My Dawn Western Caribbean Cruise on March 23-30, 2014 Review with photos

[FL Sunshine]

Belize

[FL Sunshine]

[FL Sunshine]

[FL Sunshine]

[FL Sunshine]

[FL Sunshine]

Taken at The Wet Lizard :D

[FL Sunshine]

The Immigration Office in Belize. The handwritten sign on the door said, knock and enter. We got our passports stamped here. A tourist asked me why I was taking a photo of an outhouse. LOL I explained it was Immigration, he proceeded to take a photo and watched us walk in.

[FL Sunshine]

The Jewel as we approached our ship in the tender boat. I believe it's the Jewel, I think they were in port with us that day.

[FL Sunshine]

Our afternoon snack waiting for us when we returned.

[FL Sunshine]

Somebody had pecan pie with chocolate ice cream for dessert at the Venetian. ;)

[FL Sunshine]

Score!

[thegoodern]

Day 4

 

Belize:

 

You guessed it, we had our breakfast at Cagney's. We had two huge duffle bags, another duffle bag and a backpack loaded with 180 pounds of donated clothes, shoes, school supplies, books, toothbrushes etc we collected for the children of Belize.

 

A little background on this. My mother did several medical mission trips to Belize when I was younger. She helped set up clinics in the villages, treated, educated etc. I loved hearing her stories when she would return. I followed in her footsteps and worked with SE Asians when I graduated from college as a Social Worker.

 

When my husband and I traveled to Thailand to adopt our daughter we loaded up suitcases of donated items to take with us for the orphanage. So the thought came to mind to do the same for Belize. I already knew there was a need and Belize holds a special place in my heart.

 

I asked family members, friends and my church for gently used children clothing etc. Then I thought why not make it a project and open it up to the Roll Call group for anyone that was interested. The response was beyond our expectations. Again, a big thank you to anyone in our Roll Call that contributed. :)

 

NCL and their staff were so helpful with these bags. This was a tender port, so Patrick had us call him 15 minutes before we were ready to leave. He sent housekeeping with a luggage cart and Rosh came also to our priority place at the Cucina. They accompanied us all the way to the tender boat and loaded the bags on the boat. What service!

 

Unknowingly, when we arrived at the Belize port NCL had someone there to meet us, take the bags to customs and helped us through customs. They even arrange for the minister who we were delivering the donations to get a special pass to bring his truck into the port area. They helped load the bags in the truck. Everyone was happy. Mission accomplished. :D

 

Upon returning home I received an email that said the donations were delivered to a very poor community called Libertad in northern Belize. :)

 

To be continued....

 

That is such a wonderful, generous, amazing thing to do while on vacation!

[FL Sunshine]

One more thing I wanted to mention about the locals selling their crafts in these ports.

 

Some are selling bracelets claiming they are made with bamboo seeds. Umm...bamboo doesn't have seeds. They will also say the same bracelets are made from bamboo or made from coconut shells. Nope! They are just made from wood. They are pretty, but just be aware of what you are purchasing. They only cost one or two bucks, it's just the principle of being deceitful.

[FL Sunshine]

That is such a wonderful, generous, amazing thing to do while on vacation!

 

Thank you for the kind words. It was truly our pleasure and we were pleased that it all went so smoothly. We were totally prepared to lug those heavy bags on our own. NCL was great with their service! It was an awesome day!

[Still Dreaming]

Great review!

[bdette4]

Lionel, our private tour guide for the day. If you looks closely at his shirt you can see what company he is with. He was so much fun and filled with great info about Roatan.

 

 

Loving your review. We did Victor Bodden's tour too when we were there at the beginning of March. Loved the monkeys and one crawled into the hood of my jacket.

[FL Sunshine]

Loving your review. We did Victor Bodden's tour too when we were there at the beginning of March. Loved the monkeys and one crawled into the hood of my jacket.

 

Glad you brought the tour company's name up. I was waiting for someone to mention them. Aren't they awesome! The price is great too. So now if anyone would like info about them let me know and I will post more info. I just couldn't do it until someone brought it up first or it would be like me soliciting, which is not allowed on these boards.

[Nanatochase]

Thank you for your review and the pictures. We sail on the Dawn on the 20th, so I'm really enjoying reading about the ship. I've sailed many other cruise lines, but never with NCL, so I'm looking forward to the change. Again, thank you for taking the time to write the review. Good Job.

[FL Sunshine]

It saddens me to read about a crew member on the NCL Pearl that was killed during a robbery in Roatan. I understand that NCL has suspended that port of call at this time. This is not meant to be set up as a debate. There is a thread already discussing this. Out of respect, my prayers go out to his family, friends and co-workers.

Edited April 8, 2014 by FL Sunshine
Update

[FL Sunshine]

A random pic of my baby girl. Don't tell her I said that. "Mooommm, I am not a baby, I am 14! Quit saying that!" :rolleyes: This was taken on our first sea day.

[ALS1214]

Thanks so much for this review! I am so looking forward to my first trip on the Dawn in July ( my first cruise- ever!). Can you tell me what kind of retail shops they have on board?

[DeSaxMan13]

Thank you for your review and the pictures. We sail on the Dawn on the 20th, so I'm really enjoying reading about the ship. I've sailed many other cruise lines, but never with NCL, so I'm looking forward to the change. Again, thank you for taking the time to write the review. Good Job.

 

Ditto. My wife and I take our first NCL cruise on the 20th and love the pics and review.

[carolmacey]

I have no idea what this animal is.

 

 

Maybe a coatimundi.

Edited April 9, 2014 by carolmacey

[carolmacey]

Thank you for your review and the pictures. We sail on the Dawn on the 20th, so I'm really enjoying reading about the ship. I've sailed many other cruise lines, but never with NCL, so I'm looking forward to the change. Again, thank you for taking the time to write the review. Good Job.

 

We board the Dawn on the 27th. Looking forward to her after reading your review. Too bad we won't be "living the suite life."

[FL Sunshine]

Maybe a coatimundi.

 

Yes, thank you! Also known as a badger. :eek: