Planning to go on a Discover Vanuatu cruise at the end of the year and was wondering if the whole experience is worth it?
Also what would you recommend doing at each of the stops? The stops are:
Noumea, Mare, Port Villa, Mystery Island, Isle of Pines.
I noticed on the P&O website they have recommendations of the activities available at each Island but they soon add up very quickly and I was wondering if there's any things free that could be done apart from beach and sun bake.
Ouch
And Tassi…
You heard wrong
All of QLD
That's a bit harsh…..looks out front window…..ummm……QLD is pretty big, surely there is somewhere nice (maybe near the border?)
Just south of the border! hehe
900 kms south of the border?
you must hang around people of that "breed" to have heard.
I've travelled around Australia enough to understand bogans are equally represented in all states and territories, maybe someday you will too
OP - I would disregard all the comments from people who provide advice from 3rd party experiences… that is as good as advice given from my next door neighbour's great-great grandmother's uncle's brother's sister's pet rock.
I went on a P&O cruise to those exact places, and it's what i expected. But i have been on 6+ cruises, and P&O was the worst ship by far. But the locations were amazing. This was during the most expensive time of Xmas and comprised of family's, couples, typical your run-of-mill local Coles/Woolworths class of people.
Good: Locations are sunny, esp during xmas, got to see Nemo and snorkel in each place.
Bad: Lack of dining variety. Average entertainment shows. Onship day - bored AF.
If it's your first cruise, you won't be disappointed (as there's no benchmark).
HOWEVER, if you are coming off a Holland America cruise and want to compare with P&O … well, we had lobster for dinner and there was endless Moet champagne for NYE celebrations. But then again, i was at least 1/2 or 1/3 the age of most other people cruising.
What you pay for is what you get though. Have fun!
Mate save up for a decent line, Royal Caribbean or at a minimum Carnival. They don't actually cost much more.
You don't need to spend a cent in port. Just get off and walk around or pay a taxi driver $50 to give you a tour.
The best stops are the ones where you just laze around on a tropical beach.
Far out I did p&o south pacific and loved it. I still recall it being one of the great ways to holiday with a young family.
I'm surprised ozbargainers are saying pay up for one of the bigger lines, I had no complaints about p&o other than a small group of bogans that sat in the spas all day drinking and getting rowdy - so we just stayed away from there.
We went to only port Vila and isle of pines out of your stops. Isle of pines is amazing. We've snorkeled in loads of spots but that was some of the best, clearest waters and it really is paradise.
Port Vila is a hole really. We walked off and avoided the markets and official tours. Found a guy with a boat who took us out to a remote island area and we had a beautiful day snorkelling. Cost was $40 for four of us and the guy wouldn't take payment until the return journey was completed. We also made sure there were alternative ways of getting back to the boat in case he didn't show up!!
great ways to holiday with a young family
group of bogans that sat in the spas all day drinking and getting rowdy
Hmm
Mate save up for a decent line
They don't actually cost much more.
Hmm
In my experience of watching cruise prices for years, the other lines actually do cost a significant amount more. Especially ones like royal Caribbean. I'm more than happy to avoid a small area of a ship that attracts a certain crowd and pay half the price, though if the premium ever was small it's not a bad idea just because you get more inclusions.
Where are you leaving from? I know Brisbane hardly has any liners besides P&O.
From the cruise mentioned, Mare is by far the best stop. :) I've been to Vanuatu via P&O probably a dozen times and have never had a bad experience. You'll need to consider weather as well and cyclone season.
From Sydney
We did a 7 day P&O on the Pacific Jewel from Brisbane in July 2015 and I was really unimpressed… We got an interior cabin cheap on a last minute deal and the stops were Noumea, Mare and Port Villa.
Noumea stop was only 4-5 hours and none of the tour options interested us. We wandered around Noumea for a couple of hours, bought a coffee and had a look in the shops but was nothing special.
For Mare, the only option was paying around $15 each for a dilapidated bus to take you 20 minutes from the port to a beach that was swimmable. Clear water and nice sand, but nothing else to do except for have a paddle. A couple of hours in it started pouring and we had to wait around an hour in a queue on the unsheltered dock for a tender to take us back to the boat.
We opted to not do any of the P&O excursions for Port Villa (very overpriced!) and walked into town ourselves and then walked back to the ship. Lots of taxis around, didn't see people offering other tours/snorkelling trips. Again, not an interesting place. We bought cheap duty free spirits as gifts for upcoming birthdays at home, had a coffee and then walked back to the boat.
