REVIEW! Norwegian Dawn 28 June-5 July 2013

DMLyons: Those of you who've interacted with us on the board over the last year have probably pieced together that we're a couple, but my DH (LeepII) and I decided to do our review as a joint review, since we'll be covering a lot of the same ground. I apologize for the delay, but we were waiting for our pictures to be available. I'll cover the reason for that in the review.

I will warn you in advance that this is a comprehensive review that may cover a lot of ground newbies need or that no one has thought to comment on before. It is a multi-part review that will be posted over the next day or two, in its entirety. As we believe that foreknowledge makes for a better trip, that shouldn't be unexpected.

The two of us traveled alone for this trip and didn't bring our kids along. We're a mid-40s couple and were celebrating our 25th anniversary aboard Norwegian Dawn. We have cruised before (on Carnival years ago...this was our first NCL cruise), and we travel pretty extensively for both business and pleasure. We often opt for concierge level accommodations, as we did aboard the Dawn.

We booked 12002, a one-bedroom style DOS, and we planned a modicum of onboard activities/shore excursions of most sorts. We aren't really gamblers, so there will be no information about the casino, save that even empty it does reek of smoke, enough to make my eyes water, so if you are a serious non-smoker, don't bother cutting through it as a shortcut. Just my two cents.

DMLyons: This process is relatively painless for suite guests--dropping off luggage, having your documents checked, etc.--at least while you're dealing with NCL staff directly. Despite CC posters saying how much easier and more lenient TSA at the cruiseport is than it is at the airport, I didn't find that accurate at all. TSA will allow you to take aboard corkscrews and Swiss Army knives, but they confiscated my medical kit scissors, which are much less dangerous than the other two. Not to mention they give confiscated items back to us the afternoon before we disembark, which defeats the purpose of confiscating them in the first place; you'll still have them for a significant period of time aboard. And it wasn't just my scissors they had a problem with. I brought along a small jewelry box. They made me not only open it but also remove the jewelry and then the floor panel of it to show them the music box inside before they would let me board with it. Moreover, they tore apart my entire carry-on bag, looking for what the x-ray guy insisted was two more bladed items that were not there. As annoyed as I was with this farce, I felt badly for the TSA agent attempting to help us, as it was clear she knew the x-ray guy was out of his fricken mind, but we dutifully removed every single item from the bag and repacked it to satisfy their curiosity. While this is not NCL's fault, in any manner, it is important for people leaving out of Boston to know that they may have these problems with TSA. It's not a huge surprise, since I've found TSA at Boston Logan to be similarly common sense impaired, when compared to any other airport I travel out of. Must be a Boston thing, and since I live here, note that it's not some sort of culture clash issue. Also note that they had my husband fill out a sticker that was placed on the scissors but did not give us any sort of receipt for them. We didn't realize that was a problem until I went to retrieve them. Thankfully, the NCL guest relations desk was wonderful and looked up the item by our room number instead, so I got my scissors back in the kit without delay.

In the confusion of TSA, a gift bag we were carrying ripped, resulting in the loss of my digital camera. Though Virginia (the concierge) did her best to track down the missing camera, it was never located. We had hoped whoever found it would be courteous enough to turn it in to security, but that apparently never happened. I did have some disposable cameras packed (and purchased more on the trip), so we did get some pictures though no video, and the delay and cost of developing pictures is something I'd long since left behind, in general.

Thankfully, I can report (for those who think this entire review will be a hit piece) that TSA and losing my camera were decidedly the low points of my entire trip. NCL is delightful! I can't imagine going anywhere else for a cruise, unless we tried an all-inclusive line for the comparison.

Suite guests are passed down the line, hand to hand, from the end of the TSA check to the concierge lounge. While I feel it would be more streamlined to have the medical forms filled out when we got there instead of filling them out at the desk, it still went quickly, as the form is a quick little checklist sheet. They will take a picture that goes with your ID card. If you're wearing sunglasses, even if they are Rx glasses, they'll require you to take them off for the picture.

They do only take credit cards/debit cards at the check-in desk, but when we got aboard the ship (after we checked out our room and left our carry-ons there), we went to guest relations and had NO line to put cash down (at about 12 noon on embarkation day). If you do it right away, chances are you won't be waiting long. Despite the reports of CC posters that it takes two days for OBC to be applied, ours was available the morning after we boarded...within 18 hours of embarkation, since we know it had already been applied at 6 am the next morning. Cash was immediately available, of course.

The corkage table was a bit of a mess. They only opened one of the two wine sleeves to check the wine, did not put the stickers on the wine, though they did have me sign the receipt for the corkage fee. We mentioned this to Maurice (our butler) the first time we wanted to leave the room with wine, since the departure from the stated policy confused us. He asked to see our receipt and straightened it out for us promptly.

All the NCL staff was attentive and responsive to any needs. We were offered drinks and snacks at the suite lounge, and Virginia called security immediately to have them on the lookout for my camera. She also gave us our room cards and a bunch of information and invitations. We were only at the lounge for 15 minutes or so when Maurice came in and took us and another family aboard.

You will have to have your room card out to be scanned onto the ship. Anytime you leave or enter the ship, they'll do that again. We skipped most of the line with Maurice, which we'd expected. Both Virginia and Maurice gave us their business cards and made sure we could reach them with any questions. Maurice showed us around our room, asked if there was anything we needed immediately, and took his leave to bring another group aboard. He did warn us that the staff was still setting the room up for us, but aside from bringing the bon voyage foods I'd ordered later, everything else was stocked, cleaned, decorated, and ready for us.

Due to the videos I've seen of the room, it surprised me that there was only one safe in the room and not two. However, the safe is huge. It can't fit a large laptop, but (thanks to my handy keychain tape measure...yes, I carry a few small tools when I travel) I can report that the inside dimensions of the safe are roughly 14"x14"x7". It's very easy to set your personalized combination, as long as the safe was left open by the guests using it before you. It had plenty of room for everything we wanted to store in it and we did so before we left the room to go to guest relations and lunch. Fair warning...the pad at the bottom of the safe is removable, so be sure to check under it at check-out to make sure you didn't lose anything that way. The lock did malfunction our last day aboard, but we let the butler know, just so it could be fixed for the next guests. It happened late enough in the trip that it didn't affect us.

We had lunch at Cagney's, which set the stage for our high expectations for Cagney's for the rest of the trip. We both had the NY strip steak with white truffle oil fries. My DH had shrimp cocktail and I had the salmon starter. All the food was excellent and the service impeccable.

The only suggestion I will make about Cagney's is to tell the wait staff NOT to press your French press coffee right away if you like strong coffee. Some of them will press it before it gets to your table or right at the table. Tell them in advance not to press it and let it steep a bit for a nice, rich coffee. They are more than happy to comply. It's not as rich as the espresso in the room, but it is a nice rich coffee and the best you'll find in a restaurant aboard, as far as we've seen.

LeepII: Unless you are in a suite you will not be able to find good coffee on board. Even the French press, which gets a generous portion of ground coffee beans is still pretty weak after 5 minutes of brewing, I think they need to start with hotter water. The MDR coffee was undrinkable. The in suite machine however is a dream come true.

DMLyons: We went on the spa tour, and I decided to get a couple of spa treatments later in the cruise. Well, I'd always had that planned, but the ones I decided on changed a bit. We weren't impressed with the thermal suite/spa pass area. The lap pool was nice, but the hot tub/spas were not hot. If I were taking a bath, that would be the temperature I would be getting out because it had cooled. In addition, there are separate lounging areas for men and women. Though there is a central one for both men and women, the lounging chairs IN that section are not nearly as plush as the ones in the individual areas. Being on our anniversary cruise, we would have wanted to lounge together, but the chairs would have been the lesser ones to do so.

The demos of the massage techniques should be scaled back a bit. Admittedly, I have back and shoulder problems, but the aromatherapy/tea bag and dowel/bamboo massage demos made it clear that I would not have wanted more of either. The two left my shoulder stiff and sore. However, I cannot recommend the hot stone massage highly enough. It's not how it looks on the pictures. They don't just place hot stones on your back and such. They do a deep muscle massage with oil and then rub the hot stones into your muscles. We put in for the spa drawing, but we didn't make it back down for the drawing, so no clue if we were picked for anything, because you have to be there to win.

The mandatory drill went really quickly. Man, has that changed since the last time I did one! I think, once the talking started, the entire thing lasted all of 10 minutes. The only things they did was let us hear what the emergency signal sounded like, told us to come back to the same place if we hear it again, and showed (for those who didn't already know it) how to put a life vest on. Done. No leading you out to the life boats or anything else. A big change for those of us who cruised long ago.

We saw a lot of the concierge, butler, and room steward. Maurice brought no less than six plates of food the first day, including the anniversary cake and chocolate covered strawberries I'd ordered, a second plate of chocolate covered strawberries from NCL, a plate of fresh fruit, and two plates of afternoon snacks. I admit that I was a little nervous when everything else I ordered (including the decorations) were in the room, but the food wasn't, but they came soon afterward. He also proved how attentive he was immediately. When he offered to open the champagne, my DH declined and remarked that he was looking forward to making morning mimosas with it. Without missing a beat, Maurice assured us he would bring OJ for the room on his next trip, because there wasn't any in the fridge yet, and we'd need it for mimosas.

