LIVE from the Dawn Princess, Jan 29th 2006

[MTJSR]

As with all Dawn sailaways I watched you leave. I work right accross the street. It is very difficult to look out and see the Princess sea witch on the top every ten days. I watch a little bit as everyone arrives at the pier and you can just tell what good spirits everyone is in. I am going to have to find work accross the bay because all these cruise ships in my face really gets rough. Fortunatly I will be on the Grand in a few weeks which will get all the suffering out of my system. Have fun and see you (sort of) when you return. I sailed away from the same pier on an Alaska cruise and you are correct, San francisco is just beautiful.

[bdoll]

Glad to see someone is on the Dawn Princess now that we can talk to.

We are cruising Alaska in July with our 5 year old. Looking forward to it.

Can you give any tips or helpful hints. We have never taken a cruise before. Thanks so much:)

[berylmorris]

When we were on the Dawn for its first Mexico sailing 21 Sept - 1 Oct 05 (such a long time ago now!!) the Circle Hostess was Josie (I think) and she was from Brisbane. Enjoy your cruise everyone going on it It is the best - and the pizza restaurant is to die for.

[TorontoTL]

Last night was the first formal night. Dinner was excellent once again. I love the smoked duck appetizer, it is so wonderful. We still haven't attended any of the shows yet. Actually went to the gym after dinner and then into one of the hot tubs afterwards. I think tonight we will go to see a piano player who is on the ship just today for two performances. I really should have a copy of the Patter with me so I can give you more info on the names of the performers as well as the Captain and the Captain's Circle Hostess names. I will get those later on.

 

Brian, they are using the LGBT-FOD as the name of the FOD meetings onboard now. We had a good turnout and apparently they are planning to do the next meeting, hosted again by Ash, at Windjammers during a sailaway from one of the Mexican ports of call. That should be good. We have seen one whale and several dolphins so far. They were a nice surprise while walking around the promenade deck, which by the way, has been busy all morning and afternoon. I've never been on a ship that had such a busy promenade deck!

 

For those who are going to be on the Dawn in the near future, you won't be dissappointed. So far this cruise has exceeded my expectations. Really all of the crew are great, really friendly and helpful.

 

Almost forgot, the specialty coffee card is available now. It isn't something that they are promoting, but it is a good deal overall. 15 cafe lattes/cappucinos for $24 plus 15% gratuities. The card is the "Jack of Java" and looks like a playing card, very cute.

[toescat]

Thank you so much for such for all the great information. I will be sailing the Dawn April 9th. I live about 55 miles from San Francisco and it is a beautiful city. This will be my first sailing out of SF and I am very excited. I watched the ship leave via the web cam on Sunday and it was beautiful. I was concerned about the roughness of the sea in this part of California and am glad to hear that the ship handles the waves graciously. We have always sailed out of San Pedro and Long Beach where our roughest day on board was our last day at sea.

 

Thank You Again

[TorontoTL]

The Captain's Circle Hostess' name is Roxy. The Captain of the ship is Nicolo Bimarco (sp).

[bdjam]

Brian, they are using the LGBT-FOD as the name of the FOD meetings onboard now. We had a good turnout and apparently they are planning to do the next meeting, hosted again by Ash, at Windjammers during a sailaway from one of the Mexican ports of call. That should be good. We have seen one whale and several dolphins so far. They were a nice surprise while walking around the promenade deck, which by the way, has been busy all morning and afternoon. I've never been on a ship that had such a busy promenade deck!

Thanks for the info, Benny. We had our first gathering at Windjammers (at least we tried – it was so cold we came to the Atrium)!

[Jackk]

Re: Spelling for the captain's name, it's Capt. Nicolo Bommarco. He's been "driving" cruiseships (his term) for over 20 yrs. Very experienced.

[EAC]

It is great to hear you are enjoying yourself. My sister and I are bringing my Mom who walks poorly at her age (>90) and will need a wheelchair to get very far. Would like to know if at PV, or Mazatlan there are nearby stores at the terminal for her to see. I also saw on another posting that in PV the ship had made arrangements at Krystal Hotel nearby for cruise passengers to use - if that looked accessible via WC. Again, pleased you are enjoying yurself as we are going on Feb 18.

 

PS: Toronto is also a very nice city which I have enjoyed visiting.

[eastonce]

Toronto, Do you know if there were golf carts for rent in Catalina to tour the town in? My husband isn't able to walk far and I don't think we'll be able to put his scooter in the tender. I've really been enjoying your messages.

Thanks.

 

Carol

[cancruiseforever]

Plenty. $30.00 an hour.

[Arlened236]

EAC...check out the roll call boards for the Dawn Princess sailing Feb 18th...there is a bunch of us that are sailing with you... seems like a fun bunch and the more the merrier.

Arlene

[Alessandrina]

Benny,

Did you have a chance to say hi to Chris, the Piano player in the Atrium from us? Just curious. Thanks for checking in on the posts.

