Day by Day Dawn NYE Review LIVE

[ChrisConnolly]

Live from the pier .. Debarkation has started its 9:44am.

 

 

Old people next to me.. Didn't know it was freestyle and are mad.

 

 

Post any questions here.. If this is a double post then please disregard them.

[ChrisConnolly]

Speculation is their is a continued problem with the azipod and thats why it has come in late.

[ChrisConnolly]

Also the pier now has free internet.. Awesome!

[Mrmacman]

They didn't know it was freestyle? It only says that on every promotional piece of NCL literature. Are there many others there already waiting to board? We should be there around noon. I realize we will have to sit and wait since she docked late.

[templed]

Yeah... I saw the Dawn coming in the Harbour this morning... She was right behind us on my morning commute in on the Staten Island Ferry...

 

Love The Dawn... (we were on her in March 2004)

[Jennygirl]

How old is old?? Please don't say 56 hahahahahahaa

 

I was on the Dawn in July. Freestyle wasnt our thing but the ship is gorgeous. Enjoy - Enjoy - Enjoy!! I'm jealous.

 

:)

[ChrisConnolly]

old was 89... I'm sitting here enjoying this internet meeting some nice people.

[templed]

keep your eye out for the Martinni classes in the stardust (I think that's the name of the lounge)... Can't remember the gent's name... but he makes a MEAN martini....

[ChrisConnolly]

After all the martini clinics I've been through I feel like I may have a PHD in martinis.

[Rotterdam]

Chris -

 

any word on embarkation time for todays cruise?????

 

 

Thanks

[Tomct]

keep your eye out for the Martinni classes in the stardust (I think that's the name of the lounge)... Can't remember the gent's name... but he makes a MEAN martini....

 

As a post school graduate of NCL Martini classes, the "professor" on our 12/9/04 cruise was Gede Sujana [gdupgdup@hotmail.com]. He was great, and his classes included some recipes that were his own, not just the ones on the ship. I have never had better espresso martinis, one the ship's standard, and one his own. He gave out his email address, inviting anyone to send him new ideas.

 

This is a "Don't Miss", and is held in Star Bar, Deck 13, near Cagney's. There's a $10 charge, and we got 5 martinis. I've had as many as 8 on some other cruises. He also made some drinks to order for those who did not like the ones being served; how can you go wrong!!

 

My previous professor was "Frankie", no longer on the Dawn. He was awesome!!

[msescada]

we hit rough weather on Tuesday coming back - not as bad as last monday when we had 27-42 ft seas and lots of broken glass, but still enough to slow us down a bit.

 

Yes, the ship is still having trouble with the starboard azipod bearing and that is why she can only do 21 knots instead of 25. Crew still wants to include Tortola even if it means getting back to NY a couple of hours late.

 

We had a wonderful, fabulous time. Weather once we got south was absolutely perfect. I did hear that service in Venetian was ridiculously slow (an hour wait to get food after giving the order and that with a staff member at the table for lunch), but we requested a fast waiter and were in and out quickly for the one dinner we had. We did have very poor service in Cagney's (couldn't bring three main dishes out at the same time, waitress insisted that she had written our order down correctly but repeated it wrong twice when I asked her and of course my son's food came out rare instead of done, so he ate mine while I waited. No apology from anyone until we mentioned the problem to our butler (John, the best), who mentioned it to the food and beverage manager (Sean, a real pro) and they took care of the situation.). Bamboo service was fine, as was Impressions. Java Cafe, however, was surprisingly inattentive. Couldn't get them to take our order until the Staff Captain came over for a chat. Then the waiter showed up. Hmmm.

 

All in all, the Dawn is still a great ship and most, if not everyone else we encountered, did their jobs very well.

 

You'll have a great time, ChrisConnolly, I'm sure. I think they still have a few martini glasses left. Wish we could have stayed onboard....

[uneamie]

Live from the pier .. Debarkation has started its 9:44am.

