Detailed Review NCL Dawn Dec 1 from Tampa

[pd4st]

We are seasoned cruises and this was our 10th with NCL. We are a professional couple in our mid-50’s and have sailed multiple times with the other major cruise lines as well, specifically RCCL, Princess, Celebrity, Carnival, and Disney. I will rate and describe our experience with the Dawn Dec 1 sailing out of Tampa to the Western Caribbean. We were booked in a Penthouse Suite aft. Below are our impressions.

Embarkation – F

Pro’s – Our luggage made it to the cabin before we did. The crew did not have to work around passengers and had elevators and hallways to themselves for hours.

Con’s – It took 3 to 4 hours to board the ship due to immigration issues. This itinerary picks up and drops off 70 non-US citizens in Cozumel (Friday’s stop) and because of that, EVERYONE has to go through immigration. And it’s SLOW. The ship cannot take on passengers until all previous passengers have cleared. We heard the last passengers from the previous cruise got off the ship around 1:30. We were told by security in Tampa that this is the only ship experiencing this, and it is because they are picking up passengers in Cozumel.

We were the third sailing of the season for this ship out of Tampa and it happened to guests of the 2 previous sailings. LONG LONG lines of folks standing in the hot sun and the cruise line only offered water. One guest rushed a candy bar to another who may have been having a diabetic reaction. The elderly male rent-a-cops directing the crowds were rude, impatient and uninformed. They had a lousy job with all these weary passengers, but could have been more pleasant. VERY BAD first impression.

To add insult to injury, we supposedly had priority embarkation for booking a suite. When we finally got past the security, the male rent-a-cops curtly told us to follow the masses. When we asked an NCL shore worker about where the priority embarkation for suite passengers was, we were told to basically sit down and shut up. We found the line for suite passengers but it was just as long as the other lines as it included passengers that were not in suites. So much for taking advantage of this perk.

After all that, we were actually taken by someone to a separate area for suite passengers where we met our butler. He escorted us on board. We finally got on board at 4:30, dropped off our carry-ons, used the bathroom and headed the mandatory lifeboat drill. The butler normally would describe the various amenities but didn’t have time, and never came back on his own to finish the job. Then off to Le Bistro for dinner getting there around 5:30. We were starving. Since the ship was still in port when we started our meal, we were charged tax.

Ship – A

Pro’s – Very well maintained and pretty ship with a nice layout. Having been on many ships, they usually start to look the same. But this ship had a different feel. The best way to describe it is that it seemed to be built in “layers”. There were lots of areas to sit and escape crowds but also very nice public areas. Even though she is one of NCL’s older ships, she is actually very nice. She was clean and we did not notice anything worn or tired-looking. Maybe a carpet stain here or there but nothing that made me feel the ship was not in tip-top shape. A tip - For shows in the Spinnaker Lounge, get there early as there are pillars that can block views for those sitting on the sides towards the back.

Con’s – nothing

Cabin – B+ (We were in a Penthouse Suite 10726 – aft).

Pro’s – Very comfortable bed with good pillow selection (so often a lousy pillow can ruin a night’s sleep). Slept well every night. Cabin did not squeak at all. LOTS of storage, two safes and quiet. Espresso machine makes strong but good coffee.

Con’s – TV is lousy. Tinny sound and unclear picture. Not that I go on a cruise to watch a movie (you can check out some DVD’s) but it would have been a nice option. No brand name on the TV which is strange. Prefer a bar of soap rather than shower gel. Had to use a lot to work up a timid lather. Fridge does not get that cold but did not check to see if it could be set lower (probably could).

Dining A to F

Venetian- Main Dining room – C

Ate there one time. Food was good, nothing stellar, but service was horrible. Waiters rushed and not attentive. Had to ask 3 times each for bread and iced tea. Main entrée came before the appetizers. Took 20 minutes after order was placed to even get bread. Pretty setting but noisy and hectic.

Aquis – Main Dining Room – B

Ate there one time, last night of cruise. Service much better than in Venetian. Never had to ask for iced-tea refills and food came out hot and in a timely fashion. Food was good but nothing stellar. Lower ceiling, less noisy and seemed much less hectic.

Cagney’s – Steak House - B

Ate there one time. I had a filet mignon and it was great. My husband had the NY Strip and it was somewhat dry. Service was just OK. Setting seemed like an afterthought. Not an upscale feel to the place but they have lots of windows overlooking the water as well as the glass elevators.

