Live From the Dawn...

[cruzinchris]

The tenders on our side were lowered so we had noise all day. Sally

 

Are you port or starboard? We'll be on Caribe deck for our 1/25/07 cruise.

Chris

[cruiserforlife]

The Folkloric show had no dances from Mexico. Only scanty clad girls with long legs!

 

Sally...you're supposed to inform me about those shows,remember?;)

 

Really,a special thanks to both Cruisin Sal and ccrain for the "live" updates.You upcoming Dawn cruisers are getting spoiled with three...count 'em 3 "live" posters...adding to the excitement of your trip.

 

Today as ccrain mentioned,we took a catamaran to snorkle and we really missed both Charles & Judy.There was a question that the water temp would be too cold but honestly,it was just about perfect.I'm not sure you could really call it a snorkle trip however since most of it quickly became a whale watching trip as at least 3 migrating humpback whales were playing for our amusement no more than 75' from our boat...truly spectacular...and well worth the price of admission.WE also saw several schools of dolphins very close as well.Our host was Ernesto and I remember him from a previous snorkle trip back in 2003.Very frendly crew and with the bar open,drinks flowing,and good ol' Chuck Berry screaming from the speakers (Good Golly Miss Molly!:eek: ),the sail back to the ship was heavenly.I had some difficulty communicating with a foreign couple but after a few frozen margaritas,we were speaking the international language of "relaxation"...very nice indeed.

 

A bit of bad news however.We received a letter in our cabin a little over an hour ago informing us of a health advisory.It seems that they are seeing more and more cases of norovirus.As you know they are now serving you bread & butter in the dining rooms.Now it appears the Horizon Court will no longer be self serve instead Princess is introducing a "served buffet to contain possible spread of the virus"That is absolutely fine with me...if you saw half of the people using the buffet,you would want Princess to have control of the utensils and I for one applaud them for doing so.

 

I also couldn't have any olives in my martini tonight as they have also removed all the fruit from the bars.

 

I'm sure this is breaking the hearts of you guys shoveling snow somewhere knowing I had to suffer through an incomplete martini on a cruiseship...just thought I'd pass the info along though...;)

 

Tonight is Rack of Lamb (I think I just heard cruzinchris drool:D ),crab legs,and talapia...so I will have a hard time chosing just 2 entrees!:D

 

Time for dinner,then 2 more glorious relaxing days at sea.

 

CFL

[latitude 22]

I've been onboard the whole time with and have had quite the chuckle with both of your posts.

 

We have been using this cruise for rest and relaxation and have not wanted to have any kind social calendar except when is our next spa appt.

 

We originally were in Cabin D335 but that is over the Wheelhouse bar the loud noice kept us up every night until the Pursurs office graciously (I'm being serious not sarcastic) moved us to Caribe 7.. If you look at the deck plan this inside cabin appears smaller, BUT the storage space is 2x more!!!!!

 

Most unfortunately we are at a Code Red since day 3 of our cruise, I have confirmed this with 6 crew members and the staff is being VERY aggresive in confining the virus... the last figure I have is that 25 cabins have been quarantinned.

as mentioned above no olives, no treats in the patisserie for morning or afternoon. I am actually glad they've started with buffet being served because quite frankly people can be just gross. What you do in the privacy in your own kitchen is fine but please I don't want your germs. For goodness sake, I don't kiss my husband when he has a cold!

 

Someone asked about scrapebooking at sea, I have not seen that this cruise, though there are ceramics. I'm taking the Photoshop classes and have loved it! If you take 3 (25 dollars each) you get the 4th one free.

 

If you would like IM onboard go to Koolim.com for access......

 

The food has been delicious, the service excellent, there have been a few menu revisions (cutbacks) you wouldn't know this unless you had been with Princess for awhile. The biggy for me....no lobster thermidor and no pineapple with coconut ice cream flambe.

 

Oh, wanted to mention how we do our dining. We like a table for 2 for a variety of reasons. So, we always choose anytime dining. BUT we make a standing reservation with the Maitre D on the 1st day for the same time the whole cruise for 6 or 630pm. We also promise that if we aren't coming on a particular night that we will call and release the table. It's a win-win for everyone.

 

That's all for me....

 

May all of you have as good as weather that we have had, and the ability to completly exhale as I have had on this journey!

 

Bon Voyage!

[latitude 22]

meant to preview instead of post, but now I'm too tired to fix everything....

[cruzinchris]

Tonight is Rack of Lamb (I think I just heard cruzinchris drool:D ) CFL

 

Indeed, you did! :D Now I know that we will have only a light lunch at Cabo Wabo so we have room for that exquisite Princess Rack of Lamb at dinnertime. I figure we'll probably need a nap when we return to the ship after a few of those "Waboritas" we've read about, so we'll go to dinner later than usual. I will ask for a double order of the luscious lamb - nothing else on my plate - just like I did on the Star a few weeks ago.

