Just back from the Dawn - ask away!

[cruisebermuda]

Just returned from the 8/24 sailing on the Dawn. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. I'll post a review later today once I get the laundry going!

[krystall]

We're considering doing Bermuda in May of 09.

We've been on the Dawn 2 times, the second

time wasn't so great. What was your overall

impression? How was the crew? Food?

Service? Cleanliness?

 

Our first time on the Dawn was magnificent and

we were greatly disappointed the second time it

wasn't and we love NCL.

 

We were on a Princess cruise this past June and

I was talking to a long time cruiser who had recently

been on the Dawn and her cruise didn't go so well

either so I'll be very interested in your review.

 

Thanks, I hope you had a great time.

[*Luv2Cruz*]

Just returned from the 8/24 sailing on the Dawn. Please feel free to ask any questions you may have. I'll post a review later today once I get the laundry going!

 

Welcome home!

 

We're heading down next June with a CC Group and look forward to your review and all the others who have just returned. With a screen name of cruisebermuda, I guess I don't have to ask how you liked Bermuda.;) Enjoy your holiday weekend!:)

[cruisebermuda]

I'm going to have to do this in pieces, so here goes...

 

Day 1: The drive to the pier was very easy, as we are only 45 min from the pier. We parked in a lot on 51st between 10th and 11th, $147, including tax (it's $210 at the pier). We had 2 cars, so this was a nice $140 savings for us. Embarkation was very simple. We waited on a short line to check in (there was some confusion because I somehow didn't have tickets...we just had the online advance reservation papers and the letter from NCL with our reservation #s. They printed us new ones at the pier). After checking in, we had about a 10 minute wait before boarding the ship at 11:45am.

 

As we walked onto the ship, they greeted us with trays of champagne, juice, etc. There was chaos in the lobby as some people were going to the left to make dinner reservations, and some to the right to check carry-on luggage in a lounge while the cabins were being readied. We decided to skip both of those activities to avoid the crowds and went up to Deck 12 to have lunch in the Garden Cafe. I thought the Garden Cafe offered plenty of choices (there were several stations, so you have to walk around the whole cafe to see everything). The Kids Cafe in the Garden Cafe was great...my kids are 3 and 5, so it was perfectly sized for them. I do wish they had changed the menu in the Kids cafe a bit more. It was usually pizza, mac & cheese, hamburgers, hot dogs, fruit salad and cookies. It would have been nice to swap in some chicken strips or something some of the days. The kids menu in the regular dining rooms offered more "kid" choices.

 

We then made a beeline for the T-Rex Pool. It was the nicest kids pool area I have ever seen on a ship. We enjoyed this for several hours every day of the trip. It did get a little crazy on the water slides but by day 2, they had a security guard there monitoring the process. On the first day, I had to "talk" to a few older kids who in my opinion didn't belong there and were WAY too rough with the younger kids. There is a bar as you access the water slides that is meant for height checks (if you can't fit under the bar, you can't access the slide) but this wasn't enforced well.

 

The first night, we had dinner at 6 in the Venetian with reservations (we are a party of 7). Service was good and the food was OK. I didn't really like my entree but everyone else did. This was the only night that we had good service. The other 6 nights (a combination of Aqua and Venetian) were very slow and/or various mistakes were made. We are pretty laid back about these things, but it was pretty funny to see my dad get the same appetizer twice during a meal and my sister have to ask 3 people to get BBQ sauce (not sure that the first 2 knew what it was!!) Some menu items were excellent...I'd highly recommend the Mushroom Risotto, the Mozzarella/Tomato appetizer, all the chocolate desserts, the Salmon. Another excellent food item was the freshly made Quesadilla station in the Garden Cafe at dinner time...these were delicious.

 

We wore mardi gras beads as we boarded the ship, to meet the others in our Cruise Critic meet & greet group (from our roll call). It was a very easy way to spot the people we had been talking to before the trip.

 

We went to the Welcome Aboard showtime and dropped the kids off in the Kids Program (opened at 8pm the first night). We used the kids club a lot during the trip (2-5 age group). They really had a great time and many fun activities were planned, including t-shirt coloring, singing, playing on the huge jungle gym (a highlight), movies, etc.

