Still waiting for those 3/20 DAWN reviews

[tommy2811]

when you get time of course:p

[SalveGirl2006]

I was on 3/20 and had an absolutely amazing time. I had been on the Dawn once previously, and the ship was just as beautiful, nice, and clean as the first time.

Embarkation was so much easier this year. Because of drydock, the ship was in early and people were able to embark early. Took all of ten minutes.

The food was excellent. A lot of the menus were the same from last year so I found myself eating some of the same meals, with little variation. This time we also ate at Cagneys and Le Bistro. Service was excellent. Service in the Venetian was a little slow one night, but other than that it was perfect!

The Jean Anne Ryan Company shows were the same, with the exception that Second City replaced the Music of the Night Andrew Lloyd Webber one. Although Second City was good, I missed the Andrew Lloyd Webber show. After last year, South Beach Rave and Bollywood, both good shows were a little redundant.

The itinerary, as mentioned in other posts was tweaked a little bit. We arrived and stayed later in Port Canaveral. We laos had the overnight in Nassau, which was nice, although I did not like leaving early on Friday. Although it was only a two hour difference, it was definitely a noticeably shortened day. However, seeing that it was Good Friday, many stores in town were closed so the shopping was limited.

Great Stirrup Cay opened, the beach was a little bit smaller and definitely got crowded quickly. The distribution of the tender tickets was not very smooth, and seemed a little disorganized. They did not use this syetem last year, it was first come first serve, and that seemed smoother, but oh well!

There was the addition of some activities that were nice including the Murder Mystery Dinner. They also had game shows like Jeapordy, The Weakest Link, etc. They were definitely entertaining. The Cruise Director's staff, including Cruise Director Paul Baya, made the trip very enjoyable.

We definitely lucked out with weather this week, it was very warm, including the two sea days. There were some showers every now and then, but they were very short, and the sun was shining again within minimal time.

Definitely can't wait to sail the Dawn again.

If anyone has some other questions, feel free to ask!

[SueSun]

SalveGirl...

 

Thanks for the wonderful review, especially about the island. Glad to see you got there!!! I did not have "tender tickets" when we went and I am wondering how they worked? How were they issued? Why did this practice start?

 

I am glad to hear that though some things remained the same (if it ain't broke don't fix it) and some things (shows/games) were new for you. Sounds like you had a great time with great weather.

 

Watching this next one leave and travel today looks a bit rocky and rainy. Thanks again SalveGirl for taking the time to write!!

 

Sue

[JessLCH]

SalveGirl,

 

Thanks for the review. Why were you late into Port Canaveral and was the reason for early arrival/early departure in Nassau explained?

 

And one more question: How were the seas? rough? calm? in between?

 

Thanks.

[hurrhugo]

Just back from the 3/20-27 Dawn sailing. This is kind of a review and a long one at that. Anyway, fellow CC’ers on Dawn’s 3/20--just add your 2 cents!

 

It was WONDERFUL! We drove down to the city, getting there about 1:00pm and had no problem with embarkation. The porters took care of our luggage and DH parked the car. We met him in the terminal (one of the UGLIEST of all ports that we’ve been to!), bypassed all the folks in lines to look for a shorter line. Sure enough, at the end, were two reps looking for people to check in! We then got our room key cards, had the family boarding picture taken and boarded at Deck 7 in the Grand Atrium! Just beautiful!

 

Room Key Cards:

 

BTW, I asked on the pier if they could punch a hole in my room key card. They would not. They said it indicated I had a Child’s key and would not be allowed to purchase alcohol. Once on board, I went to the reception desk and they had no problem punching a hold in it (to wear on a lanyard). And I definitely had no problems purchasing alcohol!

 

Staterooms (outside Cat. C and Inside Cat. J):

 

Our staterooms were small, but very well appointed. My son (who turned 17 on this cruise) and daughter (13) shared an inside cabin directly across the hall from us. Our room stewards, Clinton and Owen, did a magnificent job keeping their room tidy!

 

We did have one minor problem. Because they were under age, our TA had set it up that my daugther and I had a cabin, and my husband and son had a cabin. Well, I ended up with a room key card for the kids’ room and my son ended up with a card for my husband’s and my room. That’s where our 2-ways came in handy...tracking down someone to let me in my room! It worked out just fine and wasn’t really a problem. Guess they could have fixed that at the reception desk had I asked, but it wasn’t a big deal. It let me get in to the kids’ room when the kids weren’t there to tidy up before Clinton and Owen saw how bad it really was!

