P&O Pacific Dawn

Outdated Boat : Pacific Island Cruise – Booking was easy. Cruise control good way to pay. I had a flight cancellation and rang P&O customer service but they were completely useless as couldn’t tell me when latest boarding occurred. So rescheduled flight for day before and had to book accommodation. Food in pantry wasn’t great. Long line ups at some places. Waterfront ok but only… Read more

restaurant available so very little food variety. SALT was excellent but you pay for it. They accidentally charged me $59 twice and took three days to remove from my bill.

Cafe was a gem and highly recommend. Lido deck was crowded; one small pool. People hogged the seats near the window by towel dropping early in morning. Often they weren’t using them, just saving for later. P&O should remove towels left on seats.

Drinks package way to expensive. Cocktails watered down. I wouldn’t buy another one. You pay for lots of ‘extras’ on P&O. This is why initial costs are low.

Balcony room was nice. Beds comfortable. You had to move furniture to open door to balcony. Table was unstable and wobbly. But well worth paying extra for. One power point so you need a power board. Hairdryer is included. No safe we could find. Bathroom and hanging space ok. The room attendants were lovely and did a great job. Be aware any tips they receive they have to handed in to a pool of money that is distributed to other workers on the ship. Beware you have to pay for dressing gown, slippers and bottled water (even if you have drinks package) in the room. Room service also costs extra and any drinks you get through room service have to be paid for, even if you have the drinks package.

Don’t book any tours through P&O. Book when you get off at Noumea and Mystery Island.

I highly recommend the Pub Crawl at Vanuatu Port Vila. I was highly sceptical and thought we’d end up at dives but they were all fantastic bars and it was a lot of fun. Take a water taxi to town to do duty free shopping. They have a Prouds Jewellery duty free shop and several others.

If you have any sort of gambling issue, don’t take a cruise as it also has a casino which they constantly try to keep you spending.

The spa was run down and in the bottom of the boat. Really pushy with trying to get you to spend money. Also expensive.

Overall, you spend most days at sea with them trying to extract more money from you. Avoid spending money wherever possible. I wouldn’t travel on Pacific Dawn again, and it’s being decommissioned soon anyway. Will probably travel on a bigger boat with another company for next cruise.

Very good experience – I came back last week from the Pacific Dawn cruise departing from Brisbane to Airlie beach 4 night cruise. I read a lot of reviews before going and most of them were negative so you can tell I was super nervous. first the embarkation was good well organised our check in was at 12 but we arrived earlier around 10 am and there was a lot of people so… Read more

try to be there earlier. we start to board at 11 am so that was a plus for me because as soon as you are inside the holiday starts. we went first to the cabin it was on deck 5 and very close to the edge which it was a lit bit bad because the first night I could feel a lot the movement and I got sea sick. the cabin was clean it has everything you need and the air con was working perfect so I was so happy. the pantry has good food and I was impressed about the quality very good. the only thing that I will suggest is try to implement new options the food was delicious but most of the days were the same. they change some dishes but not all. we had a dinner in the waterfront restaurant it was good but the entre was not good at all and the dishes are small but tasty. I really enjoyed the cruise it was my first cruise though but for me it was a good experience the entertainment was good the comedy stand was the best, the cocktails are not expensive I saw many reviews telling that cocktails taste like water which is not true and also you p[ay for a cocktail in a bar 19 and in the ship are 13 so in my opinion it is not expensive. many activities for the kids which is good I went only with my husband but i am taking the kids next year the staff is very friendly the only thing i didn't like is that I bought the drink package and one waitress charged me when she didn't supposed to but they gave me the money back after I spoke with the receptionist. I will defiantly cruise again with p.o

It's what you make it! – My wife and i just finished a September 2019 Barrier Reef discovery cruise . I had read the mostly poor reviews prior and was a little nervous what to expect. After a previous cruise back in 2005 on the much larger Carnival Victory Ship out of Miami, we had previous experience of cruising. I have to say overall we had a great time and enjoyed… Read more

the ship and experience, but have to agree with the overall poor food comments. This was the only issue, but we are not obsessed with the food side and not big eaters, so we made the most of it, found what we did like and didn't let this affect us. The Pantry can get busy, so work out a good time for you. Breakfast were slight variations of cooked english style and not great, can be cold and any real taste was left in the port of Brisbane :( I liked the asian lunch and dinner options. If you have kids its perfect, lots of choice and can keep going back until there full. If you don't have kids....you have been warned.

The Grill is an extra cost - from $5 burgers, $10 Pizza and $15 bucket of Prawns. This food is much better. Shame its extra but this is clear before you book so don't complain when onboard

Salt Grill is fantastic, but an extra $59 per person each time you visit for 3-4 course.

