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Princess Cruise Line

MS Dawn Princess

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Nancy Binder
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: July 26, 1997
Itinerary: Alaska - Northbound

We would highly recommend the Dawn AND the Alaska voyage of the Glaciers. We also took the pre-cruise land tour (by Princess) of the Canadian Rockies which was spectacular. The bonus was that we met wonderful people from all over the world on the land tour and then we all boarded the ship 6 days later and by then had already formed close friendships. It made the cruise all the more wonderful!!

Loved everything about the ship. Pools were beautiful but in Alaska you don't get too many days that we deemed warm enough for a dip in the pool (we did have one). Casino was small but adequate. All the public areas were beautiful. 2,000 people but never felt crowded. Loved having afternoon tea in two different locations.

Food was excellent and service impeccable. We only ate dinners in the dining room and went to the Horizon Court Food Buffet for breakfast and lunch--great selection! Our only warning--on Glacier Bay and College Fjord Days where the weather was cold and misty, people staked out tables in the Horizon Court for ALL-DAY viewing! So many of us with full food trays had nowhere to sit. On those days we recommend either room service or the dining room for breakfast and lunch.

Well, we had a suite! We had booked a mini-suite since it was our 25th wedding anniversary, but 3 weeks before we sailed Princess upgraded us to a full suite. It was beautiful and absolute heaven. Our room steward couldn't do enough to please us. Had a gorgeous HUGE marble bathroom with stall shower and jacuzzi and separate room for the toilet. Two people could fit in the shower! We were in the Aft suite so it was a little noisy at times from the sound of the motors and there was a bit more vibration back there as well, but overall we have NO COMPLAINTS!!

Yes attended most of the shows. They were good, not excellent, but we were having so much fun with all of our new friends that we enjoyed ourselves every night. Favorites were the English Pub night and New York, New York show.

We stopped in Ketchikan, Juneau and Skagway. In Ketchikan we just walked around, looked in shops, etc. In Juneau we did the Wildlife Cruise which was worthwhile--we did we various wildlife including a mother and baby whale. And in Skagway we did the Whitepass R.R. trip--very expensive--worth it in my husband's opinion, just so-so in my opinion. They did have a childcare "camp" program which we heard about through a couple who had their 7-year old along. He seemed to enjoy the activities they offered. There always seemed to be so much to do--not enough hours in the day!

I ADORED the people who we met on our bus tour. I have been corresponding regularly with 2 of the couples--one from Scotland and one from Wales. We are going to Scotland, Wales & England this summer and will stay at the first couple's house for a weekend and meet the second couple for dinner while in Wales. We are also taking our next cruise (the Sea Princess to the Panama Canal) with the couple from Wales!! We have also kept in contact with the Americans we met on the trip and even visited one couple.