Has anyone cruised on the Dawn recently?

Was wondering if anyone has cruised on the Dawn the last few weeks this summer? I haven't seen many posts about people's experiences on the ship and was hoping to hear everyone's thoughts. We are cruising on her in a couple of weeks and hope it is as great for us this time as it has been in the past. Thanks.

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Was wondering if anyone has cruised on the Dawn the last few weeks this summer? I haven't seen many posts about people's experiences on the ship and was hoping to hear everyone's thoughts. We are cruising on her in a couple of weeks and hope it is as great for us this time as it has been in the past. Thanks.

 

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I know people who sailed a few weeks ago and loved it, and some who sailed last year and said the same. I am also going in a couple of weeks (8/17) and can't wait to see all the upgrades since I was on last time in 2014.

I got off the Dawn last Friday. If you have any specific questions, I'd be happy to respond. I found the crew friendly and main dining room service more prompt than in my 4 previous cruises on her.

How were the shows? Comedians? Cruise director?

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The roll call for 8/17 is one of the quietest one I have ever seen. We might be the only ones on the ship! LOL

We were on the 7/6 sailing and had a wonderful experience! We ate most dinners in Aqua and had wonderful service, and our dinner at Bamboo was fantastic! We sailed with our one year old, so I can't speak to a lot of the activities, but Elements was amazing, and there was a production show of songs through the decades that was really good too (sorry, I don't remember the name of it). We also enjoyed listening to the music in Gatsby's (by the casino and cigar bar). Overall, we had a great time, and I didn't want the cruise to end!

Nice to hear some updates about the Dawn. We will be on her again in early September. This will be our first time sailing out of Boston so we are looking forward to that too.

Thank you for the info. How were the bands at the pool and at the different venues on board?

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Was wondering if anyone has cruised on the Dawn the last few weeks this summer? I haven't seen many posts about people's experiences on the ship and was hoping to hear everyone's thoughts. We are cruising on her in a couple of weeks and hope it is as great for us this time as it has been in the past. Thanks.

 

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well certainly not in the past few weeks, but in the past few months. As for being great, so/so or not so good, I haven't been as impressed with a cruise as I was with the Dawn in years. We love the size of the ship: we loved the entertainment, even found a go to bar, which is not us and we had the best service we have had in God only knows how long. We had servers come up to us and tell us they remembered us from such and such a cruise a year ago. We had one gal remember us, by name, from our first day on the ship when we ate lunch in O'Sheehans. We felt like we were royalty.

We found everything about her an improvement over our first sailing on her about 4 or 5 years ago. We now have our Feb 10 day cruise booked on her.

I see someone made a comment about their roll call: It seems roll calls are just not going as well as they did in the past. We have noticed a slow down in the past few cruises and for certain, the Dawn was the worst we have seen, but this is another topic altogether.

Funny you asked about the music, because that was one area I would say there had been a decline overall. With the renovations to the ship, the musician in Gatsby's is now in a corner with a low ceiling over him. He was a guitarist who also sang, not particularly well IMHO. There was a pool band that played typical Caribbean music - nice to listen to. One night in Bermuda there was a rock band from Manila that I just kept walking by - kind of screaming with the female singers up front jumping up and down. But everyone's taste varies in music. There was also a band that played the old standards kind of music, which I, being of a certain age, enjoyed.

How were the current singers/dancers in the shows? Are they new this year? Are they talented?

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Shows really well attended and enjoyable, although if you've seen Second City before, it's the same schtick.

Second City stopped last year -- unless they're back?

I was on the Dawn in June and had a great time. Only caveat I would give is that if you want specialty dining, book ahead of time. The concierge was not able to get us any reservations before 8 pm in Cagneys all week, and had a tough time adding two people to our already booked meals at Le Bistro and Moderno at 6 and 6:30 on different nights.

At first we just figured they were super booked (which is what he said) but when we went to both Le Bistro and Moderno, there were fewer than 5 tables full in each restaurant, and maybe up to 7 or 8 when we left both places an hour later.

Maybe there was some weird staffing freakiness going on that they were covering up for or something, but it made no sense to me that these top restaurants were half empty at peak times and we literally did not end up using our (free as perk) 3 meal dining plan at all because supposedly the entire ship was "booked solid for the week." (Used our platinum vouchers for the other meals)

We cruise enough that the food aspect isn't paramount, so it wasn't an enormous loss, but had I spent money for the meal plan (come to think of it I did, since I paid the tax!!), or looked especially forward to special meals, I would have been really disappointed/angry. So even though you may not know what you will want any particular day, book something at a time you like anyway - you can always cancel!

