Dawn Princess New Years Eve, Let's compare Holiday Trips?

[CruiseObssessed]

I'm breaking this into several posts due to length, if you like details, enjoy!:D

 

Warning--this is very long, if you don’t like long please don’t start reading it. I did divide it into sections so if you want to skip around, it’s easy to do.

Background—who am I and why am I writing this: I have read cruise critics for a couple of years but haven’t posted before due to lack of time, or that by the time I log in (I live in Pacific Time Zone), the questions are already answered Our party on this trip was made up of my brother and his wife, DH and me, and three teens between us. We are all platinum or elite and have traveled together several times on Princess. I thought it might be fun to profile a holiday cruise and hope others will too.

Embarkation Day is HERE at last: There were two ships in port, typical in San Diego---and we were just across from Holland America’s Ryndam. It was fairly predictable who was who—many multi-aged family groups were boarding the Dawn Princess, the Ryndam’s crowd was mostly very elderly couples, and lots of wheelchairs and scooters made their way toward the Holland America ship. Luggage was collected at the same spot, bins are well labeled but double check you get yours in the right one. Our tablemate at dinner had her luggage go on the wrong ship; she didn’t get it back until Puerta Vallarta.

We arrived just before noon. They appeared to be dividing people into groups, then they sat in chairs til their group was called and let on board. There were lots of people sitting and waiting, a very few were being allowed to make their way to security and onboard. We showed our “preferred” boarding passes (platinum, elite and full suites). They cordoned us off into a separate line, had people to make sure we were processed immediately, and then gave us “early boarding” passess. We were whisked right onto the ship. Platinum really paid off!!

On the ship, there were few people around yet. We dumped our bags in our rooms, and picked up the patter for info. Note: if you want to make dining reservations, now’s the time. We had first seating traditional and I don’t care for steak, so we were good to go. The patter mistakenly said the Venetian Dining room was open for lunch. We went there and were turned away; it was for back to backers only. This is NOT what the patter said. Wait staff said they always put that in there, but it’s never true. Not a great way to start, as lots of people were being turned away and no one was happy about .

First Day Lunch: We went to the buffet, and since they were controlling boarding speed, there were no lines. Food taste is very subjective, and I am not a “foodie” but I thought it was great! Lots of choices, fresh and tasty. Try the fried scallops, yummy! Again, I am not hard to please when it comes to food, and there is nothing in particular I must have every day to be happy, but I never had any complaints about the buffet choices, cleanliness or quality. I found more that I wanted to eat than could, all week long. I have read others that have not been happy with Princess buffets lately, but for the prices they are now charging I think it’s a great value. The grill was open too, for embarkation. Small lines; smelled great but I didn’t try it.

Teens: We went to sign the kids up at the teen center. Sun class teen centers have a “malt shop” theme and are small but cute. Our kids were on the Dawn when they were 13 and 14, and had a great time. Mostly 16-17 year olds meet there then go do their own thing. There were LOTS of teens (159 to be exact) on this holiday cruise. The teen director looked tired and seemed relieved that we didn’t need her to go thru her spiel again on how it works. Wild teens weren’t visible; but were around. We were awakened at 5:30am one morning by the captain looking for a 17 y/o boy who was missing—he was not overboard, they soon discovered, but found in a room the teens knew as the “party room” having a “great time” with a couple of 20 something females!

Sailaway and escape--was fun as usual. The “sail away” cocktails were a rip off, they only filled the souvenier glass ¾ of the way full and you had to buy the glass to get one. Sucker bait. I’d stay away from the carts on deck 14 and get a real drink from a bar. The pool band on this cruise played Salsa music, which fit the theme of the cruise. I have to admit to a weakness for Caribbean steel drums, and missed the “hot hot hot”(one of my favorite songs) of the Caribbean cruises, but I understood I booked Mexican Riviera! Their sound was good, and it’s fun to have live music. It was sunny and lots of people in little boats drive by and wave. Staff was friendly. Everyone is so happy at sailaway! You can feel everyday stress start to melt off….

