LIVE from the Dawn Princess (after dry dock)

[adinva]

hi we are on the dawn 12/13.i was anxious to read this review and also disapionted. we were on the royal 2 years ago and enjoyed the food drinks company etc so much we decided to take this cruise. but we were disapointed the 2 ports were canceled. please tell more details. we have late seating. does that mean we will miss the shows or not get a seat? how was the casino? did the have craps? the only thing u said good was the movies and i don't take a cruise to see movies i hope. thanks for the imput adinva

[kkorman]

hi we are on the dawn 12/13.i was anxious to read this review and also disapionted. we were on the royal 2 years ago and enjoyed the food drinks company etc so much we decided to take this cruise. but we were disapointed the 2 ports were canceled. please tell more details. we have late seating. does that mean we will miss the shows or not get a seat? how was the casino? did the have craps? the only thing u said good was the movies and i don't take a cruise to see movies i hope. thanks for the imput adinva

 

 

If the part about the ports being cancelled doesn't distract from you having a good time, then you will. My party of four had a blast and the Dawn is a fine product. The shows will depend on the crowd. We had no problems find a seat at the later shows. They do have craps in casino. I should note that we were on 2 cruises before the drydock and still had a good time. The group fo cruisecrits that were onboard all had a good time. We were surprised to read negative reviews when we got back and even wondered if we were on the same cruise. I am glad that we did not let the minor changes to the itinerary wreck any aspect of the cruise for us... if anything it made it better.

[donh1]

My wife and I enjoyed our cruise very much. We experienced no problems whatsoever. I was amazed with those persons who were complaining.

 

1) We were aware that the cruise had two of the ports of call cancelled. actually spoke with people waiting to board who still thought they were making the six stops. Didn't they read their cruise documents? Beleive it or not someone the first day out to sea was still make plans for Margaretta Island.

 

2) We knew in Dominica that we were going to be tendered in St Thomas. It was also in the Princess Patter. They announced it over the PA system yet still overheard people talking about being tied up to the dock in St Thomas. ( noticed that when they were making announcements some people simply wer not listening). Tendering in St Thomas was problem free. They had four tenders running.

 

3) We were initially very disappointed with the news of the port cancellations. I recognized that it would serve us much better if we would simply put that totally behind us. Everyday I heard people complaining about the sea days and with that type of personality they would be impossible to please.

 

4) Food and service in the dining room was great. Don't know how they could improve on it. Had Personal choice and virtually no waiting. Matre'd did a great job. Definitely did his best to accomadate us. Buffet in the Horizon Court was very good. Food was good. Any negatives with that venue would be the passengers. You didn't have to look very far to find someone with poor manners. Again I heard people complaining about the food but I don't know what they could do to make it better. It must be difficult to please everyone's taste.

 

5) Yes the Theaters/Shows were full most nights and some nights we had to make other arrangements. I think that the lack of ports of call created more demand for the shows. Any of the ones we attended we enjoyed. Again some people were insistent on reserving seats for friends. I'm surprised they didn't use their pool towels. Oops they probably didn't think of it. Those Reserved Pool lounges are fair game. Just help yourself.

 

6) My wife and I firmly believe we got very good value for our money. We had a great time and are now seriously considering a cruise next fall on the Dawn Princess out of San Francisco. One of the good things about this future trip is the complainers will have moved onto greener pastures...... :)

[BJS]

Yes Coral they moved the Internet center to midship deck (deck 7), and it's very lovely, all wood, very peaceful and quiet.

 

I had read your hint before but we were unable to "test" the internet by going to the Princess site first. Before you could do anything you had to swipe your card. :(

I must disagree here because you were able to go to the Princess site (free) without swiping your card. You must have not tried it because it did work without your card. I told several to use this method when they were having a problem finding a computer that was working.

[BJS]

.. One of the good things about this future trip is the complainers will have moved onto greener pastures...... :)

I'm sure you are correct about that. The ones who told us "never again with Princess" were experienced cruisers with this being their first or second cruise with Princess so they will return to what they find works best for them.

We did not find "grumpy" people just disappointed people. Most of those we talked with where curious if this was the way "Princess always is".

[BJS]

Make sure to check the cruise dates on the photos. We discovered they had the wrong last date on the embarkation photo and called it to their attention. A reprint with the correct date was done for us.

 

I wonder how many people purchased the photo with the wrong date? :confused:

 

I asked if they would be reprinting them all and was told no because not everyone purchases one. We did feel that they should have posted a sign pointing out their error and advising that a reprint was availabe.

[melissa_bel]

Schack74, Margie, DonH, BJS and everyone...

Welcome back! Glad you enjoyed your cruise despite the mishaps! Yes, we missed the cruise (read more on the role-call, in short, we got delayed several time). That was horrible. I posted on the role-call in the morning of embarkation but it was too late apparently.

Any of you has pictures

[Freedom55]

Schack74, Margie, DonH, BJS and everyone...

Welcome back! Glad you enjoyed your cruise despite the mishaps! Yes, we missed the cruise (read more on the role-call, in short, we got delayed several time). That was horrible. I posted on the role-call in the morning of embarkation but it was too late apparently.

Any of you has pictures

MELBEL: are you going on another cruise?????? (to replace this one?)

Are you getting compensation?

[donh1]

Schack74, Margie, DonH, BJS and everyone...

Welcome back! Glad you enjoyed your cruise despite the mishaps! Yes, we missed the cruise (read more on the role-call, in short, we got delayed several time). That was horrible. I posted on the role-call in the morning of embarkation but it was too late apparently.

Any of you has pictures

I was disappointed to hear that your vacation plans fell thru. Hopefully your cancelled trip did not cost you too much financially and you are able to re-book some other Cruise. Someone showed up at our meeting with your post and shared the info. You certainly had the sympathy of the entire group.....All the best to you and your family..... Don

[IKE]

Just booked the CP over Dawn last week. The accomodations on Dawn in Feb.2005 were full so we then decided on CP. I am now so glad We did. Sorry you were disappointed in your Cruise but I am sure You still have some great memories!

[melissa_bel]

Don,

I'm glad to know someone aboard knew about our ordeal. I was concerned that you'd be wondering where the hell we were. I was so excited about meeting you all. Thanks for your wishes, I was so upset... I'm just coming to terms with it.

 

Tom,

No new cruise booked so far. We have to deal with Princess first (not expecting anything since it's our fault that we missed the cruise but we have been advised to speak to costumer relations).

[Freedom55]

Tom,

No new cruise booked so far. We have to deal with Princess first (not expecting anything since it's our fault that we missed the cruise but we have been advised to speak to costumer relations).

I really feel for ya Mel-Bel, I think it would darn near kill me!

Come on with the Dawn Dreamers! April 9th!!! you need to "get back on the horse that threw ya" !!!!!!

[melissa_bel]

I wish, Tom! Unfortunately, I don't thnk that's going to be possible. Unless I win the lottery! ;)

[queenL]

Did I understand correctly? Is there no ATM on board the Dawn?

[bjboothman]

There was not one there last November and I read a posting this week that there still is not.