Steve

Hi, Fiancee and I are seriously thinking about
taking the 3 Jan. Cruise on the Dawn Princess

Having never cruised or visited the Carib. before,
we're looking for all kinds of tips and suggestions.

Princess sounds like a great line....anyone with
experience along these lines..?

Thanx in advance,
-steve-

Lynn

Steve: Princess is a great line. I have very much enjoyed two cruises on the Sky Princess and Star Princess. Food, service, ships were very good. Our ships had pizzerias which were a nice touch. Also, just booked with them to go on
Crown Princess to Hawaii/South Pacific next October. Have not been on the Dawn Princess. Your first cruise experience on Princess, I feel, will be a good one. Anything but Carnival!!!

Susanne

Lynn, Have you cruised on Carnival before? I cruised on the Carnival Imagination in 1995, and had a wonderful time. Last year my husband and I sailed on the Sensation. Also, a wonderful experience. This year we are scheduled to cruise on Carnival's Destiny. I have spoke with several people who have sailed on the Destiny, and they have had a wonderful cruise. The food and service was fantastic. We did not see the first drunk, or run into anyone who was out of line. Carnival caters to children as well as seniors, and everyone in between. I'm sure, anyone can have bad service on any given occasion on ANY cruise line. Please let me know why you are so against Carnival.

Tim

Each cruise line, you will find, has its pluses and minuses. It will really depend on what kind of personality you have and what you expect out of your cruise as to which cruise line you should choose. My suggestion would be to talk to several travel agents so that they could attempt to match you with a cruise line that would meet your expectations and budget. Get several agents' points of view, then make your own decision.
January should be a pretty good month for Caribbean traveling...very nice warm weather, seas not too rough.
I definitely recommend an outside cabin (at least one with a porthole). Second seating is a must, especially if you plan on spending your port-days in the ports.
Talk to the onboard shore-excursion desk the first night (if possible)...some good tours sell out quickly.
Have a good time.

Lynn

Susanne: Yes, I have sailed on Carnival. I cruised the Celebration on my first cruise. Luckily, they didn't turn me away from cruising altogether. My experience with Carnival was bad on several respects. First of all, the overall organization of Carnival, I found, is poor compared to the other cruises I have been on. We flew into Miami Int'l. and had to retrieve our luggage in the crowded baggage claim area and then take it to the bus to be loaded and claim it again at the pier. On Princess, Norweigan, RCL, Costa, Holland AM., you do not see your luggage until you arrive on the ship. At the pier, the workers literally told us who we had to tip. Once on the ship, the sale of shore excursions was just short of a circus, we had to wait in a long line (of which there were several and no instruction about which lines to get in for what) only to have a worker tell us to get to the back of the line after waiting over one-half hour. When we refused, he called us rude. We could not lay on the sun deck without being constantly harrassed to buy drinks. On Holland America, you are served FREE iced tea and lemonade while sunning. Unless it was mealtime, you could never find iced tea or coffee on the Lido Deck. All other cruise lines provide this for 24 hours. Entertainment was horrible. Need I go on.

Lynn

Just one last thing about Carnival: On the four other cruises I have been on, shipmates always discuss other cruise lines. And about 95%25 of the people I have encountered are in agreement with me about Carnival. Also, I didn't finish my thought about the shore excursions and that is on other cruise lines, you can order them via form direct from your cabin and have them returned to your cabin while you are enjoying your vacation.

