NCL Dawn Review: April Vacation Boston to Bermuda

So we literally just got of the dawn today. It was me, my DH, my 2 DS (aged 6 1/2 and 3 1/2) and my parents. We got a 2 bedroom family suite and a mini suite that had a connecting door. This was our first time enjoying the "suite life". I had planned to take tons of pictures but with the kids running around from moment one it did not happen. I do have the dailies which I will add to this review (I apparently missed taking a photo of day 3:o:o:eek:)

Embarkation: So Suite embarkation was amazing, with two small kids just being able to get on the boat practically the moment we arrived was wonderful. We had asked prior to leaving whether my parents could come with us due to them being in the Mini-suite and not eligible for Suite perks. We got an email confirmation they could come a few days before and there were no issues. They were however not allowed to join us in Cagneys/Moderno's for breakfast or lunch as I had expected, but it didn't hurt to ask. The ship was completely full so I think that led to the "no" decision. So if your not on a full ship you might have better luck.

Room: We loved the room the living room space was probably our favorite. All six of us were able to just hang out, my kids played card games with my parents, and the mornings were very relaxing. Also for nap time, not being trapped in the room with a sleeping child was a nice perk. The bathroom was also amazing we had 2 bathrooms, 1 in the smaller room, and another in the main bedroom which was bigger than the smaller bedroom itself. We ended up never using the smaller bathroom for baths or showers, since the main bathroom had a Waterfall Shower and a Jacuzzi tub both were amazing. The suite technically could have slept six, but I think we would have been pretty unhappy if we had all squeezed in and am glad we got the connected mini-suite.

Suite Perks: I have never had a suite or done the Haven so I don't have anything to compare it to. We definitely enjoyed the embarkation and disembarkation. The free on-demand movies were enjoyed my eldest when he needed to have some down time watched Thor Ragnarok more times than I can count. We mostly did room service for breakfast which was nice. We did breakfast in Moderno's one day, me and my husband and it was fine I had eggs Benedict and it tasted the same as the garden cafe. We did lunch a couple of times, but the menu is small and we kind of got bored with it. There wasn't much my husband liked so he had the same thing each time. It was nice on the second to last day when we got 50 degree whether to go as every single person was inside and the ship was feeling crowded. Also the room service to the room had a good selection, the pizza's were very good freshly baked, and it was nice to order our kids food as they decided to live on a diet of mac & cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches for the entire vacation. But the rest of the suite perks, the concierge making reservations was lost on me as I had planned out everything, the butler bringing snacks to the room in the afternoon were ok the sandwiches were stale most of the time, and we got some little tarts that were soggy it was nice but nothing special. I had been excited to see the kids face when we got a bowl of gummy worms or something like that, but that didn't happen so maybe on a different ship. All in all with the cost I'm still not sure if it was worth it, but I guess it depends on your opinion.

Ship: The last time we were on the dawn was in 2012 so it was exciting to see all the changes from the refurb in person and try to remember what it was like. As had been said in many reviews the Dawns layout can be a bit confusing and I wish they had interactive maps like they did on the breakaway that would show you how to get somewhere, but by the end we had figured it out, and all the walking was probably good considering how much food we ate. Something I did enjoy is that the Casino is down on the sixth floor in the front of the ship. I'm pretty sensitive to cigarette smoke, and usually get a sore throat anytime I go near it, its not the end of the world but more annoying. So it was nice for me to easily avoid the casino air and still go where I wanted.

Pools: It was a bit cold, but that didn't stop my kids from going to the kids pool area the first day in 68 degree whether, alot of time was spent jumping from the kids hot tub to the slides. The kids pool was great, and my only negative is their is no where to sit for adults. They had lounge chairs, but they were kids size and I was afraid to sit on them they were so tiny. I just found it odd, as I had assumed they'd want parents to watch and supervise the kids, which we did but we all just stood their uncomfortable watching the kids. We never used the main pool but I saw kids and some adults all week even when it dropped below 50, I asked some of those brave kids and they told me the water was warm leaving was the worst part.

