The "NEW" Dawn-just back from Boston-Bermuda trip

[Crissy699]

#1-pic of some of the crew from our M&G, Johnny Sanchez the CD is the one on the left with the blue shirt. Captain was just off camera.
#2-far off shot of the Dawn and the RCI Monarch ship butt-to-butt
#3-one of the servers from Moderno
#4-view from the Garden Villa-overlooking the pool
#5-Garden Villa living room

[ShipShape4me]

I am surprised to see the same old sofa in the Garden Villa. It was a bit worn the last time we were on her. It sleeps better than it sits. :-)

[bdl729]

[quote name='FuninWB']Charbie, yes, we had been on the Spirit twice and were really hoping for a duo like Arvin and Emily, but Jose and Patti, whom we were told were equally as good, were not on this cruise. They may be on their two-month hiatus.quote]

I just found out that Jose and Patti will be on the Spirit from their website. See below:

[CENTER][COLOR=#181818][U]We can also confirm that we will be on the Norwegian Spirit from July 17-Sept. 25th. It will be sailing out of New Orleans, so come and sail with us out of the Big Easy..[/U][/COLOR][/CENTER]

[beachlady60]

Thanks Crissy for the quick review and the great pictures.

[fridaythe13th]

This is great! Thanks everyone. I was wondering if anyone took advantage of dropping off their carry-on before the cabins are ready. Where do they do this and is there a huge line?

[Crissy699]

[quote name='fridaythe13th']This is great! Thanks everyone. I was wondering if anyone took advantage of dropping off their carry-on before the cabins are ready. Where do they do this and is there a huge line?[/quote]
They did not offer that this cruise, as the rooms were ready right away, once we got on we were able to go directly to our rooms and drop them off. The people on right now should be able to answer where it is for people getting on with rooms not ready yet. On the Spirit it was the Casino, on the Dawn the Casino is harder to get to after boarding so I dont know if they would have it there.

[CruisinMaterial]

[quote name='bdl729']
I just found out that Jose and Patti will be on the Spirit from their website. See below:


[CENTER][COLOR=#181818][U]We can also confirm that we will be on the Norwegian Spirit from July 17-Sept. 25th. It will be sailing out of New Orleans, so come and sail with us out of the Big Easy..[/U][/COLOR][/CENTER]
[/quote]

I don't believe I have seen these folks before and they'll be on my August 28th sailing on the Spirit so it will be nice to see them. Thanks for the head's up. :)

[muffy168]

[quote name='CruisinMaterial']Do you care where you stay in the Boston area? Is there anything you would like to see in the city before boarding or do you just want to be closest to the ship in the AM?[/QUOTE]

Just hotel not far from port , nice and clean but not too expensive, free shuttle from airport. We are sightseeing afterwards. Any ideas for the 3 post days for sightseeing great too. thanks

[janetz]

[quote name='muffy168']Just hotel not far from port , nice and clean but not too expensive, free shuttle from airport. We are sightseeing afterwards. Any ideas for the 3 post days for sightseeing great too. thanks[/quote]

You will find many threads about hotels in Boston right here. :)

[URL]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=415[/URL]

[darthmikeyd]

I enjoyed this cruise also. We were down on deck 4, in room 4570, right next door to the exit. Made it easy on and easy off, and didn't have any problem with noise from people coming on and off.

I really enjoyed Kenosis. Started calling myself their groupie because I always seemed to end up wherever they were playing!!! There version of I've Got A Feeling was great, and the female singer really nailed the Tina Turner songs she did, in my opinion!!!!

I only had one or two things in the buffet I didn't like. Overall, great food!!!

I met our room steward the first day within an hour of getting into the room. Always came back to the room to have it made and ready after breakfast and in the evening. (Only time this didn't happen was when I forgot to change the sign from do not disturb to make up room!!! Doh!!!)

I even broke even in the casino, I couldn't believe it!!!

My only gripe was the Stardust Theater. The shows were all awesome, not to be missed. However, the seating left alot to be desired. The seats were uncomfortable, and there was no leg room with no place to put drinks. This is the one place they need to take a clue from Carnival. Carnival theatres have small tables and enough room for people to walk down the aisle. Not on the Dawn. This needs to be changed, even if it means closing the theatre for a couple of weeks to make the modifications. Can't believe they would set up the theatre like this. Should have been changed in dry dock.

In all, I could definately see going on the Dawn again. Food was great, service was great, and just an overall great cruise!!!

[gail-s]

Thanks for all of the great information!! I'm looking forward to our trip in a couple of weeks. I've got a couple quick questions.

