1st Cruise - Dawn Princess to Alaska

[dlburns36]

In SF, we got to pier 35 about 12:15 in a cab. Porters took the bags at the curb. We were on board in less than 30 minutes.

 

Disembarking is not so easy. Our group was allowed off at 10:30. There is a mob getting bags, trying to get a porter and a big mess at the curb. Perhaps use your cell phone to call your pickup since you can estimate progress of disembarking groups. They do it with alphabetical baggage tags and start with A. We were F. It seems to take about 10-15 minutes between letters, but sometimes they called 2 letters at the same time. The rule is, be patient.

 

I did not see any jeans in the anytime dining room. Most of the men did have ties. I wore slacks, a dress shirt and a blazer.

 

We never needed an umbrella or raincoat in port in Alaska, but who knows.

 

It was a great trip, have a wonderful time.

 

We are starting to get excited...although shopping for clothes is like having teeth pulled, I hate it!

I did actually try on a couple of sport coats, and believe me, that is a leap!

Looks like the buffet for us on formal nights!

Dave

[Lolo4564]

We got off the Dawn back on 5/21 - I found out something I did not know before. I went to the Purser's desk the night before disembarkation, because I to was wondering what time to tell my ride to come. They actually will give you the time that your color luggage tag will be called the next day. He said 10:05 and I'll be if it wasn't within minutes of that. I was a little suprized as I figured the ship clearing customs that morning could come into play with the timing of the whole thing (?)

 

Anyway, it worked for us.

 

Oh, and for those of you who have tours booked with any other than Princess in Sitka, I would definately make sure that they will wait for you. That tendering situation was a nightmare...I have never experienced anything like that before. Getting off the ship and back to it were ridiculous!

[dlburns36]

We got off the Dawn back on 5/21 - I found out something I did not know before. I went to the Purser's desk the night before disembarkation, because I to was wondering what time to tell my ride to come. They actually will give you the time that your color luggage tag will be called the next day. He said 10:05 and I'll be if it wasn't within minutes of that. I was a little suprized as I figured the ship clearing customs that morning could come into play with the timing of the whole thing (?)

 

Anyway, it worked for us.

 

Oh, and for those of you who have tours booked with any other than Princess in Sitka, I would definately make sure that they will wait for you. That tendering situation was a nightmare...I have never experienced anything like that before. Getting off the ship and back to it were ridiculous!

 

 

That is great information!

Thanks

Dave

[wilber1]

I have been to Alaska the past two years and plan on going this year. I have never seen jeans worn in the dinning room for dinner. The dinners are a very important port of the cruise, you will enjoy it!!

[Sailfish]

I have a question for you Dawn experts regarding Customs & Immigrations during debarkation. How is it handled? I am used to the debarking process on Caribbean cruises, and once even went through a passport check before exiting in St. Thomas. But I was curious as to how this is handled on cruises to Alaska.

 

Our last port of call will be Victoria - will there be a passport check upon reboarding the vessel? Will it take place in San Francisco in the terminal like it does in Miami and Los Angeles?

 

Any input is much appreciated.

[Bucky3]

Would like to know about bedding on the Dawn. Have the bedding/mattresses been replaced recently? Thanks for any information.

[nchank]

Passport and customs check was on board after ship docked in SF.

[Sailfish]

Passport and customs check was on board after ship docked in SF.

 

Ho did that work exactly - were you given a time to present yourself? Was it based on the color of your luggage tags?

 

Thanks.

[Cruisin from VA]

Also wanted to note that your debarkation numbers/colors are different from the ones on your suitcase when you board. Your debarkation information is based on your flight time first (those with earlier flights have priority for debarking). Self-assist can get off whenever, but I don't know about those without flight information. You may want to go to the purser's desk and let them know that you have someone coming to get you at a certain town and would like to be included with that group.

[Rhee]

I am scheduled to be back at work the day we return. I just assumed we could get off the ship when it arrives about 6:30AM. Do they actually prevent you from leaving or is it the luggage processing that takes so much time? I don't think I can tell them I have an early flight because we live in the bay area. Can anyone offer advice?

 

Thank you!

 

Marie

[wilber1]

Last year when we did the SF alsaka cruise they did it on board the ship, after we sailed out of one of the ports. It was done early in the morning by decks and was very easy. When we got back to SF we just had to wait for our color to be called to get off the baot.

