Live From The Dawn!!!

[ccrain]

Internet is finally up and operating. Its day 2 from Catalina to PV. Heading down the coast. Weather is overcast, but nice. No swells to speak of.

 

Sailaway under GGB was pretty cold, but awesome.

 

You will hear a lot about problems tendering to Catalina yesterday. We eventually gave up and went hot tubbing.

 

Dawn is in really good condition (but the windows need a good cleaning) and the food so far has been very good. Formal night is tonight. Captain's welcome I believe.

 

So far so good. Ask your questions, I'll try and answer.

 

Headed for Line Dancing now, CC lunch at 1200 in the dining room. Then combat kickboxing for the afternoon workout.

 

Wish you were all here - not!

 

More later...

[ccrain]

Notes to people in the next sailings.

 

1 - The pizza place is closed on embarkation day! So figure on hitting the HC for food. The grill is open.

 

2 - It is windy and cold on sailaway. Bring jackets, sweatshirts and hats/hoods. Its not to be missed, but it is cold.

 

3 - First formal night is on the first day at sea after Catalina. Get your hair and nail appointments quickly since they fill up fast.

 

4 - The Gym opens at 0600. An hour earlier than the Sun.

 

5 - There are no "forced" tours of the spa, like the sun and the Star were. You are free to wander around and sign up for classes. Yoga, pilates, spinning, kickboxing are all on sea days, 45 minute classes and $10 each. Port day classes like aerobics are free and 30 minutes.

 

Ship is in good condition. Service so far has been pretty good for the most part. A few issues here and there but nothing major.

 

We have late seating traditional. Good tablemates, good waiters. Good food. Sailaway features prime rib and zander. Zander was very good. Judy reports the prime rib was ok. We celebrated our anniversary on sailaway, so we got balloons, a cake and a song. The head waiters don't cook on this ship. He reports its company policy, but they did on the Sun so I believe that a lot of ship to ship variations are due to shipboard management, not Princess. I plan on exploring this a bit more in a later post.

 

Last night was the Princess menu. Judy reports the pasta very good (especially with green jalapenos added). I had a new menu item. It was a King Neptune grill with shrimp, mussels and scallops on a skewer grilled. Its also on the healthy choice menu and is very good.

 

Judy and I have already caused a bit of a stir at the table. Judy is allegic to mayo. She finally got tired of eating oil and vinegar or lemon on her shipboard salads all the time - they seem to use a lot of mayo - even in their vinegarettes. So we bought a bunch of those resturant size foil pouches of salad dressing - it was that or bring an entire bottle. Kind of upset the waiters a bit, but at least we are sure there is no mayo in the dressing.

 

Couple of notes on embarkation. Took 15 minutes through the platinum check in. (Got to the port at 1330, on the ship at 1345.) But then took until 1930 to get all of our luggage. And our table mates didn't get theirs until after dinner!

 

Ok, off to the CC lunch...

[calikak]

Thanks for posting--sounds like you're having a great time! Keep us updated when you can, and have a great time in PV! :)

[CL-JW]

Hey there. We just got off of the Dawn on Tuesday the 11th.

 

We had a great time. Service and food were top notch.

 

We haven't had time to write a review or post pics yet, but we will soon.

 

If you go to LaScala for Pizza, ask for Charlene. She treated us great and was a lot of fun too.

 

Glad to hear you're enjoying the trip so far (and Happy Anniversary)

[FANC6]

Thanks so much for posting from the Dawn! Glad to hear the ship and staff are in good shape. Have you heard anything about the new amenities for the suites and mini-suites - have they been implemented on the Dawn? How's the entertainment, do they have a good band by the pool? Hope to hear from you again and have a great cruise!:)

[TorontoTL]

I love reading the "Live from the ...." postings. Thanks for posting yours. it sound like the Dawn is in wonderful condition and that there are some new menu items. I will look forward to trying some of them myself. Keep telling us about your cruise and about any other changes that you see.

[loriva]

Thanks for posting!

 

Your post is the second to report on tendering troubles on Catalina Island. Did any of your tablemates or others you've talked to ever make it off? Did Princess give priority to those with shore excursions booked through them?

 

How is the equipment in the gym? What type of cardio equipment do they have (any elipticals?) and how many? Have you seen long waits or do they have sign up sheets?

 

Any comments on the wine list?

 

Thanks again and don't worry too much about answering questions--you're on VACATION after all!

[yancycruiser]

Thanks ccrain for posting live for all of us who are anxiously waiting our turn on the Dawn. Make sure to clean up before you disembark. :)

 

Have a great cruise and may it go by ever so slowly for you and fast for us.

