Complete 5/01 NCL Dawn Review(First time on NCL)

[DragonLips]

I must first start by stressing the following is my mere opinion of our week long vacation on the Norwegian Dawn, and my assessment of our first cruise with NCL.

 

Backstory: My wife and I planned this weeklong cruise with another couple about 14 months ago. Since we live in Pennsylvania, cruising from NYC has been really easy for us because we just take the bus into the city and take a short taxi to the peir to fetch our vessel. We have sailed Carnival before from NYC, so I'll be using that as my basis for comparison on this trip. We had a balcony stateroom on deck nine(9588), and our friends were stationed right next door to us, which was nice because the steward opened the partition on our veranda so that we could collectively share one larger balcony. Anyone who hasn't cruised before, I STRONGLY recommend a balcony room, as I personally will not sail without one.

 

Onto the ship. I must say, the Norwegian Dawn was a wonderful ship in many ways. It's a large 15 deck vessel cresting over 92,000 gross tons. I especially liked the cleanliness of the ship and the modest decor. The ship has more upscale styling than Carnival. Less Vegas, less glitz, but ooodles of class and style. I was very impressed by how outgoing most of the staff was the second we jumped on board. They were eager to assist with whatever they could, and they REPEATEDLY asked how we were enjoying our cruise throughout the vacation. Something I found lacking with Carnival. They were less personalized and outgoing, but still polite. Our cabin steward was always eager to help with any requests throughout the trip, and always wore smile. Kudos there.

 

This was obviously our FIRST taste of the Freestyle cruising. I'm not sure this has been perfected yet, but NCL has really taken some key steps to pioneer this type of cruise experience. I like all of the specialty restaurants aboard the ship and the choices they provide, however, I do not feel guests should have to pay extra for this. You should EXPECT great service and great experiences in each an every restuarant on board every time you eat there, and you should be made to pay more for them. With that said, I must also say that I'm not overly frugal with my cash, so we experimented with Le Bistro, Cagney's and a few others. I would say Cagney's was my favorite because I'm a meat and potatoes type of person. After a few days of eating foods I couldn't pronounce, I was nice to get into a great steakhouse. Interestingly enough, I chose the 1.5 pound lobster and surrendered to that. The first lobster in my life I could not finish. The food overall was good. I wouldn't say that it was the greatest food ever eaten, and I don't think it warranted a cover charge. I found the public room Aqua to be one of my favorite places to eat on board. Service and taste were very similar in each main restaurant on board.

 

 

The Florida/Bahamas itinerary is great for beach people. We had a blast at Universal Studios and we took the BB Hopper around Miami for the day. We had great seas at Nassau AND GSC. Loads of fun to be had there for all beach lovers.

 

I'm sure most people are aware of the second coming of "THE STORM" from this weekend. Once again the Dawn found herself between a rock and a hard place, which really made things uncomfortable for many guests. We had rough seas from late Friday night all the way through early morning Sunday. My opinion of Niklas Peterstam had really changed through being in that situation. I was quite outspoken against him for the last situation in which the ship lost a game of chicken with a monster rogue wave. I felt he should have gone around the storm. I quickly realized with this situation that is easier said than done. Our ship was being tossed around near the Carolinas by a low pressure system OFF THE COAST OF NEW HAMPSHIRE!! The whole Atlantic was just plain awful. Peterstam kept the guests calm and informed the entire way. He cut it down to six knots at one point because we couldn't get out of it. The ship was blasting through waves that crested over 20ft. Kudos to the German shipbuilders for making such a tough vessel. At one point we looked out at a freighter would pop in and out of the rough ocean, wave after wave!! Amazing. The downfall was that I wasted a whole day in bed because of the seas. My wife had a quick bout of seasickness, and I just slept through it(although I'm feeling it now on land).

 

Now to some areas of improvement:

 

ENTERTAINMENT!! I was thoroughly disappointed with all entertainment on board this ship in comparison with Carnival. A fun cruise starts with a strong cruise director. Colin Kerr of NCL was not the man for me. He was boring and his humor was quite bland as well. I'm sure he was a great person and all, but I did not fancy his comedic style at all. As my wife quoted, he reminded us of the love child of Danny Kaye and Clay Aiken!!

 

The main shows were substandard as well. I had high hopes for these shows(Bollywood was stronger), but I felt the performers lacked vibrance and the ability to connect with a crowd. Most of the comedy shows I found myself walking out of because the humor was terribly bland and deeply unoriginal. \

 

Stateroom entertainment was nonexistent. You had two movie channels- no service to order movies on demand, and you only had about 4 stations overall- no major networks. I know with cruising, this is expected because you're at sea, however with Carnival there were seemingly more options.

