Just Back from Dawn Princess

[Shelly97060]

I just returned from the August 5 Alaska voyage on Dawn and wanted to post a review for those who are interested. Overall the trip was great and the ship was wonderful. Here are some of the things I thought might interest folks.

 

Embarkation - we are lucky enough to live within a three hour drive of Seattle. For those who may want to drive to the ship, the parking at the pier is plentiful and it costs $85 for the week. No reservations needed.

 

The embarkation process went very smoothly. We arrived at noon which was the "official" boarding time but they must have started earlier because there were no significant lines and from the time we parked until the time we got to our rooms it was about 15 minutes. - Very impressive.

 

Inside Cabin on Aloha - We had two inside cabins and it worked out well for us because we are never in our rooms. We were able to go to the pursers desk and get spare keys so we could easily pop in and out of each others cabins.

 

Room service "secret" - The pizza on Dawn is excellent and is made to order ( much better then what we had on Diamond). It is not on the room service menu but you can request it. My children ordered pizza from room service daily.

 

Coffee cards - We did not purchase the coffee cards, but if you are planning on purchasing two coffee drinks a day, it would be worth the money.

 

Anytime dining - I can't say enough good things about anytime dining. We never made a reservation and with the exception of the night they served crab, we never had to wait for a table. The night we did wait, it was about a five minute wait. A couple of nights we ate with others, but most nights we requested a table for four.

 

Breakfast Lunch & Tea - This trip we took advantage of the service in the dining room rather than the buffet as often as possible. It really is a wonderful alternative to the buffet.

 

Coffee - The coffee in Horizon Court is still not great, but we felt the coffee in the dining room was very good. When we took the galley tour at the end of the week they had a large coffee machine that was set up to brew the coffee. Now, we never actually saw the coffee machine in action, but the coffee didn't have the syrup taste so I think it was brewed. It was pretty good.

 

Attire - Formal night on this voyage was less formal than our Mexico cruise. Probably 90 % of the men were in dark suits rather than a tux. Maybe there were more in the traditional dining room ( I would be interested to know if that was the case).

 

Also, if you are planning this trip bring WARM clothing. I brought my ski coat and added a scarf and gloves when visiting Tracy Arm. Also, you can obtain warm wool deck blankets from the locker near the pool. Just remember to return them when you are done.

 

Entertainment - Dawn still has horse racing, which is really fun in a silly way. The hypnotist was good and so was Princess Idol.

 

Disembarkation - Dawn offered Express Disembarkation. Anyone who wanted to carry their own bags off the ship ( and could do so in a single trip) was allowed the express program. They were allowed to get off at 7:30. We were off the ship and in our car by 8:30, no delays. Very smooth.

 

If anyone has any questions I will try to answer them as best I can. :)

[tequilasunrise]

I was wondering if they are charging for ALL the coffee now, or if you can still get it for free at the buffet, dining rooms, bars, etc.

 

Thanks!!

[LonghornKJK]

Thanks for the review and tips! We leave on the same cruise next Saturday!

 

Tell us about your excursions! :)

[my2sons]

How old are your kids? We're sailing on the Dawn with a 4.5 year old and a baby. Were there alot of little kids? Wondering about the kids program. Thanks for the pizza tip.

 

What were your favorite scenery viewing spots on board?

[Shelly97060]

tequilasunrise - Coffee in the dining room and on the buffet is still free.

 

LonghornKJK - we skipped the ship excursions, but heard good things about the float planes and White Pass railroad. We did the tram in Juneau (you can just walk over and buy your ticket direct). We went hiking at the top. That was really fun and worth the money.

 

my2sons - My kids are 11 and 15. My 11 year old really likes the kids club activites and they do keep them busy. My 15 year old prefers to do his own thing which is fine. There were less than 200 kids on our trip. 33 in the youngest group, 40 in the middle and the rest in the teen group.

 

Tracy Arm was the most beautiful scenery, but really because you are on the inside passage you get to see lots of pretty country. It was a beautiful trip. If you don't have a balcony, go up by the pool, turn the loungers toward the window and curl up with a woolly blanket and you can watch the scenery go by.

 

 

Have fun, this is a great trip.

[MilliesMom]

Thank you for posting your review. The trip sounds wonderful.

 

Did you do any excursions at the ports?

Did you really have time to do anything in Victoria? I was disappointed that we won't be spending more time there. It's one of my favorite ports.

[LARGIN]

Shelly.. Can you tell me the name of the Maitre D'? Thanks

[tequilasunrise]

Thanks Shelley. Glad you had a good trip!

[joanne1]

Thanks for your input . . . we came back a few weeks ago and if feels like forever already.

 

Did you see the naturalist? Micheal? He was very good - dramatic, but informative. It's funny how things change week to week - our Princess Idol was pretty much a flop . . . we went a couple of times but no serious contenders. On the final night they only had 3 participants. We loved both Tony Cherry - singer, comedian (no hypnotist on our cruise) and the 3 vproduction shows.

 

Ports - what was the weather like when you went? Rained every single day :eek: but we were prepared.

 

Juneau - Whale watching with Capt. Larry - a must!! The hiking at the top of the tram sounds like a good idea . . . we just ran out of time (and it was raining).

 

Skagway - Railroad - we booked it on our own and it was beautiful and informative.