[LHT28]

Do they have a soft drink card? How much is it?

[ccrain]

Yesterday was about as perfect a sea day as possible - except for the SLOW internet - its taken me 16 minutes to get this far and if I was not platinum I would be very upset.

 

Anyway, started the day with a good workout. Skipped breakfast, went to line dancing at 10:30 with about 50 people, large crowd, met the CC group for lunch in the dining room. A little nap before the kickboxing class at four, first formal night, great dinner good show. The only down side was losing another hour of sleep prior to PV. That's two hours lost, but we'll get em back in a couple of days. Some people saw whales yesterday, and we had a school of a couple a hundred porpoises having sushi for lunch at a buffet off Catalina.

 

We're meeting for another CC lunch today at 1300 at La Scala.

 

Ok, now for some answers in no particular order:

 

1 - Coke sticker is $40 with thermal cup.

 

2 - Gym equipment is Cybex. Not an elliptical per se, but an arc trainer. Works well. I've used them on the Sun as well. They really get you going are fully adjustable, have a wireless receiver and are underused for the most part.

 

3 - Haven't seen the wine list. Not a big wine drinker.

 

4 - The tendering problem in Catalina is a mystery. The CD came on to say there was a problem on shore. They had three tenders running and a couple of shore based tenders. But it took almost 2.5 hours to get everyone off in the tender ticker process. By that time (1600) we had given up since the crowd for the return would be large due to early seating. We'll see how Cabo goes. The last time we were there they had 5 tenders running.

 

 

5 - No word on the new mini-suite amenities. I will check.

 

We saw Elliott Maxx (comedian) the first night. Good show. Dan Horn (ventriloquist/comedian) last night. Very funny.

 

Billy London is the CD.

 

Judy and I are having a great time with our table mates and yesterday I finally settled into the cruise so we're really into having a great time for the rest of the cruise.

 

We'll see how bad the internet connection is and try and post this.

[ccrain]

Yesterday was about as perfect a sea day as possible - except for the SLOW internet - its taken me 16 minutes to get this far and if I was not platinum I would be very upset.

 

Anyway, started the day with a good workout. Skipped breakfast, went to line dancing at 10:30 with about 50 people, large crowd, met the CC group for lunch in the dining room. A little nap before the kickboxing class at four, first formal night, great dinner good show. The only down side was losing another hour of sleep prior to PV. That's two hours lost, but we'll get em back in a couple of days. Some people saw whales yesterday, and we had a school of a couple a hundred porpoises having sushi for lunch at a buffet off Catalina.

 

We're meeting for another CC lunch today at 1300 at La Scala.

 

Ok, now for some answers in no particular order:

 

1 - Coke sticker is $40 with thermal cup.

 

2 - Gym equipment is Cybex. Not an elliptical per se, but an arc trainer. Works well. I've used them on the Sun as well. They really get you going are fully adjustable, have a wireless receiver and are underused for the most part.

 

3 - Haven't seen the wine list. Not a big wine drinker.

 

4 - The tendering problem in Catalina is a mystery. The CD came on to say there was a problem on shore. They had three tenders running and a couple of shore based tenders. But it took almost 2.5 hours to get everyone off in the tender ticker process. By that time (1600) we had given up since the crowd for the return would be large due to early seating. We'll see how Cabo goes. The last time we were there they had 5 tenders running.

 

 

5 - No word on the new mini-suite amenities. I will check.

 

We saw Elliott Maxx (comedian) the first night. Good show. Dan Horn (ventriloquist/comedian) last night. Very funny.

 

Billy London is the CD.

 

Judy and I are having a great time with our table mates and yesterday I finally settled into the cruise so we're really into having a great time for the rest of the cruise.

 

We'll see how bad the internet connection is and try and post this.

[bdjam]

Billy London is the CD.

How is Mr. London?

[ccrain]

Satellite connection still really sucks. They have a sign next to each terminal that says "DUE TO CURRENT LOCATION SATELLITE CONNECTION MIGHT BE POOR...SHOULD YOU WISH TO ATTEMPT TO USE THE INTERNET THERE WILL STILL BE A CHARGE OF 35 PER MINUTE..SATELLITE CONNECTION CAN NOT BE GUARANTEED... WE APOLOGIZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE"

 

In other words it costs you 0.35 per minute to find out. But here's a tip. Try to access the free princess website. If it doesn't load quickly and you can't get around it very fast, forget the connection and try back later.

