The night before disembarking we were given some paperwork to explain the process. One of the things to keep in mind if you do this in the future is it’s not a quick process AND there are limited taxis to White Bay Terminal. So we have now learnt to book your return flight MUCH later on in the day…like 6hrs minimum after the docking time. I booked for 2:30pm thinking that a 9am dock would leave plenty of time……we got lucky with one of the early disembarking times but people were scheduled to get off as late as 11:30am.
Overall cruise and Pacific Eden thoughts
Positives:
- It was pretty relaxing. Massages, cocktails, reading, naps and so on. B wants me to particularly emphasise the massages haha.
- Free food is always a positive! The food quality was quite good in the free places and in the places with a cover charge it was VERY good. The Pantry was an interesting twist on a buffet experience and worked quite well once we had the lining up thing worked out.
- The Chef’s Table experience was excellent. Highly recommend.
- There’s a huge variety of music and activities to suit all tastes. We listened to jazz, contemporary music and could have gone clubbing if we wanted to.
- The huge variety of spaces! Although more pool space would be nice, I loved finding a quiet lounge somewhere to read, drink cocktails and look at the ocean.
- The kids were not as annoying as I thought they would be (with one notable exception of a little brat in the pool area).
- Day spa was many $$$ but excellent. We went twice, that’s how good it was. B rates it as his best massage ever.
Negatives:
- While neither of us got sick (#operationnoblowchunks was a success!) we did both feel queasy at times – B felt uneasy for nearly the whole time and only started to settle on the last night.
- Kids running around unsupervised and behaving like little asshats, especially in the pool. P&O are pretty clear there is no lifeguard or provided supervision so it would be nice if the real shit head kids actually had an adult supervisor to tell them to pull their heads in and not harass others.
- The pools are small and there are not enough lounges. People “dibs” them for others at 7am and it’s a pain in the ass because after that, you just can’t get a space.
- The tender boats and the lining up process were pretty frustrating for the day trip. They didn’t call our tour out and then got lippy with me about not listening (you can all probably guess how that went for them….) grrrrr. So, always book a shore tour to get priority but avoid booking an early one in case you miss it!
- While the cruise cards make things easy, it’s important to know that they hold your covered funds as well as billing you the final amount if you provide a debit card or credit card. I though people were idiots for not linking up a bank card and having to add cash to their accounts, but now I know why they do it – for up to 10 days we will have double charges on our bank account!
Would we do it again?
B says: Probably not. It’s a bit worrying how many people said this was a great trip, really smooth, smoother than normal and that I still felt icky most of the time! I did like those massages though and using the “cruise card” for everything was so easy and efficient.
Mel says: I would. I struggled a bit with motion sickness but unlike B, I was able to control it every time except once with basic drugs (travacalm). I loved the relaxation elements, they were exactly what I wanted in a holiday. In fact….I’ve already booked another cruise for 4 of us this time next year in P&O’s $1 deposit deal! GIRLS TRIP!
Mel's Travel Blog 