Are you ready for a really long Dawn report?

[musicgirl63]

You know some people say they have long Dawn reports, but I hope you are ready for tons of info and some personal info as well.

 

Cruise-Dawn June 15, 2008

cruisers-DH-45, myself-44 and ds-17

 

This is our 6th cruise, but our first on NCL.

 

Pre-cruise info-We drove to Cleveland to catch the Amtrak train into Penn Station on the 13th. Check in was a breeze compared to flying. We could each check 3 bags 36 x 36 x 36 plus 2 carryons a piece. We checked 7 bags and had 5 carry ons. No security checks, we simply checked in and then hopped the train. The train had plenty of leg room, but it was a really long trip 13 hours. But hey, it cost $400 roundtrip for the 3 of us compared to around $800 driving (gas, parking) or flying which was around $400 PER person. They had a dining car and then a "fast food" counter.

 

Once into NYC, we were newbies at the train station and had a bit of a time gathering luggage and getting a taxi. The regular taxis wouldn't help us, so we got the mini van. It was around $5.80 plus tip to Econo Lodge on W 47th Street.

 

Econo Lodge-the name says it all!!! We wanted cheap, and it was a basic hotel. The receptionist was rude....wouldn't get off the phone to check us in!!! She was talking to a rental agency!! Then she took a 10 minute call about a room. UMMMMMM hello, customers standing in front of you????? Ask them to hold for a minute!!!! She also got a bit snotty when I changed the credit card that I had the room held under. ZERO for service.

 

It was quite comical. The outside door to the hotel didn't have a handle..that is a real handle. They had aluminum foil wrapped around a piece of wire!!! Great view!!! So much noise!!! I wanted close to the action but we weren't expecting to hear sirens ALL night, honking ALL night and the place across the way was a dance bar with blaring music from 10am until who knows when. I think it was the same techno beat song the entire time!!! I

 

I was really worried about the room size from pictures, but hey, it fit all 9 pieces of luggage plus carry ons!!

 

We ate at A slice Of NY on 8th Ave around the corner. We highly recommend it. The hotel had a nice continental bk. croissants, bagels, cereal, fruit.....

 

We also did the Grayline hop on/off tour. We really enjoyed the tour. Our first guide was wonderful and funny. But we got off to do the Statue of Liberty ferry through them...the line was 3 miles long. Ok, that's an exaggeration! Nice park there with lots of fun art work. We also did the TOR. Very nice. We had lunch in the food court below. There are tons of choices. Then it was a quick walk back to the hotel to drop off souvies. Since we were so close.....yeah right...we decided to walk to the pier. By the time we got back to the hotel, the skies let loose and it downpoured the rest of the evening. That was ok, because we needed our rest!!

 

Ok, now on to the good stuff!!!

[musicgirl63]

June 15th!!! Yes!!

 

We hailed a taxi, got an SUV this time, everything fit perfectly fine. The 10 minute ride to the pier was $10.50 plus tip.

[musicgirl63]

oops, got caught in an edit violation!

 

We hailed a taxi, got an SUV this time, everything fit perfectly fine. The 10 minute ride to the pier was $10.50 plus tip. We were dropped off at 10:30am. Porters quick.

 

Terminal: They checked our passports and cruise ticket and sent us through the lines, at the next point we were asked what room type (balcony) and we were sent into a special line with no wait and we were given #16. What???#16, no one was even there!! Oh well. Our passports and credit info were taken, picture taken to store in the computer system. We received our purple room cards. Embarkment pictures were taken BEFORE we sat down to wait. This was nice since on other cruises they do it as you enter the ship and I'm always too excited to wait!!!! At noon they started boarding. #3, #4, #6, 7 & 8, we're getting closer......right after 8 came #16!! Oh yeah baby!! You would have thought our group won the lottery!! But I'm thinking they need a lesson in counting......

 

On the ship at last!!! We were met with the oj or champagne. NCL needs to skip the oj and give others the choice of a sparkling grape juice or something fun. We immediately made our ressie for Salsa, ate lunch at the Garden Cafe. The Cafe is confusing to say the least. They have plates everywhere and it always seems like you are back at the end of the line!!! We got the weekly spa pass and then it was off to our room!

 

BA aft cabin 10230!! Great room! We absolutely loved the bathroom set up. You could actually have someone in the shower (big enough for 2!) someone at the sink and someone using the toilet. The shower and the toilet have heavy doors. We were able to hang my over the door shoe holder which holds a small drug store in it plus tons more. My dh laughs at me about it. But hey, we did use the duct tape and the nail clippers and the cold medicine ...etc!!!!

 

Closets were great. The have of course the safe (easy to use) with a large closet and about 20 hangers or so. The coffee pot was there, but we moved it to the shelf above the tv to allow for more space. Remember, we brought 9 pieces of luggage!!

 

Balcony-awesome!!! this BA balcony is 12 ft by 8 ft., approximately. We did measure, but it was difficult. You can see about 1 foot of the lower balconies. We saw fellow CC cruisers in some of them!!! We had 2 long longers and a small table. The BA balconies below us were bigger than normal balconies, but not as deep as ours. Plus they only had chairs and no loungers....not that I was looking...... We also kept on of the room tables on the deck as well.

 

The bed was awesome!!!! It however was a bit short for my dh 6'3". DS noticed it as well. We were able to get all but 1 suitcase under the bed (nestle style).

 

The major flaw in the balcony rooms is the pull out bed that doubles as the sofa. It along with the desk area block getting to the balcony. That is the reason the table goes out on the deck as well. Every morning I had to crawl over my ds ninja style and let me tell you that was a feat holding my breakfast plate and glass!! I would rather see a drop down bed and leave the sofa as is. We had the drop down bed on Princess, and I hated it. Now I would have preferred it.

