Just before Christmas we were
fortunate to find a special deal on the P&O Pacific Aria. Aria is a ship
that sails from Brisbane and we have wanted to sail on her for some time. The
cruise was a seven night cruise to Hamilton Island, Cairns, and Willis Island.
We didn’t make it to Hamilton Island due to the weather. Cairns was good and we
walked along the Esplanade and had a swim in the lagoon, although it was
crowded with families – it was school holidays.
Willis Island was a sail by, and
the ship didn’t stay long. We were having breakfast in the dining room so saw
very little – we will know for next time.
The ship itself was beautiful.
This cruise had 1023 passengers and 680 staff. There were a lot of lovely
lounges and places to sit during the day.
We did like the Adults only pool at the stern of the ship, although there were often kids there. The pool was a good size.
The cabin was as expected. It had two large portholes and it had a bathtub – luxury!
The cabin was cold and we
complained each day for the first three days until it was fixed. But overall the cabin
was great.
The food was much the same as Dawn.
The Pantry had very limited choices. Breakfast was ok, but we preferred to eat
in the Dining Room. Lunch we mostly had fruit, and sometimes French fries or a
pre-made sandwich. Peter did enjoy the curry one lunch. We never had dinner in
the Pantry, although one night after a terrible meal in the Dragon Lady Restaurant I
had a bread roll and some cold meat that I made into a sandwich.
The Kettle and
Bun had pre-made sandwiches that were ok some days and not others. On port days the
salad bar would make sandwiches to order – just like Subway – and they were
pretty good. That is something P&O should seriously think about –
sandwiches made to order – Celebrity always have made to order sandwiches for
lunch and it is just perfect, and very little ‘left over food’ on plates. I
should note here that most food waste on a ship does not come from passengers,
but from the ships policy of piling plates high with unwanted items, even if
requesting less. This is typical of the pre-made sandwich - little filling and all bread.
However, the Waterfront
Restaurant was very good. We had breakfast there each morning and although the
menu doesn’t change it is a good menu with enough choices for variety.
Breakfast was the best meal each day – lovely tea, orange juice, chocolate croissants,
fresh fruit, eggs (different ways) and toast. Lunch was different each day, as
was dinner. The menu only has three choices for entrée, three choices for main,
and an extra three choices that can be main or entrée. Choices were much better
than The Pantry. This was a club sandwich I had for lunch one day - yum.
The staff were mostly good, some a little distracted, but
pleasant and appeared happy to assist. Desserts, like all cruise ships, are
very decadent, lovely but too rich to eat the whole serving. We often shared a
dessert or I ordered extra vanilla ice-cream to go with the rich desserts. In
fact I often just ordered a fresh fruit plate for dessert which was perfect.
All P&O Australia ships have the
buffet style Pantry, and the table service Waterfront Restaurant. Aria also has
other specialty restaurants included in the price of the cruise. We were
advised by other passengers to go and book the restaurants asap, so first day I
did, We could only book for three nights and got Angelo’s Italian for the first
night and the Asian Dragon Lady for 5pm the last night – that was the earliest booking
apparently. Angelo’s had a greater choice of meals and the décor was great.
The
menu changes every few days and we would go and check each evening to see if we
could get in again, which we did a second night. The meals were good and the
staff great.
The Asian Restaurant, Dragon Lady,
on the last night, we had heard mixed reviews. Passengers either loved it or hated it.
The décor was lovely, and the
staff good.
I did not like the food at all, it fact I couldn’t eat either
course, so greasy and just tasted awful. The staff apologised and offered to get me another meal, I declined. Peter didn’t mind his.
We thought
about going to the Marquee for a ‘second’ dinner, and probably should have,
except I felt really sick after the Asian food. We did get some dinner rolls
and cheese and meat from the pantry and made sandwiches later in the cabin.
ENTERTAINMENT
I like the entertainment on
P&O Australia. We were happy to see Jim from Canada on board. We had Jim on
a couple of earlier cruises on Pacific Dawn, and he is so friendly and great to talk to.
Melinda, one of
the bar staff had a beautiful voice, and so did some of the entertainment team.
We enjoyed listening to Brian at the Piano Bar, and our favourite bar was the
Blue Room before dinner.
The Marquee Theatre had great
shows and entertainers. We particularly liked the Morning Show on sea days. We
have not seen this before on P&O and the Cruise Director Kabir was so
energetic and entertaining.
One downfall was the seats in the Marquee and the
layout of the upper floor. The seats are very uncomfortable, and next time we
sail on Aria we will bring cushions to sit on. The seats are also arranged in a
weird way so one cannot see all the stage unless sitting right in front and one
needs to turn to face the stage in the other seats. When one considers the
shows are approximately 45 minutes, it is a long time to sit on hard
uncomfortable seats. Also drink waiters didn’t often circulate on the second
floor. We would go out to the Ocean Bar to get drinks. We saw two Stand UP
Comedy shows, so funny, but the language was a little crude at times, and two
production shows, that were good - as usual.There were a lot of activities in
the morning, but not a lot in the middle of the day. The venue for Trivia – I love
Trivia – was the Ocean Bar. It was not really a good venue as seating was
limited and the room is very long with the stage in the middle. Maybe it was
the best place for the trivia and night activities as most of the bars were
compact. Each morning one Sudoku and one
mindful colouring in was left out and most lunchtimes another piece of paper
with a puzzle was left out. Really not enough activities, that’s why I bring my
own on P&O.
DRINKS PACKAGES - Part of the
special deal for this cruise was the included drinks package. We were surprised
that the package didn’t include tea or coffee. I do like the T2Tea on P&O
ships. It was good to try the cocktails (my cruising habit), although I
wouldn’t pay for an alcohol package. Costs for the packages are cheaper if
purchased prior to sailing e.g. The refreshment package – my usual package – is
$18 per day pre-cruise and $25 once on board. Soft Drink package is $7.50 per day.
Premium Beverage Package, which was included in this special, was $89 per day
for drinks up to $12, but doesn't include tea or coffee. The Lot package is $105 per day. There is a limit of 15
alcoholic drinks per day, which is a lot. If one only likes XXXX beer, then 15
beers at $5.95 each will be $89.25. Seven cocktails @$12 each would make the
premium package worthwhile, but try as I may (and did) I could not drink 7
cocktails in one day. Even Peter enjoyed a few cocktails.
We drank what we wanted each day and only once did we
go over the cost of a drinks package. The size of the cocktail glasses are also
smaller than Royal Caribbean. Like Royal Caribbean, the consistency of
cocktails was not there – except for the Fruit Tingle. I like the Fruit Tingle.
The first mudslide I had on the pool deck was wonderful, but never had the same
after that.
I got into the habit of ordering a mudslide, then a short while
later ordered a Baileys to add to it. I ordered a few of Belini’s in a couple
of bars. The first one in The Blue Room was perfect, but the others were
mimosas – a Belini is not a mimosa!! Bar Service is generally slow, except in
the Blue Room, another reason not to get a drinks package.