Alessandrina (and son Johnny.) :)

[TorontoTL]

Hi everyone, wonderful day today in Puerto Vallarta. I didn't post since yesterday morning, but the entertainment last night was a bit different from what I've experienced in the past with Princess. They had brought in a Concert Pianst. I know this isn't necessarily everyones cup of tea, but I really enjoyed his music. I was thinking it would be nice if they had a classical music concert and tada...I get one, nice surprise.

 

Weather today was a warm and sunny 82 *F. Nice cooling breeze off the Pacific Ocean. We spent a good 6.5 hours walking from the Marina, downtown, around downtown and back to the Marina. It is certainly walkable if you like long walks. There really isn't all that much to see on your way downtown from the Marina, but we had stayed at the Fiesta Americana years ago and wanted to see it again. Did some shopping and walking around the beaches. Overall a very nice way to spend a vacation day.

 

Dinner yesterday and today once again were great. Absolutely no complaints. Augusto, one of the very friendly head waiters in the Anytime Dining room came by today and told us to make sure we ask if we have any special requests. That was a nice gesture! We have had wonderful service from several different waiting teams so far. Really, everyone on this ship is really friendly and nice. Well except for one cabin steward down the hall from our cabin. He never says hi like everyone else on the ship. Oh well what can you do. Our cabin steward Ivan from Italy is a sweet guy, a little air headed but sweet. He keeps forgetting to get us new pool towels. I keep asking him for new ones...other than that he's been great.

 

In Catalina there were so many golf carts available I couldn't believe it. Even if they ran out by the place where the tenders dock, there are more rental places in the town. It would be hard to imagine them running out of the carts.

 

There certainly are shops right at the terminal where the Dawn Princess' tenders dock. We didn't get to dock at the terminal as there was a RC ship with more passengers than the Dawn there today. So no problem to do some shopping while at PV.

 

I don't think Princess made any special arrangements with Krystal, but because beaches are not private in Mexico, you certainly can go there if you like. It is very close to the terminal and has a very nice beach as far as PV beaches go. Certainly not the soft white sand of Cancun or Punta Cana, but good for Puerto Vallarta.

 

Thanks for the correction on the Captain's name, don't tell him I misspelt it. My spelling isn't the greatest and I never use spell check. Anyhow off to the Mexican Party tonight.

 

Oops, almost forgot, I did say hi to the piano player for you Alessandrina.

[T&TRenault]

Hi Benny,

I am sooooooooooo jealous reading your posts as you sail on the beautiful Dawn Princess. We were on board in October 2005 and absoutely loved it. For folks asking, we spent the day at the Krystal Hotel and enjoyed it very much. Walked right in with our princess towels and no problems what so ever. Actually, we were treated very nice. We went on the recommendation of our waiter who of course we ran into while sitting at the bar in the pool - way too fun. Also parasailed right off the beach for $40 each. Hope you had fun at the Mexican Deck Party, we sure did. Our friend actually made the video when she hit the deck with about 3 men during the game musical men (just like musical chairs, more men than women). Too funny!! For those concerned about the seas, I was too. Very smooth until the day from Cabo to San Diego, sunny but the movement of the ship could be felt. Not bad, but you could feel it. Then the last day at sea San Diego back to SF was just a little worse. I think the fact that there wasn't any sun probably made it seem worse. Again, I'm a big baby and I did just fine (with non-drowsy Draminie). Of course, the lower on the ship the less the movement was felt. Okay, enough of me re-living my days on the Dawn. Enjoy the rest of your trip Benny and for those of you with upcoming sailings, trust me you will enjoy it!!!!

[bdjam]

Benny – thanks for keeping us in the loop. Enjoy the Mexican Deck Party – always a fun thing to do! Glad you enjoyed your day in PV…next time I’ll have to try the hike from the pier – it seemed to be too far, but a good long walk is always a great way to work off the great meals!

[mississauga]

Thanks for starting this thread, Toronto. It is so great to get all this info from everyone before we go on this cruise. It is my first time on cruise critic and I just had to register so I could join the rest of you to talk about the Dawn Princess. We are going on the Dawn on 04/09 to celebrate our 30th anniversary.This will be our first cruise departing from San Francisco. What is the best and/or most economical way to get to the pier from the airport? Shuttle or taxi and what is the cost? How long does it take? Need to know to figure out whether we can make the 11:45am flight out of S.F. after the cruise.

"TOESCAT" -we will be on the same cruise and we must have just missed you in 2001 as we sailed on the Carnival Elation in 11/01.

[JacquelineRAM]

I will be on the March 10th sailing with a large group of people... we were in contact with the CD I believe to see if we could throw a party of some sort - have you seen any of these onboard? If so what was your impression of it?

 

Also, have you been to Jammers? Is the DJ good?

 

Thanks,

 

-J

[TorontoTL]

Beautiful day today in Mazatlan. Sunny and warm but with a nice cooling breeze off the Pacific Ocean. We grabbed a cab that dropped us off in the middle of the Golden Zone and then walked as far as the El Cid hotel. We then walked all the way back to the ship. Wow, that was a long walk. The cab ride was only 7$ and we noticed that it was a bit cheaper to catch one once outside the pier area. The old town of Mazatlan is much more interesting than the Golden Zone. Much more real Mexico. The old cathedral there is very beautiful and was unexepected. The walk back took over two and a half hours at a reasonable but not hurried pace stopping only once for a quick drink.