Restaurants: We did Cagneys, Moderno, and Los Lobos for our specialty dining they were all great and I won't elaborate as their are already so much written about them. Los lobos was a bit slow as they were fully booked every night and we went the last night, next time I will plan to go earlier in the week and not the last day. We also did main dining 3 nights, and I was pleasantly surprised. I made reservations online, as we took the kids to the garden cafe, and than let them go to the kids club at 7. Which made for a calm dining experience. But the Venetian and aqua were great, when we went to aqua their was a huge line as it is small and the show had just let out. Apparently you can only make reservations for Aqua on line, not once on board so their were some annoyed people when we walked on. Of course I was surprised so many people were waiting for aqua as it has the exact same menu as Venetian, which was never crowded.

Drinks: This was our first cruise with UBP, and while I had initially been annoyed to pay such a large gratuity I loved just handing my card over for a drink and not having to sign anything. IT WAS SO EASY, and really made the trip easier and more relaxing. Our favorite bar to go to was the mojito bar which was in Moderno's Wilfred, the bartender there, was amazing and I will miss the raspberry guava mojito i had nightly. Gatsby was nice, but as it was right next to the casino I didn't enjoy it that much. I was disappointed by the tequila bar in Los Lobos I normally love margaritas, but didn't really enjoy mine, but that was just my opinion it was more about the tequila which is always hit or miss for me.

Bermuda: We got 2 lovely days and one rainy day at Bermuda. The first day we arrived at 1 and due to nap time, we didn't leave the ship till around 5 so we headed over to the snorkel park with our sand pails. After 5 there is no fee so we just sat on the beach waded in the water and built sandcastles it was fun relaxing and cheap. The next day we headed to Horseshoe bay around 10 am. I can not for the life of me understand how anyone pays NCL excursion prices in bermuda. They were charging 45 dollars per person for a transfer to horseshoe bay while our 6 person taxi cost 42 one way, and there is shuttle van that charges 7 dollars a person. So if you have at least 2 people in your group its cheaper to take the taxi or shuttle and go on your own time frame. The taxi ride over was great, our driver talked about the island and how the houses are made to collect water and withstand hurricanes. We got to Horseshoe Bay and got 4 chairs and an umbrella for over 100 (my parents paid so I can't remember). We positioned ourselves so we could see the "kids cove" that is immediately to your right and the main beach. I can not say how much I love horseshoe, the sand the water even though it was early April it was still great. The kids were able to see tons of fish in the smaller parts of the cove and made more sandcastles than I could count. We ordered lunch their and it was pretty reasonable 3 burgers a "grilled cheese", hot dog, 2 large fries and some waters was around 15 dollars. We took the shuttle back which was convenient but they pack you in they have a row of 2 seats on the right and 1 seat on the left than in the middle they have a pull down chair which was a bit wobbly, but the ride was short and it was cheap. The third day we were to have rain around 1, so my parents took my youngest back to Snorkel Park as he still hadn't gotten his beach fill, and they said that it was nice again as it was very windy and where the beach is near the fort walls protected them. It started raining at 1 exactly, and while i had wanted to go do some shopping we decided to stay on the ship and save some money.

Disembarkation: My husband said the suite was worth it just for how easy it was to disembark. We left our room around 930 after having our room service breakfast, and headed over to Bamboo. We were than escorted to the front of the line to go through security and were on the street with our bags around 945. It was amazingly easy.

This review went much longer than I intended but it was a great vacation, and much needed after this long long winter.

We will be on the Dawn on May 4th, driving in from Lowell, MA. Did you drive to port? If so what time did you leave and where did you park?

We will be on the Dawn on May 4th, driving in from Lowell, MA. Did you drive to port? If so what time did you leave and where did you park?

We had a friend drop us off, but our parents parked right next to the port I think it was 20 dollars a day. They found it easy to do.

We will be on the Dawn on May 4th, driving in from Lowell, MA. Did you drive to port? If so what time did you leave and where did you park?

I'll be on the same cruise. It's my 4th time and parking is really easy.

Thank you for the review. I didn't know there was a mojito bar!

We will be on the Dawn on May 4th, driving in from Lowell, MA. Did you drive to port? If so what time did you leave and where did you park?

Parking lot at the bow of the ship is like $140 for the week i think.

We try to get there for 10:30.

.

