Dawn princess

[Southern adventurers]

Hi all,

We are booked on the Dawn Princess for a long voyage in a balcony room mid ship on the Aloha deck.

Would love some feed back on these cabins as we will be in it for a long time.

Are they quite on this deck??

[GUT2407]

Hi all,

We are booked on the Dawn Princess for a long voyage in a balcony room mid ship on the Aloha deck.

Would love some feed back on these cabins as we will be in it for a long time.

Are they quite on this deck??

 

I'd prefer Baja ir Caribe, but shouldn't be much noise.

[Southern adventurers]

Booked through TA but looking at deck plan we are one deck below entertainment area. Will keep Baja in mind next voyage.

[OzKiwiJJ]

You might possibly hear sunloungers being moved around early morning, and you may hear some noise from Movies Under The Stars in the afternoons and evenings when you are out on your balcony - we could hear that on Baja deck on Sun Princess.

[Lucky TGO]

I'd prefer Baja ir Caribe, but shouldn't be much noise.

I agree about the noise. The Dawn Princess was the first ship I was on with Princess I hope you like it as much as my wife and I.

Tony

[Aus Traveller]

Hi all,

We are booked on the Dawn Princess for a long voyage in a balcony room mid ship on the Aloha deck.

Would love some feed back on these cabins as we will be in it for a long time.

Are they quite on this deck??

I agree with the other posters. Baja deck would be quieter than A deck.:)

[Astro Flyer]

Booked through TA but looking at deck plan we are one deck below entertainment area. Will keep Baja in mind next voyage.

When are you sailing the Dawn Princess? If you're not aware of it, the ship is leaving the Princess fleet after a May sailing & in June will become P&O Australia's Pacific Explorer.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/holiday-ideas/cruises/pos-new-ship-pacific-explorer-to-feature-a-lawn-bowls-green/news-story/ec5f72cce41c7f3114ac84a688d1bda8

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=859

 

I've read that some ships before being sold might not be as well kept up before transferring to another cruise line. I don't know if that's the situation with the Dawn Princess but it's a factor that I'd research when deciding on a cruise.

Edited August 12, 2016 by Astro Flyer

[Southern adventurers]

Thanks folks.

Yes I believe it is being sold to P&O so I'm hoping it's still in good shape.

I'm sure we will Tony. I have a friend who has been on the Dawn before with his wife and also loved it.

At the time I didn't realise what was above us but can't be too noisy I expect.

It,s a 42 day cruise so will need to get good sleep.

Dave

[Aus Traveller]

Thanks folks.

Yes I believe it is being sold to P&O so I'm hoping it's still in good shape.

I'm sure we will Tony. I have a friend who has been on the Dawn before with his wife and also loved it.

At the time I didn't realise what was above us but can't be too noisy I expect.

It,s a 42 day cruise so will need to get good sleep.

Dave

It can be noisy if you are in the 'wrong' part of deck 11. If you happen to be under the 'smoking area' there will be people there at all hours and chairs moving. Under the MUTS area, lounges will be moved and staff start early in the morning moving chairs and lounges and cleaning up. If would be very noisy under this part of the deck when they have their deck parties - but you might be out there having fun also. If you are further back on deck 11 (say A 534 or further aft) you would be OK.

 

I suggest that your TA should have looked at this when you chose a cabin. :D

Edited August 12, 2016 by Aus Traveller

[OzKiwiJJ]

The 42 night China & Japan cruise?

 

There are still a couple of BA cabins available on Caribe deck midships (C427 & C433). It might be worth seeing if you can upgrade to one of those. Might cost a bit extra though.

Edited August 12, 2016 by OzKiwiJJ

[Thorpe]

I spent 53 nights in A503 (half a world cruise) don't recall it being very noisy. Maybe some chairs being moved on pool deck in the mornings but nothing that made me think it's noisy. But it was my first cruise and everything was wonderful :)

[Southern adventurers]

Thanks for that. Yes we are mid ship in 546. May be worth having a chat with TA about options. Can tolerate a bit of noise for 4 night cruise but 42 would be disastrous.

[easyboy]

When are you sailing the Dawn Princess? If you're not aware of it, the ship is leaving the Princess fleet after a May sailing & in June will become P&O Australia's Pacific Explorer.

 

http://www.heraldsun.com.au/travel/holiday-ideas/cruises/pos-new-ship-pacific-explorer-to-feature-a-lawn-bowls-green/news-story/ec5f72cce41c7f3114ac84a688d1bda8

 

http://www.cruisecritic.com/reviews/review.cfm?ShipID=859

 

I've read that some ships before being sold might not be as well kept up before transferring to another cruise line. I don't know if that's the situation with the Dawn Princess but it's a factor that I'd research when deciding on a cruise.

