Dawn review...just returned yesterday!

[kevinsmom]

ok, since i have been reading these boards since jan, i know the deal...people post their reviews/opinions and then the people reading them disagree ;) but here goes MY OPINION of the trip and how it was for me.

Overall i really enjoyed the Dawn. It was a beautiful ship, i loved the tropical decor. I went on the cruise w/my whole family 10 of us in all, including my 16 mo old son. Traveling w/a toddler was def not easy. In addition to all the logistics and gear, the whole dining experience (3 hrs) and lack of space in the room were not condusive to "baby". but i will save that for the family boards.

As for the freestyle cruising, i don't think it is for me. Of course, i liked the idea of not having to get all dressed up but it wasn't like you could wear shorts, you still needed to look presentable. although, i will be honest, i saw people in some questionable attire. however, my husband tried to wear dress shorts to La Trattoria and was asked to change, so they do enforce the dress code. I just felt like it was a lot of work each night trying to find where to eat. I like on other cruises just having to go to the main dining room each night at a certain time and have the same table each time. My opinion of course, but the structure would have been much easier for my son.

we wasted a lot of time trying to find a place where we didn't have to wait. We did make reservations at Cagney's (steakhouse) and La Trattoria (ItaliaN). Speciality restaurants = slow service. i think they feel you are looking to have a 3 hr meal and i am not kidding when i say we waited FOREVER in between courses, it was terrible. Cagneys was good, but i didn't feel it was worth the extra money, the food in the main dining areas was very good. La Trattoria was absolutely TERRIBLE, not even edible and all i had was pasta w/marinara sauce. ok, i am Italian, but i didn't set the bar that high....i mean HORRIBLE. did i say that already? we were 8 people and no one ate their meal and to add insult to injury we waited close to an hour between courses.

Again my opinion...but i wouldn't bother w/the specialty restaurants, i don't even see why they have them. The servers in the main dining rooms were much friendlier also. i didn't try any other of the special ones, the italian place ended it for me. now if we could have gotten reservations in the main dining rooms life would have been easier but the would not take them between 5:30 and 8:30pm. overall the food was very good. The Blue Lagoon is good for a quick bite, but was always crowded w/young children and teenagers, so we couldn't find a spot usually. and the Garden Cafe (buffet) was ok, but again packed at peak hours. The nice thing in the Garden Cafe was the Kiddie Buffet, always stocked w/goodies for the little ones.

As for the ports, I could have done w/out Florida. We spent so much time there and so little time in Nassau. The day in Nassau is so short, you feel very rushed.

In Port Canavral, i did the fun & sun day at the beach, which was at a holiday inn hotel, it was a lot of fun, great if you have kids. They had a big pool and a cute kiddie on w/a pirate ship, plus you are right near the ocean. A couple of my family members did the Pontoon Boat and were not impressed and others did the Kennedy Space center and there were mixed reviews.

Miami, in my opinion, was dirty at least near where the beach was. we didn't use the beach, b/c it rained, but we went to bayside which was a nice market place.

Great Stirrup Cay, the private island, was fun. but everyone was right, it was VERY crowded. i don't understand how they can expect everyone to fit on that little beach, you were literally tripping over people. but on the upside, the water was beautiful and the barbecue was very good.

Nassau...we took a cab ($4/pp) to Atlantis. it was beautiful and i thought it was worth it. Doing it on our own gave us a little more time. we then went to the straw market, which i had been to previously, but it always an interesting experience.

The trip back home was very rough, friday night into sat, we barely slept. it literally felt like the ship was going to roll over. i have been on three other cruises and i can say that on this ship i felt the most movement. i had to take bonine often, as did others in my group. i don't know if it is the trip itself, b/c other times i left from Florida and Peurto Rico or the ship.

so this is getting long, but all in all i had a good time. i, myself, didn't do many on board activities, except bingo, b/c it was too hard w/the baby. but my parents really enjoyed the comedian and the shows. Not sure if i would choose NCL again or not, i think i prefer RCL, but we'll see you never know, i may give it another shot.

any questions...please ask away, i will be very happy to help if i can.

oh..i forgot...must have blanked it out...EMBARKATION = NIGHTMARE. if any one needs elaboration i will give it.

Gina

[Casshew]

i know the deal...people post their reviews/opinions and then the people reading them disagree

Bahahaha! Thats a good one!