 

The cinema onboard(Which was a nice public room IMO) was playing one movie a day from the bottom of the $1.99 DVD rack. Mr. 3000?? No thanks.

 

 

One disappointment with NCL in general was the fact that I really didn't like the price gauging in a lot of areas at the guests expense. They did a lot of subliminal things to get more money out of their guests, which I didn't appreciate- and didn't experience on Carnival.

 

Firstly, the duty-free shops on board. OUTRAGEOUS pricing for simple items. $80 swim trunks, $5.00 pocket-sized bags of Oreos, etc. They gauged the pricing of these items to take advantage of their guests, and I don't favor that tactic at all. I didn't see this approach from Carnival. Yes, things are not going to be at Walmart pricing, however, they don't need to tack 2-3 dollars onto pricetags because they can.

 

Another thing- you couldn't check your stateroom account balance on your TV in your stateroom. I don't know of any Howard Johnsons that don't have this feature. The TV's were iTV's, same as Carnival, so they had the capability- NCL chose to do this to keep your mind away from how much you were spending aboard. If you can visualize it, you'll be more cognisant of the money being spent. In my eyes, dirty tactics.

 

Items for rent on the beach were priced very high as well. My wife and I are big soft drink consumers so we purchased the soda fountain card, for $40. We would get nastly looks when requesting to have soda refills, almost as if we were bothering some of the tenders at the bar. They always placed soda in the smallest cup possible, loaded with ice- which really annoyed us because we took it as a sign they were being cheap. Heck, when we bought mixed drinks, they were in shoebox sized glasses. Couple these tactics in with the Freestyle dining experience, and I was left with an icky feeling like I was being taken advantage of.

 

 

Again folks, this my assessment of the cruise and take from it what you will. I will say that Freestyle is in many ways very liberating, but that comes with a price not found on all other liners. Personally, I made the best of it and had a good time despite some of my concerns. Would I sail NCL again, probably not right in the near future, and that itinerary is not one I could do over again!!

 

Happy to be back. I have tons of pictures I'm uploading now. Anyone wants to see them, please let me know.

[Lefty1]

as i was one of mothers for the cruise yesterday - welcome back - as i was disappointed in my trip being cancelled, glad u made it back safely. would love to see u pictures - i was on carnival miracle last year leaving out of ny - it was nice but that was my first cruise - as i enjoyed leaving from ny i want to try it again on another ship - starting with dawn on their one day mother's day special i was looking forward to. how were the cabins on the dawn and the casino.

when u have pictures, share with us

[Mommy2001]

I was on the same ship , one deck below. In the front of the ship, balcony room also. I think we would have experieced alot more sickness wihtout it, sitting out on the balcony actually helped alot! Colin, I do agree had his good and bad moments overall. But I think he was pretty good, and the shows, I enjoyed Bollywood, except for the ballet. I thought it was quite out of place.

 

dragon i would love to see ur pics, i can pick mine up at 2 pm :)

[NJcruiser21]

Do you have the freestyle dailies?

[DragonLips]

Do you have the freestyle dailies?

 

My wife saved all of the freestyle dailies, yes. Hotlink to pics will be up in a minute.

[NJcruiser21]

Awesome!!! Thanks so much. :D

[judyf]

Tim. check out the post asking for dailys someone posted a link there today. Now soon another recent set!!!

 

Wooooo hooooo!!!

 

Thanks for the review I printed it and will read it later after work as I wait in the drs office!!!

 

Thanks

[NJcruiser21]

Judy,

 

 

I just read the "dawn freestyle daily" thread..woohooo! we couldn't get any before and now we have 2 sets.

 

Good luck at the doctor!

 

9 more work days. ;)

 

Tim

[Jett456]

DragonLips,

I have to agree with you on a few things, the TV on-board account feature. I could not understand why they didn't have that available. What you said makes sense - that they don't want you to be aware of how much you are spending. The prices in the gift shop were ridiculous. One would think we were on the Soverign line or Cunard. Celebrity's gift shop had much more reasonable prices and they are supposed to be the 'upscale' line. As for the shows, I wasn't really impressed but then again I didn't expect to be. It wasn't bad. All the cruises I've been on the shows were average at best. I think Carnival was the top out of the three lines as far as the shows. Thanks for the review.

[DragonLips]

Hi folks!!

 

 

Follow this link to check out my vacation pics from the Dawn. There are quite a few on this site. Let me know if you have any issues with the link!!

