LIVE from the Dawn Princess, Jan 29th 2006

[TorontoTL]

Hi Everyone, just had a wonderful dinner at the Florentine Dining Room. Embarkation was a breeze. With Platinum status was on the ship within 5-10 mins of arriving at Pier 35. The staff have all been great so far. Friendly and very helpful. The Dawn is in great shape and I'm really looking forward to the next 10 days onboard. I'll try to post on a regular basis and answer questions that you may have.

 

By the way, for those of you who live in San Francisco, I'm so jealous of you. San Francisco is such a beautiful city. I spent a few hours walking around downtown after dropping my carry on luggage in the cabin. Wow, great weather and great city. You are so lucky to live here.:D

[liv2cruise4ever]

Benny, thanks so much for starting this thread. We will be on the Dawn on Mar. 10. I will be following this thread very carefully. I hope you have a wonderful cruise and that time stands still for you. Enjoy every minute of it.

 

As far as SF, yes it is a beautiful city. We live 38 miles north of SF, in the wine country. If you ever get a chance, it is gorgeous up here as well. Great wine, great food, and beautiful scenery.

 

Keep us posted on the weather conditions as well.

 

Until your next post....smooth seas.:D

[rosej]

liv2cruise4ever - We are also on the March 10 Dawn. Looks like there is getting to be quite a nice group on CCers on that cruise. You might want to check out the roll call (if you haven't already).

 

Benny - Nice to hear from someone on the Dawn. We were hoping for the Scrapheap Regatta. If you see anything in the Patter, could you please let us know? Since we are aft on Aloha....we are hoping for calm waters. So an occasional weather/wave report "Live from the Dawn" would be greatly appreciated. Thanks....

[seastar2]

An addtitonal thanks for starting this thread from another person on the March 10th sailing....Have been on the Dawn before she is a great ship.

 

Did you have any problems getting back on the ship after leaving while embarkation was going on..was there a diffrent gangway?? Also who is the CD??

 

I am sure we will pepper you with question in the next 10 days..fill us in on tips for the ports..good waiters the PC dinning area. Last year we found a waiter we liked on the third night and stuck with him the rest of our trip.:D

 

Enjoy....

[CL-JW]

We happened to be in the city yesterday and sat and watched the Dawn for a while. We were on her in October and just loved her. It was a beautiful day for a sail-away from San Francisco as well.

 

Have a great cruise.

[TorontoTL]

Everything is going so well so far. I love being on the Dawn. I forgot how nice the Sun was and thus didn't expect too much from the Dawn. Once thing is for sure, she rides the choppy waters much more smoothly than the Grand class or the Coral class ships. There are quite a few white caps yet one would hardly know that one was on a ship. The Dawn is really smooth compared to similar waters on the other classes of ships. I do miss the larger cabins on the other classes of ships, but surprisingly I think the showers on this ship are actually a bit larger than those on the Grand class ships. Today the high in Catalina Island is going to be around 21*C or 70 *F and I'm hoping for a nice afternoon there.

 

The CD is Frank C...hmmm I forget his last name.

 

Getting back on the ship during embarkation was no problem except that I left my wallet on the ship in the safe and didn't have any photo ID. I thought that getting back on the ship would be like at any other port. I was wrong. The security at the port is Princess security, it is US security. Fortunately one of the guards recognized my "handsome" mug and let me through. So for those of you who are planning to get off the ship to see SF don't forget your photo ID in addition to your cruise card.

[rosej]

Talking about getting back on the ship...brought up another thought. Where and how does the Dawn go through customs? Seems I read somewhere that she went through customs in San Diego. Just wondering how this works since you aren't taking your luggage off the ship as you do when you disembark.

[Love Boat Dream]

What a popular trip! :D

 

Thanks for starting this thread.

 

Is Frank the CD an older guy? (meaning older than the 30 year olds who are the CD's these days) I remember a CD named Frank many years ago. He was very good.

