AKR2011

After the wine class, I was thinking of getting some of that sun, or maybe just finally get a shower. Instead, we decided to play Deal or No Deal. We were the last ones to get tickets and quickly took our seats. If you have never played before, this is basically how it works: You buy a card with the cases on it for $19.95. There is a serial number on the bottom, and they call one of those numbers to bring someone up to the stage. If you don't get called, you open your cases with the person who plays and try to match your amounts with the ones on the screen. More matches = better prizes. Two games are played, and we enjoy it. You spend twice that amount just to play the basic level of Bingo, and IMO this is much more fun.

The first person did not win much, and then we got a big surprise when Alex's card was called up to the stage!! Since we were married on 11/11/11, that Case #11 had to be lucky, right? He put it aside and started opening cases. All of the amounts were pretty low, so the first offer was a little over $100. Not bad, I thought. The last guy had a similar offer and blew it by opening up too many cases. Alex wanted to go another round. Once again, he didn't open anything too high, but I was freaking out a little.

The offer on this second round was $175, and I was thinking that would cover our wine classes and couple photos. Alex didn't want to walk away with nothing, so he took the deal - SWEET!! Wouldn't you know that the $1,000 was in his case??? Man, we could have put a down-payment on another cruise :(

Honestly, I was just thrilled that Alex won anything. I also had three matches on my card and won a free photo. We grabbed our embarkation one. We also bought this adorable towel animal frame:

I wasn't kidding when I said that I love towel animals. I'm a pretty big kid at heart. I hope to see more towel frames on future cruises to join Marley the Elephant (yes, it came with a name).

After Deal of No Deal, I finally got my shower, and we headed to Movie Theme Song Trivia. This was followed by our first Progressive Trivia. Like I said before, we had a great team and really enjoyed ourselves.

For dinner, we headed to O'Sheehan's for their Fisherman's Basket special and a few drinks. It was yummy fried seafood. We also tried their cheesecake brownies, but honestly, I was not impressed. Kind of dry IMO.

Tonight's show was Harry O'Donoghue, an Irish singer and storyteller. He had some great jokes and good music, but I would have liked more music. Still, he was a good entertainer that we really enjoyed. Then it was time for more drinks at Gatsby's before heading to bed. When we got to the cabin, sure enough, Muzleena has left us our first towel animal:

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Thanks to everyone for sticking with me! It's never easy to go back to work after such a fabulous vacation, but it's nice to be able to review the cruise this way.

When we came back to our room after dinner, we had the next day's Freestyle:

Again, I wish I had a scanner for you all. Many of the activities were the same day-to-day. I had a great routine that actually started this morning. 8:00 was Walk-a-Mile with the staff, 8:30 was Zumba, and 9:00 was Trivia. I was the only one to show up to walk, so I got Sonny all to myself. He has a great sense of humor, and we enjoyed walking and getting to know each other. Zumba was next, and once again, great staff! Ralph was superb, and we had a blast. Much better turn-out for this program as well. When I went to Trivia, I met another couple, and we hit it off quickly. We made plans to be on a team for Progressive Trivia later in the day with another couple that they knew. These two couples ended up being incredible friends by the end of the cruise, and I am so thankful to have spent time with them. Alex isn't much into trivia, but he started looking forward to it because of our team. Such a great time.

After Trivia, I was both a sweaty mess and starving. I grabbed a small plate of food from the Garden Cafe and then went back to the room to see if Alex was still there. He was not. Unfortunately, I got another surprise instead. The toilet had overflowed, and we now had a flood in the bathroom. There was about half-an-inch of water there, and it smelled like sewage. Not cool. I called the front desk, and soon I heard it flush down on it's own. A knock on the door came next, and it was the plumber and my room steward, Muzleena. This was actually our first meeting, and an awkward one at that. The plumber explained that our room was on the end of the pipe, so anyone within 20 rooms that flushed the wrong thing would clog up my toilet. I nodded and was very understanding, but really, that smell was rough to manage. I also needed a shower. In the end, I decided to just throw on my suit and plan to sunbathe while the bathroom was cleaned. Muzleena was really sweet and felt horrible that this was our first meeting. She asked if there was anything else that she could do, and I just said that I like towel animals. She laughed and promised one that evening. Really, it wasn't her fault. I was just hoping that people would be more mindful of their toilets after the first day and that this would be the end of our issues....If only that were the case...

