Seven Days on the Dawn and Christmas in New Orleans: A Review

[PaulInPGH]

After our Mexican feast, we headed down to the theater for the Newlywed Game, which is always enjoyable. We stayed for the second showing of Band on the Run, which was just okay. The music was pretty good, particularly the Dawn Show Band, but the cheesy storyline was kind of, well, lame.

 

After the show, we stopped in Gatsby’s to check out the piano music and to grab a quick drink. Unfortunately, the piano entertainment on this cruise was pretty lacking. There’s something about hearing Piano Man sung in a thick Eastern European accent that fails to communicate the essence of the original, or to provide that sing-along vibe you want with live piano music.

 

With our first port on tap for the next day, and still feeling tired from my sleepless night, we decided to once again turn in early. After a little more balcony time, we quickly fell asleep.

[PaulInPGH]

Hi all!

 

Paul ~ following along & enjoying your review.:D I've been on the Dawn twice, once ending in New Orleans which has made me want to cruise from there. I'll be doing that in April 2018 but on Pearl then Triumph so look forward to tips about New Orleans.

I did try the beignets & got the powder all over the bus, the hotel room etc.:o

I love the food on NCL & the choices.

 

Happy New Year!

 

~ Jo ~ :)

 

Yes, getting powdered sugar all over you is pretty much a given. My first time in New Orleans I brought my black lab seeing eye dog to Café du Monde. After laying on the ground in all the powdered sugar, he looked like he'd aged about 10 years; it was quite the site. Happy New Year to you as well!

[spanntx]

I'm sorry, but I don't recall any specifics regarding the route of the cab between the Hilton and the port, other than it was very short. Someone else may be able to point out more specifics. If the Hilton is offering any services for cruise passengers we heard nothing about them from the hotel staff.

 

 

 

I believe there was a laundry service offered one night on the ship, I think for $20, but don't hold me to that. We didn't take advantage so I can't say with 100% certainty.

 

 

 

Yes. $19.95 to be returned by Thursday but ours was done much quicker.

[Mom2mykids&cats]

Paul, I am really enjoying your review of the Dawn! My husband and I are sailing starting 1/8/2017 for a week, out of New Orleans. We've cruised before, but it has been 20+ years for both of us, and I'm glad to see you enjoyed your time on the Norwegian Dawn. It gives me hope we'll enjoy it, too! (Plus, it's our 25th anniversary and the first "just us" vacation in several years.)

[300dtc]

Really enjoying your review...50 more days for us!

 

 

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[bbeever]

We are sailing on the Dawn for the first time in April. This will be the second time we have sailed NCL. We can't wait and have enjoyed reading your review. It definitely makes the wait harder, but also gives us something to look forward to.

[CTCruiser001]

This all sounds great! We are on the Dawn Jan. 22nd. Also staying at the Hilton. We have been planning to take the Streetcar to the port...Short trip, but would save extra walking from us. :p

[Emerald31]

Loving the review Paul. We will be sailing out of New Orleans in 2018, but it will be on the Pearl. Reading your review is making my 371 day wait slightly more tolerable.

Edited January 1, 2017 by Emerald31

[PaulInPGH]

Thank you all for your kind replies. I didn't get any writing done over the holiday weekend, but I hope to have fresh stuff posted tomorrow. I hope everyone had an excellent New Year!

[Still Dreaming]

Great review!

[BigEasyCC]

Thank you Paul! Heading out on the Dawn in 13 days.

 

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[BabsinTX]

Oh my. This is an amazing review. I almost fell off my chair when the hot dog photo appeared! I have to wait a year to sail on the Dawn again, so your review is whetting my appetite. And you are an awesome writer, too!

[PaulInPGH]

Oh my. This is an amazing review. I almost fell off my chair when the hot dog photo appeared! I have to wait a year to sail on the Dawn again, so your review is whetting my appetite. And you are an awesome writer, too!

 

Thank you! Yeah, that hotdog photo really speaks to people for some reason.

[PaulInPGH]

Day 4 (Cruise Day 3): A Day of Mayan Culture

 

I finally managed a good night of sleep, so I awoke for our day in Costa Maya feeling refreshed. We were up by 7:30, and since our tour wasn’t set to leave until 10:00, we had enough time to forego the hectic Garden Café for a more leisurely breakfast at O’Sheehan’s. We both enjoyed the food, and really enjoyed avoiding the crowds at the buffet. Breakfast took roughly 45 minutes, which gave us more than enough time to head back to our cabin and get sunscreened and bug sprayed in advance of our day in Costa Maya.

 

Following the always excellent advice I find here on CC, I decided to book a tour of the Chacchoben Ruins through Native Choice. The price was $55 per person, which I think was around half the cost of doing a tour through NCL.

 

Our tour was set to leave at 10:00, so we got off the ship at about 9:15, since we weren’t sure exactly how long it would take us to walk to the Native Choice office. When you book with Native Choice, they email you helpful step-by-step directions to their office, along with a handy map. We are both a little directionally challenged, but we managed to make it to their office without a problem.

