Back from the Dawn...3/21-3/28...."Awesome time"

[**CruiseChick**]

We had a 3 hour drive to POM. We were awake and out of the house by 7 am, as this was our honeymoon cruise, and our first time on NCL, we were very excited. It was rainy on and off and there was plenty of traffic, as we came close to the POM, so, it worked out well that we left early.

 

We arrived at the POM around 10:30 am, handed off our luggage to a porter, and, made our way down the block to the parking garage. Having arrived early, we were able to park on deck 2, right by the elevator.

 

Embarkation: This was an extremely easy process. There was only one other couple ahead of us, on line. We brought a 12 pack of soda and water onboard, in a rolling suitcase. I must say, after it went through xray screening, DH was asked to wait, while the suitcase was opened and inspected. They literally removed a water bottle, shook it, tapped on the bottle, and very thoroughly checked the 12 pk of soda, making sure it had not been opened and resealed, and only contained soda. This only took 5 mins, so was not a major problem. I'm assuming, they were being more thorough, due to this being spring break for many areas. From there, we were checked in, received a pocket guide of the ship, and on our way up to receive our cabin keys. We were onboard the Dawn, just before noon, champagne in hand, and having lunch at the buffet, where we easily obtained a window table for two. DH, loved the pizza. I must admit, I was not overly thrilled with the buffet offerings, but, did make sure, I tried the pretzel rolls, which I had heard so much about, and from there on, I was hooked. They were very yummy!! lol.

 

Around 12:45, we headed to the pool area, where once again, we had no problem, getting a table, poolside. We purchased, soda cards, which in hindsight, I dont really feel were worth the $50, and next time, would probably just pay per can. Only onboard for about an hour, and I was already in awe of the Dawn. Everything seemed beautiful, and I was anxiously awaiting being able to explore her completely.

 

Cabin: By 1:30 we were in our cabin. We had a balcony room, on deck 9. This being our first balcony ever, I was in awe. It was a little smaller then I had imagined in my mind, but, throughout the week, it proved to be more then suitable. The views, and the sunsets, are something I will relive in my mind forever. We slept every night, with the sliders open, and the sound of the ocean, and the breeze off the ocean, have spoiled me forever. There was plenty of room, to freely walk around the cabin, without bumping into one another. We placed our luggage under the bed. Had no problem, with closet space, or drawer space, and I am definitely an over packer!! I loved, that the bathroom, had separate partitions, and the shower had a sliding door. Only area, we wished was roomier, was the toilet area. Not a major problem, but it was very small. The beds and pillows were very comfortable, and we slept like babies. I also made much use of the bathrobe, which I found to be very cozy. Just a small perk, that I enjoyed!

 

By the time, we left for dinner, we had not met our room steward yet, so we left a note asking for the fridge to be emptied. When we returned, our request had been honored. The fridge was more then adequate to store a few water bottles, and couple of sodas.

 

Our first night, Saturday, we decided to eat dinner at Impressions. Around 6pm, we called and asked for a reservation for 8pm, which was not a problem. The cover charge was $10pp, which was truly worth it. Everything, from the food, to the service was top notch. This was our first time ever eating in a specialty restuarant, while cruising, and DH, didnt realize he had to sign the bill, lol,. We werent in the cabin, 5 mins, and the phone rang, with the girl saying he had forgotten to sign. He felt so bad, that he offered to run right down to do so, but, she said no, she didnt want to inconvience us, and she would be more then happy to come up to the cabin.

 

Sunday was a seaday and the seas were pretty rough. It was extremely windy and the ship was rocking!! I took Dramamine, every 12 hours, while DH, never took anything, and neither of us got seasick. Which, I guess for us was good, because we did hear stories, over the next few days, of people being sick. We ate lunch in Venetian, and both found the food to be good. We had a table for 2, right by the window. Our waiter was extremely friendly. Although, we feel we did not receive the same service when we dined there for dinner again that evening. The service was a bit slow, and the food, lukewarm. But it did not deter us from going back again.

