LAFFNVEGAS Live from the Dawn/1st Caribbean of the Season

[ourfamilylovescruising]

your getting me so excitied:DI cant wait till sunday

[OVgirl]

Thanks so much for sharing your cruise experience with us. Looking forward to the rest of your cruise.

[kazu]

always enjoy your live posts and find your comparisons intriguing.

 

sounds like you two are having a good time so far. enjoy and have fun!

[buckirj1]

A nice review, as always. You capture the beauty of freestyle cruising so well. I especially liked reading the comparisons between NCL and HAL, since HAL is at the top of the list of cruiselines I haven't taken but someday might.

[bellebaby]

Hi Everyone we are on board and have just ordered lunch in Cagneys. It is so great to be back on board NCL. I so love all the smiling crew. The other thing we suddenly remembered was how darn good the breads are here. I ordered the Scallops and Shrimp and Tom ordered the steak . Well wine and shrimp cocktail has arrived so got to go :d[ATTACH]251489[/ATTACH]

 

The Cagney's shrimp cocktail looks very familiar. We love Cagney's for lunch... The banana pie is to die for.

 

B

[friskat]

Hi,

 

I am loving the review so far.

 

We will be on the Dawn Jan 6th I was wondering if you could tell me if they have the 6 specialty restaurants for $79 deal that I have heard about if they do can you please let me know which ones are included in that?

 

 

Have a great cruise and thanks :D

[debnjoe1438]

Enjoying the review. Everytime I see "LAFFNVEGAS" I know there's going to be something good to read. :D

[LAFFNVEGAS]

I want to thank all of your for following along with us on our cruise and thank you for all the compliments. I admit I really do enjoy writing these. It is kind of my way of recapping the day.

 

Here is today's report :)

 

Good Evening from the Beautiful Norwegian Dawn.

 

What a great day in Roatan. This was our third time to this beautiful island. The first was on the Crown Princess and we docked at Mahogany Bay in January 2010, then in September 2010 we were here docked at Coxen Hole on the Solstice. The last time we did a private excursion that took us to Foster's West Bay. Today we did the excursion thru NCL called Maya Key which is that pretty island you see just off from the dock at Coxen Hole. I really loved it and thought it was worth every penny. Oddly very few actually did this excursion so I felt as though we had the island all to ourselves. Of course I also thought we were one of a couple ships here today but it ended up that we docked and were here alone. It was quite cloudy and over cast this morning which unfortunately does not help to make the water look that amazing bue green that it normally does here in Roatan. The Maya Key Island is also an Animal Preserve with many rescued birds and animals. They had a baby alligator and baby monkey that we all got to hold and take pictures. The Monkey really liked me because I was getting monkey kisses ;) He was a cutey. The lunch which is actually fairly close to the beach was excellent. They served a BBQ chicken and very tasty lightly bread Sea Bass that was very good. Usually Tom does not like Sea Bass but he admitted he really liked it. Then there was salad and then a rice dish they called Coconut Rice but no Coconut it in just black beans and white rice. Everything was good, then they provided Ice Cold Ice Tea that had a hint of lemon already in it that was not sweetened and water. If you wanted soda or beer you needed to purchase that. Tom got a Bud Light that was Imported. They also have a gift shop on the island. After lunch and shopping Tom decided to stay up in the court yard area where lunch is served and is near the very nice large fresh water pool and Colleen and I went back to the beach. Other than a family with two small children we were the only two people on the beach. We swam and read and swam some more. As a matter of fact I probably swam more than I have in a very long time and trust me I can feel it in my upper arms and hips this evening. I also am a bit sunburned on my nose and cheeks which is one place I did not put in any sun block because my foundation has spf something so figure I did not need it. Then the only other place that is red is near where my watch is because I must not of sprayed my sunblock there. About 10 after 2 we packed up out things and used the facilities to change clothes since we were going to go do some shopping at the pier. By the way the bathrooms were also very clean and nice at Maya Key. I definitely plan to go back there.

 

Shopping at the pier was also nice I bought a cute black hoodie for myself that says Roatan, as well as a shirt for our son and Tom picked up a shirt. Then in another store i found a couple of cute necklaces that a nice price. We headed back to the ship at about 3:20. All aboard was at 4:30.

 

Tonight we had reservation for La Cucina, now I have to admit a couple of years ago I was not impressed with La Cucina. I remembered I loved the appetizer and desserts but main Course...not so much well tonight we all pretty much felt the same way. All the various appetizers from the Zuppa to salads and Bob's Calamari were excellent but Tom was not impressed with the Rib Eye and Idid not care for the Lobster Linguini and Bob and Kathy had the Chicken Parm and they too were not thrilled but we all lover the desserts. Kathy and Bob were going to check out some of the entertainment tonight while I am exhausted from the rough day in Roatan so we headed back to the cabin.

 

Before I forget, I will try to answer most of your questions when I get home but I did speak with Virginia today and she goes home January 13th. Something I found interesting is that before she worked for NCL she worked at HAL for 11 months.

