Dawn Review 3/2 - 3/9

[zqvol]

Day 1 Embarkation – I left hotel in Miami around 10:20 and had completed the checked in procedure and was waiting for ship to open by 10:45. The customer service staff in the waiting area can best be described as rude. They were getting upset that people were not staying exactly in line and wanted to look out the windows at the ship. On a number of occasions they raised their voices at people to get them to comply with their order that appeared to have no real purpose other than to assert their authority. I noticed this same behavior at debarkation.

 

The ship opened at 11:35 and passengers were allowed to board. Of course on the way was the obligatory boarding photo. Boarding takes place on deck 7 and passengers are directed to deck 12 to the garden café for lunch. One thing that I discovered is to look around at the buffet. There are six lines. Desserts are located at the aft most line on the starboard side of the ship. The “deli”, is the aft most line on the port side. There was plenty of food in the buffet. Not real interesting, but the hot food was hot and the cold food was cold. It all was well prepared and tasted fine.

 

The cabins were supposed to be ready at 2:00 but were ready for us at 1:15. I explored the ship until then. When I got into the cabin I discovered that the beds were apart, but this was easily remedied. I found my steward who was delivering luggage and he took care of it while I was at dinner during turndown service. My luggage was delivered to the cabin by 2:15, and I was unpacked prior to safety drill at 3:30. The drill took all of 15 minutes. My station was in the Aqua restaurant and the drill involved sitting and watching some of the crew demonstrating how to wear the life jackets.

 

The Dawn is tastefully decorated and relatively easy to navigate. The public spaces are really in two areas, decks 6 and 7 and decks 12 and above. There are not enough beverage stations offering soda and juices and finding snacks is not an easy task. The Garden Café can use some reworking to turn it into a modular facility as opposed to a linear one, which would improve traffic flow and make duplication unnecessary.

 

The Dawn followed the Pearl down the channel shortly after 4:00 p.m. Once we hit the open ocean we had an interesting ride as seas were running about 10 feet. I enjoyed dinner in Aqua. If you complain about the food it is your issue not an NCL issue. Portions were small, by US standards, but with as much food as was around, they were still too large. I had a mozzarella and wild mushroom tart for an appetizer, a Creaser salad, and the Mahi Mahi. Prior to dinner I had spent some time at the Java café listening to the sounds of “Quarter Notes”, a quartet that played acoustical guitars. They were very relaxing and made the nice drinks even more enjoyable.

 

During the night I kept hearing what I thought was someone bouncing a ball off and on all night, turned out that it was the hangers in the closet. A minor adjustment and all was fine. The bedding was fine, though it is not new. The duvets are nice but there are times when a good blanket would have felt nice too. The shower door is a nice addition. The cabin was service twice a day without fail and always in an unobtrusive way.

 

Some Notes: Soda card for the duration was $50.31 including gratuity. (6.25/day +)

Helmet of domestic beer is $19.75 + gratuity for 6 (Pay for 5 get the 6th free is the hook here)

Casino limits are high, often $10 minimums at night sometimes $5.

Grey Goose Martini was 10.25 + gratuity.

 

Day 2 at Sea - I started today with breakfast at the Venetian. The food was quickly delivered and was prepared as ordered.

We are bouncing around 6 -8 ft seas which made or a number of “green” passengers. Since it was a sea day the chair hogs were out in force. I was unable to find anywhere to sit after 9:30 a.m. This was the first week of spring break so there were a number of college students on board. This may have contributed to the chair issue as they tend to be sun worshipers. There was a bar-b-que served poolside for lunch. The hamburgers were actually very good and cooked over charcoal, on the deck.

 

A comment about the food is in order. The food was consistently good. It was always well prepared, and there was a wide variety. This is not to say that it is 5* food. It is not and don’t expect it to be. Remember that they are preparing 2500 meals at a time.