Good info. Thanks

[Aus Traveller]

Thanks for that. Yes we are mid ship in 546. May be worth having a chat with TA about options. Can tolerate a bit of noise for 4 night cruise but 42 would be disastrous.

Cabin 546 is under the Swirls icecream bar, but it is only open for limited hours and I do not think there would be a lot of noise generated there. You might hear a bit of noise from either MUTS or when there is a deck party, but you are away from the main action. You should be OK. If you are a light sleeper, maybe you could see if could move a few more cabins towards the rear of the ship where there would be even less noise.

[Brisbane41]

I have been in the balcony cabins on the same deck and have no issue with noise whatsoever.

 

Having said that I would never sail on the Dawn Princess for a long voyage even if someone paid me to do it. It is a totally unsuitable ship for long distance cruises and is cramped, crowded and claustrophobic. It has a tremendous lack of facilities, the pools are ice cold and never heated, there is no undercover outdoor area for rainy days at sea, the theatre is a tiny obstructive view room in comparison to equally sized ships, the buffet is a total mess and nightmare. Good luck getting a seat for breakfast of lunch with all the sloths that laze about in there reserving the same table all day playing cards or board games.

 

I personally cant wait for the Sun, Dawn and Sea Princess to depart the Princess fleet for good so that Australia can finally be rid of these things to make way for the much better quality ships they have.

[Southern adventurers]

Thanks again. I'll talk to the TA again and see about other cabins available but pretty much sold out. Mini suite would be better but all gone.

Have been on three Holland America ships of comparable size and buffet area is tough to get seats at breakfast and lunch too.

Thanks for that info of location. The ice cream bar doesn't concern me greatly

But will still consider everyone's advice.

Don't want my first trip on Princess to be a disappointment because of cabin selection.

Cheers

[Aus Traveller]

I have been in the balcony cabins on the same deck and have no issue with noise whatsoever.

 

Having said that I would never sail on the Dawn Princess for a long voyage even if someone paid me to do it. It is a totally unsuitable ship for long distance cruises and is cramped, crowded and claustrophobic. It has a tremendous lack of facilities, the pools are ice cold and never heated, there is no undercover outdoor area for rainy days at sea, the theatre is a tiny obstructive view room in comparison to equally sized ships, the buffet is a total mess and nightmare. Good luck getting a seat for breakfast of lunch with all the sloths that laze about in there reserving the same table all day playing cards or board games.

 

I personally cant wait for the Sun, Dawn and Sea Princess to depart the Princess fleet for good so that Australia can finally be rid of these things to make way for the much better quality ships they have.

I cannot agree with most of your comments. We have been on the Dawn, Sun and Sea Princess for long and short cruises (world cruise in 2014 on the Dawn, 2 x 35 nights 2015 on the Dawn, two-thirds of the world cruise this year on the Sea, 42 nights this year on the Sea etc. etc.).

 

You are correct in saying that the pools are not heated, but I do not know which ships have heated pools.

 

Outdoor covered areas - there are limited covered areas on deck 12, but that doesn't bother us because there are other things to do on wet days.

 

You say the theatre is small and obstructive compared with other similar size ships. No. Ships the same size as the Dawn (the Sun and Sea) have identical theatres. I think they seat 750 people and there are no obstructions.

 

Buffet (Horizon Court). Since this was re-vamped a couple of years ago, it is a light and airy space. I have never seen people sitting playing cards or games here. People usually use the library, the bar outside the nightclub or the Pizza restaurant out of opening hours. The only time we have had to even look around much for two seats together has been breakfast on a port day when most of the passengers want their meal at the same time.

 

After around 20 cruises on these ships I have to wonder if we have cruised on the same ship!!!:D

[Brisbane41]

I cannot agree with most of your comments. We have been on the Dawn, Sun and Sea Princess for long and short cruises (world cruise in 2014 on the Dawn, 2 x 35 nights 2015 on the Dawn, two-thirds of the world cruise this year on the Sea, 42 nights this year on the Sea etc. etc.).

 

You are correct in saying that the pools are not heated, but I do not know which ships have heated pools.

 

My Response - Aurora, Oriana, Arcadia, Celebrity Solstice, Radiance of the Seas, Diamond Princess, Sapphire Princess, Golden Princess all have heated swimming pools

 

Outdoor covered areas - there are limited covered areas on deck 12, but that doesn't bother us because there are other things to do on wet days.

 

You say the theatre is small and obstructive compared with other similar size ships. No. Ships the same size as the Dawn (the Sun and Sea) have identical theatres. I think they seat 750 people and there are no obstructions.

 

My Response - Aurora and Oriana are exactly the same size as the Sun class and have the exact same width. If you have seen the theatre on both of those ships you will realise that they can hold much more people and the theatre extends almost to the entire width of those ships. On the Sun class it does not. The Arcadia is the same width and has a brilliant theatre spanning over three decks high creating a much more pleasant show experience than the Sun class could ever offer.

