Just off the Dawn Princess- Cherry Blossom cruise

[lizzy77]

Just returned yesterday from our cruise on the Dawn Princess.

 

I shall try not to be too negative as we always have a great time on a cruise, but the standards on the Dawn Princess (Sun is exactly the same) were nowhere near what we have experienced in the past on ships that are US based. We have done 8 cruises and this one would rank no 8. I can assure you that the ship is a long way from the standards on the Rhapsody! And is a LONG way below the Diamond Princess and the Carnival ships we have been on.

 

The cruise was the 42 day Cherry Blossom Cruise - Sydney to Sydney. We picked up the ship in Shanghai for our 23 day cruise as we did a Helen Wong tour of China pre cruise. (That was sensational and would thoroughly recommend) We were so glad that we did the tour as we had the best group on the tour and we all got on extremely well. That was such an advantage when we all got on-board as the age group on the ship were very old. I should add that we are no spring chickens either at 58 and 62 but we were the young ones! We have learnt that the longer the cruise, the older the passengers are. Also Syd to Syd meant no air for the older folks. We had to medevac a patient by helicopter and the staff did a wonderful job and saved the mans leg from having to be amputated. There were also quite a few off loaded in ports for medical reasons which was shame for them. I hope they have all recovered enough to get home.

 

The activities reflected the age group and was very low key and lacked variety. The entertainment was very poor and we hardly ever went to the shows. Most shows were repeated for 2 days so we were able to find out if the show was any good. The ship's entertainers were not as professional as we have seen previously on the Diamond and the Rhapsody.

 

Food in the dining room was very good to excellent but the buffet was ordinary. Breakfast never changed. The grill had good burgers and hot-dogs, and it was a pity they didn't have a deli for a plain old sandwich!

 

The cabins were smaller than we have had before and the bedding- well,- the mattress sagged and the pillows were a disgrace. The bathroom was tiny.

 

On the plus side, as on any cruise, we couldn't fault the staff. They were just lovely and they would have been dudded by most of the passengers as it seemed that everyone we spoke to had taken off the auto tipping from their account. The currency on-board is in Aus $'s which was cheaper than the US based ships and we were able to bring on 2 bottles of wine and a few beers with no problems at all.

 

The Ports of call were great. Shanghai is a must see as well as any of the Japanese ports. Some of the smaller island ports were very interesting and Rabaul was fantastic as the volcano put on a great show for us and was erupting and showering the ship with ash.

 

We still had a great time and met some wonderful people, many of whom were our cruise critic mates. We are wiser and wish that Princess treated the Aussie market the same way that they do their US passengers.

[rugbypopsie]

Hi Lizzy,

 

This must be a record I have been home for 24 hours and have just gone online! I must agree with you and will be posting a review myself in which I will also focus on some of the things you mentioned.

 

Thank you and all our roll call you made the holiday so much more enjoyable for Mark and myself.

 

I encourage you all to join in the roll calls I learnt so much and it really made my holiday as well as saving money!!!:)

[Hot Chilli]

Thanks for the review Liz, very interesting! What was Guam like? I almost booked a holiday there a few years ago so am very interested to hear all about it.

 

rugbypopsie, you just convinced me to join my roll call!!!

[lizzy77]

Forgot to add that on day 3 our cabin was flooded:cool:.

When we went to bed we noticed a small patch of water near the bathroom door and thought our cabin steward must have spilt some water. WRONG!!! Next morning hubby got up at 5.30 to visit the bathroom and was wading in water from the door to the dressing table. I mean sloshing in water:mad::mad:. After notifying the Pursers desk we had to head off for the day on our tour and didn't get back till 8pm fully expecting to be moved to another cabin. No, they dried the carpet and told us nothing.

4 days later, after asking for an explanation many times and being told nothing, we found out that the toilet system had overflowed. :(

Communication on this ship was simple. Tell them nothing!!!:mad::mad:

 

HOT CHILLI,

Guam was a very lovely place and would be a great holiday destination though I would imagine it would be very expensive as it is geared up for the Japanese market. They have gorgeous hotels with great views and beaches and great shopping.

