injured on shore excursion

We have just had a good cruise to PNG on the Dawn in Sept this year, however on our first trip ashore I had the missfortune to trip and falldown on to a concrete floor and broke my nose! A quick taxi ride back to the ship, and the doc treated me by resetting the shape of my nose with a quick twist and click it was done! I was told that the charge for the tour was cancelled, but I still had a bill of around $300 from the doctor!

The other thing that happened, we had a strange noise emitting at different times day and night which was very annoying as no amount of investigation found a reason, after 4days we were moved to another cabin, and when our account showed up we had been given $150each as compensation

So here's hoping our next cruise (Jan29 Melbourne -New Zealand) will be better.

Mardia

We have just had a good cruise to PNG on the Dawn in Sept this year, however on our first trip ashore I had the missfortune to trip and falldown on to a concrete floor and broke my nose! A quick taxi ride back to the ship, and the doc treated me by resetting the shape of my nose with a quick twist and click it was done! I was told that the charge for the tour was cancelled, but I still had a bill of around $300 from the doctor!

The other thing that happened, we had a strange noise emitting at different times day and night which was very annoying as no amount of investigation found a reason, after 4days we were moved to another cabin, and when our account showed up we had been given $150each as compensation

So here's hoping our next cruise (Jan29 Melbourne -New Zealand) will be better.

Mardia

sorry to hear about your accident but i think you were lucky to get the compensation for the strange noise even after you got moved

I agree with Bob. I think they treated you very well. You should be able to claim the $300 from your travel insurance. Hope your nose is as good as new and that you were still able to enjoy your cruise. :)

We have just had a good cruise to PNG on the Dawn in Sept this year, however on our first trip ashore I had the missfortune to trip and falldown on to a concrete floor and broke my nose! A quick taxi ride back to the ship, and the doc treated me by resetting the shape of my nose with a quick twist and click it was done! I was told that the charge for the tour was cancelled, but I still had a bill of around $300 from the doctor!

The other thing that happened, we had a strange noise emitting at different times day and night which was very annoying as no amount of investigation found a reason, after 4days we were moved to another cabin, and when our account showed up we had been given $150each as compensation

So here's hoping our next cruise (Jan29 Melbourne -New Zealand) will be better.

Mardia

Sounds like you were looked after and hopefully your nose is healing well. With regard to the noise - were you on Plaza Deck forward by any chance?

Sounds like you were looked after and hopefully your nose is healing well. With regard to the noise - were you on Plaza Deck forward by any chance?

we were on the Dawn P and we had P339 and we got the noises too, we complained but it didnt get us anywhere and no compo and we stayed in the same cabin for 28 days so if the OP got $300 for that plus a different cabin they did very well

We were in P324 for the Sep PNG trip - what type of noise? We could hear what sounded like to me an electrically powered hydraulic pump every 30 mins or so that went for 10-15 seconds. Not enough noise to be really annoying, but you did notice it. Still better than our previous cabin next to the "hotel supplies" cupboard where our steward would shake plastic garbage bags from around 6:30am each morning!!

:) There is always noise on a ship especially when situated next to those blank white spaces shown on the deck plans which I think are generally storage space: something not secured correctly or staff moving things and BINGO....noise.

we were on the Dawn P and we had P339 and we got the noises too, we complained but it didnt get us anywhere and no compo and we stayed in the same cabin for 28 days so if the OP got $300 for that plus a different cabin they did very well

As per my signature - we were in Cabin P343 and had to be moved as there was an horrendous noise. We lost a few nights sleep as a result. The concierge desk wouldn't believe us about the noise and "no one has ever complained before about the noise". I rang the front desk one time when the noise was occurring and they asked me to turn the TV down as they couldn't hear me because of the noise from the TV - it wasn't the TV it was the non existent noise. They offered us a free bucket of beer for the inconvenience:eek: You have to be kidding we were on an 18 night cruise. Eventually they accepted that the noise did exist and offered us a cabin on the other side of the ship. Did not help us move cabins and got a free meal in one of the specialty restaurants for the inconvenience. Looks like they have had their "head in the sand" regarding this issue, just like a lot of other things Princess chose to ignore.

Hi, everyone, It seems quite a few of you have had "noise" problems, and we were very lucky to be given both a move and compo, we are now looking forward to our next cruise D504 29/1/15, we have a balcony cabin port side this time so hopefully no noises!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

happy cruising

Maurice

Ah yes "that" noise that the staff can't hear! We were on Sea P for a NZ trip in P347 so we had the exit door noises from all hours when in port too. The other noise is indeed frequent and loud enough to wake us up. I reckon it must be an essential part of the ships operation because no amount of complaints make it go away and the denials come to the staff too easily when you do mention it. I will not stay on deck 5 again on the Sun ships, problem solved!

Steve.

Hi Mardia,

Sorry to hear about your nose! Hope it is better and still straight.

We are booked on Pacific Dawn for a PNG cruise in Feb 2015. I have a couple of questions I'd like to ask you.

Did you need to take your own snorkelling gear or waas it available at places wehre snorkelling was suggested? If so, was it expensive?

Were there any specials for the specialty restaurants? On our previous NCL cruise specialty restaurants were available at a reduced price on some nights and this is good to know in advance so you can plan.

What shore excursions did you do and were they worth it? At the moment there is not much showing up for our cruise and they seem very expensive. I have found a possible alternative company for Rabaul (much better price). What places was there enough to do without doing an excursion?

Thanks in advance!

Glad it worked out okay OP and you have not been put off cruising. I think you were very lucky, that you were looked after so well.:D

We took the shuttle to the festival site at Alotau @ $55 each absolutely worth every cent. The cultural experience at the site was fascinating.