Dining, yes more food, it’s a cruise after all: We booked first seating traditional dining. We like the baked Alaska parade on the last night, and having the same waiters. I was surprised, they sat one lone stranger at our table with 7 family members. She was traveling alone. Fortunately she was a nice lady, not shy and we got to know her easily. We adopted her as an honorary family member for the week. Service was efficient, and our waiter took time to visit with us. He was Romanian, to the delight of our girls—every cruise they have expanded their Romanian vocabulary a little bit, it’s kind of a tradition for us. The food was good, every night. I didn’t have any complaints. I like fish dishes and had those most nights. The first night I had the Conchiglie, which is my favorite Princess dish. It’s pasta shells in marinara with capers, olives, cheese and chicken. It didn’t disappoint. Over the course of the week we had lobster, treats like caviar and pheasant, soufflés at least 3 nights—passionfruit, vanilla, chocolate hazelnut. Fish was never over or undercooked. Nice salad selection. Best thing all week was the last day’s lunch, when they clear out the seafood in a nice cioppino. Don’t miss it! Some reported their lobster was rubbery; mine wasn’t so it wasn’t universal. I wonder if Personal Choice Dining makes it more difficult for them to get things coordinated; and I’d suspect the later you dine the more likely you are to find rubbery held over seafood. Our dinner was at 5:45pm and the food was hot and fresh. But again, I am not a gourmet; if I don’t have to cook it, and I don’t have to do the dishes, I will probably like it.

[CruiseObssessed]

Cont.

 

Pie—Pizza pie, that is: Unfortunately I only got there once. I like Italian style pizza (thin soft crust, lots of red sauce and cheese) a LOT, so this is a real treat for me. It was wonderful as always, so cheesey. The crust is very thin and flexible, so I fold it Naples style and eat it like a sandwich. So good! Hint--If you prefer the deep dish stuff, you’ll find it on the buffet late at night.

Can you stand one more word on food-the buffet: One more thing on the buffet, watch for themes. There is a sushi lunch (yuck, is all I can say, their sushi is terrible. But I’m spoiled. There’s lots of great Asian food available where I live), Mexican lunch and late night on fiesta night—not really authentic but very good. Sugar buffet, bring your cameras and let’s test your pancreas!!! Good to eat but better to look at. Big cakes with fondant and chocolates, little animals made of marzipan, trays and dishes of beautiful treats. Oh and late night, the leftovers from Sterlings appear. Raspberry crème brulee, choclate pecan pie, onion rings, jalapeno corn muffins, crab cakes, smoked chicken etc. I’d be mad if I paid for it. But I didn’t, so it’s a good thing---I gained 2 lbs on this cruise, probably from the late night cookie and leftover runs. No lobster, or steaks tho—those are made to order so if you want them you have to book Sterlings.

Hot Hot Hot….Tubs and Pools: Yes sir, the hot tubs were HOT on this cruise. If you have high blood pressure, pass, otherwise, enjoy. I love sitting at the back of the ship in a hot tub overlooking the sea. The pools were crowded full of small children every possible moment, because this was a holiday cruise. It was fun to watch them play. They are so full of life and their squeals of happiness are so delightful. The adult pool on the main deck was mostly adults if you want to swim without water in your face; but the one in the back was full of kids. The rule of no saving chairs; printed in the patter that they would remove items not claimed in 30 minutes, was not enforced (surprise, surprise), but it wasn’t much of an issue except P.V. day because this cruise was cold! Maybe when more people are circling for chairs they will enforce it but I have never seem them do that.

 

Gym, Spa: If you must work out lol, this is a nice but popular venue. Classes like pilates and yoga cost extra. Treadmills and such are free. They have plenty of options. I didn’t go to the spa this cruise because, wow, I’d have to mortgage my house to pay for it. The price for treatments has gone up! In the past it was nice. Clean, but nothing superior to on land that I’m aware of. Others might know more. But on sun class ships there are no ocean view treatment rooms, no mud rooms, no thermal suite (per se, there is a steam room and dry sauna in each locker room).

