Review Dawn Princess PNG 23 June to 8 July

[Grey Nomad]

We have just returned from the Papua New Guinea cruise on Board the Dawn Princess, 23rd June, 2015 to 8th July, 2015 and have now written a review of this trip. Please remember that this review is my opinion only and does not necessarily represent what others experienced. I am mainly a positive person and do not look for faults or problems. I was not sure whether to put this on here or on the Member Review page.

[Grey Nomad]

ABOUT US

We are from the lower Blue Mountains and drove our car to our daughters at South Penrith and had a shuttle pick us up and take us to White Bay. The cost of this shuttle was $95 each way. We are 67 and 71 years young. This was our first time at White Bay. We like to be on board early and therefore the shuttle picked us up at 10.15am and already had another couple on board. We arrived at White Bay in approx. 1 hour and was there by 11.30 am.

EMBARKATION

Embarkation was a breeze. Dropped luggage off and went straight to the Platinum non-existant line, through Customs and then to Cruise Desks to receive our cards and on to Deck 7, had the obligatory photo and hey presto we were on board by 11.45am. Straight to our staterooms to drop of hand luggage and as it was then midday we went up to Horizon Court.

THE SHIP

We had previously sailed on Dawn Princess and twice on Sun Princess so we knew what to expect. One comment I had read previously that these ships of Princess are Cruise Liners and not Theme Parks. The ship came out of dry dock in May and we had seen some photos on CC. The carpets in the lift areas and stairs are all new. Now Brown tonings. The carpets in the corridors are still the same (at least on our floor .. Baja). Horizon Court has been completely changed. All new carpet and flooring in buffet area. The different levels have been removed so therefore, one level. Where previously there was an area between the two buffet sides at the front, it is now Café Amuleto and this is where there are all the pastries, cakes, some fruit salad, toast, muffins, etc for breakfast, puddings for lunch and tea and to one side the Barista Bar. Also are two large areas for the normal tea, coffee, water and lemonade. It is very open and roomy. We sat down to lunch and immediately a waiter was there to offer tea or coffee. We were told that the tables and chairs had only arrived overnight and therefore this cruise was the first cruise with the new furniture.

We were not aware of any other major changes, except new flat screen TV’s in the stateroom and I think it was new taps in the bathroom.

I didn’t come across any problems on the ship maintenance wise. Yes, there is areas of rust, yes they were continually doing maintenance. I didn’t feel that it was looking tired.

Power points in the stateroom. One Australian power point behind TV and one US power point at desk. We found towards the end of the cruise the power point (US) under the little shelf near the bathroom door. This is our fourth cruise on this type of ship and the first time we have noticed it. I only saw it one day when sitting on the chair near the TV and looking towards the bathroom. So take a US/AUD adaptor and use this one for charging ipads and phones, or for using CPAP machines.

CREW

Our Room Stewardess was Ramona, and we think she was the best we have had. She came and introduced herself as soon as we came back from lunch, brought us a sharps container for my husband’s insulin needles and we told her that we like ice in our room everyday and that we always go to breakfast by 7am. When we came back from breakfast each day, our room was immaculate and bathroom tidy.

When having buffet lunch on the first day, the waiter asked our Table number at night and then brought over the assistant waiter we would be having at night. I know this was only a coincidence that he was working in the same area. But we sat in his area as we liked the spot near the window best for all breakfasts, so had a wonderful rapport with him of an evening and again of a morning. His name is Bonn and together with Mark they made a really great team. They had been mates since school and started on Princess together and share a cabin together. They were both delightful and very entertaining.

We felt the crew on the whole ship seemed to be a happy crew and always smiling and Good Morning or Good Afternoon. I feel a lot of this can be put down to the Captain who was also very friendly. Captain Carlo Servillo.

ENTERTAINMENT

We attended most shows and as we were on late sitting for dinner, it was the 6.15pm show and then the 9.45pm show. The Cruise Director was Mark Turner and we have had him before on Sun Princess. We really liked him then and now even more so. He was always outside the Theatre Doors after the show of an evening in case anyone wanted to know anything. The Princess Singers and Dancers were very good and most of the guest artists were good. The US comedian left a lot to be desired and when he put on an R rated show in the Vista lounge, we and most of the passengers decided not to go. I understand a lot also walked out. We didn’t attend any Trivia or Bingo so can not comment.

