Dawn Princess - February 2016 - Post 1

On January 29th I reboarded Dawn Princess in Sydney for a 12 day New Caledonia / Vanuatu cruise followed by a 14 day cruise to those ports again and to Fiji. I disembarked in Sydney on February 24th. As usual, my dear old holiday home was very comfortable with great food and excellent service. The weather was hot and sunny throughout apart from a few days around Fiji as Tropical Cyclone Winston approached, This necessitated us skipping the scheduled call at Dravuni Island, Fiji and calling at Lautoka instead.

Sydney

Dawn Princess at Circular Quay between cruises on 10th February.

A good mate of mine from my Sydney days (now Captain) Jim Dargaville piloted the ship from White Bay, Sydney to sea on 29th January.

Noumea

 

 

Mystery Island

 

 

 Champagne Bay

 

Heading back home after a day at the beach.

Suva

Lautoka

Dawn Princess - February 2016 - Post 2

Some shots from around the ship.

The first morning at sea. On most ships the Internet Manager's desk would have a queue a mile long as passengers seek help to setup their onboard internet accounts (not that it's complicated), In fact, when aboard Carnival Legend last year, I saw that ship had dispensed with a passenger Internet Manager altogether, leaving the bewildered to queue up at the Front Desk. Here however, the Customer Services Director (bottom right) had tables setup in the Atrium for the morning with himself and ten or so of his staff on hand to help passengers get themselves sorted out. Great Princess service, as always!

My very comfortable cabin. Although it's in one of the lower grades, I was very happy with it and its convenient and quiet location.

The Atrium and lobby bar area.

Two of the great bar staff. Melica from Serbia (top) and Lala from the Philippines (bottom).

A few of the lads pitching in to help the barman stock the fridge - don't want him away from the bar for longer than necessary!

Some shots from the bridge.

Passing Carnival Legend, en route to Noumea.

The standby helmsman and lookout.

The ship's bell - some Captains, mostly the older British ones, have it used to ring eight bells over the p.a. before the noon announcement.

The Captain, a very affable Welshman, and me.