Dawn- The pressure is on DAD

[naragonl]

:confused: Here I go:

 

We have booked an upcoming Dawn cruise Aug 21, 2005. We are staying in a AF minisuite. My wife booked the cruise several months ago. I've been following this board for awhile now. We are also traveling with our 2 teenagers 14 & 16(who we realize we'll probably see very little of while on board, too bad).

 

I say to my wife yesterday, Honey "you really should be getting into a bit more of the planning", I was looking into how to plan a bit (restaurant's and excursions)......here it comes now, and she says to me "Honey, I really like it when you plan out the whole thing and I'll be happy with what ever you plan"

 

oh no..................................the pressure (figuratively, I know I'll have fun doing it) is on

 

What I mean, I'm hoping to put in my reservations for the bulk of restaurants when we board (hopefully once we seek out concierge we can get times we want, if not, it's OK....this is a vacation). But I'd like to fit in the entertainment at night and possibly excursions in Miami (probably airboat ride/Everglades), the private Island, Atlantis Hotel. I'd also like to hit

the following restaurants:

Le Bistro, Impressions, Venetian, Aqua, Salsa and maybe La Trattoria

 

With all this said, I know this post is kind of weird, does anyone have ideas on how to time the dinner reservations with the excursions and entertainment.

I guess if I had recent 'Daily's or is it Dailies' I might be able to figure it out. I'm trying NOT to make dinner reservations too early (that I'd be a no show), or too late (that we would miss the shows). Are their days of the week that some of the restaurants would be better to go to, or to save for a particular day.

 

:rolleyes: So, I'm sending this one out to any of you 'anal' types who have a good lay of the land (OK ship). Do any of you have 'planned' out Dawn itineraries that have worked well for you in the past that I might work off of? If not appropriate to post here, feel free to e-mail (check profile).

 

Well that's it, I'm not asking too much (yeah sure), but hey if not here where else would I ask.

[shoreguy]

Relax all that planing should take you about 30 minutes.

 

Look at the shore excursions online, call and book on the phone. Book every thing you might want to do. You call cancel 24 hours in advance. Nothing needed for GSC or Nassua. Atlantis is a $4 pp cab ride. GSC is a day at the beach. Book the everglades and a trip to one of the parks in Orlando you are done.

 

Dinner relax it is freestyle no need for reservations except the specialty resturants. Book a couple of nights the first day. All the main resturants you just show up when the family wants to eat. Check the Daily decide what you want to to a day at a time. Eat early one day and late another. Let the kids eat by themselves one night and enjoy a dinner for two.

 

You can plan until your head explodes or board the ship relax and go with the flow.

[naragonl]

I knew I'd hear that, I agree with your observations too.

 

Part of the reason is there are still 5 WEEKS UNTIL THE CRUISE and I'm going batty/nuts with anticipation. I'm trying to fill up the time and this board has helped so very much.

 

Maybe I should start planning the NEXT cruise. That will give me something else to do:D

 

Thanks Shoreguy I knew you'd come through and calm me down.....

 

If anyone has recent dailies from the Dawn and can e-mail them please do.

THis may give me some ideas and things to do.

[debjo]

For naragonl...

First off...accolades to you for being the planner! I'd love it if my DH would surprise me with a "planned" trip, but then again, I'd be afraid that I'd miss out on all the fun, excitement, and anticipation of the preparations. Oh well, I guess I can't have it both ways!

 

Being one of the "anal" cruisers, I have an agenda of our DAWN "itinerary" that I'll try to scan for you later today and get off in an email. On it are each day of the week broken out into morning, afternoon, and evening. I put together a tentative schedule based on information from these boards, the start and stop times of our shore excursions, the show times, and then factored in our meal times around that. Because I carried this piece of paper with me, for reference, during the entire trip, making alterations to it here and there, the finished product is rather cryptic (it was nice and neat at the beginning). I'll give your some further insight in my email to you later. This "system" has worked well on our last five cruises...perhaps you can get a few tips from it. I know you've been following my EPISODES, so my "agenda" will make a bit more sense when you see it. After the cruise, this "agenda" has been an invaluable aid to me in recollecting our trip.

 

Again, kudos to you...your definitely going to have a great time!

 

Until later...

Debjo

[shoreguy]

debjo

 

Your attention to detail could make a man's head explode :D

 

 

Here is your worst nightmare. Years ago my best friend and I planned a surprise cruise for our wives (no longer DWs :D ) His DW was a planner and had every hour of every trip mapped out to the hour months in advance. Packed perfectly with tissue paper between each outfit.