 

Today was dress up or not day. I noticed that about 10% of the men had on jackets. A number of the women were dressed more than the men. I did notice that on the rest of the day that most people tended to dress in resort casual. In fact, the impression that I got was the people dress just as they do on any other mass market line except for formal nights. This is not to say that there were no slobs, they are everywhere, but most people dressed in an appropriate fashion and would have been fine on other mass market lines too.

 

Note that we had a time change, which will not occur if the Eastern US is observing DST, and since the mainland switched to DST while we were sailing we never turned our clocks back.

 

Some Observations:

Tonight's dinner menu in the main dining rooms includes Beef Wellington, Caribbean Rock Lobster and Roast Duck

NCL needs to have self serve soft serve ice crème available 24 /7

NCL needs to figure out a way to keep at least one of the 6 serving stations in the Garden Café open all the time. Closing them all down at the same time is not the right thing to do.

NCL needs to install a bar in the Garden café. There is no reason to have to walk all over creation to find a soda.

Bartenders tend to pick favorite customers and ignore the rest.

 

Day 3 – Samana

 

The seas are still rough, but we arrived in the Bay of Samana right on time. It is a beautiful area. This is one stop that is not to be missed. This is what most of the Caribbean is really like when you get away from the tourist areas. They Cayo Leventado beach excursion is nice. The sea is beautiful, wonderful color, no sign of any run off, etc. I doubt that it was ever there. Since we are in a bay with a sandy bottom and sea grass , it just looks different than most island stops.

 

One thing to remember is not to worry about taking water off the ship with you, in fact don’t do it. Water on shore is $1 per bottle and soda is $2 for a 20oz bottle. The first tender back was at 3:00. The tenders run on this schedule to accommodate other tours and tendering operations. No other reason. There are a lot of tenders going to the ship from third parties and this way they do not all pile up waiting to unload. There are plenty of free chairs available. A spider monkey and a seal are brought out by locals for picture taking ($8) opportunities. Beer was available for the typical bar price $4 - $5 depending on brand. One pound of Caribbean lobster was available for $20, hamburgers and hot dogs were also available on the beach for less than $5, and there was a buffet for $12.

 

The ride over was great, it was on a tender type boat, but not a ships tender. It was an open topped boat designed to transfer people and since the seas were rough it was almost like being on a Zodiac. Great fun! Of course we got wet, but we were going to the beach. There is no reason to be concerned, if you don’t want to get wet then simply don’t go! The ship had 6 tenders in the water all day running back and forth to town.

 

I went into town. There is not much there. It has the look and feel of the small towns on the west coast of Mexico. They have built a new shopping area that has a couple of stores and there is the usual straw market. The local transportation consists of small carts pulled by mopeds, they provide for an entertaining ride for $8 for a ride to town and back, BUT don't do it, they are steering you to shops in anticipation of you buying. Once the driver figured out that I want to take a lot of pictures, he left me alone. Remember not to buy green leaf items as they will not be allowed on the ship. This warning is given BEFORE you leave the ship

 

Samana is a good stop. There is a lot to do, but if you expect St. Thomas type activities and shopping (though from what I have seen if you get away from town on St. Thomas it is just like Samana), you are going to be sorely disappointed, but this is what the real Caribbean is like..

 

 

Day 4 Tortola, BVI

 

This is a great port to venture out on your own. I took the ferry to Virgin Gorda and spent the day at the Baths. The walk to the ferry from the cruise ship is about 10 minutes and is an easy walk. The ferry through Speedy's, was $30 and included both the ferry ride and Virgin Gorda transport. There is an additional $3 admission fee to the Baths. The ferry ride is about 30 minutes each way. We arrived in Spanish Town around 1:00 and had the option of either the 3:30 or 5:30 return, either worked fine as far as the ship schedule. I returned on the 3:30 ferry which allowed me plenty of time. The Baths are beautiful as usual. The snorkeling at Devil’s Bay is good off to the left near a large rock. I did not explore much of the rest of the bay.

 

We were there with some Costa passengers. The Europeans are not shy so there were a number of topless women at the beach. Be aware that the sand at Devil’s Bay is very soft and gives you legs a good work out. I was tired until Friday from the hike. You need to be aware that from Devil’s Bay there is an alternate trail back up to the top of the hill. It is a bit longer but not as steep and allows you to avoid going back through the rooks if that is a concern.

 

Back on Tortola wandered around town for a bit. It is much more picturesque if you get off the main street and go one row back.

 

I am still perplexed at the seeming hustle and bustle in the dining rooms. I am not sure why it exists but it is an efficiency problem that NCL needs to address.

 

Day 5 St. Thomas

 

We arrived in St. Thomas about 30 minutes early. Since we had been outside the US and were returning all passengers were required to clear immigration. It took place in the Spinnaker Lounge on deck 12. It is a very efficient process and took less than 90 seconds. It is certainly not something to be worried about.

 

I grabbed a cab driven by Dennis, who is great guy who took me to Coki beach where I had a dive scheduled with Coki Beach Dive Club. I was the only guest in the morning. Alex and I dove right off the beach. The reef was nice but the current got to be a bit too much for me. Dive as 45 minutes max depth 55 feet for 6 minutes. We did a very slow ascent following the couture of the shore. It took at least 20 minutes to ascend. I then grabbed a cab back to the pier to clean up to go to town to shop.

 

I was looking for a particular item and after shopping a few places discovered that the prices were all the same. This made my decision about where to purchase easy since the first gentleman that I dealt with was truly a gentleman and he deserved my business so after the obligatory lunch of jerk chick at Gladys I went back and made my purchase.

 

We were docked right in front of Mariner of the Seas. There were two other ships at Crown Bay but I did not think that town was too crowded. There is not a lot to write about St. Thomas. It is a great shopping stop and has some beautiful beaches, but it is so well covered in these boards that I don’t have anything to add.

 

Day 6 and Day 7 Both at Sea

 

I am amazed at how little there really is to do on the Dawn on a sea day. There is the Bingo and the Art Auction, but I was expecting more in the way of activities that never materialized. This leg was from St. Thomas to great Stirrup Cay. The weather was much better heading north than it had been heading south.

 

We were due to arrive at Great Stirrup cay at 10: 00 a.m. There was a front coming off Florida. Great Stirrup Cay is a tender stop and due to weather the captain canceled the stop at 10:20 a.m. There was no announcement made regarding any change of plans. We were refunded the “port fees” for the day. No other compensation was offered. I am not sure why we did not go to either Freeport or Nassau.

 

Final Thoughts

 

NCL is very typical of other mass market lines. The only differences that I note between NCL, RCCL and CCL are the freestyle dining. People dress in a very similar fashion except for formal nights. Chair hogs are present everywhere. The quality and quantity of food is consistent across lines. The shore excursions and the ports are all the same.

 

I find that the crew members are consistently hard workers that are always friendly and happy to chat with you.

 

Every ship is different, yet they are in a way all the same. RCCL has the most beautiful ships, NCL has the most variety of dining, and Carnival has the most on board activities. Which is right? The answer is always a big it depends.

[Sparkylok6]

I liked your review very much. It was a well balanced review. Thank you for posting it.

 

I do have some questions I am hoping that you can help with.

 

1. Did you notice if there was a surcharge to eat at Impressions of Italy? I have heard that a charge was implemented on another ship.

 

2. Did any of the staff mention when Freestyle 2.0 was going to take place. Did you see anything with regards to it? ie: Champagne on embarkation, bedding?

 

Thanks for your help. It sounds like you had a good cruise.

[sunrise&set]

Thank you for your review! Gets me even more excited for our cruise on the Dawn on March 23!!!