 

Are you coming or going...:confused:

[msescada]

He's going. I was coming home. went straight to the office.

[lvstocruise]

What broken glass? The seas were really that high. Last Jan we were in 20-27 foot seas and i thought that was bad. oh boy am i scared for this year. What broke on the ship? fill me in i leave in three weeks. bye for now glad to hear the rest of your trip was good. Chris have a great time and keep us all posted with the play by play. I have already started to pack for the jan 20th sailing. Planning is half the fun!!! bye have fun

felicia

[msescada]

What broken glass? The seas were really that high. Last Jan we were in 20-27 foot seas and i thought that was bad. oh boy am i scared for this year. What broke on the ship? fill me in i leave in three weeks. bye for now glad to hear the rest of your trip was good. Chris have a great time and keep us all posted with the play by play. I have already started to pack for the jan 20th sailing. Planning is half the fun!!! bye have fun

felicia

Lots of glassware broke (and about 38 bottles of liquor, I was told). The kitchen was a mess with sauces that were in prep stage for dinner being tossed about. That's about it.

[templed]

I did hear that service in Venetian was ridiculously slow

 

I agree with that!!!! OMG... the one night that we ate dinner in the Venetian... I wanted to leave... the service was ridiculously slow.

 

It took them a good 1/2 hour to clear our plates after we finished ... let alone how long it took to get our food to begin with.

 

Every other restaurant was flawless.... IMO

[Dolphins]

I believe one of the problems causing the slow service in the Venetian dining room is that the tables at the far end, which most people request because they are near the large rear windows, are so far from the galley that the food takes forwever to get there. I have found that the service in the Venetian is usually much quicker if you are seated in the forward end, near the stairs.

[lou_vnj]

Agree, service for dinner is ridiculously slow in Venetian. Went on my wife's birthday, got seated at a table and needed a high chair. Usually they get a high chair pretty quickly, or at least come to the table and acknowledge you even if they have to go find one.

 

No one came to the table during the 15 minutes we waited. The whole 15 minutes we spoke to the couple next to us who were also upset because they were also still waiting for someone to show up. We got up and started walking out to go Aqua. The assistant maitre'd (I think) saw us and got very upset and tried to convince us not to leave. He followed use all the way out of the dining room to the elevator continuing to try and get us to come back. We just told him politely we were going to Aqua where there was good service. We were disappointed but not upset that a birthday dinner was not going to be good, so we took control and went where we knew we would enjoy the meal. We just took the experience for what it was and made sure it was included on our comment cards.

 

Ate breakfast everyday at the Venetian and a few lunches, and service was good. I think it is just short staffed for dinner.

[jeannep]

Chris,

I hope you are having the time of your life. The Dawn is great and I enjoy every day of my cruise.

 

Who is the Cruise Director and the Comedian this cruise. I hope you have Paul and his assistant Mike as your CD's. They are great.

 

Please keep up the thread. Love hearing what is going on.

 

Enjoy!!!!

Jeanne

[quitecontrary1]

Chris!!! Don't waste your time now on this, but when you get back, start writing lessons on how you are connected, etc. Some things I can do computer wise (like hook into the server at work from home, of course), but have never paid attention how to hook up on vacation, you are making me think it is time! 8:45pm...just what are you up to at this moment! Pure enjoyment, I would imagine. Hey, right now, I would love to be in the Venetian, slow service be damned! It is better than me thawing leftover meatloaf a 1/2 hour ago!!! I assume you are already in full swing vacation mode! Have a breathless blast!

[msescada]

I believe one of the problems causing the slow service in the Venetian dining room is that the tables at the far end, which most people request because they are near the large rear windows, are so far from the galley that the food takes forwever to get there. I have found that the service in the Venetian is usually much quicker if you are seated in the forward end, near the stairs.

 

We just told the hostess (through the concierge) that we really wanted to be served relatively quickly. We have a 9+ year old son, and while he's very good at sitting at dinner, neither he nor his mom like 2 hour long dramas, we just want efficient service. We had Tudor, a terrific waiter and very efficient. Even with the long walk from the kitchen.