 

She showed up in San Jaun thinking she was going to a business meeting and was shocked to see us at the same hotel. The next day all back to the airport with no explanation to return the rental car. When the cab driver grabbed her bag off the shuttle she thought it was being stolen. She was stuffed in a cab with still no idea what was happening. . She did not handle the surprises real well. At one point she was so confused she was in tears. When we pulled up to the ship she insisted she was not going on a cruise. For the first 12 hours she thought it was a 4 day cruise. In the end everyone had a great time but we learned not to throw an anal person into complete confussion. :confused:

[naragonl]

SO funny!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

;) I can't believe it, DEBJO, when I replied to Shoreguy for relaxing me, I had already typed but didn't submit a line that said ( I forgot exactly what):

 

"and I'd love to hear from someone like DEBJO who probably has a book/agenda for each and every day in exactly the format I want."

 

But I didn't add it because, I didn't want to offend the other people on the board by forgetting them because many might have such good ideas too.

 

So, I'm going to try and take both your and Shoreguys (and everyone else's), and try and relax a bit more. I do love doing the planning, but this time I'm going to try and relax. (I think some of you know what I'm speaking about in pre-planning). I also think if this wasn't my first cruise in a real long time, I'd have a better ahndle on things.

 

Luckily the cruise will be the 2nd week of a 3 week vacation so by the time I get to the ship I'll have a week of relaxing. I'm hoping to be poured onto the ship from being so mellow.:D

 

I just need to click my heels 3 times and say...........(fill in yourself)

[Happy ks]

Shoreguy, very funny and true!

 

debjo, I tried this method of trip planning in the past, but found that we actually like to relax on vacation. Too much planning doesn't allow for relaxing.

 

naragoni, seek out the Food and Beverage manager and introduce yourself. If there is a CC meeting onboard, they may be in attendance there. We have only done one NCL cruise, but this is what we did and the F/B guy helped us make our reservations for each night we wished to go to reservation/specialty restaurants.

 

With the exception of shore excursions, let your day play out as it goes along. Take the daily newsletter to breakfast and decide what you want out of your day. To plan too much ahead of time is asking for a disaster and too much stress.

[debjo]

For shoreguy & Happy ks...

Fortunately my DH's head is still "intact" (thank God) after 28 years of marriage...I appreciate your concern. Fortunately we're both the type of people who like to do as much as possible on a cruise. Fifty-One weeks of hard work and one week of "all-out" vacation a year has made us that way I guess. We seem to have a "work hard-play hard" philosophy. Even with our "schedule" and as hard as we try...we haven't found a way to fit EVERYTHING into each cruise that we'd like to. I guess that is why we had to go on the DAWN for the second time...and we'd like to make that a third too! Perhaps the third time around, we'll feel that we've "done it all" with the DAWN!

 

Just remember, our cruise "agenda" is tentative, flexible, and open for "who knows what" on a cruise. It's function is basically to remind us of the things that we absolutely WANT and PLAN to do...that way, we don't forget anything or waste time bantering back and forth trying to decide at the last minute. And, believe it or not, we do find time to relax, enjoy the scenery, meet new friends, and "go with the flow"!

 

For naragonl...

Somewhere between what everyone shares with you...you will find your cruise "agenda". Don't underestimate yourself...you've already gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from all the great people on Cruise Critic. You and your family will have a marvelous time! As Kathy already said...read your "Freestyle Daily". You'll get it in your cabin the night before, so you can decide what you'd like to do the next day. The main thing to remember when planning is to be flexible...things happen on a cruise that you have no control over...dining reservations fill up, shore excursions can get cancelled, the weather might not cooperate, etc. When one door closed...another always opens!

 

By the way, I did scan my "agenda" and can email it to you, if you'd still like a copy of it. I checked with your "profile" and tried to email you...it didn't work and I received the following message: "Sorry! That user has specified that they do not wish to receive emails." I guess you need to change something in your CC "profile" in order to receive emails.

 

As always,

Debjo

[jrose529]

Hi Debjo,

 

I am just like you. I already have 8 pages of notes for next month! :eek: Of course, many of them are from your wonderful Episodes. I would love a copy of your agenda also. (srosentel@earthlink.net) I overplan, yet I'm very flexible once I'm on board. The planning is half the fun! :D

 

Funny story, Shoreguy. I would love DH to plan a trip and surprise me, but I would probably be annoyed that it wasn't EXACTLY as I would have planned. :rolleyes: Your tips have been invaluable in planning this cruise!

 

DH is just like your DW, Naragonl. He never wants any input into our vacations. (Just the bottom line! :rolleyes: ) I guess I shouldn't complain since I love to plan.