 

Days 2&3:

At Sea

 

On Monday morning, we went to the Meet & Greet at 10:30. It was very nice to meet everyone, and many officers attended. They were very willing to answer any questions and encouraged everyone to bring any problems, questions, etc. to their attention while onboard, so they could be addressed right away. I think this is a mistake that many people make on a cruise...they don't say anything when there is a problem and those little things fester, and then their trip is ruined. I also think that people like to complain (more on that later!).

 

We all loved the sea days. We played trivia in the mornings and enjoyed the pool. My sister is a big sun person and the first day didn't see a chair available. She asked one of the pool attendants for help and he got her a lounge chair right away. They will move people's stuff if it's just sitting there, so you can't hesitate to ask for help. We did see quite a bit of chair hogging (2-3 hours where a single shoe was on one chair, with the mate hogging the 2nd chair).

 

The production shows (Jean Ann Ryan co.) were very good. I liked Band on the Run the best, followed by Bollywood, and thought South Beach Rave was OK. What a cast...it's huge and they are very talented. We also loved Jose and Patti, a duo who sing in Dazzles nightly. Their Neil Diamond show was GREAT (and we had just seen Neil Diamond the weekend before the trip in NYC!) and so was the 60s night. They are a definite "don't miss!". My husband saw Jeffrey Allen, the pianist, several times, in the Elton John review, and in the atrium the other nights. He was great too, but was leaving today for several weeks off for vacation.

 

On the sea days, the kids program ran from 9am-10:30pm (with later hours for paid babysittting).

 

Days 4-6

Kings Wharf, Bermuda

 

This was my first time docking at Kings Wharf (we have always docked at Hamilton (many times with Celebrity), or Hamilton/St George, or just St George (on the Majesty)). It was very easy to navigate from there. The first day, we bought ferry tokens from the window right at the pier when you get off the ship ($4 adults, I forget the kid price, maybe $2). Then, we took the ferry to St. George. We did a little shopping in town, then stopped at the post office to buy bus tickets (14 zone). They come in a book of 15, and can be shared. For people who are only doing one "outing" a day, meaning one trip in each direction, the 3-day bus/ferry passes are much more expensive. It's great if you are doing a lot of on and off, but otherwise, it's more pricey than the ticket system. We then walked to Tobacco Bay. It was pouring when we got off the ship, but by the time we started the walk to the beach, the sun was out. There were only 4 people there when we arrived at about 11:30am. It picked up a little bit, but never got crowded. Tobacco Bay had been hit hard with the rain recently, so some of the beach had run off and some seaweed was on the beach. The first part of the water was rocky, something we had never seen before, but it was from the storm.

 

The other 2 days, we took the "Special" bus straight to Horseshoe Bay. They did have #7 buses running, but ran these special buses specifically to transport people to/from Horseshoe Bay. The ran very frequently, and the there was a transportation person at the stop radioing for buses if needed. Horseshoe Bay was beautiful. There was a sandcastle contest starting this weekend, so they had 4-5 people working on a huge advertisement for it while we were there. They were creating lighthouses, government buildings, scuba divers...it was gorgeous.

 

The last port day, we were enjoying the T-Rex pool in the late afternoon when it had to be closed for an "accident". It was closed the rest of the day.

 

CASINO: My husband played in the Hold Em tournament and played poker a few nights. It was a huge casino.

 

CHOCOLATE BUFFET: Very disappointing, as it was in the Garden Cafe and they didn't really do the chocolate creations we had seen in the past. There were a few, but it was lost in the shuffle.

 

CABIN: We stayed in an inside room on deck 4. It was fine. It took some getting used to to set the door thing to Makeup our Cabin, Do Not Disturb, Welcome or Turn Down. We screwed that up a few times...but that was our fault.

 

BEDDING: A few people asked if we had new bedding...we didn't but saw it in the hallways, so it must have been coming soon.

 

SERVICE: This was one area where I noticed a difference from past cruises we have taken. Tips are automatic, and people weren't going out of their way to be friendly, I think in big part because they weren't working to make sure they were getting great tips. We were used to people taking the time to have conversations, be friendly, spoil the kids a bit, and provide excellent service. The crew as a whole seemed to be quiet, and not very helpful. We usually look forward to dinner, and to interacting with the wait staff. None of that was happening. I had one suggestion for the Latitides coordinator and was basically insulted at his desk. I was pretty shocked...as we usually can't say enough about the crew and staff.