 

Cruise Critics:

 

we had several terrific meetings with the Cruise Critic folks! Many thanks to Ari for all the meeting suggestions, and to Liz for setting it up with NCL, and to Michelle for all the name tags and gifts for the kids! It was so nice to chat with Ken and Carole and Jane and Joyce and Erin...and EVERYONE! We really enjoyed meeting with some of the officers. After meeting Hotel Director Hugo V. and explaining that our Last name was Hugo, he never failed to stop and chat for the remainder of the cruise and buy us a drink whenever he could!

 

It was so nice to run into each other and stop and chat for awhile. Whether is was at a port, or in Spinnaker’s or by the pool. Just sorry I didn’t get to say Good-bye. Hope everyone made it home safely!

 

Great Stirrup Cay:

 

We just loved GSC. We had never been there before so have nothing to compare with. I wanted to be on the first tender to make sure I got an umbrella. So I stood in line for half an hour and got my tender ticket at about 8:30am. Not sure what time we actually got on the island. Something like 10am. CD Paul kept saying that the crew had to get there first and the tenders would be ready shortly. Seemed like quite a wait though and patience was wearing thin. After talking with HD Hugo V. he mentioned the delay was due to the late arrival of the Bahamas officials--nothing NCL could do. I think I enjoyed our GSC day best of all. It was so relaxing. The water was great! A little rocky the first few feet, but then nice a sandy on the bottom. We were packed in like sardines on that beach, but it didn’t matter. Most everyone was coming and going, there never seemed to be anyone directly next to you.

 

Port Canaveral Kayak Excursion:

 

A very nice excursion. We took a 20 min. bus ride to Banana River Lagoon. The kayaks were two-person and very easy to maneuver. Definitely needed sunscreen and a hat. After leaving the lagoon the bus took us to Cocoa Beach for a walking tour showing certain type of trees, etc. Just very nice.

 

Miami:

 

We took the BB Hopper to South Beach and then to Bayside. We had done South Beach on our previous Dawn Cruise, so spent more time shopping in Bayside this time. The kids were interested in some of the shopping and the Hard Rock Cafe. I think they were more interested in getting back to the ship, though.

 

Nassau, Bahamas:

 

Got there Thurs. 3/24 at night. The only thing open was some bars. They were NOT at all friendly at Sr. Frogs. I wanted to just take a picture from the deck and the bouncer wouldn’t let me. We left. Seems like that was where the young Spring Break kids were at anyway--not for us! We walked a bit, found another Hard Rock Cafe, went back to the ship. The next morning we did pretty much the same thing, this time with the kids. We went to the straw market. Lots of straw bags, t-shirts 4/$10, beach towels. My daughter bought a small carved box and my son found a hat. We went to the Pirate Museum. We were the only ones in the place. $12/adult and $6 for the kids. It wasn’t much, but we did enjoy it. So glad we didn’t do the Pirate Museum/City Tour excursion. Not much else was open as it was Good Friday.

 

Days at Sea:

 

I did notice some ship movement on the way home. The swells seemed larger than they did on the way down to FL. Someone on CC had posted about taking Ginger. That did the trick for me. I was able to have a nice dinner with no problem. It was cool that first day going south, but it gave us all plenty of time to explore inside. It was a bit warmer on our day at sea heading home. I wouldn’t put a bathing suit on and swim, but I did sit outside in the sun with a T-shirt and capris and was quite comfortable until later on in the day.

 

Dining Rooms:

 

We made reservations for Cagney’s Steak restaurant as soon as we boarded for dinner after our first full day at sea. We found this was at a %50 discount. YEAH! Boy was it worth it. Excellent steak! And as a bonus, it was Lobster night. Yes, they were small, but you could always ask for more!

 

We also ate at the Venetian and Impressions. Usually around 8:30. We never had a wait, the service was always quick. Really quick in fact.

 

One night we were listening to Pamela Stanley at Gatsby’s (Again, someone on CC mentioned how good she was and they were right!!) and decided to just check LeBistro. Sure enough, they had a cancellation and we were seated immediately! Another wonderful meal! We did not make any reservations for Bamboo, either, but just stopped by and were seated promptly. This was a real treat. We had done the Teppanyaki before, but Bamboo was outstanding. I wouldn’t hesitate to eat there again. We also did Salsa. We couldn't finish all the food we got!

 

The kids loved the Blue Lagoon. In fact we all had lunch there together one day. Just the fact that they could order something at midnight was a real treat for them. The food there was really good, too! I did have a problem making them understand that Fish & Chips meant fish and French Fries, not Potato Chips.

 

Shows/Demos:

 

We saw part of South Beach Rave, saw Bollywood and Second City. They were all excellent. We were partial to Second City, though.