Renato (the room steward) brought our luggage early in the afternoon and cleaned the room. In fact, every time we left the room for any length of time, Renato would clean again. We spent so much time in the room that Maurice started feeling us out for what our plans for the day were to try and find a good time for a deep cleaning on the room. Since they are trained not to clean while the guests are in the room (though we told them it was fine with us for them to), that became an issue for them (not that they said it was an issue for them, of course!), and we started trying to spend a long period out of the room every day to facilitate cleaning without interruption. On any given day, Renato came in and made the bed between two and four times.

Virginia knew us on sight after meeting us at the cruiseport and checked on us later in the day as we were walking around the ship. She also offered us places on the behind-the-scenes tour, which my DH was very excited about.

LeepII: We stayed in 12002, the DOS on the starboard side. The room was decorated for our 25th wedding anniversary, a surprise for me by the DW. Maurice walked us through everything, explained his duties and showed us what had been pre stocked per our request. We asked for one bottle of liquor to be exchanged, he said he would have to ask. Came back later and said no to our first request which was orange or strawberry schnapps, but said yes to our second request, which was Crème De Cocoa? Shrug. I attribute it to the bar manager, since we know they did have schnapps aboard and saw it at every bar. Maurice was always friendly, concerned for our happiness and needs, professional, in short damn near perfect.

DOS: This suite is simply amazing. The views throughout the trip are unbelievable. I know people complain about no balcony but the views, floor to ceiling glass wall with view of the Bermuda Harbor, sunrise, sunset, the open ocean, and Boston Harbor, all in your bedroom or living room 24/7. It was just amazing. There is storage everywhere, two desk, two closets, one in each room. There is the bar area with Lavazza machine. All mixers and requested drinks were restocked throughout the trip. Laptop, cordless phone for suite. Laptop can only do basic surfing, so if you wanted to play USB music like we did you are out of luck. Although main TV had USB input, it would not recognize any of the mp3 formats we had :( Cordless phone was a nice feature, worked throughout ship. I took a pic of the bedroom TV inputs. Don't count on the USB working though, it did not recognize any of our mp3's despite using normal formats, maybe only specific bit rates, IDK.

There were some mechanical problems with the suite, one of the electrical curtains did not work, we were informed there were no parts. Being an ex sub electrician I took a look, the motor controllers are removed from one side, you can see that the curtains are too tight in the track and every time the motors drift even slightly they bind the curtain slides up. They closed and opened by hand so really no big deal. Better design could have made this work. Some minor wear on wall paper in the bathroom.

The bathroom, oh you glorious second home. Towels everywhere, storage, all the usual amenities. Huge tub with jets, TV right above. The faucet has a button to let you turn up the temperature past luke warm, nice safety feature for kids, irritating for couples. Nice size shower with two different style showerheads. Twin sinks. Toilet in private alcove. Toilet had one irritating problem, lid fit around seat, when you pulled the lid up, the seat would always come with it. Toilet paper was labeled 2 ply but I've seen dollar store tp that was thicker.

The bedroom, king size bed, very firm, but not hard. TV, desk closet w/safe. 3/4 blinds work. Guessing the deliberately keep the blind by the TV down to protect the TV. Very soft sheets, nice selection of pillows.

DMLyons: I had fun surprising my DH while I was unpacking. I had packed a bunch of special decorations for the room in the luggage, so the room went from the anniversary decorations I'd ordered from NCL to those PLUS the ones I'd carried with me. He'd already seen the photo luggage tags I'd put on the suitcases, so it was no surprise to find I'd planned other surprises.

NOTE: Some people have reported that the butler didn't bring alcohol to the room that had been preordered until you were checked onboard. Not the case for us! The two confirmed bottles of alcohol were in the room, and the third was there as soon as Maurice managed to confirm what the bar would let him substitute for us. Also, the champagne was there and iced down, and the bucket of beer was also in the room and iced down! The only confusing bit was that they didn't have me sign a receipt for the bucket of beer until about day 3 or so. Everything I'd asked the pre-concierge for was in the room and correct! Score for them!

We were invited to the Captain's cocktail party, but since we already had reservations for Teppanyaki at the same time, we didn't attend. Having met the Captain later in the cruise, I can tell you he is a real people person. I saw him taking time to talk to preschoolers, and he always had a smile for the passengers.

We had dinner at Teppanyaki. We both had the Land and Sea. We do Teppanyaki a lot at home, and I can say the following. The show aboard ship is MUCH better, though they had to do the volcano trick with smoke and not fire (NOT unexpected at all). The steak is wonderful! The rice and veggies are a little better ashore. The shrimp is comparable to shore. The fruit sashimi dish my DH had for dessert was excellent; the coconut sauce for dipping was divine, but the mango sauce was pure acid. If you get acid reflux or have ulcers, you might want to skip that sauce. Overall, it's worth doing, even if you do Teppanyaki at home a lot.

The seas got steadily rougher and were over 18 foot crests overnight, the winds in excess of 35 knots against the sides of the ship. In addition, we ended up in heavy fog, so the fog horn (which is located very close to our room) was being set off every few minutes for more than half the night. Note that if you can't sleep through the noise of the fog horn, you might want to choose an aft or toward aft on the side of the ship suite instead. It took me a while to learn to ignore the sound. I was awake the first half of the night, between the roller coaster ride and the fog horn...oh, and the plane slaps and the heavy rain and the room creaks (the room DOES have to creak, of course...part of shipboard construction). Overall, it was a very noisy night, but I'm sure there was little the crew could really do about it. My DH was awake the other half of the night. Ah, the changing of the guard...we switched off sleeping times like a watch. He didn't realize quite how high the waves were until I got up to use the bathroom and he saw the floor rise on the roll a full three feet beneath me.

Fair warning for those who like to sleep in absolute dark... This room is gorgeous, but there are a lot of light sources in the room, even with the lamps and overhead lights turned off. You can block the TV light from the living room and the light from the coffee machine by closing the pocket door to the bedroom. You still get a bit of light from the TV power light in the bedroom (and since it's red, it's hard on the eyes), even if you cover it with a double-folded towel. It's an amazingly bright light.

I would have liked to watch videos in the bedroom, but unless you bring a laptop or DVD player with you, that won't happen. I did find it was quite comfortable to bring the reading pillow from the bed to the living room to make the couch more comfortable, and the butler will bring you a small blanket to use on the couch, if you find the A/C vents over it a little too cool.

The butler will close the living room drapes for you, and you may want to let him, even if you want to close them mid-day for heat coming in the windows. Why? The mechanical system to move the drapes does not work well and is not synchronized (top to bottom), so it comes down to a lot of letting the mechanicals pull the drapes a bit and then straightening them out by hand and starting over, until they meet at the center. Well, they don't QUITE meet, but they meet vertically center, and there will be a small gap at the top and bottom. The butler will automatically close them for you at nightfall. The automatic blinds in the bedroom work well. The far right hand one is permanently closed, probably because of the TV. The next one toward the left sometimes needs the blind pushed back onto its track, but the bedroom ones work very well and are easy to use.

The window wall has cracks (mostly on the higher sets of panes, above my head), but they have been sealed, so there's no leakage in heavy rains, but some of the windows are very misty. The window wall is not mirrored but has a dark tint that makes it so no one can see in during the day. Like the mirrored windows on the GV, you CAN see in them at night when the lights are on inside (at least silhouettes of people inside), which is probably why the butler closes the drapes for you at sunset. And since it's dark tint, it drags in heat from the sun, so when you're in direct sunlight, you may want to close the drapes to keep the room cooler.

Speaking of which, the old system you'll read about where people had to put a key card in the slot to keep the A/C on (and jury rig with another card with a magnetic strip when they were out of the room) is no more. They have installed two slide-bar A/C/heat controls (one in the living room and one in the bedroom), which allow you to set the temp and leave it there. While sunlight on the window wall may result in a rise in temperature, it won't be going up because the butler or room steward raises the temp on you. It was always set exactly where we left it, when we returned to the room.

LeepII: Actually there were three AC controls in the room. The third one is in the bathroom, but it's a different type of controller...not lit like the other two are...that blends into the wall, and it is behind the door when you open it. It's not surprising that it gets overlooked.

DMLyons: For the first time in my life, I managed to get seasickness. There, I said it. Of course, my ex-Navy DH has a cast-iron stomach that has no problem with any sort of seas, which was good. Both of us sick at the same time would have been awful. The 18 foot waves and high winds continued through most of the day, and I had to resort to Dramamine for the first time in my life. Thankfully, Dramamine and a nap work VERY well together. The winds, BTW, were so high that many of the promenade, jogging track, and outside decks were closed due to gale-force winds during the early part of the day. Though many people didn't feel up to using them.

