My first cruise! I loved it!

[sonomaphil]

My very first cruise experience! And over all a great experience! My wife and I were on the Dawn Princess two day repo cruise from Vancouver to San Francisco September 24 to 26. It’s long, so pack a lunch! :)

 

 

Background: My wife and I decided to take a cruise in December instead of our normal December vacation to Vegas. After researching all the cruise lines we chose Princess. It seems to be a good fit for us. If you’re interested in the reasons we came to this decision, refer to this posting:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=413509

 

 

After booking the Diamond for December to the Mexican Riviera, we saw this 2 day cruise and thought it would be a wonderful way to get “our feet wet” into cruising. We had a few vacation days to give so we booked this repo. We were counting the days and it never seemed like it would actually come! We were so anxious to start cruising!

 

Pre-cruise: We took Southwest to Seattle out of Oakland. Southwest is great for short flights here on the west coast and we have lots of “Rapid Reward” credits so we went to Seattle instead of directly to Vancouver. (Southwest does not go to Vancouver) We spent two days in Seattle pre cruise. I had never been there before but my wife has. What a great city! If you like San Francisco, you’ll feel right at home in Seattle. We stayed at the Madison Renaissance. Good location, not perfect. Just a tad far from the action but still only a 5 block walk or so. If you stay here, try for a room away from Interstate 5, it can be a little noisy. We saw the “Flying Fish” at Pikes Place Market, yup; it’s just like on TV! We took a bay cruise around Seattle on Saturday and actually saw the Dawn in Seattle. It was doing a one day cruise to Vancouver. I wanted to book this cruise also, but that damn PSA got in the way! Sunday morning we took Amtrak to Vancouver. It leaves Seattle around 7:40AM and gets into Vancouver at 11:30. This really is the way to go! The train hugs the coast providing beautiful views! Try to sit on the left side of the train! Breezed through Canadian customs and shared a cab to the cruise terminal with another couple also doing this cruise.

 

Embarkation: Being a first timer I wasn’t sure what to expect. It seems there are a great many horror stories out there. Well never to fear, it was so easy! I think the whole process was no more than 20 minutes. You’re actually inside a garage during this process when you get to the terminal. The porters are right there to take your bags, then directly into a security line. From there you head into an elevator and then fill out some paper work, get your room card and off you go! I was told this was a very busy cruise day in Vancouver, five ships were in port. Couldn’t have been any smoother! We took our picture with the pirates scanned our cards and off to out cabin!

 

Cabin: We booked a balcony cabin mid ship on the Caribe deck. Once again as a first time cruiser you hear all kinds of stories. I was prepared for a broom closet and was pleasantly surprised! The room was great! Much more space than I expected. The closets were ample sized, the room decorated in blue. Our beds were in Queen configuration as requested. I immediately went into the shower and again more room than I expected. The safe was easy to use. Balcony had plenty of room for 2 chairs and a table. (The new fire proof furniture I am told) My wife jumped on the bed an immediately said it was hard. Never to fear! I am armed with Cruise Critic info! Our steward Marciel came by and I knew to request an egg crate! She said she would have that on by bedtime. We also asked for robes. She said it might be tomorrow before she can get them, but they were there when we returned from dinner. We had some wine with us and asked for a wine opener. Maricel said she didn’t have one and to call room service, they would come open the bottle. Our first “note to self” pack a wine opener. When we did call later in the day they were there in 2 minutes! And yes I tipped him!

 

The room had a refrigerator and small TV but no clock. Second note to self! Travel clock! I found the “Voyage channel” on the TV and could watch that for days! The classical music was nice for background. We checked out the “Princess Patter” to see what we going on for the day. My wife dubbed it the “Pitter Patter” and it looks like forever more that’s what it will be known as! Time to explore!

 

Ship: What a beautiful ship! I was again thinking about what I read that this is an “old” ship by today’s standards. Well you could have fooled me. Everything was extremely well kept and spotless. This is a small ship by today’s standards? Wow, can’t wait to see the Diamond! We headed to the buffet, yup, long lines just like everyone said. No problem, we went to the Balcony Grill where there was no line! See, I did pay attention to all the things I read here! Standard snack bar fare, I had a chicken sandwich and my wife a burger, but we just wanted something quick to start the exploring. We finished our meal and got 2 glasses of wine. Now we know we have made it! Pool area looked great, we already scoped out the positions of the hot tubs. We walked all around and up and down. Great views of Vancouver, I didn’t know it was such a large city. We will have to get back here soon to check it out.

