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Dawn Cruise Notes & Pic's Nov 9-20...If you're interested

catmand

By catmand,
in Princess Cruises

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catmand

catmand

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Dawn Princess November 9 through 20, 2006 round trip San Francisco-Mexico.

This was my third cruise with Princess, Star and Sapphire. We have sailed Celebrity three times and NCL once.

Passenger capacity on Dawn is listed at 1,950, we arrived at pier 35 close to 1 PM and it looked like 1,900 others did too. Folks who arrived around 11 AM were checked in and on the ship in about 10 minutes. It was 2 hours for me I was onboard around 3, found my cabin, D310 an inside on deck 8 near mid ship. This was my first cruise without Wanda and first inside, which was fine. There was plenty of room, more than enough storage and closet space. It has been noted many times to try and get a cabin on a deck with cabins above and below. This was a guaranty booking, I was OK but a short distance aft the deck was vibrating with the sound from the Wheelhouse bar, below. I spoke to some folks who were over the bar and they REALLY heard everything until late.

Muster drill was at 3:15; we were scheduled out at 4. Around 4:20 Captain William Kent informed us there was a problem with a "check engine light" and we would be off as soon as it was rectified, which it was about 5:15. We were under the Golden Gate close to 6 and on our way.

Dawn was built in 1997 so now is 9 year old. If someone told me she was a year I would have no reason to think otherwise. The ONLY area I saw anything resembling age was a little of the water lines at the 2 main pools and a bit of the grout lines. The ship is beautiful. Everything in the cabin sparkled. Since our last cruise with Princess was in 04 and that was Sapphire I have no idea when the bedding was upgraded on Dawn? Pillows were soft feather types; sheets nice cotton and lovely comforters on the beds were terrific when the temperature in the cabin was "meat locker," which was between 2 and 5 every afternoon.

What follows is obviously subjective; my opinions and observations of this one cruise. I thought the quality of food in the buffet rivaled any served in the dining room. A sample of one evening, shrimp in a light scampi sauce, crab cakes and beef tenderloin so tender you actually could cut it with a fork. Each night a couple of the items on the main menu were also served in the buffet. I met friends in the main dining room one evening, ate by myself another. Took advantage of the evening buffet several times. I ordered from room service a few times, both from the r.s. menu and on formal night from the main dining room menu. As has been mentioned many times, when ordering from room service be sure to ask for everything you may want, like mayo, salt, mustard etc. or cream for your coffee. It may also be a good idea to tell the QUANTITY as they insisted on sending huge quantities of everything, I got 15 packets of salt one evening.

I think the desserts on Princess ships are the best I’ve had, anywhere. I was unable to walk anywhere near them without stopping and was afraid I may eat so many I would be unable to walk, period.

An interesting note; I took a pedometer and measuered the distance walked excluding any morning type excercise (in other words just around the ship) Average distance was 4.3 miles per day. (means more desserts)

I didn’t eat in La Scala pizzeria it was just aft of my cabin, I walked through it many times and it was always pretty crowded. It looked and smelled great and I was told it was. I also passed on Sterling Steak House mainly because I didn't want to waste part of a 23 oz. porterhouse!

The entertainment was varied, plentiful and mostly enjoyable. Each evening offered many different things to do or watch. I was especially impressed with the free in room entertainment. There were four different relatively new movies shown each day. Also many documentaries, popular TV shows as well as live sports. Sunday had two football games and MNF on ESPN. I should also mention the early shows in the Princess Theater were all SRO. I went to one 30 minutes early and it was already packed. There was no problem with late shows.

Something that was offered, a virtual bridge tour. Two bridge officers using computer generated slides and graphics did a 45-minute presentation in the Princess Theater. They explained the functions of the different computers and officers of the bridge, how the ship operates, and various electrical and mechanical procedures. There was a question and answer period as well. They said this was done because of the many inquiries about bridge tours. Some of this went over my head but the majority of the info was fascinating. I wish I’d taken notes as I THINK they said the ship gets 9 feet per gallon of diesel fuel?

One afternoon I was in the buffet. A nice selection of cookies, cakes, and sandwiches were displayed. I watched as a man next to me reached out, lifted the top layer of bread off a sandwich, inspected the contents and I guess decided it was not to his liking so then replaced the bread and walked away! I wanted to scream at and/or smack him but decided not to create a scene. I picked up the TONGS and moved his finger contaminated food out of the display, put it in a napkin and tossed it. I enjoy the buffet. I try not to think of what may have been touched or hacked on. Does anyone have any idea just what the HELL is wrong with people that do these sort of things?

