Dawn Review 1/13-1/20 Pictures, Dailies, Menus

[Mistizoom]

Thanks, all the info and pics are great! Looking forward to the rest of your review!

[clean1owner]

i didnt notice shrimp cocktails on the menu in the MDR. Were there any?

 

 

The only place I saw shrimp cocktails was in Cagney's.

[clean1owner]

Hi- Was your dinner reservations in the main (non-pay) dining room? if so, how do you do this and when can you do this?

Thanks,

Tammi

 

Yes, the reservations were for the MDR. Go to the customer service desk near the atrium. At the far right of the desk is the restaurant reservations desk. I wouold make reservations as soon as possible.

[clean1owner]

Is there still a cinema onboard? If not, was there a daily rotation of movies available in your cabin (for free)?

 

Thanks :)

 

I did not see a cinema. A couple channels on the television showed movies. I couldn't find a schedule to see what was on in advance.

[SyberCat]

Thanks for the great review and pics! We're sailing on the Dawn in November and this is so helpful!

 

Cat

[clean1owner]

Day 5 Costa Maya

 

We had a 9:00 pick up scheduled so we had a quick breakfast in the Garden Cafe. When we got off the ship there was a tram just ready to leave for the end of the pier, so we jumped aboard. Otherwise it's just a 5 minute walk to get to land. We had some extra time before our scheduled pick up, so we shopped around a little whil, then boarded the bus for the beach.

 

Maya Chan

 

If you are ever looking for a place to just sit around and have a lazy day at the beach, Maya Chan is it. You get your own cabana, drinks, food, snorkel gear, water kayack, and floating chairs all for 1 price.

We boarded a bus for a 30 minute ride to the resort. The trip would have been half as long if the road wasn't like the Ho Chi Minh Trail. It had recently rained and when that happens the road washes out pretty bad, and it takes forever for someone to fix it. It is against the law for the residents to do it themselves. Kudos to the bus driver for navigating that road. After arriving we checked in and were led to our cabana. We gave the server our drink order and sat down to relax. Before lunch we made use of the kayacks and the floating chairs. Lunch was served right around noon. It was fresh made tortillas, grilled steak, pork and chicken plus guaccamolie, salsa, sea bass, and I can't remember what all else. It was really good food.

After lunch the girls waded around in the water and I went snorkeling. We just hung around and acted lazy until we caught the 1:45 ride back to the pier.

 

 

Our Cabana

 

 

The View From Inside

 

 

 

Another example of what you might get

 

 

 

 

Once back at the pier we shopped around until about 4:00 and then headed back to the ship. One of the neatest things we saw was a guy using just spray paint and a few tools to make some amazing pictures.

 

After sail away we went to the cabins to get ready for dinner.

[clean1owner]

Costa Maya continued

 

I had the Prime Rib and it was real good.

 

 

 

 

 

After dinner we just bopped around the ship until the White Hot Party started. There was a real good crowd that showed up. I was expecting some more structured activities, but it was just people dancing to what the DJ played.

 

We skipped the shows because neither Greg London nor The Second City really impressed us much the first time we saw them.

 

After the white hot we went back to the cabin and hit the sack.

 

 

[canehdn]

and photos. Thanks for posting. Sounds like you had a great time and what a wonderful graduation gift for your DD and her BFF.

 

Cdn in KC

[kpms]

It's always nice to hear when someone has an amazing vacation.

 

Thank you for sharing your story.

[cruisin0504]

Our first cruise was on the Dawn. I am enjoying your review! Thank you for sharing.

[jackparts]

Appreciate youe review as we will be on the Dawn in November. I was wondering where you found the Maya Chan excursion as I do not see it offered on the NCL website. We did sign up for a beach thing but no food included and was back to the ship at 2pm.

[jdvmd]

Appreciate youe review as we will be on the Dawn in November. I was wondering where you found the Maya Chan excursion as I do not see it offered on the NCL website. We did sign up for a beach thing but no food included and was back to the ship at 2pm.

 

Maya Chan is a private excursion that you book yourself. Google Maya Chan.

[Twelvevman]

Appreciate youe review as we will be on the Dawn in November. I was wondering where you found the Maya Chan excursion as I do not see it offered on the NCL website. We did sign up for a beach thing but no food included and was back to the ship at 2pm.

 

 

Maya Chan is not booked thru the ship. He only allows around 50 people a day total so book early if you want to go. I highly reccomend it. http://costamayabeachresort.com/

[sportygirl731]

I'm right there with you! Really??????? :D:D:D

 

 

ME TOO!!! Yum!!

[c0reyann]

Loving this review and pictures! I'll be sailing on the Dawn in a little over a week and we are also doing Maya Chan, looks fantastic!

[hammsz]

i know what im doing each day now, these dailies wont change much in a month

[clean1owner]

Day 6 Cozumel

 

 

We decided to try the Blue Lagoon for breakfast, and I wasn't real impressed. When our waitress came to the table, by the look on her face and her overall demeanor, I got the feeling she didn't want to be there. On top of that, our order was messed up.