I found the husband in the library after changing, and we decided to grab some drinks and take our minds off the bathroom with our favorite past-time:

Yup, you're never too old for Monopoly. On the pool deck, the drinks kept flowing, and eventually we grabbed a few snacks from the Garden Cafe. We had a Chocolate and Wine Pairing Class at 1:00, and I thought we should be able to act classy. Alex had signed us up for it as a chocoholic, and it sounded fun. We had three different kinds of wine to taste with white, milk, and dark chocolate:

The Bar Manager at Cellars is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! We learned so much about how chocolate can enhance a wine's flavor, or even make the wine taste worse. We also received these great books:

As we were tasting, we also learned that wine can taste different depending on the glass. The next day was a Reidel Glass Tasting where you would learn about different shaped glasses and their impact on the wine's flavor. I was intrigued, so we signed up for this one as well. They gave a 20% discount to those of us with the Beverage Package. It was under $40 for Alex and me to attend each class, and I definitely recommend these.

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to posting. I lost the Internet on Sunday (the joy of the mountain life), and it's back to work as well. I will post here now and get back later to post some more...

There was no announcement about rooms, but we thought we would see if they were ready. Sure enough, they were, and our luggage was there as well. I booked an Obstructed Oceanview (8586), and normally we just have an Inside. When we booked, you needed that level or higher for the beverage package. Sure enough, life boats blocked our view, but it didn't bother us. The size was the bigger issue. It was right on a corner and the smallest room we had ever been in. I would hit my side on the table getting into bed every day. The pluming was also an issue, but I'll write about that later. The best part of getting into our room was receiving our first Freestyle:

I'm sorry these are so poor quality. I don't have a scanner :(

We also received information on all of the entertainment offerings from the week:

Soon it was time for the boat drill, and then we had some drinks at Gatsby's. We headed to the opening show at the Stardust, and although we have seen some of the song numbers before, it was still a great show. Dinner was at Cagney's, and yes, they still had that Tomahawk Steak on the menu that people have been asking about. We went for rib eyes, but Alex had teh pork belly and tomato salad as starters, and I went for the lobster bisque and crab cake. By the time the steaks came, I could only eat half. Side note: That lobster bisque was the only lobster we found all week with an upcharge. Honestly though, there was plenty of other seafood. We walked a couple leaps around Deck 7 after dinner and retired for the night. I love this little balcony that overlooks the atrium below:

When we arrived at the port, we jumped in line and started getting excited. The lines were moving well, and it was really organized. The staff had a great attitude, and honestly, I thought it was a smooth process. It took about an hour, but that's to be expected. Once on board, I wanted to avoid the buffet, but start off the vacation right. We stopped into Cellars and ordered some wine from Cellars:

We had the beverage package, and 4 specialty meals as well. It was nice to not have to worry about our onboard expenses. After toasting the beginning of our vacation, we headed into The Venetian for lunch. I'm not going to post a bunch of food pictures in my review, but I do have one of our first lunch. Fish and chips with a yummy pretzel roll:

I also discovered what would be my two favorite things at lunch, hummus and peanut butter cup cheesecake. I would be back to The Venetian for lunch on sea days specifically for these two things. Tip: Order extra pita chips for the hummus, as you only get three. The tomato soup is also good at lunch here, and I do have a photo of that cheesecake:

In my opinion, NCL desserts are not the greatest. The cheesecake was probably my favorite offering. However, most of the time I was too full for dessert anyway.

After lunch we walked around the ship. I wanted to see it all, top to bottom. BUT, it was a bit rainy. By the time we got to the library on Deck 12, we were soaked. They had some games in there, and we found a cribbage board and decided to play:

Happy Sunday! My husband and I just returned from the Dawn Repo from Boston to New Orleans, and I thought that I would do a photo review. I had looked for one before I booked mine and never found one. Perhaps this will help someone looking to do a future longer cruise on The Dawn.

