Dawn to Bermuda 6/27 - 7/4 - Wonderful Cruise

[wurm914]

By way of background, this was our 5th trip to Bermuda via NCL in the last 8 years. My husband and I, mid fifties, were NCL-loyalists up until last year when we were lured away by price, perks and itinerary to other cruise lines. We've sailed 9 times with NCL and enjoy gold status.

 

I booked an inside guarantee about two months ago with OBC and watched the prices go down systematically - first a lower price with less OBC, then a lower price still with no OBC and finally the tipping point - I called my TA and after they called NCL we were offered an upgrade to outside guaranteed for just $10.00 pp more with the same OBC. I was happy with the opportunity to change the reservation and didn't hesitate to call again when a week or so later the balconies started moving down! We ended up with our first balcony cabin to Bermuda ever for just $120 more pp than the original inside guarantee and when our BX turned out to be a BA - well, happy dancing commenced!

 

We drove to Boston on Friday morning, just over 3 hours, arriving shortly after noon. We dropped the luggage off to a porter, before heading for the park garage, $112 for the week, so much better than paying for parking in NYC. By 12:30 we were headed into the port terminal and were fast tracked to the gold/platinum line, within 20 minutes we were sitting in The Venetian enjoying lunch - tuna salad for the man and shrimp w/pasta for me. Delicious and served with lots of shrimp.

 

They announced staterooms were ready close to 1:30 and we went to check out our new digs. I am so glad I decided to switch to balcony - the extra space within the cabin plus the balcony made the week extremely enjoyable. We arrived to find a box of Godiva chocolates and a bottle of wine waiting for us - gold status prezzies? I think so! We made short work of the chocolates whilst sitting on our balcony!

 

We decided to purchase a wine package that reduced the cost by 20%, we found this to be a good value for us. We had brought on carbonated water and bottled water for excursions off the ship.

 

I splurged on a spa treatment that was offered on one of the port days, an 8 am appointment made sure that I didn't miss out on any Bermuda fun. Very pricey, but also very relaxing.

 

We attended all of the shows with the exception of the final night - the magician. The Elements show was excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed the comedian Troy Thirdgill - hope he gets a chance to do his laundry!

 

Bermuda was lovely - a little bit of rain on Sunday afternoon - we had decided to stay onboard and enjoy an empty-ish ship. Another first - I went into the Oasis pool. In 11 cruises - I had never been in the ship's pool! Fun! Monday to Horseshoe Bay for a little fun in the sand and sun - very crowded. Tuesday we went to the Crystal Cave - very interesting, our guide was extremely animated and made it fun. Each trip to Bermuda we try and do one thing new - and this time the Cave was it. Most of all we try and make sure the trip is a relaxing one and this one made that mark.

 

Food was good over all - steak was iffy, sometimes okay, sometimes really not. Breakfast was always at the buffet, as was every lunch except Embarkation. We ate at La Cuccina because we enjoyed it so much two years ago - and realized that the reason it was great two years ago was we were with friends. On your own - not so much fun.

 

The 2 sea-day return trip was good - the waves were light even when the skies opened up on us! That thunder was really loud and although the pool emptied out immediately, the machos were still in the hot tubs - unbelievable! We sat undercover for about 40 minutes before abandoning deck 12 in favor of our stateroom.

 

One observation, it appears there are less crew onboard. Our room steward who was excellent, did not have an assistant as he would have had in cruises past. Dining room staff seemed reduced. Bar staff at the pool was almost non existent - very strange not to be asked if I want a drink at least 3-4 times an hour. ;) We didn't attend sail away this cruise but walked through Deck 12 and 13 after dinner, you would think a war had been fought. Seriously, it was about 7 pm and there were still dishes/glasses, towels, chairs, garbage littered everywhere and I did not see not even one crewperson there cleaning it up. So, not having attended the party, I can't say for sure, but it looks like all the clean up was being left for later that evening or overnight,. Strange based on what I remember seeing in cruises past. Certainly, by morning it was all cleaned up it just seemed strange to see it get that bad.