Another thing that is good for combating seasickness is getting comfort foods on your stomach. Since I was awake and sick at before 6 am (when only room service was available), we took the banana off the fruit plate and made our way down to the tables admidships on deck 7. Several people asked me where they could get a banana, for the same reason I was eating one. We suggested Garden Café, though we weren't sure if they had any fruit left up there. I've heard apples are also very helpful.

Venetian was the first place open for breakfast (save the trays of sweets in Garden Café, which I felt would be bad on a queasy stomach), so we hit MDR at opening time, and I had some toast with apple jelly, apple juice, and potatoes. The country potatoes were bland and not appealing, but the corned beef hash had excellent potatoes, and the toast and juice hit the spot and helped settle my stomach. NOTE: Anytime we ate at Venetian, they seated us in a small alcove to the right or left of the main stairs. That area is for suite guests, and there is no lack of wait staff there to see to your every need.

LeepII: I had eggs and hash browns. Like my DW's country potatoes, these were meh. They did do a good job with eggs over easy though.

DMLyons: We went to the LeBistro Culinary Demo at Gatsby's Lounge. In actuality, it should have been called the Bamboo/LeBistro Demo, since the first half was Bamboo food and the second was LeBistro. It was a good demo, but there were a few things that could have been improved. For one thing, Gatsby's was too small a venue for the size of the crowd that was there. People were standing; the more responsible ones were standing at the foot of the stairs to get a good view, but some of the rude ones were standing in front of others in chairs. Some people were standing at the rail on the floor above, looking down at the demo. Another thing that I saw at the Battle of the Pans and some other events was that they have the ability to put up a large screen and project the event on it. They did it at Spinnakers and at Java Café, but they didn't do it for this event. That would have made it easier to see what was happening from the middle and back of the crowd. The final notes I have about this event concern the recipes. They present recipes attached to LeBistro that are not on the current LeBistro menu. That was something of a bait and switch, from my point of view, since they let you taste (not that I had the stomach for it yet) a mouthwatering dish that one would assume, in context, was on the LeBistro menu, but when you look at the menu, it's not something they are serving. Also, though the head chef for the specialty restaurants said he would gladly share any recipes we wanted (but we forgot to do that before we left the ship), the Battle of Pans had another advantage over this demo. At Battle of Pans, they gave you the recipe the two were making, but at this demo, they gave you recipes for other things...NOT what they were cooking on stage. It would be better if they gave you the recipes for what they were actually cooking in the demo, IMO.

After the demo, I took a nap to let the Dramamine work...and to make up lost sleep from the night before. Once Maurice and Renato found out I had seasickness, they were concerned. They offered Dramamine, and we told them I'd taken some from my medical kit. They offered suggestions of calming foods and asked my DH (every time they saw him) if I was feeling better and if there was anything they could do to help.

LeepII: I cannot say this enough, our staff, Maurice and Renato, showed genuine concern for my wife throughout the day. It was very touching.

DMLyons: While I was asleep, my DH went to Pearly Kings, where he had a great bartender named Jason serving him drinks and had a chance to enjoy one of the trivia games. Note about Pearly Kings... The picture on the site is incorrect. There is no longer a pool/billiards table in Pearly Kings. He also ordered a pizza, which was much better than the pizza they serve at the Garden Café, by far.

When I woke, I called my DH on the cordless phone he'd taken with him from the room. THAT is incredibly useful, if one of you is in the room and the other out and about on the ship. You have a separate phone number for the cordless phone, but when the room phone rings, the cordless rings as well, so we started carrying it with us, even when we were out around the ship together.

I ordered room service for lunch, but I caused a bit of a stir, because I made the mistake of picking up the corded phone and hitting the button marked for room service. NOTES: Unless it's after 10 pm or before 6 am DO NOT call room service directly for anything, if you're in a suite. Call your butler and let him/her bring you food. The room service folks get really irritated if you do that. Even during the night, call the butler's number and let them re-route you to room service from there. Also, even though Blue Lagoon is open 24 hours, you cannot order from Blue Lagoon to the room from 10 pm to 6 am. You are shunted to the regular room service menu at that point, so it's room service or pizza delivery overnight, unless you want to go to Blue Lagoon or Garden Café in person.

For room service lunch, I ordered chicken soup (bland but nicely stocked) and a turkey sandwich. The bun they put the sandwich on was very dry, which wasn't good for my recovering stomach, so I ate the insides of the sandwich with a fork. The meat and cheeses were succulent.

We walked around the ship a bit in the afternoon, watched some movies on TV (there are two movie channels, a "favorites" TV station (mostly sitcoms), a bunch of news stations, and a bunch of NCL specialty stations...the bow cam station is nice, because it has background music), and then went to Cagney's for dinner. I had a rib eye steak and a baked potato. DH had a medallion steak and the "split pea" soup.

I appreciate the fact that nothing aboard the NCL ships is quite what you expect and they have their own style, but it would have been more accurate to call this soup a vegetable soup with split peas. Anyone who eats split pea often will expect the thick pea base to the soup, but it's a broth base with partially-cooked (still firm but not chewy) split peas in it. It was good but not at all what my DH had anticipated. Be ready for pleasant surprises (or not so pleasant, if you're picky, I suppose) like that aboard.

DMLyons: The day started when we heard them washing the deck above us at 5 am. Some people have reported they heard the scraping sounds of chairs being moved, but I'm not sure that's what they were actually hearing, since the deck washing does have a light scraping sound. It's really not loud, IMO.

To be honest, we almost never heard sounds from outside our cabin, as some people reported. If you were in the living room or bathroom without the water running, it was possible to hear the speaker in the hallway. If you didn't have the TV tuned to the NCL stations and the announcement wasn't a general emergency call, you couldn't hear more than a whisper from the bedroom. Only once in the entire trip did we hear our neighbors, when the adults apparently left a gaggle of teens in the room and they got REALLY rowdy. Aside from the room creaking in high seas and the fog horn, the room was very quiet.

Also, the entire trip, we only encountered two sets of completely out of control teens/preteens. Even the older, unaccompanied teens were very well behaved. During our dinner in Cagney's, there was one screaming toddler (a child being a child but in an inappropriate place), and the mother was very considerate and took him out for a bit to calm him down. Kudos to most of the parents and children aboard! Unfortunately, some of the adults were less well behaved, but such is life.

We had our first Cagney's breakfast, and Cagney's had us from there on out for breakfast! The buffet at breakfast is excellent for sides and nibbles. They have two juices available on the buffet (orange and cranberry) and more available on request. The buffet also has rolls or croissants, cream cheese (there are butter and jellies on the table already), pastries, fresh fruit (including a great berry mix!), yogurt, a cold oat mixture that is excellent, POUNDS of smoked salmon and herring, cottage cheese, cereal... Additionally, the Cagney's breakfast menu is to die for! They have French toast that is easily more than two inches thick and is served with a berry compote, pancakes with walnut butter and caramelized bananas (my favorite!), waffles with a different berry mix... Keep in mind all of these are so sweet, you don't really need the ever-present syrup at all! They also have a whole range of egg dishes, including crab or lobster with a poached egg, steak and eggs, make your own omelet, an open-faced omelet with smoked salmon and asparagus (that was very good!), and more mundane choices as well.

LeepII: The buffet at Cagney's is ridiculous. There were blackberries bigger than my thumb. Salmon by the pound. Really top notch, probably the best suite perk out there with priority disembarkation being number two.

DMLyons: The service at Cagney's is excellent. They go above and beyond to help disabled passengers and passengers with several small children. I saw wait staff accompanying disabled passengers to the buffet, serving them, and carrying the food back to the table for the passengers. EXCELLENT! I can't commend them enough.

This was our first day in Bermuda. We pulled in early, due to a medical emergency aboard. Instead of pulling in at 11, we were there before 8 am, and a passenger was removed by ambulance. Since our room was facing the port, we could see the process from our windows. This threw the Bermudan folks into a tizzy, and we heard from more than one taxi driver and ferry attendant that emergency calls went out, telling them to get to work if possible, because the Dawn's passengers were off three hours early and looking for transportation off the pier. Of course, with RC's ship down for the next few weeks and not coming in, they also reported they were hungry for the work, so having three extra hours of our ship was good for them! Of course, coming in so early and without warning to the guests meant that the priority disembarkation notices Virginia sent out were useless, since people had left the ship in droves before the time for the scheduled priority departure arrived.

You need your room card out to check off the ship. You'll have to scan out with the card, but you won't need it again until you get aboard. Though they have a customs person inside the building on the arrivals side, I've never seen them stop anyone on the way off the ship. On the way back on, you'll have to show your room card and picture ID or passport to get back through the building on the wharf. We saw several teens and preteens who got stopped there, because they didn't have a picture ID and were not with their parents. I'm not sure how they deal with that one, since we kept moving. I noted to myself that I might want to get my younger children (teens) state-issued IDs, so they can walk around with their adult older sister in Bermuda and not take the passports ashore with them. You MIGHT get stopped at the x-ray machine there in the building, but we never were. At that point, you can put your photo ID or passport away, but keep your room card out. As you go back onto the ship, they'll have you scan in with your card. They may further offer ice water or cool towels on the way aboard, and they x-ray everything you're bringing aboard.

