Teen's Review of NCL Dawn cruise 3/24-3/31

[cruiser1955a]

To post pictures, you need to upload them to a free photo service (i.e. photobucket). From there you can copy & paste the "image code" or "URL" for each picture, to your posting on Cruise Critic.

 

Great review !

[live_to_cruise]

To post pictures, you need to upload them to a free photo service (i.e. photobucket). From there you can copy & paste the "image code" or "URL" for each picture, to your posting on Cruise Critic.

 

Great review !

 

Thank you so much! I'll upload them as soon as I can!

[live_to_cruise]

I apologize for how long this is taking! Between school and sports, I'm having trouble to find time to post! Anyways, here are pictures for Day 1

 

Day 1- Embarkation (Pictures)

 

Our beautiful Dawn:

 

 

 

Our cabin 4520 (Porthole Oceanview) (Sorry for the messy beds!):

 

 

 

Surf and Turf at the Venetian:

 

 

 

View of the Teen Club from bean bag chairs on dance floor:

 

[live_to_cruise]

Day 2- At Sea- Pictures

 

A cute towel animal with a time reminder:

 

 

My family on Optional Formal Night:

 

Sitting on one of the many window seats (really nice) on Deck 7 (I'm wearing one of my dinner outfits from another night):

 

 

Additional Teen Club pictures:

 

 

[cruiser1955a]

Great pictures. You should show your review to your english teacher for extra credit.

[didytak]

Thanks for posting your review! Looking forward to more installments :)

[live_to_cruise]

Great pictures. You should show your review to your english teacher for extra credit.

 

Thank you! Unfortunately, I don't have English this semester :/ but I am planning to major in Communications, or something with English in (eventually) college, so I figured this might be good practice!

[live_to_cruise]

DAY 3- ROATAN, HONDURAS

 

We docked in Roatan at about 9:00. I was up and running early again at about 8:00, grabbed a banana from the Garden Café (already crowded), then went to the fitness center. Afterwards, I ate breakfast with my family at the Garden Café, then we went into the port. In the Garden Café, before we left, there were crew members selling water packages; we bought the one that gives you 6 LARGE Aquafina bottles of water for $21. We felt that this was a good idea, since you’re not supposed to fill water bottles from the Garden Café, but I did see some people doing so at the Fitness Center fountain.

Once you get off the ship, there are the usual optional picture opportunities with a parrot, pirate, etc. Then, there is a shopping area with carts of souvenir-type items. The sellers would always ask, just say no in a friendly way, and they’ll leave you alone. A side note: If you go past the port/welcome area, and into the town where the locals live, it is extremely poor.

 

 

Before the cruise, I researched for our in-port activities, and I decided that it would be fun to go to West Bay Beach. I read that we would need to take a taxi, but my family likes to walk, so we attempted at doing so…NOTE: You CAN NOT walk to West Bay Beach. We ended up having to take a taxi, for the 5 of us squished in a small car it was $25 each way, but we bargained for $20 each way. We found an area of free beach in between all of the beaches you had to pay for. There were snorkel rental stands, but the equipment looked a little sketchy, so we decided just to swim and lay out. The beach was very crowded, and there were MANY men, women, and children trying to sell things to the beach-goers. We had an awkward situation where a woman asked my mom if she wanted a free massage demo, my mom said no, but the woman proceeded to slop oil on my mom’s back and give her a massage anyways. The rest of us found this quite hilarious! To avoid this from happening, I just put my sunglasses on and pretended to be asleep, and they let me be J.

 

 

We took the taxi back, shopped around for a bit, took some pictures, then headed back on board. You always get off and return to the ship on Deck 4, our stateroom floor. This was handy because our cabin was always just right down the hall! It was my Mom’s birthday, so when we returned our cabin steward had left a birthday cupcake for her and a card from the Hotel Staff!

 

 

We left Roatan around 5:00. We arrived for dinner at 5:45 at the Venetian and boy, was the boat ROCKING! This was my 4th cruise, and I have never felt seasick before, except for tonight. I have never felt a ship rock this much before! During dinner I put SeaBands on, and Eucalyptus oil drops behind my ears, but I still didn’t feel well. Our waitress, Rachel, was awesome! (So great that we requested her every night for the rest of the cruise) Her and her assistant, as well as some other waiters/waitresses sang happy birthday to my Mom, and brought her a small cake, which was very nice.

