With Reuben Goossens
Cruise’n’Travel Journalist /
Cruise Reviewer
& Maritime Historian
Please Note: Cruise-Australia
is a non-commercial and privately owned cruise site and is NOT associated with
any cruise line or cruise/travel agency. The author has been in the passenger
shipping industry since 1960 and is currently semi retired, but continues to
write cruise & ship reviews and articles to inform cruise & ship
enthusiasts to provide information for those intending a cruise. If you are
interested in a cruise, I am more than happy to refer you to a dedicated cruise
agent in
MV Pacific Dawn
The Dutton Family - Cruise Review
MV Pacific Dawn
Some time ago I had recommended for
someone to go on the Pacific Dawn as it is a family friendly ship and he and
his family eventually booked and sailed with their three children on a 10 night
cruise departing
Upon their return, I received a phone call from Michael Dutton which was followed up by a short cruise review.
From what Michael has told me and what he has written since it is obvious that he and his dear lady Rohani Dutton and their children had a superb time on the Pacific Dawn and they simply loved the ship and the crew who gave them as he said “the very best of service.”
Standing - the Kids: left to right: Jade,
Jacinta and Joel. Sitting – the Parents: Rohani and Michael
Photograph: P&O’s Pacific Dawn photographer
But above all Michael & Rohani were “simply blown away by the all the facilities that were available for the children and young people onboard,” and thus this cruise review will cover this and other facets of their special time on this ship.
Michael Dutton writes:
“A Holiday on the Pacific Dawn with our teenagers, how do we keep them entertained? That was out original worry. We did know before we departed that there was a facility for them, but we certainly did not expect such a vast variety of entertainment to be made available for them! The cruise was so good that I wanted to share my story with you and your readers.”
Mini
Photo Album
Rohani and a few ship views
Rohani is ready to explore the ship
La Patisserie, the Coffee Lounge and Bar is located on the lower Atrium
level
Photo by Jacinta
The Bar in the Dome at the top of the ship and it is nothing short from
spectacular and it has a spectacular view!
Looking out of the forward windows of The Dome
overlooking the ships bow
The evening is arriving and we are sailing into
the sunset – our vacation has really started!
Overlooking the stern of the ship
Promenade Deck is spacious and a great place for
a walk, or to sit and read if you’re so inclined
The
Lido Deck and
one of the pools with the centre stage looking aft
Photo by Jacinta
The Lido Bar aft of
Lido Deck and on both sides are the doors entering Café Del Sol Buffet
Photo by Jacinta
Aloha Deck Hallway – portside looking
towards the aft exit & stairwell
Mini-suite A165, our room which was very spacious with a lounge, a
large bathroom and a wide verandah
The bathroom has a bath with a shower and there is marble everywhere.
It is fully supplied with all top class toiletries
Rohani with Marta our wonderful room stewardess
A Special Note for Mini-Suite passengers, by Reuben Goossens: Passengers who sail on any of the P&O ships min a mini-suite or a suite receive a list of additional extras. Mini-suites extras include all the usual services as well as, preferred check in, a welcome glass of champagne, bathroom robes and slippers, pillow concierge, fresh flowers and fruit, Canapés on cocktail nights, complimentary shoeshine, daily satellite newspaper, special turndown service, sweet dreams surprise on cocktail nights and last night. Deluxe Suites have another ten extras, including a Nespresso coffee machine, complimentary laundry service and a fully loaded IPOD music system.
This is the boy’s room next door - A163 – OK they are a bit
messy, so typical of boys!
For us as parents the kids hardly had time to enjoy a meal, or see a show with us. They had a schedule of events provided daily to keep with them in order they could be involved in as much or as little as the desired, or they could just chill out watching movies, listening to music or playing games in HQ. The HO staff and the Youth Security staff did a fantastic job, and we knew from the very beginning that they would be safe hands no matter what time it was or where they were on the ship, which gave us as parents the opportunity to enjoy the many venues and activities on this excellent ship!”
