Bad review about Dawn Princess

[KimShaun]

Reading the reviews, someone was complaining about having seasickness on the Dawn Princess. They had been on the RCI ships before and said they never got sick. They made the Dawn Princess out to be terrible. They said they felt every movement on the ship. Now we are deciding who to go with for our first cruise, which happens to be to Tasmania from Sydney. Our choices are Dawn Princess in October or The Voyager of the Seas in November. It's hard when you've never cruised before. Can only read the reviews, but some really put you off. Would love to hear others thoughts on this. Thanks in advance.

[Esilef]

Don't take reviews too seriously.

 

I have been on both the sun princess and the voyage and both are very good ships.

 

The sun hit bad weather on the way to NZ but we didn't have an issue with sea sickness.

 

If concerned take sea sickness tablets prior to cruising and whilst on board.

 

Choose the cruise you want to do.

[dizzy1948]

Reading the reviews, someone was complaining about having seasickness on the Dawn Princess. They had been on the RCI ships before and said they never got sick. They made the Dawn Princess out to be terrible. They said they felt every movement on the ship. Now we are deciding who to go with for our first cruise, which happens to be to Tasmania from Sydney. Our choices are Dawn Princess in October or The Voyager of the Seas in November. It's hard when you've never cruised before. Can only read the reviews, but some really put you off. Would love to hear others thoughts on this. Thanks in advance.

 

Seasickness is not indicative to a particular ship or line. Some people can be sea sick because they are prone to motion sickness. Others because of the extreme weather conditions at the time. Others just "sail" through. As mentioned by Esilef - be prepared, get sea sickness tablets, bands or whatever, if you feel concerned. Don't pay too much attention to reviews.

 

Depending where you are going, you are in the lap of the Gods when it comes to the weather at sea.

Just make your choice and go and enjoy, then come back and tell us all about your wonderful first cruise. (You will become addicted :eek:)

[Te Aroha]

I think what you really need to do to decide is look at what type of on board entertainment is available between the two lines.

 

Age in my opinion comes into the choice also, Princess tends to have an older following. That is not to say that Princess is not a good line to sail with but if you are of a younger age group I would suggest The Voyager of the Seas may suit you better.

 

What ever you decide don't let the thought of seasickness put you off. My husband is very seasick in small boats but has never been seasick on any sailing to date. These big ships are very stable even if you do hit rough seas. A cabin in the centre of the ship and about midway up the ship is the best to avoid movement.

[The_Big_M]

There can be differences between ships, but there aren't any major differences with Dawn Princess that will make you more likely to be seasick than on the RCL ships for example.

 

I wouldn't let that be a deciding factor, though certainly take precautions against sea sickness if you think you may be affected - on any ship.

[KimShaun]

Thanks for the replies. We are definitely overthinking everything. I guess it's just nerves about cruising for the first time.

[KimShaun]

Thanks Te Aroha. I agree with you, because I have been wondering about the age group for each of our choices. I did post about it last week. We are in our 40's. I think we are starting to lean towards the RCI, Voyager of the Seas which is going to Tasmania in November.

[sun-set]

Reading the reviews, someone was complaining about having seasickness on the Dawn Princess. They had been on the RCI ships before and said they never got sick. They made the Dawn Princess out to be terrible. They said they felt every movement on the ship. Now we are deciding who to go with for our first cruise, which happens to be to Tasmania from Sydney. Our choices are Dawn Princess in October or The Voyager of the Seas in November. It's hard when you've never cruised before. Can only read the reviews, but some really put you off. Would love to hear others thoughts on this. Thanks in advance.

 

I have sailed on 11 different ships including the Dawn, Sun, and Sea Princess and the Princess ships were the most stable.

I prefer to cruise on Australian based ships as they use Australian currency and do not have extra charges once you have paid the upfront fare, I have also heard fellow passengers complain about RCI ships, but I don't take much notice of any reviews, you will read reviews of a particular cruise differing so much that it is hard to believe they were on the same ship.

You may be lucky and never suffer with sea sickness, just take some tablets with you in case, but only take them if really necessary, I prefer some movement as it helps me sleep, so I always try to get a cabin up front.

It is not only the Line you cruise with that make a difference to the average age on board, but the length of the cruise, the longer the cruise the older the average age.

[Aus Traveller]

You would have to pay gratuities/tips every day on RCL. This is a daily charge for your room steward and waiters. In addition, there would be a tip (I think 18%) automatically added to the cost of drinks.

 

I believe US$ is the on-board currency on RCL ships. With the low Aussie dollar at the moment, this makes on-board costs and ship-organised shore excursions quite expensive.

[KimShaun]

You would have to pay gratuities/tips every day on RCL. This is a daily charge for your room steward and waiters. In addition, there would be a tip (I think 18%) automatically added to the cost of drinks.

