Book your best holiday now and Enjoy incredibly low fares until 17th March 2018 only! Sail 4 nights from only $249 per person (Quad share)!
Massive fare savings on these selected fares from $249 per person (4 nights, Quad share)
Sale begins 15th March and ends 17th March 2018
Travel between 24th March and 6th September 2018
I tried booking the $399 cruise leaving at the end of March but I was denied (their child quota has already reached capacity)
There might be a package going … get both save 50%
whoosh
Oh come on guys.. #joke.. considering there's a certain amount of truth in it.
https://www.foodsafety.com.au/news/yet-another-cruise-ship-g…
thatsthejoke.jpg
Fight Club package gets a free ride and visit to the local police station.
& priority disembarkation
I thought we weren't supposed to discuss this cruise option?
Neither. They are good at coming up with new ones every month or so. Get in early to be part of the action.
Go the fight club package for sure . The Gastro package really stinks :(
Dont forget full travel/medical insurance. If looking at some facial reconstruction or a 'nose job' , be sure to have your opponent jab you in the areas requiring surgery :)
How the food and entertainment onboard?
Do you have to pay extra for certain things? Like wifi?
Don’t pay for wifi. You’re trying to sail away from it all.
That’s going to be hard :)
Agreed. I don't understand people that go on a cruise then sit on their devices all day.
a cruise is just a constant buffet and wifi… why else would you go?
@ego2spare: I can do that at home for much cheaper and don't have to put up with other people at all.
Cruise is definitely not a good holiday plan for Fomo :)
You pay for wifi.
What I did was purchased unlimited wifi and used a portable router to share it.
Problem is onboard internet at least on the pacific aria is super slow while in motion.
That's the Doppler effect, If you'd stuck it out it would have been a bit quicker on the return journey as you sailed back towards the data source, intercepting the kilobytes quicker than they left. #Science
Since Professor Hawking's death, it's comforting to know there are still geniuses like you who can break down complex ideas into easy-to-understand tidbits for lay people like me.
You think slow wi-fi is bad, try the P&O Fairstar cruise my family did in 1987 - inside cabin with no windows for us kids, bunk bed, nothing to do but stare at the ceiling (which you were 2 inches away from on the top bunk) for 3 hours every night from after dinner until bed time. Unless it was a rare occasion where we went to the cinema, but otherwise, no TV or any kind of entertainment in the cabins. Cabin was so small you had to step outside the door if you wanted to open a suitcase.
I would never pay for an inside cabin, would be too weird.
The Fairstar was a very old ship from the 1950s, and as such, it wasn't designed like modern ships are - in that, most cabins have windows. These days you could literally count the number of inside cabins on your hand.
Also, the inside cabin was just for me and my brother. I can't remember if my parent's cabin had a window or not. It sucks not knowing if it's day or night outside, though!
@samfisher5986:
New ships/fitt-outs have virtual windows now, showing camera footage of outside.
Others are doing away with internal cabins all together.
Personally never been in an internal, and probably won't. Love propping open the door and listening to the sound of the ocean as I fall asleep.
The second cruise I went on (and last cruise) was in late 1993 on a brand-new Carnival ship called the Sensation. It was light years ahead of the P&O. Our cabin was larger, with a window, and had a TV with in-room movies, and with Gameboy around by that point, we were never bored for a moment.
I honestly don't know how people used to do those 4-6 week long trans-ocean trips by ship back in the day.
I've done a dozen cruises and P&O is definitely on the cheaper side compared to the others, but you'll find them good if it's your first time.
The Pantry is free and where most people go for their meals. Line up to various queues and get a plate full of food. My complaint is the lack of seating and the quality of the food is not as good as the other places onboard. Waterfront Restaurant is the next level up and great for meeting new people with a new menu each day. Otherwise pay extra for something like Shell & Bones for quality seafood or The Grill if you have burger cravings.
Gotta pay for a different level drink packages for unlimited drinks otherwise you'll be paying. They don't seem to enforce people giving drinks much like others do. My other half had the alcohol package while I had the basic soda package. That way I could still get the daily cocktails. Advantage is you can pay for that in AUD unlike other cruiseliners.
I'm not sure how the entertainment is on the 4 day cruises but they're usually good on 1 week+. I've always had hilarious and often very NSFW comedians onboard and heaps of decent musical shows. Have the usual bingo, trivia, singing contests and live music onboard. I find the P&O parties to be kinda underwhelming though.
WiFi is paid for, but you normally get a very good signal, but the performance can be slow. I managed to post heaps of OzBargain deals in the middle of the pacific ocean with minimal delay.
Thanks for the tips!
I kinda see P&O as the Bogan & Kids Cruiseline. Heaps of families with their kids in school holidays and troves of cashed up bogans walking the topdeck with their cocktails. Still a good experience overall.
Worth mentioning with the drink packages is that Coca-Cola is a rare commodity onboard so it'll be Pepsi for you. The other thing to consider is that they'll give you a glass, load it up with ice then pour. That way they can make 2-3 drinks out of a single can. If you ask for the full can they will charge your account. Saw heaps of people get upset over this firsthand.
