Is Dawn Princess really that bad??

[martinpe1976]

We are considering Dawn Princess from Perth to Singapore in May this year as we love the itinerary but we are hesitant due to the reviews... is it really that bad? We have sailed on Carnival and Royal before and loved it. Will we be dissapointed? Comments like 'nursing home' and 'falling apart' are turning us off. BTW we have a 10 year old coming with us and we all love the fun atomosphere and activities included in cruising. Thanks in advance :)

[Cruise ship fan]

I haven't been on the Dawn specifically but I couldn't see it being too different from its sisters the sea and sun princess both of which I have been on. For the other passengers princess usually do get an older generation of people on board but it all depends on the cruise you take, although that only means on the older cruises there are less people in there 20s and younger. Whereas Carnival and Royal usually get a big chunk of that market. Although we have been on princess cruises when the average age is much younger then Carnival cruises we have done. So saying nursing home is a horrible term to use and could be applied to any ship if the dates and itinerary only attract older crowds. Also for activities it all depends on the cruise director. We have had good and bad ones on every ship and has no connection to the individual ship. We have had one that only did the bare bones on a princess cruise while another who had big activities going all the time. We have had the same with royal, p&o, Carnival and ncl. There really is no connection between ship and it's activities, only cruise director and activities.

 

As for falling apart. I wouldn't be surprised if the ship is in worse then normal condition due to the ships transfer to P&O (as it is going for a massive dry dock they will reduce repairs on things which are about to be thrown out), however that condition will not be as bad as the reviews make it out to be as at the end of the day it is still their ship and they need to make sure the passengers on board have a good time, are safe and will cruise with them again.

 

 

 

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[cheznandy]

We are considering Dawn Princess from Perth to Singapore in May this year as we love the itinerary but we are hesitant due to the reviews... is it really that bad? We have sailed on Carnival and Royal before and loved it. Will we be dissapointed? Comments like 'nursing home' and 'falling apart' are turning us off. BTW we have a 10 year old coming with us and we all love the fun atomosphere and activities included in cruising. Thanks in advance :)

 

Hi there,

 

We have cruised on the Dawn Princess a few, our last being April last year to PNG. We really enjoyed our cruise and thought the Dawn Princess was in good shape, other than a few of the chairs in public areas.

 

If you are used to water slides/rock climbing walls etc, yes you may be disappointed, although I have heard the kids clubs are great.

 

My only concern for you is that I think that is it's last cruise as Dawn Princess and is heading to Singapore to be P&Oised.......I have heard that sometimes they start to disassemble things and remove things on the way, there may be some changes.......but in saying that it me be a fabulous cruise, with celebrations etc. The Dawn Princess is a special ship to the staff and Captains and I am sure there will be a few sad to see it go.

 

You will have to weigh up the itinerary with the extras like entertainment you may miss out on.

 

Good luck

[MicCanberra]

We are considering Dawn Princess from Perth to Singapore in May this year as we love the itinerary but we are hesitant due to the reviews... is it really that bad? We have sailed on Carnival and Royal before and loved it. Will we be dissapointed? Comments like 'nursing home' and 'falling apart' are turning us off. BTW we have a 10 year old coming with us and we all love the fun atomosphere and activities included in cruising. Thanks in advance :)

 

Welcome to cruise critic.:D

 

The fact it has been moved on (to P&O) and this is the last cruise for Princess needs to be taken into account, but I am sure the cruise will be what you make of it.

[sewgood]

I was on her for 5 days in November last year and the only thing that I saw that needed attention was a leaking ceiling at the top of the stairs in the atrium. There was a bucket underneath to catch the drips. The area was roped off and you just walked around it.

It in no way distracted me from enjoying our cruise. But little things like that aren't going to worry me but some people they do.

I did hear from one other cruiser that they had a water leak in their cabin and had to be moved.

I tend to talk to a lot of people on a cruise and I only heard that one complaint.

The food was great and there was plently to do and lots of films to see as we were on the Travelling Film Festival cruise.

