The Dawn 1/28-2/8/07 A Great Cruise

The Dawn 1/29-2/8/07 a Great Cruise!

This was our 7th cruise on the Dawn and one of our best!

Embarkation:

We arrived at Pier 90 at 11:15am and headed to the VIP/Latitudes waiting area with our friends. We were traveling with my co-worker, Sharon & her mom, Janet. They had sailed on the Jewel out of Miami last year. Boarding for suites started at 12:45pm, we kept our friends with us and went to check in. We met Claudio on the pier and introduced our friends to him and from then on they were treated like they had a penthouse also.

We boarded at 1:00pm and headed to the Venetian for lunch since our cabins wouldn’t be ready until 2:00pm.

We were in AD Penthouse 10728 in the stern and they were in a BA Cabin 10626 by the mid elevators. We met our Butler, Mark and he filled our fridge with our cruise necessities; tomato juice, bloody mary mix, lemons, olives, hot sauce, pina colada mix and plenty of ice. Our bar set up was in our cabin. Our magic bullet was in my carry-on, so let the party begin.

The Ship:

The Dawn is starting to show here age. There was more rust showing this time than any other time. They were chipping and painting everyday. There were some elevators that suffered cosmetic damage from the previous cruise. Yes, the kids were unruly. I heard many stories from the crew about them and the parents who didn’t care about their behavior. It was still clean and well kept.

They are relaxing the dress code even more thanks to the “Whatever” promotion. No more signs outside the dining rooms with NO JEANS. Just No T-shirts, tank tops or shorts. Optional Formal Nights are now called a night to “dress up”.

The Crew:

They are as friendly as ever and we got to make a few new Dawn Friends this time.

For all of you who know Carol Llavores from the Star Bar. She worked for our Martini clinic, but then was transferred to Topsiders, Gatsby’s and the Casino Bar.

Eka was promoted to a Bar Manager and worked only 3 hours at Topsiders on some days, then ran the wine cellar. We would get to see her after she got off in one of the bars. She’s still telling her stories. If you ever have a problem with a Bar Setup, she’s the one who fills the orders on the ship. Our friends didn’t get theirs, and she got it to them.

Timea B works in the Star Bar and on deck as a waitress. We would hang out in the Star Bar when the Stacy McAdams wasn’t playing in the bar. You don’t need an amplification system for the piano, the room is too small and you can’t have a quiet conversation.

Francisco & Rommel, our cabin stewards. They were fantastic. I never ran out of ice, but then again, I did have two ice buckets.

Claudio Schulze was our concierge for the 5th time. We’re like family he says. He extended all the courtesies to our friends as he did for us. He was fantastic as usual.

He helped our friends with a bar setup problem, a safe problem. They were included in all of our extras. On our last night on the cruise he was notified by Miami that he will be the Concierge on the Gem in September. He deserves it!

The Food:

The food was very good.

We ate in Salsa on the first and last nights. The Atun and Snapper Veracruz are very good.

We dined in Cagney’s and it was very good. Three of us had the Ahi Tuna and it was superb.

We had Sushi on four occasions. They have changed the method of selection, but it’s still all you can eat for $15. On the conveyor are the supermarket sushi items. You have a menu to select from now. We made friends with Renaldo and he made special things for us. We didn’t even have to order.

We had dinner for four in our cabin and Mark did a nice job in getting us everything still hot.

The Bimini Bar still has the best burgers and fries on the ship.

We dined at Le Bistro on our first day at sea coming back and found the food not up to par. The mushroom soup was way too salty as was the fish soup. My wife’s lobster tail was over-cooked and the filet was tough. More about dinner at Le Bistro later because our dinner companion made it special.

The Entertainment:

South Beach Rave & Bollywood are still there. There’s new show, Band on the Run, which was a breath of fresh air. The singers were new to us, but are leaving in a few weeks. Sit in the 4th row center for Bollywood.

Dan Hodge is still on the Dawn and gets to do a one nighter in the Stardust. He’s a great performer. He packs Gatsby’s during the evenings

Gleason Magic is back on the Dawn.

The Freestyle Daily has a brand new format. My wife likes the old one, but I like this one.

The Super Bowl Party in the Spinnaker was a blast. Buckets of Corona and $1.00 Jell-O shots. Sharon, Diane and I went through 3 buckets and 9 shots later, it was over. They served food and dessert there.

The Casino:

The Certified Loose Slots are now gone. They are tighter and it takes time to hit. Overall we broke even. We also found that if you like to pass away the time, play the video poker at the bar. You can play for a long time. My wife kept hitting inside straights, 4 of a kinds and flushes. I told her, dummy, the drinks you pay for. Don’t you think they want you to stay at the bar. We spent 3 hours and 5 bloody marys one morning. We spent $20.00 in the machines, but $40.00 at the bar.