Waterfront Rest is included in the cruise cost, but average at best. Often cold and served from the kitchen in plastic/tupperware style plate covers, which takes the shine off. Also no toilets in the Waterfront area, you have to leave and go up to level 8 to the toilets, not great

As we are late 40's the Oasis adults only area at the back of the ship were as expected, brilliant. lots of double sun beds, 2 small spas and a dedicated bar. 2 levels and sunset live music/DJ playing tunes as the sun goes down

For families the pool area, edge slides etc looked good, but we never used them so cannot comment

The staff were great and worked hard all the time to make the cruise the best it can be

Live music entertainment was good in the orient bar and atrium charlies bar area

Gatsby show - people did dress but its not the full ship extravaganza its made out to be, same for back to school and Bianco theme nights. In general though they were enjoyable

I believe the ship had a 2 week dry dock stop on Singapore in August 2019 for a fresh coat of white paint (it was rusty previously) and the cabins had new bedding and a general freshen up of other areas. It felt clean and no smells as previous comments have advised

The ship is approaching 30 years old - first cruise was back in 1991 so don't expect the Voyager of the Sea sized ship and modern features. Do expect a brilliant crew and refurbished ship that you can have a god time on, with some advanced research to set expectations and plan the fod to be average and anything better a bonus!!

We paid for the premium drinks package - mostly for the freedom to try all types of drinks and cocktails and not be worried about 'wasting money' if not liked etc. Be reminded there is a 15 drink limit, even for the 'unlimited drinks' package. As the shots are small and lots of ice - you can easily hit 15 over a full day and not be that affected. Bottled beers are a good option, but you really wouldn't be drinking 15 in a day. If i went again I probably wouldn't pay for the drinks package and select what i wanted

Elemis At Sea - Mind Body & Soul Therapy – My wife and I booked in to a 75 minute full body relaxation massage and various treatments on board the Pacific Dawn on 4/3/2020. What a disaster! Taken to a room directly above or next to the ship’s engine room. Constant grinding of metal, sirens sounding, motors roaring and the constant slamming of metal? At times it was deafening in the room… Read more

and a couple of times we all jumped from the crashing noises. Not relaxing, most stressful 75 minutes. The manager (Female polish employee) didn’t careless and acted ‘surprised’?? The two masseurs/consultants were clearly scared to agree with us in front of the manager! Don’t go, not relaxing and check what you pay for as we had to ‘argue’ on what we had agreed to pay for so lucky we had it in writing before we attended.

You get what you pay for – We are regular cruisers, taking multiple cruises per year on Celebrity and NCL, I had not been on PO since I was a child and was looking forward to a quick Island break. What a disappointment, I will never travel with this cruise company again. The customer service was appalling and they should be ashamed of themselves, over the 7 days I witnessed… Read more

staff push passengers out of the way, roll their eyes at guests and display inappropriate behaviour and poor attitudes. The food was not edible in either their waterfront restaurant or the Pantry. The same food every night with no theme or fresh options, I highly doubt the food is prepared on site and comes in frozen. The bottled water purchased from the bar was warm and the crew thought it was ok to serve this way. Housekeeping not fantastic and inconsistent. Multiple errors on accounts by multiple guests, where the manager advised the guests to investigate themselves with no apology,. Some guests charged $300 for arcade games they never used. The entertainment was lack lustre apart from The magician who was really good, the singers were off key we had to walk out. I no doubt PO will continue to fill their suites due to their low prices but you get exactly what you pay for when you travel PO. Prior to arrival guests receive a survey via email from PO to fill out, I filled this survey/review out before disembarking and a few hours later I was advised the manager had come knocking on my suite door aggressively to discuss the review I had written. I will definitely only travel With Celebrity and NCL in the future as their customer service and food is beyond exceptional.

Woeful foold – Everything was great except the food. Food was average at best and in the case of the offerings at "The Pantry" often disgusting. Simply dont understand how a company with a reputation like P&O can let their standards fall so low. We did the Christmas Cruise ex Brisbane 2019. Entertainment was great, staff good, vessel starting to look and feel shabby but she been sold off come February Show details

Great cruise. Disappointing food – Great cruise apart for the disappointing food. The food in the Pantry and the Waterfront was always nearly cold. The choice for me was very limited as I dont Eat pepper or spicy food and most was this food. The bacon and toast was really bad. The bacon was dry and overcooked and you could not cut it. As was the toast. I sent my meal back in the… Read more

Waterfront one evening as it was a chicken schnitzel which was cold and dry and they brought me another and it was almost the same. So disappointing was also when you ordered dessert they do not have fresh cream or ice cream to have with it. The room stewards Rico & Paul were wonderful. Very thorough and so lovely and polite. Apart from the food the cruise was enjoyable and the entertainment was great.

