P&O Pacific Aria

So disappointing. I had a terrible experience with this company – This company, deducted money from my bank account without any permission. when I get back from overseas, I phoned them several times. at the end they refunded only 50% of money and they said you have 50% of your money as a credit with us. I had a terrible experience with this company. So disappointing.

Loved it – I did the Comedy cruise got back yesterday, this was my first cruise and loved every minute of it. The staff were so helpful and polite the bar staff around the main pool were the best. Im just about to book my next cruise with Pacific Aria cant wait to get back on board. Show details

Pacific Aria PNG cruise, don’t understand all the complaints!!! – I read many negative reviews of the Pacific Aria and was very worried about our cruise to PNG. We arrived home today and all I can say is that the people who wrote the reviews must be extremely fussy. Our balcony cabin was very comfortable with a great mattress and pillows. Yes the decor was a little dated but really how much time do you actually… Read more

spend in your cabin. The food in the Waterfront, Angelos and Dragon Lady was great, not al la carte but yummy just the same. Salt for an extra fee was amazing. The entertainment team were hilarious and put on some great shows. Shore tours were very well organised. Live music in the bars was a must do every evening. I would highly recommend this cruise.

Was about to book until I read the review, thanks people – got married 6 mths ago, haven't been on our honeymoon yet. decided we'll go on a cruise during the Xmas holiday period. wont do that now after reading your Reviews Show details

Money grabbing – Absolutely horrible company. Their crew are lovely. But massively underpaid. Everything on the cruise is overpriced and they will save money wherever they can. Especially at the expense of their passengers. I will never give a cent of my money to this terrible company again. Show details

Life Photography well worth the money – Just got home from a cruise on the Aria! Just want to give Luis from Life Artist photography a mention. Even though the photos are more than I wanted to spend, I am so happy with the outcome. Well worth the money if you want portraits taken! Memories for life! Show details

Not Happy!! – Pacific Aria Booked my first cruise 4 day cruise from Brisbane to Airlie Beach. All I can say is it was over priced. When I first booked back in April I booked a room with a balcony it was $3000 but I had the option to down grade. This became available and I said yes. My fare was dropped to $2500. My room on the boat was on deck 5 (second… Read more

deck from the bottom) very average). Needs updating badly. Mould in the shower. Outdated decor. Friends of mine also went on this cruise it cost them $1500 for the 2 of them. $1000 less than me. We were on the same floor. I also spoke to some other people they paid $1600 and booked a week before the cruise. I questioned P & O and they said I didn't book far enough in advance. I thought 6 months was pretty good.

I wouldn't recommend this cruise and P & O to anybody. Disgusting service by customer relations. Didn't want to listen to what I had to say. Brushed me off. I definitely think there was a mistake made with my fare but P & O seem money hungry.

P & O DISGUSTING!!!

Fantastic Time & Created Life Long Memories – Just got home from a Four Nights PO Aria Brisbane to Airlie Beach and had the most amazing time - everything was seamless from boarding to cabin allocation, daily activities and party nights - something for everyone - if you wanted to chill by the pool, read in the library, relax with afternoon tea in the Piano Bar, hang out with Miguel playing… Read more

Bingo or test your memory with trivia quiz in the Ocean Bar - treat yourself to a wonderful pamper package, enjoy the company of so many amazing people who are willing to share they stories and there experience, dinning in amazing restaurants or having breakfast on the deck whilst watching the sunrise, little ones are catered for , teenagers and adventures had their on entertainment and the staff were very accommodating with the disabled and our senior cruisers - I went on my own and I never had five minutes to myself because I was so busy attending the scheduled events and having a glass or two with friendly folks who made my short break away so rememberable - and the Whales - I will never forget the spectacular show these incredible animals put on for us each day - the ship itself was clean and lux and I remember thinking on my last day that the decor really looked fresh and well kept on the last as it did the first day - my cabin concierge made a fuss and took care of me each day - they acknowledged I was on my own and kept checking in to make sure I was ok .... even had turn down service and fresh linen each evening - I would strongly recommend you book your next long weekend on PO Aria and I would say your experience will be up to you - you engage or you do your own thing - yes you pay for drinks however they make it easy for you and you can select from a drink package to help with the budget - if your going for sun and alcohol then "Yes" you will need to budget but if you have a night out at a night club or a restaurant then you will pay the same price for drinks anyway - Thank you PO, Helloworld and all my fellow cruises for helping me creat life long memories .......

