Pikaia

Hi all...

Wife and I are cruising on November 20 -27...on 'The Dawn'...does anyone know the prices for spa treatments? We have contacted NCL however they are of no help

 

Thanks.

 

Also...anyone have anymore pics of the dawn (interior) please share and care

 

cheers!

A spa menu was posted yesterday in another thread, but I have no idea if it's uniform across the fleet.

http://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/showpost.php?p=51343191&postcount=5

Non-refundable first, refundable second, except as noted below. NCL had to cut me a check after our last cruise (June 2015) because we had ~$300 unused refundable OBC from our travel agent. :D

The daily service charge will come out of refundable OBC only. So if you only have enough refundable OBC to cover the daily service charges, then it is all spoken for. Any additional refundable OBC will be spent last.

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In your shoes, I'd pack some cool weather clothing just in case you end up in New England and Canada. I'd also make a conscious decision to enjoy my vacation, no matter where the ship goes. If the itinerary does change, I'll still have a good time, and my attitude will help others have a good time too. :)

I bought Dawn Oct 28 passes a few days ago with no problems.

Yes, it was $179 plus 18% gratuity which made it $211 and change. It cost $20 more if purchased on board.

That's so strange! I believe you're the first to report this.

I just purchased Dawn spa passes for our upcoming cruise, and there was no gratuity added. The invoice says "Service Fee: $0.00."

Other recent threads discussing whether or not 18% is added to spa passes:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2328558

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2353424

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2390436

After they had added gratuities to it (of course!) it worked out to about $30 per day.

:confused: They add gratuities to the spa pass? If so, that's new.

Why would parents even bring their kids on vacation if they don't actually want to spend time with them? Why not just leave them home with an Au Pair in the first place?

:confused: Bringing an au pair doesn't mean parents don't intend to spend time with their kids while on vacation.

Do you spend every minute of every day with each and every one of your travel companions? If so, you are unusual. Often it's the kids who brush off the parents in favor of Splash Academy!

Kids enjoy cruises, parents enjoy cruises, and I'd bet that au pairs really enjoy cruises! :D

We're taking our homeschooled kids (ages 10 & 13) on a 2-week cruise (non-btb) at the end of October. I'm crossing my fingers that there'll be at least a few other school-age kids aboard, but we're also prepared for the possibility that they'll be on their own. :)

One drawback of the Getaway kids club is kind of kooky hours - the club was closed noon to 2pm and 5-7pm almost every day, which was a nuisance.

This policy is in effect during at sea days on all NCL ships. It was put in place because parents would drop off kids for several hours, forgetting to come back and get them for meals. :eek: SMH.

On port days Splash Academy is open all day for "port play", but there is an additional fee charged if your child will be there during a meal. In that case, the staff escort kids to the buffet to eat together.

One more thought: if you take excursions, whether NCL-sponsored or not, tour guides and other staff may expect a tip at the end of the excursion. Best to be mentally and/or financially prepared for that, because it can feel awkward. :o

If I have the free morning room service, $2 to the delivery person.

This is a good point. Deliveries from the complimentary portion of the room service menu warrant a tip. I'm not sure if this is still true, but in the past room service was often delivered by staff who were off the clock for their normal duties. They were definitely working for tips.

At the pier, it's probably a good idea to give the dock employee a dollar or two per bag. They do expect it.

On board, the daily service change and service charges added to drinks, room service, and specialty dining replace tipping. This money covers your obligation to your room steward, the food and drink servers, and behind the scenes people (i.e. laundry, etc.). You are of course welcome to give extra, but you are not obligated. Many do give their room steward or bartenders a bit extra if they're very happy with the service they got.

There are a couple of special situations that apply to some cruisers. If you use the childcare, tips are very much appreciated but not expected. We drop off an envelope with cash on the last night of the cruise. You can get envelopes from the desk, but it's not a bad idea to bring your own. (Childcare staff are salaried.)

If you are in a suite, your butler and concierge are not covered by the daily service charge, so they should be tipped. Tipping amounts vary, plenty of past threads on that. Those tips should definitely be handed over before the end of the cruise. It can be very hard to locate your butler or the concierge on the last day of the cruise, as they're prepping for the next cruise.

As mentioned above, go through the Access Desk process. This makes sure they have enough GF stuff on board.

GF eating works best on NCL if you place your order ahead of time. You can do this by visiting the restaurant the night before or a few hours ahead and letting the person at the door know that you need to place an order for a special diet. They'll write it out on a paper ticket that'll go to the kitchen. It'll have your room number on it. They will prepare it in a separate part of the kitchen, and letting them know ahead of time allows them to make sure that station has all of the necessary ingredients. If you don't, they'll still feed you, but your plate may be emptier than it would have been (ask me how I know!). Sometimes this process can be a little confusing for everyone involved. Try not to let it bother you!

Eating at the buffet varies from ship to ship. You should be able to get a manager to show you what's gluten-free, but they may suggest that you eat at restaurants instead, given that cross-contamination is hard to avoid.