And now a word from our sponsor. You can buy a coffee card for $27.40 (or was it 27.60?) which entitles you to 15 specialty coffee drinks. There are several priced at 2 dollars so a card will save you a few bucks. I bought one as it made it easier, not having to deal with the receipts etc. I didn’t mind the charge for a Latte’ as it takes some time to make but there is now a charge of one dollar for any regular brewed coffee ordered at a bar. I thought the coffee in the buffet was really awful. Maybe my imagination but I thought room service coffee was better?

For those that want to "keep in touch" aboard ship you can rent walkie-talkies for a nominal charge. There is a "for fee" ice cream place near the main pool. They sell soft ice cream for a buck and a half, milk shakes and sundaes priced to three-fifty.

Every afternoon from 3 to 4 or 5? There is an ice cream bar set up in the Horizon Court. Three assorted flavors and lots of toppings, free.

Something new? Dawn now has a newly trained air brush tattoo artist, Bree. You can have a tattoo "painted" on. They last around a week and cost between $7.95 and $19.95 depending on size, all black "ink." You can add various colors for $2.00 each.

There are also "gimmicky" drink glasses and various containers for sale.

I mention just some of the items for sale on the ship, there are more. These "extras" don't bother me as no one is hounding me to buy anything and there are lots of folks who enjoy the "fun things." I think the basic cruise experience provided is well worth the price and if these extra things help keep the base price down, that's fine with me.

While I realize we never know who may be reading these and I take the chance of upsetting someone, so be it. There was a couple on board who on night one were dressed in semi matching western outfits, black with matching cowboy hats. The man had a string tie and leather jacket as well as the hat. For the next eleven days and nights I saw this man who was without the jacket but NEVER without the hat. There is a sign outside the main dining rooms, please, no shorts t-shirts or hats. I am guessing he took off the hat for dinner. I did walk by one of the hot tubs around 11 one night and saw the couple, honest..........he was wearing the hat! I did not look real close as I was afraid that may have been ALL he was wearing.

I know I’ve forgotten things and will be happy to answer any questions. After two years it was a pleasure to sail again with Princess. It was a wonderful cruise, Chuck

I just loaded many pictures of the ship, cabin, ports etc.......NO PEOPLE.:)

And a little hint about debarkation, If you can do the self help (taking your own luggage off) you can get off as the first group called.

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mii

mii

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Hey Chuck my friend, good pics and a great review. That tattoo thing must be new as you know I was on the Coral this past May and did not see any tattoo person.

 

Again a great and thorough review. Thanks

 

Marilyn

 

P.S. Pat read the review and we looked at the pics together.

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catmand

catmand

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Thanks for all the nice comments. I should answer the tattoo question, NO I did NOT get one. Actually I asked Bree if she could take one off as I have a large snake wrapped around a couple of roses (don't ask) on my left arm I would just as soon not see.

Perky............no, this was my third trip down so I just hung out on the ship. One of the times with my wife we did a tequila factory and old church tour in Puerto Vallarta. She enjoyed the church but the bus ride put me to sleep (OK, maybe it was the tequila tasting, guess we should have gone there last). It was all right, especially if you are interested in buying tequila.

I have also ridden horses with Randi in Mazatlan. She is a real kick and that is a bunch of fun. I did have one problem, one of her helpers had to grab my ass and shove when I was attempting to get on the horse, but he was nice about it. I have some pictures of the ride in our Celebrity Mercury album.

If you haven't yet seen the review by JLP20 take a look as they go into the ports.

Chuck..........ps: yes, tatoo was brand new, just got out of "training."

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seattlekckckc

seattlekckckc

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Hello! We were on board with you, and I agree with your review wholeheartly!

 

We enjoyed the buffet, and I was ESPECIALLY impressed with the dessert bar! My dh and I joked about how I was responsible for it, since on my last 15 cruises with Princess (this was #25), I have stated on my evaluation form that they need to step up the buffet desserts. I always tell them they should use the closed grill area to serve desserts to rival the dining room. I thought the bar they had at the back of the buffet did a good job of that! I am sure my comments had nothing to do with the change, but I think it shows they DO listen!