Old and tired – Firstly, I need to say that my view was coloured by a previous cruise on the ‘Ovation of the seas’, a new ship with amazing technology and entertainment facilities. Comparing theses 2 ships is possibly a bit hard, but they both offer a holiday at sea, so comparisons should be valid. The view on approaching the ship was rust stains spreading all… Read more

over, not a good start. The room was OK, but no kettle for a cup of coffee in the room was annoying. The entertainment was ordinary, but the seats in the old theatre were good, lots of leg room, enabling the old people easy access to their seats. Food was plain and the menu changed very little over the 8 day trip. The pastries and cakes were often stale. Won’t be wasting my money again on a Pacific Dawn trip.

Never again – This was my third cruise and we made it 14 day one out to Tonga, Fiji, Vanuatu, Noumea. The quality of the food in the Waterfront restaurant has certainly gone down hill and we where not the only ones to note this. The breakfast menu stayed the same for 2 weeks. If you wanted to eat in the Pantry you had to time it right just to get seating. I… Read more

have never seen so many wheelie walkers and walking sticks in my life it was like being in a nursing home. Will I cruise again probably not, I guess its just not for everyone.

Worst holiday ever – Cabin, cabin staff and good water pressure in shower, a couple of good shows were the only positives on this 4 day cruise to Whitsundays. The ship is old and tired, food disgusting in the pantry, very difficult to find a seat and tables not cleared, queued for everything. Very rude and unfriendly passengers. Went On the Explorer last year and it was a great experience. Show details

Disappointing...Dawn is getting very tired – We have not been on Pacific Dawn for three years and it is getting very tired...ship is looking shabby...P&O seems to have cut back on staff..we were getting tired of having to clear piles of plates off tables so we could sit down...food in Pantry plentiful but very repititious...menu definitely not with Australian passengers in mind...Onion and… Read more

Capsicum casserole for breakfast? Water leaks all over the ship....we spoke to a lot of passengers who had some major water problems in their cabins...we had black water coming out of our toilet, hand basin and shower one night....hope it was not toxic lol. Cabin very noisy from the hallway traffic ( mainly kids running up and down at all hours ). Cabin stewards very friendly and helpful. This was our seventh cruise with P&O ( four on Pacific Dawn and three on Pacific Aria ) and unfortunately I think it will be our last....we put our review in to P&O after the cruise and listed the problems encountered but just got the usual reply...P&O really needs to start putting some effort into the cruise's on offer....from August next year when Brisbane gets a designated cruise terminal there will be a lot more cruise lines sailing from here and the paying customers will no longer accept the lacklustre service offered by P&O

Not Good this time round – Second time on this ship, the first 3/5 years ago was much better. Seems to me the service and food and care factor have all gone downhill. It's like they know you won't be back and have given up, accountants must be putting pressure on the chefs to cut costs and it is very apparent when you eat, food was cheap. I was served a stale croissant in… Read more

the full service included restaurant called a maple croissant and redwine pudding that is literally an old croissant pressed into a taurine drizzled with watered down maple syrup and red wine ? sounded like a weird combination and it was. All we did on this ship was line up for everything, it wasn't unusual to line up behind 40 / 50 other passengers on a beautiful hot day around the pool deck at a make shift pop up bar ( Because the pool deck bar was closed for the first three days of our seven day cruise ). This make shift pop up bar had one attendant making drinks ???.( even at the sail away party?? Nearly every man and his dog trying to get served by one guy, didn't matter how busy a bar was they never seemed to send more staff). Seems the shade cloth over the bar got damaged on the prior cruise, staff couldn't work in the sun, the makeshift bar was tucked in the shade under the mezzanine floor so only the customers had to line up in the sun waiting for that one bar attendant. When they managed to find 10 crew and three supervisors to attach new shade to bar on the 4th day it opened and then had three grumpy staff, service improved then to snail pace. The Pantry is new since my first trip on the Dawn sounds like a great idea in the advertising ( I was thinking 8th street eatery ) but its not, it's a bunch of little windows of cold, old, cheap, over cooked hot box food that should be served hot but never was, cold rubbish on a plate dished up by sad unhappy staff and of course the line up again, this window line up for cold toast that window line up again for cold powdered scrambled eggs and cold bacon and pancakes and then again into another line for cereal or fruit and again for juice or coffee. Every meal was the same and then good luck finding a seat. Food was defiantly not served at a safe temperature, would love to see the BCC star rating they would get ? Seems that Australians will eat cold slop and put up with crap service if you call it a Pantry dinning experience. Service in the restaurant was better but the food was not, still cold, cheap and flavorless. Service staff serving coffee like most other places didn't exsist and a token one or two drink waiters would roam the ship but very rarely seen on the open decks. Kids club was a joke, don't believe the opening times advertised, all the staff wanted to do in Turtle Cove was close, the patents of my grandchildren had to argue every day to have any sort of free time. On one sea day the kids club completely closed ? Some adult sunbathing on a deck chair too close to the kids water park complained about being spashed ? Doh (Heaps of other deck chairs in adult areas) So they closed the water park down for the day ? Kids club closed, water park closed ? Ok so parents took the grandkids into the main pool only to be told to get the kids out..... no kids in pool til after 12 noon ??? So everyone got out and pool was empty ( who makes these rules ?) Daughter went to speak to slash team said "kids club and water park are closed, kids can't use pool what can they do". "Well the water slide is open, you will have to go with them". "Ok sounds good thanks". So after getting dressed in togs, putting kids back in togs, sunscreen ect off they went to the waterside only to be told by the attendant, "Sorry, kids have to be this tall to use the slide, have you seen the water park, kids club or the pool". I kidd you not this was our experience. This is becoming very long winded so I will try and stop, they however did not stop finding ways to disappoint every day with every staff contact, no one was happy just to serve without first making sure you weren't breaking some rule, they had lots of crazy rules, Example at every 5.30 kids meals time. Us "4 serves of Nuggets and chips please" !". Staff "No this is just for kids". Us "We have kids we have four grandchildren on board". Staff "Where are thay ?". Us " sitting at a table which we were lucky to find waiting for dinner". Staff "OK but you should bring them up this is just for kids" us annoyed "you are welcome to come out to the table and meet them, they are sitting quietly waiting at a table which is easier than dragging them up here, also they are 4-6 yo would you mind putting more than one nugget and three chips on each plate", i assure" you this is the kids dinner". .... this type of thing went on every night ?.