 

CC group met at La Scala. Pizza was great. Home made, fresh. Charlene was not there, but we did get good service. Great company. Nice to talk about cruising experiences, rumors, comparing ships, lines. The most experienced couple, cannot remember their name except he's Jack ( i am so bad with names) have cruised over 300+ days (they are Elite). They have some great experiences to talk about.

 

Tonight is ITALIAN NIGHT!!! Anyone who knows us knows we like Italian night. Looking forward to it and very hungry. We did our two workouts today and our line dancing class so we're ready for a good meal. Had my first Long Island Iced Tea today. Not bad at all. I think I'll go get another...

 

Its also country western night. Lots of fun, we hope. So no shows for us, its time to dance our dinner off and crash hard.

 

Tomorrow is PV, so we're going to SLEEP IN. We're there for about 10 hours, so we're in no hurry. No tendering. Its 3 straight port days in a row.

 

BDJAM: Billy London is a truly nice guy. He'll stop and talk to you in the hallway and seems genuinely friendly and likeable. He's only been with Princess 18 months now, but I've heard his name on several threads. His staff is enthusiastic, a bit crazy, heavy with Brits and South Africans, who try and talk with a southern twang?!??!!. Now that's a hoot.

 

The HC food is buffet fair, the coffee is standard Princess. (After the first cup, its ok. Nothing to brag about, but its hot, plentiful, full of caffiene and available 24 hours.

 

Now you future Dawn cruisers, we've got a lot of catching up to do if we're going to match the Live From The Sun thread, so get with, remember to post while you're on board.

 

Judy and I are having a GREAT TIME. The CC group is great, our table mates are wonderful, the food is pretty darn good, the service has been really good, the eggcrate foam pad is comfortable, the weather is now warm so we can sleep with the door open at night (Judy is very happy now), the seas are very calm (there's hardly any motion at all).

 

What more can you ask? Oh yeah, a faster internet connection to make you all even more jealous...

 

Till later...

[bdjam]

BDJAM: Billy London is a truly nice guy. He'll stop and talk to you in the hallway and seems genuinely friendly and likeable. He's only been with Princess 18 months now, but I've heard his name on several threads. His staff is enthusiastic, a bit crazy, heavy with Brits and South Africans, who try and talk with a southern twang?!??!!. Now that's a hoot.

Thanks for the info!

[LHT28]

Thanks for the information.

We leave on the 21st sailing...

[DougH]

I also just got off the Dawn on Oct 11, sure no fun to go back to work.

 

I didn't notice any problems with tenders in Catalina. I got off on the first one as I had a priority pass. FYI I really enjoyed the Maritime Museum in San Diego, its right next to the pier.

 

The cruise staff was fun, watch out for Rachel as she is a wild woman (watch for her dancing at the Mexican night deck party)

 

Top three most traveled on our cruise were all in the mid 500 day range, believe there were 53 Elite aboard. The private party was great, I love the Officers Wardroom on the Dawn. Be sure and try the Coconut shrimp if you get invited.

 

Doug

[meemeec]

I am really enjoying your "live from" reports! Thank you very much for taking the time to keep us up to date with your very informative postings.

We still have a few months to wait but reading this thread makes the waiting time more fun.

Thanks,

Maureen

[Sea Day Cruiser]

 

Billy London is a truly nice guy. He'll stop and talk to you in the hallway and seems genuinely friendly and likeable. He's only been with Princess 18 months now, but I've heard his name on several threads. His staff is enthusiastic, a bit crazy, heavy with Brits and South Africans, who try and talk with a southern twang?!??!!. Now that's a hoot.

 

I did B2B Alaska cruises on the Dawn in September and thought Billy London was a wonderful cruise director, much friendlier than most. His staff was great too. Are Rachel, Gavin, and Anya still on the Dawn? They were a lot of fun.

[Angiem]

I am soo enjoying your Live From posts as hubby and I and some friends are on the Oct 31st sailing. Keep em coming!!!! Anxious to hear what u do in Cabo.

 

Angie M

[loriva]

Thanks and kudos for the great posts and taking time to answer our questions--especially given the poor internet connection! Have cut and pasted them into my trip notes of "things to remember!"

 

We're also looking forward to your notes on land.

 

Am looking at PV right now on the Dawn bridge cam--looks like a beautiful day, perfect vacation weather!

 

Thanks again and hope you continue to have a fantastic time!

[ccrain]

Internet access still sucks and we're as far south, and not moving, as we're gonna get. So there is a fundamental problem here that needs to be addressed. There's no way the ship intranet can function at these speeds, so I bet the problem is with the ISP for the public net. They need to get their act together or there's going to be a lot of ticked off people on this itin.

 

And that's the only negative....