What are the facilities like for children and young people on board? All P&O ships have separate facilities for the various age groups and these are all located in different parts of the ship. 1. HQ+ (Sun Deck) = for 15 to 17 year olds. 2. HQ (next door to HQ+) = for 11 to 14 year olds offering and further facilities and more! 3. Shark Shack (Emerald Deck) = for 7 to 10 year olds. 4. Turtle Cove (next door to Shark Shack) = for 3 to 6 year olds. All of these facilities are superbly supervised by experienced staff that will keep them well entertained, happy and busy all day long, as the two reviews on this page proves. Some of the facilities provided include, and these are just a few mind you: PlayStation 2 & 3, Movies, a special Chill out (lounge) area, theme nights, classes and parties, sports and competitions, Pizza parties, talent Shows, scavenger hunts, mocktail parties, T shirt painting, Birthday parties, arts and crafts and so much more. There is a daily newsletter in the Kid Daily, outlining what is going on in each of the clubs. I have received hundreds of emails over the past two years with rave reviews in regard to these facilities and the staff that run the children’s centres on board! Reuben Goossens - cruise-australia.net.
Mini Photo album
Children having fun & HQ
HQ is just one of the three children’s
zones – each one is based on sage groups
Jacinta with the delightful Leanne a cast member of the ships
production shows, as well
as her best shipboard friend
Jacinta with Nick who is another one a cast member of the ships production
shows and friend
Jade (left) and Joel (right) at the desk picking
up the day’s programme at HQ
Joel (left) with two of his new made friends at
HQ
Jacinta between Nick and Jeannine - cast members cast members, and her friend
Another photo of Jacinta and her friend with
Adam another of the production show cast members. They were all so superb and
obliging!
Jacinta and friends waiting for the show to start
“Entertainment: The shows in the International Show Lounge were fantastic. The guest performers plus the regular entertainers were friendly, funny and approachable on and off the stage and of a high quality. Seating was comfortable and the drink waiters made sure you did not go thirsty. The guest comedian Mark Kristian who was on one night, well he had me and everyone in stitches. I have never laughed so much.”
This is the spectacular Laser sound & Light
show in the Atrium
“Favourite Shows: The laser shows in the Atrium was simply unbelievable, and then there was the Champagne Waterfall and the most entertaining pirate show you can imagine. In addition there were the behind the scenes tours through the Galley’s, as well as the very popular cooking show up on stage. They were all excellent!
Michael pours some
Photograph: P&O’s Pacific Dawn photographer
Acrobatics and more entertainment came after the Champagne Waterfall
Photo by Jacinta
At night, Rohani and I enjoyed a show and a delicious meal with a few drinks. On our sea days we took time to relax and enjoy the daytime shows and entertainment. Rohani especially enjoyed the specials at the duty free shops, and believe me, there were lots of specials.”
This is just one of the shops on board
Now we come to the best part – FOOD!
“Meals: All I can say is
that we enjoyed 10 days of fine dining and we had an excellent variety of food,
this is the combination of the regular selections from the menu as well as some
of the daily specials. The waiters are so friendly and professional and they
make you feel very welcome. The Café Del Sol buffet selection was huge and so
well presented. With breakfast starting at
Rohani and Jacinta is checking the menu at the
Café Del Sol for Dinner
The display is ever changing and so beautiful – the carving of flowers and fruit are superb!
“There was something else that really impressed us as parents. Where can a couple of young boys, walk into the fine dinning restaurant by themselves and get treated with such respect and receive great service. This is simply outstanding and P&O should be congratulated!”
Above and below: Jade (above) and Jacinta
(below) in Palm Court Dinning Room
“I would like my children to say a few words each.”
Jade 16 years:
“To sum up HQ+ is vibrant, lively, and amazing staff. HQ was what made my cruise that something special. There was always someone new to be friends with. There is plenty of loud music, PS3, Wii, movie nights with my mates. What more could you want.”
