Dawn to Bermuda 7/19/13-7/26/13...better late than never!

Greetings, everybody! Welcome to my extremely long review of the Norwegian Dawn cruise from Boston to Bermuda on July 19-26. I am sorry to be so late in posting this, but preparing for the school year, taking a professional development class, and getting my thoughts together to compose this review took me a while. Fair warning, you are about to read a review composed by an English teacher, so you need to prepare yourself for some major verbiage. Use the potty, get a drink, maybe a sandwich, and settle your butt somewhere comfortable.

For those of you who do not have a desire to grow old while reading a cruise review, I am going to start off with a very basic and general overview. Then, I'll get into the detailed blow-by-blow of the whole week for those who need to know it all. So, for a bit of background, I am 29 years old and I teach high school English. I travelled with DB (my boyfriend...is DB a thing? Well, it is now!), who is a 33-year-old police officer. This was his first cruise ever. We are from Long Island. We chose to sail from Boston because it was one of the cruises that was offered to DB on a voucher from the Total Rewards casinos that we frequently visit in Atlantic City. We did pay for taxes and for an upgrade to our balcony cabin, but still saved a lot of money with his voucher. Thus, my new slogan is, "Screw timeshares! We'll just keep gambling!" :)

Overall, this cruise was really fabulous. I would not hesitate to recommend it to anyone. The service was outstanding, the ship is maintained very well, the entertainment is phenomenal, and the food was quite good (and frankly, if you're expecting 5-star gourmet food, you need a reality check). To be honest, I tend to be from the "I'm on vacation, so what the hell could I possibly have to complain about?" camp, and I can have fun in a cardboard box. However, DB is decidedly not this type of person--he is picky, far more difficult to please, and far more prone to complaining, but, ah, I do love him. :) He said several times over the course of the cruise that he could not possibly imagine what people could find to complain about. He also finished up the trip by declaring it our best vacation yet. And yes, folks, we did put our money where our mouths are--we put down the deposit for our next cruise while we were still on the ship.

Lest you think that I just fell off the turnip truck, I am quite a well-travelled woman. I've been all over the country, including the west coast and Hawaii, to Canada, and all over Europe, as I spent my junior year of college studying abroad in London. I was on two other cruises (on other lines) to the Bahamas, Mexico, and the Caribbean when I was 16 and 20, so this was my first cruise as an adult (and on my own dime!). I do have plenty of other travel experiences to judge this against, and I maintain that I had an amazing week, one that I would gladly repeat tomorrow if given the opportunity. In fact, depending on DB's offers from Atlantic City, we might take the exact same cruise again next summer.

Before I start the full account, I'll also just comment briefly on Bermuda for those of you who want to move on with your lives. It is heaven on earth. It is naturally beautiful, incredibly clean, and the people are friendly and nice to the point of absurdity. It will truly ruin you for all other islands. I've visited Mexico, the Bahamas, and Grand Cayman on other cruises and Bermuda puts them all to shame and leaves me with no desire to either return to them or to visit most of the other common tropical cruise destinations. Plus, both DB and I loved being in one port for three days and being able to so easily leave and return to the ship whenever we wanted. Now, that might not be for everyone, but if it sounds at all appealing to you, I highly recommend you give it a shot.

Well, that wraps up the very abbreviated version of my little travel tale...read on if you're interested in the director's cut!

Friday, 7/19: Embarkation Day

This was the middle of quite the heat wave in the northeast. I was quite happy that we had decided to take the ferry from Orient Point to New London, CT. This made for an easy and pleasant trip and it cuts out quite a chunk of driving on I-95, or as I like to refer to it, the highway to Hell. We hit hardly any traffic, just a bit of an expected back-up right when we got to Boston. I attended college in Boston, and I love Boston, but the thought of driving there makes me shed a tear and break into a sweat. Thankfully, the port is easy to find and there are plenty of signs to guide you. Black Falcon is a bit of a mess in terms of unloading and getting porters. Who knows, though, maybe we just caught an off moment. DB dropped me off and went to park, and I stayed put until he came back because the porters weren't coming down to where I was and I couldn't strap the luggage on my back and schlep it to them. As soon as he came back, though, we were easily able to take the luggage to where the porters were and head off on our merry way to check in. The security staff at the terminal was very friendly.

The NCL people were hospitable, and we immediately enjoyed the first benefit of being booked as casino guests. We bypassed the super-long check-in line for the Casinos at Sea line. Now, I am sure it's possible that the regular check-in line is sometimes shorter, but in this case it certainly wasn't, so just let me revel in being special for a minute and a half, ok? The man who checked us in was efficient and friendly, and then we just had to wait a few minutes (perhaps 5-10) to be called to embark the ship. The short wait was okay, though, because I spent that time glued to the window in the terminal like a window cling, gazing at the ship and getting even more excited to get on!

Thanks to the brilliant members of CC and their wise advice, we avoided the hordes at the buffet and sat down to have lunch in the Venetian MDR. This is located on deck 6 aft, but when you get on the ship, you'll want to stay on deck 7 and head aft, because you get into the MDR by heading down a little staircase on deck 7. This was certainly the right decision, as we still had our little carry on suitcase and had spent the entire morning sweating like the pigs who know they're dinner. Lunch in the MDR was very quiet and relaxed, and I am also glad we went that day because we did not bother to sit down to a served lunch for the remainder of the cruise.

The service was polite and efficient. We split an order of the fried calamari, I had a shrimp caesar salad as an entree and DB had the salmon and shrimp sandwich. It was all good, but DB said there was some seasoning that he couldn't put his finger on in the sandwich and he didn't love it. I had raspberry sherbet for dessert, and DB had chocolate mousse. We enjoyed both. As a side note, I saw the waiter that we had at lunch that day hauling bus buckets in the buffet at breakfast a few days later. This is one of the many, many reasons why I turn into a raving psycho when people complain about the service on a cruise (or at least this cruise). These crew members leave their loved ones for months at a time, work 7 days per week, and often have multiple jobs during the course of the day. And, still, they bend over backwards to make your vacation as comfortable and pleasant as possible. Now, I don't get to live like Rich Uncle Pennybags on a daily basis, so I sure do appreciate being waited on hand and foot...I suppose it's not enough for some people.

Also, I've seen many people ask questions on CC about gratuities in addition to the daily service charge, so I'll just say what we did. Any time we sat down for a served meal, we left a $5 tip when we got up. I am by no means saying you have to or even should do this, I am just stating what we did. Because you do not have the same server each day/night on NCL, I did not feel right about leaving no tip. But, we're Italian and from New York, so we tip everybody!

Our timing was great and after lunch the cabins were ready, so we went to drop off the carry-on. We had midship balcony cabin 10596, and I highly recommend this location on the ship. No noise from above or below, as there are no public areas, and quite easy to go up or down if you like to take the stairs. The cabin was an adequate size for us. DB is 6'1" and he was fine in the cabin and in the bathroom. The shower door is certainly nice, but I can't imagine wanting to close the little toilet sliding door...it would be like doing your business in a phone booth! I certainly can't imagine that a tall person would want that little toilet door closed. Definitely bring a power strip, as there is only one outlet in the room. It's also a good idea to bring a battery-operated travel alarm clock, so that you needn't worry about plugging one in.

