Dawn- has anybody had a good cruise on her?

[hamrag]

1 hour ago, insidecabin said:

.....You can add another 2 for £70pp 

If you really need the 24 the extra 9 pack £307pp

 

We would get fed up with that many would be far to much food....

Thanks for your thoughts, appreciated. For us, it's more about food quality rather than quantity, and yes to eat full whack for 14 nights would be exhausting. What we tend to do, unless ravenous is eat less of what is available to us and sometimes in the Brazilian place we focus totally on their fabulous salad table and very, very small amounts of main.

 

We just find the MDR on Norwegian to be at best very average and unappetising.

[insidecabin]

1 hour ago, hamrag said:

Thanks for your thoughts, appreciated. For us, it's more about food quality rather than quantity, and yes to eat full whack for 14 nights would be exhausting. What we tend to do, unless ravenous is eat less of what is available to us and sometimes in the Brazilian place we focus totally on their fabulous salad table and very, very small amounts of main.

 

We just find the MDR on Norwegian to be at best very average and unappetising.

Then PAYG comes into play if going very light, does not work every location.

 

 

 

We like Ginza and can add the odd paid item from sush

 

We find some days MDR and buffet have decent options.

 

We do O'Sheehans/local there are the odd decent fillers when not massive hungry.

Just don't need the dining experience every night, can make do with a good lunch.

 

Even in YC Virtuosa we have hit the buffet for the curry selections

[amygutman]

16 hours ago, hamrag said:

Thank you so much for taking the time to write this. Recently, our cruise line of choice has been MSC Yacht Club, similar to the Haven. We have a deposit on MSC Virtuosa Yacht Club for a repositioning cruise, 18 nights Barcelona to Dubai, in November but have seen the Dawn variant of same (albeit embarking in Istanbul) for 19 nights with a few high hitter additional ports.

 

Our problem is that you have to pay for the specialty restaurants, and you highlight that cost clearly. We get 3 of them on the all inclusive package, and an additional 2 as Platinum status and would wish to spend probably 14 of our nights at the specialties. It just seems ridiculous, when the Sx grades are so expensive, not to have evening dining included.

 

So, with a fabulous itinerary, we need to decide whether to splurge or go with a non-suite cabin given the suite benefits only cover brunch meals! Or, hold off for a late booking hoping for lower pricing.....We moved on from NCl, never had Haven, back in 2017 before the offer bid system was initiated so realising price reductions for suites on Dawn will be unlikely. TBH, with such a fab itinerary, we could just go with a much lower cost cabin and still do the specialties.

I feel the same re: itinerary vs ship. Keeping in mind that every cruise may miss a port, be re-routed or short-changed re: time in port due to weather, ship issues, passenger emergencies - so sometimes falling in love with an itinerary vs loving the ship / experience can lead to disappointment. 

 

Rolling the dice ourselves June 2025. We fell in love with the Spirit's Alaska to Hawaii cruise for our 20th anniversary. The ship looks gorgeous, and we booked a suite for whale and glacier / volcano viewing. Loved BOTH itinerary and ship. Well...we all know what has happened to the Spirit. So, we stumbled upon a wonderful itinerary from Israel to Egypt, Greece and Turkey. Amazing. Will be enriching and full of faith and science visiting the seats of Judiasm, Christianity, and Athenian culture. However, it's on the Viva which we are "meh" about at this point. We HATE the look of the Prima, and despite what looks like an equally hideous ship layout and design, will be taking our Middle Eastern cruise on the Viva so definitely itinerary over ship. 

 

Heck...any day not at work, right? I know you will love however you spend your cruise and look forward to hearing details!

Warmest, Amy

[hamrag]

7 hours ago, amygutman said:

....we stumbled upon a wonderful itinerary from Israel to Egypt, Greece and Turkey. Amazing. Will be enriching and full of faith and science visiting the seats of Judiasm, Christianity, and Athenian culture....

Thank you, this caused me to do a search for NCL middle east cruises so there are some in the late spring of 2024 which may interest us!

[cruisinmeme]

We sailed the dawn several times. Had the grandkids and stayed in the family suites. I love that it had LosLobis. We ate there like 4 or 5 nights. Dawn is fine for us.

[amygutman]

On 6/25/2023 at 4:44 AM, hamrag said:

Thank you, this caused me to do a search for NCL middle east cruises so there are some in the late spring of 2024 which may interest us!

That's awesomle!

 

If you need an agent to assist, we love our TA who makes everything just so perfect for us. You can email me at prehospitalmd@gmail.com and I can give you his contact info. 

 

He is a genius at really knowing his clients and when he suggested this itinerary, we knew it would be a wonderful adventure. I'd love to know if you book it (and no pressure at all to email me, I am just excited to share my good fortune in having a kind, ethical agent), and if you do...I would love to hear about your experience!