[caren]

I am anal like you and on my recent Dawn cruise, I preplanned alot of it. I was very disappointed when the itinerary change caused a cancellation of a much anticipated excursion and then "the wave" thru all other plans out the window.

 

But what did work for us:

 

We did excursions in all of the ports we visited, including the alligator airboat excursion, which you mentioned. And that one had two times available, we went on the early trip. We ate dinner at aprox 5:30 each night and went right to the early shows (saw all of them). Then we still had time int he evenings to do other things, such as casino, later snacks or drinks with our new friends, etc.....

 

My next cruise......I plan not to plan. Have fun.

[snugglepup]

My family and I sailed on the Dawn on 5/29 and had the best time. My husband and I with 2 children (8 and 5) stayed in the AF mini suite on Deck 11. It was perfect size for 4 of us. I can't imagine being in a smaller cabin with children. As far as your anal planning that we all probably have too the most important schedule to make prior to leaving is the excursion schedule. Book your excursions now because they do fill up if you wait till after boarding. Our excursions were booked 1 month prior to sailing so we just watched all those scrambling on board to book the last minute. I believe swimming with the dolphins filled up early. When you board the ship in NYC I suggest to get to the Pier in NYC by 10:30am to avoid traffic and any lines. We checked in at the main desk in the Pier with only 2 other families. It is much nicer sitting in the waiting zone for an hour than standing on an eternal line that can be avoided. Once you board the ship there is a Dinner Reservation Desk set up in the Main Atrium across from the Main Desk. Go directly to the Reservation Desk before going to find your cabin - reason why? YOU WILL AVOID THE CROWD LATER! Review the specialty restaurant menus then and reserve for those specialty restaurants for the next 3-4 days. Don't worry about La Trattoria Restaurant you can eat there at the end of the cruise. Food and atmosphere can wait till you try the other specialty restaurants. By 2nd or 3rd day of cruise finish making your reservations for the rest of the cruise. We went to all the specialty restaurants by the time the cruise was over. It is a small cover charge but worth every bit. Just a little secret regarding your bottles of wine ordered at dinner. If you don't finish drinking all the wine ask the waiter to have it reserved over night and the next evening tell your waiter you have a bottle being held from last night in the wine cellar or wherever they keep it. It will be brought to your table in the next restaurant. Eat in the main dining room like Venetian for breakfast and lunch. Dinner around 5:30pm was perfect for us every night because we then went to the shows for 7:30pm. The kids loved the shows. Definitely hit the early show than you have the rest of evening for the casino and etc.

About the concierge now that is another story. He doesn't look for you so don't think this is butler service. Your room stewards do a better job than him. We didn't receive a return call from him regarding slight issue nor did he ever come to the cabin to introduce himself. Until I wrote a complaint and sent it to the desk did he call the cabin and see if we needed anything. The cruise was half over by then.

Overall, the cruise was wonderful and remember weather can not be controlled so any change in itinerary or excursion can happen. Just remember you are on vacation so plan your time leisurely with the Daily which offers the day's itinerary on the ship brought to your cabin the night before.

[RedDragon90]

please post your agenda that your were emailing...my wife and 2 kids will be going on the dawn on Aug 13 and any info you can share would be great...as following these boards they are the best for any info someone might want...

[naragonl]

For naragonl...

Somewhere between what everyone shares with you...you will find your cruise "agenda". Don't underestimate yourself...you've already gained a tremendous amount of knowledge from all the great people on Cruise Critic. You and your family will have a marvelous time! As Kathy already said...read your "Freestyle Daily". You'll get it in your cabin the night before, so you can decide what you'd like to do the next day. The main thing to remember when planning is to be flexible...things happen on a cruise that you have no control over...dining reservations fill up, shore excursions can get cancelled, the weather might not cooperate, etc. When one door closed...another always opens!

 

By the way, I did scan my "agenda" and can email it to you, if you'd still like a copy of it. I checked with your "profile" and tried to email you...it didn't work and I received the following message: "Sorry! That user has specified that they do not wish to receive emails." I guess you need to change something in your CC "profile" in order to receive emails.

 

As always,

Debjo

 

Hi Debjo,

 

I double checked the options and e-mail that are set in my profile. I would think it should work but I obviously believe you. Not sure about the e-mail, I will keep looking. I found an option to allow e-mails from administrators and e-mails from other members. They are both checked. My e-mail is set correct from what I see

naragonl@optonline.net

 

Is there anyway you can send the e-mail outside of cruise critic. I receive many e-mails a day from other sources and am wondering if it's just a CC problem.

