What great things can you tell us about Dawn Princess

[kjets]

We are sailing on the Dawn Princess in June and have an aft balcony on Caribe! Can you share with us what you absolutely love about her?

Thanks so much for sharing :)

[jsmac3]

The Dawn Princess is a beautiful ship and we love that class ship - just the right size and layout. We were on her for a Mexican Riviera cruise shortly before she moved to Australia.

 

I am sure you will enjoy her.

[Gallivanting Souls]

I will echo the same thing JSmac3 said. Our family did our very first cruise back in 2007 on the Dawn. My DH compares everything to the Dawn. She is a nice size ship. Loved the beautiful stairs. Had formal pictures done there that still hangs in our bedroom. We had an inside room. The very last room toward the back on Deck 10. I still love the way the elevator announced Baha! Deck ten!

You will have a great time. :D

[Alessandrina]

Dawn Princess is my favourite ship. I like the size, walking around the Promenade Deck, the dedicated Pizzeria on Deck 8 (La Scala), and the art in the Vista Lounge.

 

I've sailed on her many times when she was in North America, the last cruise from San Francisco to Sydney, and also whilst she was/is in Australia.

 

Great memories.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

Cheers.

[wishfulone]

Had a mid aft balcony on Baja in January. Love the little cocoon you get when you enjoy your balcony. Very private. Hard to see yourself in the full lenght mirror would be my only cabin complaint.

 

Crooners Bar is lovely and had the best entertainment we've ever experienced in a bar area on Princess. The pool deck grill is great and the noodle bar in the main buffet is worth attending when it's happening. Shame about no free ice cream bar. Curtis Stone menu in the main dining room is probably best avoided unless you like stodgy stuff.

 

La Scala pizza restaurant (free) is a real bonus. The pizzas were wonderful - full of flavour and such a lovely setting. They've done a great job on the decor so you don't see the tender boats outside the windows! You'll see what I mean. Didn't like the Patisserie probably because I was comparing it unfairly to the International Cafe on other Princess ships.

 

The CD crew were wonderful. Trivia team the best. You'll have a wonderful cruise.

[Gwendy]

Pool at back of ship near gym is wonderful, very relaxing. As others have said a good size, not too small, not too big. Enjoy

[Coral]

Another person who loves the Sun Class ships.

 

The aft balcony cabins are fabulous! Definitely go to the pizzeria - exceptional!

 

I miss those ships in North America. I thought they were great for Alaska and Caribbean.

[windsor26]

For those who have JUST cruised on her Who is the cruise director please We are due on her 20th April and no messages yet :confused:

[wishfulone]

For those who have JUST cruised on her Who is the cruise director please We are due on her 20th April and no messages yet :confused:

I believe Billy Hygate replaced Stuart McGunigall at the end of January.

The usual emails about Captain, CD etc have been slow coming since Princess have been playing around with the Personaliser layout. Got the first one this morning for our cruise at the end of March. It was the entertainment email but the CD name and photo were missing.

Edited March 10, 2016 by wishfulone

[windsor26]

I believe Billy Hygate replaced Stuart McGunigall at the end of January.

The usual emails about Captain, CD etc have been slow coming since Princess have been playing around with the Personaliser layout. Got the first one this morning for our cruise at the end of March. It was the entertainment email but the CD name and photo were missing.

 

Thank you very much I too have not received any message and do not even know the captains name

[LokiPoki]

Just come off the Dawn - was the staff made it for me. I've no other cruises to compare to, but everyone we dealt with, from cabin steward to dining and bar staff, to access/assistance staff (am a wheelchair user) were amazing and really went all out to make things easier for me.

 

Can't comment much on buffet (ate primarily in MDR as I've got a few dietary issues) - though was largely impressed with what I did see, mostly healthy options, only downside is that staff didn't really pay close attention to passengers' handling of food - more than once saw someone pick something up with bare hands and replace it - ick! MDR food was good - we ended up with two of the head waiters looking out for us; Claudio, who we'd spoken to the first night when dining was a bit chaotic and Gabriel, whose section we were in the rest of the trip. Claudio was a bit of a joker (after me eating salad for a few nights, the cheeky bugger told me I'd have floppy ears and a tail by the end of the cruise) but also made a real effort to cheer me up a few mealtimes when I was a bit miserable with extra pain or fatigue. Both really nice and looked after me extremely well, and the same with Ronald & Reagan, our table waiters.

 

I wasn't impressed with Crooners - it was one of the few places where the staff seemed a bit disorganised and really didn't look like they were enjoying their work - whether because of the work, or because of passengers (I was horrified by the rudeness I witnessed in a small number of passengers toward staff - but gather from chatting with "our" staff it's more widespread than that). Our group ended up at Magnums most nights instead and really liked it for our pre-dinner drinks. Rey (current bar assistant) and offsider Ron made sure we had an out of the way corner each night, and knew all five of us by name and our drinks of choice by the second night.

[Lucky TGO]

My first Princess cruise was on the Dawn Princess. it's a great ship. We cruised four times on the Dawn Princess :D I think you will love her. Have a great cruise.

Tony

[GUT2407]

Been on Princess ships from small to large, I like smaller, it's a bit sad that Dawn is now considered a smaller ship, but nice all the same.

 

But then haven't been on Princess cruise that wasn't.

[Corfe Mixture]

We love the Sun class ships, but don't often get the chance to sail on them and are looking forward to being on Dawn this Christmas.

 

One big advantage of the Sun class ships is that the mini-suites have the same layout as the full suites on the other ships.

 

As a result, given there is no Sabatini's, for Elites, unless aft facing location is important, IMHO there is absolutely no benefits (except for the double mini-bar set up) to be gained by booking a full suite. Mid-ship mini-suite everytime.

 

One thing to note about the balcony cabins on the Sun class ships is that the balcony 'apertures' are smaller on D deck making B and C deck balcony cabins a better choice.

[wishfulone]

We love the Sun class ships, but don't often get the chance to sail on them and are looking forward to being on Dawn this Christmas.

 

One big advantage of the Sun class ships is that the mini-suites have the same layout as the full suites on the other ships.

 

As a result, given there is no Sabatini's, for Elites, unless aft facing location is important, IMHO there is absolutely no benefits (except for the double mini-bar set up) to be gained by booking a full suite. Mid-ship mini-suite everytime.

 

One thing to note about the balcony cabins on the Sun class ships is that the balcony 'apertures' are smaller on D deck making B and C deck balcony cabins a better choice.

We've been in a Baja deck balcony cabin and wondered whether the mini suites have the same enclosed balcony or are they uncovered as on other class Princess ships?

[Corfe Mixture]

We've been in a Baja deck balcony cabin and wondered whether the mini suites have the same enclosed balcony or are they uncovered as on other class Princess ships?

 

Same enclosed balcony, but with two openings. Not uncovered.

 

Important thing to note is that the openings are larger on B and C decks than on D deck.

 

Also not been on Dawn before, but the Sun class ships we have been on all had a whirlpool bath in the mid-ship mini-suites. No doubt I'll find out whether or not the same is true for Dawn when we go on her this Christmas.

[aimhigh]

The Mini-Suites on the Dawn Princess (Sun Class ships) are the largest we have experienced with a double length balcony (our experience was on Baja deck).

In fact, having enjoyed our first cruise on the Dawn Princess, it was quite a shock to see the size of mini's on other ships!

[Corfe Mixture]

The Mini-Suites on the Dawn Princess (Sun Class ships) are the largest we have experienced with a double length balcony (our experience was on Baja deck).

In fact, having enjoyed our first cruise on the Dawn Princess, it was quite a shock to see the size of mini's on other ships!

 

Absolutely. They are almost identical to the full mid-ship suites on the other classes. We normally book full suites, but simply cannot justify doing so on the Sun class ships as the Elite benefits are almost equivalent to the suite benefits (remember there is no Sabatini's breakfast on Sun class ships just full breakfast in suite which is nowhere near the same as breakfast in Sabatini's)

 

As a relatively new UK based cruiser, you should take note that P&O's Oceana is also a Sun class ship

[aimhigh]

As a relatively new UK based cruiser, you should take note that P&O's Oceana is also a Sun class ship

 

Hi Corfe M.

Did you mean me?

We sailed on the Dawn Princess in 2003 and have since sailed on the Sea Princess and Oceana :). The Dawn Princess was the best though!

[Corfe Mixture]

As a relatively new UK based cruiser, you should take note that P&O's Oceana is also a Sun class ship

 

Hi Corfe M.

Did you mean me?

We sailed on the Dawn Princess in 2003 and have since sailed on the Sea Princess and Oceana :). The Dawn Princess was the best though!

 

Sorry, mislead by your reference to your first cruise. Entirely my error.:o

 

FWIW Adonia (the Sun Class one) was our very first cruise and I still love that class of ship.

[wishfulone]

There's no Anytime Dining on the Dawn on Australasian sailings. Does anyone know if they reintroduce it if you sail on her to Asia?

[GUT2407]

I believe not.

[wishfulone]

I believe not.

What a shame. She's such a lovely ship. No anytime dining is her only fault as far as we're concerned.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Some of the sofas were a bit saggy when we were on her last year. We soon learnt to sit on the club chairs instead.

 

We really loved the Magnums Bar, when the music in Crooners or the Wheelhouse Bar wasn't to our liking. Having that extra, quiet bar was a bonus. Previously we cruised on Sun and that bar is a sushi restaurant on that ship, and not a good sushi restaurant either.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Also we really liked La Patisserie. Although it doesn't have the selection of food that the International Cafes do, it had the best espresso we've ever had on a cruise ship so far.