 

Thanks for the review... travelling with a toddler is challenging and I think you deserve a medal (or another vacation) for that!

 

I would like you to expand on your embarkation nightmare whenever you have some time LOL

 

Freestyle is not as 'free' as it seems huh? How could they screw up spaghetti & marinara?? LOL

[djmpj]

Yes, please tell us about embarkment.. any hints for those of us who will be going?

Also, how was your room? What kind of room did you all have?

Besides the toddler, did you travel with other age children? If so, how did they like the cruise?

Last, we are thinking about doing the Kennedy Space Center with our 11 and 9 year old boys. What did your family say they liked/disliked?

 

Thanks

DJ

[gardencat]

kevinsmom

 

Thanks for the review, very interesting.

For us, gettting to the pier on embarkation day was a nightmare too, because of the traffic and the single entranceway. I think that depends on how many ships are in port that day and what else is happening in the surrounding city area.

Once we got to the pier and got our luggage down the one broken escalator the actual embarkation went okay. I haven't complained much about this before, because I can't really hold NCL responsible. Short of embarking from a different port what could they do? So many people like to be able to depart from NY that I don't see them changing that.

I hear now that there are cruises departing from New Jersey so that might be one way to avoid NYC port but not if you want to sail on NCL.

I have heard they are taking steps to rennovate the NY port so hopefully it will improve in the future.

[shoreguy]

Thank you for taking the time to provide the feedback. So many spend months here getting ready to go and then we never hear from them again.

 

I have cruised on the Dawn 3 times but never with a large group or a toddler and you review adds some insite into the challenges.

 

I have to agree La Trattoria is wasted space considering so many of the passengers are from the northeast and can get great Italian around every corner. I can bring my own jar of Newman's Best :)

 

You point out another key point. Freestyle is great for it's flexibility but it puts the burden on us to plan. This seems a lot easier for a small group then a large group.

 

EMBARKATION = NIGHTMARE - we all love those stories since it is NY. One of my co-workerss took his 2yo last spring. I suggested he not show up at the pier until after 2 pm since they did not want to deal with long lines. He said it worked great. Drove up in a cab, handed off the baggage, and almost walked directly onto the ship. Yes they missed lunch but also avoided most if not all of the classic NIGHTMARE.

[Jennygirl]

Very nice review. I just had to chuckle when I read it because I think I was on the ship the week before you and both things you hated (Holiday Day INN excursion) and the Trattoria - my group loved. Just goes to show how different everybody is and all opinions are just that....opinions. Anyway....it was a nice cruise and we had a good old time and glad you enjoyed it as well. One thing I agree with you 100% is that next time we cruise it will be back to structed dining....freestyle isnt for us either. My group of 8 agrees also. We like the same waiters every night and the set time to dine.....and youre right again.......we always dressed nicely at night anyway. To me freestyle wouldve been shorts in the dining rooms. I don't mean tank tops and sloppy shorts but Im sure people would abuse it...and thats why they don't allow them.

 

So are you planning the next cruise yet???? Try Celebrity - you'll love it

 

Jen

[LDeBord]

Kevinsmom....why wouldn't they allow reservations between

5:30 and 8:30 in the main dining room??

[fkwok]

Hi Kevinsmom; thank you for your review. Could you please elaborate on the holiday inn? Some other posters said it was awful and you are the only one who had something nice to say about it. Is it near the beach? Was the pool clean and how was the staff at the place treat you? Some people said it was a tremendous waste of time and money.

 

I would echo the others by asking you to elaborate in the embarkation nightmare. My docs now read to begin boarding at 1 pm instead of the usual 11 am/12 pm time period. What was the major hold-up?

 

Thanks again.

[shoreguy]

 

I would echo the others by asking you to elaborate in the embarkation nightmare. My docs now read to begin boarding at 1 pm instead of the usual 11 am/12 pm time period. What was the major hold-up?

 

Thanks again.

 

I believe the docs have always said 1 pm. Keep in mind the last passengers get off the ship at around 11 am on a normal day. Any hold up in clearing the ship an that could become 12 pm.

 

When everyone arrives early trying to be the first onboard you have 2000+ trying to get out of the pier running headon into those trying to board.

 

Two trips on the Dawn from NY - one we boarded at 12 noon and having lunch at 12:30. The other time boarding did not start until 1 pm and we got to out cabin after 2:30.

