An overall assessment

 

We have thoroughly enjoyed this cruise. The itinerary was fabulous – nicely balanced with 14 port days and 14 days at sea (although we finished up with only 13 ports as we missed Norfolk Island due to adverse weather). Our 4 days in the Tahitian Islands were the highlight – although, after 4 days also in Fiji, I have come away with a much more positive attitude to that country. It only goes to prove further to me that we shouldn’t make judgments about anything until we have the experience to do so first. This is something that we all say we know – but most of us don’t actually do that in some aspects of our lives.

We have made some great friends and, after 28 days, feel very comfortable in this ship, Pacific Pearl. We have found it easy to get around - great staff – good sized cabins. The food has been as good as any other cruise ship that we have been on. We are completely happy with the ship.  But – it is not perfect, as can be said for any cruise ship. As I also said before, I believe the biggest defect this ship has is the design and layout of the main theatre. (This is not uncommon in other ships. Arcadia is almost as bad! Of the seven cruise ships we have sailed on, only QM2 and Oriana had good main theatres – where all passengers get unobstructed views of the stage and easy access to all the seats. But perhaps there are others amongst the many that we have not sailed on). The greatest asset it has (for me) is that it is of an older design (being over 20 years old). I much prefer this type of ship to the newer, glitzy floating hotels with their 80% balcony ratios. But it really is a matter of - “To each, their own”.