After dinner, I had about 40 minutes before I was supposed to meet my friends, so I laid in bed and chewed SeaBands brand ginger gum, which really helped. This gum works miracles, for I was up and running in about 35 minutes, not feeling sick at all!

 

 

Along with the really bad rocking, it was EXTREMELY windy out on the top deck (12), and Deck 7, which were both “closed off” at the time because of the winds. Lots of water had escaped from the pool. Some of my friends felt sick as well, so I ended up passing my SeaBands around the group. We just laid on the bean bag chairs for a while and took pictures, hoping our seasickness would eventually wear off, which it did. We went out to walk around the top deck, which was still really windy, but this made it fun! We were being pushed around by the wind and we attempted playing basketball, which was interesting. Later on, we went back to the Teen Club to the dance party, which was actually more fun with all the rocking, even though we all fell into each other.

 

 

I realized that I didn’t post much about our cabins! With the 21 and older in cabin rule, we booked my Dad and one brother in an inside (8523), and my Mom, other brother, and myself in an oceanview (4520), but we got extra room keys for everyone at Guest Services so everyone had access to both rooms, and put my two brothers in the inside, and my parents and I in the oceanview. Both of the rooms are considered Forward, but were very close to the elevators, so I guess you could say they were close to being Mid-Ship. Cabin 4520 was great, especially with the rocking; being on the bottom, you don’t feel it as much. I had a pull-out bunk-bed and at night, so I could watch the waves crash next to our ship, from my bed (really cool!).

 

 

Native women greeting us with (I'm assuming) traditional song and dance:

 

The port/docking Welcome Area:

 

 

Us trying to walk (note the tired faces!):

 

 

West Bay Beach (Lots of overcast today):

 

 

Posing with the Dawn:

 

 

 

Special Birthday treatment for my Mom:

 

[hartsnvt]

I am very impressed with your review and so pleased that you have written this for other teens to read as there is virtually nothing here written by a teen . Love your pics and writing style as both are very entertaining! I agree that you need to somehow print it out for a future assignment! Looks like you have a bright future ahead of you!

Smooth sailing!

[live_to_cruise]

I am very impressed with your review and so pleased that you have written this for other teens to read as there is virtually nothing here written by a teen . Love your pics and writing style as both are very entertaining! I agree that you need to somehow print it out for a future assignment! Looks like you have a bright future ahead of you!

Smooth sailing!

 

Thank you so much! I really appreciate all of the positive feedback, and am glad that I can help other teens out!

[mom2sons]

Nicely done. We are considering the Epic for spring break 2014 but I am enjoying your review so much I may have to look at the schedule for the Dawn.

 

I agree with the others, your review is well thought out and really very helpful to all, not just teens, but it certainly is nice to know what teens can look forward to. I am really enjoying all of the little details you've added.

 

I'm also really impressed with all of the research you did before your cruise. How wonderful that your family was onboard for you to do so much planning. My boys are 16 and 23 and I don't think I would let them have the task of doing the vacation planning, lol.

 

I'm looking forward to your next installment.

 

Shara

[live_to_cruise]

Nicely done. We are considering the Epic for spring break 2014 but I am enjoying your review so much I may have to look at the schedule for the Dawn.

 

I agree with the others, your review is well thought out and really very helpful to all, not just teens, but it certainly is nice to know what teens can look forward to. I am really enjoying all of the little details you've added.

 

I'm also really impressed with all of the research you did before your cruise. How wonderful that your family was onboard for you to do so much planning. My boys are 16 and 23 and I don't think I would let them have the task of doing the vacation planning, lol.

 

I'm looking forward to your next installment.

 

Shara

 

Thank you for the positive response! The Dawn is a great ship, with a great intinerary. I'm glad you're enjoying!