 

We also stopped by for Karaoke (just to listen-not to participate!!), the Art Auction, the fruit carving/cake demo, the Amber presentation. We enjoyed them all thoroughly, including all of the games CD Paul and Asst CD Mike hosted!

 

Kids:

 

My son went to a German language lesson one day. The instructor said there were around 1000 12-20 year olds onboard. Yes, quite a few kids as it was Spring Break. So it was expected. There were some college kids, but they were all really nice, had fun, but not any anyone else’s expense (that I noticed anyway). There were A LOT of teens. I noticed them more on the last day at sea. At this point they had all found friends and were more comfortable onboard. Mostly they hung around the stairs, but never got in our way. All were polite to us.

 

Our two teens went to the teen gathering the first night, but didn’t really hook up with anyone that night. We pushed them to go to one of the teen activities (it was like a "Dating Game") in Dazzles II. It was here they finally connected with a group. They spent a lot of their time all together after that. In fact, on two nights, they made reservations and all went to dinner at the Venetian together. They were treated courteously by the staff. BTW, they didn’t wear jeans to dinner. I know my son immediately changed after dinner. Not sure about the others. We did get the photographer to take a picture of their entire table one night which we did purchase for them. We were pleased they found a nice group to hang with. They've all exchanged emails to keep in touch!

 

My son also brought his acoustic guitar with him. He played one day out on deck but then got too busy to do that again.

 

Debarkation:

 

OK. We had Orange tickets for Deck 8--the last to leave. Seems we had some trouble with folks not reporting to customs and immigration issues, so there was a slowdown there. It was nice to be able to just be anywhere you wanted to on the ship, though and wait for announcements. Once they finally did announce us, we were off the ship quickly. Found our luggage, went up the escalator (luggage and all - the security officer told us to!) and were at the car and on the way home. Got in about 2pm (we live 90 mins away). It was SO easy!

 

Overall:

 

It was our second time on the Dawn, we were on during their Inaugural Season to Western Caribbean in Feb 2003. The second time was just as nice as the first. The food outstanding, service quick and always friendly. Anand and Anthony in Pearly King’s Pub were terrific! Even the weather cooperated! We got to do things as a family and a bit on all on our own as well. Now to start saving $$ for the next cruise. We love Freestyle and will stick with it!

 

[vacationgogo]

Being the time on Friday in Nassau was so limited, what did people choose to do? Did most people just shop or was there still enough time to go to the beach? Thanks for taking the time to write a review and respond to some questions. Glad you had such a good time.

[hurrhugo]

I'm not sure what "most" people did. Many were just walking around and doing some limited shopping. We did meet a family that did the Dolphin Encounter in Nassau. They thoroughly enjoyed it. They had time for just that one excursion in the AM. Had to be back to the ship by 11:30am.

[pjsportsmom]

hurrhugo- thanks for your great review. I'm sailing on the Dawn 5/1/05 first time cruiser and your review was helpful.

 

 

thanks

pj

[tigerlilycruiser12]

Great review Thank you for sharing your adventure. I love freestyle. YOu do what you want when you want. YOu can eat where you want and when you want. Makes for a very relaxing vacation. :)

[greenie]

hurrhugo- thanks for your great review. I'm sailing on the Dawn 5/1/05 first time cruiser and your review was helpful.

 

 

thanks

pj

 

hurrhugo--I'm on the 5/1 cruise too (hi PJ!;) ) and am even more excited now that I read your and Salvegirl's reviews! It sounds just terrific, thank you so much for the reviews.

[jrose529]

SalveGirl & HurrHugo, your reviews were really helpful. We cruise on 8-14-05 and the info on these boards are wonderful. I'm making a list of all the great recommendations. :)

 

SalveGirl, I read on one of the other threads that you are 21. I'm bringing my 21 year old son and 16 year old daughter. After this last cruise, is there anything special that they shouldn't miss? Did you take any great excursions?

 

I was following your roll call thread and was hoping to find other CC members to set up a meet. It looked like you had such a great group. So far, there are only two other groups that have responded to the roll call thread that CRUISEinTIME began. :( For anyone on the 3-20 Dawn, can you give us suggestions as to how you were able to get your CC group together?

 

Thanks! :D

[debjo]

THANKS FOR THE GREAT REVIEWS OF YOUR RECENT DAWN CRUISE!

 

Now I've a couple of questions to ask you (or anyone else):

 

1. Did they have the MURDER MYSTERY DINNER and if so, what time and night was it?

 

2. I know they don't have lockers on the private island to secure your belongings...I was wondering, just what do you do with your cameras, etc., while you are enjoying the water, getting food at the barbeque, etc.? I'm not looking forward to lugging around a beach bag everywhere we go. Does anyone have any suggestions? How safe do you think your "belongings" really are if you leave them around your beach chair & umbrella while you are "off" doing something besides soaking in the sun?