Instead of getting the bus back to the ship we got dropped off in the town and walked back to the ship. Some of the other passengers who did the battle of Milne bay tour felt it was poor value for money.

If you go to Honiara no ship tous were available. Someone contacted the ship about a 3 hour battlefield tour @ $56 Aud each. When we went ashore we did this tour which was led by an Aussie expat well organised and very interesting and vey good value.

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We did the festival site at Alotau as well - was OK, but it was only a mini festival compared to the big one they have once a year... We walked back to the ship from the site (3/4hr) and was pretty interesting. Wouldn't like to be out after dark in Alotau that’s for sure.

Battle field tour was a major disappointment for me as I was expecting more and was really looking forward to it as my father was there in WW2. Hopefully the locals will get their act together over time as there is a lot of potential in PNG.

I wish I took our snorkling gear - would have been handy at Kivata & Kiriwina Islands, Champagne Bay etc and I didn't see anywhere offering hire stuff, although I wasn't really looking.

Unfortunately we did not get into Rabaul due to the Volcano.

Oh - forgot..

We noticed during the battlefield tour in Alotau, that the tour buses were chaperoned by a couple of security vehicles (with wire over the tinted windows..) with a few guards in each one.

Oh - forgot..

 

We noticed during the battlefield tour in Alotau, that the tour buses were chaperoned by a couple of security vehicles (with wire over the tinted windows..) with a few guards in each one.

That would be a bit intimidating.

Several years ago on the old Regal Princess, we had the most hideous noise that would come and go. It was always worse during the night. We persevered,sleepless, for the first few nights, sleeping on deck during the day. We complained and they sent staff but no one came whilst the noise was occurring so they thought we were making it up. Then, we started going into the theatre about 1am and sleeping on the bench seats there. Security found us 1 night and then they began to take us seriously. They offered us sleeping pills and red wine!!!! And ear plugs, which I took. They monitored the cabin more closely and FINALLY they heard the noise. We were then moved to a balcony cabin for the last 3 nights and they told us the cabin would be out of service for the next cruise also......

We always take our own snorkelling gear on a cruise. I agree with Spirits comments, although we felt fairly safe we were very conscious of our surroundings and would not like being in Alotau at night.

We had problems getting everyone back on the tenders at Doini Island when the swell picked up. One of the passengers got hurt when he fell while getting off the tender onto the jetty. We missed Kitava due to a heavy swell making it unsafe to launch the tenders.

At kiriwinia we were greeted by literally hundreds of locals with the beach like a suburban car park only full of canoes.

Because of the volcano at Rabaul we could not go ashore but did a sail pass of the volcano at about 2 nm. Overall one of the best trips we have done.

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That's right - forgot abut missing Kitava. Those tropical islands all look pretty much the same after a while. The tender ride at Doini was not pleasant at all. We were held off the jetty for 20-30min waiting for the tender before us to unload which was difficult with the seaway.

The really hot and stuffy conditions on board the tender combined with the rough sea was more than enough for one unfortunate passenger to be very sick. The tender crew weren't overly sympathetic or helpful (with a bucket etc) and some passengers became a bit agro towards the crew for not helping her and not letting us know what was going on, but I suppose they had other things to worry about.

Still a great cruise - but after a few cruises on Dawn Princess we have noticed a slow decline in her general condition of the ship and think we will look elsewhere next time.

Just little things, but they all add up e.g. windows around the Horizon Court needed cleaning, but it looked as though the safety wires for crew to hook onto were unserviceable so could not be done. When it rained, a few tables near the sloping windows towards the bow had to be cordoned off as they leaked making the carpet all wet.

We had to evacuate our cabin on Plaza deck due to a burst water main early on the second day and then had carpet dryers outside our cabin door for 24hrs or more. Then for a few days afterwards we had water being cut off a few times.

Our cabin a/c was buggered - really hot and stuffy at night with the temp control making no difference. Promenade deck needs maintenance with lots of rotten decking planks and missing wooden bungs that covered the fastenings. Carpet on stairways wearing out and tread bare in some places. One lift was out of action almost the entire cruise creating crowding in the others. We did not use a lift for 3 weeks as it was quicker using the stairs.

We dined in the Florentine, some of the ceiling panels near our table were rusty (probably from a water leak) with rust stains running down the adjacent wall.

The main pool was mostly too cold to enjoy a decent swim - they must have run the water through the refrigeration system!

Near disaster one day when the sliding doors at the Windjammer Bar wouldn't open when they got stuck (lack of maintenance) - almost died of thirst.

I know I'm being picky, but it was a comparatively expensive cruise (per day cost) and I was expecting a little more. Still crew were great and got looked after us very well.

I agree with you Spirit28 about the Dawn, we have been on Sun, Sea and

Dawn, I can't put my finger on it but I really do not like the Dawn for some

reason.:confused:

Thanks very much for the feedback, especially those posting about excursions, etc.

Looks like I'll be packing my snorkelling gear - takes up quite a bit of room though! I'll also pass that onto my friends who are keen snorkellers.

We won't be there for the main Alotau Festival but they have a smaller one for the cruise ship? That might be okay for us and the walk back would be good. My friends were interested in the Milne bay WWII stuff but it sounds like that is not so good.

I was surprised just how tired "Aunty Dawn" looked. Mind you it had just returned from an around the world trip.

It was our 3rd cruise on her, the power went out for a couple of hours at embarkation at White Bay and with most of the passengers being elderly and the ship running on emergency power, while they got the problem fixed wasn't a great start to the cruise.

It was often a case of playing lift lotto and it wasn't until a few days out from returning to Sydney that all the lifts seemed to be working. Apparently she is going into dry dock next year when there is a gap in her itinerary for some much needed maintainance.

Hope to do another on her next year and it will be interesting to see what she looks like on our next trip.

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