 

The pier in Costa Maya is a bit lengthy, so it took us about half an hour to walk to the Native Choice building. We arrived just in time to quickly use the bathroom, grab a nice cold bottle of water, and hop on the van for the drive to the ruins.

[PaulInPGH]

One thing we really liked about Native Choice was the small size of the tour group. We were in a small van that sat about 15 people, and our tour guide was able to converse with everyone quite easily, which made everything more conversational than your typical narrated bus tour.

 

The drive to the ruins takes about an hour. Our tour guide, Edder, filled the time by giving us a great overview of the area. He was very knowledgeable and the hour drive went by very fast.

 

Before getting to the ruins, we stopped to use the restroom, as well as sample some locally-grown pineapple. This was nice, because there’s apparently a fee if you want to use the restroom at the ruins.

[PaulInPGH]

When we arrived at the ruins, Edder took us on a great walking tour that lasted about two hours. He gave an excellent tour of the ruins, as well as a great overview of the Mayan culture generally. This was our first time touring ruins, and we both really enjoyed the experience.

[PaulInPGH]

 

Temple of Venus.

[PaulInPGH]

 

Steps leading to the Temple of the Sun and Temple of the Moon (climbing is optional).

[PaulInPGH]

 

Me, in front of the Temple of the Moon.

[PaulInPGH]

We made it back to the ship by about 2:30. My only complaint with this tour is it’s a bit long to go without lunch, as we hadn’t eaten since 8:30 that morning. So our first order of business upon our return to the ship was to grab a bite.

 

We decided to grab a quick bite at Topsiders, which is near the pool on deck 12. I’ve read that the Dawn used to actually have grills near the pool area, which would have been really fun and delicious. Unfortunately, the food from Topsiders was the only meal on the cruise we didn’t enjoy. I tried a burger and a chicken breast, and my wife tried a burger and a sausage. Everything was very unremarkable, and on a ship with delicious food pretty much everywhere, I regretted wasting any belly room on such average fare.

[PaulInPGH]

After a quick stop back to our cabin to shower and change, we roamed back up to deck 13 for an afternoon drink at Bimini Grill, which—when the wind isn’t blowing like crazy—is a great spot for enjoying a drink as the ship leaves port. Feeling a bit sunned-out for the day, we finished off our drinks pretty quickly and headed back in to the nice cool air-conditioning.

 

We brought a fresh round of drinks with us down to Bliss, where we were eager to defend our title in another round of music trivia. Today’s trivia was Broadway songs, and I am proud to say that we won again! We collected more participation signatures, but whatever prize awaited us at the end could not compete with just the thrill and rush of victory.

 

We had no dinner plans for the evening, but since we’d eaten a later lunch, neither one of us felt like eating quite yet. We did, however, have a hunger for another Tropical Paloma, so we stopped in and chatted with Rodell and enjoyed some nice conversation, and some nice alcohol.

[PaulInPGH]

Next, we headed down to Bliss to hear the Dawn Show Band. This turned out to be really excellent. Even though the Daily said “Ballroom Music,” think jazz standards, not slow waltzes. As I’ve mentioned, the jazz band was very good, so I highly recommend checking them out, especially when they play in Bliss minus the singers and dancers.

 

We hung out in Bliss for a while, because after their set of standards, the Show Band did a tribute to Glenn Miller. I played most of those songs in high school jazz band, so I really enjoyed this set.

[PaulInPGH]

 

Dawn Show Band, jazzin' it up.

[Russ Lomas]

I am wondering if you have photos of the MDR menus by chance? If so, I would love to see them.

 

I am also wondering if the Christmas decorations were left up until the end of your cruise? The reason I ask is that we board the Dawn on December 28th this year and are hoping they will still be up. We were on the Celebrity Summit a couple of years ago and they left the Christmas decorations up til January 2nd. I read a review from the Christmas 2015 cruise on the Dawn and the individual reported that the decorations were all gone on the morning of December 26th when they awoke. I am not sure what day you disembarked, so you may not be able to help me with this question. I may have to ask people on the current Dawn cruise after they disembark.

Edited January 3, 2017 by Russ Lomas
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[PaulInPGH]

I am wondering if you have photos of the MDR menus by chance? If so, I would love to see them.

 

I am also wondering if the Christmas decorations were left up until the end of your cruise? The reason I ask is that we board the Dawn on December 28th this year and are hoping they will still be up. We were on the Celebrity Summit a couple of years ago and they left the Christmas decorations up til January 2nd. I read a review from the Christmas 2015 cruise on the Dawn and the individual reported that the decorations were all gone on the morning of December 26th when they awoke. I am not sure what day you disembarked, so you may not be able to help me with this question. I may have to ask people on the current Dawn cruise after they disembark.

 

I'm sorry, but we never ate in the MDR on this cruise, and for some reason I never think to take pictures of the menus, just the food.

 

We got off on December 23, so the Christmas decorations were still out in full force. Not sure how that would change post-Christmas though.