Cruise Talk: Pacific Dawn emerges

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»	Cruise Talk » Cruise Ships » Pacific Dawn emerges (Page 1)

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Author

Topic: Pacific Dawn emerges

bmajor
First Class Passenger
Member # 1754

posted 10-29-2007 03:24 PM

This is the very first photograph of the Pacific Dawn in her new P&O livery as she leaves the Singapore shipyards bound for Sydney

Thank goodness they have not covered her in hull art.I think she is looking rather smart.She is certainly causing a stir and is eagerly awaited in her new home.

Posts: 1371 | From: Orewa.New Zealand. | Registered: Jan 2001 | IP: Logged

PamM
First Class Passenger
Member # 2127

posted 10-29-2007 04:02 PM

Very nice photo, thanks. I do wish she had a decent funnel though; note they seem to 'hide' it

I hope she is as smart inside. Which CT'er is aboard first?

Pam

Posts: 12176 | From: Cambridge, UK | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged

dougnewman
First Class Passenger
Member # 11349

posted 10-29-2007 04:35 PM

She does look quite smart, certainly more so than her poor sister in the dreadful Ocean Village livery!

Kudos to P&O for realizing that the previous livery just looked silly.

Posts: 2072 | From: Long Island, NY, USA | Registered: Sep 2007 | IP: Logged

bmajor
First Class Passenger
Member # 1754

posted 10-29-2007 11:26 PM

quote:
Originally posted by PamM:. Which CT'er is aboard first?Pam

I am looking forward to the first reports coming back.I have friends on the first cruise,so I have asked them to check out the changes to the dome.
Still not sure about adding all those extra berths .
As Pam asked .....any CT'ers booked yet?

Posts: 1371 | From: Orewa.New Zealand. | Registered: Jan 2001 | IP: Logged

Waynaro
First Class Passenger
Member # 3484

posted 10-30-2007 01:49 AM

I actually like the old P&O Australia livery. Although the white livery makes the PACIFIC DAWN look smart, the blue, yellow and white livery makes the ships stand out.

Posts: 6108 | From: Vallejo,CA : California Maritime Academy!!! | Registered: Nov 2002 | IP: Logged

P&OOfficer
First Class Passenger
Member # 5124

posted 10-30-2007 05:16 AM

I actually like the Ocean Village paintwork.

Considering the company is aimed at a different demographic than Princess, P&O etc - you can't really compare their marketing.

The company are fun, vibrant and not pretending to be your average cruise line. Therefore the fact that their paintowrk is totally different by being Fun, Vibrant and like no other, spells out their position and philosophy against any other ship or line alongside.

Posts: 122 | From: SE England | Registered: Oct 2004 | IP: Logged

buddhaJoe
First Class Passenger
Member # 4356

posted 10-30-2007 05:28 AM

hi there,

new livery????????

all what they have done is painted over the Princess
logo on her front and her funnel
then they put back the P & O logo...

nice? smart??? come on guys THIS is a lousy job
i just read in another thread that "they" are rebranding the P & O Australia brand AGAIN.
this coming after the former change hardly 2 or 3 years ago when they changed their logo

i agree with Wayne, the former yellow and blue
livery made these ships stand out
for that reason i like the Ocean Village theme as well, very easy recognizable, this "new" livery
is IMHO no livery at ALL

best regards
b. Joe

[ 10-30-2007: Message edited by: buddhaJoe ]

Posts: 366 | From: De Goorn, small village in The Netherlands | Registered: Jan 2004 | IP: Logged

pungpui
First Class Passenger
Member # 1218

posted 10-30-2007 07:09 AM

Yea i think she looks a tad too boring! At least with the Grand/Coral class there is some blue colour (balconies) to make it look a little more diverse. Much prefer the fun ship look that Pacific Sky first introduced. Its just so....plain. And how big are those P&O letters!

Although i've seen some promo pictures of what Pacific Sun is supposed to look like after the next refit, it is even more aweful!
Its the Jubilee class ships basically in all white...eek!

Posts: 419 | From: Sydney, NSW, Australia | Registered: Apr 2000 | IP: Logged

Sutho
First Class Passenger
Member # 6234

posted 10-30-2007 07:33 AM

I think P&O Australia are trying to escape from the old image that was tainted when they had that death of a woman on her holidays and the recent coronial inquest.

The media really got stuck into P&O about it from service of alcohol to screening for drugs etc. Pacific Sky was shown on the news and pretty much became a ship of shame. Even people booked on the Pacific Sky were looked upon as guilty or tainted by association with the ship.

Posts: 1055 | From: Newcastle, Australia | Registered: Feb 2006 | IP: Logged

Waynaro
First Class Passenger
Member # 3484

posted 10-30-2007 12:23 PM

No doubt having all the ships in white saves Carnival from paint money.

