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We recently did 11 nights to PNG on Pacific Jewel (P&O Australia) and have to say that it confirmed my previous comments and we won't be rushing back.
The ship is showing its age as is the furniture and other fittings. We had lunch in the 'Waterside Restaurant" once and didn't bother again. Both the menu and the food were ‘ordinary’ IMHO. The 'Pantry' was adequate with some good offerings though it got tedious towards the end. We talked to some others who have travelled on P&O Australia a lot (incl one couple on their 70[SUP]th[/SUP] cruise) and they stated that they thought everything had been noticeably cheapened down.
The onboard entertainment was very good with music and show options to suit every taste. We particularly like a husband and wife duo who played/sang everything from 'The Pink Floyd Experience' to soft and mellow. One of the few sets of musso's I've ever seem who actually tailored their music type and volume to the area they were playing and to the crowd. (Andy & Deb) Andy is one of the best acoustic guitarists I have ever seen and this was complimented by Deb who played flute, travel stick base guitar, harmonica, tin whistle and also sang.
The crew actually did an awesome job with the old hardware as the staff and overall service was exceptional. Reception was always happy, helpful and responsive as were all of the staff all of the time. A few others could learn here (P&O Aurora).
Not much else to say about the ship really except that we won't be rushing back to P&O Australia unless it is destination driven until they spend some money and modernise a few things.
The actual trip was from Sydney - Brisbane - Alotau - Kiriwina - Conflict Islands - Sydney.
Brisbane was fun with lunch with Bundy Bear and Ozbeachbabe and narrowly missing a few others.
Two sea days then a day at Alotau (Milne Bay) where the Japanese advance in the Pacific was stopped. Great historical significance there and I absorbed as much of it as I could. I did a war/historical tour and Sue did a village tour.
Next day was Kiriwina which was intriguing. In my RAAF days I spent a lot of time in PNG and the associated islands and I have to say at Kiriwina nothing much has changed in the 42 years since I was in the area previously. Kind of like a trip back in time. Even many of the wood carvings are the same as what I've got at home from the 1970s.
The next day was at the Conflict Islands where we were the first cruise ship to ever visit. The Conflict Islands have no particular significance and were name after HMS Conflict which was the discovery ship. The Islands are privately owned and the main island has been well setup for visitors. The main island is about 2km around with an 800M airship across the middle. I walked around the island and saw about 6 people until near the end when I came across a beach full (1000+) of people from the ship. Food and drinks were readily available and at a reasonable price. I did discover that SP lager still tastes the same.
We then had 3 sea days before arriving in Sydney with the only thing of note being travelling with a 5-10deg list for most of the last day as we had 60kt abeam wind cruising down the NSW coast.
The ship is showing its age as is the furniture and other fittings. We had lunch in the 'Waterside Restaurant" once and didn't bother again. Both the menu and the food were ‘ordinary’ IMHO. The 'Pantry' was adequate with some good offerings though it got tedious towards the end. We talked to some others who have travelled on P&O Australia a lot (incl one couple on their 70[SUP]th[/SUP] cruise) and they stated that they thought everything had been noticeably cheapened down.
The onboard entertainment was very good with music and show options to suit every taste. We particularly like a husband and wife duo who played/sang everything from 'The Pink Floyd Experience' to soft and mellow. One of the few sets of musso's I've ever seem who actually tailored their music type and volume to the area they were playing and to the crowd. (Andy & Deb) Andy is one of the best acoustic guitarists I have ever seen and this was complimented by Deb who played flute, travel stick base guitar, harmonica, tin whistle and also sang.
The crew actually did an awesome job with the old hardware as the staff and overall service was exceptional. Reception was always happy, helpful and responsive as were all of the staff all of the time. A few others could learn here (P&O Aurora).
Not much else to say about the ship really except that we won't be rushing back to P&O Australia unless it is destination driven until they spend some money and modernise a few things.
The actual trip was from Sydney - Brisbane - Alotau - Kiriwina - Conflict Islands - Sydney.
Brisbane was fun with lunch with Bundy Bear and Ozbeachbabe and narrowly missing a few others.
Two sea days then a day at Alotau (Milne Bay) where the Japanese advance in the Pacific was stopped. Great historical significance there and I absorbed as much of it as I could. I did a war/historical tour and Sue did a village tour.
Next day was Kiriwina which was intriguing. In my RAAF days I spent a lot of time in PNG and the associated islands and I have to say at Kiriwina nothing much has changed in the 42 years since I was in the area previously. Kind of like a trip back in time. Even many of the wood carvings are the same as what I've got at home from the 1970s.
The next day was at the Conflict Islands where we were the first cruise ship to ever visit. The Conflict Islands have no particular significance and were name after HMS Conflict which was the discovery ship. The Islands are privately owned and the main island has been well setup for visitors. The main island is about 2km around with an 800M airship across the middle. I walked around the island and saw about 6 people until near the end when I came across a beach full (1000+) of people from the ship. Food and drinks were readily available and at a reasonable price. I did discover that SP lager still tastes the same.
We then had 3 sea days before arriving in Sydney with the only thing of note being travelling with a 5-10deg list for most of the last day as we had 60kt abeam wind cruising down the NSW coast.