 

It is only going to be my husband and myself this trip and we really want to do things together on the private island. I'd hate to always have to leave one of us at our "staked out location" to "guard" our stuff while the other one is off enjoying the island! How does everyone else handle this situation???

 

Debjo...always searching for some sage words of wisdom!

[NJcruiser21]

hurrhugo,

 

 

great review!! i'm glad you had a wonderful time. can't wait to get on the ship.

 

Tim

[SalveGirl2006]

Well, the Spinnaker Lounge at night was where the dancing was at night, and was usually a very good time. They have karaoke in Dazzles, which we didnt participate in, but had fun watching. We didn't really do any excursions. We were able to Senor Frogs in Nassau on Thursday night, which was a great time! In Miami, we went to South Beach and walked around and went to the beach..that was a fun day! Hope that helps!

[JessLCH]

SalveGirl,

 

Thanks for the review. Why were you late into Port Canaveral and was the reason for early arrival/early departure in Nassau explained?

 

 

Anyone?

[liker1]

We were on the Dawn last winter and had a terrific time. You can not only dream of this great vacation, so we did it again and booked with 16 others for 8/28. We can't wait!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[luv2cruise4]

Thanks for the great reviews SalveGirl and HurrHugo!

I'm glad you had such a great time!

 

Were you given any reason for departing Nassau 2 hours earlier than scheduled? Was it because it was Good Friday? I'm curious. I'm interested to see what happens this week. We will be on the 4/17 sailing and have booked a room at Comfort Suites for Friday so we can enjoy Atlantis. If we are only there until 12 it might not be worth paying the money for such a short visit.

 

Thanks for any information you can provide!

 

:)

[Jett456]

luv2cruise4

 

I am on the same sailing as you :) Did you book for Friday or Thursday? Does it depend on checkin like a regular stay or is it a day rate?

[luv2cruise4]

Jett456

 

I booked for Friday, 4/22. It is the full rate for one night. I have heard that they no longer offer day rates. You can check in any time and head over to Atlantis. I plan on checking out at the same time so that they are aware that we will not actually be in the room at all.

[cookieeater]

Hi Jet456 and Luv2cruise4, I am also on the 4/17 cruise. I checked with the Atlantis and Comfort Suites several weeks ago and they did not have reservations available. The Atlantis did tell me to call the day we arrive in port to see if they have any day rooms available, for a fee of course. I know from last year's stay at the Atlantis that the pools open at 9:00 A.M. If the cruise is leaving Nassau early, then there really isn't enough time to enjoy the pools. Just a thought.

[SalveGirl2006]

The late arrival in Port Canaveral was in the updated itinerary which was in our staterooms upon arrival. They never stated the reason why. However, I went on the ship last year as well, and they id extend the time we were supposed to leave, so we didn't miss any time, it just was later in the day. As for Nassau, the only explanation we received was so people would be able to enjoy the nightlife in Nassau. This posibly could have been done because much of the town was closed on Fr4iday due to Good Friday and they wanted to appease people.

As for the tender tickets, those were distributed at the shore excursion desk. It went by color and number. Get therer early, as the wait to get on a tender is about an hour :-(

[dyslexic pirate]

HurrHugo,

 

Great review! On our recent cruise on the dream we wound up with the same cabin problem with adult booked with a child. I was able to get as many keys made as was needed and labled them with each kids nickname using a sharpee marker. (Hubby was the one who pointed out not to use thier real names/room numbers in case the cards were lost.) I was hesitant to ask for keys to 4 different cabins but they didn't blink an eye so I guess people do it all the time.

 

We had our kids and extended family on board, so there were cousins and siblings who shared cabins. All the cabins were strategically located directly across the hall from parents/uncles & Grandpa!;)

[luv2cruise4]

Cookieeater - I booked our room through their website about a week ago. I just checked and they still do have rooms, but only king suites which accommodate 4 people. The rate is higher than what I'm paying but the availability is still there. I'm hoping that the itinerary change was only because of Good Friday as SalveGirl2006 mentioned. I don't think that I'd really want to get off the ship in the evening. Would you?

 

We stayed at Atlantis a couple of years ago and just loved the pools and slides. My daughters are dying to go back there even if it is only a short time. We'll have to try and get there by 9 AM to make the most of the stay.

 

SalveGirl2006 - thanks so much for the information you have provided!!

[lorn63]

Is it true that if you are in a mini-suite your concierge can get the tender tickets for you? And you are one of the first people off?

[cookieeater]

luv2cruise4, would you be so kind to give me the website that you visited. I called them directly. Thanks, Susan