The Ports:

We stopped at Great Stirrup Cay. It was only in the low 70’s that day. We stayed on board. Been there, done that.

Our next stop was Cozumel. We did the Reef Fishing excursion and there were only 10 of us on the boat. The wind was howling and the tide was with us so drifting was impossible. They anchored and my wife and I each caught a fish and one other person. The Corona was dispensed freely and the trip wasn’t a bust.

Next was Belize City, where we did the Belikin Beer & city tour. Our bus driver was excellent. We learned so much about Belize. Our tour of the brewery was very short since they don’t bottle on weekends. Weekends seem to mean Friday-Monday. We were giving 45 minutes to taste the beer and have shrimp and snacks. The beer is very very good. The shrimp are farm raised nearby.

Then it was off to Roatan. We had a Tabyana Beach Party & Snorkel set for then, but Diane had developed a rash from the hot tubs on the Dawn. We had gone in the forward tub on Sunday 1/31. That night she started itching in the Star Bar around 11:30pm. Later that night she broke out all over. We asked a few cruises ago what they use in the tubs and was told it’s not bromide. She had no problems before, so we just assumed. She made it thru the fishing, but the itching was getting worse, so we had Claudio cancel our excursion for Roatan. The sun is no good for rash. Our friends went & said it was beautiful. Sharon also did the Dolphin Encounter. We got off the ship and did some shopping. It was 86 with 100% humidity. Sweating was easy. She finally went to the ship’s doctor after our Belize tour to get some medication.

Next stop Grand Cayman. We all did the Spanish Bay all inclusive getaway. It was the only day we dad a brief period of liquid sunshine. It was overcast while we were there. The resort needs some work. There was s snorkeling area which many used. The pool was nice and the free bar was open. Lunch was included. Not as nice as the one we did in Samana.

Jamaica here we come. We did the Cool Runnings Reggae Party Sail. This was by far our best excursion. The sail included Dun’s River Falls. On the way back the rum punch was flowing and the music was jumping. The wind was up and the waves were splashing the bow of the catamaran. We had the port and shopping consultant on board along with two of the male singers in the Jean Ann Ryan Company. After rumming us up, he took us shopping in Ocho Rios. Last port to shop in.

Overall, we enjoyed our stops at the ports and next time we would like to see more of the country-side

Special Things:

Before we sailed we had contacted Eka and found out that she would be more behind the scenes and less in public so it would be hard for us to meet up. Thanks to Carol, Timea and Claudio we were able to see her after her shift, as they would let her know where we were. I had told her that we would like to take her out to dinner one night and she asked her boss Tony and he said it would be fine. We would eat in Le Bistro on the first sea day back to NYC. She would get out of work early and meet us at Gatsby’s for a drink before dinner. Little did we know that this was big thing. Every time, we would see her boss, he would tell us that it was okay and even showed me the request form. Claudio called Eka four or five time on that day to make sure she would be dressed up, on time and to behave. Forget the behaving, that’s why we love her.

9:00pm comes and she meets us at Gatsby’s all dressed up and ready to party and orders a Lemon Grove martini. We sit and talk for a while and all the staff are wondering who we are. We go to Le Bistro and the Matre d and waiters do a double take. So we ask her why everyone is looking at us. Eka tells us that this doesn’t happen very much with the crew eating with the passengers. Both Eka and I order the mushroom soup and both agree that it is too salty. I order the fish stew and it was gorgeous, except it was saltier that the soup. Eka notices that I am having a hard time eating it and goes to see the Matre d and she asks if I would like something else. I had the turbo as Eka did and it was very good. My Wild Turkey and Coke kept getting filled. Diane and Eka ended dinner with the Chocolate Fondue and I had the Crème Bruele. It’s now 11:45pm and time to pay the bill. Eka had already taken care of it. So I left a giant tip. Now they’re definitely wondering who we were.

She came back to our cabin to see our video of our 2 month old grand daughter. We walked her to the front of the ship and said goodnight. She was off to the crew bar.

She is very special to us.

Disembarkment:

We arrived in NYC at 9:00am. Claudio called and told us that we would be getting off at around 10:00am and to meet in the Stardust. Sharon & her mom were there before us. A couple in front of us was complaining that the Express People were getting off before us. Don’t they realize that our bags have to be off-loaded before we can get off? I would rather have VIP Dismemberment than Express any day.