P & O Shame on You – Myself and my husband and 2 of our good friends embarked on what we hoped was going to be a memorable holiday on the Pacific Aria, sailing off on the 13th August 2019 for the New Guinea Islands and returning on the 23rd August 2019. Firstly, the fact that we were told we could not take our usual pack of water on board and the usual 2 bottles of… Read more

wine was a disappointment. We knew then that P & O were money pinching, as we were always allowed to take these items on previous P & O Cruises. Then we saw the boat as we boarded - what a shock. She was very dirty and looked very run down and tired. In saying that when we got to our rooms - our rooms were lovely and the cleaners of our rooms wonderful. Then, we headed for the pantry for lunch - what a shock. Sub-standard food and we were handed small portions - again penny pinching. The food was poor quality and a far cry from the previous P & O Cruises we had been on. Again disappointing. Then we ordered some drinks for the sail off party to celebrate our vacation. We ordered cocktails which were so watered down they tasted like milk shakes. We questioned the bar tenders whose only explanation was (It is boat policy). We explained that one of the bar tenders on the last P & O Cruise we went on actually taught us how to mix these cocktails and that he (the bartender on the Aria) was not putting in the correct ingredients or the same amounts of alcohol. Again he replied (It is boat policy). There was that penny pinching again. The shows on the Aria were Sub-standard as well and very amateur - another disappointment. The seating in the Marquee was atrocious. You could not see over the heads in front of you which meant to see other shows, we needed to get to the Marquee 3/4 of an hour early to get front seats to be able to watch the sub-standard shows. We love playing trivia and found, where they held the trivia nights didn't have enough room for all the people who wanted to attend. Again we had to get there at least 1/2 hour early to get a seat. It all became a chore. The amount of time waiting for our watered down drinks was appalling. The adult pool deck did not have 1 spa on it and it was futile trying to get into the spa on the main deck as it was always full of parents and their kids. 2 spa's for 1,200 people was atrocious and I have never been on a cruise boat that hasn't had 2 spa's for the adult pool area. The amount of times we sat down at a dirty table in the Pantry was disappointing and the staff in this area obviously were not interested in working. The walked around at a snail pace and when asked to (please wipe our table or please take other peoples dirty dishes off our table) the cleaner would slowly wipe 1/2 the table and leave it still dirty. You could see they were not interested. The other P & O Boats we have been on have been awesome. All workers on other boats have been great and always with a smile. We were also disappointed with the amount of toilets situated on the boat - most of them only had 1 or two cubicles in them and for 1200 people was certainly not enough. All in all - the food was poor - the entertainment was poor - and the service was poor - the seating in the marquee was poor and the entertainment venues were poor. I would NEVER cruise on the Aria again and can only suggest to P & O that they take this boat out of service and most of its pantry staff. As I said earlier, We love cruising but now wonder if this is going to be the treatment that P & O is going to be dealing out on their other cruise boats now. Would love to hear back from P & O on this issue. As we have travelled in previous years on the Dawn and the Sun Princess and the Royal Caribbean (Legends of the Sea) and have had wonderful experiences, it certainly won't put us off cruising but we will be very particular who we cruise with and what they have to offer. Cheers.