 

The ship itself is gorgeous. I was worried when I saw the room decor with the wild big bold colors. Our room only had the carpet and nice white bedding. The interior of the ship was tropical, but beautiful. It also took all week to figure it out. The Dawn needs better signs. I can not tell you how many times I went the wrong way. We are aft and when you carry your nice hot omelet all the way to the opposite end of the ship only to realize it's not MY room, you start double checking. Anyways, the sign problem comes in play with the public rooms, ie Spinnackers. When you exit the elevator, they need a BIG sign with arrows showing aft and forward direction!! They would post a sign indicating which way to turn once off the elevator, but when you get to the hall, you don't know whether or not to go forward or aft. I hope that made sense!!!

 

They need to fix the set up of Salsa however. This restaurant is a constant walk through. During our dinner there, a rather old man in his robe walked right through the middle of the dining room and he was wearing......FLIP FLOPS!!!!!!!!

 

Ok, I have to take a bit of a break....I am still rocking, but it isn't from the ship, it is from the 11 hour train trip!!

[nyflush]

Very cute review so far :) I can't wait to hear more.

[boobooka]

My husband and I are cruising on the Dawn to Bermuda from NYC in Sept, 2008. We are booked in a AB Midship as of now. We noticed that there are some AB's on the aft of the Dawn, specifically 10730 which is available. We saw you were also in that same area and was wondering if you had a problem with noise from the spa above you? We love the aft of the ship for the larger balcony size too! We also really enjoy watching the ship's wake. One other question, which way did the ship dock in Bermuda? Being aft did you have a view of Bermuda or were you facing out to sea?

 

:) Thanks,

 

Donna

[musicgirl63]

We had set up a CC informal meeting at Bimini's. We had a bunch show up..Superflyjeff, zone, eyesofbrown, deanji, tntjoe, there might have been a few more but we started drinking.......

 

Anyway, there was an announcement that we would be delaying sailaway due to a late shipment from Miami. Well, we thought of many things that might be coming in from Miami, but it turns out that it was artwork. So we all just sat around and kept drinking!!! We finally had to get to dinner at Salsa just as the sailaway was starting. Dh went to take pictures of the SOL while we ordered.

 

 

Salsa was very good..no charge still. We had the quesidillas-there are three kinds, chicken, cheese and beef. All were great. We had the fajitas, which were very good and a nice portion. My ds had the ribs. While they were good, there were only about 4 of them!! Good thing I had alot of fajitas!

 

After dinner is the traditional walk through of the shops!! Well, anytime I can shop is fine!! They do not even come close to have 1/3 of the merchandise out. Like all ship shops, they hold them back for the specials through out the week.

 

Jewelry...they tell you it is only on sale for 1 night, don't let them convince you. The ring I saw on Sun, was still 50% off on Sat.

 

HINT: The jewelry raffle..if they use this saying."One of the emeralds is fake, right down the number of the fake emerald" The answer is ONE...get it!!!

 

Other small details, dh got the soda pass. He said he probably could have done without it and he drinks alot of pop. Well, on board he drank a lot of wine and some other favorites.

 

Ds got the teen passport. He used it only for the smoothies seeing that smoothies are around $7. He says it they are made with ice, milk and fruit and were very good.

 

Teen club-not alot of the teens on board participated. He had fun because he likes to hang out. There was Wii and games in the room. There were not alot of activities planned as we've seen on other ships. Perhaps it was due to the small number of kids this time. We rarely saw him, so he must have had fun!!!

 

Pools-CHAIR HOGGERS GALORE!!!! Ok people, just because you have 5 people in your family, doesn't mean you need 5 chairs. If you go to lunch (sit down restaurant) or an activity, take your towel with you. If everyone does this, the chair situation just wouldn't exist.

 

I didn't go in the Oasis Pool as we had the spa pass which is awesome!!! I did use the adults only pool 13 forward. Again, no chairs available. I loved it but it is so windy, you can not stay for long. My ears hurt the last day at sea!!!

 

So many people who are quite comfortable with their bodies....but I'm not comfortable seeing your bodies!!!!! Wow, what a lot of oversharing!!!! I'm not a prude and I'm glad people are able to be comfortable about their bodies shape and size. ie, there was this large, older, large man. He wore a speedo that ended up looking like a thong (bright orange the last day) Then to top it off, he had his nipples pierced. Overshare!!! But it was like a train wreck, your eyes were somehow drawn to look!!!

 

Drinks were so expensive!!! Make sure you request your drink in a regular glass. They will put any and all drinks in the special glass, even if it is not the special of the day. Drinks were around $7-10. I found my drink and stuck to it. Blue Kamakazie SHOT. It is only $4 with the tip and it packs a mean punch!!!

 

Ok, back to my own experiences....we set up another meet and greet at Star Bar on Mon at 10:30. There were more CC people there. We had refreshments (yummy cookies...where were those the rest of the cruise??) and we had 3 officers plus John the Hottie, ummm excuse me, John the cruise director come and answer questions.

 

I had one question and one question only. Are dressy flip flops acceptable at dinner???? I sooooo wanted to ask that one but I didn't. However my question was really answered when there was an art auction that was entitled "flip flop art auction". Hey, if a high end art auction can accept flip flops as acceptable, so can diners. Might I add that many of our CC members shared their beautifully manicured toes during our meet and greet!!!

 

Many of the CC members met up at the "tastings" through out the cruise. Monday tastings were: Italian Wine, Sake and Martini Tastings for $15 and well worth the money!!! Zone, myself and hubby, and tntjoe and others that we met many times through out the cruise tastings had a great time. Captain Booze is hysterical!!! He is off for 2 months, but he'll pop in somewhere soon. They say they'll do 4 samples, but they usually do 6 and they are quite large!!! I couldn't keep up with the martini ones, they came way too fast! So I made my dh drink them. Thanks honey, you are such a sport!!!!

 

We ate at the Venetian that night. We were worried about waiting because others we met said the night before was 45 minutes to wait. I think it was because everyone waited for the delayed sailaway. We tried to make ressies for 3, but they wouldn't take any. We walked in with no problems on any night to Aqua and Venetian.