 

http://www.hpphoto.com/servlet/com.hp.HPGuestLogin?username=irish916&password=64899314

[neverthought]

Dragonlips, Great pics, we can't wait for our turn 5/22. Thanks for sharing. I'll have to search for the thread to the freestyle daily and check that out. You and the Mrs. make a good looking couple.

[2Cruise4Ever]

Dragonlips ~ I really, really appreciate your honesty and very un-biased review of the Dawn. My family (DH, DS, and DD) are sailing her on 6/12 and I have been scouring the threads for EVERY tidbit of information. I know that every person has his or her own style of comedy, service, and cuisine. So, I thank you for your personal take on things. Let's all keep in mind that one person finds certain things funny while others do not. I'm more into the casino than the shows anyway. Although, I'm sure I'll check out one or two shows. What I appreciate most is your review of the convenience shop. Now, I know I'll have to take a bit more than I planned to make sure I have everything I need.

 

BTW, those who are interested, I found a web site (on another thread) that sells travel size EVERYTHING. If you spend $20 or more, the shipping is free!!! It's really great: better prices than Wal Mart. It's www.minimus.biz.

 

 

I'm sorry your wife was seasick. I had an awful thought today about that: My DH and I have never been seasick. But, we don't know about our kids. Does anyone know if they make child-size sea-sick wrist bands?

 

Again, thank you for your review. I'll check out your pics in just a few minutes. I'm anxious to see.

 

I am planning to purchase a mega memory card for my digital camera and plan to fill it up when we go. So, I'll post mine as well.

 

I really hope you do try NCL again. My DH and I went on the Norway 3 years ago and we were absolutely sold on NCL. The service, IMHO, was the best ever!!!

 

Happy Sailing :D

[Dolphins]

I also appreciate the honesty and candor of your review. I applaud you for revising your opinion of the Captain who I think is one of NCL's best. Some of the shortcomings you pointed out are in serious need of improvement especially updating the production shows, some of which have been on the Dawn for years. I am hardly surprised at the prices in the Galleria as most ship boutiques are very expensive and it's best to wait for sales at the end of the week. As for the cover charge in some of the specialty restaurants, I have always been satisfied dining in the seven restaurants without cover charges. Many passengers feel they are worth the extra cost and those who disagree should avoid them. Finally, I think you need a 10 or 11 day itinerary to really appreciate the Dawn.

[judyf]

With cruising CCL before I found their pay restaurants more expense $25.00 pp. Now I think that's high. At $10-$15 on NCL that's what I think I read, that's not to bad and if you don't want to pay that, there's other free choices. On CCL the only other free choice was the buffet. I will give my opinion more on this after I cruise the Dawn in 13 more days!

 

Now I'm off the read the review that I printed! Judt getting an upf=date of what has been posted since I printed it. LOL I just really can't get away from the boards.

[DragonLips]

Dragonlips, Great pics, we can't wait for our turn 5/22. Thanks for sharing. I'll have to search for the thread to the freestyle daily and check that out. You and the Mrs. make a good looking couple.

 

Neverthought, I appreciate the kind words and I'll be sure to let my wife know. I wish you a safe and happy cruise!! I'm sure the excitement is killing ya!!

[lorn63vt]

DragonLips,

Thanks for the candid review of your cruise. I like to hear the bad as well as the good. I can certainly sympathize with your experience of the storm, as I was on the April 10th cruise with 40 foot waves for 24 hours. Oh yeah, and a 70 foot wave as well. Regarding the soda cards, I also purchased these and we were given large soda containers for them to fill. Not small by any means. I wonder if they have changed this practice? I also agree with your opinion about not having to pay at specialty restaurants, which is why I didn't eat at any. I found the 3 main restaurants satisfied any food desires I had, along with The Blue Lagoon and Garden Buffet. And I also agree with you, the service and friendliness was outstanding. Glad you enjoyed most of it. I already have my next one booked.

[shoreguy]

DragonLips,

Thank you for taking the time to post a review. Many come here take and never provide feedback. Ever one has a different experience and is important that all impressions are shared, There are 100s of ships and one for everyone. So much is subjective and it is great to get different views.

[nycglitter]

Thanks for the review, loved the pictures! Your cut and style photo had me cracking up!

[DragonLips]

Thanks for the review, loved the pictures! Your cut and style photo had me cracking up!

 

Thanks~ We had a really silly time at Universal! I got back to the ship and horrified myself at the thought that I just put on a wig that thousands of people had probably worn that week!! :eek:

[nycglitter]

Wow, you are so right! Hadn't thought about that one! Glad you said something, I would be the one remembering the photo and trying it myself! I'll have to remember to bring my own pink rocker chick wig! LOL

[judyf]

Thanks for posting a review. I love reading them it was also good to read one from a CCL cruiser to get an idea of the difference. I've been on the NCL Sea when freestyle just got started and I loved it. I know I will love it on the Dawn.

