Dawn Review (4/17-4/24)

My girlfriend and I (28 and 30 years old) sailed on the 4/17-4/24 Dawn W. Caribbean. It was my 3rd cruise (first with NCL) and her first. Originally booked a porthole but ended up taking a $500pp upsell for an Aft Penthouse. We chose the SDP (4 meals) and UBP promos. I know the boat is going into drydock in a few weeks, but thought I would just share a few of our experiences as it helped me to look through other beforehand.

New Orleans

Before the cruise we did typical NOLA things: Bourbon Street Saturday night and Cafe Du Monde Sunday morning. Got there early enough (8:30) not to have a wait, but an hour later the line was snaking down the sidewalk. Walked around the Riverwalk Mall between dropping off bags and checking in.

Embarkation and disembarkation

We parked at Fulton Street Lot with no issues. The priority embarkation and disembarkation were one of the biggest perks of having a suite for us. After getting through security, we were whisked to the front of the line and within a few minutes were being taken to our room. We did priority walk-off disembarkation and were one of the first people off. It was a nice morning and we were staring down a 12-hour drive home, so we just skipped the shuttle and walked the three blocks to the garage. On the road by 8:10 a.m.

Room

We stayed in an aft-facing penthouse on the 10th floor. Really enjoyed it. Almost did a forward-facing room instead, but didn’t after seeing that the aft balconies were private and the forward ones were not. I was glad we did as the first three days were windy. We needed a bungee cord to keep the balcony door from slamming open and shut. It was my first time in anything other than an inside room and I was spoiled. We really liked our steward and the extra space the room had. More than enough closet space for two of us and the balcony was (barely) deep enough for the loungers to directly face the ocean.

Food

We really came to enjoy the suite breakfast and lunches in La Cucina. I started almost everyday with Eggs Benedict and a screwdriver. We did do room service one morning in our suite, but we honestly didn’t enjoy that more than just going to the restaurant.

Aqua and Venetian

We ate in the MDR’s three times. All were very good with no issues.

La Cucina

This was our biggest disappointment of the week. Neither of us thought our food was any better (or as good as) the food we got in the MDR. It was likely just an anomaly. We like to eat kind of late, so I also felt like by getting there a little before 9, the staff felt like we were keeping them there.

Teppenyaki

This was fun. We did the 9 p.m. seating and had a great time and had way too much food. The specialty sake drinks on the menu were good. Dinner took about 75 minutes but was fun the whole time.

Le Bistro

Best meal of the entire trip. We had the roasted pork loin and filet. The French Onion Soup was fantastic as was the creme brulee. We were the last ones in the restaurant besides some crew members eating in the back and the whole staff was great to us.

Moderno

Another fun dinner. A different way to try different food. The grilled pineapple was really good and was different than the meats. It was nice to sit and overlook the atrium.

Sushi

We discovered the sushi bar midway through the week and wished we had seen it earlier. We ate dinner close to 9 every night, so it was great to sit at the sushi bar around 5:30 and have a few of the half rolls on the sushi belt.

Drinks

Not sure if I would pony up the $79/day for the UBP, but having it for “just the 18%” was great. Never had any issue getting a drink or had long waits (partially because I believe the boat wasn’t very full) in line. Was a good way to try drinks/brands I wouldn’t normally buy or try. We usually got our breakfast Bloody Mary and Screwdriver in the atrium bar. We had fun nightly watching the karaoke in Pearly Kings. And would grab a nightcap at Star Bar before checking out the bow at night. Having the UBP made getting the bill the last morning a lot more ideal.

Entertainment

We weren’t much into the shows. The only shows in the main theater we went to were The Second City show and Elements. Both were good but nothing to write home about. We went to adult Second City show the last night and really enjoyed that. It was more improv than the other show and was surprisingly a full house.

Ports

With the exception of Belize, we did excursions at all four ports through Island Marketing Group with no issues.

Cozumel

We did the beach break at Nachi Cocom. Paid $55pp for the all-inclusive beach that included lunch. It was an $18 cab ride to the private beach that caps the number of people at 100. It was a fun, relaxing day. Food and drinks were good. We added on the snorkeling for $38pp and enjoyed that as well. Would do again.

Roatan

We did the canopy zipline excursion at South Shore in Honduras. We loved it. It was exciting and it must have been a slow day, as we were just part of a group of 4 people on the tour. We had a great time and finished pretty fast. We left around 10 a.m. and were back to the port just after noon. Ended up eating on the ship, before checking out some of the shops at port and reboarding early. Would do again.

