tacoville

Curious if the bed is closer to the balcony or closer to the cabin door.  Thanks!

@Two Wheels Only looks like you may be the resident expert on this subject lol so I thought I'd ask...any idea about the bed position in cabin 12838 on the Encore.  It is a normal balcony, starboard side, mid-ship.

Hi, was looking at the April 2020 11-day Panama Canal cruise out of Miami and wondering if NCL would have that again April 2021. 

So far there is only one cruise listed on their website but it's longer than I'm looking for and doesn't stop at the same ports.

https://boston.cbslocal.com/2019/10/17/storm-strands-two-cruise-ships-gloucester-coast-norwegian-dawn-seven-seas-navigator/?fbclid=IwAR1ATFeBxRT6R08Za41NpR-PC5Fp6-3mlc6hvwLX-esxhC6OB5S6BJKpi_Y

 

Hi...no offense to children or those traveling with children, we don't travel alot and just prefer to minimize the # surrounding us if possible 🙂

Have only been on one cruise (so far) and I believe the one we took had minimal children for several reasons (and that is why we picked it):

• 9 days (like others have said above, cruises more than 7 days tend to have less children)
• Repositioning cruise (added cost of airline ticket)
• November 9-18, 2018 (kids have only been in school a short time and winter break is just around the corner so parents less likely to take them out of school)
• Norwegian Dawn (smaller, older ship without racetracks, slides, climbing walls, etc)

We met a family on one of our excursions who were traveling with two very well behaved teenagers (and I picked this excursion because it was 12+), they even commented to us that they had taken the Dawn to Bermuda out of Boston during the summer and there were alot of kids, so much so that her son remarked "where are all the kids" when they boarded this one...

Hope this helps.

HI.  Sailed Dawn November 2018, first time cruise.  Had cabin 9128, mid-ship balcony.  We were half way to everything, close to mid elevators/stairs but no noise from them. There is a nice lounge on 9 above the atrium. Deck 10 is cabins so no noise from above, and we heard nothing from 8 below.  No inside cabins/traffic opposite you.  There is staff access opposite you, but we never heard anything, even when all the luggage was being delivered.  I would book this cabin again.

and...DO NOT MISS ELEMENTS

5 hours ago, zenworks911 said:

I heard one more rumor that I wondered if someone could confirm and then I will quit. 

 

Someone said that the ship's captain is actually named Captain Morgan.  Is that true?

 

Hi...I was on the Dawn the week before Thanksgiving and the captain was Captain Morgan. 

Hi Stinger-pr...when you had drinks at O'Sheehan's bar were Aaron and Wantu bartending?  They were the BEST on my cruise the week before.  We weren't at full capacity but I still don't know how they remember so many passenger names...

On 12/31/2018 at 1:48 AM, maja651 said:

I always thought that the first night was prime rib night in the main dining rooms, but I see based on your pictures, it was not on this cruise.  Do you recall if they ever had a prime rib night in the main dining rooms?

Hi.  Was on the Dawn in November, had prime rib at the buffet on the first night.  Unfortunately I don't remember if it was available in the MDRs.

Sailed November 2018.  Disembarked in San Juan for flight home the Sunday before Thanksgiving.  We got transfers through NCL from the port to the airport.  You can do that even if you make your own flight arrangements.  I've never cruised before and didn't want to chase taxis all over San Juan.  This couldn't have been easier and, maybe we were lucky, but we did not encounter any lines anywhere along the way.  I think we docked around 6am, the ship was "cleared" fairly quickly and we saw people getting off the ship shortly after carrying their own bags.  We got breakfast and waited for our color to be called, probably around 8-8:30ish.  But, it was a repositioning cruise and not full passenger capacity so that may influence timing of things.

If you are catching a flight look into the transfer, have a porter assist you with your bags to the bus, they zip right along and you zip right along with them, the bags will go from the bus to the USDA checkpoint (which was right where the bus stopped).  By the time we got off the bus our bags were tagged from the checkpoint and ready for us to check-in for our flight.