 

Sorry to hear about the Norovirus. Please do your best to stay out of harm's way.

 

Thanks to all of you who have shared your cruise experience with those of us who are stuck at home for the time being...

 

Bon Voyage!

Chris

[Cruisin Sal]

We are in C635. This is one of the cabins that does not have a balcony . The noise problem comes from the aft tender davit. We had the "grinding noise" all day in port , about 2-3 times an hour (want to take a nap?) After we sailed and the life boats were secured, the noise continued. Phone call assured us that it would be over by 7pm. Called again before 8pm to complain. We returned from dinner about 9:45. Guess what? My DH got rather nasty on the phone and we got a good nights sleep. We are on the starboard side. I don't know if it is on the port side or if other people complain. When we call the pursers office, they know who we are!

The Captain said we would have rough sea during the night. The barf bags were out at the elevators. We got a good nights sleep.

At the buffet at 6am this morning it was still self-service.

[cruzinchris]

We are in C635. This is one of the cabins that does not have a balcony .

 

Cruisin Sal,

We will be starboard but more midship than your location. Sorry you've had to endure the distraction throughout the voyage.

 

The rough seas were predicted a few days ago. Stay safe.

Chris

[ccrain]

Bright, sunshine, a little chilly and a slight swell which promises to get much bigger as we go north. Lots of people have switched to the dining room since the buffet is no longer self serve. Might as well sit and get served.

 

Last night was the crab legs and rack of lamb dinner menu. One of our favorites. Judy's only complaint about the crab legs was that when they cut the legs in half, little bits of shell get into the meat, but other than that, she says they were perfectly cooked.

 

I had the rack of lamb. Since I only eat lamb on cruises, I have nothing to compare it to, but it was very good. I almost, almost, had a second plate but resisted the temptation.

 

We went to the Gizmo guys, a comedy juggling act. They were fun and good. The kid juggler on the Island in June with the lighted juggling balls, doing seven at a time, was a much higher energy show.

 

But that was basically it for last night. Went to bed to get a good night's sleep. After two nights of staying up late and partying, then not being able to nap, catches up with you after a while.

 

Finally went to the dining room for breakfast. Very nice. The food was hot, the poached eggs almost perfect as was the eggs benedict. Service was prompt, courteous and friendly.

 

Well, I'm off to the weather site to see the buoy and ship reports on wave heights ahead of us. This is probably going to be one of the more rougher parts of the journey ahead.

 

Later...

[CruisinCadie]

Oops, C635 is our cabin in April!! Thanks for the warning. Guess we'll hope for the upgrade fairy.

 

KD

[cruzinchris]

I had the rack of lamb. Since I only eat lamb on cruises, I have nothing to compare it to, but it was very good. I almost, almost, had a second plate but resisted the temptation. Rack of Lamb is one of my favorite foods. I have had this delicacy in many fine restaurants and can assure you that Princess' version is among the best ever!

 

Finally went to the dining room for breakfast. Very nice. The food was hot, the poached eggs almost perfect as was the eggs benedict. Service was prompt, courteous and friendly.

Eggs Benny is another one of my Princess faves! Mike and I always go to the dining room for breakfast. We don't do lunch when we travel but enjoy a leisurely, nourishing sit-down breakfast. We also enjoy meeting other passengers at breakfast as we usually opt for a table-for-two for dinner. We rarely go to the buffet but sometimes stop by mid-afternoon for some cheese and/or fruit to tide us over until dinner.

Would you post something about the types of daytime activities that have been offered during your cruise? Thanks.

Stay safe on those rough seas and do your best to avoid the virus.

Chris

[cruiserforlife]

Hi everyone-CFLW talking to you (that's cruiserforlife'swife). Finally I have managed to overtake my windbag husband and have a chance to post my own reply! Anyway, still having a great time here on the Dawn.

 

Seas are a bit rough today, as we had been informed yesterday. Sky is still nice and clear though.

 

As far as the Norovirus thing goes, just use a little common sense and you should be OK. We have been fine. Might be a good idea to get yourself a travel size bottle or two of the waterless hand sanitizer to keep in your purse or pocket as you travel around the ship. Just use a little after you have your hands on the banisters or door handles, etc. Horizon Court buffet this morning when we went for breakfast was served by the crew instead of us serving ourselves, but no one seemed to mind, and passengers were very polite and patient. Better safe than sorry-if it takes a little longer to get your food it's no big deal in the interest of trying to keep everyone healthy.

