Dawn review 01/06-01/13 (LONG)

[jollycruise]

Wow! We just finished our first cruise and it was amazing. Here's what we thought:

 

Leaving Colorado to head to Miami:

Goodbye cold weather hello Miami! We stayed overnight at the Sofitel Hotel. This was a great place. We found the hotel shuttle right away. DH has a great eye and great luck. More on his "luck" later. Our room was very nice and the beds were soooo comfortable. The hotel has a shuttle that took us to a restuarant called 94th squadron. The food was wonderful. Service sucked, but we really didn't care. Just happy to be starting our vacation. After dinner the hostess called our shuttle back, this time it was a cadillac that picked us up. We went to LeBar at the hotel and met Maryanna and Maxim who were the best employees we had ever met. Such wonderful people. They brough us Champagne and chocolate desserts after learning it was our Anniversary. We enjoyed talking with them about their travels. Again wonderful service from Sofitel employees.

 

Embarkation Day:

We took the 10:00 am shuttle to the pier and arrived around 10:30. Dropped off our luggage then headed inside the terminal. We did have to show our passports to enter. Security went very quick. There were many people available to tell you exactly where to go next. Check in only took about 5-10 minutes. Had to show our passports again. I know many people are saying passports are not required, but I say go ahead and get them. You show them alot! Anyway...After check in we headed upstairs and got our cabin cards. Sat down in the row they told us to and relaxed. The fire alarms went off for about 10-15 minutes. Only one person freaked out and ran out the emergency door. Everyone just stayed put. The employees didn't seem concerned, so we just stayed put. They finally got the alarms turned off and we just relaxed by people watching. We started boarding exactly on time (Noon). It was very organized. One row at a time. Have your cabin card out, you show it to about 6 different people all along the way to the ship.

The rooms were not ready when we got there so we went to the pool got a bucket o' beer and a pina colada. We ate lunch at the Garden Cafe. The pasta station was very yummy. The rooms were ready about 1:10. I ordered the "Captians Choice" for our cabin. The wine was fine but the fruit was not very good. I wouldn't order that one again. We got settled in (#10580) and watched us leave Miami from the balcony. We could see dolphins swimming along the ship, it was wonderful! The balcony was great we loved it and will always have a balcony for future cruise's. It took our luggage FOREVER to arrive. Sometime after 7pm they showed up. Ncl had goofed our luggage tag numbers and that caused the delay. From now on if will hand write our cabin # on the tags just to make sure. It really didn't bother us that our luggage showed up late. Ours was among many that had incorrect tags. Some people were just crazy mad. We decided to have a couple drinks from our bar setup on the balcony and relax until dinner. We met our room stewards Alicia and Daniel. They kept ice in our beer helmut everyday as per our request for the duration of the cruise. They never missed a day :) .We had dinner at Aqua. Good food, we both had the sirloin steak. The vanilla souffle was excellent!

 

Day at Sea

We ate breakfast at Blue Lagoon. It was so-so but filled us up. Lunch was at Garden Cafe and dinner was at Cagneys. We went at 9:30 and got the 2 for 1 surcharge. The food was very very good. Apple pie dessert is not to be missed.

During the day the toilets were not working and after a call to reception I found out that they were aware of the problem and working on it. We went roaming around the ship and found some crew members with buckets catching water flowing out of the lights by the elevators. They did a good job of taking care of the situation. No complaints here. Things happen. After about an hour or so after getting back from our roaming the ship reception called our cabin to let us know it had been fixed. No problems with plumbing for the rest of the trip. This day was my husbands birthday. I ordered the birthday package they have at it was done great. Streamers, balloons, birthday sign and a very good cake that was much larger than I expected. This was a good package to order!

 

