Norwegian Dawn 4/3 Review

[gadawg02]

Norwegian Dawn

 

 

 

My husband, my three year old daughter, and I were on the 4/3 sailing of the Norwegian Dawn from New Orleans through the Western Caribbean. We are both teachers in Georgia and this was our school’s Spring Break. We went on our first cruise together in July 2011 on the Royal Caribbean Oasis of the Seas. This was our second one together and our first with kids!

 

 

 

We drove from Atlanta to New Orleans on the Saturday before the cruise. What should’ve been about a 7 hour drive turned in to 10 because, you know, three year olds! We finally got in to New Orleans late Saturday evening and checked in to the Holiday Inn Superdome downtown. It was much nicer than I expected. I had purchased a park and stay package for a quite reasonable rate, so my expectations were pretty low. I was pleasantly surprised!

 

 

 

We walked around the French Quarter looking for a restaurant named Deanie’s that the concierge had recommended, but there was a two hour wait. We walked a little more and found a little restaurant called Daisy Dukes. It was really good. I had the jambalaya and Phil had the sampler. Bonus: they serve breakfast 24 hours, so we were able to get pancakes for Olivia! It was really late when we finished eating, so we headed back to the hotel.

 

 

 

Sunday morning, we got up and headed out early. Olivia wanted to ride the trolley, so we caught that down to the Harrah’s stop in the French Quarter. There, we grabbed breakfast at The Ruby Slipper. There was about a 20 minute wait, but we got a coffee and enjoyed the weather and the sites while we waited. We had French Toast and it was amazing. With our bellies full, we headed toward Jackson Square. My husband and I are both history teachers and really wanted to see it. We walked around the Square listening to the live musicians, popping in the shops, and enjoyed the atmosphere. Before we knew it, it was time to head to the port!

 

 

 

We caught the trolley back to the hotel. We had packed up that morning, so we grabbed our bags and hopped in an uber. After a quick and cheap ride, we were at the port! We got to the port around 12:15. It was a little unorganized dropping off our luggage with the porter, but we managed. We already had our tags printed and filled out and there wasn’t really a line, so it was hard to tell what we were supposed to do. There was only one guy working at the time and it was a little chaotic. But, we finally, and somewhat skeptically, left our bags and headed into the port. The line through security was long, but it moved fairly quickly and everyone was in good spirits. It probably took an hour from the time we got in line until we were boarding the ship. We were moving the entire time and never had to sit and wait.

 

 

 

Once we boarded, we decided to look for our cabin first. We didn’t expect it to be ready, we just wanted to see where it was. We didn’t have far to go! We walked up the stairs to Deck 8 and our cabin was right outside the Blue Lagoon. The door was propped open so we went in and looked around. Our cabin steward, Alex, appeared and let us know he was almost finished, he just needed to vacuum. We assured him we weren’t in a hurry and set off to explore the ship. We walked around the ship and I think we hit the buffet, but I don’t exactly remember! I know that we were quickly at the kids pool area at the back of the ship, where we remained until about 5:30. I’m one of those people who doesn’t like to carry a bunch of stuff around, so I didn’t bring a carryon with swimsuits in it like I had been told I should do. So, we let Olivia get in the kiddie pool with her clothes on. We had dinner reservations at 6:30, so we had our fingers crossed that our luggage would arrive in time to change. Unfortunately, it did not, and since Olivia’s clothes were wet, we dried them as much as we could and headed up to the buffet for dinner. When we returned from dinner, our luggage had arrived, so we unpacked and then went to the first night welcome show. It was really cool and we enjoyed it quite a bit.

 

 

 

Monday was the first sea day. We pretty much took it easy, hanging out at the pools and eating when we felt like it. We took a nap after lunch and I woke up from that feeling pretty sick. We spent the rest of the day trying to find a remedy for that! It was the dress up night, so I did manage to put on a dress and go to dinner, but I was miserable. We ate in Aqua that night and Phil and I both had the steak and it was excellent. After dinner, the kids club was having a royalty night and Olivia wanted to go. Phil took her up and checked her in and I went to the cabin. Finally, after some ginger ale and the oil stuff they sell in the gift shop, I was able to fall asleep and hoped that I would be better the next day for Cozumel!

