Cruising With Kids – P&O Pacific Dawn

Well I don’t think it will come as a surprise to anyone who has been following us for a while that we love to travel as a family and cruising is always on the top of our list!

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We have just returned from a seven-day South Pacific cruising experience on P&O’s Pacific Dawn.

Are you looking for cheap flights?

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In my books a good holiday is restful with no cooking, cleaning or moving from one destination to another and the need to unpack and repack at every hotel. Plus No travelling time to get to the destination as really the ship is the destination. We only had to drive 20min to the departure port and we wasted no time as there were no long flights or time spent chasing a toddler around an airport and within an hour of boarding the P&O Pacific Dawn we’d unpacked (for the one and only time on our holiday) and were on the top deck ready for the sail away party with cocktail in hand. This convenience is one of the many things I love about cruising, along with the fact there are activities to cater for all ages and tastes. It’s the most convenient way for families and anyone looking for an affordable vacation to travel.

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Holidays are important to us, as a busy family we love to take the time out and reconnect as a family, which we did over each meal but with age-appropriate kids clubs available on our cruise run by qualified teachers or nurses we had peace of mind to know the kids were being well looked after while we took some time to just be a couple and enjoyed the ships many activities on board. There are countless options to keep you busy all day and night or you can skip it all and take in a day of rest on deck or in the day spa (which I did on a couple of occasions)

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On Pacific Dawn the Lido is where all the action takes place — from lounging about, playing with the kids in the pool, to viewing a movie on the outdoor cinema screen, to eating lunch in the al fresco dining areas its the place to be!

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If you have bigger kids the P&O Edge Adventure Park is not to be missed and not for the faint hearted it’s installed above the Lido deck, offering 19 activities (at an extra cost) including two flying foxes for zip-lining, the funnel climb, and a dedicated area for riding Segways. Other options include Walk the Plank, which extends off the side of the ship, the high-in-the-sky Crow’s Nest for panoramic views, and a boulder wall for sideways rock climbing this was perfect for the Josh (9yrs) and hubby it was like nothing we had ever seen before and we enjoyed every minute of it.

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Each night we ate as a  family in the Waterfront restaurant and each and every night the staff did more than just serve us, they made us feel like royalty by entertaining us all. Nothing was too much trouble for them they made us, rabbits and mice from napkins, performed magic tricks for the kids, Josh even cried on the last night as he was so sad to leave our waiters as they had become friends he looked forward to seeing every day.

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Our island stops included Noumea, Lifou and Port Vila

In Noumea we left the ship and decided to set out on foot and explore the city we enjoyed a trip to the local supermaché and found delicacies like French wine, baguettes and cheeses surprisingly cheap and enjoyed taking in the city vibe.

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At Lifou we spent a day looking for Nemo snorkelling on the most stunning reef abuzz with dazzling corals and mesmerising marine life. Lifou is so pretty graced with long, chalky, casuarina-fringed beaches, pebbly inlets, sapphire bays enclosed by sheer limestone cliffs and psychedelic underwater scenes — it’s a water-lover’s wonderland.

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Port Vila  was a great curtulral experience where we checked out the local markets and mingled with the locals. A visit to Markets in Port Villa made for hassle-free souvenir shopping and food tasting.

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There is plenty of family activities to participate in, on and off board with a P&O cruise. They offer a range of fun, family activities and adventures so you can share your holiday experience with your little ones.

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If your interested in cruising be sure to jump onto P&O Cruises has a range of cruises, sailing from Brisbane, Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide and Fremantle.

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If you have any questions on cruising just drop us a line and we will be happy to answer any questions you have about our cruise.

Love Kerry and Miss Piper xoxo

 

12 thoughts on “Cruising With Kids – P&O Pacific Dawn

  1. Loved following along with your holiday! Your pictures are beautiful. Thank you for sharing your wonderful experience with cruising.

  2. Oh wow this looks amazing, I so need to book a cruise you make it look amazing. I was worried thinking my little boy might be too young but Piper looks like she had a ball. Thanks

    1. Thanks Chelsea, we find cruising perfect for Piper we just don’t try and do everything and find time in the day so she can have an afternoon nap so that she can make to through the night activities.

  3. We booked our first cruising holiday with P&O thanks to your wonderfull photos! Hope you had an incredible time.

    1. That’s great Kristen, if you post any photos on insta make sure you tag me so I can check the pics.

  4. I wasn’t sure about cruising with young kids but after seeing how much piper enjoyed herself a cruise is on the books for our next family holiday! Thanks a heap, I love pipers posts.

    1. You will love it Larissa and if you have any questions feel free to email or DM me via insta and ill be happy to answer. xxx

  5. Oh my what a fantastic holiday you look like you’ve just had. I think I need to talk my Husband into a cruise ASAP.
    He will love the fact that you can do adventures with the kids by day and have them in the kids club as well.

  6. Looks Amazing! I never have been interested in cruises but after reading this post I’ll be taking a look into it.

    1. Hi Kylie, I was the same before my first cruise, I didn’t like the idea of being so close to so many people for 7 days but its amazing how everyone spreads out and after my first cruise I was hooked!

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