will I be dissapointed going from the Diamond to the Dawn?

[K&M2CRUZ]

We went to Alaska last year on the Diamond, what a beautiful ship, in Sept. and we booked this year in Aug. on the Dawn I was just wondering for those of you that have been on the Dawn what your experience was and if I will have any regrets going from a large ship to a smaller one?

[meemeec]

I wasn't in any way disappointed in the Dawn. I have sailed on the larger ships and found the Dawn equal to or better than her big cousins.

Her balconies are smaller that those on the Diamond and that might be a disappointment for some but that's a small thing compared to her other charms.

[cruiseryyc]

I would take the Dawn over a larger ship anyday. You won't be disappointed.

[TorontoTL]

I think the question of whether you will be disappointed or not depends on what your expectations are. The Dawn is a lovely ship, I love the size and layout. However, it doesn't quite have all the amenities of the larger ships, for example the covered pool area. It's cabins and most of the balconies are also smaller. But you do gain a certain ambience and level of service that you get from the smaller ship experience. I have enjoyed my cruises on the Sun class as much if not more than those on the Grand class ships.

[mrscruisequeen]

We went to Alaska last year on the Diamond, what a beautiful ship, in Sept. and we booked this year in Aug. on the Dawn I was just wondering for those of you that have been on the Dawn what your experience was and if I will have any regrets going from a large ship to a smaller one?

 

No, you won't be disappointed!! We were just on the Dawn last December and loved it.

 

I do prefer the size of the Diamond and the Sapphire only due to the aft swimming pool (my favorite spot) and they have more areas for the "games" such as trivia, etc.

 

My husband prefers the sun class ships. We have been on the Dawn and the Sun, and are sailing on the Sea this July to Norway, Iceland and then British Isles.:D

 

You will have a wonderful time on her...Jeanne

[Druke I]

Being a fan of the Sun class ships, I thinkgoing on the Dawn is a stepup from a Grand (modified) class ship.

[CL-JW]

We just got off Sapphire (Diamond's sister) and sailed Dawn last October. There are differences, but we loved both and will definitely cruise on Dawn Princess again.

[Toto2Kansas]

We are also fans of the smaller Sun Class ships and unless I had to sail on a Grand Class for some reason, I wouldn't go anymore.

Now, that being said, we have some friends that feel the opposite. They would rather stay home then sail on a Sun Class ship as they just feel those ships are too small and don't offer enough to interest them.

 

So, this will all depend on your likes and dislikes.

If you need 'Wowed' by spa decors around the pools, larger theaters, huge casinos, and walking from one end of the ship to the other and having to pack a lunch to get there, then you won't be impressed by the Sun Class ships.

But if you enjoy cruising, smaller crowds, running into the same passengers once in awhile and things in that order, you will love the sun class size of ship.

 

Only you will be able to figure out what you like about cruising and that will answer your question for you.

 

Best of Luck on whichever ship you sail on.

[K&M2CRUZ]

Thanks so much to everyone's replies, I feel much better now and I'm sure everything will be great just because we are cruising!!!!

[negc]

We cruised the Dawn twice (Alaska and Panama Canal) and just returned from the Sapphire Princess. Overall, I preferred many of the features offered on the Sapphire Princess (more pools, including one with a retractable roof), larger and better designed lounges and theater, and more and better placed elevators to take me from the lower decks up to the pool decks. Service on the Sapphire was excellent. Our experience on the Dawn differed dramatically between the Alaska (excellent) and Panama (poor to mediocre) sailings, and I think your opinion of the service will be colored by the crew that you encounter personally ( we know folks who were on our Sapphire cruise who felt that the crew was lacking in friendliness, while we were met with nothing but smiles and friendly greetings:confused:), so go figure.

While I liked the fact that the Dawn was more compact than the Sapphire _ just try to walk from the Lotus pool to the aft pool and you will realize how really long the ship is- :) I found the traffic patterns were poorly designed and it was often difficult to get from one point on the ship to another without using a circuitous route. The only place we encountered that situation on the Sapphire Princess was when we wanted to go from somewhere forward or midships on Deck 6 to the International Dining room since this required going up to Deck 7 and walking all the way aft and then going back down to Deck 6.