 

I also ate in the dining room 2 times, and liked it both times. We didnt pack formal wear, and decided to go ultra casual this year. We really enjoyed La Scala, the Pizzaria.

 

You are right about the programs in the rooms, GREAT selection! Better than I remember ever before. I did drive me a little nuts that the shows didnt match the guide, but not a big deal. ~Very~ impressed with the showing of "An inconvienent Truth" and the "Enron - the Smartest guys in the room" documentaries. The Princess channel is normally very hit and miss, this cruise there was something always playing.

 

We had an inside on Emerald deck, I liked the location of my room (E343). The inside showers on the ship are pretty generous in size, larger that even a balcony shower on the newer ships.

 

Didnt do any shows, I had already seen all of those. We liked both of the comedians, they were funny.

 

We were some of the people on in 10 minutes. Very fast embarkation. MISERABLE disembarkation! We were in the Self Help group, as we had a kind of early flight. I hated how they did the disembarkation. Having the customs in the Vista lounge was fine, very easy. But SO many people did the self help (my estimate is about 500, as they had 100+ in each group there were 4 groups called). Well, the problem is, alot of the people doing this were not even close to be able to take there bags off by themselves. The ramp was pretty steep, and I even had trouble getting my rolling bag down with out losing control of it - and I can bench press 120 pounds and leg press 455 pounds in the weight room - it was tough holding it back on the ramp, even as a pretty strong girl. And then, the bottom of the ramp was a mess with people stopping and asking for porters, who were behind a gate since they cant help this group. Then, people were swimming upstream to help out they group who were standed on the ramp - the one that sticks in my mind is a tottling little lady, probably about 90-95 years old, trying to struggle with her bag going down. She finally stopped (right in front of me), dropped her bag, and juist waiting for someone to get her. These are not to people who should be in the SELF HELP group! And then, to make it worse, princess called groups 1-2, and then 3-4 within 5 minutes of wach other. Major logjam. And THEn, not 5 minutes later, they started calling the red groups. Arrgg! We got in a argument with a lady you was mad that we were in a self help group after her, and that we were "cutting", even though our number had been called. More arrgg! PRINCESS, space the groups out more!

 

I do have a couple gripes, I mean, construtive comments.

 

~ The internet was raised to .50 a minute! I get it free, but for everyone else, I was hurting for them!

 

~The people in the hats drove me nuts as well! I know you are proud to be a cowboy, but for goodness sakes, take it OFF!

 

~ only 3 penny slots in the casino, and 2 of them were ALWAYS taken up by this one woman, not even really playing both, she had money in 2, but would only play one at a time until a big payout would take time to register, and then she would switch over. I also caught her lying to the slot person, and it kiond of made me mad!

 

~I went to the final bingo game to see if I would win the crystal ship, as advertised in the Patter. They didnt do the drawing, and I was not able to catch up the running cruise staff member as he left and disapperared into a back door. When I asked at the Pursers desk about who the winner was, or when it would be announced, the snipey guy at the desk told me, 'Maam, not ~everyone~ gets to win one, so you cant expect us to just give you one". O...K... thats not what I was asking for - I just want to make sure the drawing was done! I was particlarily intersted in knowing the outcome, as when we entered the internet cafe the first day of our cruise, all of the entries from the last cruise were still in place, so I guess they are not especially vigilant about the drawing. I won a chip in September on a 3 day cruise, so I know they have done the drawing in the past...hmmmm.

 

Great cruise, overall! Loved the ports, we did a Ranch with horseback riding in Mazatlan, DH did a botanical tour in Acapalco, and we did our FAVORITE tour we always do, Jungle Canopy Ziplinning in PV.

 

Casey

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davidt1968

davidt1968

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You said you arrived @ Pier 35. How did you get there? I'll be probably either drive to San Francisco or take Amtrak that drops off @ Pier 39 via bus. San Francisco does not sound like an easy port to me. I'm hoping to book the Alaska Cruise in May/2007. Thanks for any help. Also, does anyone know if there is any Park/Sail options with any hotels in San Francisco?

David

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mii

mii

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Pier 39 is an easy walk.

Thanks for the reviews. Where do I find the pictures? The link doesn't show up for me. Nancy

 

Nancy the link to the pics are in Catmand's profile. Just hit that and go to the appropriate link.

 

marilyn

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catmand

catmand

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http://community.webshots.com/user/catmand100

 

Nancy.................maybe you can't see my signature, it needs to be checked ON on the user CP? So, click on the link above for the pics.