 

It was lobster galore night...not really. The lobster was small, so ask for more if you like lobster. They didn't help you with them (which was always a nice touch on other cruises...more personal).

 

We met up with a number of cruisers in Dazzles that night for some drinks and dancing. They start with some very fun songs but proceed and then get stuck on the more popular music. Well 3 of our members stayed out until 2:30pm. A stop at the Blue Lagoon after drinking became a very popular activity. You sit down to order in this small diner. Buffalo wings were always ordered. Superflyjeff and I visited until 3am oh my!!! His wife didn't let him come out to play with me after that!!! ;) Hey I was up and out by 8am and I am wayyyyy older than my 2 cohorts!!!!!!

 

There were some pretty ummm...well suggestive dancers there as well. Being a bit older, I needed to update my dance techniques a bit. Thanks Craig if you're out there!!!!

[musicgirl63]

My husband and I are cruising on the Dawn to Bermuda from NYC in Sept, 2008. We are booked in a AB Midship as of now. We noticed that there are some AB's on the aft of the Dawn, specifically 10730 which is available. We saw you were also in that same area and was wondering if you had a problem with noise from the spa above you? We love the aft of the ship for the larger balcony size too! We also really enjoy watching the ship's wake. One other question, which way did the ship dock in Bermuda? Being aft did you have a view of Bermuda or were you facing out to sea?

 

:) Thanks,

 

Donna

 

10730-did you mean BA rather than AB???? 10730 is a BA. We didn't hear anything from the spa. Remember it is not the gym which is on 12. Directly above our cabin was the quiet sitting area. This area is lined with lounges to see out the large windows.

 

We faced out toward the ocean.

 

Being motion sickness prone, I still love this room even though you do feel the movement when the ship gets going!

[ZoneHPH]

Many of the CC members met up at the "tastings" through out the cruise. Monday tastings were: Italian Wine, Sake and Martini Tastings for $15 and well worth the money!!! Zone, myself and hubby, and tntjoe and others that we met many times through out the cruise tastings had a great time. Captain Booze is hysterical!!! He is off for 2 months, but he'll pop in somewhere soon. They say they'll do 4 samples, but they usually do 6 and they are quite large!!! I couldn't keep up with the martini ones, they came way too fast! So I made my dh drink them. Thanks honey, you are such a sport!!!!

 

how mild of a review of this portion. your DH and i had AT LEAST 11 old fashioneds at the mojito clinic! WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?!?!?!? i know you are our there reading this...i gave you our info! mike? holly? janine? shawn (sean)?

[musicgirl63]

Ok, I hope no one is bored yet! I'm really quite shy in person.....:D

 

Tuesday brings about some more tastings!!

Sangria, Mojito, and then Bourbon and Whiskey together.

 

My dh and I didn't attend the Sangria one, but I know Zone did with his wife, and a bunch that moved onto the Mojito tasting.

 

I didn't sample the mojitos, but my dh did. I don't really think sample is the right word for that, but I'll get to that! This one was alot of fun. TNTJOE mentioned that the wine tasting was quite different.....smelling, swirling..... Capt. Booze was there again. Zone was picked to muddle (smash the ingredients) We really got to know the "tasting" groups because it seemed to be the same people all the time!

 

I met Mike and Holly-newlyweds!!, Craig (dancer from the night before) Stacie and friend (sorry I'm bad with names) and a bunch of others. Many of them didn't care for some of the mojitos so my dh and Zone "volunteered' to take them off of their hands. I think each of them had around 15-18 mojitos!!!

 

And then the fun begins!!! We sat around afterwards because there was the bourbon/whiskey tasting in an hour. We had a blast!! Then it was off to the next one!!

 

Well Captain Booze did not teach this one. The bourbon and whiskey was a bit more subdued than the others, kind of like the wine tastings......refined. Well at least it was suppose to be more classy....until our group of mojito tasters join the scene. I don't think the guy teaching it appreciated our "energetic" behavior!!!!

 

Ok, 5pm and that group was ready for...Blue Lagoon. Well, Mike, Holly , dh (name can't be used here sorry!!!) and myself headed over for some after sampling snacks. DH was...well.....not quite himself after the mojitos and boubon/whiskey. It was kind of like the lamp on the head, but instead he wore the bourbon/whiskey sign around the neck....... time for a nap!!

 

Since he was napping, I went to dinner at the Garden Cafe. I love the pasta area. You choose the noodle, and they add the sauce fresh right there.

 

Band on the Run....yeah...run, I tell you!!! The singing was not good and while I understood the reason for the costumes (70's) they were too sexy. The dancing was as well, but not done very well because they used very well trained performers. Think ballet dancers doing disco. Yikes!!! I left early.

 

NCL listen up!!!! You need more family activities. This was not appropriate for children, none of the big shows like Monte Carlo and the White Hot Nights.

First, the Monte Carlo is done in the casino and the White Hot nights is done late in a bar where there are not suppose to be anyone under 18. While NCL maybe wanting this, the parents are bringing their children because it is so hyped up. There was only one "party" at the family pool and that was a country dance and a BEER FEST!!!!! come on NCL, you can do better.

 

Don't get me wrong, from what I heard from other parents, the kids enjoyed the clubs and the kids pool area. They just need a few big things for the family and family karaokee doesn't cut it!!!

 

I didn't see the Monte Carlo because I don't like the smoke in the casino. I had fun at the White Hot Night party, but we were celebrating our 21st anniversary with a few bottles of wine........It was mainly just a dance with people dressed in white. There girl dances came out for about 3 minutes and danced suggestively, the guy dancers did as well and basically started to strip. Hey, I'm not complaining, John the hottie, I mean cruise director looks kind of good without his shirt!!! But when after they took their shirts off, they acted as if the pants were going as well. My first thought was, there are kids here. Thankfully they didn't take off the pants but we got to enjoy the dancing with the guys. Gee, what happened to the female dancers????