 

KIDS CREW STAFF: Can't say enough good things...my kids couldn't stop talking about how much they liked Panda, Strawberry, Lollipop and the others.

 

I know I have more to write about, but have to get back to unpacking! More later...

[cantstopcruising]

I had one suggestion for the Latitides coordinator and was basically insulted at his desk. I was pretty shocked...as we usually can't say enough about the crew and staff.

 

Sounds like you had a good cruise but what happened with the Latitudes Coordinator?:confused:

Welcome Home

[andychris]

Welcome back. Sounds like you had some of the same expirences as we did on the cruise before yours.

[cljd]

Hi cruisebermuda... we met at the meet and greet and I saw you in passing a few times on the ship. I just posted a review on the member review area. My kids didn't like the kids club much, but other than that, we had a good time. My kids were in the 6-9 age group. Maybe things were calmer or better-organized for the 2-5 year olds??

 

I know that you are an experienced cruiser... so I must ask.... it feels like my house is the ship. I still feel the movement of the ship. Is this normal?? I feel almost seasick and actually took a dramamine a while ago. My husband thinks I am crazy.

 

Anyway, back to laundry and cooking and the real world.

[*Luv2Cruz*]

Hi cruisebermuda... we met at the meet and greet and I saw you in passing a few times on the ship. I just posted a review on the member review area. My kids didn't like the kids club much, but other than that, we had a good time. My kids were in the 6-9 age group. Maybe things were calmer or better-organized for the 2-5 year olds??

 

I know that you are an experienced cruiser... so I must ask.... it feels like my house is the ship. I still feel the movement of the ship. Is this normal?? I feel almost seasick and actually took a dramamine a while ago. My husband thinks I am crazy.

 

Anyway, back to laundry and cooking and the real world.

 

I think the term is "sea legs". We too felt that way after our cruises. Kind of like you still feel like you're on snow skis after skiing; or even worse, coming off a helicopter excursion.:eek: You'll be fine!;)

[Mammaof2girls]

Hi!

 

I just wanted to pop in to say I was on the same cruise as Lori and her family. :) This was our first cruise and if anyone has any q's for me as well....feel free! :D I do plan on doing a review as well. :) You're on top of things Lori....my review won't be coming until a couple of days! LOL And I'm just getting to the laundry now! LOL

 

I do agree on alot of things you mentioned though!!! Talk to you soon!

[cruisebermuda]

Hi cruisebermuda... we met at the meet and greet and I saw you in passing a few times on the ship. I just posted a review on the member review area. My kids didn't like the kids club much, but other than that, we had a good time. My kids were in the 6-9 age group. Maybe things were calmer or better-organized for the 2-5 year olds??

 

I know that you are an experienced cruiser... so I must ask.... it feels like my house is the ship. I still feel the movement of the ship. Is this normal?? I feel almost seasick and actually took a dramamine a while ago. My husband thinks I am crazy.

 

Anyway, back to laundry and cooking and the real world.

 

Hi cljd!! Yes, feeling the ship's movement is completely normal, it should be gone when you wake up tomorrow!! Nice talking to you at the meet & greet.

[Ram1500]

I'm going to have to do this in pieces, so here goes...

 

Day 1: The drive to the pier was very easy, as we are only 45 min from the pier. We parked in a lot on 51st between 10th and 11th, $147, including tax (it's $210 at the pier). We had 2 cars, so this was a nice $140 savings for us. Embarkation was very simple. We waited on a short line to check in (there was some confusion because I somehow didn't have tickets...we just had the online advance reservation papers and the letter from NCL with our reservation #s. They printed us new ones at the pier). After checking in, we had about a 10 minute wait before boarding the ship at 11:45am.

 

 

Great review. I just have a question? You spoke about "tickets". We will be sailing on the Dawn in a few weeks and all I have is the confirmation paperwork etc. We sailed on the "Sun" back in March and had the same thing meaning the paperwork/reservation number. We have never recieved tickets. Is this a new thing?

 

Thanks!

[cruisebermuda]

I had one suggestion for the Latitides coordinator and was basically insulted at his desk. I was pretty shocked...as we usually can't say enough about the crew and staff.