Novelties and New Years: A few words on new things I noticed. The “cookies and milk” break was a nice touch---a dressed up pair—a woman with a large basket of cookies and a man carrying a big (maybe 10-15 gallon) milk jug on his back, walk the pool deck around 4pm. The jug has a large tube from which he pours milk into cups he has strapped to a carrier on his side, and she serves up cookies. It’s free. Kids loved it. I did too.

Christmas Carols were playing when we boarded, but that was the only time this cruise. Decorations were up; they came down on our last day. They had lots of cute little things in addition to trees spread around the ship.

Poinsettas were served at the Captain’s Cocktail party and also the Captain’s Circle (past passenger) party. Princess poinsettas were mostly champagne colored with cranberry juice with a cherry plopped in it, but I liked them. There were no “free drinks” especially

for New Year’s, but it was the first formal night so they were available at the Captain’s Cocktail party as usual. Many champagne stations (big coolers full of ice and champagne of all sorts and bottle sizes) were set up all over the place on deck 5 and 12 where you could buy it. It was easy to obtain; I assume at regular prices but I didn’t check; I was too busy dancing!

New Year’s eve dinner was mostly the first formal night dinner menu; with a lobster tail to add to any entree if you wanted. There were hats for the men and crowns for the ladies that said “Happy New Years” free on our table at dinner. For whatever reason, our table had only hats even though we had 6 ladies and 2 men; but if you asked you could get the crown. Large, cute noisemakers for each person were also provided at dinner to be used at the party later on. Or whenever.

There were parties going on all over the ship. I looked at most of them except I never made it to the “Black and White Ball” in the Wheelhouse; that was a smokey older people venue so I knew it was not for me. We danced at the poolside party for a while then went to the atrium, where the BIG party was. The other parties were all very small. They put on a fabulous atrium party, I’d say spectacular. It’s a challenge, with multigenerations. They had seats on the side for the older/disabled. Dancing, both specific dances like the macarena and open dancing was held on the carpeted atrium area on deck 5. Meanwhile, the stairs filled with a huge SRO mass of people waiting for the midnight balloon drop. It could have been better if it was MC’d with a countdown, but the cruise director was recovering from surgery, so the approach of midnight just kind of happened. The band announced the last 30 seconds of 2007. At midnight, chaos broke loose. Hundreds to thousands of balloons dropped on the stairs people then floated over the dance floor and out over the chairs; along with the Princess Snow, confetti, streamers. Noisemakers were blown, music was playing, champagne was everywhere. People were batting balloons back and forth from the stairs area to the dance floor, dancing with streamers wrapped around them, yelling, hooting, popping balloons. I saw parents lifting excited children up so they could catch the colorful balloons. It was loud, raucous, and fun. For the passengers anyway. We overheard staff looking at the damage afterwards muttering that it was a “bloody nightmare”. It was; from that perspective—so you know it was a good party! Kudos to them, by morning you’d never know there had been a party.

New Year’s day the patter said they had Football playing in the Vista lounge with treats. I don’t know, I didn’t look. We went into Cabo San Lucas instead.

 

TBC

[CruiseObssessed]

Smoking: OK, this is such a fiery subject I have to comment. I thought they did well this cruise with that. Princess is finally starting to get it right, imo!!!! There were plenty of areas to accommodate people who wanted to smoke--smoking was allowed in the wheelhouse, the casino (except one night, wish there had been two!), on the port promenade outside and part of port by the pool, and windjammers bar was exclusively smoking. But the atrium was blissfully smoke free and there were bars where you could sit on a barstool and visit with the bartenders, probably the main thing I missed from my last cruise where every bar was a smoking area. Magnums bar suffered from its location; smoke drifted from the casino and it was unpleasant if you were a non-smoker. It was rarely patronized, I thought perhaps because, this being a west coast cruise, most of the passengers seemed to be nonsmokers. Interestingly, the only smokers I saw on the Promenade were on the NON smoking side. This was in the patter and also clearly marked; and the smoking side had ashtrays. To be fair, this was only 3 people. I just assumed, since it was a low number, that these three individuals were simply very stupid, too lazy to walk around to the other side, hate rules, don’t speak English or Spanish (the languages this was communicated in) or were being obstinate and trying to make a point. But BY FAR the majority of the smokers on this cruise were courteous and respectful. A big THANK YOU to those folks!