Way too many young kids there.

 

Since we are talking shows here: I saw the end of Bollywood, it looked really good. My ds saw the Second City show, and said it was very funny. We saw the group do an improv right before the White hot nights. They were pretty good and used one of my words for improv....muddling!!!

 

They had a rotation on performers in the atrium, a jazz group with vocal singers (very good), a mexican trio on guitars (very good, but one night they did pop hits like the Beatles and "Sweet Caroline"). A cool jazz group.

 

All the groups were great, but there wasn't enough variety. The trio did the same songs every night at the same time. There were some other performers that sang in other bars that were quite good. They should have rotated them in from time to time. I really got sick of the same music. I know I didn't have to listen, but this was in the atrium during the dinner hours and during the pictures.

 

Ok, picture talk.......are they kidding????????? The pictures were expensive and not very good. Also, in the evening, they set up the back drops so you couldn't get through the atrium on either side or go up and down the steps. They could have simply done 2 set ups each night in the space in front of the customer service desk (plenty of room to get to customer service). So each night, we had to constantly "walk through" the picture sessions. This was chaotic and could be solved so easily.

 

Viewing the pictures gets an A+++. They had lots of panels of the pictures that were in a plastic case so you could see them whenever. They were also well spread out so that you weren't stepping on people. Some people however can get very snooty when it comes to the selection of the pictures. There are tables to use, but they don't always used them. Instead, they used the table where the boxes of the earliest pictures are grouped. This one lady just spread her 50 pictures out over top of these boxes....one little girl was polite and just walked up and moved the piles of pictures. The lady got the hint!!!

[musicgirl63]

how mild of a review of this portion. your DH and i had AT LEAST 11 old fashioneds at the mojito clinic! WHERE ARE THE OTHERS?!?!?!? i know you are our there reading this...i gave you our info! mike? holly? janine? shawn (sean)?

 

Keep reading!!! Thanks for the other names!!

 

Oh and by the way, Zone couldn't quite make it to the bourbon and whiskey tasting.........light weight!!! Some lame excuse about a latitudes picture!!!!!

[musicgirl63]

Really, I'm quite shy.....

 

I mentioned karaokee....family karaokee. Thank goodness Zone's wife saved the day!!!!! She has a beautiful voice. She didn't get to sing in the talent show because no one else signed up! :mad: We offered to have my dh burp the alphabet and maybe a group of us could have shared our "tasting" ability, but I don't think they would have considered these as "talents"!!!!

 

I have to laugh though, Zone's dw sang Dancing Queen. Do you know how long it has been since I've heard that song? Do you know how many times I heard that song on the ship???????? Everywhere I turned!!!!

 

We missed TNTJOE singing so I can't comment on his talents, but it was nice to hear zone's dw sing and save our ears!!!!

 

Let's talk a bit more about restaurants. We ate at Salsa's, and then basically Aqua and Venetian. Venetian is a bit more formal than Aqua. It seemed like there was no dress code other than no bathing suits. Men wore t-shirts and many kids wore as close as you can get to pool clothes. I didn't mind, because I think people should be allowed to dress casual on vacation and still eat in a restaurant that is not a cafe.

 

My dh and I are a fan of traditional dining. The freestyle wasn't bad, but we really missed traditional. We like having the same wait staff. In fact, most times we get attached to our servers. They know our likes and dislikes. When we leave the table, they are there to say good evening. Here, when the meal was done.....nothing. Sometimes we didn't get dessert because we seemed to be forgotten. The servers did an excellent job, but it's all business. We had one really great server in Aqua who was very personable.

 

DCL does the best with traditional dining that we've had. Same servers, 3 different restaurants to rotate in and out of with the same servers. We had a DCL server who remember US 2 years later on a cruise. He was disappointed that we didn't ask for him. That is what our traditional dining an experience.

 

One night convinced us that sometimes traditional dining is not all it is cracked up to be............We were in Aqua one night and the kid at the next table had terrible table manners. He couldn't use a fork or a knife or hold his glass. Oh, btw the kid was around 10-11. He was playing his video game with another child and leaning over to do it while kicking his father. He buttered his bread, with his fingers. He played with his salad before he ate it with his fingers, then the entree. He had the salmon. He did somehow manage to cut up the entree even though he could not manage the knife or fork. He then proceeded to eat the meal with his fingers, when he tried for better manners, he picked up the food and stuck it on the fork.

 

Now, this isn't a complaint...it was actually quite entertaining to see what he would do next. However this is the parent's fault and in a way sad. They paid zero attention to the kids through the dinner. It's no wonder the other kid dropped the "f bomb" to his parents. Of course kid #1 came on the elevator with us, and somehow we stopped at every floor.........

 

more on eating to come....I've got to call about a lost phone and lost passports......

[ZoneHPH]

Keep reading!!! Thanks for the other names!!

 

Oh and by the way, Zone couldn't quite make it to the bourbon and whiskey tasting.........light weight!!! Some lame excuse about a latitudes picture!!!!!

 

hey now! i know that's all in jest. we really wanted to attend the anniversary/honeymoon reception (part of the $79 anniversary package). but after having gone...we should have just stuck around for the bourbon whiskey clinic.

 

was it really supposed to be refined like the wine tasting? oh please. bourbon/whiskey drinkers are the biggest drunks out there!

 

your DH rocks musicgirl!

[pocketfullofsunshine]

hahahaha he probally thought he looked good. I tried to not look at him but I couldn't resist. All I was thinking was WOW why the heck is he wearing that! ;-)

 

 

 

So many people who are quite comfortable with their bodies....but I'm not comfortable seeing your bodies!!!!! Wow, what a lot of oversharing!!!! I'm not a prude and I'm glad people are able to be comfortable about their bodies shape and size. ie, there was this large, older, large man. He wore a speedo that ended up looking like a thong (bright orange the last day) Then to top it off, he had his nipples pierced. Overshare!!! But it was like a train wreck, your eyes were somehow drawn to look!!!