 

Monday...Samana: The weather was kind of dreary and rainy, and the seas were still choppy. We had waited until the morning, to book the Cayo Levantado beach excursion, because of the weather the previous day. <according to the daily, you could have booked this, up until 9:30 am>. Unfortunately, we decided not to get off the ship due to the weather. I was very disappointed, because I had read many wonderful things about this beach, here on CC. But to stay positive, I'll just have to look forward to a return trip :) !! We spent the day, roaming around the ship, speaking with some of the staff, and enjoying a nice quiet lunch, once again in Venetian.Tuesday...St Thomas: The weather was absolutely beautiful. We took a taxi into town to shop. I believe it was $4pp. This was my first time in St Thomas and I am looking forward to going back again. Not only was there an abundance of shopping, but, it is truly gorgeous. We walked around town for a few hours, made a stop at DI, my all time favorite store!! I received the charm for my bracelet, which is a shopping bag. Very cute! Last year, DH, purchased my engagement ring, in DI, in Nassau, and this year we had to have it resized. There was no charge for this, and that was a pleasant surprise! After making a few purchases and taking many pictures, we took a taxi, to Paradise Point, for the skyride. We purchased the tickets onboard, for $19.99pp. We both really enjoyed the views. There were a few stores, a Parrot show, and on the top level, a bar/restuarant, where I had the "best" pina colada, ever. We made our way back to the ship, and found a table poolside, where we enjoyed the music and people watched. Im still amazed at how many people, leave their things on lounge chairs, unattended, for endless amounts of time. For dinner we dined at, Venetian. Once again, the food was good, but, the service was slow. Had we been in a hurry, this would have been a problem, but, hey we were on vacation, so we didnt let us ruin the wonderful time we were having! After dinner, we went to the casino. Made our contribution, lol, and headed back to our cabin, where I enjoyed sitting on the balcony, listening to the sound of the ocean.

 

Wednesday...Tortola: This was my favorite day of all!! NCL's excursion for the "Baths", was sold out, so we decided to try it on our own. And I will say, I am sooooo very glad we did!! IMO, this is a must see while in Tortola. We disembarked, rather quickly. Walked the short walk of approximately 10 mins, to the ferry dock. Purchased our roundtrip tickets, for $38pp, which also included the taxi ride to the baths. We made the 9am ferry. Once at the baths, it was $3pp to enter the park. We made our way allllll the way to, Devils Bay!! One word describes it, "amazing". DH, snorkled here and said he was really impressed. If we took one picture, we must have taken a 100, while here. Everytime I look at them since, I'm speechless. It is THAT breath taking!! Although, it did become quite crowded, it ended up being our most memorable day in port. We were told that, Speedys had added a 1:30pm ferry back, but, were nervous, we wouldnt make it back in time, so we opted for the 12:30 ferry. We met the taxi, back at the top of the baths, at noon, and soon were on our way back to the dock. Once again, we took the short walk back to the ship, stopping along our way to browse in the tent style stores, that the locals had set up. We found everyone to be very friendly.

We decided to eat at Cagneys tonight. We had a reservation for 8pm and were seated immeditaely. I ordered jumbo shrimp cocktail, and a crabcake for appetizers. The shrimp were huge and I would venture to say, some of the best I have ever had. This was my first time trying crabcake, and realized it wasnt something to my liking. The waitress, immediately noticed, I wasnt eating it, and asked if there was something wrong. I told her it just wasnt for me. She immediately insisted on bringing me another shrimp cocktail, in place of it. And who am I to say no? lol. <although, I should have, because by the time dinner was completely finished, I was afraid DH, would have to roll me out the door lol> I had the filet mignon, and cagneys fries. The filet melted in my mouth. I wasnt crazy about the fries, but, had to try them, after reading so much about them. For me, they were just too greasy. DH had, the fries, and I believe porterhouse steak. I had told him prior to cruising, that I had read where people had compared Cagneys to Ruth's Chris steakhouse, and while he felt that wasnt the case, he did say the steak was very good. He also found the fries very greasy. For $20pp, we both felt this dinner was extremely worth the price. The service was extremely good, and they really seemed to want to please you.

Again, we made our contribution to the casino. The slots were very tight. DH, tried his hand at Ultimate Texas Hold Em, something we had never seen on a ship before, and he faired pretty well at this game. This became his new favorite.

 

Thursday...Sea day: We arent big breakfast people, so we opted for room service, as we had done previously every other morning. We would usually fill out the breakfast card and put it out the night before. Depending on if it was a sea day ot port day, we requested breakfast between 7:30-9:00am. They would call our room approximately 15 mins before our requested time, to let us know it was on the way. Breakfast mostly consisted of, coffee, juice, danish and cold cereal, which worked just fine for us. We always tipped the staff individually for room service.

We spent the day, on the pool deck. Once again, lounges were gone, but we did not have a problem finding a table. We also attended bingo today. One bingo trip was enough for me. Bingo Boy, is definitely a character, lol. We had lunch at NY deli. No problem once again, finding a table by the window. I had the corned beef sandwich, which was very good. And again had the pretzel bread rolls, which became my very favorite thing to snack on.

