Dawn Princess - So. Caribbean

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chuckus95

Guest
My wife (24 yrs. old) and I (31 yrs. old) are sailing on the Dawn Princess, leaving San Juan on Nov. 30, 2003 for 7 nights. Our Ports of Call include St. Thomas, St. Kitts, Grenada, Caracas and Aruba. We are leaving the day after Thanksgiving and spending two nights in San Juan at the Marriott San Juan. We have a few questions for anyone who might be able to help:

1. Are there any "must sees" for any of these ports? We have only been on two cruises: one on the Disney Magic, which traveled to the Bahamas, and one of Voyager of the Seas, which went to the Western Caribbean. We don't know much about these ports and would appreciate any input, especially for Grenada and Caracas, because we have not found much info. on these two.

2. Has anyone stayed at the Marriott San Juan? Neither one of us have been to San Juan and don't know much about this hotel, i.e., is it close to Old San Juan, is there much to do at the hotel, do we need to rent a car or will taxis be sufficient. Also, since we have never been to San Juan, we would again like suggestions of what to do.

3. Finally, as I stated above, we have only been on two cruises, and never sailed with Princess before. How does the Dawn Princess compare with the Magic and Voyager of the Seas. I know that I'm asking you to compare apples to oranges, but we enjoyed our experience with Disney a lot more than with RCI on the Voyager of the Seas. We heard very good things about Princess from friends but would like other input as well.

Thanks for all of your assistance.

Chuck
 
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SpongeRob

Guest
I really like the Sun class ships. We've been on the Sea Princess and found her to be "just right" in many respects. The only real drawback to these ships, IMO, is that the cabins tend to be much smaller. The ship's design appears to be a modification of earlier designs that had very few balconies, so you'll find that most of the balcony cabins, especially the category B's, have reduced cabin sizes to incorporate the balconies. There is still plenty of storage, but the sitting area, if you can call it that, is quite tiny.

The cabins that are called mini-suites (AB and AC) are larger than the minisuites on the Grand-class ships. There are very few of them, so they are pricey.
 
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oneluckydog

Guest
Hi Chuck,

My husband and I seem to be in the same fantastic situation as you and your wife. We will be going on the same cruise as you, and following it with the Dec7 cruise. We have previously done the Disney Magic, which we too loved, and the Celebrity Summit, which we loved even more.
We have already reserved a room at the SanJuan Marriot, so we're hoping it's nice and there's a nice beach there.
In addition to the same questions you had concerning shore excurtions, I'd also like any information on the spa facilities that anyone may have. My brother lived in Caracas, so I'll be contacting him for some help with things to see there and will pass on that information.
The second leg of our cruise will include the ports of Barbados, St. Lucia, St. Maarten and Tortola.
Thank you in advance for any information anyone can give us as far as the Dawn, it's spa , these itineraries, and the shore excursions.
Beverly
beverly@binary.net
 
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bluefish

Guest
We stayed the night before out cruise at the S.J. Marriot. Very nice property. Right on a nice section of beach. Big pool with a waterslide. Really good breakfast buffet. Casino, if you like to gamble. We didn't eat dinner there, instead we walked a short distance down the street to a restaruant, mexican it think. There is also several variety type stores nearby for those forgotten items. We didn't explore any of SanJuan, just rested up from a long flight from the west coast before leaving on our cruise, but it was a very nice place to rest.
 
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yorkyred

Guest
We are on the dawn for 14 night in october. We like most of the islands. There is one thing I would recommend. In Granada do not get off the ship first unless you have a shore excursion planned. The locals mob you trying to show you around the port area. If thats what you want ok. They will expect payment afterwards. Agree a price before you start. Hawking on the better known beaches in Granada is also bad. We will be spending the day on the ship making the most of the extra space. Most of the other islands are lovely. St Kitts is our favourite. We like to stroll around the capital.
 
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gaa

Guest
We were on the Dawn southern carib. Dec 2001 and loved it! The itinerary was different---left out of San Juan (didn't stay at Marriott) and stopped at St. Thomas, Barbados, Antigua, Trinidad, Tortola. Went to St. John and some of the other BVI post-cruise. Stayed in San Juan the night before, and two nights after, before flying back to St. Thomas to use it as a base for a week in the Virgin Islands. Loved all of the ports except Trinidad. Did lots of snorkeling, sailing, swam with turtles. We had a mini suite. I would do this cruise again in a heartbeat.
 
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DJA

Guest
We stay at the SJ Marriott a couple of days every time we sail from SJ. The description from Bluefish is right on... it's a great hotel, probably the nicest on either side. To answer the other part of your question - - it is not near Old San Juan; it's on the far end of new San Juan. Don't rent a car, that will be a pain, cabs are fine. We usually walk over to Old San Juan at least once each trip - - It's not a short walk, but it's very enjoyable, maybe 30 minutes or so... don't usually have the energy to walk all the way back though, so we catch a cab back.

We took the Dawn on that itinerary a couple of years ago. We really like the Sun Class ships, they're just the right size for us, but that is really a matter of personal choice. The only way to really find out is to try it yourself.

My only observation based on what you wrote is that if you enjoyed the Disney cruise more that RCI, there's a chance you may not like Princess as much. Princess has a lot of repeaters on the Sun Class ships and would tend to be an older group than on the Magic or Voyager. A lot less action than on those ships as well. Sailing around the holidays usually brings the age down and the activities up a bit, but that week isn't really a peak holiday sailing.

Your friends are correct, Princess is a great line, we sail them all the time and love it... but as above, it's purely a matter of choice and personal preference, you need to find out for yourself.
 
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