Live from the Dawn!

[dongordon]

Hi Everyone:

 

The embarckation was delayed on Sunday.

We arrived at 2:15 and did not board until 3:30.

Some of our fellow passengers arrived at noon and did not get aboard until 2:30. We heard a freight elevator was not working and delayed the others getting off. We left an hour late.

 

Heard a rumor that one of the Dawn's four engines are not working (they only need two) and are not pushing. We arrived in Port Canaveral at noon and my excursion to Universal wa shortened by an hour. We left late and arrived in Miami a bit late. We changed itinerary and skipped the private island (still making repairs from the hurricane (?)). Full day at Nassau today and we are staying in Freeport tomorrow until 2:00 PM. This was fine with me!

 

The ship is fantastic...crew friendly and very accomodating, food delicious and entertainment the best! The weather in Florida and the Bahamas...sunny and warm!

 

Thanks to everyone on these boards that helped me prepare for the cruise..it was very helpful! The CC get-together was a success with the officers letting us know they watch our comments on these boards and continually try and make improvements. I can see they are right. This is one of the best cruises I have been on!

 

Time for cocktails!

 

Don

[Tomct]

Don: If you go to LeBistro, ask for Ivan, a Senior Waiter. He is outstanding, and often assisted by Alexandra, a beautiful, young Polish girl who has a great personality. On our Dec. cruise, Alexandra also worked evenings assisting the hostess at Impressions. Of course they also work in other dining areas for breakfast and lunch, like the Garden Buffet and Venetian.

 

I'm surprised the private island is still not ready for guests, and more surprised that I have not read about that on the board. I hope you enjoy your final few days at sea, we've enjoyed the Dawn on three cruises.

[greenie]

Tom--have a great rest of your cruise, you lucky dawg!

[JessLCH]

Any word on when the engine will be repaired? Hasn't there been some technical problem slowing the ship down for some time now?

 

Any word on Great Stirrup Cay? When should it be back in service?

[shoreguy]

Any word on when the engine will be repaired? Hasn't there been some technical problem slowing the ship down for some time now?

 

Any word on Great Stirrup Cay? When should it be back in service?

 

One more cruise and it's drydock in Freeport for the Dawn for two weeks to fix the problem.

[EileenN]

I hope you really enjoy Nassau for the long visit. Did you make new plans for the island? While the ship is in dry dock, hope they spruce up the casino. Some of the slots are older models and could be replaced with the newer ones. We are sailing in April on the Dawn and looking forward to it. Hope for a longer review on your return.

[cruise mouse]

One "isopod" not working. They are drydocking for 2 weeks in March to reapir.

[RichNY]

Hey Don

 

You missed about 8 in of snow....Lucky Dog....:)

[Suesan Jean]

:) Good Morning Dongordon, THANK YOU SO MUCH for the "Live From The Dawn" posts!! I LOVE to read them!!! I am glad you are having a great time. It is SO NICE that you (and Shoreguy) take/took the time out of your cruise to e-mail us here at Cruise Critics. It is MUCH appreciated!!!

I am going to be going on the Dawn in April, before you know it, my cruise will be here too. I hope we have a great time too. I hope that Great Stirrup Cay is up and running, I was looking forward to going there.

Enjoy the rest of your cruise!!

 

Suesan:):):)

[debjo]

For Don...

Since Great Stirrup Cay was not "up and running" for your cruise...where did the DAWN go instead of the private island? I'm hoping that it will be back in time for our 4/24 cruise...we really enjoyed everything that the private island offered on our cruise last year.

Debjo

[susan9119]

Hi Don,

Since you had a full day in Nassau, I'd like to know what time did the ship leave for Freeport? What did you do in Nassau & Freeport? Were there any new excursions added to the cruise for these ports? Your trip sounds wonderful. I leave on April 3rd & can't wait for your review. Also curious about how rough the ocean was during the week. Thanks Don!:D :D :D

[marianneyaya]

HI Susan!

 

I'll be sailing with you on April 3rd! We're going to have a great time...wherever ports they choose for us! Come join us on Roll Call!

[dongordon]

WOW...I am lucky to miss that snow!

 

In Nassau, we went to the Wyndham (my daughter likes fresh water pools). They have a slide and it is really nice. I tipped the beach "guy" $10 and he gave us two lounges on the beach and towels. The weather was warm, but not humid with a nice breeze. We stayed a few hours and headed back to the ship. The ship left for Freeport at around 6:00 PM.

Freeport was cloudy and we just did some shopping in Pot Lucaya. Taxi cost $5/person. Most people did not like Freeport.

We left Freeport around 2:00 PM.

 

The shows have been great. Last night we saw Bollywood and after the crew was introduced to music with Colin as the the MC (kind of emotional for the end of the cruise!). He is about the best cruise director I have seen in my years of cruising and very, very popular with everyone (especially the 900 kid onboard!)

 

Speaking of the kids, everyone was well behaved...no problems that I was aware of throughout the cruise.

 

Time for breakfast.

 

Thanks again everyone for comments. I will try and post one more timebefore the end of the cruise if you have any questions.

 

Don

[shoreguy]

WOW...I am lucky to miss that snow!

 

Don

 

Not exactly - we have a classic Northeaster to great you on Monday :D

[dongordon]

Now that you provided the bad news, my return home will be even more depressing!

 

I had a great time and I think I'll be trying the Dawn again in August.

 

Don

[wallygator]

Don, enjoy your cruise I was on the last cruise with a bunch of Crazy people and Mr. Shore was not one of them. Your cruise should one you long remember, we had a great cruise. In fact I think I'll be booking the March 05, 2006 cruise. Have a great day and Mr. Shore retire my air horn? How about a cow bell? Smiles are always in order :) :rolleyes:

[ontheopenseas]

dongordon-Glad you had a great time. Thanks for sharing your trip with us!