[karmac]

I was talking to someone on Sat afternoon who did the whole 42 nights. She had a fantastic time and her only negative feedback was the older passengers (she's early 40's) always complaining & treating the crew like second class citizens. She saw one old man hit the DJ over the head with his walking stick, simply because he wanted him out of the way:mad:

[i_love_cruising]

... She saw one old man hit the DJ over the head with his walking stick, simply because he wanted him out of the way:mad:

 

Gee, and I thought they were rude on our cruise Karen! That is just disgraceful behaviour from anyone, let alone someone of that age.

 

Sarah

[kaseyoz]

I was talking to someone on Sat afternoon who did the whole 42 nights. She had a fantastic time and her only negative feedback was the older passengers (she's early 40's) always complaining & treating the crew like second class citizens. She saw one old man hit the DJ over the head with his walking stick, simply because he wanted him out of the way:mad:

 

 

OMG that is almost so crazy to be funny.

What is it with some people who leave their manners on the dockside.

I bet he would be the first one to start complaining about lack of manners from the kids.

[Guest012]

In the last 5 or 6 months we have noticed a large increase in cruisers old and young with frames and those dreaded weapons - walking sticks....which of course we all know can be used for a variety of things such as.....barriers....chair hogging ..queue hopping ....tripping.....beating up crew...and the dj incident isn't the first ...one elderly lady was put off on another cruise for taking to a crew member with her walking stick in the laundry....but the thing that we most laugh about is the fact that in the greater majority of people these stabilizer sticks weren't required whilst jockeying for position when the onboard sales were on......or in the self service restaurants .....amazing to see it stuck under an arm whilst the person made their way back to their table carrying laden plates in each hand....... don't mean to be disrespectful as i know some people do require and use this aide as it should be used....but if and when i need a walking stick or frame i certainly won't choose cruising for my holidays.....to be unstable and enter an unstable environment would be way too scary for me...........

 

LIZ thoroughly enjoying your review......................cheers Shiona

[happyaussies]

OMG

I'm really looking forward to our cruise in November after eading your review..........we love older people, but it might seem that they leave their manners at home. Hopefully we will be able to ignore them and think "Poor old demented darlings..this holiday will do them good!" :D :D :D

 

DH & I are also in our 50's & 60's and it seems as though the demographics will be much older when on board. I can see a life lesson happening here. heheheheheehehehe

I still think it will be better than a lot of "ankle biters" running around, at least by 10pm, this demo will all be in bed and we will have the ship to ourselves. hehehehehehe

 

cheers Bubbs & Blues

 

 

 

 

Hmmmm!:rolleyes:

[Guest012]

We love the oldies too...and always look out for the frail making sure they don't get pushed about...coz they do:eek:....but with the others stand your ground.......no more give way to your elders....you got to fight for survival or they will trample you ...:D:p:D..........

and then at the other end of the scale you meet the most beautiful sweetest everyone's ideal nana elderly person who you would gladly do anything for.........they are onboard........just not too many ...........shiona

[S&D]

Happyaussies...

 

we are in Onkaparinga too!!!!

 

email

dfunn@aapt.net.au

 

S&D

[lizzy77]

Don't get me wrong, we did have a great time and as we know the older folks have just got there a bit before us.:D

However there definitely were some who left their manners at home and constantly complained.:rolleyes: Some were upsetting the staff so much that our captain actually made a special speech to the passengers stating that he would not tolerate his staff being abused any more, and that if this type of behavior continued, that he would disembark them at the next port for them to find their own way home!!! Now I have NEVER heard of this happening on a ship before. As soon as he finished, 95.% of the passengers clapped and cheered and said it was a pity he hadn't spoken up before.

[Guest012]

Bravo to the captain..... Liz.....this bad behaviour appears to be happening more and more .......a new breed of cruiser......one that we can all do without..........hope to read more of your review soon............cheers Shiona

[Kinkacruiser]

Thanks Liz for taking the time so share your trip with us. That's interesting what you mentioned about the 'round trip' cruise demographics and cruise length. I suppose the niteclub didn't get much of an airing then?