@Slippery Fish: Nah they don't let you do that. It's their way of stopping drink pass abuse. You'd have to ditch the drink and line up again or show 3 passes.
I did have some success getting 2 Captain Morgan and Rums in Bingo by flagging two different waitresses. Man their memories are impressive. Rolling out with half a dozen drinks and knowing where each person is.
@LXE3: I had bogans having a meltdown at security because they were trying to bring bullet casings onboard in Noumea. "I served in the army for 30 years! These are just empty shells and are no harm to anyone". Floating RSL is accurate.
@Clear:
On our first cruise I won $330, in the end that only paid for our bingo for the cruise.
It wasn't amazing, and it wasn't life changing!
From where to where?
The link says. There are heaps of packages.
Under the dates on the left.
@Clear: Oh so you want me to click on something to find out all the details? Gee thats not very ozbargain friendly
@JimmyF: All 19 of them suuuuure. He put the important dates that's all that matters. Not our problem if you're too lazy to click on a deal and check.
@Clear: Yeah maybe should have put leaving Syd/Bris as well. Which was my point. BTW You seem overly invested in this post 'clear'.
Thanks for the negs, clearly shows the brainpower in that upside head.
@JimmyF: If you ever looked at my comment and post history on OzB you'd know I'm very invested in this site regardless of what's posted.
I only started negging when I got neg'd after my comment about not being lazy which has now mysteriously been revoked. Hmmmmmm…
@Clear: sure sure…. Then if you're so invested, you would then no others have been bagged for not including things like the location when its limited to a few cities.
still dishing out the negs….. Lets see, thats heaps given by you, 0 by me. Hmmmm
And it's not me. Have a nice day.
The problem with Sydney departure is 3 days gets you nowhere….at least 7 days Brisbane departure you get some Pacific Islands. Perhaps I'm being too logical and the whole point is to be on a ship with unlimited drinks?
Did you mean unlimited drunks ? :)
How does this stuff work if theres 5 people…2 adults 3 kids
2 rooms.
You have to draw straws and leave one kid at the kennel.
put all 3 in, and enjoy the cruise instead?
damn.. that's real harsh man.. u gotta think about all the other pets there it wont be fair on them :P
wifey and the 3 kids in one room… You in your own room!
(each room only hold 4 people MAX, unless you go some mega suite)
We have the same family setup and did wife and 2 kids in Room 1 and the other kid and I in Room 2. We chose Oceanview for the room and they were on the same floor so it was easy to jump between rooms.
Adjoining “family” rooms are possible but not at sale prices.
The best option is to take grandma! When it’s five, you generally pay full freight for the first two in the room. Hence, only one of your kids will be at a discount (and the other two will be at the adult price).
this is not an option.. grandma's fro both sides like to umm complain about everything! hahahaha it'd be hell cuz we wouldnt even be able to get away!
Swim with the dolphins excursion for grandma on day one!!
Drop one kid at ur in laws on the way to the cruise terminal, or your husband/wife. Which ever one you would miss the least.
It's that time to know who is adopted.
31 Mar 2018 Brisbane. 7
Nights
Pacific Island Hopper
PAW818 7 Nights Onboard the Pacific Dawn
twin
$499 pp
quad
was $1599 pp
Save $1,200 pp
$399 pp
This is by far the best available deal. Too busy I'm already booked out for these holidays.
Yeah, for sure!!..This is the one I tried booking with kids…Didn't work :( Damn kids!!
What's the message you got? I got an email with the subject.
Cabin Hold Request Unsuccessful
Yep…I got the same email. I rang the company straight away and the lady confirmed that it was a 'kid issue'. She said there are NO P&O cruises around Easter that can accommodate any kids (because the kid quota is full)…Bummer!!
@Tony555: Kids have their own section of the cruise ship with a part of the deck. I suppose that part has a certain capacity.
@Clear: Yeah there are staff ratios for the kids clubs so they limit the number of kids onboard so the staff can cope (and also the other passengers)…
That’s why they’re so cheap… the kid quota is full and no one without kids wants to go on a cruise that’s full of kids.
kid quota
Sounds like a US FPS game
Also, they're pretty last minute. Less people are flexible with time off around now at short notice, given all the people with kids in their offices have pre-booked the time off for easter etc…
No dice for those outside Sydney and Brisbane.
Probably 1/2 the ship on any cruise has taken a flight to get to the port. Obviously, since these are last minute though flights will probably cost more, one of the reasons for the cheaper fares.
Are kids treats as one adult?
Are they free for under 3 ?
Kids are usually a little bit cheaper provided that are the third or fourth passenger in the room. Kids under one are usually not permitted at all on South Pacific cruises but are the full kid price from one.
wonder if the cheap cruises are from all the recent bad press?
P&O always cheaper as its the lowest rated of all the lines in or that come to Australia.
Went on my first cruise last week on the Pacific Jewel. And I have to say it was very underwhelming.