First time cruisers – Our trip started from Brisbane to Airlee beach on 9 August in and ended on 14 August 2019. Our cabin was perfect and close to the lifts. The food was excellent at all the venues. The cherry on top was the entertainment and the 4 organisers. Names starting with Co and Ca and Mj and Ge. I really enjoyed their humor and love for people. Thank you P&O. Show details

Brainless – In early May 2019 our group of 14 made a booking through Flight centre for a New Years Eve trip out of Brisbane 28/12/2019 at a supposedly sale price of $1600 per person. On the 4/7/2019 P & O Cruise line sent an email directly to me promoting exactly the same cruise for $1200. I immediately contacted Flight centre to cancel the first price and… Read more

rebook on the $1200 price. When they contacted P & O they were told that we would all loose our deposits paid which was $250 per person if we rebooked at the $1200. My beef is why would P & O be So BRAINLESS as to send an email to someone who has already booked advertising the trip for $400 less. This has caused unnecessary grief and anger......GET IT TOGETHER P&O our group have done many trips with you in the past and have never asked or been offered any favours. The big boys will be hitting Brisbane’s new terminal at the end of the year so maybe you should start looking after your LOYAL CUSTOMERS!!! Winifred Brenda Rotondo

Wouldn't give us 20 min to get from delayed flight – Totally inflexible!!!! They don't give "A crap" Extra cost to fly from NZ to Fiji & Accommodation, and not even the "gesture" of an onboard Restaurant Voucher.....considering P&O have saved on 3 Nights Food and Servicing of Room. Show details

BAD. Please read – omg love self torture, sadistic? want to be tested for HIV, stuff stolen and get caught with a bunch of dying turtles and animals... want to wait 6months for your refund so you dont post these reviews. DO THIS CRUISE! boat helplessly run down, caught in lifts for 20minutes. missed ports due to bad weather... turns out there are numerous ways to… Read more

access the island, we could have gone,. all 9 of us there for a 50th birthday CRAZY MONEY SPENT rough rough days at sea but no communication from staff. plates falling in restaurants 'oh it is always like this' entertainment is nonexistent. we were actually bored. pools closed for no reason, emptied even. closed at 6 when open!! one of us was hurt at island. really bad. i ran to first aid who didnt give a crap to be honest. i then ran to tender boat to ask them to wait. ran back to injured to get them off a rigger they were injured on then we carried her to the jetty where first aid had a wheelchair. mind u they wouldnt even turn it around so she could get in! useless and EXPENSIVE doctor fees, she is still coping with injury, needs surgery and even got tested for a wealth of serious diseases.

Do not do it. Seriously reconsider!

Toilets badly need work – Traveled from Auckland around Fiji and Tonga. Food just great, service impeccable staff the best. But toilets very unsafe because they kept blocking. The poor staff. Someone will get sick. Show details

Hopeless call centre – Booking online was easy and simple. However, after logging into the cruiseling portal, we were unable to allocate the correct people to the correct rooms. So we called the call centre. In broken English, they offered to put the correct people into the correct rooms, with a $50 rebooking fee for each! This is our first experience with P&O. At this rate, it will probably be our last. Show details

Worst ever experience passenger’s health affected – Tuesday 29th Jan 2019 en-route to Hamilton Island. Awoke to vile stink in cabin was throughout decks 4 5 and 6, was coming in via air conditioning. Reception and other crew members told us there was a fuel leak . What we didn’t know at that time was that the fuel IFO 380 releases hydrogen sulphide gas, a potentially lethal and explosive gas.… Read more

Symptoms of hydrogen sulphide exposure can take 72 hours plus to to show. Passengers had burning eyes , sore throats and nasal passages , headaches fatigue,coughing, vomiting etc all known symptoms of h2s exposure. Constant requests for the ships doctor, safety officer with air quality meter and the Captain (documented) to address concerned passengers ignored. This went on for over 17 hours . By 11pm passengers were leaving their cabins with pillows etc. to,escape these fumes. Then after disembarkation passengers who complained to P&O have received an email from P&O even though they are aware of the symptoms passengers suffered stating “the fumes although unpleasant were not harmful”. Does that not stink (no pun intended) of a cover up???

