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The Princess Dawn
Just a few comments for someone considering this cruise. This was our third Princess cruise. We travel with another couple. We're easy going travelers - truly enjoy cruising. Hope to have many years of cruising ahead of us. We love cruising. And, we love the 10 day cruise.
Accommodations:
We travel on an average budget, we booked very early for this cruise, altho, there really was no benefit to this and not sure we would do this again. Passengers who booked much later than us, with no previous cruises on Princess got upgrades and better cabins for less $$.
Our cabin was on the Dolphin level. Unfortunately it was located right above the speaker in the Vista Lounge. On the second night of our cruise, our bed vibrated and room shook with each blast of the speaker. It was impossible to try and settle down to sleep. Upon calling the pursers desk - they said they were sorry. I requested that they send someone to personally experience the racket coming from below. They called back to say that yes, the noise was from the Vista & that the show would be over in 30 minutes. 45 minutes later - we were still waiting for the end of the show. The next day, we were tired and dismayed. Decided to personally report this to the pursers desk. We could not believe that this room would be acceptable to any passenger with hearing in the normal range - (unless, perhaps they got a "hot deal" just prior to sailing) and as repeat Princess cruisers, we found it unacceptable & appalling to be in this situation. Upon taking a few minutes to peacefully (we're from Minnesota) share our concerns in person, the purser offered us earplugs, which we accepted.
After a day in port, we returned to have a message that miraculously - another like cabin would be available to us. When we'd asked about this the night before, we were told that moving was not an option. They did not even offer to "check into this" the next day. Once a move became an option, the manager was accomomodating - but no passenger should have to go through what we experienced.
Dining & Food:
We planned on a table for 4, as on previous cruises. We were seated, with other loyal Princess cruisers, at a table for 10. We were all "surprised" at this arrangement - and while we enjoyed meeting one another - dinner was awkward to say the least, as we were all wondering what was going on and hoping to make a change without offending our table mates. Fortunately, after a tense evening - nearly everyone was accommodated by either a change of table or dining time. But again, this situation was unnecessary.
Our group agreed that the dining room food was enhanced in quality (very good in the past) and especially in presentation from our previous Princess cruises. Cheers to the staff for this accomplishment. We are not food critics. We thoroughly enjoyed our dinners each evening with a truly outstanding waiter - Chay.
Entertainment:
We called the event of arriving at the Princess Theatre for the eveining show- "going to the fights". What a fiasco! I'm sure that this was very difficult to manage from a staff perspective. The average age group of our fellow passengers was probably 70+. If I were in Princess Mgmt. I'd look seriously into a 4:30 PM show that passengers could enjoy pre-dinner, then the early-to-bed crowd could be back in their rooms by 9:00, if they wish.
Ambiance, service, other- -
This ship is sister to Sea Princess & Sun. The ships are nice. We don't require grandiose. The ship was very well maintained and they took obvious efforts to wipe down handrails in an effort to minimize the spread of virus. The fresh flowers are lovely.
There was one major odor problem (also near the infamous Vista Lounge) that was never remedied throughout the trip.
The crew's attitude, other than our "great" & excellent dining room waiter - was very good. We had a few occassions where service was curt, which surprised us. Holland AMerica had the warmest staff, by far. I hope Princess invests in recruiting and training effforts to address this.
Conclusion:
While we appreciate the itinerary options Princess affords (and they really are very nice!) we're thinking we need to consider another cruise line. As passengers, we know it's up to US to have a great time on our vacation - and while we enjoyed ourselves, we felt that Princess let us down on this cruise, and perhaps let Princess down as well.
re: customer loyalty - Someone asked about this. While we certainly get lots of brochures from Princess, they don't seem to pay much attention to return cruisers on board. And rather than "go through the effort" to upgrade returning passengers, they offer better rooms at better prices to the late sign-ups. In addition, our traveling friends have 3 cruises with Princess, yet Princess failed to recognize one of them as a returning passenger each of the past 2 years. Regrettable...... for a nice cruiseline.
Note: We're planning a Panama Canal 10 day+ and I am eager to read reviews on your canal cruise experiences. Thank you & Happy Cruising.
p.s. Everything I've noted here, we shared with Princess on the evaluation.
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The Princess Dawn
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Thanks for the review!
My favorite ship was the Royal Princess but have also sailed the Star each size has good points and draw backs...
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