It was like staying in my grandparents caravan from the 70s. Everything was dated, the food was mediocre at best (the water front was awful, thank god for the bread)
I couldn't get a cup of tea from anywhere past 2am (I have a stuffed up sleeping patrern)
Kids were screaming everywhere, And even trying to get a lounge/table at their adults only area was difficult. People would put their shit on a seat and then leave for most of the day.
I got a Wi-Fi package, but it only works in the common areas and not in the room… wtf
As mentioned above, trying to find a table in the pantry was brutal. And the themed party's were crap. Honestly don't bother spending money on the costumes, the "party" is over almost as quickly as it begun.
Just a tip: bring a power board or double adaptor with you. There is only 1 single Aus power point in a room.
It’s a shame your first cruise was on the Jewel, as this is I think their oldest ship still running, assuming the Pearl has been decommissioned.
Having said that, we went on the pearl and even though it was tired it was still great fun. Maybe because we had kids and they just loved it.
Bogans on our trip basically were, during the day, isolated to one section out the back where I’m pretty sure they just filled up the spa with urine
Longer cruisers are far better. Having done 2,5,7,10,17 and 21 day cruises, the 17 and 21 by far the best. I find cruises 7 days and under party cruises with more bogans and the service and food never seem as good as 7+ days. P&O 2.5 stars {hence why they are so much cheaper} and the rest of the cruise lines in the brand 3.5+ and up. One of the other lines you will enjoy far more.
Jewel is very dated.
You should go on Eden. It's much better. More modern and had 3 fine dining restaurants included in price to choose from.
I've been on one cruise and loved it. I don't drink so was able to avoid that expense. My favourite entertainment was the jazz/swing band (watched that most nights with a cup of coffee with my niece and sisters in law hitting the clubs). Got through about 6 books I had been planning to read for a long time (kindles are great), mostly sitting on a lounge chair in the sun with some lemon lime bitters (luckily included in soft drink package). I read somewhere that there's a new package you can get - better than soft drink but not as expensive as full alcohol - so you can get juice, coffee, mocktails etc. I really look forward to going again and getting that package. Besides the jazz band I didn't really like any of the other entertainment - the bingo I am sure is a massive scam (it's electronic and you can only buy pre-done boards, so there's nothing stopping them from deciding who to give prizes to or if at all). Some of the comedians were OK but there was one guy I just hated, he was just so nasty, without what he was saying being very funny at all. The food was good - you can get into the good restaurants if you phone up first thing in the morning. I wouldn't go on any short cruises because the highlight of course are the stops. Mystery Island was about as magical as it comes, and I swam with sea turtles on Isle of Pines (no tour or anything - just found them while snorkelling off the beach). And I got the tickets in a sale like this where it was only about $50/day, with maybe $300 spent on board, so it was a really really cheap holiday if you compare having to spend a few hundred on flights and then $100/night in accommodation plus food and more travel expenses if you want to see multiple places.
One thing was I sprained my ankle and the doctor wanted to charge some ridiculous amount for seeing me, so I bought a bandage from him instead and put ice on it, which is probably what he would have said anyway. So bring a first aid kit with you plus all the drugs you might need like paracetamol, Tums, seasickness tablets etc otherwise you'll get charged a ridiculous amount for them
The people here badmouthing cruises have probably never been on one.
Thanks for your informative post. I aggree, it works out very good value with all included . You dont have to spend anything extra onboard if you dont choose to. I bought a 600Mil water bottle filled with vodka, so I didnt need to by any drinks, but I did by a few of their interesting looking cocktails.
When you take into account inclusions such as ;
*3 x all you can eat buffet each day (would be worth least $30 per day)
*Accomadation, very basic, but in a private room with friends/family and own exclusive bathroom (would cost you least $30 per day even at backpackers hostel for this).
*Traveling to places of interest (saves you $$ on airfairs etc)
*Being able to just walk out your room, off the ship and explore the travel location, without the hassle of packing/unpacking, uber from airport to new hotel, then travel back to airport (extra costs) and if you like to settle into your cabin anf lay things out the way you like them, it is nice to just walk off ship with maybe small daypack, or just your phone+wallet, explore destination, then walk back onto ship and your tempatemporary 'home' .
When you consider all of above, these cruises on sale are quite good bargains/deals.
Never been on a ship like this, but is this kind of like an alternative to catching a flight for a holiday?
Eg. if I want to go to Japan, I could use this method instead of all the bullshit at the airport, and I'd get my own private room, for sleep, watching movies, masturbation, playing the switch, etc?
You could do all of that at home (in moderation)
Yeah true, I didn't mean for the entire trip lol.
Thinking this might be worth a try, cheaper than business class flights, and more fun
hmm how do you choose Nigel option.. everything is twin share
NVM all sold out
did find singles in other areas, but they re all more than double twin… weird, but then realised its becauses they expect you to spend more on board
Pay for two people and then your "friend" doesn't turn up?
Never been on one these, which package should I choose, the Gastro Package or the Fight Club Package?