We had breakfast here every morning, a suite perk. They serve lunch to suite guests as well. Food was generally good but hard to get the coffee hot (they use a French press) and it’s not very good. Tip - if you are in a suite, bring a mug and make coffee with the Lavazza machine to take with you. They charge extra for the same Lavazza coffee that’s free in the suites. Go figure. We had a fish sandwich for lunch delivered to our cabin from this same dining room and it was fantastic. Wish I discovered it before the last full day of the cruise…

La Cucina - Italian – A

Ate there twice. Setting was romantic (it was formerly the Le Bistro dining room). We sat at one of the big horseshoe-shaped booths one night and really enjoyed it. Service was top notch and so was the food. We tried a pizza one night and it was really good, more gourmet than served elsewhere on the ship. The soup and salads were all good. Calm, friendly and attentive service. Really a gem on this ship. Unfortunately, the manager is being plucked to the Getaway and was flying to Germany at the end of this cruise. Always the best ones help open a new ship. Turns out, this dining room was the original setting for Le Bistro.

Le Bistro – French – B

Ate there once. Dining room seems cramped. If you go, sit outside in the “Wine Cellar” and you can be serenaded by the musician right outside the restaurant. Much nicer setting in my opinion than sitting inside. Food is pretty good. Service was not great. Had to send back the soup as it was not at all hot, just barely warm. Had to ask for things that should have been a no-brainer (salt, Splenda, refills,…). But food was really good. Coq au vin to die for.

Bamboo – Asian – F

Ate there once. They ended up refunding my $15 cover charge but not for my husband as he ate most of his meal. Save your money. Service was bad and so was the food. The try to sell it as “Asian Fusion” but it is Chinese food, plain and simple. We were 1 of 5 couples in the restaurant and they seemed harried. We waited 20 minutes after placing our order for any food to arrive. And it was cold so I sent it back. I asked for a pot of green tea and it’s readily available but served in regular coffee cups and not those small ceramic ones you see in Asian restaurants. My entrée (shrimp) was heavy and swimming in tasteless oil. It was described on the menu as having some flavored oil added after cooking but wow, that much? And it was bland. Rice was cold and chewy. I didn’t eat it. My husband got Kung Pao chicken and thought it was bland and lacked a strong enough peanut taste. His opinion was that any run-of-the-mill Chinese restaurant in the US would make it better. The desserts were good. They have coconut ice cream and I liked the tapioca pudding, something I don’t normally eat. They got busier as the night wore on. We did not eat at the sushi bar but one of the spa workers told me it was good.

Debarkation – B+

Pro’s – much faster and more pleasant than the embarkation. As suite guests, we had priority here which was greatly appreciated as the line to disembark was super long and very slow. Luggage pick-up was easy with clearly marked and well-spaced rows and lots of porters. However, folks that weren’t in suites looked like they were in for a much longer wait in line to get off the ship.

Con’s - Because of picking up passengers in Cozumel, we had to go through immigration where they actually look at your passports. It’s set up just like immigration in the airports. We hadn’t realized it before but in most other cruises one doesn’t go through this step, only customs after picking up luggage. We had to wait about 45 minutes to get through immigration that had a total of 6 agents and 2 were dedicated to non-US citizens. So that left 4 for approximately 2200 US folks. Very slow as you waited to have your passport stamped and walk by a 4-legged agent who was sniffing luggage. The dog (beagle) was really cute by the way.

Ports of Call (all excursions were through the ship)

Roatan – A

Loved this place. Heard it was not that nice and we were very pleasantly surprised. Took a well air-conditioned van driven by a great driver with a wonderful tour guide. We headed to Tebyana Beach for snorkeling and lunch. They had a two person band that was much better than the Caribbean band on the ship. Beautiful clear water, easy to reach good snorkeling from the beach – some of the best in all our cruises. Nice setting. Lunch was OK – chicken and coconut rice with slaw and fresh fruit. What made this place for me was the setting and music – just a perfect beach day.

Belize – C

We did the Crystal Cave tour with zip-lining. The thing that really was bad was the long, bumpy bus ride on a modified school bus with poor air-conditioning. By the way, it appeared to us that ALL transportation to this site was via school buses whether booked on the ship or on your own. Our bus was packed and it was a long ride. Plus we had to tender in this port. I strongly dislike tendering and long, hot, bumpy bus rides. Take your Dramamine with you for this excursion.

