Our room
We were happy to find that our room was ready as soon as we boarded and we were among   the earlier ones to get on so that was a good surprise, the decor was a little dated, furniture knocked about a bit but overall it was acceptable, it was an inside cabin on deck 10 and set up with 2 double bunks for 4 people, the only real problems I found was the 2 ladders in the narrow passage between the beds was a constant problem, especially when going to the toilet in the dark and the positioning of the television which could only be seen from 1 of the beds, I dont go on cruises to watch TV but all the same they didn't put it there so only 25% of passengers can see it either so better placement would make a lot of sense

The steward was very good and in spite of how much mess my children made or how many towels they left laying about he kept it as tidy as possible and did a great job

From there Turtle cove (or turtle bay) resort, Lope Lope Ranch (expensive bar but beautiful) then into and around Luganville before taking us back to the ship, he did offer to take us to a few extra places along the way back but our daughter had decided to stay on the ship so we wanted to see if she wanted to come out, as it turned out she didn't and stayed aboard, her loss, we went back out and had a swim at the beach and walked through the markets which was fantastic, nobody was in any rush to leave there, the water so clear, warm and inviting so we left it till the last minute ourselves to join the queue back to the tender

The photos

Anybody who has been on a cruise may have noticed how pushy the ships photographers can be, they stop everybody who tries to go past them insisting you get your photo taken at every opportunity, they were actually not so bad this time, it seems they have adopted a system where they are mostly only taking photos of people who actually want them, this saves a lot of time for passengers trying to get off ships or go to diner and something I was quite happy about, the only worst congestion was the last night and morning when people tried to pick up the photos in a mad rush, something i fortunately didn't have to worry about

Kids club

Our kids are 10 and 11, the 10 year old son would normally go to Shark shack and the 11 year old girl HQ but they let our 10 year old decide which one he wanted to go to so they could stay together if he wanted and he chose to go to HQ, kind of good for us as it stays open later and was easier to meet them at the same place but it was his choice, I think he liked the idea of "feeling older"

My son seemed to enjoy it more than my daughter, he found a lot of new friends and wanted to spend every moment of the cruise with his new friends, even if that meant watching a movie in HQ until late, even if it was asleep, my daughter would have probably preferred more crafty activities and generally spent less time there but overall it gave them somewhere to go and hang out with others their age and make new friends which they both enjoyed

Disembarkation

Another change from my last P&O cruise is the duty free alcohol rules, you no longer get it on your last night to prevent you from being able to drink it and not purchase from their bars on the last night, rather from 530am you can line up and collect your grog from the restaurant downstairs which adds yet another thing to do on your last day and because of it the restaurant is closed for that last morning, of course at this stage most of your baggage is gone so no way to store it safely in your bags to get off easily

Other than the new duty free rules of P&O it was easy and very efficient, getting our bags and through customs took no more than 5 minutes and that was with doing the right thing in declaring everything we had

Summary

Overall, cruising is a money making activity for cruise lines and you really do only get what you pay for, its still very good value as far as it goes but for me next time I think I need to look for a bargain on a different cruise line, even if it costs me a couple more $$ per night it will be money well spent to not have them constantly at my cruise card try to get more money from me, reality is P&O are not the only ones trying for every last dollarEverybody who knows was happy about this, Mystery island is OK but Champagne bay is much better

Noumea

If you are prepared to spend  a bit of money there really are some nice places especially if you get away from the city, we didn't spend much time ashore and saved our money for the other ports, its not like the next cruise we go on wont stop there

Isle of pines

The water was a lot more stirred up than usual so water clarity was not as good, probably because of the cyclone but I'm not sure, I snorkeled my way around that little sacred island like I have done many times before and in places I could barely see the bottom which is very unusual, a lot of fish and coral to see still but you had to get closer to see it

Lifou

I went to go snorkeling on the other side of the island, found out when I got there that you had to pay on the ship and not pay the locals direct like the last time I went there, I suspect another way for the ship to make a few extra dollars, I prefer to pay locals direct knowing any money goes to them, I am sure its going to help regulate how much they charge and save some people from being ripped off but they could simply tell people how much they can expect to pay before hand instead of making it seem like independent time ashore is too hard in the hopes you use their shore tours

None the less, if you do go to Lifou, the snorkeling is good there and while its probably similar to the other side (the side the ship is on) when you go out far enough its certainly a much more pleasant swim to get to the good places, especially at low tide

There was also a turtle swimming around the jetty where the tenders drop you off that was good to see

Vila

I love Vila and the locals really seem to like having us there too, I got a driver with a van to take us around for 5 hours for $100 and promised a tip if he was good, you can get them a little cheaper if you want to push but I was happy to pay $20 an hour for a tour guide and driver for 4 people, he took us everywhere we wanted to go and a few extra places as well stopping and explaining along the way in English that was very good for a French speaker and very understandable, we spent most of our time at the cascades waterfall which was even better considering we were the first there, later when it was busy it may not have been so good, then went to the Beach bar and a more cultural tour followed by a duty free stop in town, after that we were out of time but the driver insisted he show us a few more places, look outs, shipwrecks, jails, the village community center as well as a full explanation of everything along the way, I hadn't bargained on a day of learning but it was good for our kids to learn about other cultures and interesting for us as well, by the time we got back after more than 6 hours we had a great day out so I ended up giving him a $50 tip, I am sure he would have been happy with a $10 or $20 tip but he was good and deserved it.

Pacific Jewel Review

Standards have really dropped.

Rating by category

Additional details

Cabin Review

Find a cruise