Thoughts on my first cruise.

[tonip]

Hi all, back from our first cruise (809 -12 nights). I won't do a review as such as there are plenty of people here writing about the details.

 

Firstly I am so glad I found the boards here and went somewhat prepared or I think I would really have been disappointed. I had quite a good time and overall think that it is the cheapest of holidays (we got a really good deal) and does allow you to totally get away. I ended up having quite mixed feelings about my experience.

 

THINGS I LOVED

 

Not having to do anything much

Not having to think!

Being rocked to sleep and generally the movement of the boat

Champagne Bay!!! Perfection

Isle of Pines

Sleeping in in a dark cabin - slept 11 hours one night , since i average 5-6 hrs generally that was amazing....!

Being out of range of my life! Great way to give your brain a break

Many of the staff

The chocolate mousse

Sail aways and sail intos

The amazing ocean

 

THINGS I THOUGHT COULD BE IMPROVED

 

Entertainment was below average

Not many options of things to do and after a week was sick of trivia/bingo and cards.

Music was blaring in many areas and made talking difficult.

Food was for the most part cafeteria standard and a bit on the disappointing side. I found it difficult to find anything much to eat that was light and healthy apart from fruit and a few basic salad items.

Some smart ways to introduce singles (my mum was with us)

Some Shore tours seemed a rip off (ie in savu savu we went on an hour tour in a taxi and also an hour at the beach... this cost $25 for all 3 of us. I think P & O charged $59pp to go to same beach.)

 

 

THE WORST THING

 

Being forced to eat with the same people every night. Given that the evening meal takes the best part of 2 hours of your day and there were 12 nights then you are captive for a whole 24 hours of your holiday.... not having any choice on time or company was awful awful awful and I would never cruise with a ship that had that policy again.

I ended up going without dinner quite a few nights as it was just too depressing to face yet another slow dinner at such an early time. The table was too large to talk really easily and none of us had much in common anyway (though very nice people)

Even if they were my best friends at my table I would like the option NOT to eat with them without being penalised financially by having to pay to eat other places.

 

I wondered if it is a P & O ploy to force you to (again) spend more money? I could not see any reason for it otherwise.

 

 

AND FINALLY

 

In hindsight electing a holiday that forced me to relate to so many people was not the wisest decision for me.... I have had 2.5 non stop years of relating to way too many people and actually needed a break from people I think. I am very friendly and usually adore to socialise.... just not up for it at the moment. That said I DID meet some really great people!!

 

The other thing I found VERY HARD was being served by people who were working for such low wages in conditions that seemed unfair (7 days a week, 11 hours a day for 10 straight months!!). I felt my cheap holiday was at their expense.

 

tonip

[SAKA85]

boy do i feel sorry for your dining experience i have today got off Pacific dawn which has an anytime anywhere dining.. we did not sit with the same people twice unless we had arranged to do so our food was a lot better than average definately the way of the future in dining

[Tigerman00]

I have said it many times .. The Pacific Sun is a poor poor second to the Pacific Dawn .. time for P&O to get rid of the Sun .. I know some people love them both .. The Sky was also much better than the Dawn .. Having said this .. I love the sea .. thats why I kept on going .. there was NO affordable alternative ,,, until now .. so look around and try again ,,,

[icemaiden2310]

Funny everyone has their own taste. I just love the 2nd sitting dinner and on the 3 cruises on pacific sun it was the one thing that i truly enjoyed. I made wonderful friends and still keep in contact with them after 3 years. The pacific Dawn was just magnificent but i didnt like the anytime dining. The group of cc'ers onboard booked the same table every night and enjoyed it immensely. The last week that i spent on Pacific Sun I would have to say that the best part was the dinner with the other people at our table as for the rest i feel that the pacific sun has had its day and 1 week was more then enough for me.She is old',tired and and rusty . I dont know how the cherry blossom cruisers are going to cope with 42 days:eek: on her.For me , i have done my time on her and really wouldnt bother going again unless i won it.

Icy

[thunderchaser]

I think the dining experience is very much a personal thing... I love the idea of meeting new people at dinner (even though this cruise we sat with friends- and it was sometimes the only time we caught up all day) but my DH hated every minute of it... I think to keep him happy next time we will have to book a private table for the 2 of us! We too were very lucky last time with our new friends on our dinner table..but this cruise I heard some horror tales of some people others were sitting with. I know we had our own horror stories or two from lunch tablemates in the dining room

[aussie down under]

Will post this at the risk of being shot down, but I have to agree, the pacfiic sun does need to retire. Our favourite is the pacific sky also, but have not been on the dawn yet to compare. On the Sky, the room stewards and all the wait staff either in restaurants or on deck were the most friendly and efficient. No rotten smells on the sky either.