[musicgirl63]

Back to the food. I am a very plain eater so take this next comment with a grain of salt. I didn't like the food on the Dawn. I had the same problem with the Crown Princess. Please remember that this doesn't mean the food wasn't good. My dh enjoyed it very much. But the dishes are just too fancy for me. I don't like seafood, and I'm not a vegetarian. It would have been nice to see a basic variation of a chicken, beef or pasta each night. Yes, I know about the always available menu. I had a ceasar salad every night but Salsa's. I loved the cheese tortellini, in fact I got it 2 nights as a side dish. The prime rib was very good, I had the beef tenderloin on formal night, which the small, very small portion was excellent, but what was that stuff on the outside!!!! I had the turkey one night which was a nice surprise, but nothing special.

 

Desserts....ummmmmmm, I live for desserts. But the desserts generally didn't do anything for me. Sorry to go back to DCL, but I had a difficult time narrowing my dessert choices down to 2 every night so I got both of them.

 

Lunch-mainly in the cafe. We did like the deli- not NY deli, basically build your own subs. Ice cream everyday. Dh tried the outdoor BBQ by the pool and said it was pretty good, no great reviews. He also ate alot at Blue Lagoon and it wasn't always after sampling of a drink!!!

 

Breakfast-I am the only one who likes breakfast and the only one who is actually up during the breakfast hours!!! I ate at the Garden Cafe each morning. While I loved the fruit, the oatmeal, the omelets (yum!!!!), the buffet was exactly the same each day. There were the same danish each day, the only one I liked was the chocolate croissant (yummmmmm!) I usually ate 2 or 3...... Most of the other ships try to incorporate new items each day with still having the basics.

 

Don't count on the Garden Cafe for too many choices late at night. First, it gets jammed and then they don't put out much food.

 

My biggest pet peeve about the breakfast in the cafe. They burnt toast every day. Not mine, just in general. The smell would linger, kind of like burnt popcorn..yuck! The person only has one job....toast!!!!

 

Remember, my opinion of the food is my own, but remember I said that I was a very picky eater and it is of my own doing that I didn't enjoy the menus.

 

A+++ from all members in my family goes to the Garden cafes PRETZEL BREAD. we all repeatedly ate this and it is excellent if you get motion sick (always eat salty and not sweet when motion sick!). But for what ever reason, I kept getting the hiccups.

 

Ok, I think I'm done with the food section....DH gives it an A, DS gives it an A, but I will have to go with a B.

 

Unfortunately now I'm hungry....will my room card work anywhere??????

[musicgirl63]

hey now! i know that's all in jest. we really wanted to attend the anniversary/honeymoon reception (part of the $79 anniversary package). but after having gone...we should have just stuck around for the bourbon whiskey clinic.

 

was it really supposed to be refined like the wine tasting? oh please. bourbon/whiskey drinkers are the biggest drunks out there!

 

your DH rocks musicgirl!

 

Yes of course in jest!!! You definitely in the high ranks when it comes to "sampling"!!!!!

 

I really think the bourbon tasting was suppose to be very serious. They did questions, and sniffing and the guy doing it was very much fun. He just wasn't Capt. Booze!!!!

 

So we made our own fun. I think about 10 people from the mojitos went over. We were laughing so hard!!!! A few of the spouses just watched...ok who am I kidding, we had our own tasting sessions.

 

We'll send you some of the pics from the bourbon and whiskey tasting...if they turn out!!! They might be a bit blurry!

[musicgirl63]

hahahaha he probally thought he looked good. I tried to not look at him but I couldn't resist. All I was thinking was WOW why the heck is he wearing that! ;-)

 

When I read this really quick the 1st time, I thought you were referring to my dh with the sign on his neck...then I reread it!!!

 

Again....:eek:

[pocketfullofsunshine]

yea i talking about the guy in the orange speedo thong

hehe ;-)

[pocketfullofsunshine]

i liked the garden cafe. lunch was really good most of the time. the cherry crumble dessert was the best. breakfast was okay but it was same stuff. i had the omelet everyday with fresh fruit. the bbq outside i liked. the bbq chicken was great and i also like the potato salad. my fav meal was the surf and more surf (lobster, claims, shrimp, mussles ontop of linguini in the Venetian room. i wasn't please with impressions at all. didn't go to cagney's or le bistro. we liked bamboo the best of all the specality restaurants we went to. I didn't like that the service was kind of slow at the restaurants but at the buffet it went fast and you can come and go as you please and you didn't have to wait. all of our waiters were friendly and one particular maitre d' always came up to us and ask us how we were enjoying our meal and talked with us.

[musicgirl63]

Ok, I know some of this is pretty random and personal, but I do like to add that to my review because I'm only doing this once and then I'm going to print it!!:)

 

So how about some talk about BERMUDA!!!! Heaven on earth. Let's face it this place is gorgeous. When you ask any of the locals if they would ever leave, they look at you and ask why would you leave paradise????

 

First, I researched the heck out of Bermuda and what to see. I laminated maps and ferry schedules, I made plans with bus routes times and ferry times (and I laminated those as well). I really don't know what I'll do with myself after this report......

 

Anyway, I encourage you to do the same. Research, get to know about whatever port you are going to and find out what to do.

 

When I first met Mike and Holly, they told me that they had booked the Horseshoe Bay excursion. High way robbery if you want beach time, and even if you don't! From what other said, it is a 2 hour tour and then you get a few hours at the beach. Not worth the money, you can do it on your own cheap!

 

In their defense,

Mike didn't have much time to plan since they only decided to go on a honeymoon last minute and he got to choose!! Nice Job Mike!!!