Dinner was at LeBistro, as I had purchased the honeymoon/anniversary package. All throughout the week, when we passed LeBistro it never seemed busy. But tonight, being the last sea day, the restuarant seemed to be consistently full. We had made a reservation for 8pm, which we booked on Tuesday evening. Upon our arrival, we realized they had no notice of our reservation having been made. We were told it would be a few mins, so we headed off to the cigar bar, to have a smoke, and within approximately 15 mins, the hostess came to get us. I was unsure of how I would like it here, and only booked this, as a gift for DH for his birthday. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised. The food was excellent. The atmosphere very charming, and, the service was A+. Since I had purchased the package, a bottle of wine was included with dinner. I informed our waitress, I was not going to have it with dinner, and she kept it on ice for us, to bring back to our cabin when dinner dinner was finished. After dinner, they came to the table, with a small cake, had us hold hands, and they sang, "let me call you sweetheart". Seeing as this was our honeymoon, that was a very special touch, and we both really enjoyed it. The cake was packed, so we could bring it back to our room, and she recommended, a dessert to us. I wish I could remember what it was called, but, for the life of me I cant. It was all chocolate, and probably the best dessert I had, all cruise. Thumbs up for LeBistro and we would not hesitate to eat there again.

 

Friday...GSC: I was really looking forward to this day. DH, went early to get tender tickets. I would say he was on line, by 7:15am. We were #'s 342-343. A little disappointed, we wouldnt be in the first group over, but it wasnt life threatening. We both felt, that the tender operation was slow and a little unorganized. People seemed to not know, where to go, and others who had purchased excursions, were annoyed, when they were told, the long line, they saw, was the line they too had to get on, in order to get over to the island. So after awhile, people were not going to the back of the line, instead, they would just mull around and started to slip in, infront of others, once the tendering began. I guess some people, just feel, they are the only ones who matter, and some of the people were rude. Once we got to the island, music was playing, barbecue was cooking, and the water looked soooo very inviting. We made our way to the left, and walked almost all the way down the beachline, grabbed two chairs, set them down right by the water, and staked our claim lol!!! It was a gorgeous day, Sun was shining, and all seemed right in the world!! Except for the fact that tomorrow, we would have to disembark, and someone else would now be occupying "our" cabin...sigh!!! lol. DH, snorkled here. He had his own snorkeling equipment, so he only had to pay, I believe $5, for the vest, which they say is mandatory. He really enjoyed his time snorkeling and said he saw some pretty kewl fish. I am very happy he enjoyed this, as I am not into snorkeling. By, noon time, it became very crowded. And being from Florida, and the beaches, never being wall to wall people, we both had enough of the beach, and decided to take the next tender back to the ship. I have to say, in all fairness, even though it became extremely crowded, everyone was curteous and friendly to one another, that was in our general area.

We were thrilled when back onboard, we headed to the pool, to find it mostly unoccuppied. Our one day, where we landed, front row lounges, by the pool. YAYYY!!! DH, enjoyed the hot tub all to himself, and I relaxed, just taking everything in from the whole week! The one thing that did catch my attention, was this one woman, who I observed, sitting on the opposite side of the pool from us, with a front row lounger. As soon, as we parked ourselves, across the pool from her, she came over and staked her claim to a lounger, two down from me. It took me a few minutes to realize, not only did she stake claim to that lounger, but, she also, kept a towel and book on the lounger across the other side of the pool. Now grant you, the pool area was not crowded by any means, but, really was that necessary?? I guess to her it was.

Dinner we decided to try Blue Lagoon. DH, had the fish and chips and said it was very good. I had a mozzerella and lettuce sandwhich, which also was good. The girl who served us, offered to take a picture of us, which we really appreciated, seeing as most of the photos we took, were solos, we were happy to have one of us together. The only problem, we had here was, once she served us, we never saw her again. So, a refill on soda, or coffee, wasnt going to happen. No big deal, we made our way to the Java Cafe, and had a very good specialty coffee.

 

Saturday...Disembarkation: Having only sailed carnival in the past, and having to be out of our cabin so early, we were delighted with NCL's process. We opted to take, blue luggage tags, which I believe was for 9:20 am disembarkation. The ship was slow in being cleared to disembark, no fault of their own, and we certainly didnt mind, because we had ordered room service for breakfast, and we were enjoying our last bit of time, in our cabin. After awhile, we made our way down to the deck to await our color to be called. As we made our way, and encountered the long line, of people waiting to disembark, some cranky lady, nearly bit my head off, informing me, the line was "all the way down there". I can only assume, she thought we were going to try and cut the line. My first reaction was to "growl" back at her, but, I decided I was not going to let her ruin the last few minutes we had on the ship. And I most graciously said to her, "Maam, we wouldnt dream of cutting the line, we are trying to make our way outside". After approximately 10 mins, then the dreaded call was heard. Passengers with blue luggage tags, were free to disembark. NOOOOO, please dont make me leave :( .. From the time we got in line, until the time we were in our car, heading away from the port, was a total of 25 mins. Talk about fast!!