 

Warmest, Amy

[complawyer]

hey, amygutman and hamrag. check out the dawn b2b from venice to athens, athens to tel aviv. starting oct 17,2024, we're booked on the 2 cruises. been to telaviv and jerualem on a cruise last year on the down side, i slipped on the steps from the wailing wall and broke 3 ribs. put a real damper on the rest of the cruise. i couldnt get  to fully enjoy istanbul, we loved venice, and i want to spend a few days in jerusalem. so we're off again.

 

by the way, in answer to the original question, we've sailed the dawn before, and have no qualms about sailing her again. im happy on any ncl ship that we've been on (25 total)

[wally4ever]

I did a solo cruise on the Dawn back in spring 2022.  It was lovely.  It didn't have some of the biggest bells and whistles from the newer ships, but I spend most of my time on decks 6, 7, and 8.

[Benjellos]

We just got off the Dawn on a British isles cruise.  I thought the Dawn was a great ship for the itinerary.  Staff and entertainment was great.  Food was good.  My problem was with the itinerary change and NCL, not with the ship itself.

[SplashOfWater]

We sailed on the Dawn in 2017 & 2018 and enjoyed sailing on her again in 2022. The food and live entertainment were good, and the ship was in great shape. She doesn't have all the bells and whistles of the newer mega ships, but that's fine with us. We prefer the smaller ships for a more low-key vacation.

[amygutman]

On 6/26/2023 at 8:08 PM, complawyer said:

hey, amygutman and hamrag. check out the dawn b2b from venice to athens, athens to tel aviv. starting oct 17,2024, we're booked on the 2 cruises. been to telaviv and jerualem on a cruise last year on the down side, i slipped on the steps from the wailing wall and broke 3 ribs. put a real damper on the rest of the cruise. i couldnt get  to fully enjoy istanbul, we loved venice, and i want to spend a few days in jerusalem. so we're off again.

 

by the way, in answer to the original question, we've sailed the dawn before, and have no qualms about sailing her again. im happy on any ncl ship that we've been on (25 total)

@complawyer Thank you so much!!! I did not see this posting in June - my apologies for the late reply. Am very excited to have booked the Viva for the Haifa - Jerusalem - Egypt - Athens itinerary (way, way more than the Viva itself but happy to give it a go). Would LOVE to do the B2B, but instead going a few days earlier to Israel to see family who live on a kibbutz, then finishing up with 2 days in Athens visiting the sites. 

 

And we love to go on each and every NCL - like children, we love them all (but have our favorites, don't we). 🤣

 

Warmest, Amy

[complawyer]

amy, one other great thing about our b2b, club balcony for entire 20 days is slightly under $11,000

right now, the prima and viva have priced us out of that market.

 

if our usual traveling companion decides to join us, we'll probably upgrade to the 2 bedroom suite. right now its just me and mrs complawyer, so we're good on the club.

 

i always say (regardless of anyone else's opinion) ncl gives you the best bang for your buck, both in price and choice of intinerery

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We have had several cruises on the Dawn and thoroughly enjoyed each one.  We have a family cruise booked on her next year and I expect it to be delightful, as well.

[amygutman]

19 hours ago, complawyer said:

amy, one other great thing about our b2b, club balcony for entire 20 days is slightly under $11,000

right now, the prima and viva have priced us out of that market.

 

if our usual traveling companion decides to join us, we'll probably upgrade to the 2 bedroom suite. right now its just me and mrs complawyer, so we're good on the club.

 

i always say (regardless of anyone else's opinion) ncl gives you the best bang for your buck, both in price and choice of intinerery

@complawyer the benefit of older ships is usually the price, but it's interesting; we actually chose the Viva Haven over the Star Suite. Star suite for a 9 day cruise in Northern Europe was about the same as a Viva Haven 8 day Middle East. It's a matter of timing and desirability I suppose. 

 

The 2 bedroom is our favorite room set-up. I hope if you book it you love it as much as we do!

 

The Gem remains my favorite ship...smaller, older, lovely. Less bells and whistles, but often cannot beat the price. And certainly preferred over monstrosities like Icon of the Sea!

[complawyer]

we've booked the 2 bedroom many times, and i assure you we also love it. when my friend joins, the 3 of us have an opportunity to enjoy a suite with all it's perks, she has her own room, plus the suite advantages, and the price is apportioned accordingly. right now we are patiently waiting for july 25th. we're flying into london a day early, getting a shuttle on the 26th to southampton, and onto the dawn for the b2b london copenhagen-copenhagen stockholm. and of course the 2 bedroom suite,