The ferry/bus pass is a good deal, but I wouldn't bother with it on a Sunday, if we did this cruise again. Lesson learned! The buses and ferries run much more often on weekdays, and you'll spend a lot of time waiting for your next connection in the heat on a Sunday. I would choose to spend Sunday at the dockyard and go out and about town on weekdays if I had to do it again. The buses are your basic city buses. The ferry is very plush. If US public transportation was like that, a lot more people would take it! NOTES: The ferries and buses do NOT take paper currency. If you don't have the transportation pass, you have to have coin and/or tokens to use the bus or ferry. We saw people with the scooters taking them on the ferry with them, and there is a ramp for that purpose.

My two cents? People who said they got sick on the buses aren't accustomed to inner city buses...tight corners, faster travel (though the bus never topped 35 miles an hour or so, by my estimation), etc. There was nothing exceptional about the motion on those buses, and no...I wasn't still taking Dramamine. That single dose did it for me, and the waves were gone by the time I got up the next morning. Oh, and Maurice, Renato, and Virginia all checked to make sure I was feeling better that morning again. Such concern! I hadn't expected it.

We took the ferry to Hamilton and wandered around the closed business district for a bit, looking for bus stops. NOTE: The pink poles for bus stops are easy to spot. The blue poles are not always easy to spot, especially since they are not always the same color of blue and are often covered by vegetation on back roads. In Hamilton, the easiest way to find the bus you want is to go directly to the bus depot, which isn't far from the ferry dock. They have a convenient system where you wait at the sign for the bus you want to take out. No matter what number the bus pulls IN saying, when it leaves, it will have the number that matches the bay it parked in. A very helpful Bermudan explained that to us.

The bus took us out to Crystal and Fantasy Caves. The quality of the tour is completely dependent (IMHO) on the guide you get. The guide we had for the Fantasy Cave was a young teen who was not well-versed in the particulars of his caves. The guide we had for the Crystal Caves was a guy who had been doing the job for a while. He knew the answers to all questions and supplied them promptly and without hemming and hawing or saying he didn't know the answer. The caves ARE gorgeous and well worth seeing.

Remember that they are a protected landmark. If you break off the formations, you will be tossed in the local jail and fined..fined only if they are feeling generous. The guides will tell you not to touch the formations, but there are a few they will let you touch. Having seen the jail...and having heard about Bermuda's laws, I do not suggest breaking their laws. They have a stiff fine for littering and mandatory jail time for a lot of things that are not jail offenses in the US.

For those with medical problems, let me say the following... Fantasy Cave is VERY steep, and getting back up the stairs may tax those with breathing problems or problems climbing steep stairs (hip replacement, bad back or knees, etc.). Imagine about four flights of really steep, wet stairs, and that's what you're dealing with to get back out. Also, people who have problems with heights may not enjoy the trip down into this cave. Crystal Cave is steep, but it has long sections of ramp instead of stairs and it is not as steep when it is stairs. There are less open areas to set off those with problems with heights. If you're afraid of the dark, be aware that they do turn off the lights for a few minutes in Crystal Caves to show you how dark it is, and the guide will use a flashlight to point out some formations.

The system for the caves confused some people, so it's worth mentioning. You can choose to tour one of the caves or both. If you choose to do one, they will immediately give you a ticket (ours were purple for Fantasy Cave and blue for Crystal, but I don't know if that's every day) with a number on it. Tours are timed and are weighted to avoid giving a guide more people than he/she can fit in the portion of the cave at one time. When your color and number are called (we didn't have a long wait...maybe 5 minutes for the first cave, but it was early morning on a Sunday), we went down and met the guide. Even if you ask for both caves, they won't give you both numbered tickets at the same time. They will give you the numbered ticket for the first cave and a paper ticket with the name of the other cave on it. When you finish your tour of the first cave, you can either go turn that ticket in immediately to get in line for the tour...or you can go get a drink/food, use the restroom, whatever before you turn that paper ticket in for the other cave numbered ticket. That way, they don't set you immediately up for the second one and find out you need a break. Some people didn't realize (though we were told we had to) they had to turn in the paper ticket for another numbered ticket to get on the next tour.

It was really hot, and we didn't really want to wait on the road (where there was little shade) for the next bus back to Royal Dockyard, so we asked one of the taxis there with tour groups to call us a taxi and took a tour of the island on the way back to Royal Dockyard and the ship. Since the taxis charge you the same amount for 1-4 people, it's VERY expensive to have two people in a taxi for what amounts to a drive back across most of the island, but it was worth it not to wait for the buses and/or ferries, and the taxi driver was a wonderful guide.

LeepII: Taxi was $65.00 for trip from caves to dock.

DMLyons: NOTES: Always look for shade. The rules about not taking food and drinks off the ship do NOT apply to bottled water, so take some with you. The one time I tried to use a vending machine for water/soda out in Hamilton, it was out of all water and cheated me out of my money by not vending a soda. Bring a hat or buy one there; they have hats for sale everywhere. Wear sunglasses, whether or not you're wearing a hat. Wear sunscreen and reapply often. A lot of passengers got badly sunburned, even using sunscreen. There are public bathrooms all over the place. The locals are VERY friendly and fun-loving. I didn't meet a single rude person on Bermuda. It's a great place to visit and very clean.

Back aboard, we got showers to wash off and watched one of the DVDs Maurice had brought at our request. NOTE: You can have two DVDs at a time. After that, we took a walk around and stopped at Topsiders' bar. As usual, the bartenders were personable and very good. They even suggested drinks that were close to what we were ordering, to give us exotic tie-ins.

We took the Sunset Catamaran Swizzle Cruise. I HIGHLY suggest this tour to anyone, but especially to adults, since there's not much for little kids to do. If you do bring little kids along, be sure to bring something for them to do that won't annoy other cruisers...or leave them in the evening child care/kids' club or with other family members. First of all, as Smitty (the guide) is fond of pointing out, this is a cruise with unlimited Rum Swizzle included, unlimited juice or soda for little ones (ONLY them...non-drinking adults cannot choose the unlimited juice/soda option), and a cash bar to purchase other alcoholic drinks and soda/juice for adults who don't want Rum Swizzles. It's meant to be a fun party cruise, though the pictures of the sunset are well worth it alone. After the first few rounds of Rum Swizzles the crew starts topping them off with a float of rum, if the person wishes. Smitty is funny and knowledgeable. He's also eye candy, I admit! He'll tell you all about the history of the island, the local laws, the celebrities who live on the island or have vacation homes there, and he answers all the questions cruisers have. Though he claims to have heard every question at least 15 times, I managed to come up with a question he hadn't heard before. Kudos to me!

LeepII: Smitty's sunset cruise was one of the highlights of the trip. We cuddled on comfy cushions while sailing, laughing, drinking. Great evening.

DMLyons: NOTES: The tickets for the tours say they meet (some of them do) at the end of the pier ashore, but they really meet between the two wharfs (the benches where Heritage and King's Wharfs connect). Our first tour out with NCL, we went down to the end of the pier, didn't see anyone meeting, and went back to the benches, where we found the ShoreEx folks lining up the tours. Also, we assumed the time on the tickets were the latest you should get down there, and as a result we were very early. It's more that people show up at or just after that time. Just don't be too much after it. The ShoreEx folks were very accommodating. A few passengers showed up and said, "We'd like to take X tour. Is there room?" As long as it wasn't already full, they filled out the paperwork right there at the meeting point and arranged for them to take the tour. If it was full, they offered one of the other tours meeting that evening instead. As always, IMPECCABLE service from NCL.

By the time we got back to the room after the Sunset cruise, we were exhausted, but we were ravenous, since we hadn't had dinner before leaving on the tour. We called Maurice at 9:22 pm and asked for in-room dining of the Venetian menu. We learned an important lesson right there! Though Venetian closes at 10 pm, the latest the butler can take an order from them for in-room dining is 9:30 pm. We squeaked in just under the line. Always plan that in if you want a late dinner that's not the regular room service menu! Maurice brought us the dinner and did the full linens setup. He asked if we wanted him to come back and clear the table for us, but we declined and told him we'd be fine. The last thing we wanted to do was cause him to work past 10 pm for our comfort when we knew how early in the morning he had to get started again! The dishes could wait for the morning.

DMLyons: After one late-night cruise tour, we decided we really did NOT want to do a second the next night. Though the Dark and Stormy Glass Bottom boat tour sounded good, we just weren't up for it...and the dailies we got the night of day 3 showed that not one but TWO things we wanted to do aboard were going to be held the same time as the tour was (the Chocoholic Buffet and the Alexey and Sally show).