Funny you asked about the music, because that was one area I would say there had been a decline overall. With the renovations to the ship, the musician in Gatsby's is now in a corner with a low ceiling over him. He was a guitarist who also sang, not particularly well IMHO. There was a pool band that played typical Caribbean music - nice to listen to. One night in Bermuda there was a rock band from Manila that I just kept walking by - kind of screaming with the female singers up front jumping up and down. But everyone's taste varies in music. There was also a band that played the old standards kind of music, which I, being of a certain age, enjoyed.

Funny, Gatsby's is the bar of our choice and love the music plus the wonderful bar service. Between Gatsby's and the atrium we didn't even have to search out other entertainment.

As for booking specialty dining we just waited until we got on the ship, and booked that afternoon. We didn't get the exact time we wanted but got within about 1/2 hour o the perfect time for us.

I was on the Dawn in May and am cruising on the Dawn again in Sept. I loved Manilla Soul and am hoping they will still be onboard. I think Jose and Patti will be back onboard in late August. Luz the CD at the time did a great Tina Turner Tribute.

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We sailed on the Dawn in June out of Boston. Great staff and entertainment. Made reservations for Specialty Restaurants 3 month ahead. The cruise director was great as was all the staff. Dawn has been refurbished, and is a smaller ship, which we like. Had a great time.

I’m on the 8/17 Dawn cruise to Bermuda too! So excited to see what the ship is like. I’ve only been on the Jade before.

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We are on the July 10th sailing. We'll keep the ship in good shape for you.

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Did everyone getting back on the Dawn's trip to Bermuda today (8/3) enjoy the ship?

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I see someone made a comment about their roll call: It seems roll calls are just not going as well as they did in the past. We have noticed a slow down in the past few cruises and for certain, the Dawn was the worst we have seen, but this is another topic altogether.

I think the Book of Faces is rapidly taking on this duty, unfortunately. I see a LOT of traffic on the FB pages for all kinds of NCL cruises. Sigh.

-- Michael

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We cruised Dawn out of NOLA just after her dry dock. Had a great time on the ship and enjoyed some of the new venues (Los Lobos especially).

well certainly not in the past few weeks, but in the past few months. As for being great, so/so or not so good, I haven't been as impressed with a cruise as I was with the Dawn in years. We love the size of the ship: we loved the entertainment, even found a go to bar, which is not us and we had the best service we have had in God only knows how long. We had servers come up to us and tell us they remembered us from such and such a cruise a year ago. We had one gal remember us, by name, from our first day on the ship when we ate lunch in O'Sheehans. We felt like we were royalty.

 

We found everything about her an improvement over our first sailing on her about 4 or 5 years ago. We now have our Feb 10 day cruise booked on her.

 

I see someone made a comment about their roll call: It seems roll calls are just not going as well as they did in the past. We have noticed a slow down in the past few cruises and for certain, the Dawn was the worst we have seen, but this is another topic altogether.

You give me so much hope! Thanks for your positive post. We are trying Norwegian next month for the very first time. Although I do not expect to be treated like royalty, just having great service and finding a go-to bar for the first time would make my heart so very happy! :cool:

Los Lobos on the Dawn is amazing. Anyone have any recent reviews of the Dawn to Bermuda?

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Was wondering if anyone has cruised on the Dawn the last few weeks this summer? I haven't seen many posts about people's experiences on the ship and was hoping to hear everyone's thoughts. We are cruising on her in a couple of weeks and hope it is as great for us this time as it has been in the past. Thanks.

 

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No, no one has ever done that. She has always sailed empty those cruises. ;p

I was on the Dawn in May and am cruising on the Dawn again in Sept. I loved Manilla Soul and am hoping they will still be onboard. I think Jose and Patti will be back onboard in late August. Luz the CD at the time did a great Tina Turner Tribute.

 

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Luz, does do a good job as Tina Turner, but other than that, she was about the only downside of our cruise. I didn't care for her as the CD. of course I didn't care for the one on our cruise on our previous cruise either. Maybe I am getting old and grouchy!!!!