 

Italian night was WONDERFUL. The eggplant parmesan was fantastico. On the Dawn the waiters and the guests all get up, twirl their napkins and dance around the dining room. Never had that happen on any of our other cruises - it was fun. I had the swordfish and veal (mmmm), Judy had the shrimp flambeau and a pasta dish, not the rabbit one. All were really good. Then we went to country and western night. Now, hopefully, I won't offend anyone, but I have to make this observation. We had an international country and western night - a British line dance instructor, a South African sheriff, another South African dance hall girl, a Korean band and a whole bunch of Chinese on vacation. Now that's international, and entertainment. You have not lived until you see an elderly chinese gentleman cut loose with a yee-haw, slapping his fanny and galloping in place. We're still chuckling over that one...

 

For all you line dancers. We did the faky achy breaky, cowboy twist, cowboy stomp, cotton eye joe and electric slide. The crew performed the tush push, with one member of the audience, which is a very fast and complex dance.

 

Morning in PV was SLEEP LATE. No tours planned, except to check out the Wal-Mart. Never been in one in Mexico and we needed some cheaper water. You know that "taste's like chicken?", well its a Wal-Mart, complete with greeter, specials, clearance sales and the like. There was a bunch of us from the ship just wandering around checking out the prices. Jewelry selection was very minimal, as were souveniers, but the liquor selection was over the top and the prices were about 60-70% of Colorado prices. (There was a Sam's Club next door, but we don't have a card.) You do have to check in your backpacks and bags at the door of Wal-mart.

 

We wandered around the little flea market next to the dock. Lots of silver, clothing, ceramics. Not too many hassles with vendors. Some relatively aggressive van and taxi drivers. What part of no don't you understand. Its very hot and humid here right now. Should be that way for the next few weeks for those of you following us.

 

Tonight is continental night in the dining room. Used to be French night. We'll see how the escargot stack up to previous cruises. Then there is a Mexican Fiesta night on deck with a Mexican Buffet at 11:30. Tomorrow is Mazatlan and our tour with Frank. Looking forward to getting out in the country side. Not looking forward to getting up early.

 

Gavin and Anya are still here. I believe Rachael is too, just can't place the name with the face. Gavin was the sheriff, Anya the dance hall girl.

 

ICE CREAM ALERT: As on the Sun, the HC serves chocolate and vanilla ice cream from 3:30 to 4:30PM - FREE. There are cholocolate, caramel, butterscotch, nuts and sprinkles as well. Not a lot of people know about it, but as word spreads, like blood in the water, the sharks begin to circle.

 

Laundry: We had a notice in the Patter today about a special for the day of a $15 wash for a small bag of laundry. (Of course, with a Wal-Mart across the street you could buy a couple of weeks of worth of clothes for $15.

 

So far, so good.

[bdjam]

The eggplant parmesan was fantastico

Drool :rolleyes:

[yancycruiser]

ccrain,

 

Prior to arriving in Catalina did they have both the HC and dining room open for lunch? You mentioned problems tendering to Catalina. We have an excursion booked through Princess at 1:30 - should we have any problems making that?

 

Thanks again for all the posts and willingness to answer questions. We arre down to 26 days. Hope the rest of your cruise goes well.

[seastar2]

Looking forward to your feedback on tour with Frank since we are consitiring him for our trip in March...

 

Enjoy..cruise days always go by way to fast....:eek:

[cyd86]

We just got off the Dawn on the 11th so its back to work now.

 

The tendering problem at Catalina was just not enough boats and too many people. We waited about 1 1/2 hours for our turn (got in line for the tender tickets too late). The stay at Catalina is farily short so there wasn't a lot of time onshore. If you have a tour they generally have you meet in a different location and you don't have to stand in line for a tender ticket. They give tours priority with the first tenders so there shouldn't be any problem there.

 

We were supposed to not have to tender in PV but a larger Carnival ship beat us to the berth (or had priority since it was bigger) so we had to tender there. There was also another cruise ship in the harbor tendering in its passengers. It was a bit of a zoo but we made our tour ok. We took a boat tour to Las Calidas, would recommend it highly. 1 hr boat ride (with very entertaining crew) then time on a private beach to swim and snorkel, then a very nice lunch prepared right there and a nice boat ride back. The only hitch was on our return to the port there were too many tenders working that the tour boat we were on could not dock and had to use smaller boats to tender us to the dock before we got on the tender back to the ship. It was a 3 tender day!!!!

 

Big hint, when on the tenders in warm weather sit near an OPEN window. It can get very hot and sticky if your up near the bow in the tender.