Will I like Pacific Princess??

[Lucky TGO]

7 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

 

We've got 177 days one the Pacific Princess and the former Ocean Princess. Both are the same class of ship. We've got another 66 days scheduled on the Pacific Princess in the next 19 months. I guess you could say we like her quite a bit.

 

If you like getting to know your fellow passengers along with the crew, you'll like the Pacific Princess.

If you like having the dancers double as cruise staff, you'll like the Pacific Princess.

If you like not having to pack a lunch before going from one end of the ship to the other, you'll like the Pacific Princess.

If you like getting into ports that the big ships can't, you'll like the Pacific Princess.

If you like no or very short lines for tendering, you'll like the Pacific Princess.

If you like cabins that are a bit more spacious than other ships in the Princess fleet, you'll like the Pacific Princess.

If you like taking the stairs but can't handle more than five decks at a time, you'll like the Pacific Princess.

 

but ...

 

If you like Anytime Dining, that's not on the Pacific Princess.

If you insist on seeing huge production shows, that's not on the Pacific Princess.

If you get seasick just thinking about small ships, you might want to reconsider or at least get a mid-ship lower deck cabin.

 

 

 

The way you put to it sounds great to me 👍

Tony

[Elequieu]

9 hours ago, Clampram said:

I'm thinking about a Hawaii one way cruise on PP next year as Hawaii is on our bucket list. We love both the Regal and the Royal and have been on each several times.

I think I will enjoy the smaller size of the PP............has anyone done the Hawaii cruise on the Pacific or after being on one of the newer ship and have experiences that you would share??

 

Thanks in advance

Is there a one way to Hawaii?  Usually it is round trip.  Love the Pacific.

[HaveDogWillTravel]

I appreciate all the responses about what you like, about what to expect (and not expect) and what you are not as thrilled with regarding PP.  I booked a 5 day pacific coastal in May 2021 to try her out.  I am particularly interested in the salt water pool as I love to swim.  I can not swim in chlorine and do not like "swimming with fishes" in the ocean. I've swam in salt water pools before and they are great!  

 

With everyone's discussion I feel fairly well prepared about what to expect on a smaller ship and the only thing that is a big if for me is whether or not DH can take the motion and not get too seasick.  But he and I are willing to give a go for 5 days!  

Thanks to all who shared their wealth of knowledge about the Pacific with those of us who have never been on her.  

[LoriPhil]

Thanks for the heads up re motion, and impressions of the shipboard experience.    We’ve booked a mini suite for 12 day inside passage in May (route appears to take us west of Vancouver Island rather than true inside passage, but it’s a great itinerary so hey, let’s do it!) , so I’ll stock up on Bonine and we’re good to go.  Super excited now.

[voljeep]

9 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

I booked a 5 day pacific coastal in May 2021 to try her out.

This is the thing to do ... why book a 30 day on a class of ship you've never been on ???

[PescadoAmarillo]

21 hours ago, Clampram said:

I'm thinking about a Hawaii one way cruise on PP next year as Hawaii is on our bucket list. We love both the Regal and the Royal and have been on each several times.

I think I will enjoy the smaller size of the PP............has anyone done the Hawaii cruise on the Pacific or after being on one of the newer ship and have experiences that you would share??

 

Thanks in advance

We’ve done the one-way Hawaii to the US or Canada (or vice versa) three times. We love the Pacific Princess...it’s definiteky our favorite ship, but don’t book a cabin at the very front of the ship!

 

I’ve blogged about our trips.  They’re kind of spread out, But the link below will start you with the season where we did the one way cruise both directions, with a lot of French Polynesia, Cook Islands and Easter Island in between. 

 

Pacific Princess cruise to Hawaii

[beg3yrs]

9 hours ago, HaveDogWillTravel said:

...  I am particularly interested in the salt water pool as I love to swim.  I can not swim in chlorine and do not like "swimming with fishes" in the ocean. I've swam in salt water pools before and they are great!  

 

With everyone's discussion I feel fairly well prepared about what to expect on a smaller ship and the only thing that is a big if for me is whether or not DH can take the motion and not get too seasick.  But he and I are willing to give a go for 5 days!  

Thanks to all who shared their wealth of knowledge about the Pacific with those of us who have never been on her.  

 

Be advised the pool isn't very large. You might get seven strokes across its length before you reach the other side. In this pool I've seen a passenger use a stretchy tether system to keep them pretty much in place so they can get in lots of strokes without having to turn. They used it in the early morning when nobody else was using the pool.

 

The ship does have stabilizers like other modern ships so don't worry too much about the motion. Personally we've been able to get by with the pressure bands on our wrists. We aren't terribly prone to mal-de-mer but aren't immune either. Using the bands for us seems to help quite a bit and since they don't cause any drowsiness or have any interaction with food or alcohol, they'll go on early.

[beg3yrs]

11 hours ago, Elequieu said:

Is there a one way to Hawaii?  Usually it is round trip.  Love the Pacific.

 

It's part of a repositioning from Vancouver that ends up in Tahiti for a few months.

[partybarbie]

Lol, I forgot about the constant motion of the Pacific.  Here's a picture of the pool.  It's like having your own personal wave machine. Take note that the weather is beautiful and sunny.  Luckily we never experienced bad weather on her.  This is the water coming out over the pool stairs and on to the deck. 

Edited June 18, 2019 by partybarbie

[Clampram]

Thanks everyone for your input to my question. I think that I might like the Princess as I miss the smaller cruise ships of the 70s and 80s. Not worried about glitzy shows or certainly that ubiquitous Effy jewelry.

I see that all of the minisuites on the PP are under common areas........is there a noise issue in those minisuites?