Samana

Ordered room service so we could take our time getting ready and enjoy watching from the balcony us pulling into port. We were on one of the first tenders and went to our ATV excursion. Tender process was painless. The ATV adventure was GREAT! We had so much fun. They took us way farther into Samana than I expected to a beautiful beach. We had a rum drink out of a pineapple and enjoyed the beach for a good amount of time. Sorry, I can't remember the name of the beach. We were supposed to go to a waterfall but that fell through. I meant to ask the guide why but ended up having so much fun I didn't care why anymore. This area is poor. I mean really poor. Everyone we met was very nice. The children ran out from their houses waving and giving us high fives. I had heard from many people how dirty this place was. There were some areas that were dirty but it sure didn't ruin our whole experience of Samana. After the Atv trip we headed into town on a taxi (small cart pulled by a dirt bike). Town was nothing special. DH did buy some cuban cigars. We went through the straw market and met a gentlemen that started talking to my husband. He walked us throught he market and told people to leave us alone if the started bugging us. My husband and him were talking cigars. He walked us to where his son was selling stuff. We got to know the family a little and saw pictures and all. I did buy a canvas art piece from him. We let him know we needed to get back to the ship and he walked us through the market to the street and bid us a fond farewell. Super nice guy. Many at the straw market push and push their items, so be prepared. However this gentlemen made it quite nice to shop there. I will say the kids trying to sell seashells are relentless! We had the same two kids follow us for as long as they could and would not give up. But it's what they do, so we just carried on to the tender. After we got on the ship we took a dip in the pool, then relaxed in the hot tub with a few drinks:) . We ate dinner at Bamboo. Spring rolls were very good. The banana spring roll dessert was also very good.

 

St. Thomas

This morning we had to clear Immigration. No biggie, it went very fast. Got in line at 8:30 off the ship by 9:05. Had to show passports. We did have a excursion planned through Ncl but that was cancelled so we just went to town instead. Got a ride to shopping. It was very busy. There were 5 ships there. Tons of stores! We received great service at Little Switzerland and .925 silver. After shopping we ate lunch at Wendy's and headed over to the sky ride. That was $19.00 per person for anyone interested. We had fun. We saw lots of small lizards and beautiful flowers. Take the nature walk at the top. Great views. We watched the bird show and I got to have four birds placed on me for a picture. I enjoyed it! For dinner that night we ate at Salsa. This was the only time we received bad service on our cruise. However the manager did notice himself and fixed it right away. So as bad as it was in the beginning it ended up being a delighful dinner (service wise). They have the BEST margarita's!!!! The food was a let down though. It was just so-so. We watched karoke (sp?) and had a great time. We watched the Disney ship leave before we left. If you get a chance to be next to the Disney ship you have to listen for their horn. You cannot miss it. It blows to "When you wish upon a star". It was great! We started playing the Bigo today and that is more fun than I would have thought. We kept collecting raffle tickets at each bingo game for the free cruise drawing. Husband won at bingo. He won $387.00 that night. Crazy luck that man has.

 

Tortola:

We walked around a little bit. Found a couple shops but nothing too exciting. We did buy a couple of things at the little market right by the dock. Really nice people at this market :) . A man tried to sell me baby chickens in town. It was absolutly the funniest sales pitch I had ever heard! After walking around for a while we found a car rental agency and rented a littl Suzuki. We had so much fun this day. We drove all around Road Town. The roads were just crazy but so much fun. Beautiful views. We were able to catch some dolphins swimming and got some good pictures. We ended up at Brewers Bay. Very pretty and not crowded at all. This ended up being the best day of our trip. We really enjoyed going out on our own and just exploring. I highly suggest getting a rental on Tortola. It is so much fun, you wil love the winding roads. Just keep in mind you drive on the left side of the road. That alone brought us many laughs all day long. What can I say we are easy to amuse:D . That night we went to the Second City Comedy show and that was entertaining. We bought more of those raffle tickets for the free cruise drawing that night at the show to add to our pile. Went to bingo again and DH won two games of bingo! He is the luckiest person I have ever met! Just for fun he also bought two lotto tickets. One for me and one for him.

 

Day at Sea:

Today we just relaxed. Ate lunch at the Garden Cafe again. It was good. This time we went to the NY Deli. Yummy! We saw the last part of the crew talent show. Thje "Fountains" were so funny!!! You should see this at least once. Then we again went to Bingo. This was the day they were drawing for the free cruise. My DH did not win any games of bingo today. But we both got one number away...so close. Then they did the drawing for the free cruise.....would you believe it? HE WON!!! I could not belive it! He went down on stage and shortly after here I come running down an jump into his arms. Thank god he caught me :D. After that people started rubbing his head for good luck.

Later that night we went to the casino to check our lotto tickets and that booger won $100.00 on his ticket. It was an unreal day. If you are somewhat lucky take a try at the bingo, the lotto and the free cruise drawing. It was great to us! That night we went to Liars club and had a ton of fun! After that was Quest. This is a show you must see! (adults only). I dont remember the last time I laughed that hard. Don't ask too many questions about Quest if you have never been. Just go you will have a blast!