Said goodbye to Claudio and gave him all my envelopes to give to my friends on the Dawn and said we hope to be back before he goes to the Gem.

Overall:

Traveling with Sharon & her mom was a pleasure. We had many laughs on the cruise and have the pictures to prove it. The weather was great. A little cold until GSC and a tad rough on the way back with the 70 kts winds. We both agreed we would do this itinerary again.

A scoop, look for the Dawn to do Boston to Bermuda in the future and freestyle to become even more relaxed.

Diane is working on posting the cruise pictures to her Webshots link

Happy Sailing,

Diane & Monty

Hi Monty, we had a great cruise too. We were right next to your friends cabin. We had a great time too. I loved the Dawn but we were so excited we did not book the week before. My kids would have hated that!

Thanks Monty, I have been looking forward to your review, sounds wonderful!

Hi Monty, we had a great cruise too. We were right next to your friends cabin. We had a great time too. I loved the Dawn but we were so excited we did not book the week before. My kids would have hated that!

Yes, it was a great cruise and thank god we didn't book the cruise before or after. The Dawn now has Azipods problems. We sailed in Dec 2004 with Azipod problems and were late getting to most of the ports and had to leave early to get back to NYC.

They enjoyed your door decoration, it made finding their room easier.

Happy Sailing,

Monty

Thanks Monty for the review. I was really looking forward to your impression of the Dawn compared to last year. (and I was wondering where your review was. I was beginning to get worried about you, hoping you weren't sick) If what you say is true about the Dawn coming to Boston I will be the happiest person in the world. Just think, the Dawn will be 7 minutes from my house.

Thank you for the great review of the Dawn. I'm a new poster here and will be a first time traveler on NCL in March. Have sailed on RCCL and Celebrity in the past and am very, very excited about trying NCL. I have a question though and I just know that someone will have an answer for me. We are traveling in a Penthouse and I understand that there is a different check in area for this. Do I have to check in somewhere first, or do I proceed directly to the lounge and do all the paperwork etc. there? I'm so confused!

Thank you all in advance for your input. Can't wait to sail on the Dawn! Everyone seems to rave about her. Three weeks to go and counting! Cindy

Thank you for the great review of the Dawn. I'm a new poster here and will be a first time traveler on NCL in March. Have sailed on RCCL and Celebrity in the past and am very, very excited about trying NCL. I have a question though and I just know that someone will have an answer for me. We are traveling in a Penthouse and I understand that there is a different check in area for this. Do I have to check in somewhere first, or do I proceed directly to the lounge and do all the paperwork etc. there? I'm so confused!

 

Thank you all in advance for your input. Can't wait to sail on the Dawn! Everyone seems to rave about her. Three weeks to go and counting! Cindy

There is a VIP Waiting area at the pier. It is upstairs above the seating for early checkin. Just tell them you are in a penthouse and they will show you where to wait. When it's time to checkin, you will be the first people escorted to the checkin & then see the Concierge for your cabin cards. Your cabin will not be ready until 2:00-3:00pm. Go to the Venetian for lunch. It's located in the stern deck 7, next to the Galleria Gift shop.

You're gonna love the Dawn.

Happy sailing,

Monty

Monty, did you notice any changes to the butler room service menu??

 

I would rather have VIP Dismemberment than Express any day.

 

 

A scoop, look for the Dawn to do Boston to Bermuda in the future

The first is a great idea.

The second made my day.:D

Thank you for the review Monty.

We will be on the Dawn, in an AB, for the first time in August and then again in October.

Thanks for the scoop about the Dawn replacing the Majesty in the future. We are from the Boston area and really hope that the Dawn will be coming our way.

Monty, did you notice any changes to the butler room service menu??

Yes, they redesigned it using the new fish logo and new colors. You can still order anything you want, just write it in. My wife fell in love with the Salmon Eggs Benedict.

We had the cruises menus in our cabin and had dinner with our frinds in the cabin one night. Sure missed the Owner's Suite dining area on this cruise.

The Freestyle Dailies are a new design also. Of the 11 Dailies, Evennig Attire was listed on only 3 of them Twice was "it's a night to dress up" and one other was "resort casual". The dress code is no longer listed in the Daily either.

Happy Sailing,

Monty

Thanks for the great review. Weare sailing on the Dawn on 3/11/07. We also hope to see some of the crew from last year.

Did you notice any early bird specials for the Specialty restaurants?

We are on the Dawn 5/19.

I have a menu question. Is there a steak and/or chicken option on the menu's in the dining room's. On the Spirit in Aug there was alway a steak or chicken avalible.

We are on the Dawn 5/19.