[Triptkr]

We've been on 11 cruises with Princess the Pacific Princess being the 9th cruise...so we had been on numerous ships before her, the Regal Princess was #8.  We did a Baltic cruise RT Southampton 14 day, going through the Kiel Canal.  We loved the cruise and being the 'typical' European cruise it was port intensive.  That being said the Pacific was perfect for that itinerary.  Like others have mentioned we didn't have that many sea days so we didn't get too bored.  I'll admit, initially I was kinda wondering how we'd survive being so used to large ships but we did quite well and I'd recommend it to you.  It was nice getting to know the employees on the ship, the library is quite big and I guess I felt like we were 'forced' to relax--that's a good thing!  Really wish there could be a larger buffet selection and the pizza, hamburger joint closes rather early.  That's one thing we love about the Regal/Royal is the huge buffet selection!  Might sound silly but the Pacific does hold a special place in our hearts that the other ships don't because of their size.   We were in an aft-facing stateroom which I feel is the way to go, but that's just my opinion.  Best luck in your decision!

[JF - retired RRT]

4 hours ago, beg3yrs said:

 

It's part of a repositioning from Vancouver that ends up in Tahiti for a few months.

never mind.

Edited June 18, 2019 by JF - retired RRT

[sajlm045]

These pics are of a  mini-suite on Ocean princess. They are roomy and we didn't hear any excess noise. Really enjoyed this one!

[4cats4me]

Great thread. Thanks for starting it, clampram. We are booked on the Pacific for next year’s Tahiti Cruise and are so looking forward to the smaller ship experience.  We have 3 Royal Princess cruises booked until then.  Unfortunately, our room will be near the bow on the   Pacific, but I am hopeful that the seas won’t be turbulent while cruising around Tahiti. 

[Jezabel2924]

6 hours ago, Triptkr said:

We've been on 11 cruises with Princess the Pacific Princess being the 9th cruise...so we had been on numerous ships before her, the Regal Princess was #8.  We did a Baltic cruise RT Southampton 14 day, going through the Kiel Canal.  We loved the cruise and being the 'typical' European cruise it was port intensive.  That being said the Pacific was perfect for that itinerary.  Like others have mentioned we didn't have that many sea days so we didn't get too bored.  I'll admit, initially I was kinda wondering how we'd survive being so used to large ships but we did quite well and I'd recommend it to you.  It was nice getting to know the employees on the ship, the library is quite big and I guess I felt like we were 'forced' to relax--that's a good thing!  Really wish there could be a larger buffet selection and the pizza, hamburger joint closes rather early.  That's one thing we love about the Regal/Royal is the huge buffet selection!  Might sound silly but the Pacific does hold a special place in our hearts that the other ships don't because of their size.   We were in an aft-facing stateroom which I feel is the way to go, but that's just my opinion.  Best luck in your decision!

 

 

Glad to see you enjoyed the aft facing balcony.  We are in one from Dover in 5 weeks and very much looking forward to it!

 

[Spikesgirl]

On ‎6‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 2:33 PM, Thrak said:

We haven't sailed Pacific Princess but... I "think" the pools are salt water if this matters to the OP. Is this the case or am I misinformed?

Not pools - pool and it is salt water and tiny, but we still love it.

[chamima]

FYI - The pictures with the blue carpeting are before she underwent extensive renovations a couple of years ago.

Triptkr's pictures with the beige carpeting are post renovation.

We've been on her both ways and the new decor is really, really beautiful!

And in the mini suites they replaced that small coffee table and 2 chairs with a dining table.

(Picture below)

 

She underwent another small renovation last month and I can't find any information on any changes.

We have 3 future cruises booked on her (one of which is that 35 day Tahiti- FLL one with many sea days) and I'm hoping they added a small screen somewhere for a reduced version of MUTS.

Does anyone have any current info?

 

 

 

Edited June 19, 2019 by chamima

[Clampram]

Looks like the minisuites are bigger than the newer ships??

[chamima]

8 minutes ago, Clampram said:

Looks like the minisuites are bigger than the newer ships??

 

 

I don't know about actual square footage but the mini suites on the Pacific (and her sister ships) are pretty much square cabins so they appear to be bigger and feel much bigger when occupying them.

My picture is distorted. I only posted it to show the table and chairs.

sajlm045's pictures are much more accurate as to size.

Edited June 19, 2019 by chamima

[Clampram]

20 hours ago, sajlm045 said:

These pics are of a  mini-suite on Ocean princess. They are roomy and we didn't hear any excess noise. Really enjoyed this one!

 

[Clampram]

Just now, Clampram said:

 

So these pix from the Ocean Princess would be the same on the PP in a minisuite??

[LoriPhil]

Are there 2 TVs in the refurbished PACIFIC minis?  It's referenced as a feature on the Princess website description for these cabins, but I haven't seen it in the new photos.  THANKS!

[Ken the cruiser]

If I might ask with regards to sea day entertainment, what options do they offer? For example, do they have at least 1-2 lectures and trivia?

[Clampram]

34 minutes ago, LoriPhil said:

Are there 2 TVs in the refurbished PACIFIC minis?  It's referenced as a feature on the Princess website description for these cabins, but I haven't seen it in the new photos.  THANKS!

This one is important for us.........we like to watch movies late at night and it looks like the TV in the minisuite is way up in a corner, tell me I'm wrong!

[ccruzer123]

Trivia was a big thing on the last 2 PP cruise we took.  The ships young dancers usually ran trivia and Bingo, both were a lot of fun.  When we crossed the Equator the ship had a King Neptune event on the pool deck, it was fun to watch and the staff had a ball.  They seem to get a lot more creative on the smaller ship than the larger ones.