 

Question about ships time. In every other cruise we have been on, the ship is always on local time. But, lately I've seem some threads that make me think that isn't always true in Mexico, especially PV. Please let me know if that is true.

 

Do you have any excursions planned?

 

How was Catalina?

 

thanks!

 

Susan;)

[bdjam]

Hey Benny – thanks for checking in – glad to hear that Dawn Princess is still providing an excellent cruising experience. Also glad the weather held out for you so you had a chance to roam around a bit yesterday. Looking forward to hearing more – I know you’ll enjoy your cruise.

[mii]

Talking about getting back on the ship...brought up another thought. Where and how does the Dawn go through customs? Seems I read somewhere that she went through customs in San Diego. Just wondering how this works since you aren't taking your luggage off the ship as you do when you disembark.

 

Hi Rose: I was on the Sapphire in Oct. 04 doing the same r/t from S.F. and our custom stop was San Diego. We were really held up for over an 1 hour because there was 4 people who did not hear the announcements of their names being called for customs. Hopefully Toronto will not have that problem.

 

Marilyn

[mmyorkston]

CD on Dawn is Frank Castiglione (sp?) Not real creative as far as activities, but pleasant. We were on Jan 9-19.

[Alessandrina]

Hi Benny, glad you are having a good time on the Dawn.

Could you do me a favour please (from one Canuck to another!)...would you pass on my regards to Chris, the Piano player, in the Atrium? My young son and I enjoyed his music every evening on the New Year's Eve cruise and perhaps he would remember us since we had always danced to the song "Lady in Red". Thanks kindly.

Alessandrina and Johnny. :)

[Love Boat Dream]

Frank Castiglione is the guy we had years ago. He's been with Princess forever. It's nice to have someone with a lot of experience under his belt!

 

Susan

[cezovski]

We will be leaving on the Dawn Feb. 8. We only have about a 45 minute drive to the docks so that will be nice! I will write a nice long review when I return and try to go over some of the things that I have had questions on over the last few months and received such great answers to from everyone here!

I asked someone who was on the Dawn earlier and you do go thru Customs in San Diego but they don't go thru your luggage, you just fill out some papers. Maybe Tigger will see this post and elaborate more on this but it sounds pretty painless from what he said.

[bdjam]

Everyone on board must pass through US Customs in San Diego before anyone is allowed off the ship. They do not go through your luggage, however I would assume they have the right to detain you for such if they thought there was something suspicious with your Customs form or if you met the criteria that you would if you were going ashore. The Customs officers are on the ship and I would think the same inspection criteria would apply as if you were leaving the ship.

[Oxo]

Who is the Captain, CD, Circle Hostess and Marti D on the Dawn? Thank you.

[TorontoTL]

Hi Everyone, we had a great day in Catalina. I really didn't know that much about it until my partner reminded me about the Harry Bosch books. One of the characters lived on Catalina. Anyhow, great little spot to visit and walk around for the day. The high today was about 70 and it was a mix of sun and clouds. It was great to be able to walk around without a scarf and coat. Lots of neat little shops and interesting houses to look at here. I was really surprised how busy La Scala, the pizza place was today for lunch. As always the Princess thin crust pizza was excellent. We were able to get the same waiting team again today in the anytime dining room. I am hoping to get them booked for the week but I'm not sure if I'll be able to track down the Maitre'D Luigi to do so. The Head waiters in the dining room weren't making it seem likely that I could do so. Unfortunately they are only allowing reservations to be called in the day of and not ahead of time. It seems that on this sailing early dining is extremely popular.

 

Allessandrina I will pass by the Piano player before I head back to my cabin and say that you said hi.

 

The ship stays on local time I believe as the Patter says to turn ahead our clocks tonight to stay on local time.

 

Tomorrow is a sea day so no plans, just whatever comes to mind to do...wonderful to be at sea with no demands and wonderful service and food. By the way, there seemed to be a new menu that I've never seen before on my cruises, the Princess menu it was called. I had the Neptunes grill I believe which was a great skewer of shellfish. If you like seafood you will love it.