 

 

 

I woke up early the next morning, left Phil and Olivia sleeping and went up to the pool deck for coffee. It was before sunrise and so quiet. I grabbed a cup of coffee and headed to the bow of the ship and watched as we approached Cozumel. Once the captain started parking the ship at the dock, I went to wake the family up and get them moving to start our day in Mexico!

 

 

 

We didn’t prebook an excursion in Mexico. We’ve been there several times and felt comfortable getting around on our own. We took a taxi to a beach club that a friend had recommended called Paradise Beach. It was beautiful. They have a large, heated pool, bars and lots of inflatables out in the ocean. We were planning to buy the fun pass to play on the inflatables, but it turned out Olivia was too young. So, we paid the $3 entrance fee and grabbed some beach chairs! It was a pretty amazing day just laying on the beach, swinging in the hammocks and playing in the pool. The food was the most expensive we had on the trip, but it was really good. When it was time to head back to the ship, we grabbed a cab back to the port and walked around and shopped a little bit. We were pretty exhausted after being in the sun all day, so we did the buffet, sat in the hot tub a while that night and then headed to bed.

 

 

 

The next day was Roatan and we had booked an excursion with Victor Bodden Tours, so I knew we needed to be up early. We got up, had breakfast as we were pulling in to port, got everything packed up for the day and headed out to Deck 7 to look at the port while we were being cleared by customs. The port itself was beautiful. There was another Norwegian ship in port with us that day, and they had to tender in, so they were arriving as we sat and watched. It wasn’t long before we were cleared to disembark, so we headed out. We found our tour operator, checked in and had about 30 minutes to kill before the tour left. We walked around the shops and had some delicious cokes before it was time to go. We were loaded on the tour van with about 5 other people. This is my only complaint of the day: we sat on the van for 40 minutes waiting on other people before we left. We were getting ready to get off the van and find another tour when we finally left. It turned out to be worth the wait. Our guide, Elyn, was a native and told us lots of awesome stuff about the island. We drove up to the 2nd highest point and took pictures of the port below. Then, we continued through the island to Victor’s monkey preserve. It was a really cool experience. The monkeys would jump from person to person. We went into the cages with the birds and they would also sit on our shoulders. We spent a while there and then headed to the beach. We went to Bananarama Beach Club for the rest of the afternoon- which turned out to only be a couple of hours. When we got off the van and got settled in, I realized I couldn’t find my cell phone. Elyn was able to call the tour company, who got in touch with the driver and he came back so I could look for my phone. It was there! It had falled between the seats. After that, we ordered pizza and enjoyed the beach. Olivia got her hair braided and it was super cute. We got back to the port in plenty of time, did a little shopping, and then went back to the ship. We sat on Deck 7 again to watch the activity at the port.

 

 

 

The next day was Belize. We had pre-booked a tour out to Goff’s Caye. We had to tender into Belize and that process was not well managed. First, we had to go to the Spinnaker and get a number. Then, we waited in the Spinnaker until our number was called. That part was fine. Then, when they called our number, we had to go down to Deck 4 to get on the tender. However, you couldn’t get to Deck 4. The crowd was all the way up the steps of Deck 5. There was no line or organization- just a herd of people trying to get off the ship. We probably waited like that for 20 minutes or so. We finally got on the tender and after a short 10 minute ride or so, arrived at the port! We easily found our tour and checked in. Since we were late, we had to wait about 45 minutes for the next tour to start. We walked around the port, got cokes again (they are so good down there!), and window shopped a little. It was drizzling, so we stayed inside. We finally got on the boat and headed out to Goff’s Caye. It was breathtakingly beautiful. The island itself is a tee tiny piece of land in the middle of the ocean. Like, seriously tiny. But it was gorgeous. When we got there, everyone was given about 15 minutes to change and stretch before getting back in the boat to go out and snorkel on the reef. Since we had Olivia with us, we decided to stay on the island and snorkel around the shore. There are no beach chairs, or furniture of any kind on the island, but we knew that going in and brought towels with us. We found a patch of shade next to the beach and settled in! They grilled chicken and fish and the plates were $8. They also had some snacks and drinks for sale. There was rum punch included in our tour. We spent the day admiring the beautiful scenery, weather, and snorkeling. It was one of the most amazing places I have ever seen. We got back to the port and realized we were pretty sunburned, so we grabbed some aloe at one of the pharmacies and headed back to the ship. The line for the tender was pretty short, so we didn’t have to wait long.