[cello8619]

I was also onboard last week to anserw a few questions. There is no charge for impressions. Freestyle 2.0 was starting to be implimented this week there was no champagne but there are new pool lounge chairs and nice rattan tables and chairs that surround the pool deck on deck 13. Also to claify there was not seas if 10 ft the highest seas were 4-7 ft this was stated on the cabin tv. And the captain did announce at 10:20 that we were not tendering due to winds I guess we didn't go to Nassau or Freeport since it was already 10:20 and berthing was prob an issue. The dawn is a great ship with an awrsomd crew, I know that you are going on the march 23 cruise make sure to seek out Septiri in salsa, Kieth in Venetian, and Vian a pit boss in the casino. All of them are great employees that are some of the best I have every had the pleasure to be onboard with. If anyone has more dawn questions feel free to ask.

 

-mike

[zqvol]

I liked your review very much. It was a well balanced review. Thank you for posting it.

 

I do have some questions I am hoping that you can help with.

 

1. Did you notice if there was a surcharge to eat at Impressions of Italy? I have heard that a charge was implemented on another ship.

 

2. Did any of the staff mention when Freestyle 2.0 was going to take place. Did you see anything with regards to it? ie: Champagne on embarkation, bedding?

 

Thanks for your help. It sounds like you had a good cruise.

 

Neither Impressions nor Salsa imposes a surcharge.

 

Other than some new tables around the edge of deck 13 I did not see anything that looks like 2.0. The bedding was fine to me and it had not been changed to anything new.

[Sandyrella]

Great review Phil! Very well-balanced....I haven't had a chance yet to write anything and may not for a few days. We just got in about an hour ago after being up since 4:00 a.m. Good thing we didn't travel yesterday because it seems that most flights into Montreal were cancelled due to yet another snow storm.

 

I have to agree with you about the 10ft swells on sailing day, regardless of what the tv said. We have being in this kind of weather before and it was definitely comparable! I also fully agree with the rudeness of the staff at the terminal. One man could not understand that I wanted to save 4 seats beside us for my sister and family who were literally minutes behind us and visible.:confused: I as actually pointing at them and telling him that they were right there but he didn't get it...whatever:rolleyes:

 

I hope that the purchase that you made in St. Thomas was the one you spoke of ;) . Enjoy!

 

There was no charge for Impressions and we actually ate there twice with no problem getting a reservation and we were a party of 9. We always made our reservations the day before and first thing in the morning so it was a piece of cake. Our server on the last night was Jan from Poland. When we told him that our grandmother was Polish, he was so excited and kept coming back to talk to us about Polish food, etc.... I guess because we understood what he was talking about. He was so efficient and so much fun...just before the end of the meal he started making little animals out of the napkins...a mouse, a chicken, a rabbit all the while telling jokes. He was one of the outstanding staff members that we came across this week and I made a point of putting his name down on several comment cards.

 

As for freestyle 2.0....still no sign of any major changes.

 

Not going to GSC was disappointing. Two seas days in a row got a little old, especially when the weather turned chilly. With that said, I'm glad that he made that decision because we went to GSC last year (same week). Weather was gorgeous, seas calm but by late morning, it got really choppy and took a good hour and 1/2 longer to get passengers back on the ship. It would have been a disaster with the weather we ended up getting, but I agree, diverting to Freeport or Nassau or even Key West would have been great. I believe the storm was covering the entire area so that could have been what his decision was based on.

 

I'll try to put a bit of a review together in the next few days...off to start the laundry :(

 

cello8619...too bad you didn't find us before your cruise. We had a great roll call!

[cello8619]

I guess I underestimated the height of the swells since it didn't bother me at all, a couple of years ago I was on the Majesty out of Boston and we had swells of 10-15 feet and I could really feel it, (falling over in the shower). I was onboard last week with 7 of my friends for spring break, and I got a few more "hooked" on cruising. I forgot the types of questions new cruisers ask, it was quite funny actually. Currently, I am in the process of trying to work onboard the Pride of America, as a financial accountant. I had my first interview the week before the cruise and hopefully this week I will have my second interview so wish me luck! I also have to agree that the port personal where not the most helpful, two of them started arguing over the Noro Virus questionnaire right in front of us, one person said that only one form per cabin was necessary and the woman checking us in needed one per person in the cabin. However, the service onboard was exemplary!

