Observations from Dawn 10/9-16/2015, Boston to Bermuda

[Vicki'sMom]

This was our 5th NCL cruise; our 2nd on Dawn -- the first being October 10-17, 2014 during T.S. Faye.

 

I thought some CC members might appreciate my observations.

 

First, while Dawn is scheduled for her dry dock May 2016, I did not find her to be in the dismal state others have posted in recent months. The public areas were always clean (or being cleaned) and fully operational (i.e., public restrooms!); everything in our stateroom was in good working order.

 

The crew was awesome! Several of the guests, however...... not so nice. :( I know the UBP has caused many complaints -- not enough staff, long waits. It really wasn't that bad. Sure, if you thought you'd be able to walk right up to the bar and get waited on immediately, you might be disappointed. But we found the waits no longer than those in most bars in cities across the U.S. And I must add, the bar staff on Dawn were extremely hard-working, friendly, and efficient! :)

 

We met lots of wonderful fellow cruisers and most had nothing but praise for the crew and the ship!

 

I'm going to mention a specific incident I saw and should the 3 women involved see this post (although I doubt they're CC members): YOU WERE VERY RUDE! When Aqua (the smaller of the 2 dining rooms) had a wait, they gave certificates for guests to get a champagne or soda at Gatsby's Bar. The bar was very busy and the bartenders were working extremely hard trying to get everyone served. These 3 women stood at the bar and held their vouchers up to their forehead, making exasperating noises and comments. Their wait was all of about 5 minutes! :rolleyes:

 

Pack a little patience and a smile. That goes a long way! :D

 

Several of the Senior Officers and the Cruise Director we met last year were also on Dawn for this cruise! They remembered us! I'm hoping that's because we made a favorable impression last year! LOL

 

We found the food to be very good. I know some will be disappointed in the food or the menu choices, but we had no complaints! If you go to the main dining rooms 6-8pm without a reservation, you will likely have a wait. Make reservations early in the week if being seated immediately is important to you! ;)

 

Dawn only has a couple more cruises to Bermuda before she heads to New Orleans. We found the check-in at Black Falcon Terminal to be very efficient. Bermuda is beautiful and the people who reside there are very friendly!

 

To those of you on the re-positioning, I wish we could join you! Happy cruising! :)

[Samstress]

We were on the same cruise & I second all of your comments about the condition of the ship & the amazing staff! Thankfully we weren't the three aforementioned guests:)

Cheers,

Sandy

[cruizinwithkids]

Thanks for posting this. My husband is on the ship right now with his sister. It's her first cruise and I am really so excited for her. My husband was not overly excited to be going with her but she is going through a very rough divorce so she asked him to go so she would have something to look forward to.

 

My husband is hilarious because he is platinum latitudes but knows absolutely nothing because he's used to me leading the way.

 

I told him not to use his cellphone because I have to make it very black and white for him. So I won't get any kind of updates until they get back.

[Vicki'sMom]

We were on the same cruise & I second all of your comments about the condition of the ship & the amazing staff! Thankfully we weren't the three aforementioned guests:)

Cheers,

Sandy

 

I wish these boards had a "like" button or "thumbs up"! ;)

 

 

 

Thanks for posting this. My husband is on the ship right now with his sister. It's her first cruise and I am really so excited for her. My husband was not overly excited to be going with her but she is going through a very rough divorce so she asked him to go so she would have something to look forward to.

 

My husband is hilarious because he is platinum latitudes but knows absolutely nothing because he's used to me leading the way.

 

I told him not to use his cellphone because I have to make it very black and white for him. So I won't get any kind of updates until they get back.

 

Wishing them an awesome cruise! I know it's hard to relax and enjoy things when one is going through such a tough time. I hope your sister-in-law is able to find some peace and has a wonderful first cruise!

 

I had to laugh when I saw the part about your husband being a bit clueless! I have one of those too! :D LOL

[hladygirl]

Thanks Vicki'smom. I hope we will have great time the dawn to New Orleans. Nice to here the ship is in good shape and the main dining room food good. We do not have udp or any other perks because we booked early before these were offered.

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks for your review. I'll be on the Dawn in December and can't wait!

[Snowrose]

We're on the re-po and were very glad to read your review. Thanks! :D

[cruizinwithkids]

I hope your sister-in-law is able to find some peace and has a wonderful first cruise!

 

Thanks. I hope so too. It's a little difficult as her soon to be ex-husband will kind of be her ex-wife!

