It may be a surprise to learn that Pacific Jewel – one of the most enduring and endearingly popular ships in the P&O Cruises Australia fleet – has not even been in the P&O fleet for very long, having only joined no more than seven years ago in 2009. The ship itself has served a number of cruise lines around the world including Princess Cruises prior to its acquisition by Carnival Corporation in 2003.
Under the control of P&O Cruises, Pacific Jewel has been the beneficiary of a number of refurbishments and refits in order to remain at the cutting edge of modernity and appeal for what its passengers seek and enjoy on their holidays.
While certainly one of Australia’s smaller ships at a capacity of 1,950 passengers, Pacific Jewel packs a punch in terms of offering plenty for its guests to keep amused while at sea.
Pubs, Bars & Lounges
Pacific Jewel features at least seven different venues for your evening entertainment selection, plus a variety of different themed parties. Each offers quite a myriad of ambiance and live performances at night as well as playing host to quizzes, pub trivia and other activities throughout the day. These include:
- Connexions Bar: A late night venue featuring cabaret music style acts by night and hosting pub trivia activities by day.
- Mix Bar: A cocktail bar where skilled mixologists whip up creations from an extensive menu of top-shelf concoctions, classic favourites and even some by special request.
- The Orient: This venue is an Aussie-style pub with a wide variety of craft and draught beers on tap as well as bottled ciders and even some lounge entertainment.
- The Dome: Pacific Jewel‘s top-level nightclub where passengers can dance away until the small hours of the morning to tunes spun by the ship’s resident DJ’s.
- Oasis Bar: More of a daytime venue, this bar is located overlooking the ship’s wake and forms part of the adults-only Oasis Lounge, with plenty of deck chairs and no children.
- Pool Bar: Located at the main pool area.
- Player’s Bar & Casino: The ship’s main gaming area, offering table games and pokies. During the day, guests can also learn a new game with special sessions held to teach beginners the basics of the various card games played onboard.
Marquee Theatre
The main theatre on Pacific Jewel hosts evening performances in this two-storey venue, and like many ships, shows play twice nightly to work in sync with the two main scheduled dining seatings, enabling as many passengers as possible to see a show each evening.
Each performance has been put together exclusively for P&O Cruises by a leading Australian production company and features skilled entertainers, musicians, dancers and world-class choreography sure to leave audiences stunned. Shows you’ll currently find on Jewel include:
- Off The Charts: While many shows feature the legendary tunes of times many decades ago, this show instead focuses on dance routines set to the artists which found fame in the 2000’s such as Bruno Mars, Taylor Swift, Adele and Amy Winehouse, among others. Younger audiences will know most, if not all of the music and probably all the lyrics too.
- Disconnected: In this show, music and dialogue comes together in a very entertaining and humorous way to look at today’s technologically-driven world and how the world revolves around social media and staying online, whether we like to admit it or not.
- Life As We Know It: Some awesome costumes feature in this production, with modern music and imagery used to evoke feelings based around those we experience in everyday life including love, loss, fear, joy and others. Different stages of life are covered and reflected on in a unique and entertaining way.
- The Velvet Rope: Audiences keen for a look into the past will love this show, as it is set in a 1930’s nightclub and looks at the youth of the era, particularly as it pertained to the tough economic times prevalent then. The story looks at rebellion and following your heart but curiously is set to modern music rhythms, making for a must-see mix.
- The Very Last Night Show: As the name indicates, you’ll know in advance which night of the cruise this show will play. This production is set as a live-to-action late night variety television show performing to a live studio audience and aims to send off cruisers to their final evening onboard with good memories and with a positive vibe from their cruise.
Deck Games
Steeped in tradition, some of these games have been played on cruise ships throughout the generations and in turn come with some rules which haven’t changed since their inception. At different times of the day, usually on a sea day, the Pacific Jewel entertainment team will gather at various parts of the ship to host small competitions for anybody keen to test their skills against other cruisers. Activities include table tennis, bocce, golf putting and even the classic cruise ship game of shuffleboard.
Learn Something New
As much as you may wish to lay by the pool and do nothing, opportunities abound for passengers to learn a new skill, enhance existing ones or simply meet fellow enthusiasts in a particular subject or topic. Pacific Jewel offers a range of seminars, demonstrations and classes for guests to engage in, from mixing cocktails, learning about new wines and how to pair them with different meals, working on some creative arts and crafts for your home, making the perfect cup of coffee or even learning new dance steps such as the cha cha.
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