Our excursion tickets for the sunset catamaran swizzle cruise and CAS info were waiting for us. We headed out to explore ship and figure out the layout. I really did like the size of this ship. Yes, I would very much like to sail on Breakaway and experience all of the wonderful crap that ship has to offer, but we never got lost on the Dawn, easily navigated from one end to the other, and we were never bored. We put in guesses for the price of the original Picasso etching that Park West Galleries has out in their little advertising area near the shops.

We stopped into the casino and met Anna, the casino host. She found our free drink cards (the single biggest perk of DB's cruise voucher) and put our $50 slot play coupons on our accounts. We purchased those from slotplaycoupons.com, and I highly recommend them if you like to tangle with the slots a bit. It is $25 for a $50 slot play, and couldn't be easier to use. We had also purchased the $20 for $10 slot vouchers from NCL.

We attended the muster drill, which was a little disorganized, but didn't take very long, and then stopped back in the room for me to change into flip flops. This was when we met Ronald, our incredible, wonderful, cheerful, helpful (I am running out of adjectives to capture his awesomeness) cabin steward. He cleaned the minibar items out of our fridge as soon as we asked, brought us ice (which we then had at all times for the remainder of the cruise), brought me more towels, and chatted with us a bit. By this time, it was almost time for the casino welcome party, so we headed up to deck 12 to quickly check out the sail away party. They had quite a nice BBQ going out there, and DB grabbed a hot dog.

We discovered the next benefit of being a CAS guest because the casino welcome party was lovely, with cocktails, canapés, and some impressive sucking up. :p They time this party brilliantly to butter you up, and then immediately afterwards they open the casino. We held off on gambling for a bit though, because we wanted to check whether our bags made it to the cabin yet, and they were there. This was by about 5:30. We relaxed a bit, and enjoyed a never-ending supply of room service treats sent as bon voyage gifts by DB's family. They sent us chocolate-covered strawberries, shrimp cocktail, a cheese plate, and a bottle of wine (but we did not crack the wine open then). So, the first few hours on the ship set the tone nicely for the week-long food orgy on which we had now embarked.

We got cleaned up and changed clothes. We returned to Venetian for dinner. There was a wait, no doubt because the first night is surf and turf night. I have no objection to the wait, as I would rather wait a few minutes than be told when to eat and/or have to eat with strangers. We were, however, about to leave, only because we wanted to make it to the late show, when the buzzer went off. We told our waitress that we were in a rush and she and her helper really came through! Obviously, we skipped appetizers, as we were trying to avoid actually exploding. We both had the surf and turf, which was quite good, with a decent-sized lobster tail. We both followed this with the chocolate truffle cake, which I absolutely loved (and am a little sad I cannot have right now). DB enjoyed it as well.

We went to the late welcome aboard show. It is a bit of a sampler of the entertainment to come for the week, and it was very entertaining. Gio, the cruise director, was very personable (and only got better and better as the week went on). Scotty the juggler was really impressive. I remember looking at the Daily and thinking, "A juggler? Really?" He was the real deal, though. He did some spectacular tricks. Looking back, I am actually disappointed that this was his only appearance in a show for the duration of the cruise. Then, we headed to the casino (conveniently located right outside the theater!) where we had no luck, but worked our house drink cards out on some beers. At this point, we were exhausted from the long day, so we returned to the cabin a little before midnight.

The sea was very calm on the first day. When we returned to the cabin at night, we were surprised by the thickest fog I've ever seen. It was actually kind of cool, because we could hear the fog horn being blown...though I'm not sure how cool that was if you had a forward cabin. :eek:

Saturday, 7/20: First Sea Day

We woke up on the early side (well, by our standards). We went to the Garden Café buffet, for the first time since we'd gotten on the ship, to get breakfast. There was an excellent variety and all of the food was very fresh. I will note that the breakfast foods do not change much for the week, but if you can eat all of the options, even over the course of a few days, you're probably eating too much (and this coming from a girl who went home with an extra 3 pounds on her!). The options each day included cereals, fresh fruit (cantaloupe, honeydew, watermelon, pineapple, grapefruit, fruit salad, bananas, apples, and oranged), various muffins/pastries, cinnamon and pecan rolls, eggs, bacon, sausage, potatoes, oatmeal, an omelette station, pancakes, French toast, and waffles, among other things. To drink, there's milk, apple/orange/cranberry juices, coffe, tea, and hot chocolate. On this day, I ate fruit, nice crisp bacon, great eggs Benedict (which I never eat in the real world), and a cinnamon roll and mini chocolate croissant. DB also tried pancakes and a waffle. Everything was really good especially considering that, despite my epic breakfast dining on the ship, I am actually not that much of a breakfast person in general.

At 10:30, it was time to find the Star Bar for the CC meet and greet. I am really glad that we went to this, because we met some very nice people from the roll call! Gio was there at the beginning. I am still trying to determine what type of Star Trek-style device enables that man to be in six different places at once (and look completely stylish and energized in all of them!). All of the officers came; the captain spoke briefly and a couple of the other officers said a few words. It was a very nice time, and it's nice to have familiar places and people to chat with when you run into them for the rest of the cruise. I think that I might feel comfortable enough to organize it for next time, but at any rate, you should definitely either organize or attend your M&G if you can!

We attended the first art auction. Since, we've been home, we've seen many complaints posted on CC and elsewhere about Park West. I can't really comment on this; all I can say is, if you're going to buy something, know what you can spend and be sure you know what you're getting. I had no intention of buying anything, but ended up buying a package of 3 seriolithographs by Anatoly Metlan. Now, I only spent a few hundred dollars, and I truly loved the pieces, so do I really care if they are highly valuable works of art? No. But, we did see people spending thousands (or tens of thousands) as well. I assume those people knew what they were doing. At any rate, it's totally worth going just to see the art. They have original Rembrandts, Peter Max works, many Thomas Kinkade works, and we were introduced to some other artists' works that we liked very much. It's relaxing, you can get a free glass of bubbly, and pretend that you're cultured! Well, maybe you don't need to pretend. :) The Park West staff is friendly and helpful, but then again, they want you to buy art.

We ate lunch in the Garden Café. There was a very good variety. We didn't even initially realize there are totally different food options on both sides! One side has a salad bar and numerous hot entree options that change daily; the other has various burgers, hot dogs, fries, onion rings, cold deli salads, etc. There are different meat dishes each day, and a vegetarian section. There's always pizza, but we never tried it. Italian New Yorkers, remember? Therefore, pizza snobs. Oh, and DB's dad used to own pizzerias...so, there you go. There are Indian dishes each day, pastas, soups, breads, etc. There really are plenty of options for everyone. I tried several different dishes. I made a good salad from the salad bar, and had some orzo salad, a chicken salad sandwich, and a veal and mushroom stew. Everything was quite good, DB's food as well. He is a dessert-after-every-meal kind of man, and there are plenty of desserts in the lunch buffet each day, as well.