Poor Experience – Went on 7 night cruise on Pacific Aria. No complaints about the ship itself or the food. Pantry is always packed and overcrowded though, so do yourself a favour and book dinner at restaurants. Unfortunately the respect and courtesy by P&O for the passengers is very minimal, we got woken up almost every morning by staff or maintenance workers… Read more

making noise, sometimes it was as early as 6am, not good enough as we wanted to have a relaxing holiday, as you would expect on a cruise (or we thought anyway). Drink package prices are a money gouge. As far as we are concerned, P&O are only interested in emptying your pockets once your on board, and we will never travel with them again.

Medical report – My husband needed to see the medical team which cost over $1200. Been waiting nearly 5 weeks and each weekly call has been "I'll re email them to follow up", Show details

Australia Day cruise – When we booked in Brisbane, the fireworks in Sydney Harbour was the main attraction but itinerary was obviously changed between February and January. Instead we had a 6pm sail away from Sydney to the Look Like a Legend competition with many many passengers crowded on two back decks listening to loud music and unable to see or hear anything. The… Read more

competition was badly organised and staff were all giving different information. What a disappointment! And it is all happening again next year.

Worst cruise ever P&O are a disgrace to cruising – Australia Day cruise 6 nights, 2 cabins deck 5, our 4th family cruise, absolute rip off, we did not stay for the fireworks as the ship left Sydney at 5pm, docked at white bay away from all of the action. Ship is dirty, needs a refit and the food a disgrace. The Pantry food is no better than the food they throw out when the motorway service station… Read more

closes for the night. The waterfront restaurant is reheated microwave economy airline food. Even the waitress we knew from a previous ship warned us how bad the food was when we bumped into when boarding.

The shore tours a rip off and blatant extortion by P&O. The officers are sour and miserable especially the security staff when leaving or boarding the ship. Entertainment is purile immature holiday camp 1970’s dumbed down garbage, there are school children at our local school that can sing, dance and put on a more professional show. Please do yourself a favour and do not waste any of your hard earned money with P&O.

Only a good word can be said of the overworked serving staff and the Edge crew who always smiled and tried to help you.

Very Disappointing – We were on board the Aria that left Brisbane on 4/1/19 bound for New Caledonia. We were very happy with all the staff on the boat, they were all marvelous. However, that was the only thing that we were happy with. We decided to spend the extra for a balcony cabin. The cabin itself was very run down (holes in wall, wear and tear on all fittings).… Read more

There were 3 of us in the cabin and the third bed was just an uncomfortable sofa with a pillow top, not even a proper bed (we thought the third passenger should not have had to pay full fare to sleep on a sofa!). I have mobility problems and use a walker. There were four lifts each end of the ship but on a regular basis 3 of the lifts would be in use by staff or out of order leaving only one lift for passengers. It would sometimes take 20-25 minutes for me to get in a lift and sometimes I was forced to carry my walker downstairs in order to get to events on time! We were very unhappy with the restaurants as well. The food in the Pantry on the 11th floor was ok but we could never get a seat (there were 5 of us) so we had evening meals in the Waterfront Restaurant and the food was not good. We wanted to try other restaurants but couldn’t because they were always booked out so we were not happy about that. Also, on other cruises (Princess etc.) we were able to go to the buffet late at night for light snacks, coffee or sweets etc. but on the Aria all the restaurants closed early (I think at 9 o’clock). Overall, a very disappointing cruise. I don’t think we will be sailing with P & O again!

Cabin 4226 – Cabin 4226 had 4 single beds which were uncomfortable. Bathroom was disappointing shower curtain was falling down,rust around taps and cracked tiles. Food was horrible, we were happy to come home,it was a very disappointing cruise.