A little background: My husband Alex and I have been married for 5 years now, and this is our fourth cruise together. We are a fun-loving active couple that likes a good adventure. True story, we had a skydiving wedding:

Alex and I are in our mid-30s and fell in love with NCL on the Jewel in 2011. It was 7 days, and the husband said that was too short. So, we saved to jump on the Gem two years later for 9 days. Too short again, he said. Alex won a vacation through work, and we had our favorite cruise to date on the Sun for 10 days. I was already looking into this repo at the time and figuring out what year we could save to do it. On December 16, 2014 this cruise was open for booking and I went for it! People thought I was nuts, but it gave me something to look forward to, and we had plenty of notice at work. Our positions at work changed a bit the past two years, but even so, we were able to take this time off together. It seemed like it was taking forever to come, though. Eventually, I bought this clock to remind me that the end would come eventually. Here is when it really became a reality:

Fast-Forward to October 27th. Our cruise day was almost here! We live in the Catskills about 4.5 hours from Boston. I know that most people would leave the day before, but I knew that we wouldn't be able to sleep then anyway, so we just decided to wake up at the crack of dawn the next day and drive to Boston. It was a good thing too. This was what that Thursday looked like for us:

We booked a snooze and cruise at the Comfort Inn in Boston and arrived around 11:15. I was worried, knowing that the shuttle to the port was scheduled to leave at 11:00. Luckily, it hasn't pulled away yet. In fact, the hotel guests weren't even loaded yet. They seemed upset that they had been waiting since ten for the shuttle. Did the hotel not tell them when it was leaving? Some people also seemed upset that we just walked up and got on, but that was what we paid for. This was our hotel when we returned. Anyway, we arrived to the port and were ready to get this vacattion started...We just had to get through the embarkation first.

Just off The Dawn and we used our nalgenes all the time. You can use a cup to refill at the buffet or any bartender was happy to refill. A funny thing happened in Jamaica. We refilled before leaving, and husband still had ship water in his bottle when we returned. They made him empty it before returning on board. This was not an issue in the 6 other ports. We just had to shake our heads, laugh, and go back to the bartender on board.

Do you know if Richard (Auto)Matic will be on the Dawn for the October 28 repo cruise to New Orleans?

We had him on the Sun and he was FANTASTIC!!!!

I second this question! If anyone can find out, let me know too. He is the BEST! I am also on that repo.

I know your family is into beaches, but I had the BEST excursion in St. Lucia a couple years ago visiting Lushan Country Life: https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Review-g147343-d1467576-Reviews-Lushan_Country_Life_Tours-Castries_Castries_Quarter_St_Lucia.html

You get a full cultural experience where you walkabout their plants, taste their food, and explore the forest with a guide. It doesn't take more than an hour to go through and is a great experience.

The price for the2017 Dawn Repo is good - $449 for an inside :eek: It makes me think about booking that one. Great deal for nine days!

I would LOVE to see a menu for the new Cantina. And I would like to know who the Cruise Director is. Thank you for doing a Live Review!!

My first cruise is next March and I have paid the DSC's up front. Does this mean that I don't need to tip them any additional money? Would it be in poor taste to not tip any additional money for these services?

 

Thanks :)

You're going to get many different answers on here. The answer is no, you don't have to pay anything more. Some will insist that you should, others will say that giving a bartender a buck or two will insure that your service is good. Same with your room steward. If you want to be sure your room is just right, feel free to tip. BUT the prepaid gratuities is all that you have to pay. Personally I stay in an inside room and have never felt obligated to tip my steward extra, and if I find a great bartender, I may add a little extra on the receipt. Again, this is not expected OR required. It is not in"poor taste" not to tip extra. Just be sure you tip your concierge if you're in a suite, and if you go on a good excursion, those staff are not NCL and deserve a tip (at least in my opinion). Otherwise, no need to budget for tipping or feeling bad for not tipping. Prepaid covers all, and 18% is automatically added at the bar and spa.

I always get great deals in November BEFORE Thanksgiving, and there aren't a ton of kids on board either. I work with kids and love them, but I wouldn't want to cruise with a bazillion of them all at once!