Now we hit a systemic problem with NCL, but it is one of the few I noted. NCL wants 48 hours notice if you cancel a shore excursion/tour, but they don't give you the dailies until less than 24 hours before the tour is scheduled, and some tours DO fill up before tour time. Virginia (the concierge) was wonderful. It took her three phone calls to ShoreEx to make this right for us, but she managed it. The reason the changeover took so long was that (in addition to ShoreEx fighting making a change) the first few things we picked out were already full. I imagine someone who didn't have the concierge would have found this more problematic than we did. They exchanged the tour I'd already booked (the Dark and Stormy) with the Marquis Horse and Carriage Ride on Day 5, but they fought Virginia tooth and nail about it. Oddly, I'm not sure why they fought so hard, since when we showed up for the Horse and Carriage tour, we found out it was half empty, and they had been considering canceling it. Lesson learned! If at all possible, do not book a shore excursion until after you've seen the dailies for that day...and hope the tour still has room for you.

We did Cagney's for breakfast, of course. After that, we went to the hot tub on 13 forward (the quiet area). It was, simply put, the only HOT hot tub/spa we found aboard ship, which made it an instant favorite. We routinely dipped a hand in the ones on the pool deck, and there was only once where we found them hot there. Usually, the ones up on the pool deck run at just over 90 degrees, which means they aren't much hotter than the 82-85 degree pool water is. If you want to soak in a HOT tub, the one on 13 forward is a good choice.

LeepII: The quiet area hot tub is one of the best, but even it can get over run on some days. We are both pretty early risers and had it to ourselves after our breakfast. :)

DMLyons: The behind-the-scenes tour was canceled last moment, because nearly everyone who'd signed up canceled, and it wasn't worth it to NCL to run it for 1 or 2 passengers. My DH was very disappointed, especially to find it out so close to the time for it.

My husband brought a plate of snacks from Garden Café to the room before we went ashore. I have to say I was disappointed. Granted, as a suite guest, it was less pressing to eat there, but the quality of food was much less than anywhere else on ship, in my experience. I liken it to the quality of food served in the public schools around here, and I don't think that's unfair. Of course, the Garden Café is largely designed to appeal to families with children, in my estimation, so that makes a certain amount of sense. I didn't eat more than a bite or two of anything he brought back to the room.

LeepII: From the Garden Café, I grabbed: Fried Rice, Jumbolia, Pizza, spinach puffs, and fresh fruit.

DMLyons: In all fairness, I didn't try the fruit, since we had a bottomless fruit plate in the room already. I did try the other items, though.

We left a list of things for Maurice to attend to, which he did while we headed into Royal Dockyard. He picked up the wine we'd brought aboard for our anniversary and had it delivered to the cold storage for us. He exchanged the DVDs and brought us two new movies. Of course, every day, he refilled the ice in not only our ice bucket but also the ice on the bucket of beer and the champagne, refilled our mixers and garnishes, etc....all without us asking.

Renato picked up my husband's pressing for our anniversary, since they want a day to do that. Keep that in mind if you take advantage of their pressing service.

We did some exploring and gift shopping at Dockyard. Then we went to The Frog and Onion for lunch. It's expensive, but the food is excellent and the portions large. If you want to splurge but don't want to do one of the more formal restaurants on Bermuda, this is the place to do it, IMO. My DH had the traditional fish chowder. It's not traditional, if you're accustomed to New England Clam Chowder. This is a spicy red chowder and you mix a small amount of rum into it before eating it. He also had the Shepherd's Pie, which was phenomenal. I had the Calamari, which was very fresh. The sauce is not a standard Marinara. It's a spicy red sauce that was a little too hot for me, but I still enjoyed the starter. In fact, it was so large, I shared it with my husband. Their fish and chips were thick cut and very tasty. Since Frog and Onion is also the only bar on Bermuda (reportedly) that has a microbrewery, my DH tried the taster with the full range of their beers. Several of them were very good, but not better than the microbrews back home, so we didn't take any back with us.

Back on the ship, I got a quick shower and went off to the spa for the Spa Topia special, which I had booked that morning. It included a neck and back hot stone massage, a hand and arm massage, a foot and ankle massage, a scalp massage, and a three-part facial and eye treatment. It was billed as a shore day special that ran the full three days we were in port, but they did it again the last sea day. It was $139 for the full treatment, and I highly suggest it for a pampering treatment. There were a few other specials when we were in port, and I'd be glad to give people the information, though I've been told they are not always the same specials, from cruise to cruise.

The only thing I don't like about the spa is that they are sell, sell, sell. Well, a good bit of the ship is. You'll find that you get invitations constantly to two things...the sales of whatever (spa, watches, jewelry, perfume...) and gambling opportunities. Suite guests also get invitations to meet and greets, suite only events, and early entry or departure times for many events.

We had decided to wing it for dinner, but when we decided to go to Venetian, we noticed that they were filling up fast. (LOVE the Eats! channel in the room that lets you check for availability.) DH decided to try something and called Virginia for reservations for Venetian. Sure enough, we were whisked right in with no wait.

One thing we learned about Venetian... The collection of menus that the butler gives you leaves out half of the MDR menu. It includes the daily fare, which changes every day (though you won't know what the special of the day is unless you're in MDR or ask the butler specifically that day), but it doesn't include the traditional fare that is served every night and doesn't change, from day to day.

DH had the French Onion soup, which was good but not great, and the broiled salmon, which he enjoyed. I had the Salmon Tar Tare...excellent!...and the prime rib. The prime rib was really great, but I had to scavenge butter for my baked potato from the bread plate. Apparently, telling them I didn't want sour cream confused them, and they sent the potato up plain. Since we had other places to be, I didn't bother flagging down the server to ask for whipped butter. The desserts looked good, but since we were headed off to the Chocoholic Buffet, there was no sense in eating dessert in Venetian that night.

Being suite guests, we got early entry into the Chocoholic Buffet, were escorted in by Virginia and her assistant, and we had extra time to take pictures. They had a wide range of choices, though some portions of it repeated and could easily be skipped. There was an entire section of no-sugar-added chocolate treats for those who had to be concerned about it. Even standard favorites were "chocolated up" by replacing (for instance) the standard cream filling in an éclair or a cream puff (different fillings of course) with chocolate mousse. The only two things that threw me on the buffet were the chocolate lollipops that had a fig filling inside (wish I'd known in advance about the filling) and the cake they called Black Forest cake. It clearly wasn't a proper Black Forest Cake, since it was just chocolate cake with a rich vanilla icing...no kirsch/cherry filling/etc. that makes it Black Forest and no chocolate shavings on top, as Black Forest usually has. It was well worth going to, but as a suite guest, I could have skipped most of it, since the chocolates we got as afternoon snacks three times that week (a different assortment each time) were miles better than anything on the buffet. When I mentioned that to Maurice, he smiled and assured me the chocolates I liked so much were specially made for suite guests and there was nowhere else aboard to get them.

We ended up the night by attending the 9 pm showing of Alexey and Sally. I won't lie. I cried. After more than 13 years as a Navy wife, I found the entire performance very touching. It was breathtaking. It was poignant. It would appeal to anyone who enjoys acrobatics, cirque shows, and ballet. I'm glad we did it, and I highly recommend seeing this show. I wish I could purchase a video of it to watch at home.

DMLyons: Maurice delivered Cagney's fare to the room for breakfast. It was a delight, and I'm glad we asked him to do that. He not only brought the main dishes but also the stuff we wanted from the buffet portion.

LeepII: He also brought flowers to decorate the table.

DMLyons: Those leaving the ship early in the day had a bit of a problem, but it was announced the night before at the shows and the night before and day of on the intercoms. We were given two different stories. One was that the local ferry and bus drivers/attendants were having a three-hour strike from 9:30 am to 12:30 pm. The other was that there would be a union meeting at that time for a vote, but either way, the ferries and buses would be shut down for those three hours. The original announcement the night before said that NCL would be providing minibuses to the beaches at 10 am. The announcements the next morning said NCL would be providing minibuses hourly for the entire time the buses and ferries were unavailable, so NCL was taking care of the passengers well again.

We had a relaxing morning in the room, save the endless general announcements (six or seven of them on every speaker on the ship...so right above the bed in the suite as well) to facilitate the weekly crew emergency drills. It wouldn't have been such an intrusion if we weren't attempting to spend time together at the time, but they have to do it sometime, I suppose. The fact that it was inconvenient for us is really not their concern, nor should it be. On an up note, we got to see a couple of the lifeboats in the water, which was very cool.

LeepII: Relaxing???? Grin not how I would have put it.

DMLyons: We'll chalk that one up to creative license with editing. Kiss.

We had lunch at Blue Lagoon. My DH had the burger, and I had the fish and chips and the spinach dip. The burger was really good, the fish and chips good, and the spinach dip was okay. Blue Lagoon is a nice, relaxing place to eat.

After lunch, we went on the Marquis Horse and Carriage Ride. It was fun, and we learned a lot about Bermuda, but I could have skipped this tour personally. It's not one I would repeat. One thing to note is that each tour guide has their own spin on everything from history to local laws. Don't count on any of it being consistent, from source to source.

