced on the previous cruise.

Sounds good so far:)

 

We arrived at the terminal and were quickly shown where to drop our bags and taken to the priority boarding line. They had no problems letting the four of us join the priority checkin together despite only us in the suite entitled.

Another Plus

 

Onto the ship we were pleasantly surprised by the nice decor and the quick escort into a lift and up to level 10 for us suite dwellers. We opened the door and after reading the reviews expected a tired, dirty hovel and instead were treated to a huge room with a beautifully made up bed, lounge, massive balcony, dressing area and reasonably sized bathroom. Our two room stewards explained everything and off we went to book restaurants.

Noice

 

A walk through the pantry convinced us we wouldn't eat there. I like the concept of being served the food but..it just seemed like hard work to line up and then try and find somewhere to eat.

It is hard work collecting food that others have cooked, very tiring on the legs, but onwards and upwards.

 

Sail away was a bit of a fizzer because of the weather not P&Os fault but cold and a little bit rainy is not ideal weather to have a party by the Pool.

True, not much fun in the rain, although we have been known to lie fully clothed, getting soaked in the pool apron, on sailaway, but we are odd:eek:

 

That night we went to the MDR the Waterfront. They had no tables but gave us a beeper and we went and had a drink or two until it buzzed. Food in the Waterfront was disappointing. The serving sizes are small and the food is served at a tepid temp. I think if you ordered more food they would bring it to you though. Service was ok but they did try and sell you the upgrade meal.

Glad they eventually found the tables, LOOKING GOOD

 

Variety show that night was a bit hit and miss. The poor lady singer had her cues missed and she was stuffed around.

Bummer:(

 

Next morning breakfast in the MDR and us two joined 2 other lovely couples for a table for six. I had eggs benedict and one egg was poached perfectly and the other was a little golf ball. My husband had the big breakfast and it wasn't the best. The bacon was hardly cooked.

Bonus, tables still there, negative, re the old egg. 50/50 split.:eek

 

During the day they had the usual type activities like trivia, bingo, cocktail classes.

Usual excitement, one could get smashed instead, or get smashed and attend, eases the pain.:cool:

 

Dinner was at the Asian Dragonlady. Really nice decor but pretty woeful food. If they charged I would want my money back. They did say they will change the menu mid cruise do hopefully this will be better.

Guessing would be ok if one could eat the decor

 

We are in Gladstone today and I will post more about that later.

Looking forward to your progressive reports

 

So far the Eden is a lovely little ship with a great crew. There are loads of places to sit without feeling crowded. The negatives not enough shade by the adult pool and the food.

Makes mental note, if travelling on the Eden, pack cheap blue tarps for shade.

 

On the plus side, shes still floating. Happy Cruising:)

[SinbadThePorter]

 

Dinner was at the Asian Dragonlady. Really nice decor but pretty woeful food. If they charged I would want my money back. They did say they will change the menu mid cruise do hopefully this will be better.

 

On Aria I found the Italian restaurant to be quite good and ending up eating there most nights.

[cruisine21]

We cruised on the Eden in October and found the food in the MDR very good. The serving sizes were generous and you can ask for extra steamed veges. Angelos Italian was also excellent and we ate there several times.

 

Lots of people I know loved Dragon Lady and I found out later that you can order additional dishes which they didn't mention at the time.

 

Salt Grill was outstanding and definitely worth paying extra for. Unfortunately you have missed the house band The Alter Ego who are on holiday. They are excellent and played to a packed room everyday.

Edited December 21, 2016 by cruisine21

[erewhon]

Thank you for reporting from your Christmas cruise.

Enjoy the suite, those rooms are really good. We have just spent 6 weeks in one of those suites on the Maasdam.(sister ship)

 

Have a wonderful cruise.

[Floki]

Gladstone was a great port because of the people. The volunteers were absolutely fantastic. They had little hop on hop off buses with a guide pointing out things to see. There was a nice little museum and art gallery with some interesting pieces and displays.

 

Thank you sinbadtheporter for the tip about Angelos. The italian restaurant is quite good. Thanks also to cruisine21 we ordered the extra veg and it made a huge difference. Great tips. We have a booking for Salt Grill for Xmas eve.

 

We went to Hamilton Island yesterday and had a great day whizzing about in a golf buggy. Tip is to book one before you cruise as

they were sold out and there was a lot of disappointed people.

 

 

 

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[Floki]

Christmas dinner on the Eden was a debacle. We were booked for 6.45 in the MDR. The queues were incredibly long and people were packed in between the elevators and up the stairs. There was no communication from the staff and no one knew what the problem was. After 45 minutes an elderly gentlemen fell heavily and the staff did not assist him at all. Poor fellow was shaken and bleeding and another passenger who was a nurse had to step in. It could have all been avoided if P&O were organised.

 

Dinner was a huge disappointment. Definitely not Christmas with all the trimmings. Very disappointing experience and not one I would want to repeat. Really felt for the waitstaff.