We stopped by the casino again for a few (you're going to start to notice a trend here). This was mainly just a visit with my new best friend, "Chips Ahoy." He is an amazing bartender. He literally knew our names from the night before and knew us for the rest of the cruise. This man has personality plus, and boy were we lucky, because this was his last cruise before his much-deserved two-month trip home to the Philippines. I'll take this opportunity to talk about tips one more time. I know that if you're paying for drinks, there's a 15% service charge, so honestly I am not really sure what people do then. A lot of people have the free drink cards for the casino, though, and I really don't think too many tip. We tip for drinks. Period. Especially when we are not paying for them. And let me tell you, besides being well-deserved, I think those tips bought us some pretty strong drinks throughout the cruise.

Next was bingo in Spinnaker. For those who want definitive info on bingo pricing: the cheapest package is $39, the middle package is $49. Being the "what-the-hell-we're-on-vacation" tourists we are, we bought the super package--$69. This included six cards for each game, plus the shutter board (which is three more cards for each game), plus 7 strips of the instant win cards, and 15 raffle entries for the free cruise raffle they do at the last bingo session. This was also the free card game, so we each got a free card for the jackpot game at the end. Did we have fun? Yes. Will we ever play bingo again on a cruise? Nope. We got very lucky and won the second game in a four-way split, which brought us $53, and won $8 on the instant win cards. So, for $8, bingo was great! For $69...or even $39...not so much.

We had to go take care of the shipping info for the artwork, and then we went to the cabin to sit and relax for a few minutes and get changed. There was a wait for dinner again at Aqua, so we took our pager and went...where, kids? That's right! You've been paying attention! To the casino! By the time we got a drink and hung out for a few minutes, we were paged. I had the mushroom quesadilla and Thai chicken and shrimp with coconut curry, followed by the cheesecake. The mushroom quesadilla was average; there was not a lot of mushrooms in mine. My entree was excellent--a delicious sauce and lovely presentation. I also thoroughly enjoyed their cheesecake. DB had French onion soup and a ribeye with a baked potato, followed again by the chocolate truffle cake (yes, he really liked that cake). He enjoyed everything he had. We had a nice conversation during a meal with a lovely lady traveling solo who was seated at the table next to us. I must say, we were either lucky on our sailing, or freestyle cruising attracts a lot of easygoing, friendly people, because we met a lot of nice people on this trip. We also enjoyed not being forced to sit with strangers, but still having the opportunity to strike up conversations with our very pleasant fellow passengers.

We saw Band on the Run in the Stardust Theater. This is one of their production shows. Now, I am a show person...and DB has been forced over the years to become one! I've seen more live theater productions in my life than I can possibly count, and we also regularly receive comped tickets to various shows in Atlantic City. I was definitely impressed by the energy of the singers and dancers in the Dawn's production cast. The music in this show was great, if you love 70s music, which I do.

To wind up the night, we returned to the casino, where I finally won a few bucks on a penny machine. For some reason, the casino was super hot, which gave me a headache, so we walked around the ship a bit and then headed back to our cabin. The clocks were going forward for our arrival in Bermuda anyway, so it was almost 1.

You might have noticed that I did not comment on the pool at all. I am sorry to say that if you want a detailed evaluation of the pool, I am not your woman. DB hates just laying out and, to be honest, I saw how crowded the pool area was, and how small the pool is, and just had no interest. I have a pool in my co-op development and I can lay out whenever I want without a massive crowd, so we mainly stuck to the indoors while on the ship. If the pool experience is of primary importance to you, you might be a bit disappointed with the Dawn. The stadium seating is excellent, but it's still just overcrowded all over.

Sunday, 7/21: First Bermuda Day

We were right on time arriving in Bermuda. We were awake early enough to be able to see much of our final approach from our balcony. They started letting passengers off on time at 11. We did not rush to be first off the ship, because we had snorkeling booked at 3PM and weren't in a big hurry. We had breakfast in the Garden Café and got off around noon. It's just so nice to get right off and on the ship, no hassle, no tenders! Went to the info center and bought the Internet access card. It is $14.99 for one device for 72 hours, which I found to be a great deal compared to the ship. We actually only used the Internet in Bermuda, because the ship's rates are so high. While we were in Bermuda, we took the iPad over by the info center a couple of times and were able to e-mail my mom and FaceTime with DB's family because his sister and brother-in-law have iPhones. After purchasing the wifi access, we walked over to the Clocktower Mall and browsed the shops to figure out what we were bringing people at home. It's a nice little mall, with a variety of shops where you can find many different souveneirs and other items.

We returned to the ship to change, pack the backpack for snorkeling, and grab a quick snack at Garden Café before heading out. There were plenty of lunch options again, many different from yesterday, but we just tried a couple of little things as we were about to be swimming. We finally got to try the famed pretzel rolls and sticks! They really are good, although I will say that there are a few other food items from the ship that I am still dreaming of more than those.

We got off the ship to meet Sonny for snorkeling, but to our dismay, a storm with lightning was right on the same course we would have taken. We rescheduled for Monday, a bit disappointed as we felt we'd killed a bit of the day, but we decided to go back on the ship and take advantage of the lack of crowds, as it was Sunday and we saw no point in spending money to go anywhere when nothing would be open.

I laid by the pool for a while (as previously noted, for the only time, as the ship was pretty empty). DB really can't stand just laying out, so he wandered around a bit. We got ice cream cones from Sprinkles (which is near the pool and where you can get hard ice cream during the day) when he came back to check on me. I have read posts from people who say they were able to connect to the dockyard TBI wifi while out on deck on the ship. We tried several times, from different locations, but had no luck connecting. In fact, we were really only able to use the wifi when we were near the info center, although there were signs for it all along the pier, and we saw many people using their devices near the ship. Maybe it was our iPad, but we didn't want to waste too much time trying to figure it out. We had better things to do than sit on the Internet!

It was time to get ready for swizzle cruise, so we got dressed, and stopped into Garden Café one more time to avoid swizzling on empty stomachs! This was the only time that we visited the buffet during dinner and there were plenty of options, but we again just tried a couple of little things, as we knew we'd probably want to eat again later at night.

We got off the ship again for the sunset catamaran swizzle cruise. What an awesome time! We hung out with our CC M&G friends, phyllbabe and her husband (I am not going to use the real names of anyone we spent time with because, frankly, I am not sure that they would want their names published). They are a really nice couple and it was great to have other people to talk to and down swizzles with! Smitty is a great tour guide and they really keep the swizzles flowing on this excurison. This is the only excursion we booked through the ship, and although I am sure that we would not spend the money to do this again, I am really glad we did it once. We never sat with an empty cup, and later in the trip Smitty even comes around and pours an extra rum floater on your swizzle. He tells some good stories and shares interesting facts about Bermuda, and you get to see more of the beautiful pastel Bermuda houses. Plus, it didn't hurt that on this evening, the weather and sunset were amazing, and we even got to see the "green flash" over the ocean right before the sun went down.

We got back on the ship a little after 9, and DB took a nap for a bit. I'm not sure if it was the long day or the free-flowing rum, but he was very sleepy! I wandered a bit, and caught the last couple of Beatles songs that Cover Stories was doing in the atrium. They were doing a nice job with it, and there was quite a crowd gathered to listen to them. Cover Stories is a reasonably talented duo. They are not the best musicians I've ever seen, but their music is pleasant and they play/sing many genres of music over the course of the cruise, and perform for hours each night, so I am impressed with their versatility.