[live_to_cruise]

DAY 4- BELIZE CITY, BELIZE

 

I did my usual routine of breakfast and fitness center, and then my family went to get ready to go into the port. We booked the BACAB Eco Park Jungle Bike Tour through NCL, on our second day on the ship. It was really a great excursion that combined the rainforest, exercise, relaxation, and food. We each got a yellow ticket. This was a tender port. Many people had to go to the Stardust Theater and get a tender ticket, with a number, and wait for the number to be called over the loudspeaker. Since we had booked an excursion through NCL, we did not need to do so; we asked a crew member where to go, and she led us to an area of stairs (I believe on Deck 5), with others who had NCL excursions around the same time as us. The tender ride was about 10-15 minutes. The port area was nice, with many shops and bars. We were directed to an area for the BACAB Eco Park Tours; this group also had horseback and kayak tours. Our bike tour was called after about 15 minutes; we were told to meet at 10:50am. We boarded an older, but nice, coach bus, with air conditioning, and met our tour guides, Marlena, and Darren, who were fantastic! It was about an hour-long bus ride to the Eco Park, and during this, Marlena gave us a tour as we drove through Belize City. We finally arrived at the Eco Park, and were given a quick tour of the facilities. There is a nice pool area with tables and chairs, some gift shops, and a large area with a bar, an eating area, and lockers/bathrooms.

 

We had been notified (in the info. about the excursion) that there would be many mosquitoes, and were encouraged to wear long clothing and insect repellent. My mom and I did so, but most of the others just wore long sleeves and shorts. I’m not sure about everyone else, but my mom and I didn’t get any mosquito bites (thankfully!).

 

Everyone who had booked the Bike Tour was either a passenger from the NCL Star or Dawn, and this is how they split us up. The group from the Star was given an hour and a half of pool/lunch time, while the Dawn passengers were on the bike tour, then we switched.

 

The group from the Dawn was led to a small bike shack, which had small and large mountain bikes, and beach cruisers. We all chose a bike, and no one was required to wear helmets (there were no children under 14, and there was only one other teenager other than my brothers and I). They had us ride in a single-file line. We (my family) ride our bikes A LOT at home, on nature trails, so we are all very experienced riders. The issue was that we got behind a person who was having a harder time navigating the bike and had to stop multiple times, while everyone else who had been in the front got to continue. It was fine in the end, as the group stopped and waited for everyone along the way, but it was kind of hard to keep your momentum going. If you are experienced, I would recommend trying to get a spot closer to the front, my brothers love to speed ahead of everyone and said it was faster at the front of the line. I wouldn’t suggest this to any young kids, or people who aren’t experienced bike riders, as there are branches and other obstacles along the trail, which is very narrow.

 

About 2/3 of the way through the tour, we stopped at a large tree and Darren taught us many facts about it and answered any wildlife questions we had. He let people climb a vine hanging from the tree, and pose for pictures (some of us just climbed up a foot and pretended like we were higher up, for the picture ;) ). Our guides also let us eat nuts that were found on the ground, a type of Brazilian nut, which was very cool!

 

After the bike tour was over, we changed into our swimsuits and went to lunch. Lunch was very good, a small buffet-style traditional Belizean meal, with very good fruit juice. We took our lunch out to a table by the pool and it was very tasty. It was pretty cloudy where we were, but the sun peaked out a bit so we could lounge by the pool, before heading back to the port on the coach bus.

 

We quickly bought some souvenirs at the shops. I bought some nail polish from the Del Sol store, hoping it would be cheaper than those sold in the store on the ship; it wasn’t, they all cost $10, but the Del Sol store had more polish colors than the ship store did.

 

Then we had to wait in a very long line for the tender. There were many bars and shops next to the line, though, so people were going back in an out. I lucked out and got into the line the same time as one of my friends, so that helped pass the time. Also, there was fun music playing, so my friend and I were dancing away, we got some weird looks, but hey, it’s vacation!

 

I have to say that this night was probably my most favorite night of the whole cruise!

 

We headed to the Venetian for our 5:45 dinner, and I had the beef empanada, roasted pork loin, strawberry sherbet, and yup, you guessed it, cheesecake! It was all great! One night, I can’t remember if it was this night or the night before, the Chef’s Specialty, I believe, was gnocchi. It was brought to us by accident, but it was AMAZING! Gnocchi are almost like tiny little pirogues, I highly recommend them! Our waitress, Rachel, reminded us to go to the White Hot Party, which was on the Pool Deck at 10:30 and to the Chocoholic Buffet in the Garden Café after dinner.