 

I have a menu question. Is there a steak and/or chicken option on the menu's in the dining room's. On the Spirit in Aug there was alway a steak or chicken avalible.

 

 

Here's a link to the menus

http://community.webshots.com/user/angeljt

I think you can always order steak or chicken the main dining rooms anyway.

Happy Sailing,

Monty

Welcome home, Monty & Diane!!!

Sounds as if you had another fantastic cruise. (I knew you would) It does have a lot to do with attitude, and you both have great ones!

What a treat for all of you to be able to enjoy a dinner with a favorite crew member. I'm sure Eka was thrilled, as were you two.

You made my day telling me that the Dawn will do the Boston to Bermuda run. I will miss the Majesty, but we also love the Dawn and it is very convenient for us. We're talking about moving back to the Boston area soon, and this will be an added treat.

Your new Grandbaby is adorable. I love the pictures of Mom & Dad looking at their new baby. So sweet! I hope you're enjoying little Olyvia Emily and look forward to seeing more of her pics.

Jackie

If what you say is true about the Dawn coming to Boston I will be the happiest person in the world. Just think, the Dawn will be 7 minutes from my house.

The second made my day.:D

Thanks for the scoop about the Dawn replacing the Majesty in the future. We are from the Boston area and really hope that the Dawn will be coming our way.

Me too, me too, me too!!! :D :D :D

Thank you, Monty, for posting another great review. It sounds like you and Diane had another interesting adventure. Poor Diane! Hope she's feeling better and the rash has cleared:eek:

What a great experience for you guys and Eka to be able to have dinner together. It's a great compliment for all involved that it was arranged so nicely.

I am so looking forward to seeing Claudio again on May 12th. Will he be taking any vacation before he goes to the Gem?

You mentioned that we should look forward to Freestyle becoming even more casual. Do you have any specifics as to when or what?:D

Monty,

Thanks for your wonderful and thorough review.

How great that you spent time with Eka, considering that she's no longer out in public much. I was hoping that she would be able to tell my husband her sad :( husband story when we cruise on the Dawn in June. It will only be authentic if he hears it first hand....I wouldn't even attempt to relay it! I guess we'll have to keep a close watch for her, even if it's only for 5 minutes.

Looking forward to your pics. DH and I will be in an AD suite in June for our first cruise together. I take it you were happy with it.

Not sure if you've replied to this age old question in past threads, but since you are such an expert and I've read so much conflicting advice about it, can you tell me once and for all what and when is the best way to order the bar setup? It appears cruisers have hit glitches no matter how they've done it. I'd rather have no glitches, if possible. (Any and all advice welcome between now and June. ;))

Thanks again for your review. We've been waiting and waiting for it......and I'm jumping for joy that June 9 is on its way!

And I sure wish big sis, Cosmopolitan, and her hubby were going to be joining us! Guess we'll have to wait to share the fun and excitement with them some other time. (heavy sigh) I'm sure your friends were thrilled to be with you and Diane. The only way a cruise can be an even better vacation is to share it with some fun companions.

Welcome back and keep counting the days until your next cruise. :)

I am happy to hear that the Dawn may be doing the Boston/Bermuda run. When I saw that I searched the NCL boards and found the thread below. It talks about the issues with St George and Hamilton and the size of the ships.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=388047&highlight=george+harbor+turning+majesty

As I read the thread I found the link below. It is a link from a BTN News page about a study on Bermuda and cruise ships. A I read it the one point seems to come out, they want to do work to the Dock Yards and not tounch the habor of St George of Hamilton.

Looks like if the Dawn is going to replace the Majesty, its port will be the Dock Yard. That is SAD, I like St George. The study is from June of 2006.

http://www.bnt.bm/News_and_Events/documents/CruiseshippressreleaseJune13.pdf

They enjoyed your door decoration, it made finding their room easier.

Happy Sailing,

Monty

The boys love the door decoration. It helps them find it too. So many people loved it. LOL

Thanks for the great review. Weare sailing on the Dawn on 3/11/07. We also hope to see some of the crew from last year.

nylawman - please come join our roll call!!! Only 3 weeks till we sail on the Dawn!

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=350307&page=22

Monty - Great review, thank you for getting us in the mood.... :)

This was our 7th cruise on the Dawn and one of our best!

Monty - Great review, thank you for getting us in the mood.... :)

He sure does get us in the mood for another cruise, doesn't he!!! And so do Diane's pictures... Waiting patiently. ;)

Jackie

He sure does get us in the mood for another cruise, doesn't he!!! And so do Diane's pictures... Waiting patiently. ;)

Jackie

Jackie, thanks for posting the Western Carib. menus. It made dinner decisions very easy