It was late and we were hungry, so we tried Blue Lagoon. We were seated promptly and the service was completely friendly and efficient. Our food arrived quickly and correctly. I had spinach dip which had decent flavor, but was a much thinner consistency than I am used to. Then I had the prosciutto and mozzarella panini. That was delicious! DB had wonton noodle soup and chicken fingers with fries. It all looked fine, nothing extraordinary, but he liked it all. I had a slice of cheesecake, and shockingly, DB skipped dessert. I liked the cheesecake on the ship and it was nice at BL because they put a little chocolate and crushed pineapple on it. We went to bed soon after because we were exhausted, the casino is closed in port (because, obviously, we would have summoned some energy for that), and we had a lot planned for Monday.

Monday, 7/22: Second Bermuda Day

We got up bright and early so that we could head to Garden Café for breakfast and then make the 9AM ferry. Breakfast was good as usual, and we ate pretty quickly and got off the ship because I was nervous that there would be a long line for the ferry to Hamilton. We stopped at the little trailer at the end of the pier and bought the one day bus and ferry passes. These passes are a must if you intend to travel around at all. For one day, they cost $15 each. I was happy to see that there were not many people in line for the ferry; we also lucked out because the RCI ship was pulling in just before 9AM, so the passengers from that ship were not off yet. The ferry ride to Hamilton is very pleasant, and you'll get a lovely view of many of the beautiful Bermuda homes that are right along the coastline.

Upon arriving in Hamilton, we headed to the main bus depot (which is only about a five-minute walk) and caught the 11 bus to the Crystal Caves. It's a relatively short walk once you get off, but you're not right in front of the caves, either. Our bus driver told us that he would tell us when it was time to get off, but he must have forgotten, so it was fortunate that I was paying attention and had read on CC that the caves are near an ice cream shop and a Swizzle Inn, so I realized that we needed to get off at the next stop. Unfortunately, we didn't have time to do both caves, so we opted for only the Crystal Cave. It was so beautiful! Neither of us had ever seen anything like it, so it was very interesting for us. Perhaps if you've been to other caves with many stalagmite/stalactite formations, it would not be as exciting. It's certainly not cheap ($22 for one cave), which is why I wish we could have done both, because it's only $8 more to tour both. We really enjoyed the tour, but I doubt that this is something we'll do again, simply because it won't change much and it is a tad pricey. We were also lucky because our guide, Che, had a lot of personality and told some good stories. I saw one of the other guides leading his group in on our way out, and while he seemed to also be a very nice guy, he didn't seem to have Che's energy and sense of humor. I would suggest heading to this attraction early in the day, partially to avoid excessive heat, and partially because by the time we were leaving it was becoming far more crowded.

We returned to the bus and rode back to Hamilton. I have read many posts about the crazy driving of Bermuda bus drivers, and I can only conclude that these people have never been in a NYC taxi. In a NYC cab, I bust out the rosary, close my eyes, and pray. :p I was not that scared on the buses in Bermuda; I think it's mainly just unsettling that the roads are winding and you're on the opposite side. I also enjoyed riding the bus to see more of the houses and be around the native Bermudians more. The people there are so friendly, and everyone thanks the bus drivers on their way off, which was so nice to see. Upon returning to Hamilton, we wandered up and down Front Street. If you receive the coupon for the gift from Crisson Jewelers on Front Street from the ship's shopping consultant (we were lucky and there were two stuck into our bingo package), it is actually worth using. DB wanted to go get the gifts, and I humored him, all the while grousing in my mind about the time we'd be wasting for some useless trinket. Well, DB was right (I just choked a little as I typed that), and the gifts turned out to be these cute little pink pearl bracelets that were perfect to bring back to our two little nieces. We wandered in and out of some other stores, but did not make any other purchases. We are not really shoppers, but there are some very nice stores in Bermuda, and there's no tax. However, I think you really need to know what you're buying, because I think some of the prices there are perhaps a bit bit high, anyway.

If you are an avid shopper, the ship was doing a guided shopping tour on Front Street with the shopping consultant. We found this out when we ran into our lovely solo-traveller friend from the ship at Crisson Jewelers. She told us that she was there with the group from the ship. There is a caveat, though--she had been stuck at the jewelry store for about an hour, just waiting for other people to finish. I think that she was about ready to ditch the group and strike out on her own.

Cup Match, Bermuda's huge cricket match that evidently turns into a long weekend of partying, was going to be the following week, so we saw this great spectacle of people (I think HSBC employees) driving down the street, honking, cheering, and distributing flags to get people psyched up for the event. We got our cup match flags, one for the East team and one for the West, and then returned to the ferry terminal for the 1PM ferry back to the dockyard, as we were heading out snorkeling at 3. The ferry ride was once again pleasant, but there are obviously a lot more people riding in the afternoon, so I'd suggest getting there a few minutes early.

We headed back to the ship, got changed, had a snack at Garden Café(nothing too much, so we wouldn't cramp up in the ocean!), and got back off to meet Sonny. We thought that a group of people was waiting for him but were delighted when it turned out to be just us!

I can't say enough great things about Sonny's snorkeling trip. He's just a super-nice, laid back guy who doesn't believe in the massive ship excursions where you're playing bumper-butts with 40 other people in the water while scaring all of the fish away with a mass of neon pool noodles. He doesn't take out more than ten people at a time, and thinks nothing of taking out only two people if that's who has booked with him. He took us a couple of miles out into the ocean and the snorkeling was incredible! There was a snorkeling excursion in the same area, and he was ready to take us elsewhere until he realized they were finishing up and getting out of the water. When I first stuck my face in the water, it didn't even look real; it was like some beautiful aquarium that had been staged for our enjoyment. There were so many fish of all different sizes and colors, beautiful coral, very interesting remnants from shipwrecks, and the water is super salty so it is so easy to float. I will give you two important warnings about Sonny's Snorkel Bermuda, though. One is that he does not provide water or soda, so bring your own (he did offer to stop at the gas station for us if we needed it, though). The other is that he is that he does not provide any flotation devices (and the water is about 20 feet deep), so you must be a decent swimmer to take this trip. DB and I both love to swim, but we are certainly not elite athletes, and we were perfectly fine. We had about an hour in the water, then Sonny took us back, and we gave him $120 instead of the $110 he charged because it was a great time. I highly recommend snorkeling with Snorkel Bermuda, as you'll basically have a private or semi-private snorkel trip for much less money than the ship's excursions. In fact, we've both said that this is the only activity that we did on this trip that we'll gladly pay to do again when we return.

I have to add a little side-note here, and please don't perceive this as me knocking another cruise line, which I have no right to do as I never travelled on RCI. This is just my observation. When we were on Sonny's boat, we passed close by RCI's Explorer of the Seas and the Dawn in the water. The Dawn, on the exterior, appeared to be better maintained. Even while we were in Bermuda, we saw workers that had been lowered on a scaffold to clean and touch up the hull, and the difference really showed. The RCI ship showed a lot of wear in the paint, and many rust spots (no, I'm not saying the rust was eating the ship, there were just large spots that showed it hadn't been cleaned). Again, I am not endeavoring to make a comparison about things I did not experience; I am simply sharing this observation as it was striking enough for me at the time to comment to DB about how impressed I was with the very comprehensive maintainance and upkeep of the Dawn.

You might be realizing at this point that I have not mentioned one of Bermuda's most famous attractions--the south shore beaches. I'll go ahead and admit right now, before you read any more, that we committed the sacrilege of visiting Bermuda and not going to any of the beaches. Go ahead, gasp, shake your head, make little tsk-ing noises. We got caught up in other activities, and simply never went. So, if you'd now like to jump ship (pun intended) from my review because I'm a bad little Bermuda traveller, I'll understand. I'm not sorry, though, because it just gives us all the more motivation to go back to Bermuda next summer!

When we returned to the ship, I was really tired from the heat and swimming, and I passed out cold for a little while. Then we got cleaned up and went to dinner at Aqua. I had a delicious endive salad with walnuts, cranberries, apples, and Roquefort and fantastic chicken tikka masala, which was the chef's special. I was super-psyched, because I can never get DB to go eat Indian food with me, and I love it. DB had the smoked salmon tartare, which he really enjoyed, and the prime rib, which he said was good, but not the best he's had. We did not have dessert at Aqua because the chocolate buffet was up in the Garden Café. There was a pretty good variety at the chocolate buffet, although I'm sure it's nothing like I've read about from the good ol' days of cruising. A few of the items were delicious, and some not so much. I think it's just a matter of taste. I really enjoyed the chocolate-filled mini eclairs. I was impressed by the chocolate sculptures and ice sculptures. Of course, most of us have seen these things before, but I am always amazed at the skill that goes into creating them.

We then headed to the late comic ventriloquist show. We missed most of his first segment (which is a sacrifice I was willing to make for chocolate), but saw most of the show. I wasn't expecting much, because c'mon, he's a ventriloquist, but man, was he funny. He played off the audience so well, was so quick-witted, had very funny and creative dummies, and his lips really don't move at all. The whole theater was laughing out loud through the entire show. I was really impressed.

Tragically, we had to endure another casino-less night, so we grabbed our bottle of wine that DB's family had kindly sent us, and went out by the pool to check it out because the band was playing rock music. I enjoyed the band as they were playing some good classic rock; there was a decent crowd of people hanging out on deck. We finished our wine and ran into our CC friend rusko and his fiancee on the way back inside. We ended up having a lot of fun with them and another couple they travelled with, on the pool deck and then at Spinnaker for a while. We hung out pretty late, which was fun but probably silly as we had to get up early for kayaking in the morning!

Tuesday, 7/23: Final Bermuda Day

We got up quite early to get ready for kayaking. We had breakfast at Garden Café, sticking to light stuff as opposed to our usual mountains of breakfast fare, as we were in a hurry and were about to do physical activity. I booked this excursion through my credit card reward points for free, but the tour operator was Fantasea, which seems to do many different tours, if you're interested in looking into them. We found the ticket booth that sells the Fantasea tours and Jess, one of our tour guides, walked us around the marina to their boat. I think we were the only people who didn't book through one of the ships, because everyone else was already on the boat. Incidentally, two different tours were on this boat, our kayaking trip, and a hiking trip (you split up once you get off the boat). We were taken by boat around to where they launch the kayaks, and found out some interesting information about Bermuda's ecosystem along the way. Turtles are now protected there because they were over-harvested for a long time. We also learned about a Bermudian man who found many of the shipwrecks there and bought three little islands off the coast to create a sort of a nature preserve. Also, the beautiful Bermudian longtails mate for life. We also got to see a large school of Bermudian pirhana, and learned the scientific explanation for the disappearances in the Bermuda Triangle (it has to do with gases, by the way, not aliens, sea monsters, or anything fun like that!). We kayaked a decent distance, making a few stops along the way for some more explanations of Bermuda's natural environment, and then we got to go into an area where there are many sea turtles. We got to see several and also the huge granddaddy of them all! We had a nice restful stop at a little beach for a swim. Then we kayaked back. They provide water for the kayak trip and then soda on the boat for the return trip to Dockyard. This was an excellent tour that was not rushed at all, with friendly and knowledgeable guides, but just be aware that it is definitely physically strenuous.

We got back on the ship because we were salty and sandy and needed to clean up. We stopped into Garden Café for a quick lunch and then back off to do our souvenir shopping. We stopped at the rum cake factory to try a couple of samples, and they tasted good, but basically like very good pound cake. I guess we were just expecting something very different or special. We did not buy any to bring home, because they were way too expensive, in our opinion. We went back to the Clocktower Mall and got souvenirs for the family (which turned out to be mainly T-shirts--again, we're not shoppers). We stopped into Dockyard Pharmacy and DB got a ginger beer to try and a Cuban cigar to smoke on the ship. DB seemed to like the ginger beer, but it smelled way too strong for my taste, so I did not taste it. I think if you like a very strong and sweet ginger taste, you should try it, though. I sent one last e-mail to my mom, we FaceTimed DB's family, took a few more pictures, and then came the sad time to go back to the ship and leave paradise. My mom loves Carol Holding's watercolor paintings of Bermuda. There are a few places to get the small lithographs, but conveniently enough, they were available in the small building right at Heritage Wharf, so we picked up 2 for $16 on the way back onto the ship. NCL does know how to make the depressing event of departure more festive, though, as some of the staff was waiting to greet all of the passengers and dancing around to great music as we were getting back on the ship. One of the chefs in particular was hilarious with his bad-ass moves, enough so that we continued to watch him from our balcony when we got back on.

We watched sailaway from our balcony, and I fought a consuming desire to make a leap off the side to try to land back on the pier. We were entertained, though, by the knuckleheads who had to spring out of a cab and literally sprint back onto the ship just a few minutes before we had to leave, meeting wild applause from all of the passengers watching. Just to reinforce how much it sucked to leave Bermuda, the Bermudian immigration men reminded us of how ridiculously nice the people are there by waving goodbye to the ship and shouting out for everyone to come again. It was one of the only places in my life I've been truly sad to leave.

So, how to mend a heart broken by being torn away from paradise? Meat binge! We had our one specialty dinner at Moderno. It was very good, especially the attentive and professional service from Edgardo. There was a good variety of appetizers and salads on the salad bar. The salad bar included cheeses, roasted asparagus, corn and black bean salad, chicken and mango salad, olives, tomato and mozzarella, and more. There are ten different meats, and I applaud anyone who can possibly try all ten. I am actually not a huge meat eater in real life, but I did enjoy several of the offerings, including the two chicken options, the beef rib, and the chorizo and linguica sausages. The lamb and the filet were both too rare for me, so DB got mine as well as his. I am certain that I could have asked for more well-done portions, but I was getting too full to care. The only meat that was simply no good was the garlic sirloin, as it was totally overcooked and dried out. There was also roasted pineapple, which I absolutely loved. And, as if all of this is not enough, they bring side dishes of rice, beans, mashed potatoes, and fried banana to the table. These were all good, and I could have eaten a pile of the fried bananas, except for the fact that I was actually about to explode. There are a few dessert options; DB ordered coconut flan, which he liked, and I ordered mango rice pudding, which I did not like at all. The consistency of it was too dry for my taste, not pudding-like enough.