[Sailfish]

I am scheduled to be back at work the day we return. I just assumed we could get off the ship when it arrives about 6:30AM. Do they actually prevent you from leaving or is it the luggage processing that takes so much time? I don't think I can tell them I have an early flight because we live in the bay area. Can anyone offer advice?

 

Thank you!

 

Marie

 

We too are anxious to get off the ship as we have a long drive ahead of us but I don't expect to get off the ship before 9am. We drove to the Port of Los Angeles from Northern California in February (for a cruise aboard the Diamond Princess), and we were hoping to be among the first groups off the ship. To my surprise, when I brought this to the attention of the Purser, I was informed that we would have to adhere to our scheduled debarkation time per the color of our luggage tags - they would not issue us an earlier color tag/debark time. End of discussion! Our ship pulled into the Port of Los Angeles at 6am, but we didn't get off until almost 9am and we still had to wait in line nearly an hour to go through Customs & Immigration.

 

It takes time to off-load thousands of passengers not to mention the bags (which they begin off-loading as soon as the ship docks). I personally wouldn't plan on getting to work all that early! You may have better luck in requesting an earlier debark time than we did the last time we cruised with Princess, so I am not telling you this to discourage you. You may also want to have your travel agent fax over a request that you be among the first to debark due to your circumstances (I hear this helps sometimes). We didn't think of doing this and although we'd like to get an early start, we don't have to be at work the day we disembark the ship.

 

Good luck!

[mikjr]

We just returned from this cruise on June 10... here's our answers:

 

 

Embarkation - if we get to Pier 35 at 11:00 AM will we be allowed to board? What is the process as far as checking bags? Are there restrictions on number of bags? Will we have to carry our luggage a long distance to check in?

 

We arrived in SF early and got to the check-in about 11AM... there was no one in the check in line! we went right through... they took us upstairs for about a 1/2 hour, and then right on the ship. we were on by noon.

 

Dining - We are not dress up types, not really interested in the formal nights. Does the dress code for the dining rooms allow for slacks and a button down shirt, or do you need a jacket? How informal is breakfast and lunch? shorts and polo shirt OK?

 

Most men wore tux or suits on "FORMAL" nights, but I did see some nice dress shirts on men, and slacks and dressy blouses on ladies. I didn't see anyone get thrown out...

Shorts are not allowed in the dining room at dinner time... EVER! Very casual dress for breakfast and lunch. saw some shorts and T-shirts. The buffet area is even more casual.

 

Packing - any tips on what to bring - I know the weather can change quickly up there, we just don't want to have to bring a steamer trunk full of clothes.

 

We over packed... AGAIN! the only time I really used by heavy jacket was at Tracy Arm... we stood outside, and the temp is cold. Weather was mild in Ketchikan, Sitka, and Juneau, between 60 and 70.

 

Shore trips - we have pre- booked a trip in every port, if we have to tender out and in, will the tour operator wait or do we just miss the trip if we are delayed getting off the ship.

 

Those with ship booked tours get off first... so I doubt there will be a problem. there was only one tendered port.

 

Cabins - we have a balconey cabin on the Aloha deck starboard side forward. Is the balcony roomy enough to have a meal on? Cab we leave the balcony door open at night to get the sea air.

 

We also had a balcony on the Aloha deck. there is a very small table on the balcony, so there is not much room for food. But, there is enough room for a tray of food. We had a small continental breakfast on the balcony and did alright... although it's pretty cold if the ship is moving at 20 knots.

 

Disembarkation - we are having a friend pick us up at the terminal. If the ship gets in at 7:00 AM, what would be a good time to tell her to pick us up?

 

They have EXPRESS disembarkation... if you don't mind taking your own bags off the ship, you get off first. we had two HUGE bags, got through Customs by 7:30am, and off by 8:30am. BUT, you have to request the express disembarkation to get your priority number. They'll send you info in your room on it.

 

Dave... I HOPE that helps...

 

mike

 

[benandbe]

Dave --

We were on the May 31st sailing of this cruise (Cabin 746) -- and had a marvelous experience. Great weather, in fact on one sailing day it was so beautiful we set on our deck most of the day... had room service for lunch, read and enjoyed!