 

Last night's Mexican Party was a blast...too bad I can't seem to stay up late ...I'm getting old and I'm not even 40 yet. My friend think I'm a drag because I'm never up late. Last nights dinner I had Turbot, which as one of the best fish dinners I've had on Princess so far and I've had almost everyone by now. I'm a big seafood lover and I have to say that Princess does a great job with fish. Tonight is the second formal night which is unusual since it is a port day. Apparently the Super Bowl would have been on a usual formal night so they moved formal night so people could enjoy the Super Bowl on that night.

 

One oddity on this ship from everyother Princess ship I've been on so far. It doesn't have the red carpet in the hallways on one side of the ship and the blue on the other. Both sides of the ship have the same completely blue carpets in the hallways. Not sure why this is. Otherwise I have to say that this is one of my favourite cruises so far. The weather has been great with really comfortable temperatures for walking around, the ports are interesting, the crew is great, the food is excellent (even the buffet has been better than I remembered) and the ship is beautiful.

[bdjam]

Benny – since my time on Dawn Princess sort of helped you to make up your mind, I’m glad that things are continuing to go well. I can wipe the sweat from my brow – I was worried that you’d not like it and come hunt me down! I think it amazing how excellent the experience is on that ship – she’s got a certain ambience that I’ve not found on other Princess ships. Regal Princess is the same way, although it’s a different ambience than Dawn. I think each ship is an entity of its own and Dawn Princess certainly has her own personality – excellent that it is.

Did you get a look at El Cid? I’ve not been there but heard it’s like Hotel Krystal. Sounds like you’ve left a good deal of shoe tread all over Mexico – good for you.

Keep having a good time – looking forward to more reports.

[SamLouisa]

One oddity on this ship from everyother Princess ship I've been on so far. It doesn't have the red carpet in the hallways on one side of the ship and the blue on the other. Both sides of the ship have the same completely blue carpets in the hallways. Not sure why this is.

I think they used red trim and blue trim instead the whole carpet. BTW, we will be on Feb 28. Thanks for the information.

[mississauga]

Toronto TL, Is the $7 cab per person or for as many people as there was in the cab ( 2 or 4 maybe )

 

Has anyone bought any silver ( .925) bangles or bracelets in Puerto Vallarta? How much are they going for now? When I was there in 2001, I was able to get 5 for $5. They're great for giving as souvenir gifts.

[TorontoTL]

Brian, you shouldn't have worried about my liking this cruise. I was certain that I'd like it. I wasn't so certain that my partner would like it. Despite my loving our last cruise on the Coral, he wasn't as enamored by it. He didn't really like the ports on that Panama Canal cruise. I still can't understand not liking a cruise vacation. Things would have to be really dire for me not to enjoy myself. I can always find something to like about it everyday. I didn't think El Cid in Mazatlan was very similar to Hotel Krystal in PV much at all. El Cid didn't look as nice from the outside and was one of those tall tall structures that looks like a condominium. The Hotel Krystal on the other hand is the lower rise complex that is spread out over a large area. I prefer the second type of hotel complex much more myself.

 

The taxi ride was $7 for the cab not per person.

 

I realize that the carpet is usually red trim and not the whole carpet. On the Dawn the trim is the same blue on both the starboard and the port sides. I wonder what happened when they changed the carpet last on the Dawn. Hopefully they continue to use the red and blue trim to differentiate the sides of the ship, I believe many people use this to help find their cabins.

 

Has anyone been on both the Sun and Dawn? Can you remember the Vista Lounges on both ships? To me it seems that they are different. It seems that the sight lines are better and that there are fewer columns to block your view in the Dawn's Vista lounge. Maybe I just can't remember the Sun but the Dawn seems to have a better Vista Lounge.

[rosej]

We are going to be on the Dawn next month. Just wondering what movies they are showing (not on the TV in the room) but in the lounge in the afternoon. Does the Dawn have MUTS?

 

We were thinking of walking from the ship to Old Town in Mazatlan. I know the ship ports in an industrialized area. Would you recommend walking this? If so, do you know about how long it would take?

 

Thanks....

[bdjam]

Has anyone been on both the Sun and Dawn? Can you remember the Vista Lounges on both ships? To me it seems that they are different. It seems that the sight lines are better and that there are fewer columns to block your view in the Dawn's Vista lounge. Maybe I just can't remember the Sun but the Dawn seems to have a better Vista Lounge.

Benny, I think the Vista Lounges on both ships are the same. I didn’t notice any big difference, but I hadn’t been in one for a couple of years (my intervening cruises were on Regal and Island Princesses) so maybe I just forgot. I also was surprised one day when I looked down at the carpet to see what side of the ship I was on and when I finally got to where my room was SUPPOSED to be, I found that the carpet was the same on both sides…so then I had to landmark myself other ways to find where I was.

Does the Dawn have MUTS?

Dawn Princess does not have MUTS.