I have a nice tan thanks to our cruise to the Mexican Riviera on the Dawn Princess from April 20-27, 2008. My wife and our daughter accompanied me. The smaller ship meant familiar faces and new acquaintances, the itinerary was enjoyable and the shore excursions were the highlight of the trip. We met a lot of friendly folks and loved chatting with them about the trip and our shared love of cruising. The Dawn Princess has a lot to offer, but there were a few significant disappointments.

We flew to San Diego the day before embarkation with all arrangements made through Princess, including a pre-cruise night at the Westgate Hotel. Our flight was about a half-hour late arriving in San Diego, and the Princess representative that was to meet us there was nowhere to be found. It was not a good way to start things off. This was not inexpensive and delays happen regularly when flying, so I felt there was no excuse for the rep not to wait for us. Rolling with the punches, I called the hotel and they sent a car to pick us up and things took a turn for the better. The Westgate is a beautiful hotel and the service is top-notch. We only had time to have dinner in the nearby Westfield Horton Plaza mall before hitting the hay. We had a restful night and were ready to cruise on Sunday morning. The bus arrived at the hotel exactly on time at 11:30 and took us the few blocks to the pier. We breezed through check-in and were aboard at 12:04! A new record! We began to explore our new home away from home.

The Dawn Princess is older and smaller than many ships in the Princess fleet. I loved the more intimate feel of the ship, and it is well maintained. The public spaces were never crowded. After a short time you notice familiar faces here and there, thanks to the Dawn's smaller capacity. Fellow cruisers included lots and lots and lots of older seniors, a smattering of young couples, plenty of salt-and-pepper-haired middle-agers and about a hundred children. Our balcony cabin, B732 on the Baja deck, was cozy and comfortable. There was plenty of storage space, with closets or shelves behind four doors across from the bathroom and drawers and shelves in the desk and the unit surrounding the refrigerator. Empty suitcases can be hidden under the sofa. I found the mattresses to be more than comfortable. For all the complaining about mattresses on this site, I had more of a problem with the pillows. If I had four pillows like the two that were on my bed I might have been able to ball them up into something I could sleep on; as it was, mine provided an experience akin to using bags filled with dryer lint. Other cabin conundrums included a very slow-draining shower which resulted in two inches of dirty water to stand in every time. Our cabin steward was Reynaldo, who did what was necessary but no more. He didn't win points for friendliness, but his English proficiency may not have been that great. Read more