Disappointed overall with the service whilst on-board the Dawn Princess. Ports were a highlight of this cruise with Rabaul and Champagne Bay by far the best on offer. The ship's fit out is a bit tired and a lot of the hotel (food & beverage) staff are old and tired, you get the feeling that they are just going through the steps and not interested in making you feel welcome. The captain and his staff were professional but my husband and I found it interesting that none of the ship's company joined guests for dinner nor where guests invited to dine the captain or his officers on formal nights or any night; there were two 'meet-the-captain' for cocktails (a glass of sparkling wine) but these only seemed to cater for another photo opportunity 'revenue-raiser' and we felt not a genuine effort to meet their passengers.
Food was plentiful but unfortunately it was not consistent in quality and flavor. It was, in the main, over-cooked; over-salted and basic. Formal dinner menus often lacked variety and formal dinner menus did not reflect any special dining event. The buffet was a good alternative, from the mundane fare offered in the dining room, so was the Steak House which served good sized steaks done as requested (which was a change from the plates of cardboard served in the dining room). Unfortunately the Steak House lacked any ambiance and the serving staff had little training in exactly what they were serving, little or no knowledge of the beef nor of wines served; the only breath of fresh air was the supervisor. The food waiter service in the dining room was very poor and overall the waiter staff were to be found chatting amongst themselves and not attending to guests needs. Room service was also an excellent alternative to the other dining options, limited offerings but served with a smile and always the order was correct, which was a nice change.
Our balcony cabin was good; the balcony was a little on the small side but fine. Our cabin steward was excellent, always on hand, did he ever sleep? The bed linen especially the bed-spread is sorely in need of replacement, the cabin steward endeavored to make it up by replenishing the bathroom amenities, twice daily, we had so many little bottles of shampoo, too many to use by far.
2200 people on board, it was full and so were all of the venues with lines out the door for the variety shows. So packed, in fact, that there were guests sitting on the floor for bingo which was a safety and health issue.
We did our own excursions and the ports were wonderful.