Just off the NCL Dawn this morning!

[linbobky]

we was on the 11 day cruise and we had a blast. The ship looked great and everything was kelp clean the whole time.

we only had 861 passengers on board and about 1100 crew. there was no lines anywhere and you could get dinner res. anytime you wanted. 

the entertainment was soso. they had a show every night in the theater. a lady from the show the voice was on stage and she was great. she was on another night also. they had a comedian on twice and he was awful. they had one big show with all entertainers called elements. it was very good.

the food was very good, i thought it was. O'sheaens or however you spell it was a great place to eat breakfast and lunch. also they had specials through out the  cruise for dinner.

we ate at the le bistro 4 times and what meals they had. ate at the steakhouse one night and it was just ok.

the bamboo was also very good.

we only ate at the buffet one time and that was for breakfast this morning.

i am hoping that ncl gets more passengers because i don't know how long they can stay in business with so few passengers. the encore was at one of our ports and i talked someone on it he said it only 1400 on the ship. it holds almost 5000 he said.

i hope this small review helps. i will try to answer questions from you. 

you could tell that the crew was happy to be back to work. they worked thier tails off.

[linbobky]

2 minutes ago, linbobky said:

we was on the 11 day cruise and we had a blast. The ship looked great and everything was kelp clean the whole time.

we only had 861 passengers on board and about 1100 crew. there was no lines anywhere and you could get dinner res. anytime you wanted. 

the entertainment was soso. they had a show every night in the theater. a lady from the show the voice was on stage and she was great. she was on another night also. they had a comedian on twice and he was awful. they had one big show with all entertainers called elements. it was very good.

the food was very good, i thought it was. O'sheaens or however you spell it was a great place to eat breakfast and lunch. also they had specials through out the  cruise for dinner.

we ate at the le bistro 4 times and what meals they had. ate at the steakhouse one night and it was just ok.

the bamboo was also very good.

we only ate at the buffet one time and that was for breakfast this morning.

i am hoping that ncl gets more passengers because i don't know how long they can stay in business with so few passengers. the encore was at one of our ports and i talked someone on it he said it only 1400 on the ship. it holds almost 5000 he said.

i hope this small review helps. i will try to answer questions from you. 

you could tell that the crew was happy to be back to work. they worked thier tails off.

let me add one more thing. we made all 6 ports.

[JennKach]

Thanks for the quick review!  Can you tell me what times the shows were so we can plan dinner around them?

[surfone]

The Dawn is one our favorite ships!  Did you get an upgrade opportunity?  Did you try the lavender Martini?  Good to hear the food was good and wow only 861 people...Happy you had a good time.  Where port did you cruise out?

[linbobky]

1 hour ago, JennKach said:

Thanks for the quick review!  Can you tell me what times the shows were so we can plan dinner around them?

all shows were at 8 pm every night.

[linbobky]

8 minutes ago, surfone said:

The Dawn is one our favorite ships!  Did you get an upgrade opportunity?  Did you try the lavender Martini?  Good to hear the food was good and wow only 861 people...Happy you had a good time.  Where port did you cruise out?

yes, we upgraded from a inside room to a balcony. we offered 120 each and they let us do it. we cruised out of tampa.

[surfone]

1 minute ago, linbobky said:

yes, we upgraded from a inside room to a balcony. we offered 120 each and they let us do it. we cruised out of tampa.

Nice!  Our son just moved back to St Pete so we are planning to cruise out of Tampa hopefully within a year.  We sailed out of NYC and also out of San Juan on the Dawn.  

[Oceansaway17]

I also love the Dawn having sailed out of Boston in 2012 for 14 day new England and Canada.

 

So how is it sailing from Tampa?  I watch occasionally on PTZtv the ships leaving.

[mafig]

So glad to see a review on Dawn.  We are considering her for March or April.  Happy to hear she's in good shape.

 

 

[mafig]

Do you recall what time you went under the Sunshine Bridge?

[SplashOfWater]

Thank you for the review! We've been on the Dawn in the past and will be on her again in November. We really love the smaller NCL ships. They don't have all the bells and whistles of the newer ships, but that's fine with us.

[linbobky]

1 hour ago, mafig said:

Do you recall what time you went under the Sunshine Bridge?

the lights were on and it was beautiful. i think it was around 6 or so.

[cruiserbear55]

3 hours ago, surfone said:

The Dawn is one our favorite ships!  Did you get an upgrade opportunity?  Did you try the lavender Martini?  Good to hear the food was good and wow only 861 people...Happy you had a good time.  Where port did you cruise out?

