bonniemari

Sailed both lines & I agree too. One other thing I like about NCL is they have a main dining room open for lunch on embarkation day.

I've done 32 CCL cruises and just got off the my 6th NCL cruise (Dawn) a couple of weeks ago. I have to say that I think NCL beats CCL in entertainment & food. They have some great shows (as mentioned upthread the aerialist is amazing) and they have a real live band playing on the lido deck. This last cruise we had the Ultimate Dining Package and so we never ate in the MDR for dinner but the food in the specialty restaurants was really good. Didn't have 1 bad meal. One other thing I like about NCL is they have rules regarding kids in the adult hot tubs and also a 1 a.m. curfew for 17 & younger that they apparently enforce. Never saw kids in the hot tubs & no kids running the halls/pushing every floor on the elevators. Also liked the MDR is open for lunch on embarkation day and the 24 hr restaurant was great for a late night snack. Loved their wings.

I have been noticing very low prices on NCL Dawn out of New Orleans.

 

Does anyone have experience on Dawn?

I read some reviews and many of them were really negative.

 

I am curious about Dawn from a regular Carnival cruiser's viewpoint.

I'll let you know. I booked yesterday and leave in 9 days. Had an offer from CAS and with all the cold & dreary weather I couldn't resist. We sailed on the Star out of NOLA a couple of years ago and had a great time.

nothing says entertainment like the Hasbro game show and the newlywed/not so newlywed game.

 

Is it true that on 7 day cruises there is 1 dark night in the showroom? i read that last night on this board???

 

Bill

Not sure, but I think they have something every night. Love the NNSN game and they do it on NCL also. Haven't attended the Hasbro game show-I try to avoid kid zones:).

I have been on both CCL & NCL. IMO they both have their good and bad points. One thing I really like about NCL is they have the MDR open for lunch on embarkation day. I think the Lido buffet is better on NCL. I also like all the different dining venues on NCL and with them giving away the Ultimate Dining package it is even better. You can make your reservations online before your cruise. I used to be strictly a CCL cruiser, but with the cutbacks in the last few years we have looked for other cruiselines.

Although the crew is great on both lines, I have to give the edge to CCL. In 32 cruises I can't remember ever having one complaint about a crew/staff member. For us, NCL has more onboard activities, but I prefer CCL shows. NCL has a curfew for young teens that apparently they enforce because I've never seen unruly kids roaming the halls at 2 a.m.

And last but not least the NCL Casino's at Sea is more consistent and their offers and makes it so easy to book an offer. You can actually call and speak to a CAS rep instead of having to leave a message or email the Carnival Players Club.

I don't think you can go wrong with either line.

Also helps to have alerts (text or email) set up on your credit cards. Everytime your card is used you will receive an alert where it is being used and the amount. Most credit card companies and some bank debit cards offer this service at no charge.

Ok, I received an offer from Casinos @ Sea and am thinking about booking on the Jewel. I have searched everywhere trying to find the exact designated smoking areas with no luck. We did a CAS cruise on the Star last year and where pleased with the smoking areas. That ship had the casino bar actually inside the casino which was great because we were able to have a pre dinner martini sitting at the bar compliments of our drinks on us card.

ETA-Looking at booking on Deck 5 near the elevator/stairs. It's one deck below the Casino so I can go up and have my morning coffee and cig.

Wear something nice, but comfortable. I was so glad I wore a loose fitting sundress. After all those wonderful courses and all the wine, if I had worn even slightly tight pants I think I would have split them open.).

I'm dancing with you. 48 hrs from now I will be on the ship. Freezing my rear off cause we are sailing out of New Orleans, but I will be on The Ship. Hope you have a great cruise.

We used to take land vacations to Nassau every year. Now that we discovered Punta Cana, DR we go to Nassau every other year. I feel safer walking around downtown Nassau than I do walking around downtown Memphis or New Orleans.

I have stayed in both on the Elation. My DH & I always did the OV. Then when I did a girls cruise they all wanted to do Inside to save money so I agreed. Found out it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. This time (in 5 dsys) I booked DH & I in an inside. I chose aft, Empress right next to the elevator, which is the same place we were on our girls cruise. Jump on the elevator/stairs go up 3 floors, walk a few steps and you are outside with a great view. However if I am on a ship that has balcony cabins, I always going to do the balcony cabin.

