Dawn Princess Cruises Reviews

Thursday 24th May 2012

www.cruise.co.uk - Cruise Deals, Cruises & Cruise Holidays

0800 408 6200

All these Dawn Princess Cruises Reviews are written by REAL cruise passengers & we DO NOT moderate or change any of the review. You can agree or disagree by posting up your own comment. If you write your own review we will send you a Fodor's Guide to Cruising for FREE, Get A Fantastic Deal On A Princess Cruise Today

Cruise Reviews
127,235 Opinions Cruise Answers
190,855 Q&As Cruise Photos
14,371 Real Photos Cruise Videos
1,645 Real Videos Shore Excursions Our Cruise
Consultants Cruise Info
Guides Cruise Forum Get a Quote Special Offers Last Minute Cruises Luxury Cruises Tailor Made Cruise River Cruises Family Cruises Free Brochures Make a Payment

Cruise Reviews

Princess Cruises

Dawn Princess

Circumnavigating Australia, Warts And All

Back

Circumnavigating Australia, warts and all	1 of 1 people found this review informative

Reviewed By: Hennessey, Crewe on 4th Dec 2008
Cruise Line: Princess Cruises	Times cruised before: 10+
Cruise Ship: Dawn Princess	Sailed: October, 2008
Destination: Australasia	Age: 65+
Cabin: Outside

This was a particularly attractive cruise, as it was all around Australia, anticlockwise from Sydney back to Sydney, 28 nights onboard ship. Ports of call were Brisbane, Airlie Beach, Cairns, Darwin, Broome, Exmouth (Why?), Freemantle (for Perth) for 2 nights, Bunbury, Albany, Adelaide, Melbourne, then Burnie and Hobart (2 nights) in Tasmania. Nearly all of these proved interesting, though we made a mistake in not getting ashore early enough in Cairns (at Yorkeys Knob) to get a boat out to the barrier reef. We'll have to go again! The ship had repositioned itself from San Francisco to start a season of cruises around Australia, which caused some inconvenience to passengers as they closed the Casino for around 3 nights to convert all the machines and tables to Australian dollars. As our cabin was close to the casino, we had to wend a devious route to our cabin for a while. For those desperate for some Casino action, it was also closed from Darwin to beyond Adelaide because the Western Australian authorities wouldn't allow it. It didn't bother us, as we didn't use the Casino at all, but others might feel differently. The ship itself was very good. Not as good as the more recent, but larger, ships in their fleet (we've sailed on Sapphire Princess, which was better). but certainly acceptable Service was excellent all round. I didn't find the food particularly good, but I'm probably being picky. The menu changed every day, but the main course choices were 2 vegetarian, 2 fish, and 2 meat dishes. I don't profess to be an expert on the countries' eating habits, but I feel sure that more than 1/3rd would normally eat meat, with occasionaly a fish dish. Meat eaters had only a limited choice each evening. There were 2 sittings for dinner, 5.45pm and 8pm, neither very convenient. Why won't more ships adopt anytime dining? There were 4 formal evenings, and unlike ships catering for predominently Americans, virtually everybody observed the rules There was a steak restaurant (actually just a curtained off area of the all day cafe) for which a charge was made, but it didn't appeal to us. On the more recent ships, it is a separate restaurant. Wine and drinks on board were quite reasonably priced. The wine list started at Au$ 22, and, unlike America, only 10% was added as a gratuity. However, with 2/3rds of those on board from Australia or New Zealand, even this amount was objected to. Many were not happy at tipping the waiters and cabin stewards, as tipping is not the norm there, though most did, usually at rates significantly lower than the recommended levels. Facilities on board were generally good, though the Bridge (card game) lectures and competitions were held in the pub! This wasn't closed off to anyone else, and the tables and armchairs were too low and totally unsuitable. There was a separate card room, but it was too small (7 tables) to be used for Bridge. There were several tours available at each port, but generally these were very expensive, and most people opted to do their own thing. Our cabin was disappointing. It was an outside cabin with obstructed views (lifeboat), which was accepted, but it was tiny. The dressing table was adjacent to the bathroom door. Anybody at the table had to get up to let anyone in the bathroom out! The television was also too small, though there was a fridge, so water and drinks could be kept cool. There was also a safe. We were invited to our friend's balcony cabin one evening, and even that was small, with a very narrow balcony. The newer ships generally have bigger cabins. Often there's enough room for a sofa, so both of you can watch a film on TV, should you want to. Entertainment was average. The 'song & dance' troupe of boy and girl dancers and singers were excellent, but only did around 6 shows in the entire cruise. Management evidently thought it would be better to have more speciality acts, but they shouldn't have bothered. Some were good, but many were poor. However, the main theatre was excellent, with 'proper' theatre seating, unlike on some ships we've been on. There were 3 launderettes on board, which is 3 more than on some ships, so perhaps beggars shouldn't be choosers. However, this number is not enough for a ship catering for 2000 people, especially on a 28 night cruise. Each launderette had only 2 washers and driers, and 1 ironing board in a very confined space, which led to a certain amount of tension. Overall 7 out of 10
Quality of Food

Entertainment

Shore Excursions

Staff

Children's Facilities	n/a

Onboard Activities

Cabins

Overall Rating

1 of 1 people found this review informative

Was this review informative to you?

Report this review

Comment by McDougall, Welling (13 Jan 09 16:19) about this REVIEW

Thanks for the information in your review. We are going on a similar cruise on the sun princess in March. I was interested in your comment about Yorkeys Knob, for the Grand Barrier Reef, is it easy to get trips to the reef provided you get off early enough, and can you get off early enough? Princess have their own trip to the reef from Whitsundays and we wondered which would be the best option. Thank you

Report this comment

Comment by Lamberth, Gosnells (06 Dec 08 06:57) about this REVIEW

Australians are loathe to tip as we pay an award wage to hospitality persons and this is agreed to by their unions and so there is no need to tip. I dont tip the barman in my local pub!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Perthboy.

Report this comment

Comment by Hennessey, Crewe (11 Feb 09 11:19) about a COMMENT by Lamberth (06 Dec 08 06:57)

Fair comment. However, cruise ships travel the world, and the staff on the ship are paid a rate that assumes they will get a tip, as occurs in the rest of the world, and Australians and Kiwis need to respect this, as I presume there is no union agreement for Australian/Kiwi regulations on international ships. Incidentally, I tipped our waitress in a restaurant near Darling Harbour, our taxi drivers, and doormen at our hotel and clearly I shouldn't have. Perhaps this information needs to be more widely disemminated. How do I claim a refund? As I recall, there was the customary space marked 'gratuity' on the credit card slip. Have the unions not sought to have this line removed?

Report this comment