 

I believe US$ is the on-board currency on RCL ships. With the low Aussie dollar at the moment, this makes on-board costs and ship-organised shore excursions quite expensive.[/quote

 

The travel agent ( who is holding a room on each cruise for us until we decide this week) said with the RCI the tips was already included in the price. However she didn't mention tips being added to our drinks etc. I really appreciate the feedback because I want to make an informed decision. We were leaning more towards the RCI because the price was better than the Dawn Princess. I have to wonder if initially it will seem that way, but with it being US$ will that quickly make no difference.

[Te Aroha]

Tips would be added to your drinks no matter which line you choose it is a normal practice.

 

I have sailed on both a Australia based ship and a US based to be honest I have found that the US based ships are better value. Do not think you have to do the ship excursions only.

 

There should be a Roll Call listed for both of these cruises here on CC. There you can talk to other passengers who sometimes arrange private tours at a cheaper cost. This may also assist you in your final decision.

 

Dawn Princess roll calls are here. Look for your sailing date.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=300

 

Voyager roll calls again look for your sailing date.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=275

[GUT2407]

Have to agree that sea sickness has less to do with the ship than with the conditions, 've crossed Bass Straight more times than I can count on 5 [i think it is] different ships, but can tell you some days PAX are 10 deep at medical for treatment other days none, it all comes down to the sea.

[GUT2407]

You would have to pay gratuities/tips every day on RCL. This is a daily charge for your room steward and waiters. In addition, there would be a tip (I think 18%) automatically added to the cost of drinks.

 

I believe US$ is the on-board currency on RCL ships. With the low Aussie dollar at the moment, this makes on-board costs and ship-organised shore excursions quite expensive.[/quote

 

The travel agent ( who is holding a room on each cruise for us until we decide this week) said with the RCI the tips was already included in the price. However she didn't mention tips being added to our drinks etc. I really appreciate the feedback because I want to make an informed decision. We were leaning more towards the RCI because the price was better than the Dawn Princess. I have to wonder if initially it will seem that way, but with it being US$ will that quickly make no difference.

 

The US$ can make a big difference, depending on what you spend on board, if you spend little the impact won't be great but with a low Aus$ if you spend a lot onboard it may hit, my advice is check out the prices of things you are likely to spend on before you go.

 

An example I thought a coke was expensive with Princess, something like $2.95 for a glass of post-mix, but then on Celebrity it was $3.50 US for a can, which seemed Ok till I worked out that there was then a 18% tip and at the time about 20% on exchange rate which took it to about Aus$5.00.

 

Then on the cost of the cruise RCI will charge daily tips about $12 a day, plus exchange with $ at about 80c [or a lot less] nearly Aus$15 a day per person.

[dizzy1948]

You would have to pay gratuities/tips every day on RCL. This is a daily charge for your room steward and waiters. In addition, there would be a tip (I think 18%) automatically added to the cost of drinks.

 

I believe US$ is the on-board currency on RCL ships. With the low Aussie dollar at the moment, this makes on-board costs and ship-organised shore excursions quite expensive.[/quote

 

The travel agent ( who is holding a room on each cruise for us until we decide this week) said with the RCI the tips was already included in the price. However she didn't mention tips being added to our drinks etc. I really appreciate the feedback because I want to make an informed decision. We were leaning more towards the RCI because the price was better than the Dawn Princess. I have to wonder if initially it will seem that way, but with it being US$ will that quickly make no difference.

 

When we cruised on the Dawn, say a drink was $10.00 - that was inclusive of the surcharge. So no hidden surprises. Aussie Cruises - sold in Australia by Aussie TA's are inclusive of gratuities, unless it's changed overnight.

[Aus Traveller]

Tips would be added to your drinks no matter which line you choose it is a normal practice.

 

On the Dawn, Sun & Sea Princess there have been no tips since 1st May 2011 and that includes the tips on drinks. The price you see on the drinks menu is what you pay.

[OzKiwiJJ]

 

When we cruised on the Dawn, say a drink was $10.00 - that was inclusive of the surcharge. So no hidden surprises. Aussie Cruises - sold in Australia by Aussie TA's are inclusive of gratuities, unless it's changed overnight.

 

 

When we booked our recent Rhapsody cruise through an Aussie TA the price quoted did not include the gratuities, but we had the chance to prepay them which worked out cheaper.

 

We found the drinks prices on Rhapsody were higher than on the Sun Princess cruise we did over Christmas. Our drinks bill on Sun (sister ship to Dawn), including coffees for DH, averaged just under AU $85 per day for both of us which covered very good quality wines with lunch and dinner, usually a cocktail before dinner, and sometimes an after dinner drink.

