P&O Pacific Adventure Cruise Review

I debated whether to bother doing a cruise review since P&O won’t exist as of March. The Pacific Adventure will become the Carnival Adventure, and I imagine things will be different.

But I also imagine some things will stay the same, so this will hopefully be of some use.

This is for the Christmas cruise on Pacific Adventure, 17-27/12/2024 to New Caledonia and Vanuatu.

For context, I have not sailed on P&O before, my previous cruises have mostly been on Holland America Lines with one short Princess cruise thrown in. That is therefore the standard I am familiar with on cruises.

I booked this cruise just 10 days out as a last-minute trip, and the main purpose was to rest and recover after my chemo.

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The Booking Process

I booked online directly on the P&O website. While the process was easy, I did struggle to find info about the drinks and internet packages. I was surprised to find that many more things were paid than I expected.

We purchased our internet in advance and also a non-alcoholic drinks package. This included water, coffee, tea, juice, soft drinks, mocktails, bubble tea and probably more I’ve forgotten. 

The cost was $29/person each day, which I thought was reasonable once you add in a coffee or two, a couple of bottles of water, then some fun drinks like mocktails and bubble tea

I’m not drinking alcohol at the moment, and it was going to be much cheaper for Simon to just pay for his one or two drinks each day. The alcohol packages started at $109/day.

Embarkation/Disembarkation

We boarded the Pacific Adventure at Circular Quay, not the first time we have done this. We had a 2:30 boarding slot (since we booked so late) but thought we would drop our bags off early, go and have lunch then come back and board.

We probably arrived at 11:50ish to drop off our bags. I mentioned we would be back because we had a later boarding time, and instead we were told we could board now. So we did.

The process was quick and easy, and we were standing outside our cabin door at 12:14 pm waiting for it to tick over to 12:15 and give us access.

We did have a slight issue with our luggage. We still didn’t have it by 4 pm as the ship was leaving and we were starting to worry. We mentioned it to our cabin steward who was mildly dismissive, saying it would be delivered soon.

Eventually, Simon went for a walk and discovered it in front of another room quite a distance down the hallway. We were relieved because 10 days with what we had wasn’t looking too appealing.

Disembarkation was smooth. We were docked at White Bay in Sydney, our first time there.

We chose to take our bags off ourselves, so we pretty much just walked off, through immigration and out to the bus.

We had been given the Incoming Passenger Cards (like the ones on planes) to fill in a couple of days earlier. We did not need to show our passports as we went through.

We had booked a shuttle transport to Central Station ($15) for 8:30, but they weren’t concerned about the times, we were simply ushered on to the next bus available.

It’s a surprisingly long drive back to central (very indirect) so I was pleased we had booked the bus. I think it was good value. 

A dummy Uber booking gave me a price of $25, but the hassle of finding the Uber amongst all the other cars/taxis etc put me off. The buses were right outside and it was easy.

If you are spending the day exploring like we did, there is plenty of luggage storage at Central Station.

Stateroom – Mini-Suite

I was excited for this cruise because when we booked, there were only two rooms available – an inside cabin and a mini-suite.

I was about to book the inside cabin when I noticed that the mini-suite was just $400 extra per person. I soon changed my mind and booked that.

We had category MB mini-suite 9525, mid-ship on deck 9.

This meant the room was much bigger than what we were used to, with a sleeping space and a living space, and we had a balcony.

The bathroom has a shower over the bath (not my favourite!) and there was a small walk-in wardrobe area which was a great space to keep clothes, suitcases etc tucked away neatly.

The living space had a small sofa (bed), a single chair and a coffee table. There was also a second tv pointing in this direction, which we didn’t even turn on. Even the tv facing the bed only went on a handful of times.

The bed was comfortable and there were plenty of pillows, including some spares if we wanted to use them.

My biggest complaint with the room was that there was only one power outlet (Australian plug) and 2 x USB, but they were all together under the tvs.

When there is a family of four in this room, this must be a real problem keeping all the devices charged.

And for the first 3 days, our USB ports did not work. The connections were clearly wonky. 

We had them “fixed” multiple times, and they would work sometimes if the cords were sitting just right, then the boat would move and it would stop.

On day 3 the maintenance man replaced the whole plug, which they should have done in the first place, and then it worked fine.

To be fair, once I let them know, they were great at getting people to look at it – one time he came and they were both working. Half an hour later neither would work – and great at following up to see if they were fixed.

Service and Staff

In general, most of the staff were good. Not great, nor bad, but somewhere in the middle that was fine and unremarkable.

None of them really stood out, which has not been the case on our previous cruises. 

I think this was a combination of the staff not being as proactive, and us not being as consistent on this cruise.

In the past, we have had the same seats and waiters at dinner and regularly visited the same entertainment venues, this time we didn’t really do that.

Like I said, the staff did a good job, I have nothing to complain about, they just weren’t remarkable.

Dining

Now we get onto my least favourite part of the cruise, the food!

Overall I sadly found the included food to be average. maybe I’ve been spoilt in the past, but I expected more from the main dining rooms especially.

Pacific Adventure has three main dining rooms, each with its own theme. Angelo’s is Italian, Dragon Lady is Asian and The Waterfront is billed as Modern Australian.

On our first three nights, we dined at each one of them and were disappointed each time. To me, it felt like we were at seniors lunch day at the local RSL where they are mass-producing $15 meals. 

The meals felt basic, and while they were edible, they did not give me that pampered, special cruise feel I have experienced elsewhere.

This was not a dining experience, it was simply eating.