I know you said that it was hard having two cruises so close together, but have you seen the price for the Gem out of San Juan? Dec. 11 she's $499 for 8 days!! :eek: I saw this and thought of you, since I know you're looking to sail that one AND do San Juan Bioluminescence Bay.

My first NCL cruise was the Jewel for my honeymoon. It got my husband hooked on cruising and was such a beautiful ship. Then we went on the Gem, and honestly, the service was not great. The Breakaway had just started sailing at the time, and we heard that they moved the best staff over there. Our Gem cruise lacked a personal touch, so this was not the winner for us. Our favorite ship was the Sun. Best staff ever, and we loved the personal attention that we received. For a small ship, it had everything we ever could have wanted, and the Observation Lounge was a nice touch. I'm looking forward to seeing what the Dawn looks like after her refurb. Maybe that one will win. Until then:

#1: Sun

#2: Jewel

#3: Gem

This is a great deal since you usually can't get the UBP within 30 days of your cruise. It's nice to hear that someone was able to get around it. I think you can only get the package if you're sailing on a Super Ship within that window.

I HIGHLY recommend Mitsugirly's Jade Review here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2325153

Her daughter is I believe 7 and always takes part in the Kids Club on all the NCL cruises. I know she always writes about the circus program that the kids do too.

Relax and enjoy your cruise! Although I have never done the Jade, she looks pretty amazing and is a great size. Personally, I have a fear of Mega-ships, because they seem to be less freestyle (you have to pre-book shows and such). I have never been on a fancy cruiseline like you, but I definitely have loved all of the customer service and personal attention that I have received with NCL. It's been a couple years for me, but the personal touches are why I am loyal. That and the affordability (which is often debated on these boards) of still finding cruises for under $100/day with the beverage package. Enjoy your vacation, and please let us know how it goes! I look forward to your opinion of NCL soon :)

I really enjoyed your last review! Thanks for doing another one. I look forward to reading! :)

Although I have never sailed the PoA, remember that she just finished a huge drydock, so the ship has just changed a bit this week. However, I read a review awhile back that I really enjoyed. Here is the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2299252

You are so lucky! I hope Richard is still there when I cruise The Dawn in the fall! He is seriously my favorite NCL staff member ever. We had him on The Sun a couple years ago and he made that experience incredibly special. Knew our names and greeted us all the time. We sometimes wondered if he had a clone, because he was everywhere. Such an incredible asset to NCL. Now I just need to hope he is still there in the fall :D

At some point last year, Del Rio said in an interview that he didn't want to keep doing "milk runs." He wanted more creative itineraries. I hope there are some unique ones in there somewhere. He's stuck with most of his other promises - mostly involving raised prices - so I really hope he follows through on this one.

I can't wait to read your review!!! I hope your family planned as well as you always do. Maybe you'll all follow your husband around like ducks in a line instead of everyone following you ;) I seriously have enjoyed each and every one of your reviews and cannot wait to read this one. I'm going to guess that you're on the Escape since it leaves today, but no matter where you are, I wish you a very Happy Birthday! I cannot wait to hear all about your trip :)

I like to save money. I also get really excited about cruises and can't sleep the night before. I say wake up early and just drive. Plan to ideally get there at 10am. Then if there's a delay, you have four hours of a buffer. Even horrible traffic and a crazy crane accident like the one the other day couldn't delay you that long. At least, I would hope not. I live 3 hours from the city and did the exactly this when taking cruises there. I also flew on the morning of my last cruise - a lot more stressful than driving, but again, arrived super early and everything went smoothly :)

I'm jumping in on this thread, because I have a somewhat similar question. I know that NCL does Cruise Tours. If I book one in New Orleans after my cruise, can I take my luggage with me? Then after that's over transport it to a hotel (if we stay for the night) or the airport if we fly back that evening?

Reviews are personally my favorite threads to read. They get me excited for my next adventure and I always learn about fun new things to do in ports. I look forward to reading your review! :)

I admit that I get confused by NCL myself. I know that dining is changing to a la carte, but I bought a dining pass for a few meals. How does that work if Le Bistro charges for individual dishes? And Fruits de Mer (my favorite) always had an upcharge. I am super confused :confused: