New member reviews on the Dawn

[cljd]

There have been a few new member reviews posted for the Dawn this week (on CC website, review section, member reviews), some of them very negative. A few complaints of a dirty ship and bad food and drunken teenagers. Anyone care to elaborate...or ease my worried mind?? We depart in one week.

[Dolphins]

There have been a few new member reviews posted for the Dawn this week (on CC website, review section, member reviews), some of them very negative. A few complaints of a dirty ship and bad food and drunken teenagers. Anyone care to elaborate...or ease my worried mind?? We depart in one week.

 

We look forward to sailing on the Dawn for the 5th time in October. We have already booked her again for October 2009. We have never encountered a dirty ship or bad food on the Dawn. As for drunken teen-agers, that does not surprise me on a cruise when schools are not in session and hundreds of school age children are on board. They will also have a negative impact on the overall cleanliness of the ship. I am sure that the staff would confirm that it is a totally different cruise experience when schools are in session.

[cv322]

Uh oh. :eek:.

 

I'm hoping NCL reads this & cleans up (pun intended) their act. Either that or maybe a crew changeover will happen sometime soon. I'm not expecting alot of children/teens on our October 5th sailing, so now worries there. Really sorry for the bad experience of some cruisers though.

[Dolphins]

Uh oh. :eek:.

 

I'm hoping NCL reads this & cleans up (pun intended) their act. Either that or maybe a crew changeover will happen sometime soon. I'm not expecting alot of children/teens on our October 5th sailing, so now worries there. Really sorry for the bad experience of some cruisers though.

 

If there is any crew changeover in September, it will probably be due to combat fatigue. I marvel that any of them can last the summer.

[Rumncoke]

If there is any crew changeover in September, it will probably be due to combat fatigue. I marvel that any of them can last the summer.

 

LOL Good one!

[Baitman19]

There have been a few new member reviews posted for the Dawn this week (on CC website, review section, member reviews), some of them very negative. A few complaints of a dirty ship and bad food and drunken teenagers. Anyone care to elaborate...or ease my worried mind?? We depart in one week.

 

You are going to find drunken teenagers on ships as long as the parents sign the form stating that they are 18 and you will allow them to drink beer or wine. I wonder how Spring Break on a cruise ship is?

 

The ship is clean and beautiful. We will be sailing the Dawn for the 12th time on Aug31st. We wouldn't be going back if what you read on the CC reviews was really true.

 

We don't even hear the Bingo announcements anymrore. Drinks are cheaper on the Dawn than in our local tavern. If you like juice, bring it back from the buffet to your fridge in your cabin. If you're hungry at night there's 24 hour room service. If your cabin is dirty, tell your steward. Save money, don't buy drinks in souvenier glasses.

 

Don't worry, you'll have a great cruise on the Dawn.

 

Happy Cruising,

Monty

[*Luv2Cruz*]

You're gonna luv it! Don't let a few bad reviews get you down. There's many more that were excellent!:D Enjoy your cruise!

[BuckeyePat]

There have been a few new member reviews posted for the Dawn this week (on CC website, review section, member reviews), some of them very negative. A few complaints of a dirty ship and bad food and drunken teenagers. Anyone care to elaborate...or ease my worried mind?? We depart in one week.

I began a thread earlier this week asking if it has been a long summer for NCL. That was prior to these last 4 reviews. I am expecting to have a great time, but I will not accept a dirty cabin. Room stewards will hear from me; other than that, nothing else will get to me! Drink prices? I don't drink enough to worry about them. Extra fee restaurants? I know that prior to boarding and will pick and choose...I want my first cruise to be one of my greatest life experiences;) !

[MrLee]

I began a thread earlier this week asking if it has been a long summer for NCL. That was prior to these last 4 reviews. I am expecting to have a great time, but I will not accept a dirty cabin. Room stewards will hear from me; other than that, nothing else will get to me! Drink prices? I don't drink enough to worry about them. Extra fee restaurants? I know that prior to boarding and will pick and choose...I want my first cruise to be one of my greatest life experiences;) !

 

 

I have to agree with you...unsanitary conditions are one thing I wouldn't tolerate. I'm surprised to hear it though. We had norovirus on our cruise last year and they were strongly devoted to keeping the ship spotless.

[cljd]

Thanks to all for your words of encouragement. I feel pretty prepared going into this trip, even as a first time cruiser, thanks to these boards and the member reviews and my TA.

 

I have to remember these people who write the bad reviews would not be happy on any vacation, any ship, any hotel, any airline, any restaurant, etc. and they probably go home to live similarly miserable lives.

 

I choose to be prepared and expect a good time... and hope to be surprised by an amazing time. Now let's keep our fingers crossed for a peaceful Atlantic Ocean!!;)

[watchdiva]

I just read the recent reviews on Pearl and Dawn and wonder how NCL stays in business if ship condition and customer service onboard have deteriorated as much as these reviews would have us believe. I've sailed Dawn and Pearl and can honestly say never experienced any problems with cleanliness of the cabin OR more importantly rudeness on the part of the crew.

 

Our 6/08 Dawn cruise was fantastic - to sail on the Dawn to Bermuda is the ONLY reason I would fly to NY to board a cruiseship. The ship was in great condition, crew that we interacted with treated us great and we both gained weight on this cruise because our meals were super.

 

I won't say that these reviews are "wrong" just because I didn't experience any of the issues reported, but I will say that I found some comments laughable.

 

You cannot believe everything (either good or bad) that you read in a review - take them with a grain of salt-especially when they are OTT ("over the top") negative. Every cruise will have bumps but I wonder why, if the cabins were as dirty as one poster reported, that he didn't request a meeting with the Housekeeping Manager? We were on Deck 10 AFT and ran into the Housekeeping Manager daily as he was making his rounds.

 

Go and enjoy your cruise - if you go expecting to have a great time you will!:)

 

I am not/nor have I ever been an employee of NCL; I'm way too old to be a "cheerleader" because I'd look silly in the uniforms at my age. Just trying to present another perspective of our cruises on NCL.

[greywillow]

I won't say that these reviews are "wrong" just because I didn't experience any of the issues reported, but I will say that I found some comments laughable.

My favorite was the person who complained his arms were too short to reach the buffet.:rolleyes:

 

What might help is if people would stop starting a new thread every time they read one of those "nightmare, never again" reviews. Just let 'em die a natural, unread-by-anyone-else death. Why call unnecessary attention to them?

[cantstopcruising]

You are going to find drunken teenagers on ships as long as the parents sign the form stating that they are 18 and you will allow them to drink beer or wine. I wonder how Spring Break on a cruise ship is?

 

 

nty

I happened to sail on a spring break cruise and suprisingly they were very well behaved, most were 21 and older. The biggest thing I saw with them was ran out of money within two nites they had to have there parents wire money to the cruise company. lol But very well dressed for dinner and all had a great time

[VampyBuff]

There have been a few new member reviews posted for the Dawn this week (on CC website, review section, member reviews), some of them very negative. A few complaints of a dirty ship and bad food and drunken teenagers. Anyone care to elaborate...or ease my worried mind?? We depart in one week.

 

My last cruise in June on the Dawn really kinda turned me off NCL for a while at least. The ship was NOT dirty, but we had a couple burnt out lights in our cabin which, despite constant reminders to the cleaning staff, were never replaced.

 

There were "gangs" of teens sitting on the staircases late into the night. I'm 23 and my boyfriend is 20, so we spoke to them a few times, and they told us that yes, they'd managed to get alcohol somehow or another at times. There really wasn't much to do at night, and no curfew, so the parents seemed to think it was OK to let them just run free.

 

The food...Well, I;m from NY and a culinary student, so maybe I'm jaded, but my boyfriend is NOTand lives mostly on spaghetti with meat sauce. Yet he agreed that our meals felt more like just consuming food, rather than enjoying it. Not to mention the service...

 

In short...Make what you can of it, maybe RCCL has spoiled me, but NCL did not live up to my past experiences with them this time around.

[VampyBuff]

I happened to sail on a spring break cruise and suprisingly they were very well behaved, most were 21 and older. The biggest thing I saw with them was ran out of money within two nites they had to have there parents wire money to the cruise company. lol But very well dressed for dinner and all had a great time

 

Ahaha...that happened to me in 2006...I was 21,my boyfriend was 20...and we went a little crazy with the shopping and putting money on the seapass...suddenly we're without a credit card (maxed out), or cellphone(this was before they had the ability to be used while cruising), at sea for more than a day prior to arriving in the next port to call home and have money put in my account. NOT FUN, but at least it taught me a lesson that those charges DO add up!

[reenicruiser]

I was on the Dawn this morning. It is very clean. We had a stopped sink in the cabin and told our steward who called for someone to come fix it; he was there before we remembered again that the sink was stopped up.

 

We did not have a large number of children on the ship. One thing we did notice, though, is that NCL does not seem to enforce ANY rules. My daughter is just about 18 and doesn't drink so it was great that she could join her cousins in the casino and bars, but twice my family saw girls they swear could not have been 16 drunk as skunks and acting sleazy with older men on the dance floor. It really turned off the younger partying part of our group.

[reenicruiser]

Oh, and about the stair-sitting. I didn't see that with teens but I thought it was very dangerous that NCL allows guests to sit all over the staircases waiting to get into the Aqua and Venetian each night at dinnertime. My cousin broke her leg falling down stairs on a cruise ship last month and I think NCL is taking a big chance blocking the stairs as they do Elderly and disabled people had to let go of the hand rails to go around groups of people;not a great idea on a rocking ship.

[AFAMILY]

There have been a few new member reviews posted for the Dawn this week (on CC website, review section, member reviews), some of them very negative. A few complaints of a dirty ship and bad food and drunken teenagers. Anyone care to elaborate...or ease my worried mind?? We depart in one week.