 

We were informed by our waiter this morning that in light of the current outbreak, the ship was going to be more thoroughly cleaned and sanitized when we get off, so oncoming passengers may not be able to board until one or two in the afternoon. Once again, better safe than sorry.

 

Anyway, CFL is chomping at the bit to get back on, so I better go. Nice to chat with you all and have a great cruise!

 

CFLW

[Dorinda]

Well, I'm off to the weather site to see the buoy and ship reports on wave heights ahead of us. This is probably going to be one of the more rougher parts of the journey ahead.

 

Hi ccrain - this weather site sounds interesting. How do we find it?

 

Stay well, enjoy your last day on board, and thanks for all the good info!

 

Cheers,

Dee (boarding Tuesday)

[TealDiana]

Hello!

 

We are so envious you are on the Dawn. We completed our trip on December 1st and had a hard time dragging ourselves off the ship. We had a fabulous time and the food (at least in the dining room) was outstanding.

 

If you have the chance, would you please stop by tables 57 and 58 on Deck 5and say "Thanks again from Papa" to Stan and Ion who treated my 92 year old father-in-law like a king. He was in a wheelchair and could not have been treated more kindly or respectfully. These are two fantastic young men.

 

Thanks so much and continue to enjoy "our" ship!

 

Diana

[TravelingTam]

What a great thread! We will be setting sail 1/3/07 on the Dawn and I am having so much fun reading the daily live updates.

 

One quick question I hope someone can answer...is there Texas Hold'em poker in the Dawn Casino?

 

I hope you all thoroughly enjoy the rest of your cruise!

 

~Tam

[ccrain]

.

Would you post something about the types of daytime activities that have been offered during your cruise? Thanks.

Stay safe on those rough seas and do your best to avoid the virus.

Chris

 

The ocean weather buoy data is graphically shown here:

 

http://www.oceanweather.com/data/

 

Daily Activities:

 

For us, line dancing and ballroom dancing were the most fun. They were on every sea day and on the morning of Mazatlan.

 

In the gym they have a free 1.5 hour class starting at 0730 every morning. The first 30 minutes is a stretch class, the full hour is one of several different aerobics classes.

 

The have the full line of computer classes on sea days, mainly photo shop.

 

Ceramics at sea is a big deal on sea days as well.

 

They've had at least 1-2 lectures per day during the sea days. One has been on Mexico/South American culture - we haven't caught those, and the other has been a special interest lecture on everything from serial killers, divorce to the big bang.

 

They have the standard shuffleboard, basketball, water volleyball, morning and afternoon trivia, future cruise presentations, ping pong, pool games and the infamous art auction.

 

Items of popular interest are bingo, dicey horseracing and a typical afternoon movie in the Princess theater.

 

They have two wine tasting, one for us cheap people, one for people with better taste and deeper pockets - read expensive.

 

Hope that gives you a better idea.

[cruiserforlife]

TravelingTam,

 

I do not know your answer about the casino,hopefully someone will chime in that knows.

 

latitude 22,

 

Were you with us on the snorkle excursion in Cabo?

You are so right about the litle things like the Thermidor and the flambe...things the casual cruiser wouldn't notice but the experienced Princess cruiser has come to know and love.

We just got back from the afternoon ice cream and it was interesting to note that there,you can still serve the toppings onto your ice cream.This to my knowledge is the only place you can currently actually touch a utensil.

 

The big lobster night tonight...ccrain (Charles,Judy),and John,Laura,& their beautiful daughter Gabby will join us for the record run.I'm down to about 3,000 calories today so compared to my normal 5,000+,I'd say I'm in my training "stride"...:D

 

Computers have been VERY S L O W today...this is about my 5th attempt at posting.

 

We are moving pretty good now but nothing like our last cruise on the Sun.Tomorrow's weather and sea conditions should be pretty interesting indeed!:eek:

 

Take care,

 

CFL

[slgjhg]

Hi to all you posting from the Dawn and all reading here on land,

 

I have been following the thread because my husband and I will likely be the Bridge Directors for a B2B beginning February 16th. Anyway, we haven't been on the Dawn (have been on the Sun). The current Bridge Directors are friends of ours, Michael and Sue, who we cruised with from Rome to Bangkok for 30 days on the Royal's final year in the fleet. May I ask one of you on board to contact them and tell them that Jay and Shannon will pick them up at the pier on Tuesday and get them back to the ship for embarkation. I would appreciate it very much. I have sent Sue an email to this effect, but not sure how often she can check because of Bridge sessions.

 

Have so enjoyed your posts, and do enjoy your remaining time on board. There seem to be lots of fans of the Dawn.

 

Thanks in advance,

 

Shannon

[Bonnie-Jean]

Thanks for the post about the library.

 

On the news tonight, Sun Princess has 100 cases of the virus reported when it docked in Fort Lauderdale.......