Susanne

Lynn, thanks for your response about Carnival. What year did you sail on Carnival? I sailed on the Imagination in 1995, and on the Sensation in 1996. We never had any trouble with shore excursions in 95. We simply turned in our sheet and our tickets were in our cabin that evening. In 96, we did not take any tours, but went on our own. The staff was very helpful in giving us information about the islands. They now have the option of choosing tours from your cabin tv. We never had ANYONE push drinks on us, and we were always able to find a waiter to take our order if needed. I usually take crystal light with me, and drink it on deck at the pool. In cost comparison, I'm sure you paid alot more for Holland America, and the difference in price is not worth the tea/lemonade being served at poolside. Again, the service we received on Carnival was EXCELLENT! Don't let one bad experience tarnish all readers against Carnival. I have spoken to people who do not like HA or RC. They say they do not offer the activities that Carnival does. Carnival has an optional dining from 6-8 should you not choose the main dining room, and most new ships now have a 24 hr. pizzeria.

I believe if you book your air/cruise with Carnival, they take care of all your bags. We booked our own air, and check our own bags, and take a cab. We do not care to wait on busses. The cab is cheaper and faster.

When boarding the ship, the dock workers are not employed by Carnival. You do not have to tip anyone, and I would certainly not let anyone tell me who to tip. If I like their service, I tip. If not, I don't.

Perhaps you should try one of the newer Carnival ships. You may like them. (No, I do not work for Carnival, just a satisfied customer)

Barbara

At the risk of jumping into the fray, I'm with your, Susanne. We have cruised 5 times on Carnival, twice on RCL, 3 on Princess and once on Holland America. To best honest, I couldn't tell any difference on any of them and I have never understood the "Carinal bashing". I have been perfectly satisfied with the food, entertainment, and service all on of the ships. There is a different "feel" to some of the ships, but I think that is more due to size and age than cruise line. Maybe I am too easy to please, but I have liked both the older ships (more intimate, "classier" looking), and the newer ships (lots of open space, more convenient dining schedules). I can't speak to the topic of getting your bags to the ship since we always stay overnight the night before in the city of departure. Anyway, Steve, cruising is great and you will have a wonderful time on Princess. Happy Honeymoon!

Laura

Meanwhile, to get back to Steve's question...I was just going to post my own question as I will be taking the Dawn Princess for the Carribean the first week of November. I would also like some thoughts from people. Also, to Steve, I have traveled on different cruises over the past twenty five years (started when I was 10, I swear) and find that each cruise line tends to excel in a different area (staff, food, entertainment, etc.) I have never had a bad experience, just each is different. I will be glad to pass on my thoughts once I return. Let me know.

To add comment to the Carnival discussion, I went on a 4 day cruise on the Ecstasy in 1995. I too was uncertain but I enjoyed that all kinds of people were on the cruise, not just retirees. Things were well organized and the only long lines were for getting on and off. Anyone can have bad experience anywhere. I wouldn't blame an entire cruise line.

Lynn

The great thing about these boards is that they give everyone an opportunity to express their experience and/or opinion. Naturally, we don't all have to be in agreement and the best way to garner experience to form an opinion is to get out there and travel. I absolutely agree that some lines may charge more for the cruising experience than others and MY experience is that paying the extra money IS worth it and believe because of this Steve should have a fantastic time on Princess.

marybeth

As a TA who specializes in cruise travel, I believe
alot of the different cruise line bashing is due to
the facts that the passenger was not correctly
matched to the correct ship for them. I have sailed
on RCCL,NCL,PREMIER,and CARNIVAL, and we are sailing
on the DESTINY October 26, and I am counting the days. To add, in many instances people travel during
holidays when the ships are packed to capacities.
We enjoy cruising in the fall, when it is not so busy. I also don't understand all the carnival bashing. Carnival is the number 1 cruiseline, with
a very high repeat rate. I have been told, and this is
not a fact that other cruise line employees get on
the internet and bash carnival. Alot of the people
who have had negative expereinces have cruised on
older smaller ships several years back, and the
industry has came so far the last 5 years. To the
consumer I say when booking a cruise book with an
agent who specializes in cruise trave, and who has actually been on a cruise themselves. Last but not
least do not purchase anything thru the mail from
these florida agencies, they are scams. You should
buy from a reputable ageny in your home town.

smooth sailings to all
marybeth