Awesome review! Can't wait to be on the Dawn during Thanksgiving week this year

So we literally just got of the dawn today. It was me, my DH, my 2 DS (aged 6 1/2 and 3 1/2) and my parents. We got a 2 bedroom family suite and a mini suite that had a connecting door. This was our first time enjoying the "suite life". I had planned to take tons of pictures but with the kids running around from moment one it did not happen. I do have the dailies which I will add to this review (I apparently missed taking a photo of day 3:o:o:eek:)

 

Embarkation: So Suite embarkation was amazing, with two small kids just being able to get on the boat practically the moment we arrived was wonderful. We had asked prior to leaving whether my parents could come with us due to them being in the Mini-suite and not eligible for Suite perks. We got an email confirmation they could come a few days before and there were no issues. They were however not allowed to join us in Cagneys/Moderno's for breakfast or lunch as I had expected, but it didn't hurt to ask. The ship was completely full so I think that led to the "no" decision. So if your not on a full ship you might have better luck.

 

Room: We loved the room the living room space was probably our favorite. All six of us were able to just hang out, my kids played card games with my parents, and the mornings were very relaxing. Also for nap time, not being trapped in the room with a sleeping child was a nice perk. The bathroom was also amazing we had 2 bathrooms, 1 in the smaller room, and another in the main bedroom which was bigger than the smaller bedroom itself. We ended up never using the smaller bathroom for baths or showers, since the main bathroom had a Waterfall Shower and a Jacuzzi tub both were amazing. The suite technically could have slept six, but I think we would have been pretty unhappy if we had all squeezed in and am glad we got the connected mini-suite.

 

Suite Perks: I have never had a suite or done the Haven so I don't have anything to compare it to. We definitely enjoyed the embarkation and disembarkation. The free on-demand movies were enjoyed my eldest when he needed to have some down time watched Thor Ragnarok more times than I can count. We mostly did room service for breakfast which was nice. We did breakfast in Moderno's one day, me and my husband and it was fine I had eggs Benedict and it tasted the same as the garden cafe. We did lunch a couple of times, but the menu is small and we kind of got bored with it. There wasn't much my husband liked so he had the same thing each time. It was nice on the second to last day when we got 50 degree whether to go as every single person was inside and the ship was feeling crowded. Also the room service to the room had a good selection, the pizza's were very good freshly baked, and it was nice to order our kids food as they decided to live on a diet of mac & cheese and grilled cheese sandwiches for the entire vacation. But the rest of the suite perks, the concierge making reservations was lost on me as I had planned out everything, the butler bringing snacks to the room in the afternoon were ok the sandwiches were stale most of the time, and we got some little tarts that were soggy it was nice but nothing special. I had been excited to see the kids face when we got a bowl of gummy worms or something like that, but that didn't happen so maybe on a different ship. All in all with the cost I'm still not sure if it was worth it, but I guess it depends on your opinion.

 

Ship: The last time we were on the dawn was in 2012 so it was exciting to see all the changes from the refurb in person and try to remember what it was like. As had been said in many reviews the Dawns layout can be a bit confusing and I wish they had interactive maps like they did on the breakaway that would show you how to get somewhere, but by the end we had figured it out, and all the walking was probably good considering how much food we ate. Something I did enjoy is that the Casino is down on the sixth floor in the front of the ship. I'm pretty sensitive to cigarette smoke, and usually get a sore throat anytime I go near it, its not the end of the world but more annoying. So it was nice for me to easily avoid the casino air and still go where I wanted.

 

Pools: It was a bit cold, but that didn't stop my kids from going to the kids pool area the first day in 68 degree whether, alot of time was spent jumping from the kids hot tub to the slides. The kids pool was great, and my only negative is their is no where to sit for adults. They had lounge chairs, but they were kids size and I was afraid to sit on them they were so tiny. I just found it odd, as I had assumed they'd want parents to watch and supervise the kids, which we did but we all just stood their uncomfortable watching the kids. We never used the main pool but I saw kids and some adults all week even when it dropped below 50, I asked some of those brave kids and they told me the water was warm leaving was the worst part.