 

Found the casino, closed of course, not large but an ample supply of diverse games. The atrium was great! Who cares if it’s not “9 stories high!” Every employee we passed seemed to greet us in a friendly manner. Found the showroom and the bars, all looked very nice. We had drinks Magnums one night before dinner. We were all alone except for the waiter and the piano player! The worry about crowding? What crowding? The second morning we went to the pool area to hit the hot tub but a sign said it was closed. This was about 8:30AM. I asked someone and they said it would be about a half hour before it opened but within five minutes they opened it up for us! Only two or three people were by the pool area. It was great! A private hot tub! On day one we had a little “Meet and Greet” by the pool. It was great meeting you all!

 

Food: We chose late traditional dining because we have anytime in December and we wanted to compare. Strangely enough even though we didn’t request it we had a table for two all to ourselves. We talked to a few people onboard and they said this is unusual; usually these are tough to get. We didn’t do a thing. Our waiter Mel was great. Right on top of things. I do think I now know about the complaints I’ve read about Sabatini’s being a long dining experience. Dinner goes quick on a ship! No sooner than one course is finished another is right in front of you. A tad hurried for our tastes but we can adapt easily. We ordered a bottle of wine on night one and didn’t finish it, Mel saved it for the next night. Second night we brought our own and yes, we were charged $15 corkage. We liked just about everything. The soups were outstanding. If they have Hazelnut ice cream, try it with the Love Boat Dream! A wonderful combination!

 

Went to the Horizon Court for breakfasts, no complains at all. And I thought the coffee was fine! We preordered room service on the card left out for us for the second morning. Right on time! And a wonderful was to start! Perfect on the balcony. Another note to self, no room service is available on the last day.

 

 

Activities: We didn’t do much for organized shipboard activities. We did go to the wine tasting event and I can’t really recommend it. It could have been so much better. A plate of three kinds of cheeses with fruit and nuts was on the table but as we tasted the wines they never paired the food with the wine. After about three tastes everyone was looking around wondering if they should eat the stuff! They never even mentioned the plate. Tasting was $9.50 for 5 wines. Most of the wines we tasted were in the $30 a bottle range onboard. On day two the “Pitter Patter” had a spa special and we called to book right when they opened but they had no appointments, all were booked. Another note to self! Book ASAP! We took in one show. “Curtain Up”, a Broadway review. Pretty good, not Broadway quality but not your local high school either. The two leads had wonderful voices.

 

Disembarkation: Not fun, we don’t want to leave! We were out by 9AM as instructed. We missed the 10PM time to put out our baggage in front of your room the night before. I tried calling the desk about midnight to see if we still could but no one answered. Next morning I called and they said no, we had to do self help. Oh well. Marciel was outside our room when I was heading down to get the new bag tags so I asked her if our bags could be taken away. She said put them outside and within five minutes they were gone!

 

We went up to the Sun Deck to sail under the Golden Gate Bridge. What a beautiful site! One of the couples from out “Meet and Greet” was there too. They were staying onboard for the 11 days Mexican Riviera run. We wanted to stay and go along with them! Soon enough we cleared customs and our first cruise was over. :(

 

 

There is a negative part to this review which occurred after we left the ship. I've tried to seperate the onboard experience from the ground experience. Anyone who wishes to read it may do so here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=420092

 

 

Final words: If you’re still here congrats! I know it’s long! :D

 

We loved the Princess shipboard experience. All our fears were unfounded. We couldn’t have been happier with the ship and the people onboard. So much so we purchased 4 Future Cruise Credits! We have our eye on the Caribbean Princess for April! How many days until December? Can’t wait to see the Diamond! Even with our negative ending, we are very happy with our choice of cruise line.

[Clutterlady]

Congratulations on your first cruise. Princess was the right choice! Doesn't take too much to get hooked does it!!!!