Joel 13 years:
“I think the best thing about HQ was chilling out with my new mates playing PS3 and Wii on the large screens and staying out late every night.”
Jacinta 12 years:
“The best thing was making friends with kids and the leaders, plus all the free activities and the food, I really liked that!”
The ship was very clean and the standards throughout were very high.
Summary: No cooking, no cleaning, heaps of food, no mobile phone reception, friendly staff and entertainment galore. That’s a real holiday.
Ship
in all four ports
Pacific Dawn seen berthed in
The next port of call was beautiful
The ship at anchor at the delightful small
uninhabited
Photo taken of the Pacific Dawn from the tender
Pentecost is famed for the ritual of men doing
the N’Gol diving from high towers during April, May and June, whilst we
were there
A great photo of the Pacific Dawn at anchor at
Pentecost
Photo by Jacinta
Michael continues:
“Our Favourite Crew members:
Marta
our stewardess was so friendly to all our family and extremely efficient!
Krzysztof
the Maitre D, as well as the Executive Chef did a brilliant and a funny cooking
demonstration on stage.
The male photographers are very friendly, helpful and always willing to have chat with you.
The Stage performers Gemma, Nick, Corey,
Natasha, Martin, Leanne, Natalie, Adam and Jeannine. A great bunch of people
and a credit to P&O!
Rohani and Michael said … “We
enjoyed ourselves so much, and had a wonderful cruise as did the kids”
Photograph: P&O’s Pacific Dawn photographer
That was the conclusion of Michael
Dutton’s Review of his cruise on the Pacific Dawn. There is another
short review below the following photo.
********************************
Pacific Dawn Cruise Review January 2010 – Couple with 2 children
What was really good! On a cruise you just unpack one and you can relax for the rest of your holiday, for you are looked after like royalty! Dining on board was simply fantastic and the waiters were wonderful, be it in the Restaurant or Buffet. They were also quite entertaining and looked after our children so well. Our children just loved them for they were treated with respect! There was simply nothing too hard and they always cared and catered to all our needs, nothing seemed to be too difficult. I found that all the crew on the ship were polite and very friendly. As this cruise was during the school holidays there was a good variety of ages of children on board and they all had their own kids/youth clubs to attend, and they are all fully supervised by an excellent fully trained staff. But considering the number of children on board there never seemed to be too of them around anywhere, thus the HQ clubs worked very well. The cabin stewards were what I call the most ultimate and helpful people. Thus I can honestly say that I enjoyed the cruise and the ports of call and from what I gather, having chatted with many people onboard be it at a bar, lounge or at meal times, everyone was having a wonderful time on the Pacific Dawn.
Turtle Cove
What was bad! Hearing to the few negative people grumble, be it about drink prices, or whatever these ever complainers can think off. They are simply never happy. One person came to me and told me how much better her cruise was on the Queen Mary 2 last year, so I said, did you pay the same price as you did on this ship? I highly doubt it! How can you compare the Queen Mary 2, a luxury ship to this a less expensive cruise ship, but yet it provides the very best of everything. There were those who complained about the drink prices. Well frankly, I found that they were much the same as hotel prices at home, but much less than at the night clubs at home, and let’s face it the old tax free drinks days on the old P&O ships, as the old SS Oriana I went on a long time ago, went 20 years ago. I heard other complaining about their cabin that it was nothing like a hotel room/ Hallo, this is a ship, not a hotel where you get a room, for on a ship you get a cabin. Later I spoke with the lady concerned and it turned out that she was in an inside cabin, and was not happy not having a window. Well whose fault was that? Pay a few dollars more and you can have a window or a balcony, the choice is yours, we chose a room with a balcony, the price difference is not that great!
