Cruise Review - P&O New Guinea Island Encounter Cruise on the Pacific Encounter 

Hi Elizabeth. Have to say that Dragon Lady has really won us over the last couple of trips. Haven't tried the pork belly and watermelon as the combination seems a bit strange but the ramen fried chicken and salmon are delicious. Also love the Massaman. Pork belly next trip for sure because you have to try everything once.

Thanks Linda.

Sorry for the delay in replying Patricia. Hope you had a great cruise.

Hi Wendy. Apologies for long delay in replying. Despite the numerous comments on social media about the food not being up to scratch I must say that we have never had a bad meal on the Encounter yet in any of the restaurants.

Hi Kylie. Sorry for the delay in replying. We do read and reply to every comment but we are getting so many at the moment that it is taking a little while to keep up. We love the Airlie Beach and Cairns cruise and the weather should be lovely in October. Never thought of doing a how we make the vlogs but it's an interesting idea. I'll have a think about how we could make a 'behind the scenes' type of video just for your 'little man' and we might do that on the next cruise.

Hello....what did U think of the mini suite......there is 3 of us ..

@@user-or4tr4vf1x Hi, found the min-suite had good room. With three you would use the sofa bed. Just tell your room steward to put it away and when you need it out at night. Plenty of storage space within the room.

Thank you

Hailey is the lass from Scotland

@@katskreativekapers Thanks, I never actually heard her introduced or name mentioned. Hailey Can sing a note or two as well,

Just a little question...as we are going to PNG next month...did you take any PNG cash with you to spend on shore days???

@@deidresmith2335 yes we exchanged money at Brisbane International Terminal where the ship is .. They had a table set upstairs there for anybody wanting to take PNG Kina money . Conflict Island is the only Aussie dollars you need or card .. The other 3 ports are Kina . Have a great trip 🐠🚢

@@sammboJo The only other question I would would have is........did you use it and did you need it??? TIA

@@tads81-Radar yes I did use it . Brought some of the kids some icy poles in Alatou , brought some Anklets in Rabul Little bits n pieces , Kiriwina gave a lady 20 Kina we met on the beach with her little kids .. There are markets all set up in port when you get off the boat .. Came home to Melbourne with 10 Kina lol .. Just handy to have a little bit of their money if you want to buy something ..

@@sammboJo Sorry to be a pain, but how much did you take???

Hi Toni. Sorry for the delay in replying. We did tours in Rabaul and Alotau and organised these locally before we left. They were great value and we got to see more than we would have on the ships tours for less cost. Having aid that, we only booked half day tours and ones in the morning from very recommended local tour companies and we are always worried about being late back and the ship leaving. Kiriwina there are no tours available and Conflict Islands is just so good for swimming and snorkeling that that is what we did there. We do have videos of those that we are still working on though.

Hope you had a fantastic cruise.

Hi Cherie, how exciting. I think we get on again when you get off, we are on the 3 night comedy cruise. In answer to your question - internet and wifi are different things. When you put your phone on airplane mode you are stopping the SIM from being able to send or receive data to your phone so you aren't being charged for usage as it would try to connect to the maritime system. The wifi is actually the information that the ship is transmitting to anyone who is connected to it and there is no charge for that. You can use that wifi to connect to the internet if you want but you need to buy one of their packages for that. Either way you need to leave your phone on airplane mode to avoid charges to your mobile plan. Hope that helps but if it's still not clear please let us know. Have a fantastic cruise, the Airlie beach itinerary is a lovely introduction to cruising.

So can you still use there wifi for free when using just the app?

The App is part of the ship's wifi Sarah. You can't connect to the internet from their wifi unless you purchase the internet package. The App is where you get all the ship info, check your account, book the restaurants, see the daily activities, plan your day and message your friends/family that are on board. Unless you specifically need to connect to the internet or use your phone for calls then the ship's wifi and App are all you really need.

Hi Sarah. There was some but the only reason I know that is because the travelling partner of my co-admin on the cruise facebook group got it and was isolated. We didn't actually even know about that until we got off. As to how much there was, couldn't say to be honest as there was no talk of it. There was certainly no disruption to any of the services or activities

Thant's a good idea.