You can be unlucky and get tablemates that you cannot get a conversation out of or be like us on the sky and get tablemates that are great fun even though we have nothing in common. We are a couple in our 40's and were sat with 4 single girls aged between 19 and 21. They were fantastic, through them we experienced cruising from a different angle:D . Sometimes they would not front for dinner, because they couldnt drink as much if they ate!:D but would always find us later, even if we didnt want to be found:) .Cheers,

Michele:)

[qld cruiser]

Hi all, back from our first cruise (809 -12 nights). I won't do a review as such as there are plenty of people here writing about the details.

 

Firstly I am so glad I found the boards here and went somewhat prepared or I think I would really have been disappointed. I had quite a good time and overall think that it is the cheapest of holidays (we got a really good deal) and does allow you to totally get away. I ended up having quite mixed feelings about my experience.

 

THINGS I LOVED

 

Not having to do anything much

Not having to think!

Being rocked to sleep and generally the movement of the boat

Champagne Bay!!! Perfection

Isle of Pines

Sleeping in in a dark cabin - slept 11 hours one night , since i average 5-6 hrs generally that was amazing....!

Being out of range of my life! Great way to give your brain a break

Many of the staff

The chocolate mousse

Sail aways and sail intos

The amazing ocean

 

THINGS I THOUGHT COULD BE IMPROVED

 

Entertainment was below average

Not many options of things to do and after a week was sick of trivia/bingo and cards.

Music was blaring in many areas and made talking difficult.

Food was for the most part cafeteria standard and a bit on the disappointing side. I found it difficult to find anything much to eat that was light and healthy apart from fruit and a few basic salad items.

Some smart ways to introduce singles (my mum was with us)

Some Shore tours seemed a rip off (ie in savu savu we went on an hour tour in a taxi and also an hour at the beach... this cost $25 for all 3 of us. I think P & O charged $59pp to go to same beach.)

 

 

THE WORST THING

 

Being forced to eat with the same people every night. Given that the evening meal takes the best part of 2 hours of your day and there were 12 nights then you are captive for a whole 24 hours of your holiday.... not having any choice on time or company was awful awful awful and I would never cruise with a ship that had that policy again.

I ended up going without dinner quite a few nights as it was just too depressing to face yet another slow dinner at such an early time. The table was too large to talk really easily and none of us had much in common anyway (though very nice people)

Even if they were my best friends at my table I would like the option NOT to eat with them without being penalised financially by having to pay to eat other places.

 

I wondered if it is a P & O ploy to force you to (again) spend more money? I could not see any reason for it otherwise.

 

 

AND FINALLY

 

In hindsight electing a holiday that forced me to relate to so many people was not the wisest decision for me.... I have had 2.5 non stop years of relating to way too many people and actually needed a break from people I think. I am very friendly and usually adore to socialise.... just not up for it at the moment. That said I DID meet some really great people!!

 

The other thing I found VERY HARD was being served by people who were working for such low wages in conditions that seemed unfair (7 days a week, 11 hours a day for 10 straight months!!). I felt my cheap holiday was at their expense.

 

tonip

 

 

 

Hi tonip, thank you for your honest review on how you saw things on board Pacific Sun.

I guess it's the saying...different strokes for different folks.

I have cruised on all the present day ships for P&O cruising out of Australia, and always have a great time.. the ships may not be grand like the US Princess and other ships (which I enjoy also), but there is something about the older ships that I like.

I have always said..if I didn't enjoy myself on a cruise, then it would be my own fault. never have expectations on any cruise.

 

Did you take part in any of the dance classes, or deck shuffleboard, table tennis, swim in the pool or take a nice spa .?? visit the library to grab a book to read somewhere quiet.

there is a lot to do on any cruise, you have to join in.

 

If you found it hard to be served by the people on the ship who work very long hours for little pay, your being on the ship has kept them in a job, even though it is hard for us to understand their working conditions. but they are willing to do it for a better life for their families, plus the fact they know if they didn't do it someone else is waiting to take their place.

 

I hope you will continue to cruise, perhaps the more upmarket ships would appeal to you. because cruising is a great holiday.

 

kind regards, Lorraine:) :)