 

Restaurants: We did Cagneys, Moderno, and Los Lobos for our specialty dining they were all great and I won't elaborate as their are already so much written about them. Los lobos was a bit slow as they were fully booked every night and we went the last night, next time I will plan to go earlier in the week and not the last day. We also did main dining 3 nights, and I was pleasantly surprised. I made reservations online, as we took the kids to the garden cafe, and than let them go to the kids club at 7. Which made for a calm dining experience. But the Venetian and aqua were great, when we went to aqua their was a huge line as it is small and the show had just let out. Apparently you can only make reservations for Aqua on line, not once on board so their were some annoyed people when we walked on. Of course I was surprised so many people were waiting for aqua as it has the exact same menu as Venetian, which was never crowded.

 

Drinks: This was our first cruise with UBP, and while I had initially been annoyed to pay such a large gratuity I loved just handing my card over for a drink and not having to sign anything. IT WAS SO EASY, and really made the trip easier and more relaxing. Our favorite bar to go to was the mojito bar which was in Moderno's Wilfred, the bartender there, was amazing and I will miss the raspberry guava mojito i had nightly. Gatsby was nice, but as it was right next to the casino I didn't enjoy it that much. I was disappointed by the tequila bar in Los Lobos I normally love margaritas, but didn't really enjoy mine, but that was just my opinion it was more about the tequila which is always hit or miss for me.

 

Bermuda: We got 2 lovely days and one rainy day at Bermuda. The first day we arrived at 1 and due to nap time, we didn't leave the ship till around 5 so we headed over to the snorkel park with our sand pails. After 5 there is no fee so we just sat on the beach waded in the water and built sandcastles it was fun relaxing and cheap. The next day we headed to Horseshoe bay around 10 am. I can not for the life of me understand how anyone pays NCL excursion prices in bermuda. They were charging 45 dollars per person for a transfer to horseshoe bay while our 6 person taxi cost 42 one way, and there is shuttle van that charges 7 dollars a person. So if you have at least 2 people in your group its cheaper to take the taxi or shuttle and go on your own time frame. The taxi ride over was great, our driver talked about the island and how the houses are made to collect water and withstand hurricanes. We got to Horseshoe Bay and got 4 chairs and an umbrella for over 100 (my parents paid so I can't remember). We positioned ourselves so we could see the "kids cove" that is immediately to your right and the main beach. I can not say how much I love horseshoe, the sand the water even though it was early April it was still great. The kids were able to see tons of fish in the smaller parts of the cove and made more sandcastles than I could count. We ordered lunch their and it was pretty reasonable 3 burgers a "grilled cheese", hot dog, 2 large fries and some waters was around 15 dollars. We took the shuttle back which was convenient but they pack you in they have a row of 2 seats on the right and 1 seat on the left than in the middle they have a pull down chair which was a bit wobbly, but the ride was short and it was cheap. The third day we were to have rain around 1, so my parents took my youngest back to Snorkel Park as he still hadn't gotten his beach fill, and they said that it was nice again as it was very windy and where the beach is near the fort walls protected them. It started raining at 1 exactly, and while i had wanted to go do some shopping we decided to stay on the ship and save some money.

 

Disembarkation: My husband said the suite was worth it just for how easy it was to disembark. We left our room around 930 after having our room service breakfast, and headed over to Bamboo. We were than escorted to the front of the line to go through security and were on the street with our bags around 945. It was amazingly easy.

 

 

This review went much longer than I intended but it was a great vacation, and much needed after this long long winter.

thanks for your comments; no it wasn't too long and it was informative. We will be sailing in less than 2 weeks: are praying for good weather.

“Venetian and aqua were great, when we went to aqua their was a huge line as it is small and the show had just let out. Apparently you can only make reservations for Aqua on line, not once on board so their were some annoyed people when we walked on.”

Am I understanding this correctly - You can make reservations for Aqua?

Great review!

“Venetian and aqua were great, when we went to aqua their was a huge line as it is small and the show had just let out. Apparently you can only make reservations for Aqua on line, not once on board so their were some annoyed people when we walked on.”

 

 

Am I understanding this correctly - You can make reservations for Aqua?

Yes but only before the cruise, online. Once you are on the cruise reservation are not available for Aqua

Excellent review!

We will be on the Dawn on May 4th, driving in from Lowell, MA. Did you drive to port? If so what time did you leave and where did you park?

