The Good, the Bad, the Ugly on the Dawn

Wow...I am very glad you are not on my cruise. You seem to think everyone should pander to you regardless of the fact that every other PAX paid for a vacation too. Some people like to drink and are SOCIAL. I am sure this is an alien concept to you as you seem to be a complainer by nature. You also seemed to miss the fact that NCL cruises are freestyle and do not require people to dress up. I have a son who will be 11 months old on my next cruise. He will be with me when I have a drink in one of the bars and there is nothing wrong with that. As long as he is not screaming it has no effect on your or anyone else. Its a vacation and I don't at all have to abide by your desires. I hope this "experience" was enough to push you to a different cruise line.

 

6&8

:rolleyes:

We also like to go to all-inclusive resorts, which is basically the same concept as the UBP on a cruise. We do go to family-friendly AI's now because we have kids. We also like a lively, fun atmosphere with a hassle-free, relaxing vacation. We have also gone to many adult-only AI resorts pre-kids. We have very rarely seen "roudy" behavior enough to be bothered or concerned. The AI resort staff have always been very good about managing occasional "issues". We like AI's because we pretty much know exactly how much the cost will be (no surprise large bills or extra expenses). I do quite a bit of research pre-vacations so I will have a feel of any resort or cruise "atmosphere", etc. For example, we avoid some resorts on the main Cancun strip during spring break (resorts known to attract the spring break crowd). There are a lot of options out there.

You were not there to witness what occurred. Over the top drinking is not social drinking. Rowdiness is not social drinking. The drinkers may have paid for a vacation, but likely the UBP had a huge impact. Hope your baby enjoys going to bars with you.

Well said ruthless boss.

I sure wouldn't be bragging about bringing my baby to a bar. Bet all all that cigarette smoke will be good for the baby also.

We take longer cruises in the fall because of little to no kids or teenagers or college kids. Yes the clientele is older but we are in our 50's and enjoy the ncl entertainment but no craziness. Booked on dawn in 2 days from now for 14 night Caribbean repo. Can't wait for a relaxing cruise with adults!

Could be the departure port more than anything. While the UBP may a nice addition to some, for M*******s it's a free for all. Dressed up for most Bostonians on a cruise would be anything sports related, on top of which Boston is a college town. Sorry you had to deal with that Keg party

That's not really a fair statement. This non-sports fan and my husband (both Bostonians) were also on this cruise, and managed to have a lovely time. We fortunately didn't witness any of the events that the OP experienced. And as an aside, we were fairly dressed up all nights, me in a dress and him in a suit, or slacks and a button down shirt. We also avoided the chaos and mayhem of the Patriots game viewing in the Grand Atrium on Sunday night, thank goodness!

You were on the cruise with most likely the least amount of younger people. Back to school. Maybe a cabin in the woods in Vermont is better suited for you or 21+ resort? It's vacation, I'm not a child or young. I chugged and had a great time. I was on Dawn 10/9 cruise. No complaints.

Schools in many states do a fall break now during columbus day week. Maybe that was the issue? I try to plan around kids too - week after thanksgiving, or JAN/FEB cruises for us.

Was not on this cruise but I have been on cruises with other couples who could not stand to see other people having fun. They keep asking us to cruise with them but we just got tired of there complaining about every little thing and no longer cruise with them. It's true there are people like this and all u can do is move on. There are some people who are just miserable and find fault in everything.

Well said ruthless boss.

I sure wouldn't be bragging about bringing my baby to a bar. Bet all all that cigarette smoke will be good for the baby also.

NCL allows smoking in the bars? If they do, that's gonna suck!

Because time zones exist....at midnight on the east coast it is only 9pm on the west coast. 9pm is not an unreasonable time for a child to be awake.

 

6&8

So perhaps these children live on the left coast?

Well said ruthless boss.

I sure wouldn't be bragging about bringing my baby to a bar. Bet all all that cigarette smoke will be good for the baby also.