DR... on the whole we felt the dining was more formal than others but well worth the effort. Because of the extended daylight hours, for the first time we selected second seating. We thoroughly enjoyed the attention and the relaxed feeling... the food and service were marvelous. The maitre'd Luigi is an elegant and classy individual... his senior waiters are great hosts -- we interacted frequently with Nello and learned much about the restaurant, the ship and the cruise industry. Our waiter was Ilidio from Portugal... his assistant was Jorge from Argentina. They made the dining experience feel like we were honored guests in their home. They handled our special requests (different veggies, mixing options on the entrees, etc. etc.) without blinking. In the DR, we did not see anyone in shorts or t-shirts... jeans with jackets yes; Dockers with jackets were frequent; some ties but mostly open collars, polo shirts with jackets; formal night was 50/50 on the tuxedos jackets were with shirt and tie.... for the women dress was dressy to formal... really fun.

Horizon Court -- Great food, but a challenge if you don't like crowding and standing in line. We have used the buffet option in the past but tried it for breakfast, lunch and dinner on different days and decided we liked the low hassle of the DR better.

Pizzeria -- Good... convenient, limited options.

Room Service -- what fun -- we used it for breakfast and lunch twice.

Clothing.... we took heavy duty rain ponchos -- and layered under them. They pack small and were exceptionally versatile. I also took ear muffs, mufflers and gloves which came in handy on Tracy Arm and at Mendenhall. Like others indicate you just don't know what the weather is going to be. The ponchos gave us flexibility!

Sitka = If your tour is booked with the ship they'll wait for you. They organize the booked tours on the ship and disembark the tours together. Tenders are never the easiest... but this wasn't too bad and could have been much worse! The eagles sitting in the trees and on the poles around the harbor are distracting enough to ease any tender irritations!

Juneau -- we took the tram up to Mt. Roberts, lunched up there, came down and then went up again to see the eagle they've nursed back to health and the eagle nest again.... was great.... great... great.

Disappointments.... the photographers and photography options. Certainly an area they could improve on... but just a minor issue.

Enjoy enjoy enjoy!

[TrojanJulez]

Thanks, everyone, for all of the helpful information! We are sailing in a week, so when we return, I will add my 2-cents! :D

[dlburns36]

We just returned from this cruise on June 10... here's our answers:

 

Mike....that helps a lot!!

We are really starting to get excited about the trip!

Thanks

Dave

[dlburns36]

Dave --

We were on the May 31st sailing of this cruise (Cabin 746) -- and had a marvelous experience. Great weather, in fact on one sailing day it was so beautiful we set on our deck most of the day... had room service for lunch, read and enjoyed!

DR... on the whole we felt the dining was more formal than others but well worth the effort. Because of the extended daylight hours, for the first time we selected second seating. We thoroughly enjoyed the attention and the relaxed feeling... the food and service were marvelous. The maitre'd Luigi is an elegant and classy individual... his senior waiters are great hosts -- we interacted frequently with Nello and learned much about the restaurant, the ship and the cruise industry. Our waiter was Ilidio from Portugal... his assistant was Jorge from Argentina. They made the dining experience feel like we were honored guests in their home. They handled our special requests (different veggies, mixing options on the entrees, etc. etc.) without blinking. In the DR, we did not see anyone in shorts or t-shirts... jeans with jackets yes; Dockers with jackets were frequent; some ties but mostly open collars, polo shirts with jackets; formal night was 50/50 on the tuxedos jackets were with shirt and tie.... for the women dress was dressy to formal... really fun.

Horizon Court -- Great food, but a challenge if you don't like crowding and standing in line. We have used the buffet option in the past but tried it for breakfast, lunch and dinner on different days and decided we liked the low hassle of the DR better.

Pizzeria -- Good... convenient, limited options.

Room Service -- what fun -- we used it for breakfast and lunch twice.

Clothing.... we took heavy duty rain ponchos -- and layered under them. They pack small and were exceptionally versatile. I also took ear muffs, mufflers and gloves which came in handy on Tracy Arm and at Mendenhall. Like others indicate you just don't know what the weather is going to be. The ponchos gave us flexibility!

Sitka = If your tour is booked with the ship they'll wait for you. They organize the booked tours on the ship and disembark the tours together. Tenders are never the easiest... but this wasn't too bad and could have been much worse! The eagles sitting in the trees and on the poles around the harbor are distracting enough to ease any tender irritations!

Juneau -- we took the tram up to Mt. Roberts, lunched up there, came down and then went up again to see the eagle they've nursed back to health and the eagle nest again.... was great.... great... great.

Disappointments.... the photographers and photography options. Certainly an area they could improve on... but just a minor issue.

Enjoy enjoy enjoy!

 

More great info!!!

Thanks so much!!!

Dave