[pathubia]

Thanks for posting. We were on the Dawn in January and will be on her again next month out of New Orleans. We are 15 miles south of Boston, but really like the Western Caribbean itinerary.

 

A friend of mines mom and step father were on your cruise. Her step father had a heart attack and died in Bermuda. God bless him, he was 89 years old. She said that everyone from NCL went over and above to help her mom. She said that someone from the crew helped her mom pack and made her flight arrangement to fly home. Her mom flew home and her step father will be flown home this week.

[Seago2]

Thanks for the review. I was on 10/11 Breakaway and I was wishing I had booked Dawn from my first five minutes on the ship. What days were you in Bermuda? We kept thinking we would wake up and see you but we only had an Aida ship there one day. Did you have nice weather? We had rain one day going down.

[Stace894]

Really glad to read this review! My DH and I board the Dawn this Friday and I am counting the hours! My DH and I never understand people like the "3 STooges" on your ship. Its Vacation, no reason to be in a rush. Relax and enjoy, at least that's what I plan to do! Also interesting to hear thoughts on Breakaway vs. Dawn. We are reserved on the Breakaway for Thanksgiving 2016, but are having some BIG second thoughts about a Mega-Ship. Have been thinking that if we like the Dawn after next week we would try and change our reservation over to her at an earlier date. Will see how that turns out!

[Vicki'sMom]

Thanks for posting. We were on the Dawn in January and will be on her again next month out of New Orleans. We are 15 miles south of Boston, but really like the Western Caribbean itinerary.

 

A friend of mines mom and step father were on your cruise. Her step father had a heart attack and died in Bermuda. God bless him, he was 89 years old. She said that everyone from NCL went over and above to help her mom. She said that someone from the crew helped her mom pack and made her flight arrangement to fly home. Her mom flew home and her step father will be flown home this week.

 

Oh, I'm so sorry to hear that. I hope your friend's Mom is doing okay. I can't even imagine how awful that was for her. :(

[Vicki'sMom]

Thanks for the review. I was on 10/11 Breakaway and I was wishing I had booked Dawn from my first five minutes on the ship. What days were you in Bermuda? We kept thinking we would wake up and see you but we only had an Aida ship there one day. Did you have nice weather? We had rain one day going down.

 

The ship docked in Bermuda around noon on Sunday; departed 5pm Tuesday.

We did have very nice weather Sunday and Monday. Tuesday was cloudy and windy. We did have some rough seas Tuesday night into Wednesday!

 

Grandeur of the Seas (out of Baltimore) was docked at Heritage Wharf while we were there. We met a number of people from that ship who wished they were on Dawn with us! ;)

[awaywego0000]

Thank you for your review. We are leaving this Friday on the Dawn. This will be my second time. We are very excited and counting down the days.

[Seago2]

Really glad to read this review! My DH and I board the Dawn this Friday and I am counting the hours! My DH and I never understand people like the "3 STooges" on your ship. Its Vacation, no reason to be in a rush. Relax and enjoy, at least that's what I plan to do! Also interesting to hear thoughts on Breakaway vs. Dawn. We are reserved on the Breakaway for Thanksgiving 2016, but are having some BIG second thoughts about a Mega-Ship. Have been thinking that if we like the Dawn after next week we would try and change our reservation over to her at an earlier date. Will see how that turns out!

 

Here's my scorched earth review if it helps you make up your mind. I was actually being kind. The Lido Deck is insane. Oh and the shops are the same size as a regular ship.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2270757

[Seago2]

The ship docked in Bermuda around noon on Sunday; departed 5pm Tuesday.

We did have very nice weather Sunday and Monday. Tuesday was cloudy and windy. We did have some rough seas Tuesday night into Wednesday!

 

Grandeur of the Seas (out of Baltimore) was docked at Heritage Wharf while we were there. We met a number of people from that ship who wished they were on Dawn with us! ;)

 

I've always wondered about Grandeur because Baltimore is driving distance for us.

[Vicki'sMom]

Really glad to read this review! My DH and I board the Dawn this Friday and I am counting the hours! My DH and I never understand people like the "3 STooges" on your ship. Its Vacation, no reason to be in a rush. Relax and enjoy, at least that's what I plan to do! Also interesting to hear thoughts on Breakaway vs. Dawn. We are reserved on the Breakaway for Thanksgiving 2016, but are having some BIG second thoughts about a Mega-Ship. Have been thinking that if we like the Dawn after next week we would try and change our reservation over to her at an earlier date. Will see how that turns out!