 

Today we had a ATV tour of Moreton Island booked for 1pm. We went to the tender area at 11.45. We have priority tickets but there was no tenders at the time. They said it wouldn't be long. At 12.30 I asked an officer if we would make our tour and he said no problem because it was a P&O tour they would hold it if we were late. We got on shore at 13:10 and the tour had gone. We went to the tour desk and Neil the tour director did not believe our experience and wasn't going to give us a refund and after a short and very sharp discussion agreed to refund the tour. Really poor service and has left a very bad taste on what was supposed to be a relaxing Christmas cruise.

 

 

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[messej01]

How disappointing at Christmas. I don't understand why management aren't listening to the complaints and making some changes.

 

We went on Pacific Eden in Feb 2016 and sounds like it hasn't improved.

[MicCanberra]

Thanks for the review Floki, I am sad to hear that the Eden is still having some of the issues that have plagued it since it's arrival. Hope you enjoy the rest of the cruise.:D

[macntosh]

Christmas dinner on the Eden was a debacle. We were booked for 6.45 in the MDR. The queues were incredibly long and people were packed in between the elevators and up the stairs. There was no communication from the staff and no one knew what the problem was. After 45 minutes an elderly gentlemen fell heavily and the staff did not assist him at all. Poor fellow was shaken and bleeding and another passenger who was a nurse had to step in. It could have all been avoided if P&O were organised.

 

Dinner was a huge disappointment. Definitely not Christmas with all the trimmings. Very disappointing experience and not one I would want to repeat. Really felt for the waitstaff.

 

Today we had a ATV tour of Moreton Island booked for 1pm. We went to the tender area at 11.45. We have priority tickets but there was no tenders at the time. They said it wouldn't be long. At 12.30 I asked an officer if we would make our tour and he said no problem because it was a P&O tour they would hold it if we were late. We got on shore at 13:10 and the tour had gone. We went to the tour desk and Neil the tour director did not believe our experience and wasn't going to give us a refund and after a short and very sharp discussion agreed to refund the tour. Really poor service and has left a very bad taste on what was supposed to be a relaxing Christmas cruise.

 

 

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Oh my heart goes out to you as we did last year's Christmas cruise on Pacific Eden and it sounds like nothing has changed or improved on that ship.

 

You might like to read my blog notes from 12 months ago and compare your experience for this Christmas.

 

Would be very interested to hear back from you if your experience on board Pacific Eden was similar to ours.

 

Click here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2292944

[Ondine]

Sad to read that there are still problems with Pacific Eden.

 

We sailed on her last March (2016) and are booked again this March (2017) for a trip to the Islands. I am very apprehensive and was hoping that things would have settled down by now.

 

The last trip happened to be over St Patrick's day and we blamed Murphy's law for everything that went wrong. The computers went down in the terminus then the ship's computers were not working. Then the strong swell drove her away from the gangway and she had to go out and reposition. It was a hot day and bedlam at the terminus with staff giving out water to try and cool everyone down. We finally left Melbourne 11.40pm, almost 8 hours late, stealing away in the dark like she did recently in Sydney!!

 

At KI the first tender broke down and had to be towed back to the ship by number 2 tender with passengers then transfered to another tender creating havoc with all shore tour timings. People missed their trips.

 

The crew always seemed to be fixing something up with panels being removed left right and centre. Public toilets were often blocked. Food in the MDR was often not up to scratch (compared to Pacific Jewel), cold and badly cooked. The Pantry food was better but very crowded. Didn't get to Marios or Dragon Lady - only a 4 night trip.

 

Activities were sometimes started earlier than advertised and moved to another location which was very frustrating.

 

On the plus side, the cabins were great with lovely beds. Bathrooms spacious once you worked out the plumbing over the bath. I loved the promenade deck with its old world feel. Like your own private balcony if your cabin was on deck 6. And for the Dome with roughly 280 degree views what a wonderful place to chill out. Being able to go out on the bow, another treat albiet windy. Loved the feel and decor of the MDR. Great to be able to order DVD's if you wanted them. Plenty of quiet places to chill out with a book if you wish.

 

I was so hoping that by this March things will have sorted themselves out. Only time will tell. Trip is booked and paid for so we are going regardless and will do our best to have a good time. Things can only get better!!!

[MicCanberra]

My word some things went wrong for that trip.:(

[6666oz]

Floki, So sorry to hear your cruise went so wrong,

and you hear of so many things going wrong on Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden, and its been going on for so long.

 

You know this almost smacks of P&O employing INEPT sub contractors to manage their new ships for the cheapest price and the complaints not getting back to head office. :mad:

Edited December 29, 2016 by 6666oz

[Aus Traveller]

Floki, So sorry to hear your cruise went so wrong,

and you hear of so many things going wrong on Pacific Aria and Pacific Eden, and its been going on for so long.

 

You know this almost smacks of P&O employing INEPT sub contractors to manage their new ships for the cheapest price and the complaints not getting back to head office. :mad:

I understand that some services (shops & spa) are run by sub-contractors, but I believe the ship and the hotel section are run by the cruiseline.

[MicCanberra]

I understand that some services (shops & spa) are run by sub-contractors, but I believe the ship and the hotel section are run by the cruiseline.

 

Correct, most of the ship's issues are infrastructure and systems related.:(