 

Another thought would be seeing that several other posters would be interested, maybe you can just post them somehow.

 

thanks for the attempt though, don't knock yourself out.:)

[naragonl]

Hi Debjo,

 

I double checked the options and e-mail that are set in my profile. I would think it should work but I obviously believe you. Not sure about the e-mail, I will keep looking. I found an option to allow e-mails from administrators and e-mails from other members. They are both checked. My e-mail is set correct from what I see

naragonl@optonline.net

 

Is there anyway you can send the e-mail outside of cruise critic. I receive many e-mails a day from other sources and am wondering if it's just a CC problem.

 

Another thought would be seeing that several other posters would be interested, maybe you can just post them somehow.

 

thanks for the attempt though, don't knock yourself out.:)

 

Hi Debjo, I think I found out what is going on with e-mail. I cut and will paste the following from my profile options: (note the THIS FEATURE IS NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME). Not sure if this is temporary issue or what, or if it is something to do with just my profile vs others (I don't think so though).

 

 

Receive EmailFrom time to time, the administrators may want to send you email notices.

 

If you do not want to receive these notices, disable this option. Receive Email from Administrators

You can allow other members to send you email messages. - THIS FEATURE IS NOT AVAILABLE AT THIS TIME.Receive Email from Other Members

[dongordon]

Debjo or anyone else:

 

Please provide the best 3 nights (when the food in the main restaurants are not that great) to book the specialty restaurants. I like the first night in the main restaurant because of the prime ribs, but I forgot the others on the Dawn.

 

I remember Carribbean night is not that great...what day is that?

 

Thanks.

 

Don

[sunshine 229]

Originally posted by snugglepup:

NYC I suggest to get to the Pier in NYC by 10:30am to avoid traffic and any lines

 

 

I'm a planner too but I've tried to learn not to be too anal about it.

 

I think the NY pier is one place where being too rigid is unlikely to work and just likely to get your trip off to a tense start. We've been to the pier early and still had to wait in long lines outside the terminal stuck in traffic. That seems to depend on the day of your departure, what else is going on around that area of the city, and how many ships are in port.

 

My advice would be to take a few deep breaths and a chill pill* before heading to the pier. Remember that as long as you're on the ship before it leaves that is all that matters and try not to get uptight if you board an hour later than you planned for.

 

For me half the fun is planning but once I board the ship I relax and don't stress if things don't go exactly to plan.

 

* I mean a metaphorical pill - I'm not presribing drugs here:D

[debjo]

For seancurran67...

Let me know what your email address is and I'll send a "copy" of my AGENDA along to you...I've scanned it full size and it is just over 1MB, so it will take a little while to download.

 

For naragonl...

Glad you think the "email" dilemma is within Cruise Critic's site...at least I know it's not my problem now! I've sent the "AGENDA" out to you via email, along with the explanation key...warning, it was nice and neat prior to the cruise, but with all the alterations it is a bit of a mess now! I hope that you can glean some useful information from it.

 

For dongordon...

We took advantage of the 1/2 price deal at Cagney's on the first night of our cruise and ate early before the crowds set in. I'm not sure what we missed in the main dining rooms, as we didn't get the chance to preview the menus there.

 

Since the evening themes and menus may change around from one cruise to the next, I'd advise you to check into this when you board. We aren't fans of Caribbean food, so we always plan an "alternative dining venue" for that night. Prior to our cruise I thought that was going to be on Thursday night...it ended up being Wednesday night.

 

If you want to do the MURDER MYSTERY...that took place on Thursday night for us. Some ate in AQUA and some in VENETIAN. Be sure you watch your "Freestyle Daily" for the sign up time (for us it was Wednesday from 8:00 - 10:00 pm in the Library) as the "event" is limited to 250 people.

 

On our cruise, Saturday was Italian night...even though we like Italian food, we can get it at home very easily, so we decided to do something a bit different and chose TEPPANAKI for that evening meal. It was also a special "last dinner" on board before the cruise ended...a meal and a "show" all in one!

 

The "theme" dinners that you won't want to miss in the "main" restaurants are: Formal/Captain's night (great for beef lovers...Monday on our cruise), President's Dinner (an interesting & descriptive menu with favorites from our Presidents...Wednesday on our cruise), and the Farewell Dinner (Friday on our cruise).

 

Hope this helps...have a great trip!

 

Debjo

[NJBill]

Just to add my 2 cents....We have been on 3 cruises with 4 kids and my wife has zero interest in participating until we drive out of our driveway to go to the ship....Its all on me from start to finish.... My advice, plan until YOU feel comfortable, and plan the main points, then just go with the flow once on ship.....