My 6/26 Dawn Review

[KB1012]

I traveled on the Dawn with my husband, my daughter (20 months) and my parents. We live in New Jersey and we were attracted to the Dawn due to the fact it sails out of NY and the Freestyle dining (traveling with toddler).

 

We took car service to the pier which was well worth it. We left my parent's house around 12:00 (they live closer to NY then we do) and were at the pier by 1:00 (no traffic). No one had boarded yet so we had to wait a bit for boarding to begin. The sail away party was fun, my daughter had a blast. She was dancing and having a great time. We at the buffet for dinner since it was late and we weren't that hungry after the barbecue. Not impressed with the food that night.

 

The first at sea day we spent by the pool. It was very crowded and hard to find chairs all together but managed to way in the front of the ship. That night we ate at Salsa's which was great.

 

Next day, Disney. It was very hot and very crowded so we only got on a few rides. My Mom didn't think it was worth it but I had fun since I love Disney and enjoyed taking my daughter for the first time. I have a Disney rewards card so I didn't have to shell out the money for the tickets. I did wish we had more time there.

 

Next day, Miami. Went to the Bayside Market place and met my cousin who lives nearby. Nothing spectacular there. That night, President's Dinner in Aqua, my husband and my mother loved the rack of lamb.

 

Next day, private island. We had a lot of fun, my daughter enjoyed the beach since she's not potty trained and couldn't go in the pool on the ship. That night, La Trattoria which was very good food but the atmosphere was lacking since it was the Garden Buffet really.

 

Next day, at sea, we went to the pool again. Not as crowded as the first day but still crowded, we enjoyed the open bar!

 

Next day, at sea, rained all day. We went to some on board activities, carving display etc. Also, I bought a pretty bracelet and ankle bracelet at the jewelry by the inch, they had in the lobby. 2 for 1 drinks that afternoon which we enjoyed. That night, Cagney's which was really good. Since my daughter is young we ate early so we had 50% off the extra fee.

 

I wasn't crazy about breakfast in either the dining room or the buffet. My husband liked the food but didn't think he recieved enough food in the dining room so we went the buffet mostly. I also wasn't crazy about lunch. The dining room had big fancy lunch but I would have loved a nice big chef salad or wrap sandwiches and what you received at the buffet and barbecue was ok but I got tired of it. Dinner was good in the dining rooms and speciality restaurants. The kids menu for dinner was good as well. Again I wasn't impressed with the buffet. The kids buffet was very cute but bascially had the same stuff each day. Oh the soft serve machine was broken which was disappointing. We had after dinner drinks at the Java cafe which was nice (except for that one day, angry mob day). Appetizers are very small so don't count on sharing, order your own!

 

We only went to one show, the Second City. I typically do not like improv comedy and skits but they were very funny.

 

We were the second to last color to be called and I think we met our driver around 10:30 or so. We were sad to leave but also happy to be home. We are going to save for our next cruise!

 

The staff was great and treated my daughter like a princess (which they all called her princess too). We had a great trip, it wasn't perfect but we didn't expect it to be.

 

If anyone has specific questions, let me know!

[naragonl]

nice review, thx :D

 

that darn soft ice cream machine, you'd think that would have been taken care of.

[blame canada]

Great review =]

[Zeno]

My husband liked the food but didn't think he recieved enough food in the dining room so we went the buffet mostly.

It's a pity you ended up eating mostly at the buffet - I always find them just OK - overall I prefer the dining room - next time you cruise - let your husband know that if he finds the portion sizes too small, he can order more than one entree.

BTW- nice review - I love the rack of lamb too.

[johnql]

Thanks for the review. As Zeno pointed out, you should definitely not hesitate to order more than one appetizer or a second entree. It's a great way to try some dishes that you might not normally order. That's part of the fun of cruising.

 

It sounds like the soft-serve ice cream machine is out-of-order 90% of the time. They really need to do something about that. Luckily, they also offer ice cream (hard, tho) in the Garden Cafe, usually every afternoon.

[lastingtouch]

Ditto on ordering more than one serving. On our last Dawn cruise we were having dinner at Salsa and this group of 6 sat down. The BIG guy at the end of the table started to order 5 different appetizers, 2 soups and no salad. The waitress asked if that was for everyone to share and he told her no it was just HIS order. He also ordered 3 different entrees. We couldn't believe our ears or eyes. He even made a comment to one in his group "wait till you see my dessert order"! Somehow he was able to eat most of what was given to him before we left. We never got to hear his dessert order. I'd hate to be the one that feeds him at home! :eek:

[DragonLips]

I sailed on the Dawn on 5/01...THAT SOFT ICE CREAM MACHINE IS STILL NOT WORKING?? That is egregious!!!! It was broken since the sailing before ours. I'd hate to think NCL is going to wait until they dry dock the Dawn before they fix that!!

 

I see the conversations now at Mayer Werft..

"Yeah... Heinrich, replace the azipods...and oh yeah, install a new soft ice cream machine while you're at it!"

 

Folks, NCL should be embarrassed!

[babywewe]

Maybe the soft serve machine is'nt really broken... maybe there just too cheap to keep it running!

Either way there cheap......

 

I would guess eating at the buffet with a small child would be easyier with a small child then a more formal restraunt style setting.

[fkwok]

Thank you for your review! I am also surprised the ice cream machine is broken. You would think they would have fixed it by now. If you do try the Dawn again, try eating at Blue Lagoon (they have great wonton soup and the buffalo wings weren't too bad either) or the English pub (they have great fish and chips) and its all you can eat. Just keeping ordering more.

 

Its a shame the pool is so small. Did you know about the adults only lap pool in the spa area? Or the kids pool in the aft of the ship?

 

What happened to the Nassua stop? You didn't mention it on your review?

 

Thanks again for sharing.

[KB1012]

Yes I knew about the other pools but my daughter isn't potted trained and she couldn't go in any of the pools so it didn't really matter where we sat. At least I could cool off in the main pool at times after my long walk there!

 

We had a problem with the ship that affected our speed so we had to skip Nassau and head back to NY right after the private island in order to make it there by Sunday.

[jeannep]

Thanks for the review. I am really glad you enjoyed the Dawn.

 

We were on the Dawn 5/22/05 and the soft serve ice cream machine was working and it was delicious. It must be a very touchy machine. They also had 3 hard ice cream flavors which were always different.

 

Jeanne