Golden Princess or Dawn for Mexican Riviera?

[SMNYCruise]

Thinking about a 7 day Mexican Riviera cruise next February. Trying to decide between the Dawn and the Golden. Both have the same port stops. Advantage of Golden is that its a newer ship and departs from LA(cheaper flights from the east). The Dawn is slightly cheaper with a much longer times in port. We will be traveling with our teenage boys. Any comments on which cruise would be better?

[howard6933]

I've been on both the Dawn and the Golden, and I believe you would be better off on the Golden, especially with the kids. It's a much larger ship and there's more to do. However, if you think there are longer days in port and that's what you like, go for the Dawn. Either one you choose, you'll have a great cruise. ;)

[vplsh]

I've been trying to decide between the Golden and the Dawn and RCCLs Vision of the Seas. We're booked on Vision, but will be taking our first Princess cruise in July and started looking into their Mex. Riviera cruises. I like the idea of leaving on Saturday on the Golden, but would like a longer time in Cabo (Dawn).

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

[envy4u]

I have been on both ships and prefer the Golden . I think there are more options especially if the weather is cool .

 

RCCL has the WOW factor when it comes to the ship and you won't be disappointed . We were on Voyager and Explorer of the Seas and enjoyed both.

 

These two cruise lines are more similar than different.

[sungirl]

We (my 22 yo son and I) will be traveling the week before Christmas this year, so this is what I've been thinking.....

 

Have been on the Golden, twice, in the Caribbean and loved it, so I would not be opposed to sailing her again. But the Dawn is a bit smaller, so that might be nice, too. There is a big difference in the price of mini-suites between the 2 - Dawn is much more, but room is bigger. Not that this has much to do with which ship, but, I just got back from a west coast trip and I liked San Diego better than LA. The Dawn stays in port a little bit longer, and Saturday or Sunday departure isn't a big deal for me. I like the fact that the 2 sea days are at the end of the cruise on the Dawn, gives me a chance to rest up for the trip back east.

 

Soooo, I'm leaning heavily towards the Dawn from San Diego. My concern is about balconey or mini-suite cabins on the Dawn -- all the balconies look somewhat 'enclosed' or covered. Does anyone know if this is the case, or what specific cabin cat. should I look for?

 

Sorry this doesn't answer you specifically, but thanks for asking the question...hoping you don't mind if I piggyback along!

[Dave4120]

Hello...My wife and I have been on both ships and think they are both sensational. However, telling ou what ship would be the better choice is each person, couple's or family decision, because out taste and choice of ships, is just our opinion and everyone else might see things differently.

 

A few things that I can touch upon that might help in your thought process would be the following.

 

1...We also feel the Golden would be a better choice for a family cruise, or a cruise where the couple is under 40 and loves many activities and upbeat nightlife.

 

2...If you like a more intiment ship feel, a bit more subdued atmosphere, and ship where the night life is good, but not wild, where many people retire much earlier, then the Dawn would be the better choice. The Dawn normally has more adults 45 and over, and not as many younger adults and kids.

 

3...The Dawn Princess balcony's are more private than the Golden. On the Dawn, you're protected from others one each side and from above, while the Golden Princess balconies are tierd, which means floor sticks out above the deck over you. That means people on the deck above you, can see right down on your deck. No privacy! This is definetly something many people have complained about over the years.

 

Other than that, we think the food, service and entertainment is equal on both.

 

Hope this helps a bit.

 

Dave

[SMNYCruise]

Thanks Dave. We are leaning toward the Golden. With several days at sea,with teenagers, it will be better to have a larger ship with more activities. I just wish the Cabo stop was longer. 7-2 seems too short. The Dawn is in Cabo for three more hours.

[flamomo]

We recently cruised on the Sea Princess (sister ship to the Dawn and Sun) in a balcony cabin. Much as we liked the size of the Sea, the balconies are rather small and feel cofined. There are "carved out" of the hull, rather than being open with just the dividers between cabins and the see-through railings. Another disadvantage is that since the balcony is inside the hull, balcony cabins have fewer square feet of living space. A friend who was in a OV cabin showed us how much roomier her cabin was as compared to ours, because we "lost" the space inside the cabin to our balcony. However, if you are considering an aft balcony suite, the balconies are HUGE. Some acquaintances had the Owner's Suite, and we visited them. We were very impressed with the suit as well as their very large balcony.

My comments re: the drawbacks of the balcony cabins are not meant to say that we would not sail on that class of Princess ship again. We had a great cruise, and do like the size of these ships.

We do not find it a concern on other ships that others on their balconies above us can look down an see us when we are out on ours. We're not doing anything out there that we could not do out on deck in full public view! However, that is a personal choice. We've seen folks sunbathing topless on balconies below us. NBD!!! (IMHO!)

[bphawk64]

I was debating on the same decision and chose the Dawn after sailing on her sister ship (Sun Princess). I also liked the longer port stays, leaving from S.D & actually preferred the smaller more enclosed balcony to the open balconies on the grand class. One thing to note is that it is signifcantly less windy on the Sun class balconies which might be nice during the northern part of the Mexican Riviera cruise. As stated previously by others..you can't really go wrong with either but the ships do have a different feel to them.

[H20 Lover]

Thanks for the wonderful thread. We chose the Dawn because of Itin. We've done that same cookie cutter itin that the Golden is doing and we wanted to be in PV and Cabo longer and the 2 days at the end sounded great. I'm interested to see how I'll like the smaller ship.

 

My nephew (21) wants to know what the night life is on the Dawn? Anyone, anyone?

[bhopal21]

We chose The Golden for February simply because it was Saturday to Saturday rather than a Sunday arrival on The Dawn which would put us back home on the east coast late Sunday evening and having to go to work on Monday.;)

 

Mike:)

[AZAaronBoy]

This will be my 2nd cruise and my partner's 1st. Last Dec did the Diamond on the same itinerary as the Golden.

I liked the 2 days at sea to start out, plenty of time to explore the ship. But really would have liked to spend more time in Cabo. Also leaving from the heart of San Diego puts us in nicer surroundings than San Pedro for pre/post stay.

We are late 20's so nightlife is a factor but planning on having a good time even if most people are in bed.

[PescadoAmarillo]

We chose the Golden because of more/cheaper flights to LA and the larger ship. We are definitely Grand class fans. This is a rare case for us where the ship prevails over itinerary.

[Bases5]

We chose The Golden for February simply because it was Saturday to Saturday rather than a Sunday arrival on The Dawn which would put us back home on the east coast late Sunday evening and having to go to work on Monday.;)

 

Mike:)

We had the same issue for our DEC cruise. Coming from the east, the Sat to Sat was a major factor due to work on Monday. We got a mini on the Golden for about the price as a regular cabin on the Dawn. Also the flights were better and cheaper to LA.

The literary on the Dawn is better in my opinion but that was the only plus in our decision.

[sonomaphil]

We chose the Golden simply because of the balcony. While we liked the Dawns itinerary better, the much larger and open balcony made for an easy choice.

[Colo Cruiser]

Golden. :)