Review of NCL Dawn by NCL Newbie

This review is from my first NCL cruise (previously only sailed Carnival) on the Dawn - May 30th to June 6th, 2014.

Cruise passengers are myself, 47, and my mother, 76. We have both cruise before, but this will be out first NCL cruise.

We arrived at Black Falcon Pier about 10:30 a.m. Kissed hubby goodbye and gave bags to porter. Walked right through check in and received Group #7 for boarding. We were on board by 11:45 a.m. and went right to the Venetian for lunch to avoid the crowds in the buffet (thanks CC members for this tip). There were maybe 20 people having lunch. We both had fish and chips, and it was very good. By the time we finished, the cabins were ready.

We went to our cabin and unpacked out carry on. They had started delivering bags, but ours had not arrived yet. So we went to the Gatsby lounge and met Big Ben (cruise staff) for a tour of the ship. Big Ben was a large presence throughout the trip and he was extremely funny and pleasant. It was good to get a tour so we could find our way around. The ship isn't huge, but if you don't know where things are, the tour was a good way to kill an hour and learn at the same time.

By the time the tour was over, we went to the cabin and found our bags had arrived. We were able to unpack and be all set for our week. We had a sideways, inside cabin on Deck 8 - 8563. Though I have never sailed in an inside cabin, it was fine for the two of us. We did peak into a regular inside, and our sideways did seem larger. There was plenty of drawer and closet space and plenty of hangars.

We did discover that we did not have a safe in the room. We met our room steward, Kay, and she said it was being repaired and she would make sure we got it back. We finally had to ask as the service desk on Sunday morning before we docked as I wanted to lock things up before getting off in Bermuda for the day. They brought the safe right away, and it worked for the day, and then it stopped working. It read "ser" which I guess stood for service. The maintenance man came and fixed it and it worked for the few days we were in Bermuda. It seemed to only work for about 10 openings before it needed service again. I tried to ask at guest services to have it fixed again, but the man I spoke to said I needed to stay in my cabin and wait for maintenance and he didn't know how long it would take. Since we weren't leaving the ship, we just opted not to use it. Unfortunately that meant the passengers on board on 6/6/14 would have to deal with it.

We attended the sail away BBQ which was good (I had read people didn't like the food, but we enjoyed it). Mom went to the casino and won $1,100 (unfortunately she gave it all back during the week, but she had fun).

We went to the show the first night that previewed the talent and shows for the week. Then we went off to bed by 11 so we could be fresh to enjoy the activities the next day.

More to follow.

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Thanks for taking the time to write a report of your cruise. I see quite a few people are interested in what you have to say and will be following along. We haven't been on the Dawn but we have sailed on the Star and really enjoyed it.

I guess if the only bad thing about your cruise was the safe, then you had a nice time with your Mom.

Thanks again for putting your memories in writing.

Can't wait to read more! Thanks for sharing:)

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Looking forward to reading your review. We are on the Dawn on 10/24. First time on the dawn, but second Bermuda cruise.

Looking forward to rest of the review. Getting ready to sail on the Dawn soon, myself!

Big Ben! He was on the Sun when we went to Alaska last year and one of our very favorites. He was great at handling trivia sessions.

Sorry for the delay. So busy at work that I am exhausted when I get home.

Will hit the highlights.

Food:

We at at the buffet and it was typical buffet food. I like that they are big on hand washing. There were crowds at times. We actually found that Blue Lagoon had a smaller breakfast buffet each day and it was not crowded and much better than the main buffet. Check it out.

Blue Lagoon was slow service and I don't get the fascination with the wings. Thought it was just alright.

Aqua we only ate at one night and I found the Venetian better and so that was where we mostly ate dinner.

Cagney's was very good and I would recommend it. That was the only specialty restaurant we tried. We went out last night.

Shows:

We went to all the shows. The comedian Tim Kaminski was very funny and you saw him all over the ship. I didn't think Second City was very good and I must not have been the only one to think that as I saw lots of people leaving before the end.