 

Buffet (Horizon Court). Since this was re-vamped a couple of years ago, it is a light and airy space. I have never seen people sitting playing cards or games here. People usually use the library, the bar outside the nightclub or the Pizza restaurant out of opening hours. The only time we have had to even look around much for two seats together has been breakfast on a port day when most of the passengers want their meal at the same time.

 

After around 20 cruises on these ships I have to wonder if we have cruised on the same ship!!!:D

 

My response is in bold and italics above

Edited August 13, 2016 by Brisbane41

[Aus Traveller]

Thanks for mentioning which ships have heated pools. As I said, I did not know which ones do, but this isn't important to me personally.

 

The width of the theatre on the Sun class ships is limited because there is a wrap around deck on deck 7 which I love. I think this is one of the best features of the Sun class ships. On some ships, the only way to walk around is to go up a flight of stairs near the bow and walk around, then down the other side.

 

I suppose we all have different experiences and different requirements and preferences. It would be a funny world if that wasn't so. :)

[Brisbane41]

Thanks for mentioning which ships have heated pools. As I said, I did not know which ones do, but this isn't important to me personally.

 

The width of the theatre on the Sun class ships is limited because there is a wrap around deck on deck 7 which I love. I think this is one of the best features of the Sun class ships. On some ships, the only way to walk around is to go up a flight of stairs near the bow and walk around, then down the other side.

 

I suppose we all have different experiences and different requirements and preferences. It would be a funny world if that wasn't so. :)

 

The Aurora, Oriana and Arcadia (Vista class) also have a wrap around promenade deck and still manage to have a larger theatre than the Sun class. It was just poor design of the Sun class which was immediately realised and improved upon.

[Aus Traveller]

The Aurora, Oriana and Arcadia (Vista class) also have a wrap around promenade deck and still manage to have a larger theatre than the Sun class. It was just poor design of the Sun class which was immediately realised and improved upon.

The Sun class and the Vista class are both Panamax size. To have a wrap-around deck and still be Panamax, the Vista ships cannot have a wider theatre than the Sun class. I do not know if the theatres are deeper.:)

 

With the Aurora, Oriana and Arcadia operating out of the UK (I think I am right am I?) they would need heated pools. :)

[Brisbane41]

The Sun class and the Vista class are both Panamax size. To have a wrap-around deck and still be Panamax, the Vista ships cannot have a wider theatre than the Sun class. I do not know if the theatres are deeper.:)

 

With the Aurora, Oriana and Arcadia operating out of the UK (I think I am right am I?) they would need heated pools. :)

 

The reason they have a larger theatre is a very simple logical problem to solve. If the two ships are exactly the same width and both have a wrap around promenade and one of the ships has a much smaller theatre then it stands to reason that the other two ships have a much narrower promenade around the theatre.

 

I have been on both Aurora and Oriana and when you come to the wrap around promenade at the front the walking width narrows so that two average side people can just walk side by side.

 

All Princess ships since the Sun class have heated pools. The Sun class were built in a time when Princess thought they would not leave the Caribbean. Who could have predicted way back in the late 80's when they were designed that cruising would be like it is today.

[Aus Traveller]

On the Sun class, the wrap-around promenade is narrow near the front only allowing room for two people to walk side by side. The theatre is much wider for the front (maybe) 14 or so rows, with the back 7 or 8 rows narrower (where the promenade deck is wider). It was a front part of the promenade deck was narrower again, there would only be an extra seat each side in each row. If the narrower promenade extended to level with the back of the theatre, the back 7 or 8 rows could have an extra five or so seats. I cannot see how this makes that much difference with the size and usefulness of the theatre. It is very rarely full.

[mrs and mrs]

We have sailed only on the sun,sea and dawn.We can confidently predict that the O.P will love the Dawn.

 

My only and only concern,would be the up-keep of the maintainance schedule,pre-handover.

 

To the O.P,you will be one of the last to sail on her,a memory in itself.ENJOY:):)

[Southern adventurers]

Once again some valuable information for us. As we will be going north in March the heated pool isn't an essential item for us but may well be at different times of the year.

Sleepless nights are and I thank you all for the information provided.

I guess its a little unnerving going with a different cruise line than you have used before but Princess appear to be very popular with little complaint.

Breakfast and lunch has been a challenge on the other ships as well but not frustrating to the point of despair.

I don't think it would be any different on a ship like Oasis of the seas where it's the feeding of the five thousand. Just have to be patient I guess.

A bad experience may give us pause for long trips and a definite deal breaker for the missus.

I'm sure I have reason to be optimistic and further long trips are planned.

Cheers