On a ship the size of PACIFIC DAWN, they should atleast put a blue/yellow line around the middle of the superstructure...

Posts: 6108 | From: Vallejo,CA : California Maritime Academy!!! | Registered: Nov 2002 | IP: Logged

Patsy
First Class Passenger
Member # 5611

posted 10-30-2007 07:34 PM

I was never keen on the Ocean Village livery until seeing it on OV2. She looks better in it than OV. I did like the previous P&O Australia colours too. I didn't until seeing Pacific Sky in Fremantle last year. It sets them apart from the other white ships out there and it wasn't overboard like Aida. Pacific Dawn needs a bit of colour.

Posts: 2023 | From: Hythe, Hants | Registered: Apr 2005 | IP: Logged

Carlos Fernandez
First Class Passenger
Member # 6432

posted 10-30-2007 09:10 PM

I think this is the angle Renzo Piano wanted to see her

. She looks very good now.

Posts: 1325 | From: Miami, Florida (Cruise Capital of the World) | Registered: Apr 2006 | IP: Logged

eroller
First Class Passenger
Member # 1649

posted 10-30-2007 09:29 PM

Pretty boring. Really nothing to talk about. The ship looks the same as she did with Princess Cruises.

Ernie

Posts: 7046 | From: Miami, Florida USA | Registered: Oct 2000 | IP: Logged

bmajor
First Class Passenger
Member # 1754

posted 10-30-2007 10:50 PM

I think for an "old girl" they have done a good recyling job.

Posts: 1371 | From: Orewa.New Zealand. | Registered: Jan 2001 | IP: Logged

PamM
First Class Passenger
Member # 2127

posted 10-31-2007 03:47 AM

Pacific Sun and Star would be dowdy white sided slabs with no colour, lifeboats atop. The same livery would not work [imho] on Pacific Dawn, she's a 'busy' vessel with enough to look at, and recessed lifeboats above the prom. Where would one put anything. A bigger logo with more colour maybe, but that funnel is her worst aspect. Maybe a nice stripey 'seaside' hat on her prow

OV.. well I detest that livery on Arcadia, but fine on Crown Princess. I do think the colours have dated somewhat since first introduced, and her pax base is no different to any other off season.

Pam

Posts: 12176 | From: Cambridge, UK | Registered: Jun 2001 | IP: Logged

dougnewman
First Class Passenger
Member # 11349

posted 10-31-2007 08:21 AM

PACIFIC SUN will look ridiculous no matter how she is painted, on account of her funnel. But I concede that in all white she will look quite plain - she looked fine in Carnival livery but that has a nice red band along most of the hull. Still, to me the awful funnel trumps the livery any day.

PACIFIC STAR didn't look bad in all white when she was COSTA TROPICALE, but again looked better in Carnival livery with the red band.

I thought PACIFIC SKY looked rather silly in P&O livery; to me she looked best in Sitmar livery and also the early Princess period when she kept the nice blue band round the hull from the Sitmar days (later removed). She looked nice enough in all-white Princess livery though, as she is a much less "slab-sided" ship than e.g. the HOLIDAY-class with their lifeboats all the way at the top of the ship and no open promenades underneath.

But as Pam points out, PACIFIC DAWN is very different from any of these ships. I think her shape speaks for itself and is best with as little adornment possible. I thought she and her sister looked great in Princess livery, and she looks good this way too!

As for the Ocean Village livery, I really do think it is dreadful - and this is not because I object to all non-traditional/not "plain" liveries. For example I think some (most emphatically not all) of the NCL hull art is quite nice (e.g. NORWEGIAN SUN). But the Ocean Village livery... Sorry, just awful! I cannot think of a single good thing about it, other than that it's noticeable. I think it is even more off-putting than the "cruises for people who don't do cruises" slogan - I can at least understand that, but the livery to me is just gaudy, tasteless, and plain ugly!

The good news is that if Ocean Village does well it is bound to get a GRAND-class ship at some point and one of those in Ocean Village livery would be a perfect match - the only livery ugly enough to match the ship!

As for PACIFIC DAWN, I'm glad she doesn't look different... She looked very nice as she was, and IMHO would only have looked worse if too much was changed. Let's not forget that this rather elegant (to me) ship was originally intended to wear one of the first "hull art"-style liveries, the almost-stillborn Sitmar livery that only ever briefly appeared on the poor SITMAR FAIRWIND before she became DAWN PRINCESS... The premature end of that livery had to be the best thing to come from the P&O takeover of Sitmar!

Posts: 2072 | From: Long Island, NY, USA | Registered: Sep 2007 | IP: Logged

Sutho
First Class Passenger
Member # 6234

posted 11-01-2007 03:19 AM

Posts: 1055 | From: Newcastle, Australia | Registered: Feb 2006 | IP: Logged

P&OOfficer
First Class Passenger
Member # 5124

posted 11-01-2007 04:43 AM

I'd be interested to see the interiors.