Party Til you Drop: Lots and lots of parties. They had New Years Eve, Mexican Fiesta Night, Champagne Waterfall, Captain’s Cocktail Party, Captains Circle Party, Elite Party, 50-60’s Sock Hop, a Mardi-Gras theme at Magnums(that didn’t amount to much unfortunately), Western Hoe-Down. Music, dancing, booze, food, games, laughter, fun—what else can you say?

Ports: On a Mexican Riviera cruise, ports are probably not the highlight. I booked this because it was cheap, and I wanted to be at sea for New Years to be honest. I prefer the Caribbean but it’s a LONG ways away for me.

Cabo San Lucas: Some decent shore excursions are offered but you have to pony up enough cash to feed a Mexican family for a year to do any of them. The native folks can be very friendly but many also know a sucker when they see one; keep that in mind anywhere on this trip. Medano beach or Lover’s beach offer a cheaper alternative but they are crowded. We went to “The Office” on Medano Beach and had some good nachos and strong margaritas while people watching; it was a nice relaxing day and the beach is pretty.

Mazatlan: Some highlights are the lighthouse, the chapel and market downtown, stone island and the Golden Zone. The latter is nothing special imo, full of aggressive vendors and very dirty. We had “Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride” in a Pulmonia to get there. I was just praying we wouldn’t die. It was mildly amusing; but nothing I saw there was worth that taxi ride. Next time I’d stay on the ship in this port. I was glad to see they are offering up Ixtapa as an alternative to this port on their 10 days M.R. cruises next year.

Puerta Vallarta: Nicest of the three; and some good shore excursions where you can get your money’s worth (my opinion only, yours may vary). The town is worth a visit; the statues on the Malecon are interesting, there are cobblestone streets and the architecture of the older buildings is interesting. The church is amazing. But the best bet imo are the Banderas Bay shore excursions. Snorkelling, kayaking, etc.

 

 

People: A mixture, I’ll say. I comment on this because of reading threads wondering what happened to the old time type of passengers or the “trailer trashing” of Princess. The old timers are there, but there is definitely a few new breed. I didn’t think rude, underdressed, or trashy people were common, but rather that a few were there and they stuck out. Some examples: The people at the next table at dinner had two teenage boys who wore jeans, t-shirts and sweatshirts to dinner even on formal night (and were allowed in). Formal night had lots of men in open collared shirts. The Captain’s Circle invitation had definitions of expected dress at the bottom of the card.

At the Pizzeria, a woman and a boy of about 12 came in. He ran at dead run across and plopped at a table. His mom yelled at him to come back. He flipped her off and then ignored her. Dad appears, Budweiser in hand, and screamed across the area at the boy then drags him back by the scruff of his sweatshirt. 4 more kids and another woman appeared with this group, who then commandeered two tables without waiting, yelled at the waiter, and talked about drugs, who was sleeping with whom in their circle, and WWF in loud tones. They smelled, and were visually dirty. They needed to be introduced to shampoo.

Another passenger was a baby-boomer aged woman (50-65) walking around in a thong and see-thru harem pants. Honey, all I’ve got to say is that if you’re going to hang it out so that I have to look at it, visit the gym a little more often!

But these people were by far the exception, I thought the majority of my fellow passengers were typical middle class family people like myself.