 

 

 

The next day was Costa Maya. I was the least excited about this port. But, I was so wrong!! It ended up being one of my favorites! First, the water was absolutely beautiful when we arrived in port. We didn’t really have a plan for the day, but again, being so comfortable in Mexico, we thought we’d be okay getting around. We grabbed the $3 shuttle to the beaches and wow! They were gorgeous. The main thoroughfare is lined with restaurants/beach clubs on one side and the beach on the other. Each club is trying to get you to come to theirs. We just walked along until we got talked into staying at one. We had chatted with another cruise passenger on the shuttle and he said the going rate for a one- hour massage was $20. I was super excited! After we got settled, I decided to get a massage. The starting price was $25 and I talked her into $20. BUT, I forgot to clarify how long. So, after 30 minutes, it was over. I was not a happy camper. But, live and learn. I went back to our chairs and tried to find our waiter. I finally tracked him down and asked for a coke. We waited for the coke for a while, but he was just hanging out under the palapa with no coke in sight. So, we decided to move on to a different club for the day. We packed up and headed off. As we were leaving, he asked where we were going and I said “to get a coke!” He didn’t even apologize, he just said “Oh yeah, I forgot to bring that to you.” With about 50 other beach clubs to choose from, we weren’t too concerned about finding one with better service. We walked down the street and found a new home for the day! We just relaxed and shared some nachos. We took a yellow cab back to the port, $2/person, when it was time to go. I did one of those fish spa pedicures in the port and it was pretty cool. We got back on the ship and went to Blue Lagoon for a quick snack and to watch people getting back on the ship.

 

 

 

The next day was the last sea day. We didn’t do a whole lot. As you get closer back to New Orleans, it gets chillier, so it was too cold for me to be in a swimsuit. We sat around and ate and read a lot. Olivia spent a while at the kids club. They put on a circus show with the kids in the Stardust Theatre that afternoon and it was super cute! Since I didn’t give much details on the sea days, here are my overall impressions of the ship:

 

 

 

Kids Club- amazing. Olivia loved it and begged to go. We didn’t really plan to take her, but she wanted to go, so we let her. They did a glow party one night and a pj party on the last night.

 

 

 

Food- it was good, but not great. You won’t go hungry. We pretty much had the self-serve ice cream every afternoon when we came back from being in port. You have to know where to find it though- it’s in the back of the buffet on the side with kids area at the front. The steak in the main dining rooms was solid. We had the worst service in the Venetian, so we only ate there once. It turns out, there was a waiter out sick and we had the luck to be seated at one of the tables that was being covered by another server. Breakfast was the best, to me. They had everything imaginable that you could want for breakfast. I had oatmeal and bacon almost every day. They also grilled out and/or made paella by the pool in the afternoons. It was really good.

 

 

 

Drinks- we didn’t buy a drink package. I’m not a huge drinker, so it didn’t make sense to have to buy two packages when we didn’t know if we would even get our money’s worth out of just one! We didn’t buy the soda package either, since Norwegian has Pepsi products and we don’t do Pepsi. We were perfectly content with the flavored waters, lemonade, tea, and coffee that were complimentary!

