Dawn Review 2/27/05

[nancybruce5]

A little background.. my husband,myself and our 5 daughters just returned from Dawn.. we are from NH and have cruised several times before.. on Norweigan Majesty, Carnival, Princess, & RCCL...

 

We have friends in NYC and arranged to drive down and have them take us to Pier.. so we had no problems getting around and getting to Pier.. traffic was light on Sunday.. we arrived around 1:00 pm... got dropped right off at door and luggage was loaded by porter..

when you get inside it seemed they had three lines going.. I mentioned to greeter that I was Latitudes and they said same line for every one until you get thru security... Our line was the last to board the ship.. we sat in a "holding" area in the center..while the two lines to either side went thru.. and then our turn.. the line moves quick and then I saw the check in for Latitudes members.. which wasnt any quicker than any other line... a quick thought here... I felt as a Latitudes member this might be a good idea to offer to their members a more efficient and speedier process to board ship!! when you get on board as a Latitudes member they have a special little welcome party, a pin, and a free drink.. thats it.. you get 20% discount on drinks in Spinnaker (you have to ask!!)- I didnt think it was such a big deal.. it would have been impressive to have a separate line for Latitudes for boarding.. and disembarking .. just my opinion-

 

we didnt actually board until almost 3:30pm and by then the muster station excersice was underway.. we missed it.. by the time we found our cabin.. oh well....

I did stick two bottles of wine in my luggage as I had heard you can bring wine on board and pay a corkage.. I received a letter almost immediately to come and retrieve my luggage with the bottle of wine..although the other piece of luggage with the other bottle of wine made it to my cabin!! go figure!! When I went to get my luggage, they asked what I had in it, I said wine, they make you open and show them.. they guy couldnt of been nicer.. he bascially said.. You are drinking that in your room, right??!! I smiled and said " of course" and that was that..no corkage fee.. maybe cause I had to dig thru my underwear to find the wine.. who knows!!!!!......

 

Sailing out of NYC was great... nice party on deck.. pushing drinks.. music..food.. all good!!

 

then.. about 3:30 am..we hit what turned out to be quite a storm at sea.. I heard that it could be rough.. but.. we had 18ft seas.. and gale force winds.. you could barely walk without bumping into walls.. that whole next day was pretty much the same.. nasty winds, high seas... and chilly.. ALOT of people were very sick.. they had barf bags everywhere.. and several people didnt even mannage to get it into a barf bag... we talked to crew later.. and alot of them said that was the worse time they had so far.. even a retired Navy guy we talked to said he was affected by it..

 

As a result we didnt get into Cape Canaveral until 11:00 next day... I am sure people who had excursions planned werent too happy.. we did stay in port a little longer.. we did not get off ship.. I was a nice day and we relaxed by pool and got a little sun!!

 

Next stop Miami..we took a cab to South Beach.. cab was about 15 dollars.. we went down to beach.. you can rent chairs & umbrellas.. another nice day.. sunny, about 68... we walked around, had lunch at outdoor cafe, and headed back to ship..

 

We departed and the captain soon announced "NO Private Island" stop cause of Hurricane..so they are still using that excuse.. so they changed the itinerary to stay in Nassau overnight and leave next day at 11:30.. Nassau was warm, a little overcast.. you can walk down to town..shopping.. straw market.. its a little of a walk.. I saw shuttles..for those who could not walk that far... the natives are somewhat aggresive with hair braiding and taxis.. a a little annoying.. next day in Nassau we woke up and it was chilly, windy and the seas looked rough.. I was soo nervous and made everyone take medicine.. we headed out and it was little choppy.. not as bad as coming down.. I think alot of people were disappointed in itinerary changes and late arrival in Cape Canaveral.. I know I retreated to my room and layed down.. At 3:00 that afternoon the Captain announced Open Bar for one hour.. probably to get people like me out of their rooms and to make up a little for changes and rough ride!!!! it worked and the bars were packed!!!

 

cruise back to NYC wasnt bad... a little windy and chilly... thats what you get for February/March..

 

Lets see.. casino.. didnt go.. spa..didnt use.. and shows..didnt see!!! sorry no opinion... we had the kids and just relaxed!!!

 

but..

 

Cabins.. we had obstructed view Deck 8.. we were happy with it..(we had two).. for this cruise at least I am glad we didnt pay the extra expense for balcony cabins.. cause I would not of had much use for them with the conditions we had.. our steward set the beds up for the kids with beds pushed together, pulled down bunk and set up rollaway.. so they were all set... I thought they did nice job with storage.. the closet is set up nicely with shelves.. bathroom set up was great!! you walk in to sink and on both sides you have two seperate areas.. one shower and one toilet area.. with sliding doors.. great set-up.. our cabin steward was efficient.. we made a mess with five little girls!! (lots of clothes, lots of shoes..!!) so I gave him credit!!!!

Kids Crew... staff was awesome!!! mainly from Canada!! my kids loved it.. went every night..! they dont just sit around and watch your kids watch tv.. very active and very involved!!!