Have you registered on the roll call yet? The M&G will be fun and informative. It is a great chance to get to know others cruisers and to meet the hard working officers.;)

Have you registered on the roll call yet? The M&G will be fun and informative. It is a great chance to get to know others cruisers and to meet the hard working officers.;)

Yes. Ed+Peggy from NH

Yes. Ed+Peggy from NH

That's right, you just signed up a couple of days ago. the cruise is going to be awesome.

Thank you for the review. We will be going on June 8th and already made our dinner reservations, in both Specialty Restaurants and MD. We chose the Aqua because we saw it was smaller. We'll have lunch in the Venetian.

Great review... Thank you!

I am glad to hear the casino is not in the center of everything. I hate the smell of smoke. We just got off the Epic and it was hard to avoid with the casino being right in the center of the ship.

We will be on the Dawn next March. Looking forward to it!

I'll be on the Dawn 4/27 - this Friday. Would anyone have recommendations for the best way to text back and forth to the states on sea days? Would that involve purchasing one of NCL's plans?

Thank you for any suggestions!

Hello Kgtgirl,

Thank you for your review on your Bodton -Bermuda cruise on The Dawn!!!

I will be on The Dawn September 7th 2018.

I have an Aft PH Balcony booked.

Thanks for explaining the “ Suite Perks”

I agree the snacks the Butler leaves in the cabin are hit or miss.

I’m going to ask for PB&J and BLT sandwiches..hopefully they are fresh 😳 and desserts and m and m’s and a pitcher of ice tea left daily if available.

This will be my second time to Bermuda, but the first out of Boston and on The Dawn

Did you happen to take any MDR menu photos or food photos??

Thanks!!! Brian

Yes but only before the cruise, online. Once you are on the cruise reservation are not available for Aqua

Since you were/are in a Suite - any difficulty with reservations at any of the restaurants contact your Concierge for

assistance - playing to a packed deck (crowd) requires all the help you can muster. Please contact the Concierge

early enough for him to work out the reservation details with the restaurant !

Hello Kgtgirl,

Thank you for your review on your Bodton -Bermuda cruise on The Dawn!!!

I will be on The Dawn September 7th 2018.

I have an Aft PH Balcony booked.

Thanks for explaining the “ Suite Perks”

I agree the snacks the Butler leaves in the cabin are hit or miss.

I’m going to ask for PB&J and BLT sandwiches..hopefully they are fresh 😳 and desserts and m and m’s and a pitcher of ice tea left daily if available.

This will be my second time to Bermuda, but the first out of Boston and on The Dawn

Did you happen to take any MDR menu photos or food photos??

Thanks!!! Brian

I had meant to take photos, but failed on that aspect. However the menus were identical to the menus on the Norwegian Gem for the main dining, and the specialty menus never seem to change. http://www.beyondships2.com/norwegian-gem-menus.html

Since you were/are in a Suite - any difficulty with reservations at any of the restaurants contact your Concierge for

assistance - playing to a packed deck (crowd) requires all the help you can muster. Please contact the Concierge

early enough for him to work out the reservation details with the restaurant !

I was so unaware of what the suite perks were that I had already made all my reservations on line before I got my concierge email. So I never really got to try that. The Head of Concierge was very nice' date=' and was at Cagney's for lunch everyday if you had questions. [/color']

I'll be on the Dawn 4/27 - this Friday. Would anyone have recommendations for the best way to text back and forth to the states on sea days? Would that involve purchasing one of NCL's plans?

 

Thank you for any suggestions!

We had the 250 minute plan for wifi with our suite, it was awful I would have been very upset if we paid for it, but for texting it did work, but it took awhile. I would write up a quick update to friends than sign into wifi. It usually used up 10 minutes to send a text particularly if it had pictures. However sometimes I couldn't even sign in. I did discover that if you a night owl the wifi was excellent around 3 am, for about 30 minutes. We have a Tmobile phone and did discover we could receive texts for most of the trip as it either thought we were in Bermuda, or Jamaica for some reason. So check you cell plan.

Thanks for an Early Peak at Bermuda. Enjoyed the Dawn a few years back. I thought it was cool to be with other New Englanders. We all had a lot in common.

OP, I didn't see this covered but maybe I missed it: how was the weather?