The ship was very tired but seemed clean. It wasn't warm enough for most people to swim (I only ever saw a handful of kids in the pool) and it was often closed due to the weather. Meals in the pantry (the former buffet, done up to be like a 'food court' where you ask for fish & chips, a burrito, roast meat from the carvery, etc.) were average. The restaurant had some nice food but try to book if you want to eat at peak times. Shows were okay… but again nothing to write home about.
Lots of bogans, lots of old people and many families. I think part of the enjoyment level will depend on your age and if you're going in a group. My boyfriend and I are in our late twenties and have travelled extensively; we're used to doing our own thing and found the cruise to be fairly boring. I've heard better things about Carnival and Royal Caribbean from friends who've travelled with them.
Thanks for this detailed review!
I'm going on a new cruise ship P&O just build called Explorer so hopefully it will be a bit better…
P&O Explorer is a refurbished Princess Ship (Dawn Princess), not brand new but will be better than some of the older P&O ships sailing right now
I saw the same crowds on Royal Caribbean. But I don't mind them. Bogans are usually friendly, old folks sleep in their room and order room service or lie on a chair, there are dedicated areas for kids.
Port Vila city is a slum since the cyclone, I don't know if they'll ever fix it. Ask for someone to take you to a beach away from the city.
The advantage of booking something while you're on the boat is that you won't have to worry about coming back on time. The ship will not leave until you arrive. If you do your own thing, you can miss the boat.
last visit to noumea we caught a bus to the aquarium (Aquarium des Lagons) which was nice (about $15-20), then we walked a few blocks to the 3 Brothers Brewery (Les 3 Brasseurs) and afterwards got the bus back to town.
mystery island is nice to snorkel around, don't book anything with the cruise line, but once you get off the boat there are people who will take you better places to snorkel for a lot less. the same applies to virtually all the stops you'll take on the cruise, there will almost always be plenty of locals around who will take you around for a lot less than what the cruise line will charge you
I have cruised with P&O a number of times and so here is basic breakdown.
First off, location vs cost
The Pacific Islands up north are a very affordable option compared to other Aussie cruise destination.
Pros:
Consistently nice weather
Lower buy in price
Some amazing small islands to visit.
Generally shorter cruises (sometimes best for a first time cruiser)
Cons:
Potentially much rougher seas, swells are much smaller going to NZ.
Can be very muggy, 40C with 93% is not fun if you're not use to it)
In my opinion not as much to do or see (location wise)
P & O's fare is often lower but the inclusions are considerably less. Only the buffet/the new "P & O pantry" and the main dining room are included in the price. You also can't bring any alcohol on board, room service is not free, things such as ice cream bars, burger bars or pizzerias have a charge, the drinks packages are less inclusive and more expensive. It is focused on being a young families cruise.
Princess is more expensive upfront and the clientele are more mature, but the inclusions are much better, for example you can bring two bottles of wine, the food seems objectively better, the drinks packages are cheaper, the rooms are generally better and larger, room service is free, they provide zones just for adults.
Pretty much you pay for nothing accept alcohol, cafe style coffees and the on board massage's
Carnival is more a party cruise liner and sits between P & O and Princess in terms of price and inclusions.
Tipping is not required on these liners, you must tip on Royal Caribbean, Holland America etc.
Look out for how many AUS power points are in your room, this varies ship to ship.
Royal now includes the tips in the quoted fare. You can bring two bottles of wine per stateroom on royal, but just go through security separately, they only look when you have your carry on x rayed.
I went on one P&O cruise. They had dreadful food in both the mdr and buffet. The menu descriptions did not match what was received. Even the chefs table and the Asian fusion specialty restaurant were not up to scratch. The only decent meal we got was in SALT grill. We ate there once a day. $50 pp. of all the employees, only one ever seemed happy, outside of SALT. That was a guy who went around with a beverage trolley. We had a suite and the attendant was crap. She would give The standard printed port information in the evening clean after we had returned from that port. They also had no free food outside of meal times. On royal, there's free outlets open all the time and you can generally get free brewed coffee hot chocolate and myo tea for free somewhere on board at any time day or night. On P&O, my then BF would pay nearly $10 every afternoon for a muffin and coffee.
There are cakes, cookies, muffins, wraps, pizza, and other stuff available about 23 hours a day in the promenade cafe. P&O seemed to have very little entertainment other than bingo and art auctions. My then BF had sailed in the biggest suite on princess a couple of times before I met him and loved it. He thought it would be the same standard.
Ive heard that P&O cruises are like staying in the lowest socio-economic areas in your city.
Mt Druitt - Penrith
Broadmeadows - Frankston
All of QLD