Princess Cruises Dawn Princess (page 2 of 3)

My mother, aunt and uncle have just returned after five weeks at sea ( departed 25 th September to Hawaii). They were cabin bound for over half the trip with a very agressive viral chest infection. My mother spent $800 on doctors and treatment on the ship. At one stage they thought she had pnumonia or the flu, however there were a lot of people infected wih this virus. In Auckland the chemist was was full of passengers trying to obtain medicines as the ship had by now run out! I'll be following this up as I'm wondering just how many people wer...Read more

booking process great, embarkation and disembarkation process fantastic. staterooms dated but comfortable. impressed with quantity and quality of food, but menu in dining rooms got a little repetitive, good if you like seafood.waiting staff and most staff excellent.entertainment a little lacklustre, there were one or two good entertainers. activities seemed to overlap, which made it hard to participate when having early dinner seating. could not get a seat in vista lounge for trivia, tried several times but gave up. there seemed to be photogr...Read more

I'm 33 and recently cruised in August the Treasures of Asia 12 nights on the Dawn Princess. I expected a cruise with older passengers but I wasn't prepared for what I experienced with a majority of them in their late 60's and 70's even 80's hobbling around the ship in their gophers and walking frames - exactly what I read in another review it was like having a holiday in a nursing home..... To match this there were no activities that would interest my generation. Activities included carpet bowls, knitters meetings and seminars on dealing with a...Read more

Having just returned from a 26 night SE Asia cruise, I can say that the Dawn Princess was a great experience for me.
I am lactose intolerant and found that the food options were many and varied which was great.
The crew are exceptional.
The entertainment was almost always terrific.
My negative experiences?
The on board web site was a crock of poo and never matched the day's events. The Television information channel was a joke. Both of these are handled by a 3rd party though and not the fault of the ship.
The most negative part of m...Read more

My husband and i and 8 friends just did the sth east asia cruise 30th july, the ports were not that good, komodo island walked 2ks to see dragons in the heat seen them when got back not worth the money.The resturant food was average not enough choice and no sides.The staff were all wonderful pools lovely, disappointed massage place didnt have any specials on much too expensive had massage glowing toes in bali 55 dollars.For us and friends were far too many old people in wheelchairs zimmer frames looked half dead a nursing home on a ship.The ou...Read more

Did the Japan Cherry Blossom festival cruise 42 days. Sea Princess needs work.
*major plumbing problems (no excuse as this ship was dry-docked for two months last last year)
*bad management of two tender ports, we waited over two hours to disembark
*health & hygiene standards not the best, over 50% of pax came down with a virus. Many pax already infected were not screened at boarding.
*Have never seen so many electric buggies, with people on them feeling they had right of passage
*Shows very ordinary
* Staff wonderful under difficult circumstances
*Cost cutting very evident

January 4th 2018 Update: Never again ...Read more

My husband and I recently completed a Princess Cruises 13 night cruise to Vanuatu and New Caledonia on Dawn Princess. The good point of the cruise was the food selection and quality was good in all of the eating venues.
However we had a few negatives for the cruise which would mean we would never use Princess Cruises again. Our main problem was the bed mattress. It was well used and had two deep furrows running from head to foot. The outsides had no support so you felt like you would roll out of bed. We raised the issue to our room steward who...Read more

Hi There,

Just returned from our 12 night Cruise on the Dawn Princess Departing at White Bay Terminal on the 29th of Jan 21016 and Arriving back at Circular Quay Overseas Passenger terminal on Wed the 10th of February 2016.

As a New Elite member on board the Dawn Princess they certainly look after you. Some of the perks are Free Internet. The amount of satellite Internet depends on the length of the Cruise. Free Minibar in your stateroom, Free Canapes on Formal nights + you also get free Laundry services as well + much more like priority ...Read more

We went on a cruise on the Dawn in September 2015. Firstly I got a severe chest infection and am still coughing and feeling unwell, I am also still suffering with bowel problems, tests show I have a parasite in my system from drinking contaminated water from overseas or on a cruise ship, unfortunately and rather stupidly I drank the water from the jug in the cabin. I agree with the other people who complained about the air conditioning on the Dawn, it is such an old ship and should be thoroughly cleaned on a regular basis as it seems to be a ...Read more

Went on Dawn Princess Cruise D522, 18/9/2015 to 23/10/2015. Worst holiday of our lives. Our 4th and last cruise with Princess. Food in buffet was terrible. Ship had water leaking everywhere, from light fittings, etc. buckets placed to collect water. Carpet in cabin also wet twice. No towels available one day till 9:30pm. Washing machines & dryers broken most of the time. Acute respiratory illness about 12 days into trip, at least half of passengers affected, they put out a warning on 15th October, a week before cruise ended, our medical bill fo...Read more

I boarded the Dawn Princess in Fremantle on 20 August 2015 to cruise around to Sydney via the north. This was a very special cruise for me to recharge my batteries. I have a son with an acquired brain injury and an elderly husband who needs continual support. I went on the cruise for R & R and to get my energy reinvigorated after a frantic first half of the year.

I found the Vista Theatre to be very cold and had to take my sparse warm clothes every time we went into it. As we spent much time in that theatre, I eventually asked the front co...Read more

Then at 53 and wife's 50th birthday (Oct/Nov 2014), went on our first cruise around NZ and loved it, previously to having children I did the overseas fly holidays but after this experience all my holidays will now be cruising, was brilliant, not all staff were 100 percent but a good majority were, the food was excellent, always something to do but, some of the on board acts should have been thrown overboard but still would rate our holiday 10 out of 10, looking forward to the Pacific Islands (Golden Princess) now, can't wait, and I'm sure we'll...Read more

My Wife and I went on the Dawn Princess in November 2014 to New Zealand.

The Good
Food - This was generally very good. - I only had one meal which i didn't like and i mistook what it was in the first place.
Accommodation - Rooms are a step up from P and O Jewel even ( balcony both times)
Service- Our table waiter was excellent. Pretty much every person in the serving department was excellent.
( I exclude room service as i will discuss this further below)

Destination- New Zealand was amazing, just awesome and I am an Aussie so generally saying anything nice about New Zealand is heresy.
...Read more