 

Great Stirrup Cay

The tendering process was easy again. When we got on shore everyone made a mad dash for chairs. We took off away from the beach and walked to the other side of the island. It was a nice walk, lots to see. There are many lizards and hermit crabs. Several WWII buildings. We also walked to the lighthouse. We didn't go up it. The stairs were not in great shape. It was a nice walk away from the crowds. After we returned we got a large raft to float on. We did this for about an hour or so. We saw lots of fish and the water temp was fine. After we returned our raft we had some burgers and hot dogs at the BBQ. These were good. Then we caught a tender and headed back. That night we ate at LeBistro, very good food again. We ended the night with the Farewell show. It was good. We especially liked the juggler Charles Peachock.

 

Disembarkation:

For the life of me I can't remember what time we got off the ship. We had a Everglades excursion planned. Disembarkation went fine for us. We met up with the tour in a lounge and left the ship together. There was a line to get down the escalators to customs, but it wasn't that bad. After clearing customs we went and found our bags all together and headed for the tour bus. There were people all along the way to direct us to the tour bus. The Everglades tour was so much fun. We did the airboat ride and really enjoyed that. We also got a kick out of seeing the alligators. We don't have those here in Colorado :) . Then we headed to the airport. All I will say is we will never fly American Airlines again, and we are going to fly into Ft. Lauderadle next time. We did pack Liquor in three of our suitcases and they made it home just fine.

 

We had a wonderful time and loved cruising NCL. We have booked our next cruise with them for the Western Caribbean next January. After this cruise we are hooked and have vowed to take one cruise every year!

 

We did not see any freestyle 2.0 changes on this ship yet.

 

Thanks to other CC members for all the advice I received on this board to help a first time cruiser like myself.

[Imabelvr]

Holy man, what a wonderful review!! :D

 

Thank you for all of the useful information ----!!

 

Can I please rub your DH's head too?? We leave SUNDAY on the DAWN and I am soooo looking forward to it - especially now that I have read your review!! I hope an am only 1/2 as lucky as he was on the cruise!! ;)

 

Not everything went 100% smoothly, but it is wonderful that you and your DH took it in stride and let nothing ruin your cruise - way to go!!!:)

 

DH and I will be in an AFT penthouse - we're traveling with friends so it will be extra fun, I'm sure.

 

Thanks again!!!

[chrisbd1]

Glad you had a great time. We're going back on the Dawn in November.

[nyflush]

Nice review Thanks for posting:) Congrats on the free cruise!!!!

[lovemylife]

Great details! We're going in March and I'm so excited. When did you make your reservations for the specialty res.? Did you have any trouble getting days or times you wanted?

[juried]

Great review, very well written and plenty of personal details. For first time cruisers you certainly have the perfect attitude. Sounds like you have a fantastic time!

Congrats on your bingo win! Wow, that is awesome.

We too were on the Dawn, the following week, and had a wonderful cruise.

I agree ... never again on American Airlines. I think there should be a rule about a company using the word "American" in it's name... I would like to say it has to be best but at the very least I think it should just have to be better than average to be "American" ...just a little rant here.

Enjoy,

Juried

[Sandyrella]

Thanks for the great review! We are leaving in just over 5 weeks and can't wait!

 

We were looking forward to trying out Salsa so I'm just curious as to what you ordered and what you didn't like about it. We don't have a lot of Mexican restaurants in our area so I'm not sure if we have a high enough standard to compare it too...:)

 

Thanks again!

[jollycruise]

Great details! We're going in March and I'm so excited. When did you make your reservations for the specialty res.? Did you have any trouble getting days or times you wanted?

 

You can call from your cabin and make reservations. We did have a problem with them not ansewring the phone every time. On those occasions we just went to the reception desk and made reservations ourselves. On some nights after eating dinner at one restaurant we walked to another and made reservations for the next night. Enjoy your cruise!

[jollycruise]

Thanks for the great review! We are leaving in just over 5 weeks and can't wait!

 

We were looking forward to trying out Salsa so I'm just curious as to what you ordered and what you didn't like about it. We don't have a lot of Mexican restaurants in our area so I'm not sure if we have a high enough standard to compare it too...:)

 

Thanks again!