Belize

We booked this through NCL and did the bike ride at Bacab Eco Park. It was probably our least favorite as the bike wasn’t the most comfortable and it was a decent ride out to the park. The lunch provided however was good and we spent the extra few hours at the park relaxing in the hammocks by the pool.

Costa Maya

We booked a Mayan Ruins trip here and enjoyed it. We had a good tour guide and driver who got us there in an air-conditioned van, provided us with water and gave a thorough tour. Got back to the port a few hours early and had lunch at one of the restaurants inside port.

Service

In general the service on board seemed to be good. We frequented the same bars/lounges at the same times of day, so would see familiar faces. I didn’t quite know what to expect from the butler and concierge and honestly still don’t. Neither of us really wanted or needed anything extra, we are fairly self sufficient and booked everything beforehand. We only saw our butler three times (when we checked in, walking off the boat the last day and when we had breakfast in the room). He did bring snacks daily. We did see the concierge at breakfast and lunch, but none of our conversations lasted longer than a minute. This wasn’t a bad thing, just something I noticed.

Only other things of interest was that the boat had a group of about 250+ Elvis fans on board which was interesting. Also, the waters were really rough the first two days. I believe they said the waves were 14 feet. It was nearly impossible to not sway back and forth while walking. No seasickness here, so it didn’t cause any major issues other than having to hold handrails.

Well-written report, thanks.

Nice review. Will be back to her this year after 10 years.

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Thanks for posting. We will be doing the 10 day cruise before the drydock.

We'll be on the Dawn after her dry dock. Looking forward to see what new and different.

Thanks for the review!

You mention that suite breakfast and lunch were in La Cucina instead of Cagney's (as has been the case in the past). Do you know why the switch? Just curious.

Thanks

You mention that suite breakfast and lunch were in La Cucina instead of Cagney's (as has been the case in the past). Do you know why the switch? Just curious.

Thanks

No idea. I was probably too busy stuffing my face with Eggs Benedict and Seafood Risotto to ask I guess. The menus they used did still say Cagney's though.

When we were on one of our cruises to Bermuda on the DAWN, the suite meals were in LaCuccina while we were in port.

Thank you for your honest review. We were on the same cruise as well. Because I organized the Meet and Greet for this cruise, I was given VIP status, but as we travelled with 4 others, never felt comfortable leaving them behind to partake of the breakfast and/or lunch at LaCucina's. It was great to have the service of the Concierge, however, when in Belize and able to avail ourselves of priority tendering--no need to wait in any line--that was a great perk to have.

We did have a great time; however, the ship is most definitely in need of a refurb. We had previously sailed on the Dawn in her 2nd season, and did notice the obvious wear and tear throughout.

Like you, we had the UBP, and it was nice to not have a giant bill at the end of the trip. Having made Platinum status for this trip, we also were able to eat in 2 specialty restaurants--Le Bistro (which we liked the best) and LaCucina (not overly impressed, we agree the food is just as good in the MDR). We also ate in Cagney's, as well, but were a little disappointed as we'd always heard how good it was. and we underwhelmed with our choices.

It was funny to see the 250-odd Elvis fanatics and 11 (I believe) Elvis impersonators during our sailing, wasn't it?

Overall, it sounds like you enjoyed your cruise and stay in New Orleans, too. We did, as well.

When we were on one of our cruises to Bermuda on the DAWN, the suite meals were in LaCuccina while we were in port.

Not a big deal, just curious. As you can see, we've sailed the Dawn numerous times (in a suite) and never ate in La Cucina for our suite meals. We'll be on the Dawn this September so we'll see what happens.

We are on the dawn this coming week in a dos. Do you know the name of the butler?

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We were in the Dawn DOS Suite 12000 2 weeks ago and the butler was Joseph. He was a very pleasant and helpful young butler. Room steward was also very good (Patrick). We did not see much of or use the concierge very much.

We were in the Dawn DOS Suite 12000 2 weeks ago and the butler was Joseph. He was a very pleasant and helpful young butler. Room steward was also very good (Patrick). We did not see much of or use the concierge very much.

Does the butler give you a list of what you can order for the 3 bottles that come with the DOS?

Not sure if this has already been answered, but there was a fire in Cagneys knocking out the dishwasher a few weeks ago, and since then the suite breakfasts were moved to La Cucina. We were on the April 17 cruise as well and really enjoyed the cruise, the family suite and the butler, steward and concierge were all really great! Weather cooperated, and it was a great cruise and a few days of great weather in NOLA as well.

Thanks for your review. We will be on the Dawn in October (with Pathubia!) for 3 weeks and are looking forward to seeing the changes from the dry dock. Do you remember the name of the Concierge?