Bermuda:

Bermuda was great. We went to St. George's and really liked walking around seeing the sites and stores. The dunking of the wench at noon was fun. Swizzle Inn was an experience, but the food was just ok. It was expensive, and I didn't care much for the rum swizzle but then again I'm not much of a drinker. For me Hamilton was a waste of time. Lots of expensive stores and not much else to see. We enjoyed Horseshoe Beach. It was beautiful. I did enjoy walking around the Dockyard and got lots of souvenirs.

Visit the Bermuda board for ideas. The bus and ferry system is great. Everyone we encountered (except for one bus driver) was helpful and pleasant.

Casino:

My mother loved it and spent a lot of time there. She won $1100 the first night. I'd rather spend my money on other things. Plus it was way too smokey. The slot machines were very expensive. Either a ton of penny slots or $1+ slots. There were even $25 slots. Not a lot of quarter slots and the ones they had were always in use.

Overall:

I was nervous because I read about the ship being in disrepair. Our cabin was fine and our steward was a sweetheart. I did not really find anything awful - maybe a bathroom stall door that didn't lock or an ice dispenser out of order in the buffet. The crew was constantly cleaning, and they replaced carpeting in the shops while we were docked as the stores were closed anyway.

I found getting on and off in Boston quite easy.

My husband asked she I got home if I would sail NCL again and I would (actually put down a deposit on another trip already). I have never had a bad Carnival cruise and yes they are less money than NCL, but I really had a good time and really liked "freestyle" cruising. Plus I never had free alcohol tasting on Carnival like I did in the shops 3 nights on NCL.

Feel free to ask questions!

Happy sailing!

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Thanks for your review, glad you had a good time.:)

Thanks for the report!

Thanks for sharing your comments!

I really liked that the Dawn wasn't one of the mega I ships. It was easy to navigate though we did walk a lot as our cabin was near the forward elevators and it seemed we were always walking front to back or vice versa.

There were complaints about rough seas but they were no more than 8 foot rolling and it wasn't bad at all. Also the spa was nice though expensive. The best deals were on the last day.

I had heard someone complain about rude crew members but I didn't find that at all during the entire trip.

Actually thinking about the Caribbean from NY in February or !arch 2015.

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Thank you for taking the time to write your review. :)

I was a little hesitant booking the Dawn (leave 7/18/14) but being I cruised on the BA last August 2013, figured I'd try another ship / port and save a couple bucks. I don't expect much. Hoping for a problem free cruise and nice weather. Looking forward to visiting Bermuda again. :D

Thanks for the review! We will be sailing the Dawn, Boston to Bermuda in May 2015.... first time cruising with NCL and first time to Bermuda!!! :)

thanks for the review, where is the "free" alcohol tasting?? :D

thanks for the review, where is the "free" alcohol tasting?? :D

I was wondering the same and how many tastes can you get.

I was wondering the same and how many tastes can you get.

Probably mean the duty free store. Usually the first night for about an hour they serve samples in little (very little) plastic cups. Can have as much as you can wrangle depending on how many other folks are there.

They actually had several different tastings in the duty free shop. You can ask for a sample of everything if you want though it was a bit crowded.

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I am glad to hear that you liked your sideways cabin, I am in cabin 8082. was your view ok? did you have any noise from below?

Thank you for your review. Sorry about the safe.

[On embarkation day] >>>we went to the Gatsby lounge and met Big Ben (cruise staff) for a tour of the ship. Big Ben was a large presence throughout the trip and he was extremely funny and pleasant<<<

Is this something you signed up for beforehand, or is it available to everyone? I hadn't heard about this before (or seen it - have been on the Dawn twice before). That's always sort of a 'down' time and I'd love to do a tour! Thanks for any info.

There was a tour scheduled in the early afternoon on the 8/15 sailing. I didn't attend, but I think it would have been a great thing to take advantage of.

I guess my question is how did you find out that there was going to be a tour at that time? Did they tell you as you got on the ship? Thanks

I guess my question is how did you find out that there was going to be a tour at that time? Did they tell you as you got on the ship? Thanks

Read the Freestyle Daily.

Glad you had a good time. Nice to see a review from an NCL newbie. :)