Rocking and Rolling---Not Dancing, the Seas!! Yes, the ship moves: The seas really rocked the last night. It was the roughest night at sea I’ve had since we crossed the Pacific. Our stuff rearranged itself on our counters, tho mostly stayed on. You would get that “floaty feeling” when the ship drops just a split second before you do. You’d step down and the floor isn’t quite there. Our cabin was extremely fore and it visibly rolled. The ship creaked; a sound I haven’t heard in a few cruises. Not many people out late; either sick or tired and getting sleep before disembarkation. We weren’t sick and I like it, you know you are at sea. We found out later we were going through an unusual storm. It was pouring down rain in San Diego, which doesn’t happen often! So if you wonder if the Mexican Riviera can be rough, the answer is not always but it can happen!

The Bad and the Ugly: Worst thing of the cruise—the storm shorted the electricity fore and all the fore cabins plaza deck lost use of their toilets. These backed into our bathroom, putting raw sewage on the floor. I’m glad it was the last morning! We had to leave unshowered---ewww. We got out of there fast, wow did it stink! Princess offered no compensation at all for the inconvenience.

One more bad—we bought a bottle of tequila ashore, which they confiscated at the gangway. They broke the seal, and delivered it to us leaking badly. Of course, we can’t get this home on an airplane without wrecking our clothes. After a fight (they wanted us to take it as is), they agreed to compensate us—for the exact amount we paid for it, after we provided a receipt. Not a penny more, and we have to wait for a check---we are still waiting. I’m betting we will never see it.

So Would I Cruise Princess Again? : Absolutely, I love the product and for the money I think they provide a really good bargain. I have a “ghost” booking in. I can’t wait!! But I will probably not buy booze to take home.

Sorry for length if that bothers you. Cheers to your next cruise!

[bubbadog]

well....all in all,sounds like you had a great cruise, except for the audio images of some of the passengers,we are sailing next saturday cant :));)

[CruiseObssessed]

We had a fabulous cruise, the negatives were minor and quickly over---good times most of the week! Hope you have a wonderful time! (bet you will) :)

[rdsqrl]

Thanks for the review -- I really liked all the detail, and I could tell you were having a great time . . . until the last morning - eww! I'm doing the same cruise in a couple months, so I really enjoyed reading all about yours. I do have a question re disembarkation. Did you do self-disembark, and if so or even if not, what time were you off the ship? And how easy/hard is it to grab a taxi at the pier?

[CruiseObssessed]

Thanks for the review -- I really liked all the detail, and I could tell you were having a great time . . . until the last morning - eww! I'm doing the same cruise in a couple months, so I really enjoyed reading all about yours. I do have a question re disembarkation. Did you do self-disembark, and if so or even if not, what time were you off the ship? And how easy/hard is it to grab a taxi at the pier?

 

We didn't do self-disembark, but the whole process is fast and painless either way. They really have that down! Our time was not typical, because there was a couple (non US, non Canada) that failed to report for the immigration check. They called and called them on the overhead, in English and what I think was Portugese (I assume their native language) for over an hour. Since that took so long, the ship wasn't cleared on time and we were an hour and a half late starting the process. But I think the earliest scheduled time had been 7 or so. Even with our delay we were off by 9:30. They really moved those lines down the hall and off the ship!

 

Taxis seemed plentiful and easy to get. When you are off and have your luggage, just walk out to the sign for taxis (it was to the right) and ask the guy who's running the line to hail one for you. The guys working there were really nice and helpful.

 

I'm jealous, wish my trip was ahead instead of behind. Have a wonderful time!!!:)

[dclark]

I was on the same cruise. I thought the minature lobster tails were fine, but I wished we'd be given more than just two each.

 

Smoking- one thing I like about CA cruises is that not many people smoke.

 

That last night was rough! Half my family was sick, but bonine took care of it. I woke up the last day when we entered the bay- the lack of rocking woke me up!

 

Buffet food- mostly nasty, but there was often one or two things that were good. Yeah, that first day, those fried scallops were good. Of course, if you were not a shellfish lover , you wouldn't be impressed. But hey, how can you cruise Princess if you don't love shellfish, right? Outside of the lobster, everything else was good, including the crab.I had a I got princess fettucini and mixed in a lot of king crab meat into it. If you haven't tried it, you must!