I was on the Shakedown for OV2, and thought the ship (Except the Cabin Doors) was very well done. I think the Germans at AIDA did a brilliant job.

Posts: 122 | From: SE England | Registered: Oct 2004 | IP: Logged

Malcolm @ cruisepage
Cruise Director
Member # 301

posted 11-01-2007 05:47 PM

quote:
Originally posted by P&OOfficer:
I'd be interested to see the interiors.
(Except the Cabin Doors)

??????????

Posts: 19210 | From: Essex (Just Outside London) | Registered: A Long Time Ago! | IP: Logged

pungpui
First Class Passenger
Member # 1218

posted 11-02-2007 09:31 AM

That OV livery looks much better on the ex-Arcadia than the P&O version...bring it much more to life on what is one of the ugliest ships I have ever seen.

Seriously the ex-Arcadia looks like a converted cargo ship or something. Like an old Costa converted ship...eek

Posts: 419 | From: Sydney, NSW, Australia | Registered: Apr 2000 | IP: Logged

P&OOfficer
First Class Passenger
Member # 5124

posted 11-07-2007 07:14 AM

Pictures linked from www.pacificdawn.com.au

[ 11-07-2007: Message edited by: P&OOfficer ]

Posts: 122 | From: SE England | Registered: Oct 2004 | IP: Logged

mike sa
First Class Passenger
Member # 5957

posted 11-07-2007 08:16 AM

You are so right, Fair Majesty/ Star Princess, Arcadia/OV1 must be one of the most ugly and badly designed ships in history, full of blunders. I remember first seeing her in St Nazaire and going yuk. Her interiors were very poor. Half the furniture was too big for the rooms and indeed much of it had to be removed as there was too much thus leading to a lack of seating especially in public areas. It was so bad the first few cruises had bar chairs lining corridors as they could not fit in the bars.

The observation lounge was a joke as a balcony around the perimeter mean't no one sitting on the main floor could see out and there was no bar, simply a hole in a wall, the whole lounge had to completely redesigned and rebuilt a year or so later. The exterior doors were so badly placed you could not open them when the ship was underway because of the wind preasure.

The 2 interior promenades were too narrow and all furniture had to be landed ashore. The fountain in the restaurant (Fountain Court) had to be ripped out as it flooded the entrance and under quite a few tables in the restaurant every time the ship manouvered.

The disco was directly over crew accommodation meaning they got no sleep. Also pax access was always if'y as the watertight door cut off the disco from the stairs and elevators, you got locked out or locked in.

The top floor of the theatre - all seats were very restricted views - you had to stand up to see the stage.

Gangway mechanisums always seemed to malfunction.

The ship was equipped with a gun mix spirit dispensing system at huge cost, it was ripped out and thrown away. Restaurant bar for wine service etc. was so limited we were always running out of wine. The tiled fllors in service / galley areas was so abrasive waiters etc were buying new shoes every 2 months because they had worn through the soles.

After the first cruise the piano in the restaurant was abandoned permanently because the acoustics were so bad it was deafening.

Basically not only was she ugly she was a dog operationally as well.

Her original design wasn't that bad looks wise but as we know these things change. Princess inherited a bummer - no wonder they were happy to pass her on.

Posts: 2272 | From: Durban, South Africa | Registered: Sep 2005 | IP: Logged

NAL
First Class Passenger
Member # 1102

posted 11-07-2007 08:24 AM

Pacific Dawn, when with Princess, had the best cabins in the fleet. They were large and well designed. They will be appreciated in her new life. She has some other issues, but not her cabins.

Posts: 2243 | From: Watsontown, PA | Registered: Feb 2000 | IP: Logged

pungpui
First Class Passenger
Member # 1218

posted 11-07-2007 07:13 PM

mika sa, haha I was just talking about her external appearance. I had no idea she also so bad operationally...that makes it even worse! We're thankful there is just one of these, not a bunch of sisters as well.

NAL, i believe there was some work done in Singapore converting Princess to P&O Australia and a lot of the cabins were made 4 berth to fit the local demand, so maybe the space will be eroded. Shame

Posts: 419 | From: Sydney, NSW, Australia | Registered: Apr 2000 | IP: Logged

Grant
First Class Passenger
Member # 1000

posted 11-07-2007 07:59 PM

The 3rd and 4th beds drop down from the ceiling, with the head of the bed against the outside wall on either side of the windows. Thus adding them will not decrease the floor area. Those cabins without the overheads, have the beds facing fore and aft. What is great with the cabins, is that the bathroom door opens in to a hallway that has all the drawers and closets between the bathroom door and the living space of the room. So if necessary someone could exit the shower and get dressed while everyone else remained out of site in the living space. Wonderfully thought out, and large too.

Posts: 834 | From: Victoria, BC, Canada | Registered: Jan 2000 | IP: Logged

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