Went on our very first cruise this past November on the Dawn and had 3-night specialty dining pkg.   Found the same thing, they limit the amount of reservations they take pre-cruise.  I couldn't get two reservations on the night/time I wanted so I booked another night for each at a time close to what I wanted to make sure I was "in".  I'm OCD LOL

Embarkation day, after having a nice sandwich and a couple beers at O'Sheehans and going through the muster drill, there was a sign that a table was set up in Bamboo (deck 7).  Walked right up to the table where several people were waiting to assist, sat down, and got the two reservations changed to the days/times I preferred.  Was done in five minutes.  Got up from the table and there was a line of people doing the same so I'd seek out this table sooner rather than later depending on how full your cruise is.

I had the 3 night pkg on a 9 day cruise.  Ate in the main dining rooms a couple evenings, buffet a couple (night #1 had prime rib and baked potato in the buffet).  You can eat in the specialty restaurants beyond your package, without extending your package, or even without a package at all if you'd like...there is a cover charge or a la carte fees depending on the restaurant.  Our friends had 3 night dining as well and decided after making their 3 reservations that they wanted to eat at Los Lobos too (which is only on the Dawn) so they did, for the cover charge.  See which way the $ add up better for you.

I missed the cards on the ship, and there wasn't anyplace on the email survey they send you to give shout-outs to individuals, so I went on Norwegian's website.  At the bottom of the home page click on "Contact Us", about half-way down the next page is "Guest Relations - After the Cruise".  I click on the form to fill out (there is also a phone number).  The website says you will receive a response in two weeks, but I received an email the next day thanking me and stating that my comments would be forwarded to the department heads.

HI.  The pricing you are seeing is for folks who do not have the dining package but want to eat at that restaurant.  Some restaurants have a flat cover charge, some have ala cart.  Depending on the restaurant I believe each person on the pkg gets an app, salad, main course, dessert. If you order something extra (like a second entree for one person) then the charge may apply.  I was confused on my recent very first cruise so I asked the waiter before ordering to walk me through how their menu worked and they were very helpful.  We went to Los Lobos, La Cucina and Cagneys.  Hope this helps.

Was on repositioning cruise out of Boston in November. We disembarked Pan American pier (although we thought it would be San Juan). I saw on another post that NCL docks in San Juan when PR is a stop mid-itinerary, but docks at Pan American on embarkation/disembarking.  Don't know if that's the key, just what I read.  Hopefully it helps

Was on the Dawn in November on her 9 day repositioning cruise.  

We had breakfast at the buffet half the mornings, the other half in Venetian.  Very happy with both, unfortunately neither myself or my husband looked for salmon so can't answer that but they did have a nice selection.

You are correct that buffets can get repetitive, or maybe their main offering isn't what you're in the mood for on a particular evening.  We ate dinner at the buffet several times (in addition to 3 night specialty dining and a couple nights in either Aqua or Venetian).  Ate in the buffet the first night figuring the "restaurants" would be busy, and had prime rib, baked potato, veggies, etc.  Was very good.  There is also a limited beer and wine availability at the buffet.  I'm sure a waiter would run for anything else

If not going to buffet, on Dawn you can eat in the specialty restaurants even if you don't have the pkg, you pay a cover charge depending on the restaurant.  Aqua and Ventian are the main dining rooms, they are included with your voyage. They have same menu as each other. One side of the menu stays the same, the other side changes each evening. No shorts in the Ventian in the evening.

Hi...was on Dawn this past November.  It is a keypad, you set your own number.

Enjoying your review.  I was on the repositioning cruise out of Boston just prior to your cruise so it's interesting to see some of the different experiences you are having with food, service, etc.  It was our very first cruise ever so we had nothing to compare it to but found both the food and service to be awesome everywhere we went onboard.  Due to it being a repositioning cruise it was not crowded, we waited for nothing anywhere - dining, drinks, getting on and off the ship, and it had very few children.  I will continue to read because now you are about to hit some of the islands we visited so I can get another's perspective not only of the Dawn, but of the islands 🙂