Monkeys, Villas, and Quarantine on the Dawn 3/12-3/19 trip report

[Starflyr3]

3/18: Sea Day

 

Happy Birthday to me!

 

I get to entertain my kids in the stateroom ALLLLLL DAY LONG. Yay...

 

Honestly, I dont think I would have been sane by the end of it if we had been in an inside or OV cabin. having 3 rooms and 2 bathrooms was a GODSEND. Now, luckily, it was only her that was restricted, since the rest of us had no symptoms. (and honestly, she really didnt have any further symptoms after the med center visit and a dose of immodium).

 

I stayed with the kids until my (already booked) bamboo massage at 11 am. I also took the opportunity to do tips for Gian, Roel, the kids club staff, and Rinaldo (steward), and to get a Cruise Next deposit. Once I got back, we had lunch (delivered by Gian). Gian had also taken the opportunity to decorate our room, and bring a cake:

 

 

We watched a couple of movies, then I asked DH when he was coming back. I may have starting drinking mimosas, and I may or may not have had an entire bottle of champagne by myself...

 

Once DH got back, I headed to the casino, where I did pretty well. It was my birthday, by golly!

 

We had dinner in the room (hot dogs and pizza) and then DH took his turn in the casino. I took a second turn around 10 pm, and lost everything I had won. Oh well!

[Starflyr3]

3/19: Disembarkation:

 

I purposefully scheduled a flight that left around 4 pm so that we would be able to NOT get up at the crack of dawn (ha...punny). We got up around 8, finished the last minute packing and had an nice leisurely breakfast in Moderno. We headed down the Stardust for disembarkation around 9:30, but saw the line and said NOPE.

 

Roel had us stay in Stardust and he monitored the line. Apparently 4 of the 6 CBP agents took a 2 hour break during disembarkation. Once the line died down, he led us ahead of whoever was left and let us off the ship. We were out of there within 10 minutes.

 

I called the hotel and asked for a shuttle, but after 45 minutes of waiting for it, we walked back to the Hampton Inn, and stored our bags with the bell boys.

 

We had tickets to Mardi Gras World, so we headed over there.

 

It is AMAZING what they do, in terms of designing and manufacturing the floats. We took the tour, half of which was watching a movie.

 

We got to dress up in some costumes (B didnt want to, so he got to take the picture):

 

 

We were served slices of King Cake during the movie, and C actually got the baby Jesus in her slice of king cake! I was informed that we have to throw a Mardi Gras party in 2018.

 

 

They do a lot of the prop manufacturing by hand, but recently purchased this machine to help:

 

 

They make the props/floats for 22 of the 55 Krewes in NOLA.

 

Some of their work:

 

 

 

 

We picked up some souveniers here also, as we hadnt gotten any at any of the ports.

 

We went back to the Hampton and got our bags, and got a cab to MSY.

 

We had lunch at Dookey Chase's, which was spicy, but good, then headed to the terminal. Our flight was a bit delayed, because apparently, they only work C10, and none of the other C gates on Sundays because.... reasons?

 

We made it home in plenty of time, though, unpacked and I headed to bed since I had to work the next day.

 

Vacation was over. Back to reality.

 

Overall, this vacation was great. I think for our kids, though, 4 ports was too much. Clearly, also, they want more to do on the ship than splash academy and baby slides, so Im glad I have Escape booked for next Spring Break.

 

Happy to answer any questions!

[Starflyr3]

We were on this sailing too! I also have an 8 year old so I'm sure they met each other in kids club. :) Glad you had a much better embarkation experience than us - the suite perks make a huge difference there!

 

They probably did, but my son really didnt spend much time there.

 

i read your review, sounds like you had fun!

[Starflyr3]

Thank you for posting this! I hope this will be our menu on the Pearl April of 2018. It would be nice to have a few changes as the suite lunch menu has been unchanged for many years.

 

I think they're putting the new menus in place as the ships go through dry dock. Not entirely sure

[blc1975]