There are very few bars on NCL that allow smoking.

Most of the bars are perfectly fine for families, including babies, so no reason to be snide.

My DH and I were on this cruise and I have to say, I only saw people were were "Overly Intoxicated" maybe once or twice the whole trip. I never saw the group of college age people referred to and would actually say a very small number of groups under the age of 40. Kids were also in small numbers on this trip. Rarely saw them in the pool, since it was closed for the last couple of days due to the rough seas. Still feel like I enjoy a Carnival Cruise more than NCL, but being able to travel out of Boston is just worth the difference. We enjoyed ourselves so much we booked another one on the Dawn after the refurbishments for next August. This one I expect to be much wilder as it is in the summer while kids are out of school, but feel I probably have normal expectations.

My wife and I have just returned from Our forth cruise to Bermuda, and I must say we have seen a fair ammount of changes of which too few were for the better. I have read post over the past few days about children in hot tubs, poor performance by the crew, (mainly by just going through the motions) which, in many cases is quite understandable. Bad food ect. This post contains three things. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly, and a lot of it. Before you jump to conclusions, and say I'm picking on NCL, or another one who will find fault with anything having to do with fun there is a good chance that you were not on this cruise. Everything that I am stating really did happen. I invite anyone to sit back and observe what is going on.

I will in no uncertian terms go on the record as stating that the UBP will be the downfall of Mr Del Rio, and the Stockholders will at some point have to adress the issue,(as well as the other cruise lines) . My wife and I enjoy our cocktails, so people can't say that we aren't drinkers (we have the weekly bar tab to prove it). We were'nt even out of Boston Harbor when my wife and I found ourselves smack in the middle of an impromptu chug fest. We were just sitting there watching the Boston Fire Department fire boat giving the Dawn a great send off by putting on a display for us. The next thing, we are surrounded by a group of people who I assume were just barely over the drinking age and who's chants of "chug chug chug" drowned out the sail away party. Well, you look forward to a vacation you saved for a year and you wind up in a frat party of the likes of a bad remake of Animal House.

Later the same evening we were in the Atrium and there was a young couple who were so smashed they had all that they could do to stand. They must have held on to one of the support columns for fifteen minutes afraid to move. Passangers gave them a wide berth. A hundred or so people saw them, they had too. The Front Desk is right there. The Atrium is a main throughfare on the Promonade deck. This stuff just goes on and on. Some people would say "well where was security"? Would you want to deal with this? Another day on the pool deck here is this young man in the Mens room smashed out of his mind throwing up all over the place. One night here is this young Mother singing Karoke at midnight with her five or six year old. Another night you got a six year old at midnight again sitting at the bar. That should not be.

I like to think that I have faith in my fellow man however, that's becoming harder and harder to grasp. A case in point. Kids in the hot tubs and pools. OK on the Dawn the upper aft section on deck 12 are the Kids pools. Use them. Kids pools for Kids. They have the best view from the ship. They were empty! no kids, why? Make those the for adults only and upgrade them for adult pools. Believe me I like kids, but some of the parents I question. We had a cabin that was next to a cabin with two little kids in them. Mom & Dad thought that their little darlhings could do no wrong. I don't blame the kids I blame Mom & Dad. Letting them run all around the hallways screaming at the top of their little lungs, getting in the elevators and pushing all the buttons so a packed elevator stops at all decks. Not realizing that everyone wants to kill Mom & Dad for thinking how cute is that...not very. These are the same people who put the dirty diapers in a plastic bag outside the door of their cabin and stink up the whole hallway. They never heard of Babies are Us, the sell travel diaper pails. That's a nice thing to have to pass on the way to your cabin after a night out. If you were a Cabin Steward would you want to deal with that? Next time you think that the crew is surly maybe they have a right to be. Our Cabin Steward was outstanding.