The caves were interesting and something to see once. More of a “bucket list” excursion if you’re into that. I’ve never zip-lined before and the workers seemed to be in a hurry to get us through as they had nine buses of folks that booked excursions to this site. Lunch was chicken and rice, not very good.

Costa Maya – C

Went to a beach with an open bar. Setting was pretty but beach had a lot of seaweed and thus was not a pleasant swimming experience. Bar drinks were just OK – you could get frozen drinks but not a frozen Margarita. And we’re in Mexico. Go figure. Liquor was not top shelf. Beer was only Modelo. Got a massage on the beach and they did a good job. It was $30 for a half hour ($55 for 1 hour). Lots of people roaming around asking us to buy silver, bracelets, etc… Lots of “we want you to come back to our country”. Seemed like a cry of desperation.

Cozumel – no grade

We’ve been here many times on cruises so did not do anything except to get off the boat and order a drink at Hooters so we could take advantage of their free Wi-Fi to check e-mail. The drink was excellent and the Pina Colada actually had a coconut taste. At Hooters. I was surprised it was so good. Free Wi-Fi can also be found at the Starbucks next door but it was packed. There is also a pool among these restaurants with lounge chairs.

Overall cruise experience – B

It would be an A- if the embarkation had not been such a nightmare for so many passengers.

[Love my butler]

Looks like it might be an interesting review, but the spacing and layout literally hurt my eyes. Could not read it.

[che5904]

Thanks for the well balanced review.

[bguppies]

Thanks for the excellent, HONEST, review. (sorry the cheerleaders inevitably will jump in and try to discount YOUR experiences, by saying how great their Dawn cruise 3 years ago was. :rolleyes:)

 

Thank you for the details about embarkation and knowing to expect to NOT receive our priority embarkation. (along with the ridiculous waits in line, we already knew to get ready for)

 

Glad your debarkation experience was better.

 

The detailed restaurant reviews were extraordinarily helpful.

 

Thank you for taking the time to give YOUR experience and YOUR opinions for those of us sailing the Dawn soon.

 

It is much appreciated.

 

Bill

Edited January 3, 2014 by bguppies

[che5904]

Thanks for the excellent, HONEST, review. (sorry the cheerleaders inevitably will jump in and try to discount YOUR experiences)

 

Bill

 

I wonder if some posters ever get tired of using this line.

 

Anyone that dares to question a poster's claim or state their experience was different or question a totally negative only review gets this handle.

 

I've actually been accused of this very thing and yet noted that this posters review was very balanced even though their opinion had things they didn't rate high.

 

I think before jumping in with this slur, posters might be wise to actually read the disputing posts and question if there might be some merit to the opposing view. Just my opinion.

[polySeraph]

A very good, informative review. Thanks!

[NJLVW]

Thank you so much for sharing your experience. We leave on the Dawn in 2 weeks and can hardly wait.. Reading reviews actually help to pass the time.

[OzCanuck]

Prefer a bar of soap rather than shower gel. Had to use a lot to work up a timid lather.

 

Nice review, thanks. Love the phrase "timid lather."

[bguppies]

I wonder if some posters ever get tired of using this line.

 

Anyone that dares to question a poster's claim or state their experience was different or question a totally negative only review gets this handle.

 

I've actually been accused of this very thing and yet noted that this posters review was very balanced even though their opinion had things they didn't rate high.

 

I think before jumping in with this slur, posters might be wise to actually read the disputing posts and question if there might be some merit to the opposing view. Just my opinion.

 

I just don't understand, when the cheerleaders feel the need to jump in and try to invalidate a negative point from a review, with their sunshiny experience from 2-3 years ago, which is more likely to be completely invalid, now, with staff changes and wear and tear on the ship in the interviening years.

 

A person's experience is their own and is gratefully expressed in here, for those of us, with any ability to evaluate the information we are given, to take that opinion and add it to the other opinions expressed in other reviews.

 

Like the people minimizing the embarkation/debarkation issues.

 

To some, waiting an additional 2-3-4 hours, outside, in line, with 1 bathroom for 2,200 people to share, is no big deal.

 

To our group, with 3 couples, all in the 70's-80's, who cannot stand for 2-3-4 hours, it is a VERY big deal.

 

But the cheerleaders constantly trying to downplay these problems and giving their experiences from previous years in Tampa, which are COMPLETELY irrelevant, as this is the first year, with this idiotic open loop problem, is quite irritating, to have to surf through, to get current, accurate information.

