Pacific Encounter is a Grand Class cruise ship.
She entered service with P&O Australia when cruising resumed in 2022.
This is P&O Australia’s newest style of cruise ship, and the largest in its decades
long history of cruising in Australia.
As a Grand Class cruise ship, Pacific Encounter has a lot on offer.
She’s over 109,000 gross tons, and has multiple decks to explore with lots of restaurants,
show lounges, bars and on deck amenities that include the huge twin racer water slides!
So come with me aboard this fun filled ship and explore what makes the Pacific Encounter
a real game changer in the Australian cruise market… but first, let me introduce myself!
Hi and thanks for joining me.
My name is Chris Frame, for those of you who don't know me I am a maritime history author
and lecturer, and I run this youtube channel.
I'm also the co-host of the Big Cruise Podcast - I've linked it in the description below.
If you're interested in cruising, cruise ships or maritime history I think you're going to
like it here, so hopefully you'll subscribe at the end of this video.
We start our tour of Pacific Encounter on Deck 7, the promenade deck.
This is where new passengers will usually board the ship.
It almost wraps all the way around save for a
small area at the bow where there’s a step up to deck 8.
Being a Grand class ship, the design of Pacific Encounter includes a number of gems
from the 90s style of cruise ship, with a proper promenade deck being one of the best
features of the ship.
Inside, Deck 7 has a lot on offer.
If we head all the way forward, the Marquee Theatre is the ship’s main show lounge and
occupies space on both Deck 7 and Deck 6 below it.
The theatre has great sight lines and is where you’ll find headline acts in the evening,
movies and guest lectures.
Heading aft, and Luke’s Bar and Grill is one of Pacific Encounter’s extra tariff
restaurant.
It’s a scaled up version of the popular Luke’s restaurant found on Pacific Explorer.
There is a cost is at a per-item here with flavours overseen by Australian celebrity
chef Luke Mangan.
Walk past Luke’s and you’ll find the Ocean Bar on the starboard side.
This is a welcoming space with views over the Atrium and live music played here in the
evenings.
Opposite on the port side, the shops offer duty free products and P&O branded souvenirs.
Just aft of amidships, and the Encounter Hotel is an interesting venue on board the ship.
It’s a shipboard take on an Aussie pub, like the kind you might find on the ground
floor of a beachside hotel.
There’s a dance floor and small stage here,
allowing for live music and dancing, and there's plenty
of comfortable seating.
Walk through the photo gallery and you’ll find entries to both the Blue Room and 400
Gradi.
The Blue Room is the ship’s jazz club, and is a popular venue at night.
It’s got large white columns that are juxtaposed by dark walls and deep blue seating creating
a pleasing visual contrast.
400 Gradi is where you’d want to go if you have a craving for pizza.
It’s another specialty restaurant this time in partnership with Johnny di Francesco who
also has 400 Gradi restaurants on land in Australia.
There is a cost per item here as well and each dish is cooked fresh to order.
At the very back of Deck 7 is the Black Circus.
This is a second show lounge which allows P&O to run multiple large scale entertainment
options in the evenings.
Black Circus is usually home to comedians and cabaret shows by night, and lectures,
bingo, and the cruise director’s trivia by day.
Let’s take the aft stairway down one deck to Deck 6 and check out Dragon Lady.
This is an Asian inspired restaurant, and as a paying passenger you’re welcome to
eat here without an extra charge.
The décor blends dark walls and carpeting with lighter wooden finished and there’s
orchards on each table.
The menu includes a range of Asian cuisines, from soups to satay, fish dishes to chocolate
spiced pudding.
If you were to keep descending down the aft stairway,
you’d end up in the Medical Centre, but
as none of us want to end up there, let’s skip forward of the galley and resume our
tour in Angelo’s.
Found amidships on Deck 6 this is P&O’s Italian inspired restaurant and the place
to go if you love pasta, gnocchi and tiramisu!
Outside Angelo’s, the atrium is an area that connects the central entertainment areas.
You can ascend to Deck 6 or descend to Deck 5 from here.
On deck 6 you’ll find more shops around the atrium, as well as the ship’s main reception
desk for all passenger services.