 

There were White Hot Party shirts being sold in the gift shop for $15, and they were going quick! I went to get one the next day, and they were all sold out. If only there was a way to buy one online…*sigh*. Anyways, the chocoholic buffet was one of the very few disappointments of the cruise. I have to say, this is one area where RCI has NCL beat. RCI has a Midnight Buffet, on the pool deck, with all kinds of foods and desserts, where NCL’s chocoholic buffet is on one side of the Garden Café, from around 7-9, with very long lines and all chocolate products (some were vanilla and strawberry). RCI’s midnight buffet had ice sculptures and chocolate sculptures, and NCL’s had only a few chocolate sculptures, though this doesn’t really affect my view. I’m not a chocolate person myself (I had strawberry ice cream and a vanilla rice treat), but my friends who tried the chocolate products didn’t like them very much. I’m not sure if it was too rich or too bland.

 

My friends and I, all decked out in white clothes for the White Hot Party hung out in the Teen Club until 10:30, when the whole Teen Club went to the White Hot Party as a group, as we got to dance on the stadium-type seating area of the pool deck, with all of the White Hot dancers, in front of everyone. This was a BLAST! There were people of all ages dancing and having a great time; it was probably one of my highlights of the cruise! At 11:30, the Teen Club had its own White Hot After Party, which wasn’t as fun as the other dances, because not many teens felt like dancing. I’m guessing this is because we all went crazy at the White Hot Party! My friends and I hit the Blue Lagoon, then went to bed.

 

Some of my friends and I, all geared up for the White Hot Party:

 

Chocoholic Buffet Sculptures:

 

Our Dawn (view from tender boat):

 

Pulling into the port of Belize:

Comparison of NCL to RCI Dining:

 

Overall, I have to say NCL has RCI beat in this department. Though we weren’t huge fans of the Freestyle concept (we reserved the same table, at the same time, with the same waitress each night), we made do. NCL is big on their dining, and has MANY specialty restaurants, two main dining rooms, the Garden Café, and the Blue Lagoon! Royal has one main dining room, with assigned times and tablemates, a few specialty restaurants, and the Windjammer. I felt that at the main dining room, there were more choices on NCL than RCI. We don’t really go to the specialty restaurants, so I can’t speak for that. NCL’s Garden Café is very comparable to RCI’s Windjammer, but we felt that NCL’s lines were longer, but there were better food choices (lots of junk food, but lots of healthy food as well). NCL having the Blue Lagoon is a great touch, especially for snacks at random times during the day.

I will be adding another post with pictures of the Bacab Eco Park Bike Tour!

 

I would like to thank everyone for all of the positive feedback, I’m very glad you like my review! I’ll try to post Day 5 as soon as I can!

[live_to_cruise]

BACAB Eco Park Jungle Bike Tour- Pictures

 

 

 

 

 

[live_to_cruise]

While everyone is patiently waiting for my Day 5 post, here are some clearer pictures of the Teen Club schedule. The schedule is handed to you when you board the ship, and is available on a table outside of the club the first two nights, then they took the table away, and just had one copy of the schedule hanging on the wall, so I suggest you get one the first day!

 

Also, if and parents or teens wants to ask some questions outside of on a CC post, feel free to email me at pittgirl87@hotmail.com

 

Enjoy!

 

 

[Calm Blue Ocean]

Great review! Nice to see a review from a teens perspective! Can't wait to read more!

[live_to_cruise]

First off, I'd like to apologize for the amount of time it has taken me to post! I've been super busy with school, sports, and a film contest that I had to enter for a class I'm taking! Hopefully the last few posts will be worth the wait!

 

DAY 5- COSTA MAYA, MEXICO

 

I hit the gym and ate breakfast around 7:30am, then afterwards brought my field hockey stick and ball (Which I was able to smuggle on in my dad’s carry on duffel), up to the golf driving net and practiced for a bit. This was the perfect place, as I had promised my coach I would practice while I was away. I was worried that a crew member would come along and tell me to stop, but instead, a crew member told me he had never seen a field hockey stick before (very typical if you don’t live in the PA/NJ/MD area), and was very interested about it! I have to say, the crew on the Dawn were the best I have EVER cruised with…I mean EVER! (More on this later)

 