 

Sounds like you had a good cruise but what happened with the Latitudes Coordinator?:confused:

Welcome Home

 

On the 2nd night, we got back to the cabin to find the Latitudes pins, stapled to a paper explaining the latitudes benefits (spa discounts, internet bonuses, etc.). Well, when I finally read the sheet the following night, and MOVED the pin packs, underneath at the top of the page was the invite to the Latitudes cocktail party, which was earlier that evening. I called the other cabin in my party and they missed it too. In speaking to other people, they missed it too!! So, I took a walk to the Latitudes desk to express my disappointment at missing the party and suggesting that they move the part about the party further down on the page so it can't be missed. I said "I was disappointed to miss the party and wanted to suggest that the page be re-designed so it was in the part of the paper not covered by the pins". He said to me "well, you can't say you weren't invited". I re-iterated that that wasn't what I was saying. He then said "well, I don't know how you missed it. It was there. I guess I can tell corporate, it's their sheet". I just couldn't believe I was being spoken to so rudely. It would have been very easy for him to say "that's a good idea, I will pass it along" (even if he didn't plan to do anything about it!!!).

 

Believe me, I didn't let this get in the way of a great trip! We all had fun doing the things we like to do!

[carolinagal]

Jose and Patti at Dazzles! You were sooo lucky!

They were performing on the Dream last summer when we cruised the Baltic.

They are the best! We thought the dance floor would collapse one night from all the dancers. Just returned from Bermuda on the Majesty and I actually asked the future reservation person what ship they might be on. She didn't know but you just answered my question. I feel like jumping on the Dawn just to spend a few more evenings listening to their great music!

[cruisebermuda]

Pool deck and Garden Cafe: Wear non-slip shoes or flip-flops. I had flip flops from J Crew that were so slippery and fell 2x!!! I was very graceful while falling, if I do say so myself. My sister had flip flops from Old Navy with much better traction. It seemed that the pool deck was always wet (a few times from a quick shower, but otherwise from pool water) and the Garden Cafe was wet a few times too from spills. The crew outside did work continuously on the wet deck, but it was a lot to keep up with, esp. after the rain showers.

 

Deck 7 for walking: 4 times around is 1.4 miles. Even if you aren't a walker, go check out this deck. It's the first ship I've been on where you could walk around a deck 90% in the SHADE!!! It was great...the whole thing is painted with scenes that mirror the lounge/restaurant/area on the inside of the ship! It's really beautiful and so well maintained. I didn't find this until the last sea day, but did my 4 laps just to enjoy it!!

 

The Gym/Spa: We used the gym regularly...a good time to go was late afternoon. Mornings were packed. The classes looked good, but I stuck to cardio/weights on this trip. They did have Yoga/Pilates/Spinning ($10 each) and a few total body conditioning type classes (free). It was a nice-sized gym with lots of equipment.

 

We went to look at the Spa pool...it really is gorgeous and if I wasn't traveling with my kids, I would have bought that pass in a second. The pool was nice (and empty), the VIEW was amazing and the chairs had plush cushioning on them.

 

Regular Pool: It was fine...it is a bit small, but really, I don't know what people are expecting. There is a little tiny pool in front of the pool that was usually empty...it's more shallow, but was sometimes in the shade, and had a little bench you could sit on.

 

Kids crew - shows and kids dinner: Due to the huge # of participating kids onboard, they couldn't take the kids 2-9 to Band on the Run. They did take the kids one night to dinner in the Garden Cafe and took the kids to Bollywood. I wasn't sure what my kids would think of Bollywood, but cracked up when I asked them about it. My 5 1/2 yr old son said "I loved the drums" (which were off to the side of the stage...he must have missed the rest of the show!) and my 3 yr old daughter said "Mommy, they took us to a Princess show and we saw the Princesses do ballet". It's so funny how they look at it so concretely!!

 

Blue Lagoon: My husband and dad both had the wings...I really wanted to try the fish & chips...alas, not enough days on the ship!!! Next time!!

 

Breakfast Buffet: I can highly recommend the freshly made waffles (my style is powdered sugar and fresh whipped cream!) and the omelette station (they had egg beaters and egg whites...when we cruised on the Majesty, egg beaters were nowhere to be found). Nice variety of fillings for the omelettes.