 

Also strange thing I am trying to figure out and hoping it works tomorrow. I have an iPhone 4S I turned off data and the roaming when we left. Today I wanted to try to text our son so turned back on the roaming allowing just voice and texting and I could not get it to work it kept saying No Signal. I finally decided to turn back on everything, still no signal both in Roatan and on the ship this evening. It is driving me nuts because I have definitely sent text messages from here before. Even our next door neighbor was out on his balcony on his cell talking. So I have no idea what is going on with my phone.

 

Tomorrow is Belize City, this is a port we have never been too but I also have not read a lot of great things about it so we will just basically see what is at the pier and I might get right back on the ship and see if I can get a massage in the Spa.

 

Well Tom has now decided he wants a snack since I think he was not thrilled at dinner so he headed up to Blue Lagoon.

 

Signing off from the Beautiful Free Styling NCL Dawn.

[karoo]

Great review-interesting reading. When we were in Belize Oct 11 we did cave tubing through a private tour. Fantastic day!

[vicocala]

Lisa, thanks for your sharing your cruise with us. I hope you read this before you tender into Belize. I have been three times and loved it each time.

 

Twice we did the cave tubing which is a great excursion. The third time was a trip to Goff's Cay and a great snorkeling expedition. I hope you get to do one or the other.

 

I was originally put off when arriving at Belize City by the fenced in area and the soldiers with AK-47's or whatever.:eek: However, Belize is a beautiful place if you get out of town.

 

Tell your hubby that Belkan is a great beer as well. Have fun!

 

PS-Sonny's BBQ isn't that great, it is considered a fast food chain here in Florida.

[mafig]

We've been to Roatan several times and, to be honest, DH and I felt we were sick of it. We've even avoided itineraries that have it listed. However, after reading your review of Maya Key maybe we'll do that if we're "stuck" with Roatan on our itinerary.

 

Glad you're enjoying your cruise.:)

[drhry]

Lisa , So enjoy your daily updates . Making us really inpatient for Dec 9 to arrive. We are former Hal cruisers and it took one NCL cruise to convert us. Thank you for the info. on Virginia. Now if we will only be lucky enough to have Mark as our Butler it will just add to a wonderful cruise. Have a great next few days. Jo-An :)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Wednesday Nov 14, 2012

 

Hola from Belize City, Belize. Why did I not read any where that shopping was fantastic right at the pier. Or at least the 5 of us and especially Colleen , Kathy and I thought so. I had always said that the best port to get nice hand bags (knock offs, faux or imitation) what ever you want to call them ;) was in St Maarten. Over many of the Caribbean Cruises I always brought extra cash for St Maarten for Purse Shopping but I found a new favorite place. The shops had purse store after purse store one shop is even called Bags, Bags and Mo' Bags. All three of us girls bought a new hand bag, mine is a Jimmy Choo knock off then I bought a new small wallet/change purse. Then I found this cute bracelet that is a wide stretch black and white Swaraovski type crystals with a V shape pattern.

The guys found T shirts to buy.

We of course stopped and had an afternoon snack of Lobster Sliders they were good but a bit too greasy with a lot of Garlic butter, then also had chips and a Belize version of Salsa. More cucumbers with lots of vinegar and onions than salsa as most know it but still tasty. Then Kathy, Bob and I had to indulge in Margarita's this was at The Wet Lizard.

If before you leave you like them on Facebook and show it to them you get a dollar off your drinks.

 

Ok will go backwards here to the beginning of the day, Tom and I slept in and managed to go up to Cagney's for breakfast at about 9. I really like the little breakfast buffet love having the creme cheese and smoked salmon. Then the poppy seed danish rolls are wonderful they remind me so much of my grandmother. We have it free in our Suites. Now this next comment is just a bit of food for thought. Why do they charge Suite passengers in Cagney's for Espresso? I make myself a double every morning in our cabin before heading out. You would think that they would not bother.

 

For tendering in Belize we originally could have gotten our priority tendering and escort from Gary our Butler between 8 and 9 as it was they did not even start the tendering process till well after 9:30. It would have been a long wait if we had gotten up early. They were having problems because of the swells. Tendering is not a easy process, the ships have to be out around 5 miles from shore so the process of getting there is almost an excursion in itself. Although it allowed me to get some great pictures of our ship, the Norwegian Star and the Carnival Legend.

 

After breakfast this morning I wanted to drop off our form to purchase another Future Cruise Deposit and also to get a print out of what we have spent because we did have quite a bit of ship board credit and wanted to see where we stook and what more we could spend things on especially since we just did the Future Cruise Deposit.

 

Tonight we have dinner at Cagney's, then not sure after that. Right now I am exhausted from shopping and feel like a nap would be really good but it is 5:00 and not enough time for a nap before our 6:30 reservations. As a matter of fact it is time for Sail Away from Belize.

 

Tonight's show is Bollywood, then from 8:15 to 9:15 in the main Atrium is the band Jump playing songs from Abba which sounds more interesting to me, then for those staying up later in Spinnakers is a Country Ho Down Dancing at 10:15. Think we will stick with Abba music.