[Pam in CA]

Glad to hear you had a great cruise. As an FYI, if you miss the "deadline" to put out your luggage, put it out anyway. They'll come and pick it up. Don't leave it too late but they will pick it up. I almost always put my luggage out after returning from the last dinner, usually between 9:30 - 10:00PM. Once, I didn't get it out until midnight and really sweat that one. But it was taken and I had no problems getting it the next day.

[spingal]

Phil,

 

Great review and I am so glad that your cruise was great (OK - except for the pier experience in SF!). I have been on the Dawn and the Diamond. Personally I like the Diamond more because I love big ships.

 

I hope you have a great time on the Diamond. She is different from the Dawn. Different dining rooms, Skywalkers disco, pizza by the pool (near the grill), etc. She is a beauty!!

 

Enjoy and I can't wait to read your Diamond review.

[johnmik1]

Glad to hear you had a great cruise. As an FYI, if you miss the "deadline" to put out your luggage, put it out anyway. They'll come and pick it up. Don't leave it too late but they will pick it up. I almost always put my luggage out after returning from the last dinner, usually between 9:30 - 10:00PM. Once, I didn't get it out until midnight and really sweat that one. But it was taken and I had no problems getting it the next day.

We were on a Princess cruise in 2004 and went out to dinner with some officers on the final evening which extended to 3:00Am.We said early in the evening that we had to leave and put out the luggage and they said not to worry that they check the halls all night.We put it out at 3:00 and it was gone when we got up.Not a pleasant flight home.Just our experience.

[barbarah33]

Welcome to the world of cruising. I’m glad you enjoyed your trip.

[Bigerr19]

Great review of your first cruise! My wife, son and I were on the same sailing and we also had a very nice time. Oddly enough, my wife kept calling it the "Pitter Patter" as well. I also read your other posting on the transfer issues, too bad you had to end your trip that way.

[spongerob]

Thanks for your great comments...they remind me of our first cruise including our own disembarkation semi-disaster.

[Druke I]

Glad your first experience turned out well. You now can see why so many of us are addicted.

 

Yes, Dawn and her sisters are now considered "smaller" - but when they came out, they were the largest cruise ships afloat!

 

Those people on the pier are contract employees of a land-based company, and change jackets and logos to match the ship that they are servicing.

 

Those short "coastals" re a great way to try out a ship.

[themasons]

Your first cruise is like your first love---you never forget it!

[lois1112]

yep---you've got the bug! Enjoy your cruise on the Diamond.

 

One hint...if you really are enjoying cruising and think you'll do it again. Book a "future cruise" if you know which one book it on board..or you can do an "open" booking (good for 4 years) the deposit is only $100 pp and you get an on board credit (to help pay for the wine!)depending on the length of cruise you book. If you don't want to wait for the consulant...fill in the paper work and they will contact you.

[bjboothman]

I'm guessing the biggest lesson you learned was that two days are not nearly enough. Then you take a 7 day. And it's not enough. I'm not up to 10 days and still feel shortchanged. Cruising really IS quite addictive.

 

Glad you and your wife enjoyed it so much.

[sonomaphil]

Thank you all for the nice comments.

 

And now I'm glad to know about the luggage timing!

 

I was right! It would be a good idea to "get out feet wet", we've learned so much! :D

[NAS-KARR]

I too bid you welcome to cruising and to Princess.We used to do Vegas yearly but no mas amigo, it's a 10 or 12 day cruise evry year now instead.

 

CIAO,

[sonomaphil]

I too bid you welcome to cruising and to Princess.We used to do Vegas yearly but no mas amigo, it's a 10 or 12 day cruise evry year now instead.

 

CIAO,

 

Ahhhh, the joys of the west coast, we can be in Vegas in an hour and a half! :D (OK if we take a flight!)

[cruznon]

sonomaphil,

Welcome to the addiction......:)

[Starshine95123]

Enjoyed your review. So glad your first cruise was wonderful. We're going on the Dawn in June, 2007. It will be our first cruise too. We are doing a roundtrip from San Francisco to Alaska. We live about an hour south of SF so won't have any tranportation worries.

I have learned a lot on these boards. Even though I have researched this cruise to EXCESS, :D I find myself still learning something new. Hope your next cruise is fantastic! Karen

 

 

Dawn Princess, June 20, 2007