PORTS

Brisbane, Alotou, Doini Island, Kiriwina Island and Rabaul. We had to give Honiara a miss because of Cyclone Raquel heading in that directions so we retraced our steps calling by Alatou again to drop off the reef pilot and a New Guinea Customs officer. PNG is still very much a third world country. The people are absolutely delightful and very happy to see the cruise ships and the passengers. When leaving Alotou they danced on the wharf for nearly one and half hour. As we pulled out they were calling out Aussie, Aussie, Aussie and of course we responded with Oi, Oi, Oi. This went on until we were out of hearing. They also were yelling out, thank you for coming. It was a highlight of the day in Alotou. Doini Island was a complete surprise. Villagers from numerous islands around came across at 6am in the morning and set up their places and selling their souveniers, etc. There must have been several hundred there in their groups of pre-schools, schools, church groups, all dressed in costume and beautiful singing. You just kept walking along through the trees and kept looking at the different groups and their beautiful smiling faces. All raising money for their various groups. At Kiriwina Island it was a different atmosphere with a lot of men sitting along the road. I have never seen so many yams. I don’t know how they thought we would be buying yams. Rabaul of course is very dusty and does not really have a town centre as such any more. Only the native market and 2 supermarkets. The main town at Rabaul is now Kokopo which is 30 minutes drive away. At each of these ports it was very hot and humid.

After leaving Rabaul and not going to Honiara, the Captain announced we would be doing some scenic cruising past the Witu Islands. One such Island is Garove Island. This is an extinct volcano where part of the eastern wall had collapsed hundreds of years ago and the sea entered. We arrived there at about 8.00 am in the morning and stayed in position inside the crater for 2 hours. It was absolutely magic and so serene. Apparently during the war the Germans used this crater as a very safe, secure and hidden harbour. Now there is a Catholic Mission on the headland as you enter and a couple of small villages inside. Of course, when the ship entered a canoe with 2 young natives came out very tentatively to see what was going on. Gradually others ventured out and in the end on our side of the ship (port) there were 7 canoes. Even though there was an announcement about not throwing things overboard in case they got caught in engines passengers were still doing this. Particularly with things that would float. Apples, oranges, cans of coke or lemonade. T-shirts, caps and even those that still had PNG Kina left, put it in plastic bags and threw overboard. One passenger bravely threw over a Princess beach towel and another a plastic breakfast bowl. The natives were very athletic with their catching and diving and were cheered on by all onlookers on their balconies and Deck 7. All in all it was a totally unexpected moment enjoyed by all.

The natives in all places were very friendly and pleased to see the ships and passengers. The children were absolutely delightful.

Because of no Honiara, we then had 5 sea days before arriving back in Sydney and disembarking.

TENDERING

Wow, what a problem was had at Doini Island. We were lucky we were not caught up in it. We went ashore early and were back on board by lunch. Because the weather was a bit rainy and cloudy early most passengers left it til nearer lunch before going to the MDR for their tender tickets. We went as soon as we saw there was a break in the weather and the sun came out. Doini Island can only accommodate 1 tender at a time and towards the middle of the day you had to wait up to 2 hours for a tender. At 3 pm onwards it was apparently impossible to get back and the queues were very long. To make matters worse one passenger coming over was sick on the tender and it had to be sent back empty and thoroughly cleaned before it went back in service. Also the seas became rough and they were only allowing the tenders to be filled 50% for safety reasons. People had to wait on Doini Island for up to 3 hours to get a tender back. There was a bar there and a band playing and seating. Some sat and watched and read, others stood in line and were furious. Mark Turner spoke about it in the theatre that night and apologised and said he was available after if anyone wanted to offload on to him their thoughts.

The next day at Kiriwina Island, no problem at all as passengers were determined not to get caught up later in the morning and it was more spaced out. As well at Kiriwina the tenders could land both sides of the wharf and so it was twice as fast.

