Questions About Dawn Princess - Need Help from the Princess Experts

[MBeamTX]

I've been doing research on Dawn Princess and by now I'm bleary-eyed and completely confused.

 

Regarding the suites - I've found messages with the sizes of the AA suites on Caribe, Baja and Dolphin decks, and understand that Caribe suites are the largest overall. But looking at the deck plans, it appears that the interior of the stateroom is larger on Baja deck. Or is that an illusion?

 

I am particularly interested in which of the AA suites, if any, have a dining room table, since we order room-service breakfast most mornings. Do any AB minis have a small dining room table?

 

The aft suites look tempting, but if I'm reading the deck plans right, getting to the dining room or showroom looks like a bit of a chore. It appears that you have to take the aft elevator down to Dolphin deck, then proceed to the panoramic elevators and take them down to Emerald or Plaza deck. Or else trundle all the way to the forward elevators, go down a few decks, and then head back towards the stern to the dining room. Is that correct?? This is an issue of interest because my dad uses a wheelchair and mom can't walk long distances.

 

Thanks for your help as we try to decide about Dawn Princess. (It would be our first Princess cruise, by the way.)

 

Happy cruising,

Susan

[Coral]

I have some pics of some of the suites here:

 

dawn pics

 

You can take the aft elevator to Dolphin and then proceed through the casino to the atrium elevators and take that down to the dining room. The atrium elevators will take you right to the door of both dining rooms. There are other ways to get there but my mind is drawing a blank right now. Hopefully someone with more experience here can answer you on this - the atrium elevators are more narrow (and smaller) than the other elevators on the ship - I assume they will handle a wheel chair.

 

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Edited to add - yes, that atrium elevator does accomodate a wheelchair - it is tight but it will. I do remember seeing some wheelchairs in there.

[CruisinChris]

The suites on Caribe are not those with the dining table in the room. There is, however, a nice round teak table out on the balcony. Lovely.

 

When we had the suite, we found it a real trek to the Horizon Court. For dinner, I would recommend taking the aft elevator all the way to deck 7, the Promenade deck. This puts you outside the Vista showlounge. You can then walk forward to the Atrium and the appropriate dining room (using the glass elevators which will accomodate a wheelchair).

[MBeamTX]

Thanks, Coral. I had come across your pictures when I searched CC, and they're great. Actually, looking at them is what raised some of my questions. It seems clear there is no dining table inside C749 but there is in B750. This strikes me as sort of odd, since several CCers have posted that the AA suites are about the same interior dimensions on all 3 decks. They don't look the same when you study the deck plans. No question that the decks are smallest on the Dolphin AAs, but the interior seems larger on Dolphin than Caribe.

 

I guess I should stop obsessing over this, eh? :o

 

Susan

[MBeamTX]

Chris,

 

Thanks for your comments. The more I look at the deck plans, the more concerned I am about my mom being able to do all the walking that an aft location would require on this ship. On most other ships we've sailed, the dining room and buffet has been aft, the casino and shops have been mid-ships, and the showroom and spa all the way forward. We tend to take cabins between the mid-ships and aft elevators (but never all the way aft) - so guess which two areas mom and dad rarely get to? :) Add to this the fact that they always love to spend time in the suite, and I suspect I'd never get them out of a far aft suite at all.

 

Unless I can talk Mom into an AC mini, we may not be doing the Dawn.

Thanks,

Susan