 

Something else I wanted to bring up that was really a surprise and very much a contradiction from many comments I have read about NCL from other cruise lines chat boards (not NCL CC board but more like HAL and Celebrity when they compare). That no one dresses up on NCL and that most are dressed rather shabby. I got news we have seen more formal wear and men in tux on Monday evening this cruise than we saw on our last HAL cruise on the Zuiderdam. Tom stated he actually felt under dressed. He did not bring any dress clothes and for evening he wears black dress pants, dress shoes and then the longer cuba vera or what ever they are called. His are the nice dress style. We have definitely seen some nicely dressed couples.

 

Another thing I honestly expected to see because this week had a holiday in it I expected to see lots and lots of kids and I have no idea of the number but they are kept occupied and have not seen any running around unattended like we experienced when we did our November RCI cruise 2 years ago. This ship has a nice mix of ages with probably a bit younger demographic than HAL but not by a lot when comparing to the Vista Class ships.

 

I have to say that there is always something going on and that is where NCL is absolutely nothing like HAL. Not that Tom and I are party animals but give me a reason to be out and about and we will.

 

Oh by the way I got my phone working fine today I am not so sure that there might not be a problem with the satellite around Roatan. We also had no CNN News or other cable type channels they pick up via satellite here on the ship. So at any rate I texted our son and all is fine at home.

 

I will sign off for now and maybe write more later or if not tomorrow because we are in Costa Maya and going to Maya Chan for the day and they have free wi-fi there so might bring my net book.

 

Signing off from the Beautiful NCL Dawn Free Stylin it in Belize

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Good Evening from the Norwegian Dawn on this Wednesday November 14, 2012

 

As the Dawn slowly glides her way up to Costa Maya which is pretty darn close ;)

 

Tonight we dined in Cagney's, I have to say that the first 2 times I dined in Cagney's I was not that impressed the first was on the Star and the 2nd on the Pearl. They were alright but tonight it really was a bit better than the previous experiences. Now i would rate this about equal to an average Pinnacle on HAL but we have had some exceptional experiences in Pinnacle and we have had some that were not so great but tonight's Cagney's was pretty good. I personally think that Le Bistro is still the shining star for Restaurants on NCL but then we still have Moderno coming up on Saturday night.

 

After we ate we went to the Main Atrium area to watch the band called Jump per form Abba music tonight but of course no seats any where and standing room only. We stayed about have way thru the hour performance but after lots of walking and shopping (shopping is always hard work ;) ) we headed back at the cabin. Tomorrow will be an early day. We have been to Costa Maya before so we know about the long distance from the ship to the pier and we have a Private Excursion going to Maya Chan. Now the really funny part here is of course I decided to book this excursions based on many recommendations from Cruise Critic members. But a few days ago we received an email from Maya Chan giving everyone directions of what will happen tomorrow. We are in port with the Carnival Magic that left the day before we did from Port Canaveral anyway when all the list of names appear there was an email address of someone I met on Cruise Critics that just happens to now be a friend of mine i Facebook and traveling along with her is another Facebook friends that I had no idea was also going on a cruise the same time as us and here they are on the Dream, us on the Dawn and we will meet up at Maya Chan :D

 

Well I am going to sign off for the night because I want to do just a bit of reading then need to get to bed early for a day of lounging in the sun and drinking. We made no plans for tomorrow night although we may make it to the Chocolate Buffet.

 

Signing off from the Beautiful Free Stylin NCL Dawn :)

[sassyredhat]

Loving the review, as always, Lisa. :)

Since I will probably never be able to fly the long flight to FL, I am living vicariously. Thanks for the fun.

Pat

[cassie55]

Great review so far!

 

It's a good point about charging for espresso for breakfast in Cagneys. However we were on the Dawn last month in an aft PH and my husband would order an espresso every morning.

 

Every day he would ask for the bill for the coffee and every day they would tell him not to worry about it so in reality I don't think they do actually charge for it.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Hola from Maya Chan Resort in Costa Maya all I can say is Wow this place is amazing Food is fantastic and the drinks are not stopping We have free wifi which is how I am posting. This is definitely one of the best excursions we have ever taken. At this point I am thankful for spell check lol I am now trying to figure out how soon we can come back here.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Here are some more pics

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Here is another

[kazu]

Lisa - it is always such a joy to read your reports. Thanks for the great pics - well done indeed:)

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Now another great thing here is the food it is excellent some steak and pork, chicken and sea bass now the drinks are even better.

[solocanadian]

Really enjoying your reports, Lisa.:) NCL is sounding Better & Better to me. Going to check to see if they have a West Coast coastal to add on to their first Alaska cruise. Going to also check if they do Mexico. I've been fighting an abscess on a tooth & now must visit a dentist to have it removed along with the one beside it. This is costing me [have no dental plan] the cost of a veranda cruise for 7 days ouch.:eek:

[sunnywithachance]

Really loving this review as counting down days to this trip in January. Did you book the Costa Maya beach tour through NCL?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

This place is dangerous I have rum punch 2 Margaritas one shot of a Special reserve tequila and now A very creamy piña colada. Did I mention my hour massage? Definitely a Corona commercial view.

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Really loving this review as counting down days to this trip in January. Did you book the Costa Maya beach tour through NCL?

 

No this was a private excursion that is highly rated on Adviser