We went to the 9PM show, which featured Alex and Sally in a performance called "Oceans Apart." This is an acrobatic show. What an incredibly talented couple they are! They are truly graceful and awe-inspiring. They do portions of the show together, and then each have solo acts, which include some beautiful aerial acrobatics. I was especially astounded that they could be so graceful with the ship really rocking and rolling as it was at this point (as it would continue to do through all of Wednesday).

The casino was reopened, there was rejoicing throughout the land, and we got to spend some quality time with Chips Ahoy and the slots. I was having one of those rare beautiful nights when I am actually up a few bucks rather than just dumping my purse right into their laps, so I decided to go crazy and put $25 into a dollar Wheel of Fortune. I played for just a few minutes, and got two spins. One landed on $200 and one on $100! DB was still losing, so his losing and my winning meant it was time to run far and run fast. It was late as well, so we headed back to the cabin.

Wednesday, 7/24: Second Sea Day

We slept in a little today, as we finally didn't have a reason to be up super-early. We had a late breakfast at Garden Café. We just wandered around the ship for a little while, and then spent some time in the casino, as we decided to enter the team slot tournament, and I decided to enter the blackjack tournament. The ship was still really rocking, and my ginger pills helped, but I was still just a tiny bit nauseous for most of the day. I started taking the ginger two times per day two days before the cruise, and continued to take them through the cruise, and I do believe they help. Regular motion-sickness pills (even non-drowsy ones) make me completely groggy and loopy, plus I will not drink if I take anything chemical, so ginger was really the only option. I recommend this if you get a little motion sick and would like a more natural option to prevent it.

The slot tournament was $25 entry (you can play with a partner or play both rounds by yourself), and it was a lot of fun, but we really did get a lousy machine. We were pushing that button fast and furious (really, I was afraid DB was going to break the button) and popped every single bonus balloon that came up, and still had a low score. But, we had a good time, and you sure can't win them all! The blackjack tournament entry fee is $15. I came in second place for my table in the blackjack, and was the only female playing that day, which was fun in and of itself because it's fun to watch men's reactions to female card-players. You have to win your table to have any chance to move on to the finals, though, and thus our tournaments ended for the day.

We had a late lunch at Garden Café. They have one side of the buffet shut down in the late afternoon, but there was still plenty of food, consisting of burgers, hot dogs, sandwiches, fries, onion rings, various salads, and the like. DB was considering going to the cigar bar to smoke his Cuban, and I knew I just could not sit in there, so we split up for an hour or so. I went to the library, relaxed in the quiet, and did a bit of reading. The library has a variety of books in many different genres, some board games, and comfortable couches and armchairs. When we met back up in the cabin, DB said that the cigar bar was too hot for him to sit and smoke his cigar and he had just hung around in the casino a bit.

We relaxed in the room for a little while before getting cleaned up for dinner. We were intending to go to Venetian, but I went all space-cadet and just wandered on auto-pilot to Aqua. There was no wait, so we ate there. We both had a crab cake appetizer, which was good. I guess because they have to pre-plate (for which I completely understand the necessity), the lettuce on the plate was warm. I know it was just a garnish, but I think it would have been nice if it was just a little bit of salad added to the plate. DB had the chef's special seafood vol au vent. He didn't rave about it, but thought it was good. I had the salmon from the classics menu. Despite what culinary propriety dictates, I like fish well done, so I enjoyed it, but I think some people might have found it a tad dry. The sauce and accompaniments were very tasty. DB skipped dessert, and I had a few bites of chocolate truffle cake before we scurried off to the show. The waiter had realized that we were trying to make the late show, and hurried everything right along for us. Again, I must say that the service on this ship shines.

The show was Second City. Obviously it was completely packed, and we got there close to show time, so we were lucky to be able to stick ourselves in next to a pole where people didn't want to sit. We were able to see, though. The show was really funny, and I definitely liked the skits better than the improv segment. There was only one improv segment, though. After the show, we remained in the casino for a few minutes and had a drink or two, and then went to check out the White Hot Party in Spinnaker. We went there once it was supposed to be adults only, so we missed whatever the activity staff does with the wings and dancing at the beginning. We only stayed there for a little while, as we really aren't club people (especially DB) and there were just too many of the 18-21 age group there for our taste. Then, shockingly, we headed back to the casino. The ship was still really rocking, and I just plopped at the bar for quite a while playing one of the video poker machines, because I could bet small and entertain myself while not losing any money. We headed to bed after our casino time.

Thursday, 7/25: Final Sea Day

Sadness starts to set in, along with a desire to figure out if I can fold myself up small enough to hide out in one of the cabinets and not get off the ship tomorrow. Again, we did not get up super-early. I was up first, so I went to check on our onboard account, and buy the picture of us that was taken at Moderno, as we really didn't pose for pictures much throughout the cruise and it was a pretty decent one. It is 6"x8" and cost $12.95, which I didn't think was terrible as we only bought the one picture. The larger pictures and posed photo session-type pictures were more expensive, and I could see it really adding up if you buy several. We headed to breakfast in Garden Café.

After breakfast, I went to hand in Vacation Hero cards that I wrote out for Ronald and Chips Ahoy. I'd really like to encourage you to take a few minutes and do this if you feel that there's any staff member who went above and beyond for you. I have read that they take these seriously, and I expect that they do as they also encourage you to fill them out during the cruise, if you deem it appropriate. We also stopped into the office where we put down the deposit for the next cruise. I could not imagine passing up this deal, as by this time we were certain we'd be taking another NCL cruise anyway. We put down $250, and automatically received a $100 credit to our onboard account. Therefore, we have a $250 deposit down, and it only cost $150. It can be used for four years, with any booking method (direct through NCL, through the casino, through a travel agent, etc.).

I wanted to try the last blackjack tournament qualifier, so I bought my entry and then we headed to the last art auction. We wanted to go to this because they were pulling the raffle winner and announcing the winner of the "guess the price of the Picasso" contest that DB had entered at the beginning of the cruise. Lo and behold, the auctioneer read off the names of the top 20 guessers, and DB was in there--one of only 5 who had shown up. There were 2 guesses closer than his, but neither woman had shown up, so DB won, with a guess that was only off by $508 on a $36,000+ etching. So we got to take the Picasso home! Just kidding. But that would have been cool, right? We had no idea what he'd won, but we scheduled a 6PM appointment to go set up the shipping on whatever it was going to be. We stuck around for the auction, learned a bit more about a few of the artists, and saw some lovely art sold.

It was just about time for blackjack when the auction ended. This was just a lousy round for me. When the dealer drew a blackjack on the first hand, I could see how it was going to go. I had terrible hands, and there were blackjacks coming out all over, but not for me. Thus, my short-lived career as a card shark ended...for the moment. By then it was time for another feeding, so we had a late lunch in Garden Café again.

We passed by the gift shop and only bought a Dawn bottle opener that was 50% off and a NCL flip-flop keychain, and then wewent to the duty free and picked up 2 bottles of Gosling's, one for us and one for DB's sister and brother-in-law, who had so thoughtfully taken care of ordering all of our bon voyage treats. They let us take the liquor with us, because it was the last night and we would have been able to pick it up soon anyway. We then decided to complete the unpleasant task of packing up as much as possible, to avoid wasting time later that night.