This is one cruise my DH would just love to take, so I'm looking forward to some more reviews.

Happy homecoming...

Anna

[rugbypopsie]

The nightclub set a record...for the last 5 years they had never had a night with no one in the nightclub...until our cruise that is:eek:

[happyaussies]

Well my CC nuts....just found this and thought of this post. :D

 

A memory for you, and what to expect for me :D :D :D

 

Bubbs & Blues ;)

 

[Billy and Charlie's Mum]

On our last cruise on the Sun Princess in February everyone was waiting for the lifts to arrive.....as you do......and when the lift arrived I stepped on first because there was a man and my husband waiting with me. The man stood at the entrance to the lift and gave me the foulest look I have ever seen because I stepped on first and didn't allow him on first. What happened to ladies first. Does that not apply on cruise ships? I couldn't believe it and got back off the lift and told him that I wouldn't ride with such an arrogant jerk and all the other passengers cheered. My husband was ready to "deck" him and that is why I got off and dragged my hubby with me. The looks the other passengers gave him when I got off was priceless. Would have loved to be a fly on the wall to what they said to him. There was quite a few women in the lift too.

 

Saw him on a few other occasions and he was obnoxious then as well.

[sailawaysally]

Thanks for the review, we're in our 50's so and cruising now before we are too old and cranky!:D We are going on the Dawn Princess in just over 8 weeks time and are wondering what is the best spot for sailaway?? Any suggestions??

[qld cruiser]

On our last cruise on the Sun Princess in February everyone was waiting for the lifts to arrive.....as you do......and when the lift arrived I stepped on first because there was a man and my husband waiting with me. The man stood at the entrance to the lift and gave me the foulest look I have ever seen because I stepped on first and didn't allow him on first. What happened to ladies first. Does that not apply on cruise ships? I couldn't believe it and got back off the lift and told him that I wouldn't ride with such an arrogant jerk and all the other passengers cheered. My husband was ready to "deck" him and that is why I got off and dragged my hubby with me. The looks the other passengers gave him when I got off was priceless. Would have loved to be a fly on the wall to what they said to him. There was quite a few women in the lift too.

 

Saw him on a few other occasions and he was obnoxious then as well.

 

 

 

Hi, he left home without his medication,he obviously left his HAPPY pills behind.

I know my DH would feel the exact way your husband did..

 

kind regards, Lorraine:):)

[kaseyoz]

Thanks for the review, we're in our 50's so and cruising now before we are too old and cranky!:D We are going on the Dawn Princess in just over 8 weeks time and are wondering what is the best spot for sailaway?? Any suggestions??

 

 

What again?:eek::D insert jealous smilie here.....LOL

 

You are determined to win a few more luggage tags aren't you.

[sailawaysally]

What again?:eek::D insert jealous smilie here.....LOL

 

You are determined to win a few more luggage tags aren't you.

 

That's right, you can't have too many. We're a bit worried that we won't be winning any of the trivias on Princess. Wonder what the questions will be like? We'll have to look for someone like you to join us. ;) We only started going to the trivias on our last two cruises. Didn't realize how much fun they are. :D

[kaseyoz]

Hopefully they won't get them out of the "american" book. That makes it very hard.

[Ela 2]

That's right, you can't have too many. We're a bit worried that we won't be winning any of the trivias on Princess. Wonder what the questions will be like? We'll have to look for someone like you to join us. ;) We only started going to the trivias on our last two cruises. Didn't realize how much fun they are. :D

Hi Sandra,

We love doing the trivia quizzes and we found that the competition was stiffer on the Princess cruise. Unfortunately some of the questions were very American oriented: example - "Who invented the game of basketball - give the correct name". Huh:confused::confused:

 

We usually win some trivia quizzes, but unfortunately on our last cruise there was ill-feeling from a small number of people when we won lots of times. It stunned us that there were problems. If our team knew the answers, surely we were entitled to win?:confused: By the way, we never made any triumphant displays (like fist in the air) when we won. Just played it low-key.