[Jennygirl]

I also echo the others...DO NOT ARRIVE TOO EARLY to get on the ship....youre only gonna wait in a holding area with everybody else! We should have hung out at home at and come to the dock later and walked on without all the fuss. The lines to drop off and pick up are in the SAME PLACE..Bedlam when two or more ships are in and DISEMBARKATION was worse!!!! People, luggage, crowds, limo, taxis, cars EVERYWHERE all jumbled up dropping off and picking up. I mean it's do-able but very chaotic. Just try to focus on the lovely time you will have/or had and go with the flow. UGH!!!

I wish I was on the boat even as I write this from work.

[Dolphins]

Thank you for an honest and informative review. I agree they should provide more time in Nassau and less time in Miami.

[kevinsmom]

Casshew - lol, yeah I do feel like i need another vacation :) My next big vacation won't be until he is a little older. As for the embarkation...I arrived at about 11:30 w/my son, i had a friend drive me in b/c i needed the carseat. the rest of my family took cabs in and when they arrived about 1/2 hr later, the terminal was MOBBED. The ship came in late and it was mass chaos. they were trying to disembark and embark at the same time. People getting off were trying to find cabs/rides. The NCL staff were trying to make the people disembarking move out of the way (ie..in the street), b/c they were trying to get people and their luggage into the terminal. there was a lot of yelling and it took my family over an hr to locate one another. there were lines galore and no organization as to where we were supposed to be. i don't know how our bags made it on, two were taken that were supposed to be carry ons and didn't even have tags!! thank God, they made it b/c one had all of the babies essentials and the other had a laptop! it was just terrible and imagine trying to get around w/a baby in a stroller. we finally got on at almost 2:00...and yes had a BIG drink after that. i never saw anything like it, i have embarked twice in miami and once in peurto rico.

 

DJ - hints for embarkation...get dropped off across the street from the terminal, you can walk across. the only problem is it is two levels and you need to get upstairs, via elevator or stairs. but with all the chaos i think getting picked up/dropped off across the street is easier, i did it on the return home and i was much better. also arrive a little later, to avoid the people getting off. we were early and took forever to get on anyways.

i only traveled w/one child, my son. everyone else ranged from age 18 to late 50's. the room was ok, we had a cat BD balcony, the bed was huge and very comfortable, my son and my husband and i slept in there. when the couch bed is open there isn't much room to move around, but the balcony offers someone an escape, which is nice. the bathrooms had the biggest showers i have seen, but b/c of the way the shower and toilet are divided it doesn't leave much room for the actual toilet (it has its own private door to close, making you feel like you are in a shower/toilet). as for kennedy space center, my mother and my brother and his girlfriend went (22 and 24 yrs old), my mom enjoyed it, they didn't. my mother said she liked the fact that it was mostly indoors, no hot sun or rain to deal w/. and the imax 3D movie was very good. she said you couldn't get that close to the actual launching area w/out paying an addt'l fee.

 

Gardencat....i agree that i liked leaving so close to home, but the terminal does leave something to be desired, maybe they will work on it :)

 

Shoreguy...i think arriving late for embarkation is a great idea, esp in our case w/the ship returning so late. and yep...i am still here for any questions/hints :)

 

Jen...i hated the italian place, yes, but not the holiday inn excursion...that i loved it was a very relaxing place and all in one spot :) but you're right we all have different preferences. i agree freestyle to me should include dressy shorts, but yes people def abuse. like i said i was wearing nice things that i would wear on any other cruise. i sailed on Celebrity's Galaxy for my honeymoon, we had a very nice time. it was very classy.

 

LdeBord....i think they don't allow reservations in the main rest at primetime b/c they don't want people to book and not show up. if you book a resr. at the spec. restaurant and don't show up, they supposedly chg you a $5 fee per person, at least that was what it said on the daily. in my opinion the best main dining room was the venetian, the view was beautiful (back of the ship, large windows) and the service was great. it is also very large so there wasn't too bad of a wait.

 

FkWok...i liked the Holiday Inn, for me w/the baby it think it was nice to be able to hang out around the pool and relax, not have to run here and there on a tour. the main pool was pretty big and the kiddie pool had slides and a pirate ship, however, it did look like they were renovating part of it. there was an outdoor restaurant near the pool that we ate at, the waitress was ok, not overly friendly but efficient. she was the only staff i encountered. the food was very good though, excellent bbq chicken salad. the beach was a little ways of a walk, but on the way there, i noticed they had a very cute sandy area w/play things for the kids, so if you don't want to, you don't even have to go to the beach. there was an outdoor shower and changing area which was nice to clean up before getting on the bus. the bus company was very friendly. so all in all i liked it. as for embarkation def plan to arrive closer to 1pm, maybe even a little later, you will get right on w/out the hassle.