Shark Shack
In conclusion: For us it was the most relaxing holiday we have ever had. Travelling
was my husband and I and two children. The kids club was simply superb and they
were always kept busy with so many activities, they loved it and the whole
cruise and want to go again! They are 7 & 11 year old and they met so many
new friends and they spent time by and in the pool, but there was always a crew
member or a security person watching over them. This gave us such confidence,
and P&O does a superb job with the kids! All the staff is fantastic and
they made a super effort to remember your name. Although we do not go to the
Casino’s back home, we did occasionally for the fun of it on the ship and
they ran a tournament daily which was a cheap way to enjoy a very small gamble.
The dealers were excellent helpful and very friendly. We Visited,
Cruising is the best and all inclusive
vacation as there is so much to do on the ship. There is the never ending
entertainment in the show lounge with the Pacific Dawn Entertainment group who
gave some spectacular stage production shows, and then there was a comedian and
excellent vocalists and the bands. The Dome on the top of the ship is a great
place during the day, but at night it is the Night Club and it is very popular.
They have a laser and sound show in the atrium and it is hard to describe for
it has to be seen and heard, it is that spectacular! There are fun things
during the day, as well as Bingo of course! The food on board was superb and
the restaurant has changing menus. It is of the highest quality and when you
consider that they have to cater for around 2,000 passengers it is unbelievable
they can keep up such a high standard. I never had a bad meal, be it in the
Adele 2010.
********************************
Conclusion by the author of cruise-australia - Reuben Goossens:
Obviously the cruise on Pacific Dawn was a huge success for the last reviewer who did not wish her full detail to be listed, as well as Michael, who advised me that they will be planning another P&O cruise for a future vacation!
I believe these reviews need to be taken to heart by all families with children who may be thinking of going on a cruise in the future, for it proves that once you board this excellent ship, or any of the other P&O ships, such as the Pacific Jewel, Pacific Sun or the Pacific Jewel in 2011, children of all ages will have much to do for they are so well taken care off in the various children’s and youth facilities, which are broken up in the relevant age groups.
This will leave Mum and Dad free to enjoy their cruise vacation and will give them ample free time out to enjoy their vacation, be it up on deck relaxing in a deckchair or having a swim, possibly pampering themselves at the “Oasis Spa,” or relaxing at the child free “Oasis Deck.” Getting fit in the Gym and fitness classes, or participating in dance lessons and the various games and activities that are on offer all day long, or having a drink in one of the delightful bars on board with some of the new found friends on board. But don’t forget there is always the afternoon session of “Bingo.” Pacific Dawn certainly has something for every age.
P&O Cruises has recently released their new brochure containing itineraries for 2010/2011 and 2012 and introducing their new arrival at the end of 2010 the Pacific Pearl. Get your copy now and book your cruise early as they are extremely popular and cabins are selling out fast!
Reuben Goossens.
For Information and Reservations
Phone:
Brisbane &
International – Phone: +61 7 5546-6798
(Please NAME the SHIP
you are enquiring about)
Pacific Dawn Index:
Photo Page One
Deck Plan –
Covering all her deck Decks 2 (Holiday Deck) to Deck 14 (Sun Deck)
Cruise
Review – Michael & Rohani Dutton and their 3 children
sail on Pacific Dawn – This is their story!
Visit our many features on the following Carnival
Princess Cruises: Sun Princess / Dawn Princess
Cunard: Queen Mary 2 / Queen Victoria
Seabourn: Seabourn Yachts
Phone: Australia wide - Phone 1800 427 847
– FREE CALL
Brisbane & International – Phone: +61 7 5546-6798
A listing of recommended Australian &
International Cruise Agents
Please
Note: Cruise-Australia is a non-commercial
and privately owned cruise site. The author has been in the passenger shipping
industry since 1960 and is currently semi-retired, but continues to write
cruise and ship reviews and articles in order to better to inform cruise and
ship enthusiasts and provide information for those intending a cruise in the
future.
However, if you are interested in a cruise, I am happy to refer you
to a dedicated cruise agent in
Return to the - Cruise-Australia.com - INDEX
Who is the Author of
Cruise-Australia & ssMaritime?
Commenced
in the Passenger Shipping Industry in May 1960
Contact the Author …