LeepII: Don't do this.

DMLyons: When we got back from the tour, we had a pleasant surprise in our room. Maurice and Renato had decorated the room for us. They'd gotten us a gorgeous little cake (vanilla with a cream icing and a layer of raspberry sauce). It was offset on the plate and--written in chocolate icing on the plate--there was a happy anniversary message. Maurice also made two towel swans, facing each other, placed two small button flowers on it, and placed my white roses in the center. He apologized later for using the roses without asking, though I thought it was the PERFECT touch and told him so. With the swans, there was a pretty little note, also wishing us a happy anniversary. We were touched and amused that Maurice told us he was on his way in to do more for us, but we'd come back earlier than he'd anticipated.

Though pressing and clothes washing aren't promised back until 6 pm, Renato brought my DH's pressing back early in the afternoon to make sure it was ready for our dinner.

One of the best features of the DOS is the jet tub. I indulged in a foaming mint bath. Later in the trip, I had a milk bath in the tub. But I preferred the shower. The shower was more than large enough for a couple. The one thing to get used to is the hot water limiter on the shower and bath tub. You can make it go hotter, but it will initially stop at the limiter, and you have to press the button in to turn further.

I went back to the spa for a couple of treatments in preparation for dinner. I got the Fire and Ice Pedicure and the Fire and Ice Manicure. Overall, I would suggest the pedicure, but I'd go for a basic manicure. There's a lot more involved with the special pedicure than with the manicure.

I also had my hair washed and styled. I brought in photos of four different braided styles and let the stylist make the final choice of what she was most comfortable with. That turned out to be a good idea, since I only saw one magazine with hair styles in it while I was there. When someone else asked for books, it seemed that was the only one available. I'm not sure if it was a problem with securing them in rough seas or some other issue, but it was odd to go to a hair salon and not have magazines or hair style books available there.

NOTE: The pictures from this evening are not back yet. I'll add them later!

On the way to dinner, my husband insisted we stop at the now-open jewelry store aboard. Remember that the casinos and shops are closed in Bermuda (at least until the laws change), and the bars shift times when in port. While the shop was closed in Bermuda, I'd pointed out a gorgeous emerald necklace I liked in the hallway display case. DH asked the attendant to let us see it, I tried it on, and he purchased it for me. We carried it to dinner with us, since I was already wearing a necklace he'd purchased for me on an earlier trip for that meal. At the restaurant, the wait staff pulled up an extra chair for us to set the gift and my purse on. Oh! Favorite quote of the day was when I went into the jewelry store to look at the necklace in the mirror. One of the other attendants saw me walk in with both necklaces on, and in true salesman form and excellent sincerity level, popped off with: "Oh, that looks GOOD on you." Okay, I knew it did, but that was a fun moment.

LeepII: Dude, I was so all over this. I saw her drooling days before over the necklace. Already knew i was going to lead her past it for the dinner walk :)

DMLyons: He should also mention that he was fishing for an idea for me earlier in the week and pointed out a different necklace in the case as a way to get me to show him which one I liked best. Sneaky but effective. That's my husband.

While we liked the staff in the jewelry store, we were less impressed with the staff in the liquor store. We asked, on the first day of the cruise, about a bottle of rum liqueur we wanted to get to pay back a friend who'd given us his bottle from an earlier cruise he took on the same itinerary. We were assured that, though they were out of it that moment, they would be picking up more in Bermuda and it would be available on the trip back. It was a regular stock item, they said, and they knew precisely what we were talking about. So, we stopped by to buy the bottle when we left Bermuda...only to find out they didn't get any of it in and didn't bother to consider that they'd already promised bottles of it to interested parties. BONED! I'm sorry, but that was poor form, in the extreme. It would have been more professional for them to have said: "We usually get some in, but you might want to grab a bottle ashore, just in case we don't." Had we known it wasn't a sure thing, we would have gone out of our way to find one ashore. Now we are home with no bottle to pay back our friend with. The cheerleaders can say what they want about not expecting anything you're told to be absolute, but I would disagree. To me, that answer was a promise that it was a sure thing. Disappointing customers is always the wrong answer.

LeepII: I was seriously boned. I would have purchased it in Bermuda if I knew they were not going to get some.

DMLyons: The other (not disappointing, but rather odd) thing is that they have a small pharmacy in the liquor store. The one thing they don't have in there is Tumms or other stomach meds. We brought some in the med kit, but my husband ran out before the end of the trip. As I said, that's a rather basic OTC med, and it surprised me that they didn't sell it. Heck, my local drive in theater sells it in the concession stand. So, for those planning not to bring any OTC meds and trusting that they will be available for sale aboard ship...don't count on that absolutely. Their choice is limited.

We had dinner that night at LeBistro. The food was excellent, all the way around. The four mushroom soup was delightful, and both of us ordered it. We shared the cornets. They were small, but they were tasty. When I ordered them, the waiter suggested the soup as well, because the cornets were small. My DH ordered the fillet. It was great, but he said Cagney's steaks were better. I ordered the lamb, which was fantastic. The service was attentive, but...pretentious. Overall, I'd say the service was better at Cagney's, though it was high end at LeBistro. Examples? When we came in, they changed out our napkins from white to black to match our clothing. I'll be honest. I've never heard of that before. They opened our wine but seemed confused that I didn't want to drink any. The wine was created for my husband specifically, so it wasn't to my tastes. They also seemed overly invested with trying to match the wine to the meals we chose. Three of the waiters discussed several times whether the wine was full-bodied or not, though my DH assured them it was.

At the end of dinner, the wait staff came out with a cake that matched the one Maurice gave us. They sang "Let Me Call You Sweetheart" to us. It was very sweet, though it was the third cake we got for our anniversary that week. Needless to say, we didn't eat all of that cake!

The fact that the Perfect Couple show was that night was too perfect to pass up. We went up to Spinnakers for the show and ended up meeting JoJo as she was setting up for it. Being our anniversary, it wasn't a surprise that we were chosen for the game. For those who are confused about it, we found out that the Perfect Couple show is a challenge show, while the Not-So-Newlywed show is a Q&A show. I won't ruin the surprise, in case they use the same challenges again, but I will say to be warned that the balloons they use are "industrial strength." We had a great time, though we ended up bruised from it. For the rest of the cruise, people would come up to us and tell us how much they enjoyed us on the show. This show really is for people who don't mind being silly and brazen in public. Just to get on the show, they had a kissing contest. Since we didn't realize they were going to do a countdown to the start of the kiss, we were already well into the kiss when the others started. All the good sports who take part get "awarded" a bottle of champagne.

LeepII: I nibbled her earring off; she didn't even notice!

DMLyons: He's right about that. I didn't notice, until one of the other contestants went out to retrieve the earring and returned it to me.

Now this brings me to an interesting discussion. I know some people say they bring a whole case of wine aboard for them as a couple on a 7-day cruise. Like the food, there is alcohol everywhere, especially in the suite we were in. We started the cruise with two bottles of specialty wine we carried aboard/paid corkage on (Oh, and the receipts on corkage now state clearly that corkage is non-refundable! Anyone wondering if you can get the corkage back if you don't open the bottle, since you signed waiving that right, I'd say you'll have a hard time.), three bottles of alcohol that came with the DOS, and a bottle of champagne that came with the DOS. We won another bottle of champagne in the Perfect Couple game show. We purchased some single drinks, not usually more than one or two at a time at a show or at Topsiders or Pearly Kings. We made a lot of mixed drinks in the room and/or mixed them in the anniversary sports mugs I purchased for the trip and took those mugs out and about the ship with us. Still, we left the ship with half a bottle of rum, three-quarters of a bottle of Crème de Cocoa, a nearly-full bottle of Kahlua, a full bottle of champagne, and a bottle and a half of the wine we carried on with us. While we wore three-quarters of the clothing I brought aboard, what we didn't use nearly all of was the alcohol.

The final surprise on our anniversary was an invitation (you'll get a lot of those in a suite) from Virginia to the Bridge Tour the next morning. Since the behind-the-scenes tour was canceled, my DH was stoked to find we would get to tour the bridge.

DITTO on the pictures from this event. They are on the same roll.

We ended the night with a DVD movie in the room.

DMLyons: Breakfast again at Cagney's. With a week to cruise, I can't imagine getting tired of Cagney's for breakfast. If we were doing a B2B or something, I imagine I might want to mix it up a little.

After breakfast, we took a walk around the ship (a favorite pastime of ours). Among other things, we often used the daily or twice daily walks to do a daily check of the OBC statement. We never found the charges in error, and when things were canceled, they came off promptly.

LeepII: Corkage fees show up as a charge from Venetian. Don't know why.

DMLyons: I'd agree with that. Since the bucket of beer shows up as a charge from Topsiders, we were highly confused about a $30 charge from Venetian and asked Guest Services what it was. The only charges we ever had from Venetian (aside from corkage) were a few times I ordered juice with dinner there.