I was disappointed too to see that on the formal or themed nights the dress code was not at all enforced in the main dining rooms.

I don’t expect ball gowns and intricate costumes, but I also don’t expect to see people still in their swimwear with shorts and a tank top thrown over the top.

On night four we decided to eat at The Pantry, which was the buffet-style eatery in the past, but it is now more like a food court in a shopping centre where the food is served for you.

We mostly ate here for the rest of the cruise because we found the food to be more interesting, and dare I say it, tastier. Maybe it was because our expectations were lower.

There are paid dining options too, and I did hear good things about Luke’s Bar & Grill, but when I looked at the menu I found the prices were more expensive than I would like for the options provided.

There was a pizza place, where pizzas were around the $25-30 mark and a burger place, prices around $15-20. There were other cafes and an ice cream “parlour” too.

Entertainment

I was really surprised to discover that some of the entertainment on Pacific Adventure is paid!

They have a premium show called Blanc de Blanc that requires passengers to book tickets in advance for $30.

We decided to wait and see if we wanted to go once on board, and to be honest, I kinda forgot about it so we didn’t attend.

We did go to a few of the performances in the main theatre, and while they were okay, we were a little underwhelmed.

To be fair, we have not found any cruise ship entertainment to be amazing, so that could be a personal preference thing.

My husband did participate in “The Voice of the Ocean” and got through to the final, performing in the main theatre with a band on one of the evenings, which, not surprisingly, was fun.

We spent most of our evenings in the Adventure Hotel where they mostly had a range of live music, trivia and karaoke. It was obviously a popular place to spend time because every night it was bursting at the seams.

Another option we briefly checked out was the Blue Room which had more live music, including becoming a piano bar in the evenings.

What I missed from other cruises that we have been on were what I lovingly call “lectures”. There have always been destination experts, scientists or other interesting people on board to provide more information to enhance our cruise. 

For Antarctica, for example, we had someone who had lived there for quite a few summers, and for New Zealand, we had a really interesting photographer.

Perhaps my previous destinations lend themselves to them more (Antarctica, Alaska) but I am also aware that there is a different demographic of P&O ships to Holland America, so I do understand why they don’t exist here. I still missed them 🙂

Public Areas

This is the first cruise I’ve been on where it has been warm the whole time and the pools have been a big attraction.

Having said that, we did not go in them once. We did occasionally sit on the pool deck and read, but mostly I used my balcony for that.

Much of the reason for not using those areas was that I simply am not much of a pool person to begin with and my goal on this cruise was to enjoy my room and relax.

I knew when I booked that there would be lots of kids on board since this was a Christmas cruise and in school holidays, and I was not wrong. This meant lots of kids in the pools, which was fine.

If I did feel like I wanted to use the pools, there is an adults-only area at the back of the ship that would have suited perfectly.

I quite liked the Altitude nightclub though. Okay, don’t be shocked, let me explain. No, I did not go dancing with a great DJ until all hours of the morning.

Instead, I visited during the day when it was a quiet and comfortable place to escape the crowds and relax – usually with my book.

I didn’t use the spa, but I did go to the gym once when the deck was closed. I couldn’t do my usual laps, so I came in here to walk on the treadmill instead.

It was mid-morning and very busy in the gym, but it was early in the cruise and everyone was still motivated to come. I wonder what it was like a bit later.

We did not use the laundry for washing, but we did go there a few times for ironing our clothes. To use the washer was $3.50 which was much cheaper than I have seen elsewhere.

I loved just having the option to do laundry if we wanted to.

Destinations

On this cruise, we were scheduled to stop at four ports – Noumea and Lifou in New Caledonia, and Port Vila and Luganville in Vanuatu.

As we boarded in Sydney we got the news that there had been a huge earthquake in Port Vila, so we immediately knew we weren’t going to be calling in there.

Things happen all the time, and this definitely isn’t the first port I’ve ever missed, so it wasn’t a real issue to not stop there. Just means I have to come back sometime to visit in the future.

Noumea is your standard city port, with lots of great tours and attractions, many involving snorkelling.

Lifou is more of a “desert island” stop.

There isn’t a whole lot to do if you’re not booked on a tour, but it’s nice to take a walk through the tropical landscape and enjoy a swim in some of the bluest water I’ve seen.

Luganville is the second-largest city in Vanuatu and sits somewhere between the other two ports.

There is a town with some places to eat and attractions like markets and museums. There are great tours to further afield, and some beaches for swimming.

Sadly I didn’t give it a real go as I was a little unwell and the heat was overwhelming.

Overall Impressions

While I enjoyed my ten days on this cruise, most of that was because I got the rest and relaxation I needed and saw some new destinations.

I spent more time in my cabin than anywhere else, which was exactly what I wanted.

I feel like I’ve been quite negative in this review, and that feels a little unfair because I did know what I was getting into beforehand and I knew I just wanted time out.

I did feel overall though, that if we are comparing, this cruise was not as good as my previous ones.

Perhaps those cruises have jaded my view and this would have been a very different review if it was my first cruise.

Someone said to me that P&O cruises are kinda like 3 star cruises and Holland America are 4.5 star cruises, and it did feel like that.

So that means I’m comparing apples to oranges really. It is likely my expectations that need changing, not the cruise.

I know lots of people love cruising with P&O, but this does not feel like the cruise line for me. I like a little more pampering on my cruises and for it to really feel like an experience. 

So while I’m glad to have done this cruise when we did, unless they have a themed cruise I really want to attend, I won’t be looking at P&O/Carnival for cruises in the future.

It might be perfect for you though!