The Dawn IS our favorite ship! Too bad they moved her out of Beantown. Sailed on her 7 times to Bermuda, once to Maine/Canada ( a secondary itinerary due to a hurricane bashing Bermuda), and a 9 day to the Caribbean. There was nothing like eating lunch or dinner in the Venetian Restaurant and watching the ships wake as you dined. NCL moved the Gem to Boston in 2019. I didn't think the Gem was as "intimate" as the Dawn, but I did like The Great Outdoors. Now we'll have the Pearl, and we shall see!

[surfone]

15 minutes ago, cruiserbear55 said:

The Dawn IS our favorite ship! Too bad they moved her out of Beantown. Sailed on her 7 times to Bermuda, once to Maine/Canada ( a secondary itinerary due to a hurricane bashing Bermuda), and a 9 day to the Caribbean. There was nothing like eating lunch or dinner in the Venetian Restaurant and watching the ships wake as you dined. NCL moved the Gem to Boston in 2019. I didn't think the Gem was as "intimate" as the Dawn, but I did like The Great Outdoors. Now we'll have the Pearl, and we shall see!

Yes,  I agree it's something about the Dawn we did like a little better than the Gem,  and we are on the Pearl for the first time coming up in May (to Bermuda)

[Falckon]

How was the testing and check-in process? Did they enforce check-in times? We are on the Feb. 20th sailing.

[linbobky]

7 minutes ago, Falckon said:

How was the testing and check-in process? Did they enforce check-in times? We are on the Feb. 20th sailing.

we were dropped off at port entrance and we checked our bag with the porters. Yes, we checked our bag before getting tested. then we had to walk across the street to the parking garage. we got in a line with maybe 50 people in it. it went fast because they had about 10 or so people giving the test. you do the swabbing of your nose. then you will be seated in another area for 20 minutes. if they do not call your name you are safe to go check in. they will put a colored strip on your wrist. you have to wear it to go to the ship. it was painless but, it was cold when we did this.

[Falckon]

Thanks for the fast response.

 

[monl765]

I was also on the Dawn, it was one of the best cruises I've had.  I agree with everything the OP said.

 

On the issue of enforcement of check-in times, the answer is NO.  We were scheduled for 11:00 - 11:30 time, and everyone around us were scheduled for noon or later.  (We arrived @ 11:10)  They came anyway to be "safe" on there time.  It did not matter, as the OP said the cruise was less than half full.  NCL (or the contract 3rd party) did not check scheduled times, and just processed everyone as they showed up.  It went quickly and we were on board by 11:45.

 

Since the previous 2 cruises on the Dawn were cancelled, all rooms were ready upon boarding.  It was great to drop off the bags and enjoy the ship.  The service was super, with few people to serve the crew was eager to help.

[TTimmy58]

On 2/9/2022 at 4:07 PM, linbobky said:

yes, we upgraded from a inside room to a balcony. we offered 120 each and they let us do it. we cruised out of tampa.

How did you request the upgrade?

[linbobky]

3 hours ago, CryptoTim said:

How did you request the upgrade?

when i opened up my planner, a pop up appeared to see if i wanted a upgrade.

[Rag2]

When you were on board, was the Thermal Suite fully operational? Were the sauna and steamroom open? 

[Allen&Jane]

We were also on this cruise and had a great time. I won a upgrade from a balcony to a forward facing  penthouse with a "poor" bid. Very strange never seeing a line at the elevators. 

[scorpioncrawl]

linbobky: So did you take a negative covid test with you? Did they ask for it? I'm only asking because we are ready to book a cruise in 2 weeks, and after reading NCL website and threads regarding testing, we were still a little confused. Called NCL agent 2 days ago and she stated we are required to get a covid test 2 days prior to sailing.

[mafig]

12 hours ago, Allen&Jane said:

We were also on this cruise and had a great time. I won a upgrade from a balcony to a forward facing  penthouse with a "poor" bid. Very strange never seeing a line at the elevators. 

How did you like this room?

What floor were you on. ?  

[TTimmy58]

1 hour ago, scorpioncrawl said:

linbobky: So did you take a negative covid test with you? Did they ask for it? I'm only asking because we are ready to book a cruise in 2 weeks, and after reading NCL website and threads regarding testing, we were still a little confused. Called NCL agent 2 days ago and she stated we are required to get a covid test 2 days prior to sailing.

I am booked on the Dawn 2/27/22 and I just recceived an email from NCL saying

 

Edited February 13, 2022 by CryptoTim
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