Another good news thing for us... When we did decide to change out the card we were using for overages on the account, the debit card (that I'd initially put on the account before replacing it with a credit card) hold was off the day after we returned home. Some people have had bad luck and report that hold stays on there for up to 30 days, but mine came off promptly. I don't know if that was due to our bank or due to the diligence of the ship's staff, but either way, it was a nice surprise.

Our walk took us through the pool area, as it often did, and... Well, I'll be honest, we never actually went in the pool, because it was nearly always overrun. If it wasn't, the seas or weather were not suited to being in the pool. That particular morning, they were doing a Bermuda t-shirt sale on the pool deck and setting up for a barbeque, and it was so full of people, you could barely walk from one side to the other of the deck, you couldn't get near Topsiders or Sprinkles, and it was not even a dull roar. It was full bore.

LeepII: People were quite literally cheek to cheek along the pool edge.

DMLyons: We met up with Virginia and the other suite guests and went on the bridge tour. Of course, none of it was alien to my husband or myself, since he was Navy for so many years. Without question, we knew what was decorative and what was functional. We did learn a lot about things like the autopilot parking brake feature which will automatically aim and fire the Azipods to keep the ship within 3 meters of the exact position they want to keep it in, when they avoid weather and when they head into it and why, and the max and average speeds they can do in any given direction. Eight knots laterally is really impressive! All told, I enjoyed meeting the captain, the first and second mates, though the second mate is clearly still learning his position, since some of the answers he was giving contradicted the board he was standing next to when giving them...by a wide margin. It was a lot of fun to see the bridge, though. If you get a chance to do this and the captain allows it, go for it!

Our next stop was Battle of the Pans. This is where you really get to see the captain play the crowd. He's a fun guy, though they do seem to keep him hopping with personal appearances aboard. Oh, and the Steak Diane was excellent! The veg was a little bland. If I made it at home, I would have spiced up the veg a bit, but the steak? Two thumbs up!

We took another walk around the ship, and ended up at Cagney's for lunch. Here's a tip! Please read the little note the concierge gives you the first day (the one with Cagney's lunch and breakfast times) VERY carefully. While breakfast is the same on port and sea days and only changes for the final morning aboard, the lunch times shift after the first day and stay that way throughout after the switch. In specific, the first day aboard, it's 12 noon until 2 pm, but then it switches to 12 noon to 1:30 pm. Somehow, I missed that, but...

When we showed up at Cagney's for lunch that day, I wondered if I'd done something wrong, because the laptop reception uses was closed. Virginia was at the desk and took us over to the doors to be seated personally. We were seated, ordered, and it wasn't until they started changing out the knives that we realized something was wrong. We showed up after 1:30, and they were closed for lunch, but no one mentioned it. They saw us show up and seated/served us without question or complaint. Had they said something, we would have bowed out and gone elsewhere for lunch. But there were still a few people finishing up lunch, and we already had our drinks and starters when we learned we'd erred. I'll be honest. While I appreciated it, I felt like a class-A jerk when I realized we were cutting into their changeover time.

My DH had the French Dip sandwich, which he described as "nerdgasm," and shrimp cocktail. I had the NY strip again, and we both had the banana cream pie. Everything was excellent!

Though we knew the library had cards and games, we kept missing the three hours or so everyday (split between two periods of time) when they had an attendant to let you check things out. For that reason, I was glad I brought aboard cards, so we could play in the room.

The food orgy continued, with Maurice bringing between two and four snack plates every day. By the sixth day, my DH was saying: "Please, God, let it stop!" We decided that, if you hadn't eaten in an hour or so, someone aboard was trying to feed you. Among the more notable snacks (good and bad) were cheese and crackers (the cheeses were to my tastes but not so much to my DH's, and the crackers were good when they were fresh, but if the sleeve of them had been opened the day before, they were a little stale), the never-ending fruit plate (excellent! and if you ate all of something, they'd make sure you had more of it on the next plate), mixed berries (delicious), chips (I could have passed on those...same chips you had on the side of room service sandwiches), soft pretzel sticks (bring those more often!), chocolates (EXCELLENT!...best thing on the snacks rotation), cookies (okay...nothing special), the bar mix of nuts and such (I would skip, since you get it at all the bars) and canapés (pretty good, though not all to my tastes). If I was going to suggest any sort of addition to the rotation, I would suggest the following...replacing the chips with popcorn (which you only get if you request it or at Pearly Kings, unless I missed it elsewhere), replacing the bar mix with mixed nuts, and adding a sushi plate one day instead of the canapés...according to the tastes of the cruisers, of course. Not everyone likes sushi, but not everyone likes the canapés either.

We went to the Not-So-Newlywed game show. We didn't attempt to do that one as well, though we had fun in the OS/DOS/GV seating, writing our answers with paper and pen I brought with me and comparing answers. It was a lot of fun, watching and playing our own version of the game (quietly, so we didn't disturb the other people watching). One thing I would suggest to NCL... Since they already tape some of these shows to show on the NCL channels aboard ship, they should offer to sell DVDs of the shows to the participants. I would have LOVED to have a DVD of the Not-So-Newlywed and the Perfect Couple, as well as Battle of the Pans and other demos and events I went to! Hey, one more money-making thing they could do with very little work for them to do it, since they are already recording, though...yes, I realize they would have to get the participants to sign releases for the sale of the DVDs. One possible nit, I suppose.

I should mention that the OS/DOS/GV seating is very nice, but it's high and clear glass above the solid rail. If someone has a problem with glass elevators or with open heights or vertigo, they'll probably have a problem sitting in that section.

One annoyance was that, since the concierge/butlers were only there to properly seat OS/DOS/GV people during the major shows (7 and 9...or some nights 7:15 and 9:15), the people next to us for the Not-So-Newlywed game show (who had already been there for the 7 pm of Second City) took it upon themselves to question whether or not we were really supposed to be in "their seating." I'm sorry, but I found that beyond the pale. Yes, we were supposed to be there, and all that did was give me a really bad impression of those passengers. I was glad when they left at the end of the Not-So-Newlywed game, and we had more pleasant seatmates for the 9 pm Second City show.

Second City was stellar! Not that it surprised me. We've seen them before, and we know the caliber of actor they turn out, so it was a really great show. The long skits were less enjoyable for me than the short zingers, and the music was a nice touch. We were actually planning to go to the adult-only show the last night aboard, but we were tired by the time the 10:15 show came around so we decided to skip it.

Since we hadn't had any dinner, we went to the Blue Lagoon, but we left without eating. We love the menu there, but the Elvis show was being held just below it, and the decibel level was WAYYY TOO HIGH. Back in our room, we tried to order room service from Blue Lagoon, since we'd been told that suite guests could get any food from anywhere on the ship, as long as the restaurant in question was open. That's when we learned that wasn't quite accurate. After 10 pm, suite guests can only get the normal room service menu or pizza in-suite. We ordered regular room service. I got the chicken tenders, which were very good. My husband enjoyed the burger. He also ordered the chicken soup. I'm not sure if it's a matter of how long it steeps during the day or what, but his was much richer and more flavorful than when I had it for lunch on day 2. Good dinner meal.

DMLyons: To those wondering, the Dawn staff did do some things for the holiday. There were decorations up, pretty much everywhere we went. They had a party on the pool deck at lunch. They had Independence Day trivia in Pearly Kings. No fireworks, of course, but it was nice. Oh, and the staff wished everyone aboard Happy Canada Day for that holiday and Happy 4th of July for that holiday. They recognized both aboard.

Breakfast at Cagney's again. Yes, we were repeating what we ate at that point, but the food was so good, I didn't really care.

Our twice-daily walk around the ship and... We went in and looked at the library...first time we'd made it there with the attendant on duty, though there were always people in there, day or night...even people sleeping there sometimes. They do have a book exchange area on the Dawn. For those who were asking...no problem. I actually dropped a few books there, so I wouldn't have to carry them home. Why not? It stocks their library a bit and lightens my load on the trip home.

We sat out on Bimini's Grill deck for a while. They weren't open for the day yet, but it has a great view.

DH wanted to go to the Captain & Senior Officers Q&A, but the suite guest information meeting for disembarkation was at the same time. I offered to go to the disembarkation meeting for our cabin, so he could go to the Q&A, but he declined, so we both went to the disembarkation meeting.

We decided to start handing out tips to the butler, concierge, and room steward that day instead of hoping we saw them the next morning. They do offer the option of having the money passed from passenger account directly into staff account at Guest Relations, but we wanted to be sure they got their tips, so we did it by hand. We also filed out Vacation Hero feedback forms on them during the cruise. Honestly, they made nearly everything seamless for us, and that deserved whatever we could give them in return. Our anniversary rocked, thanks to these three people. As I stated in the planning stages, we brought boxes of chocolates aboard for these people, which surprised them. They assumed the chocolates were from our own business and were even more surprised when we told them we bought them from our local chocolatier for them, a fourth generation family-owned business that we adore. Later in the cruise, Virginia's assistant thanked us, since Virginia had shared her chocolates with several other staff members. We also made a habit of leaving small tips for the wait staff and bartenders, and they notice. The service got steadily better all week long and their greetings more personalized, as they got to know us, even if they'd never directly served us before.