Since I started cruising while eating GF, NCL has never had GF soy sauce available, even at the Teppanyaki restaurant. I bring several packets of tamari and send them back to the kitchen for that meal, but on the last cruise I think they'd have been happier if I'd brought a whole bottle. (Apparently several packets wasn't enough, and they were wringing their hands over the fact that my food wouldn't have the right amount of soy sauce in it!)

If you are booked in a suite, try the pre-cruise concierge.

That office may be able to make the reservations for you.

Here's the contact info I have:

norwegianconciergedesk@ncl.com

855-625-4283

For a Dawn sailing in June 2015, I was able to book Teppanyaki 100 days out (suite pax).

We've taken our two on the Star, Dawn, and Gem, all similar ships, when they were 4 & 6, 6 & 8, 7 & 10, and 9 & 11. We're going to be on the Dawn again next year, at 10 & 13. We prefer not to fly to cruises, and those are the ships that have been in ports convenient to our home.

We all have a great time, and that's why we keep booking NCL's smaller ships. Both of them enjoy Splash Academy. They're also happy hanging out in the kids' pool area while their dad and/or I sit in the hot tub back there. (Edit to add: no drink service there, so you need to plan ahead.) Our excursions tend to be pretty active, so they're fine relaxing on the ship.

Definitely go for the suite! The extra space is great, and the option to dine in cabin is very convenient. We eat together some nights, and other nights we either have dinner delivered to the cabin for the kids, or they go to the buffet to eat. Then they (very happily) go to Splash Academy while we adults go to dinner alone. After dinner we check to see if they want to catch the show, but often they want to stay with their friends.

Mitsugirly, thanks for the heads up. We're on your sailing, and having the same issue with MyNCL, despite having checked in ages ago.

$750pp for the Garden Villa? And you didn't take it? Insanity! :eek: :D

My kids are now 9 & 11, and we'll be taking our third cruise to Bermuda in early June. :)

We think it's a great port for kids, and we love the leisurely pace allowed by being in port for 3 days.

No more "White Hot" party

This seems nitpicky, but might be helpful for someone trying to pack. :)

Some ships have switched over to a "glow" party instead of a White Hot Party, but Dawn is not (yet?) one of them. There are current (April) cruise reviews from Dawn passengers that include mentions of the White Hot Party.

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O'Sheehans (the renamed Blue Lagoon, now relocated to Deck 8 AFT above the "lobby")

AFAIK, the Dawn does not yet have O'Sheehans. Deck 8 above the lobby is still Blue Lagoon and Moderno.

That change may be part of the next scheduled drydock.

My son threw a fit in Cucina mid meal so I had to extract him to our room leaving my entree untouched. My wife asked to pack it up and was informed it's an ncl policy that no food is allowed to be taken from dining rooms or restaurants. We had to switch out to finish our meal; they wouldn't budge as it's policy.

Wow. This particular enforcement makes NCL seem institutional, like a hospital or school, and not at all like an appealing vacation.

So they're doing us a favor by feeding us. If something unexpected takes us away from our meal, we're out of luck*...even if we paid extra for that meal. Great. Sounds fun.

*Yes, Frankie C was able to return and finish his meal, but what if there hadn't been another adult to switch out with? Or what if circumstances meant he wasn't going to be able to get back to the table for an hour or more?

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As i searched under the vacation summary tab i clicked on the print booked items tab under the itinerary listed and there were my reservations for cagneys confirmed for me.

Clever! I just checked, and my Cagney's reservations can be found on the page that is generated when I click Print Booked Items. Thank you!

That's good to know I will call tomorrow. What number did you call?

Oops, can't find the specific number. But I know they can also transfer you to that dept from the main NCL number.

Edited to add, found it: 1-866-234-7350

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Yup they canceled my Cagney's reservations for the two nights I had it booked.

 

NCL........Really? Not even an email to those who booked the promo!!

I'm the one who called and asked about my missing reservations. I was assured that my reservations are still there, and the rep reconfirmed the times, days, and number of people. A PDF dining reservation confirmation was emailed to me for my records. I'll be printing that out to take with me.

Curiously, MyNCL does still list me as having an event booked on the days of the Cagney's reservations, even though I don't have anything else booked.

We booked Cagneys for 2 nights on our UDP for our upcoming cruise May 17-24 on the Pearl. We did this back at the beginning of March. Today, I checked our "Vacation Summary" on ncl.com and all of our other restaurant reservations show up, but Cagney's is no longer listed there on the days we originally booked it for...now those days are blank. Upsetting that they take it away from those that booked/reserved it before the change. :mad:

But is there still an event booked on that day?

I noticed the same on my June 5 reservation. However, when I called to ask about it, my reservations still showed up on their end, and the rep sent me an email confirming all of our reservations.

So I'm not holding my breath, but it appears my reservations aren't gone, just hidden from view.