pacific cruise ship advice

[vampire-teddy]

I went on a couple of cruises 20+ years ago on the old Fairstar and loved it.  My partner and I are thinking of going next year.  I am wondering if anyone who has been on a cruise in the last few years could advise how they found the various cruise companies.  There are a few and I am not sure which one/ones to consider.

[purplecarrot-top]

Hi Teddy we are going on our first cruise next July. On the Pacific Dawn. So looking forward to it.

[jvharrison]

Hi personally we have found that the princess boats are possibly the best value......food is excellent and staff r very very good, actually heading off in November for a nice little pacific break 🙂

Holland America have a very high standard also but tend to attract an older lot of clients food the same standard as the princess boats

Enjoy your trip:)

[witches*wol]

We did our first cruise ~South  Pacific on the P&O ship Pacific Sun it was lovely and for our first cruise we were very happy with it.  Next year we are off to NZ with Princess Cruises which I am really, really looking forward to.  I believe they are more up market than P&O but of course not in the same category as Cunard.

Another poster from here recommended I check out this site  http://ozcruiseclub.com.au/

and it is fantastic. They have reviews of all the ships and the different cruise lines, and the people there are really, really helpful when it comes to us newbies asking questions.  So I recommend you check it out and I am sure you will find heaps of helpful info.

[ten*teeny*tiny*toes]

We just got back from a P&O cruise on the Pacific Dawn.

The cabins are roomier on that particular ship than on other ships, even other P&O.

The staff are amazing!! Facililies and entertainment great. I wasnt totally bowled over by the food.

It was okay and there is lots of it but buffet breakfast lunch and dinner became a bit tiresome. And the queue! I miss the old days of first and second sitting. We had a couple of meals at the Waterfront which required a booking and that was good, I was too cheap to pay for the other restaurants. If we were travelling just as a couple I would do that next time.

Drinks are reasonably priced. Light beer $5.25, wine or bubbles $8 or $9 a glass or you can buy a bottle for $25 and even take it to your cabin.

I like the idea of a New Zealand cruise too. On my wish list 

Like you Vampire I last cruised 20 plus years ago. Worked on ships in fact. This time it took me quite a few days to get over my sea legs. Everything was still moving 3 days later!! 

[i-need-a-martini]

We have booked a cruise for February.

It is my first one and I would say that it isn't something I have even been interested in doing. But husband was keen so I researched the different lines and talked to LOADS of people. Nearly all of them said the same thing - the Royal Carribean Lines were the best. There are a couple of good cruise ship review sites that were good to scroll through.

Whilst people I spoke to who took other ships complained about various things (food, staff, rooms), there wasn't a single complaint about the Royal Carribean ones.  So in the end we booked a 10 day South Pacific trip on the ship called Voyager of the Seas which is one of their cheaper ships (my big balcony room was $1200, husband and son sharing an internal room on same floor for $800).