What's with the Gangsta get up? You go to the Venetian for dinner and your asked if you would like to share a table, no way. We are dressed up for our anniversary and you want us to share a table with a guy in cammo cutoffs and David Ortiz 500th home run tee shirt I don't think so.

The Crew did a great job. It's all the guys and gals in the trenches that carry it off. I hope that they get the recognition that they deserve. They really have to put up with a lot. We hope that they get a piece of the pie. The four worst corprate decisions, New Coke, Clear Beer, WoW potato Chips, and NCL's UBP. I overheard on a more than one occasion "Ah you don't have to tip it's included", think twice maybe with all they have to put up with, they deserve it.

Amazing, we have done five NCL cruises and 9 on Celebrity and never encountered any of this crude stuff on a cruise.

We also like to go to all-inclusive resorts, which is basically the same concept as the UBP on a cruise. We do go to family-friendly AI's now because we have kids. We also like a lively, fun atmosphere with a hassle-free, relaxing vacation. We have also gone to many adult-only AI resorts pre-kids. We have very rarely seen "roudy" behavior enough to be bothered or concerned. The AI resort staff have always been very good about managing occasional "issues". We like AI's because we pretty much know exactly how much the cost will be (no surprise large bills or extra expenses). I do quite a bit of research pre-vacations so I will have a feel of any resort or cruise "atmosphere", etc. For example, we avoid some resorts on the main Cancun strip during spring break (resorts known to attract the spring break crowd). There are a lot of options out there.

I've seen people drunk out of their minds at both All-Inclusive resorts and on cruises. Fortunately at both venues those people are few and far between.

I honestly don't care if a person gets drunk or not unless they become and obnoxious drunk. I've only had to deal with that once and that was a few years back at an AI resort.

Are bartenders on cruise ships mandated to "shut-off" those who have been over-served, as they must do in land based bars?

I just booked the Dawn for January and thought I'd check out various threads and found this one. My only comment has to do with the behavior of children. I was on the Dawn in August 2006 and vowed never to cruise again during the summer as a result. There were a gazillion children. I love children, so the numbers weren't the problem. The problem was that they ran rampant in groups of 6-10 with no supervision of parents or crew. My husband was in his early 80s and used a walker. The day a couple of the kids ran into his walker and kept going was the day I almost lost it. I didn't, but I did stop the children and have a few instructional words so to speak.

I'll quickly add that these were the 8-12 year olds or thereabouts. The teenagers were wonderful. They were courteous to my husband holding doors of elevators when need be and were well behaved and mannered.

My current husband and I enjoy our drinks and will have the UBP. I expect to see people drinking more than usual. Falling down drunken behavior is another matter.

Haven't cruised in 2 years so excited about being at sea again.

I just booked the Dawn for January and thought I'd check out various threads and found this one. My only comment has to do with the behavior of children. I was on the Dawn in August 2006 and vowed never to cruise again during the summer as a result. There were a gazillion children. I love children, so the numbers weren't the problem. The problem was that they ran rampant in groups of 6-10 with no supervision of parents or crew. My husband was in his early 80s and used a walker. The day a couple of the kids ran into his walker and kept going was the day I almost lost it. I didn't, but I did stop the children and have a few instructional words so to speak.

 

I'll quickly add that these were the 8-12 year olds or thereabouts. The teenagers were wonderful. They were courteous to my husband holding doors of elevators when need be and were well behaved and mannered.

 

My current husband and I enjoy our drinks and will have the UBP. I expect to see people drinking more than usual. Falling down drunken behavior is another matter.

 

Haven't cruised in 2 years so excited about being at sea again.

What cruise will you be on in January? I'm sailing out on the 24th out of New Orleans. I also have the UBP and like to cut loose while on vacay. My cruise is pretty port intensive so I'll probably be too tired cut loose too much. LOL Can't wait, so excited. It's so refreshing to hear the teens were well behaved and helpful...Kudos to them!