1 - Which main dining room is more formal and which is more casual?

2 - Does the cigar bar still exist?

3 - Did anyone scan in the kid's club info? DD 9 will hopefully be attending

[fridaythe13th]

Are the hairdryers okay? Also, do the balcony dividers open? TYI :D

[iceman2a]

Thank you Chrissy! Great info!
Happy you enjoyed your cruise! I am eagerly looking forward to next month!
A friend of mine was on this cruise and just stopped by my desk to give me his review, and drop of the freestyle dalies.
I plan on scanning and posting as .pdf. Looking at Tuesday as the day I wil finnish, (won't have much time tonite). I will post back here and provide a link to download them.

[Crissy699]

Mike, I totally agree about the Theater, it was very uncomfortable and no cup holders was awkward! and it was so small, no way all 2000+ passengers could fit in there!

I am going to try reposting the Dailies here in PDF, lets see if this works any better, for those interested! :D

[cooncat_mom]

Beautiful! My old eyes thank you for doing those in PDF! Interesting - looks like Jewish service, but no Sunday service...

[fridaythe13th]

[quote name='Crissy699']Mike, I totally agree about the Theater, it was very uncomfortable and no cup holders was awkward! and it was so small, no way all 2000+ passengers could fit in there!

I am going to try reposting the Dailies here in PDF, lets see if this works any better, for those interested! :D[/QUOTE]

NICE!! Thanks so much! :D

[time2cruise1]

[quote name='Crissy699']Mike, I totally agree about the Theater, it was very uncomfortable and no cup holders was awkward! and it was so small, no way all 2000+ passengers could fit in there!

I am going to try reposting the Dailies here in PDF, lets see if this works any better, for those interested! :D[/QUOTE]

Different ships for different folks. One cruise on the Spirit was enough 9 on the Dawn and one more booked on the New Dawn.

Just a couple of facts. The Stardust Theater on the Spirit holds 899 passengers and on the Dawn 1037 so it is larger. No ship theater can hold all the passengers at one show thus the reason for a late show and early show. On the Dawn that takes care of your 2000 passengers.

[Crissy699]

[quote name='gail-s']Thanks for all of the great information!! I'm looking forward to our trip in a couple of weeks. I've got a couple quick questions.

1 - Which main dining room is more formal and which is more casual?

2 - Does the cigar bar still exist?

3 - Did anyone scan in the kid's club info? DD 9 will hopefully be attending[/quote]

The Venetian, in the rear of the ship, was more formal-no shorts for dinner. Shorts were allowed in Aqua, mid-ship.

Yes, the Havana room is next to the Casino, Le Bistro, La Cucina and Gatsby's on Deck 6 fwd.

Cant answer on Kids club, sorry!

Time2Cruise1-I absolutely LOVE the Spirit and was disappointed by the Dawn, but as you said, different strokes for different folks :D The theater in the Dawn looked to be about half the size of the Spirit-I spent ALOT of time in the theater on the Spirit and it felt much bigger, though I could be mistaken. There is certainly more balcony seating on the Dawn, but seemed to have worse views from them than the Spirit balcony. Not going to argue about it though. Just saying how I felt and perceived things.

[crew mom]

Thanks for taking the time and sharing about your cruise on the Dawn and the drydock refurbishments. I always watch for comments about the entertainment and the theatres so I have to comment that the Stardust on the Dawn has a larger seating capacity than the Spirit. It actually seats about 130 more people. Glad you enjoyed the production shows!

[Husney]

the dallies are great! thanks a million.

[RenieRaider]

Chrissy~

Thanks for the PDF's................. awesome!
Did they have one that gave a View of the Week Ahead? Is so..... please?? :-D

[Crissy699]

[quote name='RenieRaider']Chrissy~

Thanks for the PDF's................. awesome!
Did they have one that gave a View of the Week Ahead? Is so..... please?? :-D[/quote]
I posted the overview on page 1, not as a PDF, that was the only one that was actually readable in that format :D I rescanned them all as PDFs and posted the day 1-7 sheets but the overview one was too big to post for some reason (cc wouldnt let me post it). Let me try again.

[1stcruiser59]

Muffy

Check out the Seaport Hotel. Even though I live outside of Boston I have stayed there and it's very nice. Like everything in Boston it is a little expensive though.

[Sparklyblueyes]

Thanks for posting the dailies in pdf format!! Glad you had a great time on the cruise - can't wait for Friday so I can start mine!:o

[leekel619]

iceman2a posted here, the entire dailies:

[url]http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1425639[/url]

I'm following along with the reviews. We also just got off the Dawn on June 3. Thanks Crissy for organizing M&G and martini clinic! Barb and Tony...THANK YOU for you hospitality!!! The GV was amazing!