 

Once we boarded Rhapsody we checked out the drinks prices - cocktails US$14, main wine list wines US$9-14 by the glass but there was a supplementary wine list that had all AUS/NZ wine and they were up to US$9 a glass. I'm not totally sure whether those prices then had the 18% grats added. Prices of wine by the bottle were higher than Sun when taking into account the exchange rate. We calculated the average costs and compared them with the onboard package prices - Premium US$57, Ultimate US$67 including gratuity - both of which covered cocktails and wines up to US$14, and decided to buy the packages. Then, of course, we ended up drinking more that we would have normally :eek: just because it didn't cost any extra. I think we got our money's worth :D Just waiting for the credit card bill to come in now, to see what it all cost in AU dollars, but I think it will work out at least double the Sun cost. :(

 

We enjoyed both ships. We had slightly rougher seas on our Sun cruise on a couple of days but didn't have any problems and DH is not a good sailor (he did take tablets on those days though). It made dancing an interesting challenge. ;) We had very smooth seas on the Rhapsody cruise and only noticed a very slight and very pleasant gentle rocking motion. We were on deck 9 midships on Sun, and deck 3 mid-aft on Rhapsody.

Edited March 30, 2015 by OzKiwiJJ

[The_Big_M]

The travel agent ( who is holding a room on each cruise for us until we decide this week) said with the RCI the tips was already included in the price.

 

Just make sure that is the case and if you go that way appears on the invoice. RCL cruises are mostly sold without tips so it's something to be sure is the case if you're comparing prices. It's certainly possible for them to be prepaid, but many don't.

[hematocrit]

Another factor to consider when choosing which ship to sail on is the number of passengers.

The Dawn Princess holds just under 2,000, whereas the Voyager takes over 3,500. This can make a significant difference when using tenders at some ports - the waiting time to get back on board can be quite lengthy on the larger ships. Also some ports are not able to accommodate the larger ships, due to weight restrictions.

As mentioned, the Voyager caters for younger passengers, and had a "main street" with regular appearances of Disney characters. It also has an ice skating rink and wave pool.

Whichever you choose, you will have an enjoyable cruise if you go with the intention of enjoying yourselves and not worrying about minor issues.

PS Don't forget that on the Voyager you will need adapters to fit the US power sockets.

[windsor26]

Just make sure that is the case and if you go that way appears on the invoice. RCL cruises are mostly sold without tips so it's something to be sure is the case if you're comparing prices. It's certainly possible for them to be prepaid, but many don't.

 

When booking RCI through an agent there is an option to pre pay gratuities.

I was given the option of the cruise I booked yesterday and as the cost for a 8 day cruise was $95 pp (obviously in AUD as we are paying a Australian TA) this was better than the daily charge which would occur on the ship in US dollars A good saving to accept pre paid tips due to the exchange rate.

 

Hi Yves and Evon as usual good advices

Edited March 30, 2015 by windsor26

[Aussie_Kiwi_Family]

We highly recommend sea bands. They work a treat for us. I might take some ginger tablets. Much prefer the natural approach.

We are about to sail on celebrity and brought the all inclusive drinks package. It will work for us.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

As far as reviews are concerned ....take all with a grain of salt.

I remember watching a TV documentary about cruising in the Caribbean and they interviewed passengers as they disembarked. One raved about the cruise saying it had been the trip of a lifetime , while another disgruntled and bitter passenger reckoned the best thing about the cruise was getting off the ship...:rolleyes:

 

 

[GUT2407]

DW swears by green apples 1 or 2 a day and Ginger tablets and tea for seasickness.

[MadWoofter]

Thanks Te Aroha. I agree with you, because I have been wondering about the age group for each of our choices. I did post about it last week. We are in our 40's. I think we are starting to lean towards the RCI, Voyager of the Seas which is going to Tasmania in November.

 

 

Having been on a very short (2-night) cruise on the Dawn Princess last week, I would suggest you go with an alternate company. I took my mum who in her 70's was one of the younger ones ! There was very little entertainment for the 40's age group, it was mostly for the elderly, or the early 20's with a few pool games.

[set_sail]

Having been on a very short (2-night) cruise on the Dawn Princess last week, I would suggest you go with an alternate company. I took my mum who in her 70's was one of the younger ones ! There was very little entertainment for the 40's age group, it was mostly for the elderly, or the early 20's with a few pool games.

 

I believe the 2 days you were onboard were part of a longer cruise itinerary 'The Northern Explorer". Probably not long enough to get a good feel of the ship and its facilities. I have found that longer cruises do attract an older age group.

 

I think Princess cruises do cater to all age demographics and on our last cruise we were at a table with a couple in their 40's and a young couple in their 20's both said they had a fabulous time on Princess. I suppose it depends on your interests and expectations

[set_sail]

Reading the reviews, someone was complaining about having seasickness on the Dawn Princess. They had been on the RCI ships before and said they never got sick. They made the Dawn Princess out to be terrible. They said they felt every movement on the ship. Now we are deciding who to go with for our first cruise, which happens to be to Tasmania from Sydney. Our choices are Dawn Princess in October or The Voyager of the Seas in November. It's hard when you've never cruised before. Can only read the reviews, but some really put you off. Would love to hear others thoughts on this. Thanks in advance.

 

Hi

You may be interested 'Voyager of the Seas' on Ch 7 tonight

 

Tuesday 31 March

8:00pm - 9:00pm

Seven

Tom, Rach and Rosso Go Cruising - Seven

Documentary | PG

Tom, Rach and Rosso head to the South Pacific onboard Australia's largest cruise ship.