 

Tracy Arms - AMAZING!! The waterfalls - they were everywhere, one mountain alone had about 20 large ones flowing about 50 feet apart. The icebergs that you pass along the way - every color of blue and plenty of them. We didn't quite make it to the glaciers, just too many icebergs, but we could see them in the distance. Watch for seal and sea lions floating along on the icebergs. Shelly, forgot about the blankets.

 

Ketchikan - Not enough time for this beautiful town . . .if you did a tour you didn't get time to see the town and the salmon run at the back and if you did the town you didn't have time for a tour. We wandered . . . make it to the back of the town where the salmon run is, beautiful section of town.

 

Victoria - Shelly, what did you do here? We arrived a little late, no time to do an excursion but we wandered into town (about a 10 minute walk, we have been there before so we knew our way around). There is a shuttle that will take you downtown. Wander the town, very relaxing and the shops stay open for the ship.

 

tequilasunrise - the coffee cards are for specialty coffees, etc. I asked if they were good for hot Chocolate and they said they were so we purchased one - $25 for 14 drinks. The first couple of days every time I went to the bar on the 5th floor (where the cards can be purchased) or the one in Horizon there was a different bartender and they would say they were no good for hot chocolate . . . then they would phone the manager and she said they would be good. If went on for a couple of days and I finally talked to her, said it would probably be better to just get my money back for the cards and pay for the drinks. She finally got it all straightened out but who knows maybe it was just for that cruise because I already had one. If you are interested in Hot Chocolate just make sure it is good first.

 

LARGIN - the Matre d' was Peppe Castino, we did meet him one night (he came over and introduced himself . . . we were with our daughter who works on the ship - brought over with a bottle of wine :D ) very nice guy. Do you have a message to send?

 

Shelly - hope you don't mind that I added a few comments (just brought back some great memories). Please add anything else.

[cruzinchris]

. . . we were with our daughter who works on the ship ...

 

Joanne,

I've enjoyed your posts about "backstage" on Princess ships. Will yur daughter still be dancing for the January 25 sailing on the Dawn? If so, it might be nice for DH and I to meet her.

 

I thought about auditioning as a dancer at Cedar Point (Sandusky, Ohio amusement park) during my college days, but at 5'4" I wasn't tall enough.

Chris

[doris1930]

Are the coffee cards a deep secre? A call to Princess reveals they know NOTHING about them. Where can they be purchased? Just on board at a certain place or bar?

Thanks for your reply.

Doris

[meisha]

Hi Joanne,

 

We are considering Alaska as our next cruise (currenting going to sail Crown on 11-25-06). As I know nothing about Alaska cruises could you please

tell me if you had a 7 or 10 day cruise. Where did you board (if you already

said that I guess I'm having a brain fade)? Was the cruise called "inside passage"? Gosh, I have a million questions.

 

Thanks in advance.

[joanne1]

Joanne,

I've enjoyed your posts about "backstage" on Princess ships. Will yur daughter still be dancing for the January 25 sailing on the Dawn? If so, it might be nice for DH and I to meet her.

 

Thanks for asking and she loves meeting the passengers so it would have happened but . . . she will be home Sept. 23. According to her this will be the last contract but she has said that a couple of time before - so it's anyone's guess. Last December, she said 'no, had enough' didn't take another contract (offered her Europe again - silly girl) bought a car, got a great job and then Princess called and she went back in February. We were booked on a different cruise for Spring Break . . . oh well, went sailing without her.

 

Doris - I don't think coffee cards are a secret, can't remember if they were advertised or it was just word of mouth on here that I found out about them. You can get them on the 5th floor at the bar/coffee shop.

 

meisha - we did the 7 day round trip out of Seattle - mainly because we went to see our daughter. We are only a few hours from Banff and the Columbian Icefields so I thought . . . how much better can Alaska be!! It's amazing but I think that you have to plan and see things. Now I say that she was just an excuse and the cruise was the real reason :D . They call the trips out of Seattle 'inside passage' but the head around the west side of Vancouver Island and then head towards land. I have heard people say they were not impressed but the key is seeing what it is all about. The one-ways out of Vancouver are even supposed to be even better. Heading out of Vancouver they head straight North so they truely are inside all the way . . .they also head further north - like I said do your research.

Shelly97060 - really not trying to take over, just trying to help . . . hope I am not stepping on toes.

[Shelly97060]

Largin - The Maitre d was Luigi Moretti. He was wonderful and they have added a new executive chef named Ulrich Mertsch.

 

Joanne1 - we didn't really have time to do much in Victoria. We have been there before, so we just got off and walked around.

 

Michael, the naturalist was a bit to over the top for me but my gosh the ladies did love him! I lived in Alaska for 7 years, so much of what he said sort of made me laugh a little... as you mentioned he was a bit dramatic. But then he is there to sell books so I understand.

 

It was fun to read your comments from your trip, thanks for adding them. We are all here to share info so dive on in no worries about my toes :)

 

Doris1930 - I only saw the cards for sale at the Patissarie. They had signs up and encouraged their purchase the first two or three days and then the signs came down. I think it is pretty new. Maybe they are just trying them on a few ships?

 

Meisha - we did a seven day round trip out of Seattle. It was nice because there was a lot to see. For us the real bonus was saving on air fare.

[Sea and Me]

Thanks so much for your review. We are doing there May '07. Our friends have been to Alaska before but we never have been. It sounds beautiful and already I'm looking for "bargains" on warm clothing:)