 

We look forward to sailing on the Dawn for the 5th time in October. We have already booked her again for October 2009. We have never encountered a dirty ship or bad food on the Dawn. As for drunken teen-agers, that does not surprise me on a cruise when schools are not in session and hundreds of school age children are on board. They will also have a negative impact on the overall cleanliness of the ship. I am sure that the staff would confirm that it is a totally different cruise experience when schools are in session.

 

If there is any crew changeover in September, it will probably be due to combat fatigue. I marvel that any of them can last the summer.

 

I read some of these negative reviews and must say our experiences on the Dawn were nothing at all similar to these reviewers. We have only cruised when schools were in session and this has surely made a difference.

 

I think NCL needs to change the drinking age for ALL alcholic beverages to 21, and strictly enforce that rule. I realize this would effect their revenues but so do these negative reviews, although it's probably impossible to determine to what extent. I know we will not book any cruise while schools ARE NOT in session.

[*Wink*]

 

I think NCL needs to change the drinking age for ALL alcholic beverages to 21, and strictly enforce that rule. I realize this would effect their revenues but so do these negative reviews, although it's probably impossible to determine to what extent. I know we will not book any cruise while schools ARE NOT in session.

 

I agree with the drinking age being raised. As far as kids on cruises, it's our number one priority that we don't pick a date when school's out. Number one!

[bklynangel]

There have been a few new member reviews posted for the Dawn this week (on CC website, review section, member reviews), some of them very negative. A few complaints of a dirty ship and bad food and drunken teenagers. Anyone care to elaborate...or ease my worried mind?? We depart in one week.

I have been on the Dawn 2 x's. In 2005, the stateroom I was in was great....It was a balcony on the 9th floor, midship. he ship was clean and not many kids on the ship....it was mid-july. The waters were like a sheet of glass and we had smooth sailing all the way. The second time , June 08, I was in a suite on the 11th floor. Cabin WAS not clean...alot of kids on board, but they were very well behaved altho i did see a few drunk teens. Now the parents can sign for them to drink if they are 18. The 11th floor was very noisy in the wee hours of the night and early in the morning. The seas were very rough and we had two rescues.

[bonz15]

WOw. I just finished reading all the recently posted member reviews. I think it's interesting that all those reviews are posted on there where people can't reply instead of on the boards.

Anyway i was on the same cruise with a few of those reviewers ( I wrote a review a few weeks ago-7/27 A smashing time) and dont agree with those posters. First of all they all seemed surprised that they had to pay extra for the speciality restaurants. I would think they would have known that before they went. I do agree that the food you paid for was a little better than the food in the main dining room and I did feel that wasn't fair. Our room steward wasn't that great either though I never did see the rooms that dirty. But those were really the only complaints I had and it wouldn'tstop me from going on NCL again.

Overall the cruise was great and if someone has done their research they can't complain. I've been on other cruise lines and I think this was the cheaper priced one so paying extra for food wasn't that bad.

Just needed to put in my 2 cents

Bonnie

[mactrio]

it's our number one priority that we don't pick a date when school's out. Number one!

 

Our # 1 priority for not picking a date while school is out; is that May - Nov. is Hurricane season. :)

[CruisnGram]

As always, the problems with teens causing problems is the parents fault. On our March cruise, 2 of our group were 19 year olds that we signed for them to have beer and wine. Neither got drunk, or rowdy because we still supervised them. Same for the teens sitting in the stairs. Kids will be kids and if not supervised by their parents, they can make things miserable for the other passengers. Personally, I'd rather ban the bad parents then the kids. :p

 

CG

[AFAMILY]

As always, the problems with teens causing problems is the parents fault. On our March cruise, 2 of our group were 19 year olds that we signed for them to have beer and wine. Neither got drunk, or rowdy because we still supervised them. Same for the teens sitting in the stairs. Kids will be kids and if not supervised by their parents, they can make things miserable for the other passengers. Personally, I'd rather ban the bad parents then the kids. :p

 

CG

 

I agree totally. While I'm not that old, 54, I'm old enough to remember a time when kids had respect for their elders and other people in general. For a variety of reasons, this is no longer the case for many kids today AND their parents. This is not to say there are not respectful people, including kids, out there. There certainly are, but there are enough people out there who have no regard for anyone else but themselves.

 

Happy Cruising! :)

[honeymooners08]

Hello everyone! My husband and I were on the 8/3 sailing. The rooms were clean, the entire boat was spotless. In my opinion, I really did not care for the quality of food in Aqua, but we also ate in specialty restaurants for most of the trip (we had planned on doing so-it was our honeymoon) and were comparing Aqua to the pay restaurants. Having said that, however, the buffet was good, the outdoor BBQ was great, and the Blue Lagoon-while usually packed-was good as well. About the teens-there were a ton of them on board, but they never bothered us until the White Hot Party. The teens seemed to take over the party, and it kind of became a high school dance atmosphere. But we truly enjoyed our trip-we didn't want to leave!! Don't let those nay-sayers let you think anything other than good things about your upcoming trip! It was our first cruise ever, and it was the best trip we have ever taken.