 

Hello,

For the appetizer we ordered the Nachos and the Quesadilla's. The nachos were what you would expect to get at a baseball game. The Quesadailla's were very tasty. We both got the fajitias and they were very bland. All you get with them are sour cream and guacamole. The dessert I got was the churro without the chocolate mousse and that was to die for. I ordered more after I ate the first one. I can't remember what my husband ate for dessert. In the end we really felt like Salsa was not nearly as good as the other resturants on the ship. The food was just plain and bland. I would go back for that margaritta though! It was delicious.

 

Totally keep an open mind though. We could have hit it on a bad night. We had heard from many people that Cagneys wasn't worth the money, yet we loved it. It was one of the best meals we had. :)

[NickCDN]

Jolly

 

We are heading out on the Dawn in about 2 weeks. Thanks for the positive review. Do you happen to have a picture of the cabin with the birthday package? We are thinking about getting this for our niece who has a Bday on board.

 

Thanks

Nick

[jollycruise]

Jolly

 

We are heading out on the Dawn in about 2 weeks. Thanks for the positive review. Do you happen to have a picture of the cabin with the birthday package? We are thinking about getting this for our niece who has a Bday on board.

 

Thanks

Nick

 

Nick,

I do have pictures of the room with the decorations. I will try to get those posted by the weekend. They are still in our digital camera. I think I remember if you do order one of those packages it has to be done before you are two weeks out. So if you think you want it, I would go ahead and order it. It basically had streamers twisted across the cabin (over the bed area), several balloons taped to the ceiling, a happy birthday sign taped above the balcony door and the cake. My husband had no idea that they had those packages and was totaly surprised. :)

[ladymonty]

Great review. We are from Colorado as well and are doing the Christmas cruise on the Dawn later this year. I really enjoyed your review. Just one question: Why will you guys fly into Ft. Lauderdale next time? I am just curious as we are trying to decide if we will fly into Miami or Ft. Lauderdale in December. Thanks again for your great review.

[jollycruise]

Great review. We are from Colorado as well and are doing the Christmas cruise on the Dawn later this year. I really enjoyed your review. Just one question: Why will you guys fly into Ft. Lauderdale next time? I am just curious as we are trying to decide if we will fly into Miami or Ft. Lauderdale in December. Thanks again for your great review.

 

To us we hated the Miami airport. It was the most unorganized mess we had ever seen. So next time we are going to be trying out Ft. Lauderdale. After our experience in Miami anything has to be better. But that was just our experience. We will also never fly American Airlines again. Hopefully from my review you can see we are very easy going people. We try to make the best of every situation. So for us to try another airport and to never fly American Airlines again says something about the service we received from them.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise. It was so nice to leave the cold Colorado air for the warmth of the Caribbean:D .

[Sandyrella]

Hello,

For the appetizer we ordered the Nachos and the Quesadilla's. The nachos were what you would expect to get at a baseball game. The Quesadailla's were very tasty. We both got the fajitias and they were very bland. All you get with them are sour cream and guacamole. The dessert I got was the churro without the chocolate mousse and that was to die for. I ordered more after I ate the first one. I can't remember what my husband ate for dessert. In the end we really felt like Salsa was not nearly as good as the other resturants on the ship. The food was just plain and bland. I would go back for that margaritta though! It was delicious.

 

Totally keep an open mind though. We could have hit it on a bad night. We had heard from many people that Cagneys wasn't worth the money, yet we loved it. It was one of the best meals we had. :)

 

Thanks for writing back on this. We will definitely keep an open mind....:)

[ladymonty]

Thanks so much for responding. I think we will look into Ft. Lauderdale as well! If I could, I would book a cruise for tomorrow to get out of this Colorado freezer we are in right now. Hopefully Spring comes quickly!:)

[schubean]

Jolly, thanks for posting such a terrific review. My DH and I will be in 10590, our first Balcony -can't wait! You saw dolphins?! :) :D Wow, hadn't thought about looking for those -thanks for that tip. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. You have made our day!!!:D

[Ronni G]

To us we hated the Miami airport. It was the most unorganized mess we had ever seen. So next time we are going to be trying out Ft. Lauderdale. After our experience in Miami anything has to be better. But that was just our experience. We will also never fly American Airlines again. Hopefully from my review you can see we are very easy going people. We try to make the best of every situation. So for us to try another airport and to never fly American Airlines again says something about the service we received from them.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise. It was so nice to leave the cold Colorado air for the warmth of the Caribbean:D .

