Dawn Princess Alaskan Voyage D828 July 16th through July26 2008 Sailing roundtrip out of San Francisco
This is the 3rd Alaskan cruise I have taken, 2 with Princess, the other being with Celebrity on the Infinity. This was my 3rd cruise on the Dawn Princess. Since I live right next to San Francisco I was able to drive right to the ship is 20 minutes, gotta love that! Since I am an Elite member with Princess, embarkation was quick and easy with no waiting in line anywhere, I was on the ship in 5 minutes. The port of San Francisco is old and not much different than it was 45 years ago when I took a cruise on the Matson Lines Lurline to Hawaii. The political system in San Francisco is so screwed up that they haven't been able to agree on either upgrading or building a new cruise terminal. It's too bad because the San Francisco Bay is such a beautiful place to cruise in and out of, I've done it 6 times and it always has been amazing going out under the Golden Gate Bridge!
The Dawn Princess The ship one of the Sun Class Princess ships, the other being the Sea and the Sun and it's in great shape! It's a bit smaller than the Princess Grand Class ships and holds about 1,950 passengers and it never felt crowed. Most everything was clean and shiny. The only area that looks worn is on the top deck where the Astroturf is coming up a little at the edges as well as the Horizon Court carpet looks a bit worn. I had an inside cabin and it was clean and well maintained and was well stocked with complimentary booze and soft drinks, free to all Elite Members. The other great free items that Elite members get is free laundry and shoe shine service and a free internet package that varies depending on how long your cruise is, since this cruise was 10 days I got 250 free minutes! No other cruise line gives you so many free items and services. The public rooms are great and the ship is easy to navigate. The Princess Theater makes watching the entertainment great wherever you may be sitting. I used the internet cafe almost everyday and never had to wait for a terminal and the connection is fast.
Nice cabin, clean, could have used a little more room.