 

Evon.

[qld cruiser]

Hi Sandra,

We love doing the trivia quizzes and we found that the competition was stiffer on the Princess cruise. Unfortunately some of the questions were very American oriented: example - "Who invented the game of basketball - give the correct name". Huh:confused::confused:

 

We usually win some trivia quizzes, but unfortunately on our last cruise there was ill-feeling from a small number of people when we won lots of times. It stunned us that there were problems. If our team knew the answers, surely we were entitled to win?:confused: By the way, we never made any triumphant displays (like fist in the air) when we won. Just played it low-key.

 

Evon.

 

Hi Evon, whenever we win too many times, we say...give it to the team who came last, or second place getters.

some people think they are playing for a sheep station, and make things uncomfortable.

I don't usually bring any prizes home..I give things to children at our table etc.

life is too short to be agro.. I just love playing Trivia..

 

beg pardon...... I did bring a luggage tag home from my last Princess cruise, put it on my Pacific Sun luggage....and it went missing...:(

 

 

kind regards, Lorraine:):)

[Down-Unders]

Just returned yesterday from our cruise on the Dawn Princess.

 

I shall try not to be too negative as we always have a great time on a cruise, but the standards on the Dawn Princess (Sun is exactly the same) were nowhere near what we have experienced in the past on ships that are US based. We have done 8 cruises and this one would rank no 8. I can assure you that the ship is a long way from the standards on the Rhapsody! And is a LONG way below the Diamond Princess and the Carnival ships we have been on.

 

The cruise was the 42 day Cherry Blossom Cruise - Sydney to Sydney. We picked up the ship in Shanghai for our 23 day cruise as we did a Helen Wong tour of China pre cruise. (That was sensational and would thoroughly recommend) We were so glad that we did the tour as we had the best group on the tour and we all got on extremely well. That was such an advantage when we all got on-board as the age group on the ship were very old. I should add that we are no spring chickens either at 58 and 62 but we were the young ones! We have learnt that the longer the cruise, the older the passengers are. Also Syd to Syd meant no air for the older folks. We had to medevac a patient by helicopter and the staff did a wonderful job and saved the mans leg from having to be amputated. There were also quite a few off loaded in ports for medical reasons which was shame for them. I hope they have all recovered enough to get home.

 

The activities reflected the age group and was very low key and lacked variety. The entertainment was very poor and we hardly ever went to the shows. Most shows were repeated for 2 days so we were able to find out if the show was any good. The ship's entertainers were not as professional as we have seen previously on the Diamond and the Rhapsody.

 

Food in the dining room was very good to excellent but the buffet was ordinary. Breakfast never changed. The grill had good burgers and hot-dogs, and it was a pity they didn't have a deli for a plain old sandwich!

 

The cabins were smaller than we have had before and the bedding- well,- the mattress sagged and the pillows were a disgrace. The bathroom was tiny.

 

On the plus side, as on any cruise, we couldn't fault the staff. They were just lovely and they would have been dudded by most of the passengers as it seemed that everyone we spoke to had taken off the auto tipping from their account. The currency on-board is in Aus $'s which was cheaper than the US based ships and we were able to bring on 2 bottles of wine and a few beers with no problems at all.

 

The Ports of call were great. Shanghai is a must see as well as any of the Japanese ports. Some of the smaller island ports were very interesting and Rabaul was fantastic as the volcano put on a great show for us and was erupting and showering the ship with ash.

 

We still had a great time and met some wonderful people, many of whom were our cruise critic mates. We are wiser and wish that Princess treated the Aussie market the same way that they do their US passengers.

 

 

 

Enjoyed your review it must have been stressful your cabin being flooded this can happen on any ship, but to get no feed back about the problem is never acceptable. Interesting comments about the Australian market not being treated like the US, this is another reason I will give the Dawn a great big miss.

 

 

 

:):):):):)