What a fantastic week on the Pacific Dawn cruising to the South Pacific Island Ports of Noumea, Lifou and Port Vila! I had an incredibly fun and relaxing time with my mother and sister and cannot rave highly enough about the ship, crew, ports and the P&O experience. This is a great ship that suits all ages, families, groups of friends and solo cruisers.
If I had listened to all the negative reviews about the Pacific Dawn when I was booking my cruise I would have made a terrible mistake and not chosen to go on one of the best holidays I have ever had! Honestly I think some people just live to complain and don't know how to have fun. I do not usually write reviews about anything but I honestly feel like I have to correct some of the negative aspersions cast about this Ship and P&O in general on this website. I will take the time to go through the end to end customer journey so that Cruise Critic readers can see if P&O and Pacific Dawn is the right fit for them or if they should choose something else. This review will be long so strap yourselves in if you want a really holistic picture of what this type of holiday can give you!
1. Choosing a cruise
Great and serviceable cabin with no noise issues. Very spacious with lots of room to unpack fully and store suitcases. Beds comfortable and clean. Needs a slight decor update and tv replacement.
Brisbane Portside Wharf was great very easy embarkation and disembarkation. We walked around Southbank to Streets Beach and it was lovely.
Noumea feels very clean and safe. It's just a boring city like port to visit. The beaches are very average, with rocks, seaweed and brown sand. The French vibe was great though.
Stunning beach with beautful crystal clear green water. Had a fantastic time just lying on the beach, having a look at the reefs in the extremely salty and buoyant water, and climbing up to the top of the hill to look at the view of the bay and the ship.