Not So Wonderful Pacific ARIA
Pacific Aria Cruise Review by Winga
- Sail Date: Jun 2016
- Destination: Australia & New Zealand
Background information
Marilyn & I decided to have another short-break cruise, this time with P&O travelling from Sydney to Brisbane
Hotel information - Swissotel Sydney
The staff at Swissotel know how to look after their clients and after a little toing and froing we got the right room for us. It was a misunderstanding during booking but, Maxine at the front-desk looked after us well. The room was magnificent, the food was delicious and the staff were wonderful ... thank you again Swissotel !!!
Ship information - P&O Aria
Embarkation - after previously having a long-wait during the Embarkation on our first cruise, P&O are now getting it right, it was a short wait and the portside staff were excellent - thank you
Cabin - SHOCK No. 1 - Dingy, Dull, Disappointing the 3 D's - but as Marilyn said, the last ship we were on was Celebrity Solstice and it is very difficult to beat that. Although, we have sailed on Pacific Pearl before and I found that a lot better .... come to think of it, why is P&O retiring the better ship ? I suppose they need to be able to justify the purchase of Aria to their shareholders.
Safety Drill - SHOCK No. 2 - I have cruised 5 - 6 times before and every other time the pre-sailing Safety Drill has been excellent but this time .... SHOCK SHOCK SHOCK out on the cold deck with a speaker blaring behind us and with crew members yelling at you (because of the wind) and who could barely be understood and then the 7 blasts of the horn from the speaker behind us ... SHOCK SHOCK SHOCK SHOCK SHOCK SHOCK SHOCK !!!!!!! P&O, I am booked on EDEN in October, PLEASE get it right by then or my reviews will display my displeasure !
Dining
Angelos - OK ... lucky it is free 6 out of 10
Dragon Lady - Very Good ... nearly got an Excellent 8 out of 10
Salt Grill - 'bon-Appetite ... Cruise P&O just for Salt Grill 10 out of 10
Disembarkation - SHOCK No. 3 - Very early disembarkation ... everyone had to be off by 0800hrs, disappointing when your cabin stewards tells you to get out, NO WONDER I did not leave them a Tip, obviously the pressure was on from above.
Summary
I was overall disappointed with ARIA but, after I got over my first 2 shocks, Marilyn and I had a good holiday on the ARIA and a great holiday overall.
Winga
Cabin Review
Dingy, Dull, Disappointing the 3 D's - but as Marilyn said, the last ship we were on was Celebrity Solstice and it is very difficult to beat that. As I said, we have sailed on Pacific Pearl before and I found that a lot better. P&O seriously, you need to do something about the décor in the rooms and passageways and rust .... is never inspiring in a ship.