We went into the port of Costa Maya. Now, my parents and I went to Costa Maya on Jewel of the Seas back in March 2007. It wasn't too much; a little shopping circle with a neat pool with a swim-up bar and stools, and a small side beach with a volleyball court. After that cruise, suprisingly enough, I said that it was my favorite port. Before my Dawn cruise, I thought that I was just a silly little 9 year old, who didn't know much, for thinkng it was my favorite, but after I went to Costa Maya again, I still call it my favorite port (besides Key West, of course!). Since 2007, there was a hurricane, and the whole port has been revamped. It's the same idea, but greatly enhanced. There are LOTS of little shops and stands, and the pool area has lots of chairs, and the swim-up bar. It's a cute little place, with the prettiest sapphire water I have ever seen. We walked past the main area, to the excursion bus place. I had researched a lot about Maya Chan and Tropicante, and decided we should do Maya Chan. Maya Chan had two multi-passenger vans waiting for those who booked their excursion, but we got there a little late, and there wasn't enough room for us to fit in. This wasn't a problem, as we took a cab, and the man who runs Maya Chan (Mark, I believe?) payed for our cab ride!

 

Maya Chan is a GREAT place! It was $60 for each of my parents, and $50 each for my brothers and I. This included our own private cabana, chair, table area, unlimited free food and drinks (alcoholic ones as well), wifi, and use of beach cruisers, glass-bottom kayaks (really neat), and snorkel gear. We thought this was a great deal, and it definately was! Once you arrive, you are taked to your cabana area, and are given chips, salsa, guacamole (best I've ever had), and fruit drinks. The service was slow at first, but this was probably because we were located at the far end of the beach, and there were many people (but not too many that it felt crowded). The wifi was VERY spotty, and didn't work the first hour, but then it was great around the bar area. I'd highly recommend using the glass-bottom kayak, and trying the oreo drink at the bar (they ran out fast!). We got a ride back from one of the vans, at around 2:30 (the last van left at 3:00). Maya Chan is a great place!

 

For dinner, I had the roasted prime rib of beef, spring roll, and cheesecake. It was very good, and I found that each night I ordered meat a certain way (Medium-Rare), it was perfect every time!

 

My friends and I hung around, went in the hot tubs, then went to the teen club and danced for a while. Afterwards, we found a tucked away corner (where we wouldn't bother anyone) on deck 12, outside the Garden Cafe, and sat, talked, and played cards for a bit until curfew.

 

I noted in the beginning that this staff was the best I've ever cruise with. It really was! I don't think I ever passed a crew member in the hallway without getting a "hello!" and a smile. This didn't seem fake, either, I noticed that it seemed as though everyone was just generally happy and plesant. (Nice job, NCL!) The wait staff was great as well, and everything was done well and promptly.

(I will have another post with Maya Chan pictures)

 

Me posing with my favorite ship and the prettiest water I've ever seen:

 

Posing with some dressed up people:

 

A funny chair at one of the bars (don't worry, I didn't drink, just posed for the picture haha)

 

Pool area at the port:

[live_to_cruise]

Maya Chan Pictures:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

(More pics to come in an additional post!)

 

Thanks!

[live_to_cruise]

DAY 6- COZUMEL, MEXICO

 

 

 

This morning I had to eat a very quick breakfast, and skip the gym as there was a strange tender situation. There would be 6 ships in Cozumel today, accounting for 25,000 cruisers total! We were allowed to be docked from 9 to 10, then we had to move so another ship could come in. The captian made this announcement, saying that basically, you can walk off the ship around 9, or take a tender around 11, and the tenders would be in service for our ship until we departed from Cozumel, so we chose to get there as soon as possible. The line to get off was SO long, lots of waiting, and widing down the cabin halls on Deck 4.

 

 

 

I had been to the port of Cozumel back in 2007, when I was 9, and it, like Costa Maya, had changed a bit. I'd say it's more "modernized", with a large mall-type area, and a Starbucks. It was kind of like a general American mall, but outside, if that makes sense. There were kiosk-type stands in the hallways of the different levels of the mall, selling bags and souvinirs. At a t-shirt shack on the ground-level, they were selling $1 Dos Equis beers, which seemed to be a hit amongst tourists. After our beach time (discussed below) my brothers and dad decided to go back to the ship, so my mom and I decided to go shop around for a while. We did LOTS of shopping, and we noticed that the stores in the mall became very repetitive; leather stores, selling cowboy boots, belts, and hats, and many souvinir stores selling the ever-so-plentiful little bobbing-head turtles, and name bracelets. We found that depending on the item, when the seller approaches you, just say "Hmm...I'm not sure", and the seller will almost immediately take $1-$5 off what they originally asked for. This provided for some great deals :D