(I noticed the day after our martini tasting they had another one in the same spot and that time they each had 6 different versions to taste:) I only counted about 15 or 17 people...)
Embarkation was flawless. We checked our luggage the moment we got dropped off at around 10. Went right upstairs to security. The terminal looks great. Oh, we didn't bring our wine, because we feared a hassle checking it....waiting to pay the fee....But it would have been simple. The guy was right there after you pass the scanners. We all went and sat near the entrance to board and people watched for awhile until our group was called. Its fun seeing the same workers every year.

We had a great time and really loved the ship. They're still working on different areas, like the library for instance is not ready, they used a makeshift area near the internet cafe. At least I read somewhere on here they're making a new library? Near the end of the week we found shortcuts to get there!

I have to say we mostly ate in the buffet. First time ever since we started cruising. We only went to the MDR the first day, twice. After that it was B,L,D in the Garden Cafe and we loved it. We ate very healthy all week, tons of delicious salads with lots of ingredients. Yummy fish. I didn't gain a pound!

I went to a Pilates class while we were at sea and I wasn't impressed so I didn't go to the other two that were offered. I'm addicted to Pilates and I didn't get anything out of that class and I was afraid to spend the money to go again, in case it was the same.

We went to trivia most of the week, in Pearly's. Loved the popcorn and made a special trip over for some every day:rolleyes: You have to ask the bartender. Its not out.

We enjoyed all the shows we saw. At least they were different than the Spirit. We got really tired and bored seeing the same shows year after year.

Chrissy....I SAT in a wet seat in the Stardust one night. Same location. Buckets there the next night and apparently the night before.

We enjoyed the magician (Greg Gleason) and his afternoon card trick show was great.

We made it to the Captain's Wine and Cheese for Latitudes silver and up. That was Sunday, I guess we're usually off the ship. We went to the Latitudes Cocktail reception on Saturday, that was nice too.

On Monday we went on the Rich and Famous Hideaways boat excursion and it was the BEST! Honestly. The places we went to were so lovely and the tour guides were great and full of knowledge. It was about 3 hours long. Less than that, but I forget. It started at 9:45 AM.

Band on the Run was a really good show. I love the bass guitarist!! The Norwegian show band is awesome. They can play anything!

I thought Dave Heenan was great. He has a humor you either love or hate. He came into the buffet alot and had the diners in hysterics. It was almost annoying how they laughed like hyenas.

On Tuesday we went on the 5 hour Island tour. Loved it. We go every year, its always a little different. Always learn something new. We just enjoy the ride and scenery. We get out in St George's for about 50 minutes.

At Sail away in the Garden Villa party we attended, one of the CC members told us they were on a bus coming home from the beach earlier, and a young couple sitting near them, got off the bus and looked around STUNNED that their ship (Enchantment of the Seas) had left without them. Don't know how that happened....but they were a young couple, in their swimwear and cover ups. Their ship had left about an hour earlier. It wasn't even in sight. So that was a talk that got us all crazed during our cocktails. She said they just looked at each other and said, Where's the ship????

We were in 11178, a mini suite with balcony. It was so roomy. It was cozy. We had a tub and I took a deep, stinging hot bath the first night! The hairdryers on the Dawn are great. I didn't even have to bring mine! I never used it. I loved the little vanity area for hair and makeup.

We loved Bollywood. So much to watch and the music was nice.

We didn't get the wine package this year. We made that decision before we even left home, because it was too much to drink all week. With beer and cocktails during the day, it was almost a chore to have to get ready and go to MDR and have our wine:rolleyes:
But this year you have to buy 8-10 bottles to get 20% off. For those of you who do that deal. We'd really be bloated. Because you have to eat a loaf of bread with it:eek:

The buckets of beer are ok. Buy 5 get one free. Mix and match. But the $5 deposit is back. We didn't have it the last couple years. Also, make sure you don't lose the receipt when you pay the deposit. You need it to get the deposit deducted from your Onboard account when you turn the bucket in.

Final night is a little sad but also exciting to get home. Walk off was a breeze. We were off the boat by 8:45. Picked up by 9:00. Home by 9:15. The new escalator to carry your luggage down is flat. So much better than the scary stairs. They still scream KEEP MOVING at the bottom. Wow, once your cruise is over, its over. GET OUT!! GO THAT WAY!! The screaming cops were great directing traffic. Good to be home again.

We enjoyed meeting everyone at our various events. Hope to see you again soon.
Cindy and Ed