Another honorable mention was the turkey. I don't know if they had it for just the holidays, but it was quite good.

 

I encountered some rude people. They (judging by their accents) sounded like they were from out of the area (foreign).

[Bucky3]

Great review! Thanks for posting and for letting the positives outweigh the negatives!

 

Question: You mentioned a 10-day Princess Mexico cruise next year? Where did you find that? We have been surprised that this year Princess has both the Golden and Dawn doing the same 7-day itinerary and wished one of those ships was a 10-day. After reading your remark, I am on a hunt for that 10-day cruise!

[CruiseObssessed]

Great review! Thanks for posting and for letting the positives outweigh the negatives!

 

Question: You mentioned a 10-day Princess Mexico cruise next year? Where did you find that? We have been surprised that this year Princess has both the Golden and Dawn doing the same 7-day itinerary and wished one of those ships was a 10-day. After reading your remark, I am on a hunt for that 10-day cruise!

 

The positives DID outweight the negatives--many times over. I was on a cruise instead of at work! :)

 

I found the new 10 day'er in the Cruise Atlas that they sent out---I was on the hunt for cruises where I don't have expensive airfare :D But it's now on princess.com for next season's Mexican Riviera. I'm giving it a serious look, it's round trip San Francisco on the Star Princess, 10 days (5 sea days!) and the ports are Acapulco and Ixtapa as well as Cabo San Lucas and Puerta Vallarta. All you give up is Mazatlan, and to me that's a good trade. I've never been to Ixtapa, but the pics promise some nice beaches and that's for me!!! Likely to be a little bit of rough water somewhere on that. I don't mind, but people who get seasick may want to take bonine and book midship or another cruise tho...

 

One sad note on that trip mentioned above tho, book early---it only runs four times, from Oct 11 thru Nov 10th, then the ship moves to South America. According to the cruise atlas, the only ship running all season to the Mexican Riviera next year is the Sapphire Princess, 7 days r/t LA.

 

DClark, glad you had a good time! I'm sooooo trying the pasta/crab combination you mentioned next time. That sounds like a real treat!!!

[Bucky3]

Thanks for your quick reply! I was thinking 10-day out of LA. We did the 10-day out of SF RT on the Golden last year. It was a really nice cruise. It was in April, and the weather was kind to us! Really like that more southern itinerary and the sea days. Maybe we'll try that again next year on the Star.

[Litewait]

I am looking at doing this cruise for New Years 08. Have done to New Years on Carnival and had a great time. Do they offer free champagne when boarding or on New Years eve at all? Just wondering what to expect.

 

Thanks!

Happy Cruising~

Donna

[CruiseObssessed]

I am looking at doing this cruise for New Years 08. Have done to New Years on Carnival and had a great time. Do they offer free champagne when boarding or on New Years eve at all? Just wondering what to expect.

 

Thanks!

Happy Cruising~

Donna

 

Hi Donna. No free champagne for New Year's specifically. However, this particular time New Year's Eve fell on the first formal night, which is the Captain's welcome party. I noted that champagne and poinsettas (champagne and cranberry juice) were amongst those choices. That's early in the evening around 5:30 and again two hours later. Champagne is also free at the Champagne waterfall on the second formal night. There are no free drinks when boarding. On New Year's eve champagne was more visible than it usually is (was out in carts with ice filled coolers on top), and very easy to buy but at regular prices.

 

The party was great fun! I highly recommend thi cruise!

 

Btw prices--Korbel ranged from $21-$25 depending on which type you wanted, spumante was similar. French Champagne went up to well over $100 plus for Dom. They also had splits, magnums, etc for varying prices.

[Litewait]

Thanks for the info. Decisions, decisions..:D

 

Happy Cruising!

Donna

[mycruz]

Nice review! We are booked on the 10 day Mexican Riviera RT from San Fran in April 2009. Booked it because it has 5 sea days and wanted to try the west coast for once.