P&O it's time to lift your game! – Recently cruised to Sydney from Brisbane aboard Pacific Aria for Australia Day Cruise. We were promised fireworks when we booked but ship left before they started. Apparently P&O are at liberty to do this so beware when booking a cruise with them. We went to a lot of effort for the Legends competition which turned out to be an absolute fizzler one… Read more

of the winners was a child with a sash saying "Miss Australia" guess we just weren't cute enough. Paid for a stateroom with a porthole, waste of money as we overlook the veranda and our only view was the smokers hanging around outside out window. Staff on the whole were courteous there are always the odd few. If we are every to travel on P&O again it definitely won't be this ship.

Waste of money – Disappointed. Cruised for 4 days waste of time. The food was poor quality.. looked good but tasted terrible, spent $200 on a massage and beauty treatment which wasn't at all great. Dined at a 'fine dining' restaurant and the food was a joke.. I feel like p&o invest more interest in pumping out marketing, deals, flyers.. anything which looks… Read more

appealing to grab your attention and secure your business.. but simply don't deliver the results they promise. Its a rip off and a scam I'll never cruise with p&o again.

back packers trip – Not a big expert on cruising. P&O Aria was our 4th sailing cruise. Sea Princess, Sun Princess, & Royal Caribbean were wonderful, from start to finish. I have to say the Aria was an eye opener. I am not sure if this is the right work (embarking) was great as was disembarking on the Aria all went perfect. Room we had on the Aria was perfect. Our… Read more

lovely cabin gentleman cleaner [name removed] was fantastic ,room was always beautifully done . As for everything else you can't compare to the other 3 ships. Food was enough (of coarse)but utterly horrible .The only restaurant we thought was ok was the Italian.(staff there smiled and were happy to serve you.) The sweets were so awful and the service was not the best. you would be lucky to even get service around the pool, and I noticed a lot of staff had attitude. Entertainment -lovely singing, but no shows like the other ships, nothing like the other 3 ships. Sorry P&O Aria I was so disappointed. Maybe if this was our first trip I wouldn't know better but truly we were so spoilt on the other 3 ships. We also had the same type of rooms on all 4 ships, interior and I have to say the Aria did have the largest and best. A tick for the Aria room .

Never Cruise with P&O again – Whilst I understand that P&O change their fleet from time to time, no words can explain how P&O are treating people. They offer the same price, cabin, inclusions on a different ship, one week later, (time not suitable to us). If you do not want to take up their option, then you are offered a complete refund. HOWEVER, we wanted to Cruise on Aria,… Read more

not on any other ship. To bad P&O say. You won't be given the same inclusions as first cruise, the other Aria cruise we were looking at, we would actually be worse off. P&O reaction, to bad. We have to go when they want us to go, otherwise we are worse off. I could continue my rant where they are going against their own T&C's.. Again, P&O reaction, to bad, not their problem. If anybody is wanting to sail with P&O DON'T. They don't care. It's all about them, not the passenger. Yes, I have sailed on Pacific Aria and Fair Princess previously.

BEST TIME EVER – Fantastic trip. Had such a good time. Great food. Entertainment team were awesome especially the lead singer's Sam, Katherine & Ben. Beds were so comfortable and the crew were friendly and some were so funny. We went to all the shows. Can't wait to go again. 11 cruises in 6 years. Be on the Aria again next year for sure. Highly recommended

Worst Hygiene – Very Dissatisfied with this Ship. Biggest mistake I made was eating in the Pantry Buffett.Which resulted in 3 Days of Vomiting and Diahorrea in my cabin.Food is undercooked,Poor Quality and the Hygiene is bad.Toilets Stink.Carpets smell of Vomit in Lifts.Cabins are dirty and Old. Holiday was ruined by Food Poisoning.

