Pacific Aria Review

4.0 / 5.0
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First and last time with P&O!

Review for Australia & New Zealand Cruise on Pacific Aria
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lexp
2-5 Cruises • Age 30s

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Sail Date: Jun 2016

This was my third cruise, and first with P&O. My partner had never experienced a cruise and with a history of travel sickness I wanted to take him on a short trip to test the waters (pardon the pun). I had always thought of P&O as a bit 'cheap and nasty' and unfortunately it lived up to that reputation. The boarding process went smoothly, despite the allocated boarding times it was a 'free-for-all' when we arrived and everyone could board whenever they liked. Of the 4 lifts, 2 were reserved only for Service Staff, which made it a little difficult for passengers getting on board to get up to their rooms, so we ended up walking to the other side of the ship to get a lift to our room. We had a state room with a balcony on the 9th floor, and given the quality of our room, I'd hate to imagine what the cheaper rooms were like. The wallpaper was peeling off, the room wasn't clean, with dust all over the leather couch and random bottle tops on the floor. The bathtub leaked constantly and made the whole room smell damp and mouldy. We had no hand soap, no hair dryer and no spare blankets/pillows. The TV was such terrible quality we couldn't make out the picture most of the time, and it was positioned in such a way that you couldn't see it from most of the room anyway. Unlike the other cruises I have been on, you aren't allocated a dining time/place for dinner each night, you make your own plans. There were multiple 'fancy' restaurants on the ship and The Pantry, which is their 'buffet'. We dined here most of the time, but unlike other cruises you have to be served the food from behind perspex, apparently to do with their recent gastro outbreaks. This results in small portions which makes it feel like the food is being rationed and the staff clearly don't like you asking for more. The food quality itself was what you'd expect for a buffet. There were many bars, but if you don't like drinking good luck finding something to do. There is a single ping-pong table, no sports bar to watch any games, 2 small pools which are full of children at all times, and even if you lounge around here they start packing the chairs away in the evening and there isn't any drinks service. Overall, it was a disappointment and a waste of money. P&O needs to take some lessons from the major international companies and learn a thing or two about customer service and quality.

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