We'd become acquainted with the family in the two-bedroom DOS next door to us. When we saw the father at the information meeting, we asked if he would mind showing us the room. Since we're considering going back aboard with our kids, we wanted to see the setup. He showed us his, and we gave him a tour of our DOS. The two-bedroom DOS is IDEAL for our family, since it can comfortably hold six, and I'm glad we got a chance to see it.

We didn't feel like going out for lunch, so we had Maurice bring us Cagney's for lunch. My DH had the French Dip and shrimp cocktail again, and I had the burger and fries. I have to say we found the perfect combination. Dip the white truffle oil fries in the au jus from the French Dip, and you have a winning combination!

That afternoon, a thick fog rolled in. The temperature dropped from the mid 80s to the high 60s over about half an hour. A walk out on the pool deck showed a few die-hards still in the pool or the hot tub, though the fog was washing over the pool deck, the wind was up, the fog was condensing on all the surfaces and being pushed uphill on ramps by the winds... Through the glass walls around the pool deck, you could see nothing but fog, not even the ocean's surface. And the view from our window wall in the DOS went from not being able to see past the forward radar to not being able to see the forward deck to barely being able to see past the railing on the walkway outside our window wall.

The sad moment came, and I had to start packing. I don't think anyone looks forward to that moment. We even joked about hiding under the bed to stay aboard longer, though we know that wouldn't work.

We went to the Star Bar for a while. My DH had discovered it as a quiet reading spot a few days before, and I have to admit he called it right. The seats were comfortable, and it was very nice venue.

The dining rooms were filling up fast for the last night aboard. We'd intended to try Aqua for dinner, but (without even scanning our room card) they handed us a beeper and told us it would be 20 to 30 minutes. We knew we'd be seated faster at Venetian, so we handed over the beeper and went aft to check in. They took our key card, though the greeter knew us already from Cagney's. They gave us a beeper and quoted 10-20 minutes, but they beeped us only a few minutes later, when the podium had cleared out again. We were seated in less than 5 minutes and dining, as we'd suspected we would be when we made the choice to go there.

I ordered the pork chops (excellent), the tempura mushrooms (delicious!), and the no-sugar-added cream puffs with raspberry sauce (decadent! never would have guessed it was no-sugar-added). My DH ordered the veal (the only bad meal we had at Venetian), the seafood chowder (excellent), and the coconut soufflé with mango sauce (fantastic!).

LeepII: I was told dinner would be a breaded veal medallion on a bed of pasta. I got a deep fat fried Steak-Umm. I can honestly say this was the only bad meal I had.

DMLyons: I did a little more packing, and we watched one last DVD movie.

DMLyons: One final breakfast at Cagney's. Oh, am I going to miss those pancakes and smoked salmon.

Virginia made one last check for my camera with the security at the port but, again, no one had turned it in.

Disembarkation is painless, as long as you follow the instructions given to you about it. If you aren't doing easy walk off (carrying all of your own luggage off) and aren't a priority suite guest, be sure to pick out your disembarkation time early and get your luggage tags. We heard grumblings from more than one non-suite guest, because they wanted to get off early and have time in Boston but missed getting the early times, so be first in line if possible to get the tags you want. Suite guests, of course, can get off pretty much any time we want to up to 10 am, and no one foists us out of our suites early as some have complained of.

We pulled in right on time. Though some of the non-US passengers held up the progression of non-US departures by not arriving on time for their immigration clearance and ignoring calls for them to go to it several times in a row (it took six calls to get the last of them to the meeting point), the Priority Easy Off and General Easy Off went off without a hitch and right on time, from what we could see. We went down to Spinnakers for the regular Priority Disembarkation at 8:35. The stated time was 8:50-9:30. By 8:40, they told us the priority luggage was off the ship and ready for pick-up, and we were in the first group escorted by Virginia off the ship. They had several staff members waving non-suite guests trying to jump into our expedited line off, and there were a few dirty looks from other guests about it. You do have to have your room card in hand to swipe off the ship one last time, so you are accounted for in the computer, but you take your card right off with you.

On the way down, an NCL employee asks if you have your customs forms filled out. As long as you do, you proceed down into the building. If you don't, they stop you right there and make you fill out your forms. A group of 20-something guys ahead of us didn't have theirs filled out, so they got stopped there to do it. Always have it filled out in advance to avoid this.

Though they do stop some people at customs for extra inspection, we just handed over our form to the customs officers and walked right through. The luggage is right there at the bottom of the escalator. All told, we disembarked in less than 15 minutes flat, once Virginia called us to get in line to go.

One lesson learned! If you park in the parking lot at Black Falcon, they make you park on 5 or the ramp leading from 4 to 5. For future reference, the elevator is on the opposite side of the structure than the top of the ramp. Always park all the way up on 5 and as close to the elevator as you can find. It makes leaving easier, since you don't have to trek all the way across the roof to get to the ramp down to your vehicle.

General Notes:

DMLyons: In the future, I will bring my own laptop with me. The one that comes in the DOS is hobbled by NCL. For instance, it will not let you open Windows Media Player without signing into your online cache of time and wasting it. There is NO REASON for the computer to be set up that way (I have mine at home set not to do that), and I refuse to waste the time I'm paying for to listen to music I brought aboard with me, which requires no internet to listen to. We were forced to listen to music in the room on my Nook tablet, which is hardly ideal. If NCL insists on hobbling the laptop, they should do away with the little clock on the living room shelf and instead have a combination clock/MP3 player that will take a USB input, so guests can listen to music in the room of their choosing. The small MP3 players like that are not expensive, probably less than the glass/wooden clocks that are there cost.

LOW BRIDGE ALERT! There is a hanging light in the outside corner of the living room/dining room. If you are taller than 5'5" or so, pull the table directly under the light. My DH cracked his head on the light several times before we started doing this. Maurice tried to move the table back to its original position several times, and we had to explain why we kept moving it before he would stop moving it away again.

LeepII: I am former Navy and was at sea for 9 years. I have NEVER seen such blatant irresponsible boating as I did pulling back into Boston. At least 5 different boats just idling in the channel. In one case, the police boat escort had to physically move the boat out of the channel markers when the owner refused to follow directions. I guess it figures. In Mass, can't drive, can't sail either.

Great review! I will be on the Dawn in a week and your review has me even MORE excited (if that were even possible!). I am also happy to see that you enjoyed the swizzle cruise so much, as my boyfriend and I are booked on it for our first night in Bermuda. Thanks so much for sharing your experience and for all of the useful information!

OMG! This is the BEST review ever. We will be in the 2 bedroom in October and have never been on the Dawn. You have laid to rest all the little concerns we had about heat in the rooms, noise, service, restaurants, etc. I was excited before but now I am definitely going on that diet to be able to take advantage of all the great meals you mention and still be able to get into the clothes I'll bring. Clearly this review took a lot of time and effort and I hope others thank you since you have done us a great service! I hope we are the same cruise sometime. If we are, we'll stand you to something at the bar because you have already made our cruise something to look forward to more! Gratefully, margretha:) Oh - and Happy Anniversary!

Thank you so much for your fantastic review. I leave in 20 days and am staying in suite 12000. Your review made me even more excited!:D

I'm going on the dawn in a few days first cruise for me. Your review is wonderfull!

Incredible review! I wish I was in a suite. We leave Friday. Thank you so much.

Hey Justcake,

We will be in 12000 in October. Can you let us know how hot it gets in the master bedroom and whether or not you can actually block out the light? The curtains seem weird in photographs. Gratefully, margretha

One annoyance was that, since the concierge/butlers were only there to properly seat OS/DOS/GV people during the major shows (7 and 9...or some nights 7:15 and 9:15), the people next to us for the Not-So-Newlywed game show (who had already been there for the 7 pm of Second City) took it upon themselves to question whether or not we were really supposed to be in "their seating." I'm sorry, but I found that beyond the pale. Yes, we were supposed to be there, and all that did was give me a really bad impression of those passengers. I was glad when they left at the end of the Not-So-Newlywed game, and we had more pleasant seatmates for the 9 pm Second City show.

I'd have been tempted to respond: "I had considered asking you the same question, but then thought it rude of me to do so." before thinking better of it and responding with a simple "Yes, we are." I can imagine being taken aback by the inquiry at the time.

Thanks for posting the review. It seems there are not many Dawn reviews lately! We leave on the 26th for our first NCL cruise on the Dawn in an Owners Suite so I really appreciate the review!

One question about the captain's party - was it on the first day of the cruise or on the first sea day and what time was it? Thanks so much for the great info

Tammi

Thank you for such a wonderful and in depth review. We go on the 23rd of August and this was perfect!! Truly appreciate all the advice, I even took notes ;)