 

i hope i answered all the ?'s, if you have any others...ask away.

Gina

[LDeBord]

Gina....

 

We are trying to decided on whether to take the bus offered by NCL out of Harrisburg or have one of the transport services in our area transport us by van....we have a family of 7 or 8 going.....I was leaning towards the bus.....we did that once before and they got parking with all the buses....we got right off and went right in..they took care of our luggage. In March we cruised through Celebrity out of Baltimore so we chose the van to take us down....it was fine but I see traffic being a bigger problem in New York....any suggestions???

[kevinsmom]

Gina....

 

We are trying to decided on whether to take the bus offered by NCL out of Harrisburg or have one of the transport services in our area transport us by van....we have a family of 7 or 8 going.....I was leaning towards the bus.....we did that once before and they got parking with all the buses....we got right off and went right in..they took care of our luggage. In March we cruised through Celebrity out of Baltimore so we chose the van to take us down....it was fine but I see traffic being a bigger problem in New York....any suggestions???

 

I would take the bus offered by NCL, i think you would get priority and would not get mixed up in all the confusion that takes place at the terminal. plus the buses have a seperate entrance. good luck..

gina

[kfleming]

Glad to hear you had a good time for the most part. I have been following your threads since you were bringing your 16 month old along. In October we'll be bringing our 13 month old with us. We have pretty much ruled out eating in the dining room since I don't think she'll be able to handle it for that long. I think we'll take turns eating in the buffet or room service. We have other family members coming along so I think it'll work out. Anyway if you had to do it over again with your son would you go or opt out completely until he's older?

[jeannep]

We have been on the Dawn 2 times and have always had great service in the dining rooms. The wait staff did seem to go slow but if you were in a hurry to make a show or something, they hurried and we never missed a thing.

We only had to wait no more than 5 minutes to get seated this past time and we were with 2 other couples.

 

We arrived at the pier at 11:30. My husband dropped me off with the luggage and a porter took it. He then went up the ramp, parked the car and met me inside. We waited a little while, we went thru the lines and we were in our cabin by 12:30 and at lunch by 12:45. That was great!!!!!! It is funny how every week the embarkation is different.

 

We are going on The Dawn again next May and we are sooooooo excited.

[Kell4321]

Take the NCL bus!!

[kevinsmom]

Glad to hear you had a good time for the most part. I have been following your threads since you were bringing your 16 month old along. In October we'll be bringing our 13 month old with us. We have pretty much ruled out eating in the dining room since I don't think she'll be able to handle it for that long. I think we'll take turns eating in the buffet or room service. We have other family members coming along so I think it'll work out. Anyway if you had to do it over again with your son would you go or opt out completely until he's older?

 

in all honesty, i probably would have waited until he was a little older. That is just my opinion. i felt like if maybe he was very small, or a little older it would have been a bit easier. he is at an age where he has just started walking, he can't really talk to communicate his needs, so there was a lot of crankiness and whining. i mean overall he was good. no major tantrums in public places, but he had trouble sitting for too long, so we basically ate on the run or let someone watch him while we ate. the problem w/the garden buffet and the other "quick eateries" is that they are so mobbed w/people and so many children, it is often hard to even find a seat and then you have to get a highchair and then get your child's food first and by the time you sit down to actually eat they are done. i didn't book too many excursions, b/c i knew it would be hard. the fun and sun day in port canavaral was very good for little ones, accessible facilities and everything in one spot. it is hard to keep them out too long in the sun also. plus my son was cooped up in the room...thank God for the wiggles DVD!! if you have a lap top, i strongly recommend bringing it and bringing your child's fav DVD w/it. there is a cartoon channel, but my son was comforted by having his favs w/him. it kept him entertained when he was cranky. he threw up twice on the ship, once on me as we were waiting for our dinner in Aqua. i am sure i was the talk of many people when they went home, but what can you do. he chocked a little and that was all it took. i don't think he was necessarily seasick, but i do think he wasn't crazy about the boat. i swear to God, yesterday, when i asked him if he wanted to go on a ship again, he was upset. so now that i have totally scared you :) seriously, just set your expectations low, which it sounds like you have done already and know that life at home is very diff w/a little one, so the cruise will be as well. i met a woman w/a 16 mo old girl on the cruise, and she said the same thing as me it is exhausting :) when they are a little older they can participate in some of the onboard activites which is nice. if you have any other ?'s..ask away. def bring an umbrella stroller. best tip yet...the over the door shoe hanger!! it organized all of the baby's stuff. it was so great.

