Having cruised before with a different line, we were disappointed to find Pacific Dawn no longer has buffet dining. This meant we often had servers in the pantry who couldn't understand what passengers were asking for and it wasn't always obvious what was what among the deserts. This is not a criticism of those serving, they tried hard and generally did a great job, but it's a lot easier on passengers and crew if we can serve ourselves and there are labels near the food.

My biggest complaint about the cruise is aimed at one particular crew member, a personal trainer, who on the first morning at sea decided to train with her client right in the middle of the forward, starboard access to deck 14, near the smoking area, and wouldn't let other passengers walk through there. We were made to feel like naughty kids when we were told to go round the other way, and at least one person told us, she wouldn't sail on that ship again as a result.

We were glad P&O used some local catamarans for ferrying passengers ashore. A lot of people, myself included, like to take pictures of the ship from the outside. In the ship's tenders this just isn't possible. Our previous cruise had tenders with an upper deck that gave a great view, none of Pacific Dawn's tenders have that, passengers are crammed inside with hardly any view. The cats at least gave us some room and a view. Read more