 

A lot of what you reported I've read on other reviews too. Sounds like the gift shops are way over priced on the Dawn, I wonder if this could be it's sailing from NYC, living in NY myself I find everything in NY costs more. But I still live here. LOL

 

I've also read several reports about the check your account on the TV not being available this must be a NCL thing as you posted cause it's available on much older ships then the Dawn and you most likley are correct on that they don't want us to know how much we are spending. Like A.C. not having clocks in their casinos! LOL It is a business, I know you can check in at the desk to get a total of your account.

 

Sounds like I would love the decor of the Dawn compared to CCL but I must say I was impressed with the Legend CCL toned down the vegas look and from what I've been reading on their newer ships too.

 

There's isn't a cruise line or ship that I wouldn't sail and I like seeing the differences in the different lines and ships. Loved the reviews.

 

Thanks again for posting. loved the pictures and now waiting to see the dailys when you get a chance to post them.

 

Thanks

[niya305]

Thanks for your objective review...:)

 

 

Another thing- you couldn't check your stateroom account balance on your TV in your stateroom. I don't know of any Howard Johnsons that don't have this feature. The TV's were iTV's, same as Carnival, so they had the capability- NCL chose to do this to keep your mind away from how much you were spending aboard. If you can visualize it, you'll be more cognisant of the money being spent. In my eyes, dirty tactics.

 

FYI,

 

NCL is in the process of introducing the iTV's on their newer ships. The 1st ship to have this service will be the Pride of America, then every newbuild after that. I assume NCL will also have the iTV's installed on the Dawn, Spirit, Sun, Star, & POA during their next drydocks. Here is the link to the press release on NCL's website...

http://www.ncl.com/news/pr/pr031605a.htm

 

All good things come to those who wait.

[DragonLips]

Thanks for your objective review...:)

 

 

 

 

FYI,

 

NCL is in the process of introducing the iTV's on their newer ships. The 1st ship to have this service will be the Pride of America, then every newbuild after that. I assume NCL will also have the iTV's installed on the Dawn, Spirit, Sun, Star, & POA during their next drydocks. Here is the link to the press release on NCL's website...

http://www.ncl.com/news/pr/pr031605a.htm

 

All good things come to those who wait.

 

 

Thanks Niya. The TV in my stateroom was a Phillips "I-TV" unit. I'm not sure if they're planning on turning the feature on in the future, as much older ships already have this service enabled. When I presented this point to the Romanian woman behind the counter, she agreed that this was intentionally disabled. She kindly reminded me that I can call down at any time. I left front desk and room service response time out of my original review. I waited on a ringing phone 10 minutes one night to get someone to answer my room service call. Front desk call took about 5 minutes on average for someone to answer. I was shocked by this delayed response to calling passengers.

[judyf]

Dragonlips,

 

Just checking to see if I miss your post on the dailys? I can't wait to read them!

 

Thanks

[DBoud312]

I was also on the Dawn on 5/1/05 along with my husband, kids and 10 other family members and friends. This was our first NCL cruise, but our 4th cruise. We've previously cruised on RCCL, which we were always happy with. Since we were going with so many other people we had to all agree and my sister in law hates flying so the port out of NY worked for us. We live in Mass. so we can just drive there. I had a great time on the cruise because we were with so many people, but if it had been just my husband and I, I don't know if I would have enjoyed it as much. My sister in law and I had planned on the kids spending a lot of time in the kids center, but because of the kids ages they weren't happy with that. It's not NCL's fault, but I just wish that they were a little more flexible with that. My daughter is weeks short of turning 6 and my niece is 7, so they would have been in different groups. Same goes with my other daughter, she is 8 and my other niece is 10 and they would end up in different groups. It was just a little disappointing. I thought the entertainment was lousy, especially compared to what we've seen on previous ships. I found the Cruise Director to be annoying rather than funny. I liked the freestyle dining, especially since we had kids with us, but I missed getting to know our waitstaff. On previous cruises we've always had really good waiters and it was fun to get to know them. Most evenings our waiter didn't even introduce him/her/self. The food was okay, nothing special. I was a little disappointed with the breakfast buffet. The scrambled eggs always looked runny and they only had the omelete station and waffle station open only twice during the week. No big deal, but if I remember correctly, you could always get an omelete on RCCL. Like I said, I had a great time, but I think my next cruise will be back with RCCL.