What cruise will you be on in January? I'm sailing out on the 24th out of New Orleans. I also have the UBP and like to cut loose while on vacay. My cruise is pretty port intensive so I'll probably be too tired cut loose too much. LOL Can't wait, so excited. It's so refreshing to hear the teens were well behaved and helpful...Kudos to them!

I'm on the January 10th cruise, but I think it's the same itinerary as yours: Sea Day, Cozumel, Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya, Sea Day.

I'll be on the Dawn in 19 days, it will be interesting to see how everything shakes out.

Are children allowed in the hot tubs? If they are, I'm unsure what that complaint was meaning? If there is a sign saying they are not allowed in the hottubs, that is a different issue.

Just off the Dawn. I didn't notice if the hot tubs had signs. Only 20 kids on the cruise. Concierge told us that there are 800 kids under 18 this week. GOOD LUCK to them!!

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Just off the Dawn. I didn't notice if the hot tubs had signs. Only 20 kids on the cruise. Concierge told us that there are 800 kids under 18 this week. GOOD LUCK to them!!

 

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Just off that cruise today.

I'll do a full review in a week or two once I'm caught up at the office, but thought I'd share some main points:

Ship- Does not look brand new, but is in (my opinion) very nice shape...yes, there is some carpet that needs to be stretched, and I did notice a lot of wall dings in the interior hallways (we were in the newer section on 12 so not an issue for us).

Food- We had the UDP, so we ate in Le Bistro twice, Cagneys for dinner once- lunch twice and breakfast 6 times, :a Cucina Moderno Tepanyaki and The Venetian once each. And a few lunches at the buffet. Overall very good. The Main dining room meal was very nice. They also had pool side grilled foods twice and tacos once.

We also have several people in our party with food intolerance. They handled this very well.

Kids.....YES- over 800! The kids club was a joke- basically group baby sitting. Not their fault- you can't staff a team for 8x the normal need for one week. Our kids went twice briefly and didn't have any desire to go back...The staff though was great- our interaction with the program manager "Pickles" was excellent.

There are 4 hot tubs on the main pool deck- at least one is labeled Adults only. There is also one on 13 in the "quiet area" and another in the SPA. There were several groups of teens that turned into little cliques onboard. They all seemed to get along and were actually very well behaved. The older kids seemed to help the younger ones not be too loud or in the way!

Service- I was worried about the complaints on these boards about the UBP ruining things....Was there a lot of drinking? Yes. Yes there was. Did we drink more than we normally would have? Yes. Did I wake up with a tattoo? No. Did I notice people over consuming? Yes, but not the typical frat boys, rather the 45-55 who is probably a heavy drinker and this is a chance to splurge. Not ever did I feel the wait staff wasn't working hard. Some are better than others, but they all pitched in to get things done. Was the Sail Away hard- yesI don't think you can possibly have enough bar staff when you have 2900 people all wanting a drink at the same time.

Just off that cruise today.

 

I'll do a full review in a week or two once I'm caught up at the office, but thought I'd share some main points:

 

Ship- Does not look brand new, but is in (my opinion) very nice shape...yes, there is some carpet that needs to be stretched, and I did notice a lot of wall dings in the interior hallways (we were in the newer section on 12 so not an issue for us).

 

Food- We had the UDP, so we ate in Le Bistro twice, Cagneys for dinner once- lunch twice and breakfast 6 times, :a Cucina Moderno Tepanyaki and The Venetian once each. And a few lunches at the buffet. Overall very good. The Main dining room meal was very nice. They also had pool side grilled foods twice and tacos once.

 

We also have several people in our party with food intolerance. They handled this very well.

 

Kids.....YES- over 800! The kids club was a joke- basically group baby sitting. Not their fault- you can't staff a team for 8x the normal need for one week. Our kids went twice briefly and didn't have any desire to go back...The staff though was great- our interaction with the program manager "Pickles" was excellent.