We went to pick up what I began referring to as DB's major award, which ended up being two pieces of art chosen from about 6 or 7 options. We selected a Bellet and a Tarkay that are both lovely. Of course they tried to sell us the custom framing, but we just had them shipped in the tube we had already paid for with the others. This was a good call, too, as the frames would have cost more than the two pieces are worth. I am not complaining about their value, as they were free prizes and they are pretty pieces; we really don't care if they are in super-expensive custom frames, though, as they are worth about $75-$100 a piece tops.

We decided to watch the early show for the only time on the whole cruise. DB did not much care for the Bollywood theme, which I liked as it was a bit different, but we both very much enjoyed the officer and crew finale. The Bollywood show once again featured the very talented and energetic production cast, this time with more interesting and intricate costumes and sets. The finale, led by Gio and featuring the officers and crew, is just another way that they go out of their way to make you feel like their special guests, and was also a great opportunity for the passengers to show their appreciation for this amazing crew.

After the show, I went to get cleaned up and DB finally went to smoke his Cuban cigar. I couldn't find him once I was dressed, and after a search found him back in the cabin showering because he stunk from the Havana Room. I had to stick his clothes in a plastic bag separate from the other laundry. So, if you or your travelling companion plan to pay a visit to the cigar bar, don't plan on using those clothes again during your trip!

We went to our last dinner at Aqua. Everything was great. We both had seafood chowder. I ordered beef stroganoff, honestly kind of an odd choice for me, but I am so glad I ordered it because it was delicious. They somehow even managed to make it look pretty with some nice julienne bell peppers in it. DB really enjoyed his ribeye. We finished with my last piece of cheesecake and DB's last piece of truffle cake. We were pleasantly surprised when the chefs did a little parade around the dining room, to a very nice round of applause. We had not eaten at the end of dinner service before, so we did not know whether this was a nightly occurence or just for the end of the cruise.

We headed to Spinnaker for Second City's adult show. If you want a seat for this, you must need to get there absurdly early. We were fine with standing, as I would have hated to spend so much extra time there sitting and waiting for the show to start. The show was quite funny, obviously some scenes were way funnier than others, but I have to give this troupe a lot of credit because the audience was making some really lousy suggestions and they always managed to make the scene at least somewhat funny. They did one mad libs-style scene that had me doubled over laughing. The Second City show was followed by the Quest. Even reading about it cannot possibly prepare you for the hilarity and ridiculousness of this game. We played in it with our new friends, rusko, his fiance, and a couple of their other travelling companions. If you've seen or played in the Quest, then you know how absurdly wonderful it is. If you are a first-timer, I am simply not going to tell you about it because I do not want to ruin it for you. All I can say is, they are serious when they say that you should leave if you're easily offended. Really, don't stay there and then complain about how people are behaving if you get offended or embarassed easily. Also, wear clean underwear, because I can tell you that the assistant cruise director sure knew what mine looked like by the end of the night. That's right. And it was all worth it, because our team won! So, we were clearly the craziest of the crazy people.

After the Quest, we wandered down to the casino one last time, just to get a last drink and hang around for a few minutes. Then we headed off to bed, probably too late as we had to get up early to disembark.

Friday, 7/26: Back in Boston

What can I say? The crappy weather in Boston for disembarkation was the perfect reflection of my crappy, vacation-is-over mood. We got dressed, finished packing up our remaining items in the room, and headed to Garden Café for breakfast. Obviously, it was totally packed with everyone trying to eat at the same time, but we still found a table after a few minutes. Clearly, the offerings are slightly more limited for this last breakfast, but there were still plenty of options.

We went to collect our belongings from the cabin, and to give Ronald his final tip and say goodbye. We asked him if the crew have mini-fridges in their quarters and offered him the rest of our water bottles and soda, and he gladly accepted. That's just something to keep in mind if you brought these beverages on and don't want to schlep the leftovers home. We certainly weren't going to, as we chose easy walk-off and were carrying our own bags. The line to get off the ship wound completely around deck 7 and took at least half an hour. I think that next time, we might just find a place to camp out for a little while and try to be among the last off the ship to avoid the line.

Final Thoughts:

I hope that if you stuck with me through this incredibly long review, you've picked up some useful information and tips about this cruise. I know that we did not do or experience everything that you might have been hoping to read about, but I think that we saw and did enough to get a great sense of this ship and itinerary. Even the month that has passed since our return has not dulled our sense of how much we loved this vacation. We're still considering taking the exact same trip again next summer. I wholeheartedly recommend both the Dawn as a ship and Bermuda as a destination.

Thanks so much for reading, and safe travels to you all!

I enjoyed all the detail . We cruise September 22 on breakaway with our 2 Tweens to Bermuda can't wait !!:o I totally agree with the get off the ship vaca is over blues :mad: one of these days I'm doing a back to back . :D:)I know how much work is involved in these reviews click on my past cruises listed below for the last Bermuda trip with pics and video if you miss Bermuda ,and again great review.

Thanks so much for your review! I enjoyed every line of it! I cruise in Nov on the Dawn and hope to be as pleased as you are!

Thanks for your detailed review. We've been on the Dawn before but not in several years and we leave next Friday. This reminded me of several things I'd forgotten.

This was such a terrific and well written review!!

Thanks so much for sharing..it brought back some nice memories of our August 9th cruise on the Dawn. :)

We did the NCL Sunset Catamaran cruise as well and it was one of the highlights for us. It is exactly as you described in your review. Plus Smitty met us and another couple at the Bonefish afterwards for a few more drinks. He was such a nice guy and tour guide!

Please check out my cruise video if you haven't already.There's some highlights of the Sunset cruise in it. https://vimeo.com/72519443

We're already making plans to go back next summer on the Dawn.

Maybe we'll be on the same sailing. ;)

Great review! We also filled out a Vacation Hero card for Chips Ahoy! He is awesome and so full of energy and personality. We're hoping to sail on the Dawn again next summer and really hope to see him again.

I enjoyed reading your trip report. DH and I were on the Dawn cruise the week before. We can't wait to go back.

Thanks for your detailed review. We've been on the Dawn before but not in several years and we leave next Friday. This reminded me of several things I'd forgotten.

You're welcome, and I am glad it helped. Have a great cruise!

Thanks so much for your review! I enjoyed every line of it! I cruise in Nov on the Dawn and hope to be as pleased as you are!

Thanks so much for the compliment :) I hope you have a great cruise. Let me know if you have any other questions about the ship.

I enjoyed all the detail . We cruise September 22 on breakaway with our 2 Tweens to Bermuda can't wait !!:o I totally agree with the get off the ship vaca is over blues :mad: one of these days I'm doing a back to back . :D I know how much work is involved in these reviews click on my past cruises listed below for the last Bermuda trip with pics and video if you miss Bermuda ,and again great review.

A back-to-back is definitely on my to do list, as well...or an even longer one! :D I'll definitely need to check out your Bermuda footage to get my fix. Thanks, and I'm glad you enjoyed the review!

This was such a terrific and well written review!!

Thanks so much for sharing..it brought back some nice memories of our August 9th cruise on the Dawn.

 

We did the NCL Sunset Catamaran cruise as well and it was one of the highlights for us. It is exactly as you described in your review. Plus Smitty met us and another couple at the Bonefish afterwards for a few more drinks. He was such a nice guy and tour guide!