 

I'll keep thinking...I know we did more in the week! Oh, we did go to a special Latitudes shopping event and won 2 prizes between our 2 cabins!!! That was a nice surprise!!! It was also nice because for an hour, everything in the Galleria shop was 10% off.

[cruisebermuda]

I'm going to have to do this in pieces, so here goes...

 

Day 1: The drive to the pier was very easy, as we are only 45 min from the pier. We parked in a lot on 51st between 10th and 11th, $147, including tax (it's $210 at the pier). We had 2 cars, so this was a nice $140 savings for us. Embarkation was very simple. We waited on a short line to check in (there was some confusion because I somehow didn't have tickets...we just had the online advance reservation papers and the letter from NCL with our reservation #s. They printed us new ones at the pier). After checking in, we had about a 10 minute wait before boarding the ship at 11:45am.

 

 

Great review. I just have a question? You spoke about "tickets". We will be sailing on the Dawn in a few weeks and all I have is the confirmation paperwork etc. We sailed on the "Sun" back in March and had the same thing meaning the paperwork/reservation number. We have never recieved tickets. Is this a new thing?

 

Thanks!

 

I'm not sure...but other people seemed to have "tickets". We booked directly through NCL and I brought everything we received from them. Maybe someone who actually had the tickets can explain where they got them!! I did the advance registration only a few days prior to the trip, so maybe if I had done it sooner, something would have come??

[ashea]

Another CC member's review mentioned problems with the bathrooms in the kids club. Did your kids experience that as well?

[cruisebermuda]

Last year on the Majesty, I took my son in myself at the kids club before each drop off time...and the bathrooms got nasty by days end. This year, I took him prior to getting there in our cabin, so I never looked. Sorry I can't help you!

[davejohn]

 

Great review. I just have a question? You spoke about "tickets". We will be sailing on the Dawn in a few weeks and all I have is the confirmation paperwork etc. We sailed on the "Sun" back in March and had the same thing meaning the paperwork/reservation number. We have never recieved tickets. Is this a new thing?

 

Thanks!

 

If you print out your edocs, pages 2 and 3 are your tickets. Page 2 says "To be presented for passage", page 3 says "Guest copy".

[ashea]

Thanks. I hope they're not too gross when we sail on 9/28.

Just curious because our daughter is 3. How late at night did your kids stay in the kids club?

[mbisson]

Did you notice if they had any 2 for 1 specials for the spec dining rooms advertised in the daily?

[IWORK2CRUISE]

If you print out your edocs, pages 2 and 3 are your tickets. Page 2 says "To be presented for passage", page 3 says "Guest copy".

 

This applies IF you received E-Docs.

When we sailed on Dawn in May we never got E-Docs. We had received luggage tags in the mail so I just printed the online registration.

At check-in the cruise contract/ticket was printed for us.

 

Opposite to that we will be on the Sun in September and despite booking late were among the first on our roll-call to receive E-Docs.

[ginaboy]

Hey Cruise Bermuda...I met you up at t-rex pool. We tried the wings and fish -n-chips...YUMMO!!!!!! I am glad you got to enjoy the gym.. My husband and I went on the first day and the guy who works there tried selling us everything under the sun...I never went back b/c he was so annoying and pushy that day....oh well...one week w/out the gym and 5 lbs. on :(!

[cruiser12]

Do this first --- go to http://www.ncl.com to do the Advance Registration. Print them out. You can check on your e-docs at. http://www.ncl.com/edocs follow the instructions. Here you will be able to print them out, if they are ready. If your T.A. (if you used one) has not sent them to you.If you booked directly with NCL, on the Advanced Registration page they will be there too. These are your tickets. Hope this helps.

[Ram1500]

If you print out your edocs, pages 2 and 3 are your tickets. Page 2 says "To be presented for passage", page 3 says "Guest copy".

 

 

 

Thanks for the info! ;) Didn't mean to sound stupid, but just wanted to make sure.:confused: I would hate to have found out that I needed to have something additional than I already printed, then shreaded beacuse being updated, printed again because of being revised, shreaded again, and printed for the final set. LOL

 

That would surly be a sick feeling to be standing on the dock waving at the ship leaving. :eek:. At least with all my shereaded documents I could really give them a ticker tape send off for sure. :D

[hearts12]

How was the dining in the aqua and ventian? did you have to wait long? and what times did you go?