Cost cutting to blame for bad experience? – BEING a vegetarian and diebetic, this cruise turned out to be 14 days of hell and by far the worst experience in 40-odd years. It began with late embarkation in Singapre. Despite being told in writing that boarding would begin at noon, it didn't happen until 5pm. I am amazed that chefs did not understand the importance of a low sugar diet for… Read more

diabetics, despite being assured by P&O that my dietary needs would be met. When I complained, they served me one dessert which I wouldn't have fed to an animal. Even a chef and waiters in the Pantry admitted they wouldn't eat it! Things improved slightly afterwards, but the menu offered precious little choice for vegetarians ... usually just one or two unappetising items such as baked artichoke! We mostly shivered our way around the cold ship. Our cabin (4194) was showing serious signs of neglect, with ageing and smelly curtains complementing a badly rusted window frame. Rust was also prevalent in the ensuite. The sink's drain plug was broken meaning the sink would not hold water, there was mould around the bath and badly rusted taps. The TV was so old .... I have seen better ones on our local tip. I saw sooooo many signs of cut-backs since our last voyage on Aria a year ago ... even tablecloths and flowers in the dining room at night have been dispensed with. The dining room dress code seems to have been thrown overboard, with thongs, caps and vests now acceptable. A shame passengers were never introduced to the ship's captain and senior officers ... in fact we still don't know the captain's name! Fourteen days and not one cocktail party ... another first. This is no reflection on the crew members who we found to be extremely friendly and helpful. The final blow came on disembarkation. Despite being first off the ship, one of our two suitcases was among the LAST to be brought off meaning we were almost two hours late starting our six-hour drive home.

Worst cruise line – My wife and I have travelled on many cruise lines over many years. As with any vacation, something will go wrong.. that is okay. However, I felt that I had to write about the cruise that we are on... Yes we are still living the nightmare... There seems to be some good reviews of the Aria and P&O Australia but having spoken to many passengers, the… Read more

good experience seems to be just for a few lucky ones.

We are sailing from Singapore (a beautiful city) to Brisbane o the Pacific Aria. The troubles began when we got into the room. The sink was broken and the AC was not working. The room was 90+ degrees. We immediately informed the steward and the front desk. They promised a fix within the hour. That was 6pm as we boarded. Every few hours I will walk to the front desk and ask about a simple fan and what was happening with the fix. The response was it had been escalated and the fix will be coming soon. After two full days and dozens of conversations with the ship personnel we got a fan. We then were able to move to another room. It was a downgrade and quite beaten up, but the AC basically worked. We headed for dinner and when we came back the AC had stopped working. We are now 4 days I to the cruise and haven't slept yet due to the extreme heat in the cabin.

To try and take out mind off the cabin troubles, we looked at the Edge.. the on-board activities package. The Edge "salesperson" told us that we could do any activity anytime we wanted and did not need to stick to the schedule. We said that we would only sign up if that was the case. They confirmed. We signed up. A few hours later we wanted to play on their AR virtual reality system. We were told that they needed time to prepre and to come back the following morning. We did and then were told that the activities are scheduled and cannot be done outside of the schedule. A complete turnaround to what we were told, getting us to sign up. So, since we had done nothing and it was much less than 24 hours since we signed up, I just asked for a refund. Then they stated so refunds and whether we attended the activities or not... We would never get our money back. The ships management stated the same.

On this ships, almost things are broken. Most passengers are stood in line at the front desk complaining about one thing or another. The AC seems to be the biggest issue, along with raw sewage coming up into the rooms. Every day we must go back to the front desk because of charges from bars on our account that we never authorized or had anything to do with. The response is that a manager needs to investigate... So never any resolution...

For us, and a lot of passengers, this has been a nightmare so far. My biggest issue though is that the crew and managers are decietful... They tell you anything to grab money or send you away from the desk. Dozens of promises to report on status are left with no follow up.

This is by far the worst cruise experience ever, for a LOT of people.

Stay away from P&O Australia and the Pacific Aria.... You will be much better off....