Pacific Encounter sails around the South Pacific, taking in some of the most exotic destinations in Australia, Melanesia and Polynesia. Photo / Supplied
It’s not compulsory to wear a tropical frangipani shirt on a P&O cruise, but it is expected that you board with a sense of fun, writes John Weekes.
The Brisbane River is brighter than its brown, bull shark-infested reputation, and passengers preparing to board Pacific Encounter are a lot more colourful than the cruise ship stereotype.
“This weekend I’m not gunna think I’m just gonna drink,” declares the T-shirt adorning one man with his tongue hanging out the way some folks do when they’re concentrating or slightly confused. Fair enough. The cruise terminal is a strange place. But it’s an auspicious Friday - one year exactly since the terminal opened. The big P&O cruise ship, all 109,000 tons and 290 metres of it, prepares to depart.
The cruise industry has faced much trouble in recent years and is keen to show off what it offers.
Perhaps more challenging today is the perception cruising is very expensive, or only for very old people. But depending on where you go, trips can be had for the equivalent of barely $150 a day. In winter, it’s almost always sunny in Queensland, at least sunnier than most of New Zealand, but the stifling humidity of summer is absent. And this Pacific Encounter crowd is on average a lot younger than the superannuitant cohort. On board are many young families, and couples in their 30s and 40s.
And because this is Australia, a panoply of moustaches, mullets, tattoos and gold watches are to be beheld. It seems an exciting trip is ahead.
Showtime
One of the first things you might notice on board is a vast auditorium. This is the Marquee Show Lounge, Deck 6, about halfway up the ship, in crude landlubber terms. Higher up, much higher up, the sailaway party kicks off on Deck 16.
From here, up a flight of stairs, you can see Brisbane’s skyline rising 17km in the distance and when you peer over the railings get a feel for how big the ship is. It’s hard to gaze at the horizon for long though, because the sailaway party is, as P&O′s slogan promises, like no place on earth.
A hybrid shark-Donald Duck gyrates in their blue sharky nautical costume to the Village People’s YMCA, a few other crew including one dressed as a green turtle join in. Among the passengers, an elderly foursome gaze at Sharkduck and his mates, slightly shocked but unable to look away.
Above, a zipline is in operation, sending participants flying across the sky. Passengers start joining in the dancing, and those with young kids seem to have an especially good time. The party is camp, kitsch, and a lot of fun. It seems the key to enjoying the cruise is to forget inhibitions and make the most of the ship’s many shows, bars, pools and restaurants.
Masterchef
With a big grin, big voice, big hat and big Merv Hughes-style handlebar moustache, executive chef Ravi Rajamanikam shows off the galley.
Pacific Encounter has nearly 3000 passengers and more than 1000 crew, many of whom keep the restaurants running. The ship will get through about 700kg of fresh vegetables, two tonnes of potatoes and 400-500kg of chicken a day. Much of that will be consumed in The Pantry, the big buffet restaurant.
Rajamanikam, originally from Chennai in southeast India, oversees a vast operation and outlines how P&O is keen to source local, fresh produce. A ship like this coming to town can be a big boon to local producers.
P&O hopes to visit New Zealand more, and Rajamanikam says only the freshest produce will do, so local growers might want to keep their eyes peeled for the cruise ship itinerary.
The volume of liquor consumed on board must be a lot too, but with so much food and so many activities, there’s little fall-on-your-face drunkenness to be detected, more a general glee and wide-eyed wonder on board.
The galley caters for a dozen-odd passenger restaurants and for the huge crew, many of whom are from India and the Philippines.
Apart from The Pantry, Pacific Encounter has restaurants as good and hearty as anything you’ll see almost anywhere on land. Broadly speaking, Angelos is Italian, Dragon Lady features succulent Chinese meals and other East Asian dishes, and Luke’s Bar & Grill is named after a famous Aussie chef called Luke Mangan and sports good steaks. A glance at the menu shows very competitive prices.
A wild ride
On the third day, the ship reaches Airlie Beach. Passengers head down to a tender, which looks much like many Auckland passenger ferries, and go to the mainland. From there, those opting for a day trip can get on board one of Ocean Rafting’s speedboats.