[bdjam]

Thanks for checking in, Benny – I enjoyed my day in Catalina as well – it was nice just to have a peaceful stroll around. Keep having a great time!

[RASHOPPER2]

We Will Be On The Dawn In December. What Can You Tell Me About The Size Of The Balcony Cabin? It Does Seem To Be Smaller Than The Cb. Can You Still Have Breakfast On The Balcony, Since It Is So Small? Hope That You Continue To Have A Great Cruise. Thanks So Much For The Review.

[TorontoTL]

We Will Be On The Dawn In December. What Can You Tell Me About The Size Of The Balcony Cabin? It Does Seem To Be Smaller Than The Cb. Can You Still Have Breakfast On The Balcony, Since It Is So Small? Hope That You Continue To Have A Great Cruise. Thanks So Much For The Review.

 

I am actually in an inside cabin for the first time. I thought it might be a problem having just been in a minisuite on my last cruise. However, the inside is fine especially since it isn't all that warm yet to be outside. In terms of the cabin size, I've seen the balcony cabins on this ship and they are somewhat smaller than what you'd have on a Grand Class or Coral Class ship. The balcony is also smaller, however, it is still big enough to eat out there if you wanted to do so.

 

I am surprised at how good the internet access is. From everything I had read I expected it to be really really slow. It's not super fast but it is certainly good enough. Breakfast was great today, because of a time change passengers slept in and we felt like we were the only ones in the dining room this morning. Today's patter has all sort s of meeting booked. They have a veteran's get together. A Police and Fireman's get togther. A Teacher and Nurses get together as well as LGBT/Friends of Dorothy meeting. I've never seen so many get togethers on a ship before. It is very nice that they are trying to get people with similar backgrounds or interests to meet onboard.

 

The big show tonight is Curtain Up, which I may have seen so I'm not sure if I will attend. But there are many other options on board. Off to the promenade deck for a walk around the ship.

[bdjam]

Hey Benny – are they calling it the LGBT/Friends of Dorothy gathering? If so, they added the LGBT part after Gavin and I chatted – I’ll take credit for that one! :D I also found the internet access to be quick – I think the proximity to the coast might have something to do with it. Is Anna Inneken still the lead female singer?

OK – no more questions from me – go have fun…

[Oxo]

Who is the Captain, CD, Circle Hostess and Marti D on the Dawn? Thank you.

Would greatly appreciate the names for these onboard the Dawn. Thank you.

[Arlened236]

I am really enjoying this thread, my husband and I will be on the Dawn on Feb 18, Toronto, thanks for your excellent review so far... I am happy that we do customs in San Diego, getting off in SF will be so much easier, especially with a plane to catch in Oakland. Qusestions for those who have done this cruise before: What time were you off the ship in San Diego, we want to go to the zoo and see the new panda baby...also was Catalina a tender port?

Enjoy your sea days, they are always my favorite.

[bdjam]

I am really enjoying this thread, my husband and I will be on the Dawn on Feb 18, Toronto, thanks for your excellent review so far... I am happy that we do customs in San Diego, getting off in SF will be so much easier, especially with a plane to catch in Oakland. Qusestions for those who have done this cruise before: What time were you off the ship in San Diego, we want to go to the zoo and see the new panda baby...also was Catalina a tender port?

Enjoy your sea days, they are always my favorite.

Customs in San Diego was early – I think my call was at 7:30 and it seemed to be completed by about 8:00. We didn’t sail until 5:00, so there would have been plenty of time to see the zoo. Catalina is a tender port.

[Karen & Dennis]

Would greatly appreciate the names for these onboard the Dawn. Thank you.

 

The folks have reported that the cruise director is Frank Castiglione and the Maitre 'd is Luigi.

 

Guess you're just waiting for the Captain and the Circle Hostess?