 

All in all - a great cruise vacation. I'm open for questions if you have any.

 

deb:D

[NLH Arizona]

One observation, it appears there are less crew onboard. Our room steward who was excellent, did not have an assistant as he would have had in cruises past.

My cabin steward on my last cruise told me that they don't have an assistant anymore and also have about 1/2 the amount of staterooms that they had when they had the assistant.

[mrsd912]

We dropped the luggage off to a porter, before heading for the park garage, $112 for the week, so much better than paying for parking in NYC.

 

All in all - a great cruise vacation. I'm open for questions if you have any.

 

deb:D

 

Was this port parking or at a different parking lot? Was it difficult navigate? DH and I have only ever sailed out of Miami and I'm glad I've never had to drive through it because embarkation day is crazy! How would Boston compare?

[sunnyflower416]

We were on the same cruise. Loved the ease of going into Boston. The parking garage was a great deal.

 

Our balcony was fabulous for the thunderstorm. I thought we were going to have a swimming pool out there though :)

 

The magician the last night was good. Unfortunately we missed the end of elements because my daughter had to use the bathroom and then insisted on going to the kids club.

 

I wish there were more activities for the adults at night other than listening to music.

[sparks1093]

Was this port parking or at a different parking lot? Was it difficult navigate? DH and I have only ever sailed out of Miami and I'm glad I've never had to drive through it because embarkation day is crazy! How would Boston compare?

 

IIRC Black Falcon is super easy to find from the north- take the Chinatown exit, hang a left at the first light and go down about a mile and you are there.

 

OP, thanks for your review.

[Keith1010]

Enjoyed your review.

 

Glad you had a great cruise.

 

Keith

[wurm914]

Was this port parking or at a different parking lot? Was it difficult navigate? DH and I have only ever sailed out of Miami and I'm glad I've never had to drive through it because embarkation day is crazy! How would Boston compare?

 

Yes, this was the port parking, Not difficult to manage at all, there are officer's directing traffic and you just go with the flow. The only time it gets dicey is when you're coming through the tunnel(s) that lead to the pier and your gps goes haywire, so take a good look at it just before the tunnel!

 

deb:D

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[Jan_In_Maine]

Thanks for the review! Isn't it nice not always having to fly to go on a cruise?! Jan

[TrpngBilly]

It's so nice to read a thorough review that is well thought out and easy to understand. We are loyal to NCL as well, only having had one or two bad experiences. We live on Cape Cod and will be doing our first cruise from Boston in 2015. The limited itineraries available from Boston are disappointing but we understand that's how it is.

 

How did you find that it compared to other cruises you've taken to the Caribbean and Bahamas?

[negc]

It's so nice to read a thorough review that is well thought out and easy to understand. We are loyal to NCL as well, only having had one or two bad experiences. We live on Cape Cod and will be doing our first cruise from Boston in 2015. The limited itineraries available from Boston are disappointing but we understand that's how it is.

 

How did you find that it compared to other cruises you've taken to the Caribbean and Bahamas?

 

New, and perhaps better, itineraries are slowly coming to Boston. In addition to the usual Boston-Bermuda and New England-Canada cruises, there are repositioning cruises that will take you from Boston to Florida or Louisiana by way of a variety of Caribbean ports and next April, RCI's Serenade of the Seas will offer an eastbound transatlantic cruise that visits ports in Europe, concluding in Copenhagen. Obviously there are limits as to where ships can sail from Boston and operate profitably, but things seem to be getting better.For those folks in the northeast who want to cruise but don't want to fly, Boston has become a good alternative.:)

[wurm914]

It's so nice to read a thorough review that is well thought out and easy to understand. How did you find that it compared to other cruises you've taken to the Caribbean and Bahamas?