They still had the pizza place on deck 8 which would be good to take your child to. Big kids enjoy a meal there too. :D

[ozziepost]

Dear old Aunty Dawn I'll miss her each trip was like reading a great book that you didn't want to put down. We have done two 13 night NZ, 1 20 night PNG and the 26 night treasures of Asia cruise on the Dawn and loved them all.

 

 

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Edited January 20, 2017 by ozziepost

[TracyTracy1]

I'm going on this sailing in May. I did the Sun Princess Xmas/New Year cruise in Dec 2015 & as both ships are exactly the same. I can tell you, the Sun was fine. and I'm sure the Dawn will be too.

 

I think the Dawn is actually a bit younger than the Sun and had a refurb around the same time as the Sun. Look online.

 

I was travelling alone and the passengers were a diverse mix of people. I made a lovely bunch of new friends who were a variety of ages (I'm 50).

 

 

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[cheznandy]

I'm going on this sailing in May. I did the Sun Princess Xmas/New Year cruise in Dec 2015 & as both ships are exactly the same. I can tell you, the Sun was fine. and I'm sure the Dawn will be too.

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They are the same design......but the Dawn Princess does not have the new bedding, on demand TV, Curtis Stone Share Restaurant, IC 24 hr cafe.

I would prefer the Pizza place on Dawn than Curtis Stone in that location, at least is is free!!

 

Some minor differences, I would be more concerned about the type of entertainment the OP has said he has enjoyed on RCL and Carnival, they are large "in your face" ships with lots of pools and activites.

 

Have a fabulous time on the cruise, I am envious, Dawn Princess was our first ever Princess cruise, and I thought she was amazing:)

Edited January 20, 2017 by cheznandy

[The_Big_M]

Although I prefer the pizza restaurant, overall I much prefer the Sun Princess over Dawn Princess.

 

However, as for this cruise, I would expect this cruise to have quite an old crowd. I doubt there will be many others in kids club. For a 10 year old, without being a busy holiday cruise with other kids, I wouldn't think it a great choice. They have some craft activities, like make your own t-shirt and similar, but it's not going to be a ball of fun. It also doesn't have the shipboard activities that Carnival and RCL have, with both of those marketing more to families with children.

[Aus Traveller]

I don't believe the ship is "falling apart".

 

I think the key points you need to consider are that the cruise is not in school holidays so there will not be a lot of children. In addition, a one-way cruise that requires a flight home will not attract a lot of families. There are likely to be some young couples and also a lot of older couples.

[Vader1111]

I was on the Dawn 12 months ago.

 

Back then there were multiple leaks coming from the ceiling in the Wheelhouse Bar. My biggest issue was the air conditioning, which seemed to be set to "sauna", particularly in the cabin, dining room and buffet. It also broke down and dumped some sort of liquid overboard on the first night out of Sydney, coming to a complete halt for an hour or so before they fixed the problem.

 

Apparently it's been a maintenance nightmare for them ever since it was delivered, which is probably why it's being transferred to P&O. It was built in a different shipyard to the Sun and Sea Princess, so they don't share the same gremlins. Put bluntly, the Dawn Princess is a lemon.

 

I wouldn't sail on her again, but your mileage may vary.

Edited January 20, 2017 by Vader1111

[Aussieflyer]

We had a cousin from Canada who did the circumnavigation on Dawn last year and was actually quite shocked at how poor the ship was compared with other Princess ships he had sailed on. I did a short cruise on her a few years ago and was not blown away at all. It certainly won't have the fun activities for a 10 year old IMO. YMMV.

[LokiPoki]

I was on her for a South Pacific cruise in May last year, will be on again in March for a round NZ. No real problems - slow lifts (which I think would probably be an issue on any ship?), she looks a wee bit old and tired in some areas - e.g. carpets a little worn in spots, but she's certainly not "falling apart". It is true that the majority of passengers seem to be in the older age bracket - but depends on what your preferred activity style is. I'm early 30s but not into the party atmosphere or almost theme park type stuff - so it suits me well.

[Vader1111]

I was on her for a South Pacific cruise in May last year, will be on again in March for a round NZ. No real problems - slow lifts (which I think would probably be an issue on any ship?), she looks a wee bit old and tired in some areas - e.g. carpets a little worn in spots, but she's certainly not "falling apart". It is true that the majority of passengers seem to be in the older age bracket - but depends on what your preferred activity style is. I'm early 30s but not into the party atmosphere or almost theme park type stuff - so it suits me well.

Good call on the slow lifts, much slower than most other ships - and frequently broken down on the cruise I did on her.

[LokiPoki]

Good call on the slow lifts, much slower than most other ships - and frequently broken down on the cruise I did on her.

 

We didn't have any problem with lifts broken down that I recall - but certainly I found the speed (or lack thereof) frustrating...I think that's probably in part due to the number of older passengers with health and/or mobility problems that make it difficult for them to use stairs too, but it was bad enough at one stage that I started to contemplate how I could bounce my wheelchair down the stairs :eek:

[Vader1111]

We didn't have any problem with lifts broken down that I recall - but certainly I found the speed (or lack thereof) frustrating...I think that's probably in part due to the number of older passengers with health and/or mobility problems that make it difficult for them to use stairs too, but it was bad enough at one stage that I started to contemplate how I could bounce my wheelchair down the stairs :eek:

We had problems with at least 3 of the lifts..

 

One lift was out of action for the entire 12 day cruise. It was stuck on the top deck, and never moved once.

 

Another broke down on a regular basis, and was almost invariably out of action during the afternoon peak hour when everyone was returning to the ship.

 

The third was even more curious. It went up and down, albeit slowly (like all of the Dawn's lifts). However, when it arrived and opened the doors, it then sat there and refused to close the doors for at least 2-3 minutes. Eventually the doors would close, the lift would move to the next floor, and the whole sequence repeated itself.

 

And that was only the forward set of lifts... The aft set were probably just as bad, but I rarely used them as my cabin was located in the bow of the ship.

[Sportfisher]

Hi all

We did a two week cruise around NZ on the Dawn from Sydney last month.

From our perspective everything worked. No leaks. No funny smells. Good staff. All in all it was an enjoyable ship with less problems than we have experienced on the other Sun class ships.

 

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[MicCanberra]

Hi all

We did a two week cruise around NZ on the Dawn from Sydney last month.

From our perspective everything worked. No leaks. No funny smells. Good staff. All in all it was an enjoyable ship with less problems than we have experienced on the other Sun class ships.

 

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Nice one, Glad everything worked out well.:D

[kjets]

I was on her for 5 days in November last year and the only thing that I saw that needed attention was a leaking ceiling at the top of the stairs in the atrium. There was a bucket underneath to catch the drips. The area was roped off and you just walked around it.

It in no way distracted me from enjoying our cruise. But little things like that aren't going to worry me but some people they do.

I did hear from one other cruiser that they had a water leak in their cabin and had to be moved.

I tend to talk to a lot of people on a cruise and I only heard that one complaint.

The food was great and there was plently to do and lots of films to see as we were on the Travelling Film Festival cruise.

They still had the pizza place on deck 8 which would be good to take your child to. Big kids enjoy a meal there too. :D

That leak in at the top of the stairs in the atrium was there in June last year too.

My Mum had an inside cabin (D607) and it took three days for them to fix the air conditioner. It was freezing in her cabin! This affected about 10 cabins.

We thought Dawn was still lovely. The beds were very comfortable, the food was wonderful, and the crew delightful.

As someone else has said, your cruise will be what you make it! Hope you have a wonderful time.

It will be sad to see her to leave the Princess fleet!

[bazshirl2]

That leak in at the top of the stairs in the atrium was there in June last year too.

My Mum had an inside cabin (D607) and it took three days for them to fix the air conditioner. It was freezing in her cabin! This affected about 10 cabins.

We thought Dawn was still lovely. The beds were very comfortable, the food was wonderful, and the crew delightful.

As someone else has said, your cruise will be what you make it! Hope you have a wonderful time.

It will be sad to see her to leave the Princess fleet!

 

Am sorry to see the Dawn leave Princess having enjoyed many great cruises on her.