 

We took the ship sponsored excursion to Tulum. The wind was blowing hard and the water was pretty rough, so they gave us 3 chances to cancel out with a full refund. First when waiting in the Stardust for the tour to leave, second when waiting to board the ferry, and third, just before the ferry left the pier. It definitely was a rockin ride. Once on shore in Playa Del Carmen we met with Juan, who was our tour guide for the day. We had to walk about 6 blocks through the business area to catch our bus. Along the way I saw this interesting sign in a store front.

 

 

 

After boarding the bus, we drove about 1/2 hour and stopped at a roadside tourist store. According to Juan, it was our last chance to use a decent restroom. The cynical side of me thinks it's another shop NCL has an "agreement" with, like Diamonds International, etc. I would rather have skipped the stop and either spend more time at the ruins, or get back to the pier earlier. After an approximate 30 minute stop we left for the ruins. From the bus lot to the actual ruins site is a good 1/2 mile walk through a gauntlet of vendors. It's absolutely amazing how much this place has changed since I was there in 1984. Back then there were maybe 6-8 vendors set up in very small booths. Some just had their wares laying on blankets on the ground. Now it's a complete marketplace, including Subway and DQ restaurants.

 

Another change is that you can no longer walk through the actual buildings or caves. When I talked to Juan about this, he said that they were closed off because of the ammount of graffiti that was being left. The tour was very interesting and the views of the ocean were spectacular.

 

 

 

 

After the ruins tour we shopped the vendors until it was time to catch the bus back to the pier.

We had originally planned to rent a car in Play Del Carmen and drive ourselves to Tulum, but we changed our minds at the last minute and I am glad we did. When we got back to the ferry boat pier, the line for the public ferry was very very long. We had priority boarding for a private ferry that got us back to Cozumel earlier than the public ferry.

By the time we got off the ferry, we had 40 minutes before the ship departed, so we hustled into Cozumel to get a couple things before the ship sailed. When we got back to the ship there was a bit of a line to board. The Norwegian Star was moored right next to us, and crewmembers from both ships were out greeting their returning passengers. Music was playing and there was a friendly competition between the crews going on.

 

Dinner was at the Venetian again.

 

Sorry for the fuzzy picture

 

 

The main show was a juggler named Scotty Cavanaugh. We decided to skip it.

At 7:30 was the Chocoholic Buffet. You could really hurt yourself at this thing.

 

 

 

[clean1owner]

Day 6 Continued

 

 

 

After the chocolate feast we went to the Perfect Couple Game Show, which was pretty good. Then the Casino, then to bed.

 

 

[GeneD]

I am really enjoying your trip review and will be on the Dawn to Bermuda in May. Your pictures really are good. What camera are you using for them? I think your daughter and her BF could pass for sisters!

Again thanks for the great review.

[clean1owner]

I am really enjoying your trip review and will be on the Dawn to Bermuda in May. Your pictures really are good. What camera are you using for them? I think your daughter and her BF could pass for sisters!

Again thanks for the great review.

 

 

Funny you should mention that. They were asked all week if they were sisters. The wife and I also had a few people who assumed they were both our daughters.

 

 

The camera is nothing special. It's just a Canon Powershot A630. It's an 8 Megapixel that I really don't use enough to maximize it's full potential.

[jdvmd]

Completely agree with you regarding Blue Lagoon. We have never had a good experience there. Not sure why people love it so much. Service is slow, orders messed up, servers are not smiling, happy or even listen to you. Completely different experience on the Sun and Sky at their version of the comfort food restaurant.

[funredhead]

I've read a few reviews lately that said that the Dawn was tendering in Cozumel. I'm wondering if that was your experience? Thank you. Great review!

[cruising2012]

Great review. So nice of you to share your experience. We have sailed the Dawn in 2012 Boston to Bermuda and will sail again in July. We absolutely love it and I was curious to see where she was sailing these days.

 

Just curious about your reference to eating in Cagney's for breakfast one day. Is there a cover charge to eat breakfast in Cagney's? When we sailed last year it was reserved for suite guests during the morning and lunch hours.

 

Thanks.

[jackparts]

Thanks for the haeds up on Maya Chan. My wife sez she found a site that said the sand was sticky, like peanut butter. Would anyone be able to give a quick review? Already booked a beach getaway with NCL as I couldn't find anything else listed that caught my eye. The NCL beach getaway looked like a 4, but needed something to do in Costa Maya.

[rjm11]

We went to Maya Chan last year and immediately booked it again for this year. It is fantastic.... great food, exceptional service, and gorgeous setting. We did not notice anything different about the sand, and all the beaches are pretty much lined up, so if one area is having an issue (sea grass sometimes comes in) all the beaches will have that issue. They do a fantastic job of trying to rake sea grass, and keep the area great. My kids played in the water all day, and had a blast- no "peanut butter sand". It's very clear water, and was calm when we were there. There were kayaks that you could use (free) floats, floating chairs... they'd even serve drinks to you (included in the price) while you were floating in the water. It was really a class act- we booked again for this year.