Don't get me wrong I did have a good time with good company, family and friends a handful of staff were great and were well tipped and praised by name on the official review.

I will not sale with P and O again, dont care what the ship name is this sort of penny pinching on food and service has to come from the top, might have to fly away from Australia to cruise with service. I did sail Princess out of Brisbane two years ago and it was fantastic as was my first Dawn Cruise. Perhaps next will be Carnival but are they all the same company ? I also notice after the cruise p and o send each passenger an email asking you to review the cruise in a questionnaire and i realise that is why i didn't see a lot of bad reviews on public forum. Many people on my cruise were disappointed but by getting us to review to them directly they avoid the backlash they deserve, don't be fooled put your reviews up on a public page and make them improve.

It was ok. Go on it with the right attitude and you'll enjoy it. Never compare with Royal Caribbean – My friend and I just did the 4 day Airlie Beach cruise in February 2019. Booking process was quick and easy. The attitude you have going on the cruise is important. We went on the cruise to have fun. Pros: The safety drill was conducted in general area rooms where people could comfortably sit at tables. Cruising was fairly smooth. Cabin was clean… Read more

and bed was very comfortable. Shower had good pressure. Karaoke was on every night and was fun to take part in and watch. Entertainment in theatre was enjoyable. Trivia was fun. Dancing classes were fun. Dancing till all hours in The Dome on Deck 14 was fun. We are both in our 60s but we had a fantastic time dancing with the Millennials, all of who were very friendly to us and happy we joined in. The Salt Grill restaurant by Luke Mangan was worth every cent. Amazing gourmet food that was incredibly tasty and high quality. We each left a 10% tip even though we are both Australians. Good choice of tasty food from International Cuisines in The Pantry. We ate here during the majority of the time. Cons: I was not impressed with the food in the Waterfront Restaurant. Not much choice, arrived lukewarm. The desert was terrible. Breakfast was almost cold. One of my poached eggs was a ball of total egg white. The bacon was almost uncooked. It was soft and droopy, as if it had only been zapped in the microwave for a few seconds. The toast was cold and hardly toasted. The large outside screen on Deck 12 where the movies are shown, desperately needs replacing. The burn in and screen damage is really bad and you can see it all while you are watching the movie. If you have the slightest inkling that you may have toilet issues, do NOT converse with the medical staff until you are absolutely sure, because if it's just a false alarm and everything reverts to normal, they will have already set their procedures in motion and you will be completely confined to your cabin all day and night and if you even attempt to leave they would fine you. This was the worst day of my trip because of this, which did turn out to be a false alarm. Thank God I had my Kindle with me otherwise it would have been total boredom. On the positive side, for those who really do have diarrhea, their duty of care for the other passengers is admirable. Summary: Reasonable cruise. Can be fun. Bring a good attitude with you. Don't even try to compare to Royal Caribbean as that's in a different league altogether. On the Royal Caribbean cruises, the food in their dining room restaurant that is all included in the price, is like dining at a gourmet a la carte restaurant every day.

Very sad, they have gone downhill over the years – Suitcase gone missing on departure and charged for photos that we cancelled. Plus they sent us home with someone else's photos.......privacy.......not so much.......Give them a big fat miss, would not recommend they have gone down hill big time. Try to call them and you speak to someone in manilla who will not put you through to someone that knows what they are doing......shocking service and follow up Show details