 

There are 4 hot tubs on the main pool deck- at least one is labeled Adults only. There is also one on 13 in the "quiet area" and another in the SPA. There were several groups of teens that turned into little cliques onboard. They all seemed to get along and were actually very well behaved. The older kids seemed to help the younger ones not be too loud or in the way!

 

Service- I was worried about the complaints on these boards about the UBP ruining things....Was there a lot of drinking? Yes. Yes there was. Did we drink more than we normally would have? Yes. Did I wake up with a tattoo? No. Did I notice people over consuming? Yes, but not the typical frat boys, rather the 45-55 who is probably a heavy drinker and this is a chance to splurge. Not ever did I feel the wait staff wasn't working hard. Some are better than others, but they all pitched in to get things done. Was the Sail Away hard- yesI don't think you can possibly have enough bar staff when you have 2900 people all wanting a drink at the same time.

That's a lot of kids!! Looking forward to your review. Did you have to tender in Roatan? We were scheduled to tender, but luckily, woke up docked!!

partigus I want to thank you for your post and look forward to seeing your more in depth review when you get time to write it. You gave some great information here already. My sister and I are sailing in Janaury and have one of the suites where the old lounge was and I think that may be where you were located. Hoping to hear some thoughts on that but we are easy going people and got a fantsatic deal and are really looking forward to our time in New Orleans and a different ship for us too. Everything sounds very positive so far.

partigus I want to thank you for your post and look forward to seeing your more in depth review when you get time to write it. You gave some great information here already. My sister and I are sailing in Janaury and have one of the suites where the old lounge was and I think that may be where you were located. Hoping to hear some thoughts on that but we are easy going people and got a fantsatic deal and are really looking forward to our time in New Orleans and a different ship for us too. Everything sounds very positive so far.

We have cruised the Dawn on deck 12 twice, 12020 and 12032. Love cruising on 12. Next cruise is 12018. My husband is a smoker and since smoking is outlawed on the balconies, we don't get a balcony anymore.

Just off that cruise today.

 

I'll do a full review in a week or two once I'm caught up at the office, but thought I'd share some main points:

 

Ship- Does not look brand new, but is in (my opinion) very nice shape...yes, there is some carpet that needs to be stretched, and I did notice a lot of wall dings in the interior hallways (we were in the newer section on 12 so not an issue for us).

 

Food- We had the UDP, so we ate in Le Bistro twice, Cagneys for dinner once- lunch twice and breakfast 6 times, :a Cucina Moderno Tepanyaki and The Venetian once each. And a few lunches at the buffet. Overall very good. The Main dining room meal was very nice. They also had pool side grilled foods twice and tacos once.

 

We also have several people in our party with food intolerance. They handled this very well.

 

Kids.....YES- over 800! The kids club was a joke- basically group baby sitting. Not their fault- you can't staff a team for 8x the normal need for one week. Our kids went twice briefly and didn't have any desire to go back...The staff though was great- our interaction with the program manager "Pickles" was excellent.

 

There are 4 hot tubs on the main pool deck- at least one is labeled Adults only. There is also one on 13 in the "quiet area" and another in the SPA. There were several groups of teens that turned into little cliques onboard. They all seemed to get along and were actually very well behaved. The older kids seemed to help the younger ones not be too loud or in the way!

 

Service- I was worried about the complaints on these boards about the UBP ruining things....Was there a lot of drinking? Yes. Yes there was. Did we drink more than we normally would have? Yes. Did I wake up with a tattoo? No. Did I notice people over consuming? Yes, but not the typical frat boys, rather the 45-55 who is probably a heavy drinker and this is a chance to splurge. Not ever did I feel the wait staff wasn't working hard. Some are better than others, but they all pitched in to get things done. Was the Sail Away hard- yesI don't think you can possibly have enough bar staff when you have 2900 people all wanting a drink at the same time.