Anyways, there was a problem with the excursion, the guys with this excursion were on strike or something so they didn't get tickets. They were told that it was up in the air. When they finally did find out something,they switched the day on them. I told them to cancel and take the #7 bus to Horseshoe Bay. So they cancelled before receiving the tickets or confirmation. They were told no problem and the tickets would go to someone else. They next day, they got the tickets. They called ressies and were again told, no problem. Well it showed up on their bill!!! WHAT????? The one gal tried to tell them they were supposed to bring the tickets down, but no one told them. Eventually it got worked out, but beware!!!

 

TIP: Don't buy the water on the ship on your way out. Bottled water is cheap on the ferry and around town.

 

Now my Bermuda story.

Day 1-We got the 2 day bus pass. We took the first ferry (9am) to St. George's. We walked to Tobacco Bay because we wanted to snorkel and we were told this was a pretty good spot to try at St. Georges. The walk wasn't too bad....hahaha!!!!! I say that now! Anyways, we lug our 1000lbs of towels and fins and masks and water to the beach. It's pretty cloudy, but hey we'll be in the water. We finally arrive and I see a beautiful beach with a bunch of garbage. What in the world?? I know there was a dumping sight about a mile out, but I never expected this!!! there was a microwave and just a bunch of junk all over. It would have taken the people running the concessions a few minutes each day to clean up the water and the sand. It is such a beautiful beach!! What a shame...

 

Anyways, dh, ds and I went into snorkel. It was a bit cold so that's when we became...Scuba Steve, Scuba Sam and Scuba Sal. Yes, we put on the wetsuit equipment. DS and I just had tops, but dh, he had the 3/4 length scuba suit!!! Lovely, you'll enjoy the pictures if he ever gets out of bed!!!

 

It was a bit rough (storm coming) and there were a number of columns of rocks in the water that made me nervous, so only snorkeled for around 45 minutes and ds even less. We took underwater pictures with our digital, but we don't think they are very good because it was pretty dark. Pretty good snorkeling.

 

So after a bit, we dried off and headed over to St. Catherine's Beach. It is a bit of a hike, good work out. St. Catherine's Beach is beautiful and if it stays open, I highly recommend this place for families. Nice calm water, no garbage, concessions ($9 for a hamburger), bathrooms. Since we had a list of things a mile long to do on day 1, we needed to get going.

 

Off to find Alexandra Battery Park. Still walking...........The walk is actually very lovely. It is along the water and every place you stop is just as beautiful as the next.

 

Time out for a word about walking this route....It is over rated!!! Don't do it!!!! Bermuda is all uphill!!! There is no down hill.....how come it turns out mom and dad actually could have walked to school uphill both ways!!! Either hire a taxi for a few hours for this route or rent scooters. Yes, I said rent scooters but this would be the only place that I would rent them. There are NO buses on this road from Tobacco Bay to St. Catherine's Beach to the Sea Glass beach. Very few cars....rent a scooter for here only. Scooter story to follow....

 

Back to the walk. We started our adventure at 8:30am. It is well past 1 and we are way behind schedule. After the Sea glass beach, we are suppose to get on a bus and go to the Caves and then to Spittall pond. We are running late and I don't have all the new bus times needed!!!!! So off we walk...uphill to find sea glass. We walk past a pretty little beach and see the fort but nothing that looks like the sea glass beach in the picture. So we walk around the fort to the right...nothing. Ok, let's go back to that little beach, there are a few pieces in the sand so we explore some more. To find the sea glass you must go to the beach that is left of the fort. There is a partial stone "dock" on the right of the beach, keep going and look among the rock formation and you will find the glass. After finding a lot of glass, I actually found quite a bit on the beach. Be careful because of the glass is not smooth, definitely wear water shoes even though the beach looks very inviting.

 

Sea Glass.....check! Time to walk back to St. George to catch a bus, uphill of course! We finally get to walk down hill as we reach St. George, but it is only a small hill!!.. We stop in a little lunch place, Pantry's for ice cream and water. Salvation!!!!! The consensus is....go back to the ship, abandon all plans!!!!

 

Ferry arrives exactly when I said it should...ok, I had to improvise here but we made it back very tired. The guys took all the gear because I need to shop. Yes, I need to shop. I go straight to my favorite place, Glassworks and buy a turtle to match my whale from last year. Off to find the traditional ornament and maybe some jewelry. I found the ornament and I did find jewelry. Well, I can always find jewelry. Let's just say I have incredible taste and I only took the turtle and the ornament back on the ship!!

 

This is where the spa pass is an awesome deal. No kids, a nice jacuzzi and hot tub!! AHHHHH!!!! Nice dinner and then to Salsa's for a drink. I am too tired to even finish my pina colada. A very sad moment!!! We try to get up, but our muscles are frozen....eventually we make it back to the cabin and think we'll just take a nap. Sure, just a nap. We fell asleep at 7 and got up the next morning.

 

Day 2 to come.

[AuntieBarb]

Fun, informative and upbeat review, without turning any negatives into a bash fest. I like it! Sounds like our CC'ers had some fun too!

 

My only correction otherwise - I believe you meant Jacuzzi here. :D And yes, it does get quite windy up there! LOL!

 

I didn't go in the Oasis Pool as we had the spa pass which is awesome!!! I did use the adults only pool 13 forward. Again, no chairs available. I loved it but it is so windy, you can not stay for long. My ears hurt the last day at sea!!!

[AuntieBarb]

The walk wasn't too bad....hahaha!!!!! I say that now!

 

Time out for a word about walking this route....It is over rated!!! Don't do it!!!! Bermuda is all uphill!!! There is no down hill.....how come it turns out mom and dad actually could have walked to school uphill both ways!!! Either hire a taxi for a few hours for this route or rent scooters.

 

ROFLMAO! This is soooooo true and we stopped our hike far shorter than you!