The trip is fast, loud and exciting - pilot Heath blasting music as the boats hurtle to Whitsunday Islands National Park and the Unesco world heritage site. The islands are green and unspoilt, often with golden sandy beaches and the occasional resort. We reach a bay and snorkels are brought out. Setting foot on the nearest island is banned but guests can spend about an hour diving or paddling among the fish and coral.
Lunch is provided at a sandbar where guests can lie back, have a wade, and talk among themselves before the return trip. A couple of guests pose for racy selfies and a few others try to catch a tan.
The trip back is even more fun somehow than the one out to the island. Emily, the bosun or deputy pilot, prudently advises one of the more exuberant guests to keep both hands on the ropes running along the boat and his legs inside the vessel. Heath turns on Kiss’ I Was Made for Lovin’ You and it seems at this moment many of us are very much in love with the ocean and the journey.
The Captain
In charge of another vessel is Captain Roger Bilson. A scheduled zipline and climbing event has been usurped by high winds, so our group is invited to the bridge.
The bridge is dark, with as few lights on as possible to minimise distraction or optical illusions and allow crew to keep an eye out for possible dangers.
“We are obliged to keep a quarter of a mile from a whale. However, unfortunately, no one’s actually told the whales that,” the captain says.
Bilson, an Englishman who first went to sea aged 16, is asked about pirates, aliens, and even the bridge’s windscreen wipers. Yes indeed, on the bridge there be giant windscreen wipers.
Modern-day pirates do exist, not so much in the Coral Sea but certainly off Somalia. The captain says ships travel in convoy with naval escorts if they’re in pirate-infested waters but the Pacific Encounter would be a terrible target for maritime bandits. He says the ship’s height would make it hard for any kleptoparasitic mariners to attach to and the 3500-odd people on board would likely be too unruly and numerous for pirates to control.
The bridge does resemble that of a Star Wars Imperial Star Destroyer but Bilson can confirm in his three decades or so at sea, he has never seen an alien, and also confirms this is the first time he’s ever been asked about the windscreen wipers. He believes they get replaced about every two years.
“You’re probably looking forward to seeing a great big steering wheel,” he adds.
There is such a wheel - but it’s a prop for visitors to take photos with. Instead, there’s a tiny button joystick - and it’s not highly responsive because a ship this big does take time to change course.
Another ship approaches and we see on a couple of arrays the expected course of both vessels. The other, smaller ship seems to pass close by but the crew explain it’s actually about 1.5 nautical miles or 3km away.
The ship is diesel-electric with six big generators. P&O, which is part of the huge Carnival Corporation, has said it’s working to reduce pollution and carbon footprints through better fuel efficiency, improved hull coatings and more energy-efficient lighting. You won’t see much plastic on board, and the rubbish bins in cabins have no liners.
You could argue it’s in the cruiseliner’s interest to take environmentally-friendly measures seriously, even though it might seem the industry took some time to realise this. There’s not much point selling trips to a fragile ecosystem such as the Great Barrier Reef, or to unspoilt islands around Melanesia, Polynesia and the South Pacific if you’re complicit in activities likely to trash such environments.
The cruise up the Queensland coast is a constant joy for people-watching, dining and even, allegedly, some whale-watching, according to passengers who got up early one morning to spot the creatures in the distance.
By the fifth day, arriving back in Brisbane, you might feel more a shuffle than a rush to get off the ship. Sealegs give you an occasional phantom feeling of the gentle rocking at sea on the big ship. Back to normality, without the sound of waves and whoosh of water at night, you’d be forgiven for missing the luxury and excitement of the cruise.
Whitsundays Cruise: Departs from and returns to Brisbane, 4 nights on board.
From $762.90 in September, $1417.90 in October, $1014.90 in November, $666.90 in December, $608.90 in January and $417.90 in February, for a two-person room, if booking now. Other destinations include New Zealand, Fiji and New Guinea.
For more information, see pocruises.co.nz/ships/pacific-encounter
When there's nothing as far as the eye can see, you may appreciate the company.