 

 

Hi -

 

We were on the Dawn repositioning cruise Nov. 07 and choose to fly back home to NY from Ft. Lauderdale rather than Miami. We chose not to buy NCL transfers to the airport as they don't guarantee getting you to the airport for any flights that leave before 12:30. Instead, we took early embarkation and grabbed a van that we shared with a couple from another NCL ship - don't remember what it cost each of us, but it was very reasonable. It did take us awhile to check in as the airport was pretty crowded, but it was very organized. All areas including the restrooms were clean and there were plenty of places to grab something to eat - expensive of course, but decent tasting. Can't comment on the Miami airport as we have never been there. :)

[Imabelvr]

I keep coming back to this and reading the review, it is just such an upper!!

2 days and counting ----- tonight the wind chill is minus 29 here!!! HOLY SMOKES ------- Caribbean here we come!:D ;)

[jollycruise]

Hi -

 

We were on the Dawn repositioning cruise Nov. 07 and choose to fly back home to NY from Ft. Lauderdale rather than Miami. We chose not to buy NCL transfers to the airport as they don't guarantee getting you to the airport for any flights that leave before 12:30. Instead, we took early embarkation and grabbed a van that we shared with a couple from another NCL ship - don't remember what it cost each of us, but it was very reasonable. It did take us awhile to check in as the airport was pretty crowded, but it was very organized. All areas including the restrooms were clean and there were plenty of places to grab something to eat - expensive of course, but decent tasting. Can't comment on the Miami airport as we have never been there. :)

 

Thanks for the info on Ft. Lauderdale airport. Hopefully we wont ever have to fly into Miami airport again. :)

[jollycruise]

Hi -

 

We were on the Dawn repositioning cruise Nov. 07 and choose to fly back home to NY from Ft. Lauderdale rather than Miami. We chose not to buy NCL transfers to the airport as they don't guarantee getting you to the airport for any flights that leave before 12:30. Instead, we took early embarkation and grabbed a van that we shared with a couple from another NCL ship - don't remember what it cost each of us, but it was very reasonable. It did take us awhile to check in as the airport was pretty crowded, but it was very organized. All areas including the restrooms were clean and there were plenty of places to grab something to eat - expensive of course, but decent tasting. Can't comment on the Miami airport as we have never been there. :)

 

Thanks for the info on Ft. Lauderdale airport. Hopefully we will never have to fly to Miami airport again. :)

[plus521]

:) What a great review! Sometimes I hate to look at reviews, as they may scare me! My first cruise in 2006 was on the Dream, the sun came out one day, it rained in Cozmel,and we lost ac one night in our cabin, but we had a great trip!!! we leave in two weeks on the Dawn for this same cruise and I took some notes from your review, I will definately be looking for Dolphins!!!! Oh and congrats on the money won and free cruise!!! Your next trip should be to Vegas!!!:cool:

 

Amy:)

[AFT_LOVER]

56 degrees at 5AM, snow melted and now thunderstorms are rumbling here in Cleveland with 40-60 mph winds. Winds are actually to increase, Chicago has them now, then the ice storm is to hit after 8PM tonight with snow overnight, so no idea what we are in for with Cirque Du Soleil party tonight at 4PM and show tomorrow at 8PM. They are all in town this morning, enjoying the beach and the waves. I have 2 going to my husband's office & the rest up to the President's office with a thank you for the 3 shows per day for 4 days at their arena. Then they are on TV shows in the City tomorrow AM , so I am driving 5 around, getting involved with their PR lady who has been a friend for 15 years.

 

So sub zero for a week, now 50's yesterday & today & FREEZE tonight & tomorrow-Sunday when it goes to 40's again.

 

Bermuda is keeping me warm thinking about it 4/27 from NYC on Dawn. So this review was well appreciated at getting me excited again.

 

 

 

I keep coming back to this and reading the review, it is just such an upper!!

2 days and counting ----- tonight the wind chill is minus 29 here!!! HOLY SMOKES ------- Caribbean here we come!:D ;)

[BeachBumMama]

What a wonderful 1st cruise. And yes, it is an addiction and there is no cure. I've sailed the dawn and hopefully will again. I love that ship. Sounds like you had a wonderful time.