Loved your review!!! This was my first cruise and I didn't know what to expect. Overall, I'd say that I enjoyed 95% of it! 2.5% of it was spring break crowd (my group unfortunately couldn't go any other time) and the other 2.5% was when Oscar (same as your Oscar!) took the 200.00 out of my bag while we were in with the sloths. Lesson learned - sadly I already knew it could happen just got too comfortable. But for a first time cruiser, I was obsessed with the crew, how/where they slept, how long they were there....how the ship worked, how much food they serve. I don't know why but I was just so curious. I did the "Operation of the Dawn" seminar and it was pretty good. Someone mentioned there that we had an issue with people missing the boat on that trip! I didn't realize it, but the Captain said if the boat sails at 430 then the boat sails at 430. HA. LOVED Cagneys. It was our last specialty dinner on Saturday night. Loved Teppenyaki as well except for a slight hiccup with the photography staff that haunted us for a few days (charged for a pic that we didn't buy after a girl in our party snapped a pic on her phone for snapchat - was 16 and didn't know better). Overall though I loved the ship. So many say that "you don't stay in your room" but that wasn't true for me. I sat on our balcony for HOURS and just enjoyed it. I actually never went on the deck of the ship until the last day and then only for 10 min. I was all over the inside of the ship, but if I wanted to enjoy the outdoors, it was on my balcony. Lastly, I'm with your kids. By the 4th port I was exhausted. It was the prettiest water, but I chose to stay onboard and sleep that day. I'm sad I missed out based on what others have said, but it was a very relaxing day for me.

[Hollr]

Loved your review!!! This was my first cruise and I didn't know what to expect. Overall, I'd say that I enjoyed 95% of it! 2.5% of it was spring break crowd (my group unfortunately couldn't go any other time) and the other 2.5% was when Oscar (same as your Oscar!) took the 200.00 out of my bag while we were in with the sloths. Lesson learned - sadly I already knew it could happen just got too comfortable. But for a first time cruiser, I was obsessed with the crew, how/where they slept, how long they were there....how the ship worked, how much food they serve. I don't know why but I was just so curious. I did the "Operation of the Dawn" seminar and it was pretty good. Someone mentioned there that we had an issue with people missing the boat on that trip! I didn't realize it, but the Captain said if the boat sails at 430 then the boat sails at 430. HA. LOVED Cagneys. It was our last specialty dinner on Saturday night. Loved Teppenyaki as well except for a slight hiccup with the photography staff that haunted us for a few days (charged for a pic that we didn't buy after a girl in our party snapped a pic on her phone for snapchat - was 16 and didn't know better). Overall though I loved the ship. So many say that "you don't stay in your room" but that wasn't true for me. I sat on our balcony for HOURS and just enjoyed it. I actually never went on the deck of the ship until the last day and then only for 10 min. I was all over the inside of the ship, but if I wanted to enjoy the outdoors, it was on my balcony. Lastly, I'm with your kids. By the 4th port I was exhausted. It was the prettiest water, but I chose to stay onboard and sleep that day. I'm sad I missed out based on what others have said, but it was a very relaxing day for me.

 

 

So your tour guide stole $200 from your bag?

 

 

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[Starflyr3]

Wow. I'm sorry that happened, I would be furious.

 

That being said, whenever I leave the ship, NOTHING in a bag is valuable. I keep my money, ID, etc on my person directly, in a location pretty much impossible to pick pocket without being noticed.

[blc1975]

So your tour guide stole $200 from your bag?

 

 

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Yes. And as I've learned the hardway - in the future, that opportunity will never again present itself.

[tombec1]

Yes. And as I've learned the hardway - in the future, that opportunity will never again present itself.

 

I would do a review on Tripadvisor to let others know what happened. These guys live and die by their Tripadvisor reviews. :D

[808cruisef]

Yes, I did. Here it is:

 

 

 

Wow. This is totally different than the moderno lunch menu on jewel.

 

 

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[Starflyr3]

Wow. This is totally different than the moderno lunch menu on jewel.

 

 

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That is the old one. It's what was onour Jade, Sky, and Pearl cruises last year. I think they may be changing it after drydocks.

[boopsahoy]

That is the old one. It's what was onour Jade, Sky, and Pearl cruises last year. I think they may be changing it after drydocks.

 

Gem already has the new menu. We really enjoyed it but we missed some of the old choices-but we loved some of the new choices.

[kdzkatz]

I would have thought after dry dock they would change over if they hadn't already but the Pearl just came out of dry dock and they still have the old menus.

 

Not any kind of big deal either way as we will be able to have breakfast and lunch in there no matter the menu but I am intrigued with some different choices. We are still a little over a year away so I am guessing the menus will change by then. If not, no biggie. :D

[CRAustin]

Great review did this cruise end of Nov in the Garden Villa my 16th with NCL had the beach villa and always go to Maya Chan!! One thing I learned along time ago always bring Imodium they do not sell it on board and any indication is automatic lockdown. I have a sensitive stomach and the sugary drinks get to me too. Glad you enjoyed the ship is beautiful after the refurb and the service was top notch!! Already booked the 9 day for next Nov out of NOLA this time on the Pearl with added ports in Grand Cayman and Guatemala. Can't wait!!

 

 

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