 

Misc: I wanted to make special mention of our room steward, Roel. He really went out of his way to make sure we wanted for nothing. On Sunday, when he saw us, leaving the cabin, he came over and introduced himself. He made sure we knew, that anything we needed or wanted, we could count on him. My DH, knows I'm a "big kid" and I missed not getting a towel animal the night before lol, so, he let Roel know that it would make me happy. All I can say from that point on was, WOW. By, the end of our cruise, our cabin looked like a zoo!! LOL. I ended up with, 2 elephants, a pig, a sheep, 2 monkeys, 2 swans, a rabbit, and the last night was the best. Roel, took DH's sunglasses and clothes, and made it look like he was in the bed, when we came back after dinner. We both literally burst out laughing, when we saw it. I opened the cabin door, and saw Roel out in the hall, and he just looked at me, and started laughing. I said, too funny Roel, I love it!! He smiled back and said, Told you, I had a surprise for you, Ms Donna. lol. Not only was he the towel animal king, but he honored every request we had, almost immeditaely, and always greeted us with hello and a smile. On the last day, we spoke to him at length, and he told us all about himself. NCL, IMO, is very lucky to have someone as hard working and as pleasant as him, on their staff. For making my cruise even more memorable, then I could have imagined, we awarded him with an additional tip, prior to our last night onboard.

 

Food: Food is so subjective, that it really is hard to go into detail about. We frequented, room service, venetian, blue lagoon, ny deli, the buffet, and Java Cafe. All of which the food varied from being very good to good. The pay restuarants, as I have previously noted, were alll worth the money and service was very good. Service in Venetian, ranged from very good to just ok. The one thing that really bothered me about Venetian is, we had purchased soda cards, and most times, had to literally beg for them to bring us a soda. Honestly, one night, we had to ask three times, before it was finally given to us. It was annoying, but certainly, not a deal breaker, and will definitely sail NCL again.

 

Reward Certificate: On the sly, I purchased this, and surprised DH. I did so, on Wednesday evening, midway through our cruise. I was sold on the NCL product and without doubt knew I wanted to sail with them again. Plus, we have 2 years to book, and a total of 30 months to actually sail. And were given $100 of onboard credit applied to this sailing. This was a no brainer IMO.

 

We loved the ship. She was absolutely beautiful. The staff for the most part, were very friendly. And considering the amount of passengers, and the amount of work they have to do everyday, we feel we were given very good service.

 

 

 

 

 

[lovethatdrtywater]

What a thorough and in depth review! Really appreciated that. Sounds like you had a blast.. I'm leaving in 2 weeks for the Spirit and can't wait. Funny though, one of my favorite things are the towel animals too.. haha

[Whippets]

Donna,

What a well written review. Thanks for putting all of your thoughts together for a through description of your cruise. Congratulations on your marriage, may you have many happy, long years together.

 

We will be on the Dawn two weeks from today.

[pjsportsmom]

great review but 1 question I was on the Dawn in 2005 and where is the NY deli? I don't remember that one.

[**CruiseChick**]

great review but 1 question I was on the Dawn in 2005 and where is the NY deli? I don't remember that one.

 

I literally had to get out the dailies that I saved, to find the location...lol..

It says, "New York Deli...Deck 12, Aft, Portside....from 3pm - 5pm.

[**CruiseChick**]

Donna,

What a well written review. Thanks for putting all of your thoughts together for a through description of your cruise. Congratulations on your marriage, may you have many happy, long years together.

 

We will be on the Dawn two weeks from today.

 

Thank you very much!! I hope you have just as great of a time as we did on the Dawn, if not better. I hope you'll let us know, when you get back!! Happy Sailing!

[**CruiseChick**]

What a thorough and in depth review! Really appreciated that. Sounds like you had a blast.. I'm leaving in 2 weeks for the Spirit and can't wait. Funny though, one of my favorite things are the towel animals too.. haha

 

Those dang towel animals, kinda make my night..haha.

Have a wonderful cruise....Happy Sailing!!

[pjsportsmom]

thanks for searching and finding it for me CruiseChick I never seen that on my last cruise...looking foward to checking out those pretzels mentioned.

Congrats on the wedding and I will write me review when I get back. I'm sure it will be positive as it is a vacation not work what more can I say lol

 

 

thanks again

pj