Agree a cruise is what you make of it and if you want a great time you will despite the gremlins that come with cruise ships.:)

[Kiwi Kruzer]

That leak in at the top of the stairs in the atrium was there in June last year too.

My Mum had an inside cabin (D607) and it took three days for them to fix the air conditioner. It was freezing in her cabin! This affected about 10 cabins.

We thought Dawn was still lovely. The beds were very comfortable, the food was wonderful, and the crew delightful.

As someone else has said, your cruise will be what you make it! Hope you have a wonderful time.

It will be sad to see her to leave the Princess fleet!

 

I dont know if its the same leak...(I hope not) , but when we did Around Australia on Dawn when she first came to Australia in 2008 , there was a leak at the top of the Atrium and you had to watch where you were going as there was a bucket in the middle of the walkway.:eek:

[Aus Traveller]

I dont know if its the same leak...(I hope not) , but when we did Around Australia on Dawn when she first came to Australia in 2008 , there was a leak at the top of the Atrium and you had to watch where you were going as there was a bucket in the middle of the walkway.:eek:

We have been on the Dawn a few times since 2008 and there weren't any leaks in the atrium on any of these cruises. Maybe it has been an intermittent problem.

[OzKiwiJJ]

We were on her in August 2015 and there was a leak in the Atrium. Seems like an ongoing problem. I wonder if it will still be there after she's been P&Oised. :D

 

I did notice a few sofas were a bit saggy on that cruise but other than that she seemed in good condition. We really enjoyed our cruise on her. The espresso from the bar in the Atrium on deck 5 was the best I've ever had on a cruise, better than Sun's IC.

[Cruise ship fan]

Although I prefer the pizza restaurant, overall I much prefer the Sun Princess over Dawn Princess.

 

However, as for this cruise, I would expect this cruise to have quite an old crowd. I doubt there will be many others in kids club. For a 10 year old, without being a busy holiday cruise with other kids, I wouldn't think it a great choice. They have some craft activities, like make your own t-shirt and similar, but it's not going to be a ball of fun. It also doesn't have the shipboard activities that Carnival and RCL have, with both of those marketing more to families with children.

I have actually found Princess to have the better kids program. I always had more fun on Princess cruises, then the other lines, except P&O. The kids program is almost identical to P&O. That is from my experience and I have been regularly cruising since I was 10 (now 22). I always found the school holiday cruises to be less enjoyable as a kid, as it was always harder to do activities and I spent more time waiting and watching other kids doing activities. Whereas when there were less kids I got more time doing the activities. The only except I have had to this was on board NCL, where half the time I was the only one showing up to activities and the staff didn't bother opening up the club, so I could even go and have fun in there. So there was no kids club the entire cruise. One benefit was that when they tried to run an activity that involved a prize I got the prize by default and some of them were fairly decent (one was a wireless speaker which I got 10 years ago and the batteries that came with it still work).

 

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Edited January 24, 2017 by Cruise ship fan

[Amaroo Andrew]

We did a Hawaiian cruise on Dawn Princess in 2010 and our favourite place to soak up some rays and have a cold drink was the Seaview Bar down aft on Lido Deck. The bar had a storage locker/room on the port side and at some stage the door to it had been damaged by a gust of wind which meant it didn't close properly. Various methods were used by the bar staff to try and keep it closed, usually unsuccessfully, with it gently opening and closing with the ship's movement on the seas.

Fast forward to 2016 and we are on Dawn again to do a Fiji cruise and that same door still had the same problem it had six years ago. It is all about having the expertise and desire to maintain things properly. The Staff Captains who have the responsibility of running the ship probably turn over every six months resulting in no long term pride in 'their' ship and there probably isn't a big maintenance allocation. But give them a scraper, some sandpaper and a pot of varnish or a paintbrush and paint and away they go.

When the old girl goes into the drydock at Singapore all the new added features like updated public areas and specialty (pay for) features will be installed but the rest of the ship will get a Dulux overhaul. We still love the Sun class ships and both cruises on Dawn were terrific despite the odd minor issues that come with her age and lack of maintenance.