 

 

 

We had planned on going to Paradise Beach for the day, but decided against it since it would be so crowded. We walked to the taxi area, and talked to a man holding a sign with information of different beaches and transportation packages. We lucked out and ended up getting a great deal for 2 and 1/2 hours including transportation, a beach, snorkeling, kayaking, and a chair area. The snorkeling in Cozumel was much better than that at Costa Maya. The fish were all over the place, hundreds of them, and you could siwm right over and near them, and they wouldn't shy away, which is definitely not very common. I really like snorkeling and liked being able to touch the sea sponges and everything. We got to the beach early, aroudn 9:45-10am, and other than two other families, we had the whole beach to ourselves, until about an hour later, when the passengers from the other ships were tendered/docked and came to the beach that we were at.

 

 

 

After shopping for a while, my mom and I took a tender back to our ship, early-ish, around 2:30, got back onto the ship, and settled in lounge chairs by the ship pool by 3:00. We got a late lunch at the Garden Cafe, and there was a bbq-type cookout party on the pool deck.

 

We had dinner, then I headed up to the teen club to meet with my friends. This being the second-to-last night, we were all starting to feel a little sad, so we wanted to make sure our last two nights on the ship together were some of the best. We walked around the ship until going to the magic show at 9:00. The ship's magician/comedian is Justino Zoppe. He had three shows throughout the cruise, I believe there was one on the first At Sea day (Day 2), one in the middle of the cruise, and one today (Day 6). Justino is HILARIOUS! At his show on the first day at sea, he had a bit involving a commical version of "Siri" from his iPhone, which had everyone cracking up laughing. He is also a very talented magician, and I highly recommend his shows.

 

 

 

After the show, my friends and I went to our little hallway hideaway spot from the night before and just spend a while hanging out, until more and more teens joined us. The other teens started to get a little rowdy and loud, so we ended up just going back to walk around again. Before we all went to bed we made plans to meet up the next day (our last day, which was a day at sea), and hang out together all day and night.

 

 

 

Cruise friends are some of the best people you'll ever meet. When you're on a cruise, you feel like you're away from the world, in a fantasyland, away from reality. You create such a special bond with cruise friends, because you experienced this magical time with them, and they are the only people who understand how amazing it really is. I still text my cruise friends probably once every two weeks or so, and we often tweet our inside jokes to eachother. I miss them so much, and we're all planning a reunion!

[NCL17]

I'm 16 and going on my first cruise in April and couldn't be more excited especially after reading this! Thank you so much for writing this you did an amazing job. :)

[Chuck2810]

ok my 15 (will be 16 y.o.) daughter is starting to read this and get a little enthused. Thanks for your revue! I will have a 9 and 16 y.o. so everyone getting some quality time will be the goal. (Do you Have to get dressed up every night???!) Knowing full well the thoughts are turning to what dresses they need to bring.... They will have fun.

[weltek]

You are an awesome person to do this! And how clever to set up a way for the teens to get to know each other prior to the cruise. I bet that made a big difference in the quality of your cruise.

[kchiumento]

So in your experience what tips can you give a "not-quite-yet-teenager" on his first cruise. We are cruising in 3 weeks with our 3 kids and our oldest is the one that worries me. He is 12 and not as outgoing as his 10yr old sister.

 

I know this is from a teen perspective, however, in your past experience is there enough to do for the tween?

[r247]

I read on one review that the cabin 4520 it was a little noisy around?? Like the ocean waves sound and when the cruise dock? thx for any info.

[live_to_cruise]

I read on one review that the cabin 4520 it was a little noisy around?? Like the ocean waves sound and when the cruise dock? thx for any info.

 

No one in my family noted any noise issues! Sometimes on the one really rough night we could hear the waves, but personally, I thought it was cool and it actually lulled me to sleep! That being said, most of the time we were all up and running before our ship docked at port, so we could hear the anchor being dropped and stuff like that, but we were usually already awake (we were all usually up by 8:00-8:30ish)