 

 

Thanks! I always love to read reviews on cruises I have upcoming or just wishing I had upcoming, so I thought I'd take a stab at it. :D

 

We've been to the Bahamas twice now - once with NCL (Majesty) from South Carolina (yup we drove in the middle of an awful snowstorm!) and once with RCCL (Explorer) from New Jersey. The Bahamas is not a must-do by any stretch of the imagination, the best I can say about it is, it's nice to leave the cold weather for awhile. :D

 

We cruised with Celebrity last February from San Juan and loved it. Instant warmth was much appreciated - the islands (St Kitts, Granada, Dominica, Virgin Islands) are beautiful but do not compare to Bermuda. The locals constantly trying to sell to you is a bit overwhelming and in Dominica we actually saw two tour operators scuffle with each other - no idea what over, and one of them ended up being cut with a knife. Yikes!:eek: In Bermuda I feel as safe as I do in my own town, I'm sure there are bad areas there too, but I'm not going there, y'know what I mean? The 'pink sands' of Bermuda are soft like sugar and I've never seen it that way anywhere else.

 

We cruised with NCL (Jewel) in 2010 from Miami to the western Caribbean and thoroughly enjoyed that cruise, although still - Bermuda is our favorite. Extra time in Bermuda, more sea days to relax. It really is a great vacation, one that I hope to do again soon!

 

deb:D

[dexddd]

What happened when you left the dock then sat for about 20 minutes in Bermuda? There was a tug that came from the far side so wondering if they took late people to ship.

[wurm914]

What happened when you left the dock then sat for about 20 minutes in Bermuda? There was a tug that came from the far side so wondering if they took late people to ship.

 

:confused: I don't know, we were on the starboard side and I watched the RCCL Explorer of the Seas leave, I did see a tug sit there for awhile near that side of the Dawn but didn't notice anything otherwise. We did sit for a bit but I have no info on why, it didn't seem unusually long. I love the circle around Bermuda before we head out to open seas and watched from our balcony until Bermuda faded from sight.....sigh.....

 

deb:D

[biker@sea]

:confused: I don't know, we were on the starboard side and I watched the RCCL Explorer of the Seas leave, I did see a tug sit there for awhile near that side of the Dawn but didn't notice anything otherwise. We did sit for a bit but I have no info on why, it didn't seem unusually long. I love the circle around Bermuda before we head out to open seas and watched from our balcony until Bermuda faded from sight.....sigh.....

 

deb:D

 

I love circling Bermuda too !

 

I found it fascinating how clear the water is that you can see the ocean floor beside the ship .

 

Did you see any flying fish ?

[Susie51]

Thank you for your review and quick replies to questions.

[david_sobe]

Welcome home and thanks for the review. One day I hope to make it to Bermuda.

I had the same impression about the smaller crew on Epic last year. It seemed like everyone was working way overboard. We saw the same waiters and waitresses in almost every restaurant including the Epic Club. In 2010, each restaurant seemed to have their own staff and you never saw the same people in different places. Our last night, they had to cut crew from the final show because they were short in restaurants. That was a shame because I knew a few crew members that were really looking forward to performing.

[jonsmom]

By way of background, this was our 5th trip to Bermuda via NCL in the last 8 years. My husband and I, mid fifties, were NCL-loyalists up until last year when we were lured away by price, perks and itinerary to other cruise lines. We've sailed 9 times with NCL and enjoy gold status.

 

I booked an inside guarantee about two months ago with OBC and watched the prices go down systematically - first a lower price with less OBC, then a lower price still with no OBC and finally the tipping point - I called my TA and after they called NCL we were offered an upgrade to outside guaranteed for just $10.00 pp more with the same OBC. I was happy with the opportunity to change the reservation and didn't hesitate to call again when a week or so later the balconies started moving down! We ended up with our first balcony cabin to Bermuda ever for just $120 more pp than the original inside guarantee and when our BX turned out to be a BA - well, happy dancing commenced!