 

Please check out my cruise video if you haven't already.There's some highlights of the Sunset cruise in it. https://vimeo.com/72519443

 

We're already making plans to go back next summer on the Dawn.

Maybe we'll be on the same sailing. ;)

Thanks for the link to your video! And thank you for the compliment on the review; I enjoyed writing it. Maybe we'll see each other on the Dawn :)

Great review! We also filled out a Vacation Hero card for Chips Ahoy! He is awesome and so full of energy and personality. We're hoping to sail on the Dawn again next summer and really hope to see him again.

Chips Ahoy really is the man! They must get piles of Vacation Hero cards for him! He was so excited to go home and see his family. I was so happy for him.

Maybe we'll see you on the Dawn next summer! :)

I enjoyed reading your trip report. DH and I were on the Dawn cruise the week before. We can't wait to go back.

Thanks, and I hope you had an excellent cruise, as well!

We got on the Dawn the day you got off. It is the fifth year in a row that I have been in Bermuda via one or another cruise ship. As you said, Bermuda is unbelievably beautiful and the best place to vacation. We also love the three days in port. We traveled with 15 family members in honor or my DH and my 50th Anniversary. The one thing we did that was something we had never done was rent boats on Sunday afternoon for four hours and poke around the island into small beaches and Grandpa took the teen boys fishing while the rest of us just laid in the water on a small beach which we had almost to ourselves. Your review was wonderful and it brought back the wonderful week we spend on the Dawn July 26-Aug.2.

What a great, detailed review! The only question I have is about the bon voyage goodies. How were they in terms of quantity and taste? I ordered the strawberries for my two sisters and I. I was thinking about also ordering the shrimp and cheese, but don't want to end up with tiny portions.

We got on the Dawn the day you got off. It is the fifth year in a row that I have been in Bermuda via one or another cruise ship. As you said, Bermuda is unbelievably beautiful and the best place to vacation. We also love the three days in port. We traveled with 15 family members in honor or my DH and my 50th Anniversary. The one thing we did that was something we had never done was rent boats on Sunday afternoon for four hours and poke around the island into small beaches and Grandpa took the teen boys fishing while the rest of us just laid in the water on a small beach which we had almost to ourselves. Your review was wonderful and it brought back the wonderful week we spend on the Dawn July 26-Aug.2.

It's so nice that you were able to cruise with your whole family! I can now completely understand why people return to Bermuda year after year. I am glad that you enjoyed the review and that it brought back pleasant vacation memories for you. :)

What a great, detailed review! The only question I have is about the bon voyage goodies. How were they in terms of quantity and taste? I ordered the strawberries for my two sisters and I. I was thinking about also ordering the shrimp and cheese, but don't want to end up with tiny portions.

Thanks for the compliment about the review. :) We enjoyed the bon voyage goodies. I believe there were 6 strawberries, and they were very tasty. There were a lot of shrimp (I want to say around 20) and they were a decent size. The odd thing was that the cheese plate arrived without the bread/crackers it should have come with. I am sure they would have brought it, but we couldn't even eat it at that point because we were so full and there was a lot on that platter, so we put the cheese on the smaller plates and kept it in the fridge figuring we'd get bread from the buffet when we wanted it. It's not a regular fridge in terms of coldness, so we could only keep it a day or two, and we never finished all of it. If you want to order a variety, I would suggest spreading it out over a couple of days, because for us, it was too much all at once...and of course we didn't want to skip lunch or dinner, either! :D

Thanks! I may just go with the strawberries only. It's just to celebrate our first cruise together and we probably don't need that much.

Do people decorate their cabin doors? Just wondering, because I went on the Monsters of Rock cruise in March and many people decorated the outside of their cabins with band pics, streamers, etc. Some were pretty creative. I don't know if that's something specific to that kind of cruise, or if people do that on regular cruises also.

Thanks! I may just go with the strawberries only. It's just to celebrate our first cruise together and we probably don't need that much.

 

Do people decorate their cabin doors? Just wondering, because I went on the Monsters of Rock cruise in March and many people decorated the outside of their cabins with band pics, streamers, etc. Some were pretty creative. I don't know if that's something specific to that kind of cruise, or if people do that on regular cruises also.

People do...I think its cute. You should do it!!!

Thanks!

Thanks! I may just go with the strawberries only. It's just to celebrate our first cruise together and we probably don't need that much.

 

Do people decorate their cabin doors? Just wondering, because I went on the Monsters of Rock cruise in March and many people decorated the outside of their cabins with band pics, streamers, etc. Some were pretty creative. I don't know if that's something specific to that kind of cruise, or if people do that on regular cruises also.

I didn't see too much of it, and I am sure it's more common on the theme cruises, but there were some. But, hey, making things more festive could never be a bad thing, right?

Wow.

I did the same cruise this past June and, although we didn't do the same things you did, I thoroughly enjoyed and agree with your review. I love cruising to Bermuda on the Dawn from Boston and hope to do it again next year. The staff is second to none, and Bermuda is paradise.

Great review. I love the Dawn and its staff. It was my first NCL cruise, and we were hooked. I have been considering Bermuda, but thought I might be bored being "stuck" in one place for 3 days. It sounds like there is plenty to do though.... it may be on the itinerary for next year:D. My daughters (23 and 25) spent every night with Chips Ahoy on our January cruise (he was in the Pearly Kings Pub then), and they absolutely loved him!! He knew them by name after the first night. I am glad you enjoyed the Dawn as much as we do.

Thanks for the review. It is by far a different review than the usual being focused more on the casino and art. refreshing!

What a great, detailed review! Thanks for taking the time to post.

Wow.

 

I did the same cruise this past June and, although we didn't do the same things you did, I thoroughly enjoyed and agree with your review. I love cruising to Bermuda on the Dawn from Boston and hope to do it again next year. The staff is second to none, and Bermuda is paradise.

Maybe we'll see you on the ship next summer! :) I'm glad you loved it as much as we did.

Great review. I love the Dawn and its staff. It was my first NCL cruise, and we were hooked. I have been considering Bermuda, but thought I might be bored being "stuck" in one place for 3 days. It sounds like there is plenty to do though.... it may be on the itinerary for next year:D. My daughters (23 and 25) spent every night with Chips Ahoy on our January cruise (he was in the Pearly Kings Pub then), and they absolutely loved him!! He knew them by name after the first night. I am glad you enjoyed the Dawn as much as we do.

Definitely give Bermuda a try. Don't think of it as being stuck, think of it as not having to stress about doing activities and making it back to the ship on time! Honestly, there was TOO much for us to do, which is one of our big reasons for wanting to go back again. The Dawn and its staff were so awesome, I barely have any desire to even try Breakaway! Maybe we'll see you on the Dawn next year. :D

Thanks for the review. It is by far a different review than the usual being focused more on the casino and art. refreshing!

What a great, detailed review! Thanks for taking the time to post.

Thanks for the compliments :o. I really enjoyed writing it actually, as it was a good way to relive an excellent vacation!

Loved your review! I really want to do this cruise one day! :)

Regarding the free drinks in the casino...are people allowed to go in, get a drink, and then bring it back out? Do they monitor that?