[zqvol]

I guess I underestimated the height of the swells since it didn't bother me at all, ... However, the service onboard was exemplary!

 

No big deal about the swells, I think we can agree that some people were bothered and let it go at that, BUT i do have to agree and may not have made it clear, the service was above wonderful. :) :) :) :)

 

If this is what people in other threads have complained about, they need to find another way to vacation.

[cello8619]

I think that we can all agree that Cruise Ships have some of the best service anywhere, and this past week was no exception. What was your favorite bar and entertainer onboard, mine had to be the pianist in Gatsby's he was amazing.

[Sandyrella]

Bernie Martini? He did some really good imitations of the crooners. We also found him very entertaining. Had the smarm down to an artform....but not in a bad way. He was very charming!

 

We didn't get to see much of the entertainment in the other bars or lounges since we were travelling with kids but my BIL did some pretty good karaoke in Dazzles lounge:p

 

I am always amazed at how hard the staff work on cruise ships. Out cabin steward was fantastic...like Phil said, completely unobtrusive. We had towel animals 5 out of 7 nights, much to the delight of my 10 year old.

[zqvol]

Bernie Martini? He did some really good imitations of the crooners. We also found him very entertaining. Had the smarm down to an artform....but not in a bad way. He was very charming!

 

We didn't get to see much of the entertainment in the other bars or lounges since we were travelling with kids but my BIL did some pretty good karaoke in Dazzles lounge:p

 

I am always amazed at how hard the staff work on cruise ships. Out cabin steward was fantastic...like Phil said, completely unobtrusive. We had towel animals 5 out of 7 nights, much to the delight of my 10 year old.

 

I forgot Bernie, but I also really liked Quarter Notes.

 

(BTW Sandy in response to your previous query I was successful in St. Thomas on the item we discussed.)

[bankofdad]

We always made our reservations the day before and first thing in the morning so it was a piece of cake.

 

Thasnks every one for all of the tips and infor! Looking forward to our cruise next week.

 

Regarding the specialty restaurant reservations, is there a main desk that you go to to make these reservations, or do you go to the restaurant of choice directly?

 

Thanks!!!!!!!!!

[Sandyrella]

There is a little stand (sort of the kind where a a hostess in a restaurant would stand to greet customers) in the garden cafe. They start taking reservations every morning starting at 8:00 a.m. Since we were a group of 9, we usually discussed the day before where we wanted to eat two days from then...

eg. Monday night we decided where we wanted to eat on Wednesday, based on sailing time, etc.

 

I would usually make our reservation first thing in the morning for the following night. We didn't actually eat in any of the charge restaurants but I don't think it would have been a problem getting a reservation. We did eat in Salsa's once and Impressions twice.

 

As for the dining rooms, we were told that we could not make reservations between 6:30 and 8:00. We never waited more than 5 minutes any night between those times. One night we showed up at Aqua at around 7 and they said that it would be a 20 minute wait but that Venetian could seat us immediately. It's the same menu so we really did care. We walked over to Venetian and were seated promptly.

 

Have a great cruise!! We really loved this ship:)

[Sandyrella]

I just went back a read my Freestyle dailies to see if there was more information

Anyways, this is what is says ....

 

"Reservations can be made between 8:00 a.m.-4:30 pm for the present and following day by dialing #9930 or by visiting our reservations desk in the Salsa Restaurant, Deck 8, Midship and in the Garden Cafe, portside between 8:00 am am-11:00 am"

 

Sandy

[bankofdad]

I just went back a read my Freestyle dailies to see if there was more information

Anyways, this is what is says ....

 

"Reservations can be made between 8:00 a.m.-4:30 pm for the present and following day by dialing #9930 or by visiting our reservations desk in the Salsa Restaurant, Deck 8, Midship and in the Garden Cafe, portside between 8:00 am am-11:00 am"

 

Sandy

 

Thanks Sandy!!!