[shoreguy]

Chris

Just bumped to the top to ave you connect time. Is the deal done :)

[Kalos Orisate]

Agree, service for dinner is ridiculously slow in Venetian...No one came to the table during the 15 minutes we waited. The whole 15 minutes we spoke to the couple next to us who were also upset because they were also still waiting for someone to show up...Ate breakfast everyday at the Venetian and a few lunches, and service was good. I think it is just short staffed for dinner.

For the record, I was on this same 12/19 cruise and found service to be slow in all the sit-down restaurants. This might be an unavaidable flaw in the the freestyle concept - too much dining selection for the kitchen(s) to keep up - but I'd like to go on a couple more "freestyle dining" cruises to make sure.

 

I don't think it is the fault of the wait staff. They were invariably friendly in all restaurants and moved about the room quickly. The food just took a long time to arrive.

[ChrisConnolly]

So I'm happy to report... She said yes.

 

 

Sorry it took me so long to post, but we have been having a great time on board. I'll start from the top. Embarkation was late and lots of my fellow new yorkers were making their voices heard, if in a non-productive way. We boarded around 1:30 and were somewhere within the first 50 people. We watched the statue of liberty pass in spinnakers and met Denise (swoosh2005). We had dinner in Cagney’s which is always great and my girlfriend (fiancé) had steak for the first time in 4 years and loved it.

 

The opening night entertainment was an introduction by the CD, Paul and comedy by Dave Heenan. I’ve seen Dave Heenan now twice on different ships and I have to say this guy isn’t funny. I met up with another couple who read all of my posts on cruise critic but didn’t post themselves and we proceeded to search for a venue that plays modern music to no avail.

 

Friday morning was tough waking up and going to our cruise critic party that Denise hosted but I made it. We had a great turnout and basically everyone that posted showed up which is certainly a rare occurrence. NCL has really ran with the ball on this as the party was top notch and we got a chance to meet many senior officers.

 

Spent the day recovering from the night before as well as attending the latitudes party and making a visit to the hot tub. At 5:00 pm the gf went to the spa to get her hair and make up done for formal pictures. We did the pictures then went back to the room and popped a bottle a after the pictures so if she cryed (she did) then she wouldn’t be mad if her make up ran.

 

So after the all that hooplah we headed over to the suite party in spinnakers which was a great time. Boston Banker and his whole family were there and they are definitely enjoying the garden villa.

They are great people, thank you for making our NYE great.

 

So here’s the only hitch to the night. I had made reservations at Le Bistro when I boarded the ship directly, not through the concierge. I thought this would be a great way to spend NYE. I then meet Ruth our concierge and she tells us that we should go to a main dining room tonight as it is lobster night. Long story short, it wasn’t Lobster night so I said I’ll just wait at one of the pay places so I can get a lobster. The head waiter comes over and makes some calls and gets us into teppinaki. Not the most romantic place, but it was a great time none the less and the showmanship of the cooking is excellent. We made no fuss about being told the wrong thing but at the end of the meal they said that it would be free and Ruth left a message apologizing.

 

 

We did the countdown poolside with all of our fellow guests. Paul the CD jumped in the water. Boston Banker gave us a tour of the villa. We met lots of CCers poolside and it was a great time. All in All a great way to ring in the new year.

 

 

A couple quick notes…

 

Larsen from Commack, a magician and passenger on board, you are excellent. Very impressive.

 

Denise, Happy Birthday!!!

 

Corina our butler , the second female butler on ncl has been excellent so far.

 

Martini Clinic, always something to not be missed.

 

Shoreguy, we spoke directly with the IT guy and the captain and they are working on getting the webcam time fixed. IT guy said the time is programmed in Miami.

 

 

Let me know what kind of questions and comments you have.. I’ll be around.

 

 

 

Chris Connolly < =====Live from the Dawn