 

We drove to Boston on Friday morning, just over 3 hours, arriving shortly after noon. We dropped the luggage off to a porter, before heading for the park garage, $112 for the week, so much better than paying for parking in NYC. By 12:30 we were headed into the port terminal and were fast tracked to the gold/platinum line, within 20 minutes we were sitting in The Venetian enjoying lunch - tuna salad for the man and shrimp w/pasta for me. Delicious and served with lots of shrimp.

 

They announced staterooms were ready close to 1:30 and we went to check out our new digs. I am so glad I decided to switch to balcony - the extra space within the cabin plus the balcony made the week extremely enjoyable. We arrived to find a box of Godiva chocolates and a bottle of wine waiting for us - gold status prezzies? I think so! We made short work of the chocolates whilst sitting on our balcony!

 

We decided to purchase a wine package that reduced the cost by 20%, we found this to be a good value for us. We had brought on carbonated water and bottled water for excursions off the ship.

 

I splurged on a spa treatment that was offered on one of the port days, an 8 am appointment made sure that I didn't miss out on any Bermuda fun. Very pricey, but also very relaxing.

 

We attended all of the shows with the exception of the final night - the magician. The Elements show was excellent. We thoroughly enjoyed the comedian Troy Thirdgill - hope he gets a chance to do his laundry!

 

Bermuda was lovely - a little bit of rain on Sunday afternoon - we had decided to stay onboard and enjoy an empty-ish ship. Another first - I went into the Oasis pool. In 11 cruises - I had never been in the ship's pool! Fun! Monday to Horseshoe Bay for a little fun in the sand and sun - very crowded. Tuesday we went to the Crystal Cave - very interesting, our guide was extremely animated and made it fun. Each trip to Bermuda we try and do one thing new - and this time the Cave was it. Most of all we try and make sure the trip is a relaxing one and this one made that mark.

 

Food was good over all - steak was iffy, sometimes okay, sometimes really not. Breakfast was always at the buffet, as was every lunch except Embarkation. We ate at La Cuccina because we enjoyed it so much two years ago - and realized that the reason it was great two years ago was we were with friends. On your own - not so much fun.

 

The 2 sea-day return trip was good - the waves were light even when the skies opened up on us! That thunder was really loud and although the pool emptied out immediately, the machos were still in the hot tubs - unbelievable! We sat undercover for about 40 minutes before abandoning deck 12 in favor of our stateroom.

 

One observation, it appears there are less crew onboard. Our room steward who was excellent, did not have an assistant as he would have had in cruises past. Dining room staff seemed reduced. Bar staff at the pool was almost non existent - very strange not to be asked if I want a drink at least 3-4 times an hour. ;) We didn't attend sail away this cruise but walked through Deck 12 and 13 after dinner, you would think a war had been fought. Seriously, it was about 7 pm and there were still dishes/glasses, towels, chairs, garbage littered everywhere and I did not see not even one crewperson there cleaning it up. So, not having attended the party, I can't say for sure, but it looks like all the clean up was being left for later that evening or overnight,. Strange based on what I remember seeing in cruises past. Certainly, by morning it was all cleaned up it just seemed strange to see it get that bad.

 

All in all - a great cruise vacation. I'm open for questions if you have any.

 

deb:D

 

Thanks for your review - I am planning on a trip next August and I enjoyed reading your review. I am reading a mix of good & bad. Havent been to Bermuda in about 12 years.

 

How did you monitor your price drops?

 

The prices are so high - my husband loves cruising and loves leaving from Boston. Since he is celebrating a big birthday I thought I would surprise him.

 

Did you put the bottled water in checked on bags?

 

Thanks!

[steffyngirl]

Could you please tell me whether you needed to carry your passports while you were off the ship in port?

[sunnyflower416]

I chose to carry the three of ours with us. We could have used our licences, but I would have needed to bring my daughter's.