Gina

[vtsi04]

Hi all,

My family was also on the 7/25 Dawn Sailing. In fact, hi to Kevinsmom because we corresponded before the trip about sailing with small children. Our group was 2 families: my husband, 6 month old son and myself, and our friend and her 12 year old son. We had 2 cabins. I can tell you that we had a great time overall. My husband and I are both experience cruisers who have taken most of the cruise lines out there so I think that we can speak from experience.

We had no problem at all cruising with our 6 month old, however, we were in a large owner's suite (category AA). They provided us with a clean, new looking portable crib and a highchair. The room was beautiful and had plenty of room for the 3 of us.

We received nothing but great service from everyone. We enjoyed the food in all places. We tried La Trattoria, Le Bistro, Salsas and Bamboo. We enjoyed them all. P.S. I was very surprised that we enjoyed the italian food because we are used to "New York" italian food, but what we all had, we liked. I wouldn't rate the food as high as on Celebrity, but again, overall, we thoroughly enjoyed all the food. There was certainly enough overall variety to please everyone imo.

I will say that it does take a long time between courses in the main dining rooms, but my son is pretty good natured and we timed his eating etc so that it was no problem. We ate most nights at around 6:30-7 pm and never once had to wait on a long line. We found the servers very friendly, but they did seem overworked by the freestyle type of service. I think that Norwegian needs to add servers in the main dining rooms.

Regarding embarkation, again, concur that anyone who has been out of the NY port before knows that it can be a nightmare. We arrived at the Pier around 1pm and although the security/first line was long, it was organized and moved quickly.

I'd be happy to answer any specific questions about the ship.

Vickie

[kevinsmom]

hi Vickie,

i am sure we probably saw each other a few times! i think had my son been 6 mos old, it would have been a lot easier. now that he is walking and in "toddlerhood", he has a mind of his own. he is a very good baby but bottomline, traveling w/a baby is just like when you are home...you still have a baby! This was our fourth cruise, i thought the staff was very friendly esp to the baby. i also agree that maybe they needed more staff in the main areas.

Gina

[LDeBord]

I would take the bus offered by NCL, i think you would get priority and would not get mixed up in all the confusion that takes place at the terminal. plus the buses have a seperate entrance. good luck..

gina

Thanks Gina.....I am going with my husband, my MIL and brothers and sisters in laws....we are split in our transportation to NYC....some feel have the Transport Service Van will be easier and some of us feel the bus is the way to go. I feel it will be a tight squeeze in the van with 7-8 people and all the luggage...then when we get there....we have to get the luggage out to the porters....I heard with the bus that this is basically taken care of for you....????

[vtsi04]

Hi Gina,

 

I saw, as you did, many small babies/children on the ship and was wondering if I was walking past you at any point. I totally agree that it was easier for us with a 6 month old, let's face it, at this point he has to go where we go.......We definitely had to compromise on the things that we did on shore, no heavy beach time, etc. Also, I definitely brought to many clothes items for my son based on the laundry room.

 

Anyway, although it wasn't my most restful trip, it was very good to get away.

By the way, did you have any problems with the large groups of teenagers that were on the ship. We found them to be a problem, especially at night when they basically took over some of the lounges, heckling the performers, etc.?

Vickie

[davy jones]

Luci,

 

The bus is the way to go. The Harrisburg bus make one stop in Allentown to pick up passengers, then goes directly to the pier. Our bus arrived shortly after noon. You claim your luggage at the bus and the porters take it.

 

Bus passengers are among the first off the ship at disembarkation.

[LDeBord]

Thanks Davy Jones....I think my husband and I are going to choose the bus and then let it up to the others to decide on what they want to do.

[kfleming]

kevinsmom, yeah I have to admit that makes me very nervous! I think your post is the first I've read that said they wouldn't do it over again. Well, since our final payment was due today I guess we're definitely going unless something unexpected comes up! It's a 5 day itinerary so if it doesn't go so well hopefully it'll go quickly. Thanks for your tips.