 

 

 

The Ship- is about to undergo the largest dry dock in Norwegian history. The only thing I have to compare it to is the Oasis, and that is apples and oranges. I really enjoyed the Dawn. It is a little dated and doesn’t have all the bells and whistles, but it was a solid cruise. We’re pretty laid back people- we like doing the ports and chilling while we’re on the ship, so the rock walls and flow riders and all that stuff doesn’t really appeal to us. One thing I wish they would do better is enforce rules consistently. For instance, the first sea day, there wasn’t a lounge chair to be found. They were all “reserved” with towels, despite the signage saying it was against the rules to leave chairs unattended for more than 30 minutes. We did finally find chairs. We read for a little while and then went to cool off in the pool. When we got back, our towels were gone! Whatever… we got more. Also, the “adults only” hot tubs were consistently filled with kids. One evening, we got in one with Olivia. There were a couple of other adults in there with us. After we had been in about 15 minutes or so, we were asked by security to leave. Okay, no big deal. We don’t mind following rules- we just want everyone else to follow them to. In our defense, we didn’t know it was adults only until the security guy told us because there had been kids in it every time we had been out! Anyway, no big deal. The last night of the cruise, while Olivia was at the PJ party, we enjoyed the hot tub at the very front of the ship- now that is an experience! No one else was there and we were going through the oil rigs in the Gulf and it was really cool.

 

 

 

So, I know I haven’t talked about everything, but that’s all I can think of for now. My parents loved our pictures so much they booked the cruise and are leaving on the Dawn tomorrow! We’re all going on the Carnival Magic this summer, so after that cruise, I guess I’ll get to decide which line will earn my loyalty! Or maybe we’ll just keep cruising around!

 

 

 

I hope this was helpful and thanks for reading!

 

I'm happy to answer any questions. I'd saved all of the dailies but our cabin steward threw them out the last night of the cruise!

[gadawg02]

 

Holiday Inn Superdome

[gadawg02]

[gadawg02]

Cozumel

[gadawg02]

Roatán

[gadawg02]

Belize- Goffs Caye

[gadawg02]

Costa Maya

 

The three of us (Roatán)

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks for your review. I was on the Dawn in December and have to agree that the New Orleans port was quite disorganized.

[Freespir8]

Thanks for a great review! Quick question, do you know why they said it was the biggest dry dock in history? I wonder what they are doing differently from others? We were on the Star after her dry dock and there were some nice improvements but nothing spectacular. We will be on the Dawn in October and were on her last November so hoping to see some nice sprucing up!

[gadawg02]

Thanks for a great review! Quick question, do you know why they said it was the biggest dry dock in history? I wonder what they are doing differently from others? We were on the Star after her dry dock and there were some nice improvements but nothing spectacular. We will be on the Dawn in October and were on her last November so hoping to see some nice sprucing up!

 

 

At the CC meet and greet they told us that it would be a month long dry dock as opposed to the typical 7-10 days and that they would be touching literally every surface of the ship. The Captain said it will be like a brand new ship! I can't wait to see the changes!

[TomAceEsq]

Thanks for the review. It was great! It's a long shot, but we might have an adopted child around your daughter's age when we sail on Dawn in February, so it was great hearing your little one enjoyed the kid's club.

[Freespir8]

At the CC meet and greet they told us that it would be a month long dry dock as opposed to the typical 7-10 days and that they would be touching literally every surface of the ship. The Captain said it will be like a brand new ship! I can't wait to see the changes!

 

How exciting! Thanks for the update. I hope you'll get to be back again soon to see the changes too.

[Clarea]

Appreciate the feedback.

[Keith1010]

Thank you for your review.

 

Very well done.

 

Keith

[Mikiejag]

Finally down to the wire myself, 12 days to go and I booked the same hotel and the same ship. lol

 

Good to see you enjoyed it. Was planning on renting a car and dropping it off the night before and take the shuttle from the hotel to the port.

 

Is there a shuttle or did you just want to taxi it there anyway?

 

Trying to find some stuff out, cause I have a person with me and it will be her first ever cruise, and pretty much her first ever real vacation that lasts longer than a weekend...

[Love my butler]

Thank a teacher when you see a well written review with paragraph breaks. Thank you.

[gadawg02]

 

Is there a shuttle or did you just want to taxi it there anyway?

 

The Holiday Inn doesn't have a shuttle. We used the Uber app. It cost $5.97 total to get all 3 of us to the port! We've known about uber for awhile, but it was our first time using it.

Edited April 18, 2016 by gadawg02

[gadawg02]

Thank a teacher when you see a well written review with paragraph breaks. Thank you.

 

 

Thank you!