DISEMBARKATION

We were in one of the earlier groups for disembarkation. There didn’t seem to be any self walk-off like we had experienced before at OPT. Our time slot was 7.50am but we were called at about 7.45am. We went off and formed the rapidly lengthening queue to go through Customs. I couldn’t understand why they would only have 5 Customs desks for 2000 passengers. Basic mathematics would tell you it was going to build up. We got through in half an hour and collected our cases and walked out. We rang our shuttle and was told that the other 2 passengers on our shuttle were on a 8.30am group. At 8.15am our shuttle rang again to inform us that all groups on board had ceased getting off because off the build up and had to wait until it had cleared. Our shuttle luckily had an earlier bus and we were given the opportunity of going to Penrith via Parramatta which we took. I don’t know what happened after this. Our shuttle gave us excellent service, keeping us informed all the time, both going and returning.

OVERALL

We had a wonderful time and none of the problems that some experienced affected us. I would like to mention that one of the talks given on board was by the future cruise manager, Celia, and was excellent. It was called “Be a Savvy Cruiser” and was most informative. Even though we have cruised several times and have purchased Future Cruise Credits, there was still things we learnt.

[MicCanberra]

Thank you for taking the time to do the review and posting it.:D

[aussielil]

Loved your review, I am thinking of booking this cruise. Many thanks for taking the time to write it. cheers

[icat2000]

Thanks for a great review. PNG cruise is on my bucket list to do.

[By The Bay]

Thanks for your detailed review. Dawn was our first Princess ship and so we have a special interest in her. Looking forward to our next cruise on Dawn.;)

[aussielozzie18]

Interesting review. Thank you for sharing details of your cruise with us.

[Bodogbodog]

Thank you for your review - it was very informative and comprehensive. Sounds like some great ports

[erewhon]

Thank you for taking time to write your interesting review.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Thanks, Grey Nomad. We going on Dawn next month so good to hear she is looking great.

[Kiwi Kruzer]

Thank you for the great review.

I wholeheartily agree with this..

 

We felt the crew on the whole ship seemed to be a happy crew and always smiling and Good Morning or Good Afternoon. I feel a lot of this can be put down to the Captain who was also very friendly. Captain Carlo Servillo.

[madfisher]

Thanks for the review Grey Nomad. Friends of ours from Penrith were on the same cruise.

Unlike you they didn't enjoy the trip. We are sailing on her in Sept to Fiji so we will make our own judgements. Mind you we haven't had a bad cruise yet. Life is what you make of it.

[Kinkacruiser]

Thanks for posting, Max. I enjoyed the read very much. You may have talked me into a return trip to PNG. Last time we only visited Rabaul and the Tavurvur volcano. The beautiful mask I bought there is a constant reminder of that cruises' experiences.

[bubbles2014]

Thank you for the great review.

I wholeheartily agree with this..

 

Agree if the crew are happy so are the passengers :)

[Grey Nomad]

mad fisher, did your friends not like the cruise or not like the ports. If it was only the ports I can understand that because there was not a lot there and it was quite hot and humid. I know a lot of passengers felt that the Princess tours were not value for money. We felt the people more than made up for it but if they did a tour maybe they did not see what we saw.

[Grey Nomad]

we just felt we did not come across any crew member who was not happy to be on Dawn Princess. It did make a difference to how we felt on board.

[Sailaway John]

Thank you for a good review.

Both wife and I are booked on this cruise for the 19th of May, 2016.

Anything else you can think of that would help would be appreciated.

Once again

Thank you.

John & Eileen

[madfisher]

Max your review was great and only goes to show that the crew are a very important part of how you enjoy your cruise. My friends had issues that are more in keeping with attitude than services on board. As I said before, no such thing as a bad cruise. I'm hooked as are many others, even my mate from Penrith and they do about 3 a year. we were too late to book that cruise but will do it later.

[Grey Nomad]

Sailaway John, my only other comments would be ... don't miss watching the dancing at sailaway on the wharfs. It was very good. Also do remember that these people do not live in long established cruise ports like you find in Fiji or

Vanuatu. We just hope that their natural friendliness and happiness at seeing the passengers does not disappear. If you get the opportunity at Alotau or Rabaul to have a look around by private tour or taxi, take it. There are plenty of these on the wharf. As I think I said previously, not a lot there except a big warm welcome and beautiful dancing.

[Greensteam]

Thanks for your review Grey Nomad. My cruise group are doing the November NZ cruise. Looking forward to our trip on Dawn Princess. It will be our first on this cruise line.