We have just returned from a Sydney round trip cruise to New Zealand on the Dawn, we had an excellent trip with Princess and although previous reviews have not been to kind to the Dawn, we had a great time and the ship was in great condition, with continued maintenance happening around the ship, the food was great, we dined at the Horizon most nights as our party was not seated together for the downstairs dinning, an oversite at the time of booking and not able to change once on board, we had a meal in the Steakhouse and this comes highly recommended, the steaks were the best the group has had in a longtime, the portion size huge and cooked to perfection, onboard entertainment was good from the nightly shows the daily quiz and other activities were run on time and very entertaining, embarkation and disembarkation are run to very efficiently and easy to follow what is going on,
There is a lot of selling of products for the first few days, wine tasting and shore excursions but this dies down as the trip continues
the cabin was good and kept clean by the steward Lawrence, the only let down for the whole cruise was the state of the beds, the springs were collapsed and the mattress should have been thrown out a couple of years ago, this said we know Princess is in the stages of renewing all their mattresses but it should be done on a more regular basis
we hired a car and explored the city, Auckland is lovely and easy to navigate, lovely beaches and little coves around the city
good tour with informative driver giving continual narrative through the drive to Rotorua
great to walk around town and see the well maintained city Centre
visited the botanical gardens and rode the cable car, was surprised by the price of food in the harbor area, $25. for a burger would explain why the restaurants in this area are empty when there are 2 cruise ships in town
Dunedin is a city with a nice center and some good old buildings but not much else for the tourist, just another small city
Sydney is always a great city to visit and you never get over the beauty of the harbor