David, this time a bus into SF was part of the package from the TA I used.....if you want to e-mail me put CC in the subject box and I can give you more info.......oh, you need to be able to see my signature..:D I usually have our daughter drive us in so don't worry about parking. There is a muni lot that is 15? a day now, we can get you that info if you need it. There is also a motel near the airport that gives you free parking and I will get that to you asap, gotta go to the kids soon for dinner. I would take the train if possible, LOTS less aggravation.

Casey, very funny.....I KNEW someone was going to comment on the hats. One night I ordered room service and watched three movies . I know lots of people think that's nuts on a cruise but my better half was at home...................it's too bad we couldn't have taken the "slot lady" and introduced her to the "food toucher." Every cruise we have been on always seems to have some rude people on it which is society in general, I guess. What made me a little nuts were the people who would get in the elevator (take up space) and laugh "oh, we want to go down but we'll just ride UP first."

I'll mention some of the movies that were on in the cabin:

Chronicles of Narnia, Fun with Dick and Jane, Casanova, HP and the Goblet of Fire, Wallace and Grommet Curse of the Were- Rabbit, Match Point, Cinderella Man, Munich, Syriana, King Kong, Capote just to name a few.

Thanks again for all the comments.................Chuck

 

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seattlekckckc

seattlekckckc

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The food toucher sounds disgusting! As a eater of the food, I am so glad you took it upon yourself to throw it out! I was sad the buffet never had the yummy pigs in a blanket, or hot dogs rolled in pastry as they know it. I checked every day, and I never saw it... :-(

 

We were feeling very industrious, and we took the BART to the cruise terminal! It was about an hour adventure and only cost up $13, rather than the estimated $60-70 cab ride from the Oakland airport. It was amazingly easy, and I would do it again in a heartbeat.

 

I am like you, I enjoy movies in my room! for me, that makes a vacation!

 

I ended up taking the stairs pretty much most of the time, and was annoyed by the people complaining about the slow, full elevators, and then when one came they would go down ONE floor! Hello! stairs people!

 

I loved the guide dogs on board! The "pet and greet" sessions were very nice, and so well attended!

 

Casey

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Faith77

Faith77

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After reading your review and enjoying your pics I'm really getting excited about my cruise on the Dawn Princess. I also live in the SF Bay Area so am real happy not to have to do the whole airport/shuttle bus thing.

 

It was really good to hear about all the casual dining/entertainment options. Usually I enjoy the dining room most nights but it sounds like there are good alternatives. Wish there were more cruising possibilities in our neck of the woods.

 

Faith

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catmand

catmand

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Cat - great pictures of beautiful Dawn Princess - thanks for sharing.

 

Thanks, I know you are a great fan of Regal..........also see you have sailed Dawn, maybe she will be a good replacement?

Casey, I've wondered why more people don't look into and use BART, we did on a short 2 night cruise last year. As we were walking back to the station we began talking about using it again for what was going to be our next cruise. After deciding to use it we remembered we were leaving out of San Pedro. I agree about BART, pack less and use it more. I hope you guys are not getting washed away. I also want to thank you for mentioning the Doggies, as I forgot.

There were a dozen guide dogs on board, so very interesting. Two different times we were able to spend an hour meeting the dogs and talking with their partners. After the "people" hour the dogs were given a "play time" and chased each other around for a while.

Faith (and Jim) I also wish we had more opportunities to cruise out of here. I was very sad to hear Princess was pulling out and ending the Mexico cruises next year.

Chris if you happen to stop back here. Small world, my brother lives around the block from Crittion Hospital.....across the street from the high school.

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cruzinchris

cruzinchris

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Chris if you happen to stop back here. Small world, my brother lives around the block from Crittion Hospital.....across the street from the high school.

 

Catmand,

Crittenton is about 5 miles from me; I was born at the original Florence Crittenton Hospital in Detroit (1950). Ask your brother if he's familiar with Pine Trace Golf Club; I live in the subdivision adjacent to it.

 

DH looked at your photos this afternoon. We are so excited about our upcoming cruise on the Dawn!

Chris

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bdjam

bdjam

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Thanks, I know you are a great fan of Regal..........also see you have sailed Dawn, maybe she will be a good replacement?
Ahhh...no ship can replace Regal Princess in my affections. But I do appreciate the Sun Class vessels.
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