Dining Rooms...Venetian, Aqua and Impressions.. all different... but very nice.. I have to say I noticed from my last Norweigan cruise.. that food selections seemed to have changed.. I thought the food was good and plentiful.. but selections seemed limited..Not that I am a pig.. but we would go to dinner and have a hard time selecting what we wanted cause we wanted to order everything!!! apps, salads, soups, and couple of entrees!!!

I'm not sure if its just me.. but I felt maybe the menu was changing to attract diners into the cover charge restaurants....??? oops time for work.. more later

[ontheopenseas]

Sounds like you had a good time in spite of the rough seas. What ages were your children? Which on board activities did they enjoy the most? Thanks for all of your information.

[Suesan Jean]

:) FIVE LITTLE GIRLS!!!! WOW!!! THAT must have been QUITE a sight when ALL of you were together! Do you/did you ever dress them all alike? I have two sisters and we are all like 10 months apart, and my Mom would dress us alike on special occasions, like holidays or formal portraits....

Your description of the rough seas makes me a wee bit concernerd about my February 12, 2006 Dawn cruise, but, I guess that is the chance you take when you cruise out of New York City in the winter.....

What was the basic temperature at the various islands you went too??

Your embarkation sounds quite easy, you were lucky, I hope we haver an easy embarkation too next month!!

I wonder if Great Stirrup Cay will EVER be up and running, maybe in time for hurtricane season this year:rolleyes:........

Thank you for your review, do you plan on cruising again?

TTFN

 

Suesan:):):)

[paws38]

We departed and the captain soon announced "NO Private Island" stop cause of Hurricane..so they are still using that excuse..

 

I have an aunt living in Orlando FL, who is still waiting to have all repairs finished from those Hurricanes. Not to mention the rest of the people living in Florida who are still dealing with Hurricane issues. I know you would have liked visiting the private island, but your statement seems very cold ("... so they are still using that excuse..."). The private island is just that, private and isolated. Any materiels needed for repairs would have to arrive by boat. I would bet the locals are more interested in repairing their homes at this point. If Florida is still dealing with Hurricane damage, how could you expect the Bahamas to be any better?

[TVLady2]

Thank you for taking the time to write your review. Ill be in a obstructed view room also on my upcoming Dawn cruise. What cabin # were you in and is there any view at all? Ill be in 8062.

[CSM]

NCL does have a separate Latitudes check in line and it does save time in other ports. However the Dawn has so many repeat passengers that there are usually as many Latitudes members as non members. Therefore the line does not save any time.:mad:

[singitalto]

I too have obstructed view booked for our Dawn cruise next month. I am curious about the view. When my parents were on the Dawn last year, my mom checked out an obstructed view and took pictures of the windows. There were 2 long and tall windows. She said there was no real view to speak of- just light. Do you know if all the cabins are totally obstructed and have these 2 windows. We are in cabin 8610. I thought in some obstructed views there was one large window, maybe those cabins are somewhere else. Anyone?

[Snorkelfan]

Thanx for the great review - I can't wait until June. Right now we are in a Deck 5 KK inside cabin which I'm sure is small. We can upgrade 3 decks to an obstructed view which I'm sure is a lot bigger for only $80 per person - what do you guys think??

[Joanne G.]

I too have obstructed view booked for our Dawn cruise next month. I am curious about the view. When my parents were on the Dawn last year, my mom checked out an obstructed view and took pictures of the windows. There were 2 long and tall windows. She said there was no real view to speak of- just light. Do you know if all the cabins are totally obstructed and have these 2 windows. We are in cabin 8610. I thought in some obstructed views there was one large window, maybe those cabins are somewhere else. Anyone?

 

We checked out several of the obstructed view cabins on deck 8 when we were on the Dawn last spring. Some have the two tall narrow windows that your mother saw. Others have the normal single squarish window. The obstructions vary from minimal to total, depending on where the lifeboats are in relation to the windows. I'm sorry that I can't remember which cabins had which type of window or what kind of view, so I can't tell you exactly what you will see from 8610. At worst, you'll at least get some daylight and that is better than being in an inside cabin. At best you may get lucky with a partial view.

 

Have a great cruise. We loved the Dawn.

[Joanne G.]

Thanx for the great review - I can't wait until June. Right now we are in a Deck 5 KK inside cabin which I'm sure is small. We can upgrade 3 decks to an obstructed view which I'm sure is a lot bigger for only $80 per person - what do you guys think??

 

I've been in an inside cabin on the Dawn and in an outside cabin on the identical Star. The basic layout is the same (other than the "sideways" layout like 5609, for example). The outsides are a little - not a not - bigger. There are a few more drawers in the outside cabins. The bathrooms in the outsides have the sliding door separating the toilet; the insides do not have this. Only you can decide if a little extra space and some daylight is worth the extra money, based on how many people are in your party, how much stuff you pack, how much the window matters and so forth.

 

Have a wonderful time on the Dawn. It's a lovely ship.