 

Before taking off on our little hike, we had asked a traffic cop for directions to Fort St. Catherines. We were given directions alright, but she failed to mention the fort was closed for renovations. (Word of advice to those reading: Always preface your questions with "Hello! How are you? <insert small talk here> I was wondering if you could help me please?". Bermudians do not take well to American's going straight to the question without some polite small talk first! A matter of fact, one gentleman in Hamilton critiqued our mannerisms when asking where the nearest bus stop was. *sigh*)

 

Your review is a lot of fun! Keep going! :)

[musicgirl63]

Fun, informative and upbeat review, without turning any negatives into a bash fest. I like it! Sounds like our CC'ers had some fun too!

 

My only correction otherwise - I believe you meant Jacuzzi here. :D And yes, it does get quite windy up there! LOL!

 

Yes, I was typing too fast!!

[musicgirl63]

Bermuda Day 2

 

The weather was a bit nicer. The original plan was to go to Church Bay and snorkel first since we had been there last year. Since the water was a bit rough, we decided to skip this and do the remainder of the schedule which was Horseshoe Bay and then walk...can you believe I just used the word walk!!! to the adjoining beaches. Since we figured the beach would be pretty crowded, we decided to reverse the order and start with Warwick Long Beach.

 

We took a ferry to Hamilton and then bus #7 to Warwick Long Beach. Hint: the walk....uphill....to the bus station is a bit of a hike.

 

Can I just repeat over and over the word Heaven???? This is my new happy place. It used to be Serenity Bay which is the adults only beach for DCL, great place...but it's been replaced.

 

OMG!!! DH took awhile to get down to the beach since he was busy taking a zillion pictures. DS and myself, we headed for the incredible blue water with huge waves. With a storm or whatever approaching, the waves were wonderful to play in. I could have stayed the entire day!!! The waves were quite rough and definitely not a good place for children since there was barely a place that wasn't being tackled by the waves.

 

DH finally gets down to the shore and tries to snorkel near the rocks, no fish. He would have to go out farther to a reef and it was pretty intense. So after playing in the waves a bit, we decide to move to Jobson's Cove. Supposedly there is some great snorkeling here, but there was a group of kids (school or daycare??) so we ended up passing and following the trail to all the adjoining beaches.

 

It was really fun to stop at each one and cool off a bit. I don't know if we took the right path or not, but we were tired. At times we seemed to be in the jungle, but it was very pretty!!!

 

Of course each place was great. We ended up staying at the less crowded end of Horseshoe Bay. All beautiful, but to be honest I preferred the deserted beach other than Horseshoe Bay. So if you are a beach goer, start at Warwick Long Beach and play there for the majority of the time. Work your way down the beaches and end at Horseshoe Bay. There is food, bathrooms, showers, and transportation.

 

After we rinsed off and changed we started up to the bus route. I knew about the shuttle, but I just couldn't get on the bus with all the stuff we had hauled all day (towels, and snorkel gear).

 

The best $30 bucks was the taxi ride back to the ship. The driver was great, he knew dh was taking pictures so he kept slowing down. I highly recommend sharing a taxi because it looks like they took 6 people. Bonus!!! the taxi takes you right back up to the ship....no walking.

 

It was at this time that I stopped taking notes, I'm sure we headed back to the spa and to dinner and maybe out and about for a bit.

 

Bermuda-Day 3

 

The word walking shall not be a part of this daily script for the day because dh and ds just may throw me over board!!!

 

very gloomy..we had an afternoon excursion scheduled. It was the clear kayak excursion. Dh and I had originally decided to shop for a few things, some rum cake. So we sampled some rum cake and DH was hurting, something to do with his knee or calf so he went back to the ship.

 

DS was finally awake. Nice of him since he picked the excursion. We ate lunch and then grabbed our gear for the kayak. We all took our scuba suits/shirts. It poured on the way over to the excursion. It was out of 9 Beaches. They had us leave our stuff in a dry area while we kayaked.

 

There is a portion of the kayak that is clear, but it really is hard to see much. DH and I went together , ds ended up with another guy. DS ended up having a great time with this guy who is a very experienced. The tour itself was difficult in the rain because it was pouring. Yes, we were in water, but when the rain is pelting your face...... We couldn't really hear the guide very well who had a tendency to talk a bit too much. It was more of a history lessons and not much viewing of animal life. He talked about the people and the trees, etc. which is nice, but this is suppose to be a kayak excursion.

 

We only went to three places before he realized there were a few very cold people. We weren't very far out, so the gal took a group of us back. We went back in the 1st group because DH is a tall guy and he could not get comfortable in the kayak from the get go. Therefore it was really straining his back. That was ok with me. DS went with group #2 while we went to dry off.

 

We when got back we each got 1 drink ticket. We got rum swizzles. Finally, rum swizzles!! I had looked forward to this drink forever. I was too cold to drink it....just give it to the drink trash can dh!!!! After that the rum swizzles were $10!!! Yikes, and there was no alcohol in them.....or very little!

 

The 2nd group went over a shipwreck that was very cool. Now why didn't we do this first?????? They finally got back, but we didn't seem to be heading back to the ship. Tick tock, the all aboard is at 4:30 and it is 4:00!!!! Thankfully this was a ship sponsored tour. We could see the Captain pacing up top and waving his arms a bit. Oops!! Hey, I swiped in with 2 minutes to spare!!!

 

Note about 9 beaches!!! There is an excursion to 9 beaches. I wouldn't take this. This beach doesn't even come close to the beauty of the other beaches. There is a small beach with lots of washed up sea grass (normal I know), but it is not well maintained and looked, quite frankly 2nd rate. I would really have been disappointed if I had stayed at 9 beaches as a customer. The huts don't even come close to the picture on the internet.

 

Not quite so tired, we may actually do something tonight!!!!

 

Oh yeah, it was our 21st wedding anniversary. I did mention this as a special celebration, nothing, no balloon, no card........

 

Well we celebrated after dinner in Spinnakers. This is a fun place. We went to see the 2nd city players improv, which was good. We got a bottle of wine and watched and then waited for the White Hot Nights. Well bottle number 2 arrived as we waited. Not many of the people we met up with came out. I was dressed in white, and yes I did show my dh my new dance moves that I had learned earlier in the cruise. Second bottle of wine gone and all danced out.......the ship is rocking tonight.

