09/04/08 10-Day Dawn Princess Review

[kadiebug12]

We returned from the 10-Day Dawn Princess cruise out of San Francisco and below are some of my thoughts. Overall, we LOVED the trip.

 

Itinerary:

San Francisco - Cruising out of San Fran was beautiful. If you're local to CA and live north of SF, try parking at the Vallejo Ferry Building and taking the ferry in. No charge for parking, the ferry is 15.00 per person and it drops you off near the pier. You can walk or take a taxi, I think it's less than a mile. Loved cruising out under the Golden Gate.

 

Ketchikan - We booked the Bering Sea Crab Fisherman's Tour through Princess for this location. We couldn't have been happier. What a unique adventure, and the tour operators were having the greatest time! This was a treat and we would do it again in a heartbeat. We had time to walk around downtown afterward and thought the town was very cute. It only took about 10 minutes to walk from one end to the other.

 

Juneau - We took the bus service to Mendanhall Glacier (7.00 per person if I remember). It was rainy so the view wasn't perfect, but this is a beautiful area to walk through. We paid to enter the visitors center and view the glacier while drying off. The trail areas are gorgeous. Afterward we found a quaint coffee shop for some hot chocolate, did a bit of shopping and then retreated to the ship.

 

Haines - We booked the Rail/Sail excursio through Fast Ferry. We boarded an 11AM fast ferry from Haines to Skagway, then boarded a 12:45PM train to the Yukon Summit. Another GREAT excursion. The views were wonderful and it was nice to enjoy them from the comfort of the train. We went out on the platforms to take pictures, and I actually rode the entire way down on the platform (since everyone else was inside relaxing), just enjoying watching the scenery go by. We brought a bottle of wine in our bag and snacks and enjoyed a bottle of wine on the way back down the summit. Then, we caught the 6PM fast ferry back to Haines. If you have a stop in Haines and are unsure of what to do I recommend taking the ferry to Skagway. I thought Skagway was an adorable town. We would do the train again for sure!

 

Tracy Arm - We actually divereted to the Daws Glacier. Our Captain had his family onboard with him and felt Tracy Arm would be too crowded so he got permission to go to a different glacier. What a beautiful experience this was. Coming up through the inlet was gorgeous. Seats are hard to find for the narrated trip up the inlet so we enjoyed it from our balcony. Swooshing past the ice in the water is a once in a lifetime experience. We were able to get within 1 mile of the glacier and actually witnessed it calving!

 

Victoria - Shopping, lots of shopping. What a beautiful city.

 

At Sea/The Ship - We liked the Dawn. We were a bit surprised that the rooms were smaller than we're used to on other Princess Ships. We didn't expect Grand Class ships, but our room on the Tahitian Princess was much larger. And, the TV was 13 inches, that surprised us a bit. That said, the service on this ship was the best we've seen on Princess since our first cruise in 2002. Every single staff member we came across from our Steward, to our dining staff, to the bartenders went above and beyond to treat you well. We NEVER sat with an empty plate in front of us while in the Horizon and rarely had to ask for anything. It was very refreshing to see this level of service on Princess.

 

We saw lots of whales right off the ship. Maybe 15 times or so. I even saw some breaching right off our balcony. Just keep your eyes peeled and you'll see them. I was glad we didn't book a separate whale-watching trip.

 

All in all this was a great trip. We wouldn't change a thing and will return to Alaska someday (too many places too little vacation time and money). We found everyone to be so friendly, on land and onboard. The scenery is amazing. Everything is so grand there, it makes you feel small. But, not in a bad way. :)

 

Enjoy! You should be able to get to our website from the links below, and from there find the Alaska links off our Vacations page.

[Krazy Kruizers]

Thanks for taking the time to write your review.

[milolii]

Thank-you for the review! Thanks for the tip on the ferry terminal in Vallejo!

 

A few of my employees were on that cruise. One won the Margarita shaking contest. Did you see that? Did you get it on film? :D

[kadiebug12]

Hi-

I saw the contest, but didn't get it on film. It was on the "reflections" DVD though so we saw it several times replaying on the TV in our room during the cruise. :)

 

Kadie

[milolii]

Hi-

I saw the contest, but didn't get it on film. It was on the "reflections" DVD though so we saw it several times replaying on the TV in our room during the cruise. :)

 

Kadie

 

Ha! I am looking for that video! Her friends told me about it and that she was the star, but have yet to see it! :)

 

I did see some awesome pictures of one of your whale sightings.