Take a right … [alert tone] errr or should that be take a
starboard… [ding!] and head forward to enter the
Arcade.
This is a fun filled area full of games that will delight kids and adults alike.
It acts as a forward entry way to the Casino.
The Casino on Pacific Encounter is huge, and has all the games you’d expect from a modern
Casino.
The Bonded Store, or hidden bar, is nestled between the casino and the Marquee on board
Pacific Encounter.
It’s a small and intimate bar, with sophisticated theming, and is popular with cocktail lovers.
Deck 5 is home to the Waterfront Restaurant.
This is the ‘main’ dining room on board the ship. The Waterfront
is open for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.
The ground floor of the lobby, also on Deck 5, is a coffee lovers dream with Charlie’s,
Lily’s and the Avalon Café.
There’s lots of different food options here as well and plenty of comfy chairs to take
a seat and relax with friends or family.
Deck 8 to deck 12 are the domain of accommodation and there’s a variety of different styles
of rooms on the ship.
The most luxurious are the suites, some of which can be connected to smaller adjoining
cabins creating a great family space.
There’s also (twin) shared balcony cabins, ocean view rooms and inside cabins to suit a variety
of budgets.
Deck 12 also has a small adults only pool right at the end, called the Oasis Pool, with
superb views over the stern.
Deck 14 is our next stop…
yes, you heard right – there’s no deck 13 aboard this ship because… well, superstition
I guess?
Actually, the deck naming aboard the Pacific Encounter is kind of crazy as it starts on
Deck 4 and ends on Deck 18 but in reality there is only 11 decks of
passenger areas plus a medical centre and the Night Club which isn’t really a deck
at all… don’t worry we’ll get to in a minute and it will all make sense.
Anyways, Deck 14 is where you’ll find a large outdoor pool, a pool bar, the ice cream
bar and whirlpools.
It’s also where you’ll find Luke’s Burger Grill which is another Luke Mangan inspired
dining option.
There’s a second pool on Deck 14 which is situated under a retractable glass roof known
as a magrodome.
This family friendly area is sheltered from bad weather and has two whirlpools and plenty
of deckchairs.
The Pantry is P&O’s alternative take on a buffet; which is a food court style dining
venue where there’s a number of different cuisines all under one roof.
Here you can have Asian, Indian or Mexican dishes.
There’s also a carvery, Fish and Chips as well as the Sugar Bar – where all the sweet
stuff is.
The aft of Deck 14 links out to the upper level of the Oasis, while one deck up, the
aft area is home to the Youth Club.
Outdoor play areas link into indoor spaces that comprise Turtle Cove for little kids,
the Shark Shack for big kids and the H2O for teens.
There’s a big screen for outdoor movies, situated amidships on Deck 14, while the forward
end of the deck is home to the Byron Bay Beach Club pool – reserved for passengers in this
grade of accommodation.
It is surrounded by an extensive spa and fitness facility.
Deck 16 is arguably where the most fun can be had, as it is here you’ll find the Twin
Racer Waterslides.
They’re huge, were added to the ship in 2023 and from any outside angle you’ll definitely
notice them!
They race down together to a splash down area and even have some clear sections so you can
see fellow racers taking the plunge!
The edge is also found here, which is P&O’s adventure park at sea.
It has a number of fun activities including
the Titanic Experience, as well as the zipline, a rock climbing wall
and ropes course – to name just a few options.
The sunset bar at the very back of the deck, offers a place to relax after all that adrenaline
and take in the views with a drink.
And now, the moment you’ve all been waiting for – Deck 17 and 18… not really, because
in reality these aren’t decks.
There’s a huge nightclub that is positioned at the very back of the ship on giant struts.
This design is a signature of the Grand Class but these days only exists on a few examples
as it was removed from a number of the Grand Class ship’s in Princess Cruises fleet.
Luckily it is still a feature of Pacific Encounter as it provides great views and the access
way is very different with an inclined glass-clad tunnel complete with moving floor…
so very cool, but not a deck… though it is two stories higher than the rest of the
ship.
Thanks so much for watching and I hope you found this video interesting.
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to have you on board.
Thanks again for watching and until next time I hope to 'sea you on board'.