[Carol C]

We leave tomorrrow morning for our flight out of Saskatchewan and will be coming in a day early, just to keep things on the safe side, with the winters up here and Minneapolis, our hub in the states you never know what can happen. Look out Dawn Princess here we come!

 

I have enjoyed all the posts and information and just wanted to thank everyone for contributing to it.

 

Happy sailing:

Carol

[latitude 22]

Now we are rocking and shaking..prefer the roll pattern...must place a call to the bridge...

 

We are experiencing the typical coast of California cruise...on the way down was NOT normal...though quite wonderful.

 

Thank goodness, never had a problem with sea sickness even with I was on Royal Viking and Royal Cruise ships...(anyone remember those, I sooo miss them-now THAT was cruising)

 

Anyway, CFL... I was not on the snorkel tour...it's has been a cruise with no tours (private or ships) I'm 40, but started sailing when I was a little kid so this itinerary has been done numerous times.

I needed this cruise to be a complete spa cruise with very little of being a "social butterfly"

after planning my wedding earlier this year and dealing with in-laws that Dr. Phil would have a hard time with!

 

There is nothing like the wake of a ship to calm the soul.

 

I once saw this in a store in Barbados....

 

Those who sleep close to water will find tranquility

 

This cruise has been just that...I have exhaled and my heart and soul has regained its inner strength....

 

I wish all of you this on your upcoming cruises

 

and moving onwards....

 

Just wanted to let you we requested Lobster Thermidor and it was granted!!! So remember that folks...if enough of you request it, it will go back on the menu!

 

We did not have the 75% off sale yesterday because of our containment strategies. bummer...last year I scored the Europe Videos and maps for pennies!!

 

For those of you who want to learn the basics of photoshop I highly recommend the computer @ sea classes...Also, they do a basic movie making class and if you have Windows XP the software is on your computer.

 

I will periodically check back on this post at home if there's any questions that others haven't answered and I will try to...

 

Bon Voyage to all!

[cruiserforlife]

After much fanfare and a beautiful dinner with Charles,Judy,John,Laura,and Gabby,I failed miserably at my attempt to set the new record stalling out at 18 again to match my previous high.The tails were a bit different this time with a breadcrumb topping on them which appeared a bit salty for my tastes.That certainly wasn't the reason why I couldn't eat any more,I think I'll blame old age for that.:eek: I'd like at this time to thank my sponsors who have worked so hard this past year training me for this contest...they are: http://www.eateverythingtheygot.com and www.shovemorefooddownmygullet.com for their assistance.

That member of smiling_bob's group is a better man than me,I'll tell you!

 

Yes,the seas were really moving last night and continue to do so this morning.Not certain what size the waves are but they feel pretty huge.

 

Last day which is both relaxing and sad knowng this little slice of heaven will soon be over.:(

 

Thanks again to all who have contributed and made this thread both informative and fun for all involved.

 

Talk to you all soon,

 

CFL

[cruiserforlife]

...be sure to see Joel,he's the best!He usually works the Riviera Bar and makes a killer Margarita!

 

The guy will remember your name and cabin # after one time (amazing to me) so I never show him my card.Tell him John & Raina recommended him,we simply won't have a mixed drink on this ship unless Joel makes it for us.;)

 

CFL

[cruzinchris]

Ccrain,

Thanks for the list of daytime activities. While Mike and I will allow for plenty of pool time (weather permitting), we generally don't lay in the sun for long. We'll look forward to at least a daily round of Trivia, a movie or two, etc. - just don't want to be bored :D .

 

CFL,

Sorry you didn't win the lobster-eating contest :( . Maybe next time... Thanks for the tip about Joel.

 

Many thanks to both of you (and other current cruisers) who have shared your Dawn voyage with us here at CC. It's been great fun to read your daily posts and know that DH and I will be enjoying this same cruise in just 45 days!

 

Have a safe trip home.

Chris

[mtjlr]

CFL, Ccrain and others:

 

Thanks so much for your posts during your cruise. I have enjoyed reading them and keeping up with the daily activities. Brings back lots of good memories of past cruises. Your posts were very entertaining.

 

Enjoy your last day at sea and safe travels home to all of you.

 

Mary

[cruiserforlife]

CFL, Ccrain and others:

 

Thanks so much for your posts during your cruise. I have enjoyed reading them and keeping up with the daily activities. Brings back lots of good memories of past cruises. Your posts were very entertaining.

 

Enjoy your last day at sea and safe travels home to all of you.

 

Mary

 

Thanks Mary...brings back some memories,doesn't it?

 

It looks like ccrain was successful in securing a CC party...it's today @ 12:20 in Magnums with our CD Neil....will report back later...computers go off at 10pm tonight.

 

CFL