Well, this is what finally pushed me to book, to see Daughtery. We have been watching the cruise for weeks now out of Jax, been debating for over a month now since we have only cruised Disney before and wanted a vacation that was cheap after a really rough year. $1260 for a 5 day Bahama vacay plus the lil extra to see Daughtery, just too perfect for us. Had a 24 hr hold this morning and then hubby paid it when I told him to go ahead tonight, price had not changed at all in the last month or since the announcement. Cant wait!!

Same here except my reason to book was Lady A. I had been looking at the 6 day Breeze cruise anyway for our anniversary cruise. Adding Lady A to the mix made me pull the trigger and book. The price had not gone up since the last time I looked at it. I had front row seats to a Lady A concert that got cancelled a couple of months ago. Now I get the best of both-- a cruise and a concert.

I 2nd the Sheraton Old San Juan. Nothing like getting up early with your morning cup of coffee and seeing your ship sail in right across the street. Easy walk across the street to board the ship.

We did this cruise and it was my 3rd most favorite cruise, Hawaii & Alaska were 1 & 2. I trying to decide between doing it again or the 8 day on the Freedom to Aruba.

St Lucia-Cosol Tours-best tour ever

Barbados-we went to the Rum factory and hung out at the beach there.

St.Kitts-we were so tired by the time we got to St Kitts we opted to just do a short city sightseeing tour. Which we really enjoyed.

We didn't go to St Marteen on our cruise we went to Dominica & Antigua. We did a party boat/beach day in St Thomas.

I saw a pack n go rate for the Jan 16 Elation sailing just a few days ago. It was either Wednesday or Thursday of this week that I saw it.

Keep in mind just because they only show 10 there still might be more cabins left in that category. If you are booking for 2 unless the category is almost sold out, cabins that hold 3/4 will not come up as available. You could be assigned one of those cabins closer to sail date.

Part of the Starboard side outside on the Lido deck is smoking. Near the pool. Also part of the casino bar is smoking.

I usually book Empress or Upper deck close to the aft elevator so I can take the elevator up to the Lido deck, grab a cup of coffee and walk outside and find a table. Mid/Aft is good also. Take the elevator up to Promenade Deck and you can smoke at the casino bar. Part of the casino is also smoking.

I've never been crazy about the AI's in Cancun. Then we did one to Punta Cana, DR last year and it was 10x more fun with more things to do than the ones in Cancun. Still a cruiser at heart, but planning another trip to the DR for May. Probably will never do another one to Cancun unless it's for our annual girls trip and the person whose turn it is to pick picks Cancun.

I'd been eyeing a short 4 day out of NOLA for Superbowl weekend. I went ahead and booked it today and netted a $20 savings with the $60 bar credit. For once, at least for me, a "Carnival Sale" actually saved me a few bucks.

Thank you so much for sharing that Kokoml man. Please come back and share your grandson's reaction when he see's his Daddy. Merry Christmas to you and your family and I hope you have a wonderful time on your cruise.

And yes Kokomo man, there is a Santa Claus. I believe .

Twilight Zone-Pina Colada with a shot of Blue Curacao.

I think Breezes Resort has an AIl Inclusive for $65pp. Someone on our Rollcall mentioned they were doing that when our cruise stops in Nassau. We have done several land vacations to Nassau and I like the beaches on the Cable Beach side of Nassau.

My stepdaughter and I sailed on her out of Tampa-7/14/2001.

Thanks to all the ma'am's for the great review. We sail on the NCL Star 3/3/13 sailing. So glad to see the pics and info for Maya Chan-we have it booked for our cruise.

Looking foward to the rest of your review.

We took Amtrak from Memphis to NOLA a few years ago. It was just me & DH and we got a sleeper (roomlette) and loved it. We could read, play cards or take a nap. It was a nice relaxing way to get to NOLA. My DH, bless his heart has a lead foot and has gotten a few speeding tickets on our many trips to NOLA. Added plus to Amtrak was I didn't have to pay a speeding ticket:). We are driving to NOLA for our cruise in March, wish we were taking Amtrak, but DH wants to drive.

Thank you so much for this wonderful review. Wish I had all that Bermuda info before we went a couple of years ago. But I will have it now for the next time. We did make it to the beautiful Horseshoe Beach-it was one of the highlights of our cruise.

We sail on the Star 3/3/13 and this review has really got me ready to go NOW. Hate I have 50 something more days to go.

P.S. I am the world's worst when it comes to remembering names. I have been known to call my son by the dog's name. Pisses him off since I've had him for 34 years and I've only had the dog for 3.