[musicgirl63]

Anyone still awake???

 

Last sea day. Believe it or not I was up and out around 8am. I had breakfast, I went shopping and bought jewelry. I almost made it. I had only 1 more day!!!! So I decided to head up to the hot tub on 13 forward. No chairs...of well I like to be in the water. The wind was more like a tropical storm up there. I didn't last but an hour and headed out.

 

Motion sick, oh no!!! I had started to feel it while shopping, I was ok at the hot tub,but I think the strong wind really disoriented me. I know that sounds bizarre, but my ears actually hurt from the sound and the strength of the wind. So I tried my favorite motion sick trick, hop in the pool. My pool of choice, the spa pool. The waves were rolling in the pool, but with it being enclosed it didn't seem to help, so up to bed. Luckily the spa was right above us.

 

I put my motion sick electronic band on and into bed. I always take meds on vacation for this, but I think something triggered it while shopping and at the hot tub. Those who suffer, know that if you get motion sick, it is tough to get rid of. So sleep is the best thing and keeping your stomach full. I felt horrible in the cafe, so dh brought be a few items. Pretzel bread....yummmmmm! That and some ginger ale. I needed to pack, feel better and head up to the Margarita Madness. They have certain ones that are only $5. No seminar, just 2 hours of drinking margaritas. Needless to say, I did not partake, but the "tasting" group showed up again and we had a few more laughs.

 

Off to the crew show. It is short, there is a group that did traditional dancing that was beautiful. Stay for the ending, it is quite fun.

 

We crossed signals with ds about dinner so we decided to try one of the pay restaurants...no openings. Oh well, I've already paid for dinner so we went to Aqua and got right in.

 

Nice dinner, packing complete, shopping to do. We did end up buying some of the black seal rum and kahlua. We got it later that night before we set the bags out. I discovered in packing that my cell is gone...oops.

 

Last day-they were kicking us out!! Robes lined up in the hall way, fresh linens...man way to kick us when we're down. We got dressed and ate breakfast. We had the choice of express check out where you have to take all your own luggage. Think hard, did we do this???? Not a chance, with 9 pieces and carry ons, that would be a sight to see! We picked our own luggage tag color, the last time we could get. More time on the ship.

 

So we decided to wait in the Salsa area...scene of the margarita madness and watch the chaos unfold. I think 3/4ths of the ship did express. They were well past the expected times. Then they started calling colors, but instead of one at a time, they called 3 colors at a time. Hello, what's the purpose if it ends up being a mad rush with 3 groups.

 

Ok, finally we can't stay on anymore. If I can't find my room card to check out, do I have to leave??? Going out we were at a different pier than we left from. Not so pretty. We checked out one last time and then through customs, piece of cake. They didn't even really check. Saw Zone and eyesof brown a number of times and shaw5. Being the last off really makes it easy to find your bags!!!

 

 

Phone tag!! I called the hotel where we had stayed prior to sailing to ask about the phone before we left the ship. Nope ,we can't help you. Nigel isn't in on Sunday. WHAT???? I'm a few blocks away and if it is there, I'll come get it. Nope, sorry you are out of luck. May I please speak to the hotel manager. Sure, tomorrow when Nigel gets in. GRRRRR!!!!!

 

Now, to lost and found. I was told 5 different places and then told to go to pier 88 to look for my lost phone since I'm pretty sure it didn't make the journey on board. So nice brisk walk with cranky teen and dh husband waiting. I ask 4 people before I get anyone who knows what they are doing. The lady then proceeds to tell me that anything left in the terminal is put in a bag with confiscated items and them taken to the pier where you disembark. The phone isn't there anyway.

 

 

Taxi to Penn Station. Guess what EVERYTHING fits in a regular taxi and for $9.30 we are dropped at Penn Station. Wow, confusing. We finally find the place to check our bags in for Amtrak. One of my bags was exactly 50 lbs! Ding, do I get a prize or something?? The lady there was great, so we tipped her. Off to find food. Now is there a Garden Cafe anywhere??? Back to reality. It's just after noon, so we eat, relax, buy magazines.

 

It's about 30 minutes before boarding and I realize that my passport holder with all 3 passports is missing. OMG. Frantic search about a 1000 times through the carry ons. Dh runs to lost and found. We all go over to the Amtrak baggage. They haven't seen it so I leave my name and infomation.

 

We have to get on the train. Luckily we all have our driver's license so we are ok with boarding. The Amtrak is jammed since flights are so expensive. I finally calmed down since it was only the passports that were in the holder. Except for the piece of paper I folded up and stuck inside. I kept trying to remember what it was.

 

About 4 hours into the trip, I realize what it was. It was a "back up" set up original birth certificates for each of us, copies of our driver's licenses and a list of credit card numbers in case ours were lost or stolen. Ok, before you wonder why I would do that, I always mix up the numbers for the credit cards. I NEVER put the back up set in with the other sets. hmmm, I actually have 2 sets of original birth certificates that I take and hide them in various places. I never would put them together, and I don't know why I did. Horrible thoughts about someone using the info from the original birth certificates, info from the DL's and passport to boot, to get SSN#s and start identity theft. I freaked because this has already happened to us.

 

Ok, breathe........call Father in law and ask him to go to the house and listen to the machine. He does, but he can't figure out how to use it to hear the messages. finally, we hear the message while on the train, that they found them. Thank you Lord!!! Maybe I can get a few winks of sleep during this 12 hour ride plus 2 hours to drive.

 

Ok, I'm done for now. I've finally gotten confirmation on the passports and they are being fed exed to me. I've started unpacking and now it is time to sleep.

[musicgirl63]

One last hint...if you use the guest laundry, make sure you shut the washer and dryer doors tight, even slamming it a bit. If you don't, it will not work. Ta, Ta for now!