 

Wishing you a great cruise! :D

 

DH and I both love the size of Dawn, but we're trying Getaway next September!

 

Dawn will be going into dry dock in May 2016. While onboard, try to get to one of the Q&A sessions where the officers will explain some of the changes planned for Dawn. :)

[Vicki'sMom]

I've always wondered about Grandeur because Baltimore is driving distance for us.

 

They had a shorter itinerary than our's. It's either a 5 or 6 day.

 

The ship is comparably sized to Dawn; my husband says Dawn is slightly longer. They have a rock climbing wall; we don't!

 

Definitely not as many balconies. That's the one comment I heard over and over from Grandeur passengers was how many more balconies Dawn has! ;)

[Vicki'sMom]

Thank you for your review. We are leaving this Friday on the Dawn. This will be my second time. We are very excited and counting down the days.

 

Wishing you smooth seas and great weather! :D

 

 

Here's my scorched earth review if it helps you make up your mind. I was actually being kind. The Lido Deck is insane. Oh and the shops are the same size as a regular ship.

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2270757

 

I'm glad you posted the link here! Thanks! ;) I'm looking forward to trying the bigger ship, but am confident we'll be right back to Dawn-sized ships! :D

[Fenouli]

Really glad to read this review! My DH and I board the Dawn this Friday and I am counting the hours! My DH and I never understand people like the "3 STooges" on your ship. Its Vacation, no reason to be in a rush. Relax and enjoy, at least that's what I plan to do! Also interesting to hear thoughts on Breakaway vs. Dawn. We are reserved on the Breakaway for Thanksgiving 2016, but are having some BIG second thoughts about a Mega-Ship. Have been thinking that if we like the Dawn after next week we would try and change our reservation over to her at an earlier date. Will see how that turns out!

We did the Breakaway in April and are making our third sailing on the Dawn this Friday. I did not like the Breakaway....three slides on the decks take up most of the deck space. We were unable to get lounge chairs even once during the entire trip. And be forewarned absolutely no one under 18 is allowed in the main pool. Ages 17 and under have to use the kiddie pool, which is located in the shade of the slides. The Dawn is a much nicer ship in my opinion

[welove2cruise2014]

We are just off the Dawn today. (Although it seems like so long ago already ... !!) I love the ship, although maybe a bit biased since it's the only one we've been on!! Excellent service, good food, the ship is well-kept. We heard over and over from people who love the Dawn because she *is* a smaller ship, and I agree.

 

I also witnessed a bit of rudeness... a woman was having an issue with a bartender regarding her key card and upon not getting the resolution she wanted, she yelled a completely inappropriate ethnic slur at him and walked away. It actually made me sad.

[Vicki'sMom]

We are just off the Dawn today. (Although it seems like so long ago already ... !!) I love the ship, although maybe a bit biased since it's the only one we've been on!! Excellent service, good food, the ship is well-kept. We heard over and over from people who love the Dawn because she *is* a smaller ship, and I agree.

 

I also witnessed a bit of rudeness... a woman was having an issue with a bartender regarding her key card and upon not getting the resolution she wanted, she yelled a completely inappropriate ethnic slur at him and walked away. It actually made me sad.

 

So glad to hear you had a great cruise :D, but sorry at the rudeness you witnessed. :(

 

I will never understand why people lash out at those who are in the service industry. To that lady (and others who don't respect service workers): Ask for a manager if you are having a real issue, otherwise have some compassion for these hard working people who have to put up with the likes of you everyday!!! :rolleyes:

 

;)

[Adian80]

Thanks for your feedback! We'll be on the Dawn in February! We don't have an UBP and were wondering if they still do specials for adult beverages? Last time there was a BOGO in one of the lounges in the evening. We drink, but not a lot, so the UBP isn't a good deal for us.

[GORDONCHICK]

Several of the Senior Officers and the Cruise Director we met last year were also on Dawn for this cruise! They remembered us! I'm hoping that's because we made a favorable impression last year! LOL

 

Could you please name some of the officers? I've been looking for this info. It's always fun to see familiar faces.

[Vicki'sMom]

Thanks for your feedback! We'll be on the Dawn in February! We don't have an UBP and were wondering if they still do specials for adult beverages? Last time there was a BOGO in one of the lounges in the evening. We drink, but not a lot, so the UBP isn't a good deal for us.

 

They have a "drink of the day" at a reduced cost, but I didn't see any BOGO's or other specials. That doesn't mean there weren't any -- I just didn't notice any! ;)