 

Bill

[Love my butler]

I wonder if some posters ever get tired of using this line.

 

Not me. Seems very appropriate every time I imply it. Embrace the label. Stand in your truth.

[martinchem]

Thank you for your review, we will be on this ship in a couple weeks. I can't wait till we board and hopefully our experience will be awesome. Haven't been on this ship in a couple years.

[atlantahopper]

Hi,

We are embarking on the Dawn in 100 days! I really appreciate your honest opinions of the ship, excursions, food venues, etc. We booked a mini-suite so won't be able to get butler service, the expedited food in the cabin or the Lavazza coffee in room BUT still looking forward to the sailing! Many thanks for sharing your opinions -helps us with planning / timing. Thanks a bunch!

[legion3]

Was on the same cruise and agree with much of the review.

 

We had an ok meal at bamboo, not great but acceptable .

 

Fully agree on La Cucina was really great food and the only hot bread we found on the ship.

 

We were lucky on embarkation so our grade would be higher but the line looked life a big F

 

Overall an excellent cruise and would sail the dawn again.

[firstcarib]

We were on the Dawn over Christmas, Tampa to WCaribbean. After reading all the pretty dismal reviews, including one from someone who had actually CANCELLED their Dawn cruise due to all this negativity, we were more than pleasantly surprised by most things we found on board.

Embarkation was not too bad at all, although I realse this was made much better by the fact that our cruise date did not include pick ups in Cozumel. However, it was made worse by a bizarre situation at the cruise checkin desks, where non US citizens such as us from UK( although we had obviously already been admitted into the US via strict border control, ESTAs granted etc etc) still had to have their passports re-entered into some computer by someone slowly using "one-finger" typing for each passenger. This led to long queues at his workstation, holding up every other passenger in every check in queue! Surely, if this is necessary, it would be better to have a check-in desk, or two, just for non-US passengers. This would allow the others to board more quickly. I am sure the US passengers would be very happy!

Our balcony cabin, 9192, was fine. Smallish, but lots of storage space. Bathroom tiny, separate wc behind a screen was miniscule! Looking at the size of some of the passengers, I can only imagine they were in large suites...no way would they get in the wc!

Food..we ate mainly in Venetian, we cannot stand the "Zoo" that is the buffet, although the food selection looked good, specially at breakfast, to see fellow passengers pushing & shoving to pile their plates with bizarre food combinations is not my idea of a good time! This does not reflect on NCL, only on the passengers!! What greed some have.

Freetime dining did not work well over Xmas, due to herds of people all wanting to eat at the same time. Lots of vouchers for free bubbly were given out by patient staff at the Venetian check in desk(Well done Gen!!) & buzzers used to the max.

Teppanyaki was great, best steak all cruise(worst steak was Prime rib in Venetian, just inedible, although all other meals good there) Coffee & tea was poor (to our taste) everywhere, take your own & use the equipment provided in cabin!

Le Bistro was adequate...no more, no less. We dine in France often..believe me,Le Bistro is not good standard French cuisine! No-one eats al-dente potatoes!! But the chef for Le Bistro obviously thinks they do!! Wouldnt go there again for a surcharge.

Service was mainly good, especially in the Venetian, although we did feel it was a little false, with expectations of further tipping. Some were surly, but I suppose thats life, & happens anywhere!

The Spa was great, well worth the extra cost. The jacuzzis were great, the pool a little cool, but welcome to escape the children. The on-deck hot-tub at the front of the ship, behind the Bimini Bar, was also a good find, really quiet most days, plus lots of sunbeds available there.

Entertainment was good, Paul, the cruise director(a fellow Brit!) was excellent, although we felt sometimes his British humour may have gone straight over the heads of some passengers. We got totally fed up with the "shopping woman" wittering on constantly about buying diamonds, watches etc etc. We went to what we though would be an informative presentation about some ports, to find it was a Diamond Hard Sell...Thanks, but No Thanks!

A little disappointed by the comedian Tim Kaminski, he relied very much on audience participation, but if that was poor(Wizard of Oz nigh!!!) then the whole show dragged on & was very flat. Second City were much better...impro at its cleverest.

Bollywood was glitzy, we enjoyed it more than we had expected.

 

So, all-in-all...a great value Xmas cruise! Well done NCL..this was our first cruise with you, we may well return!

Edited January 4, 2014 by firstcarib
Typos

[newmexicoNita]

PD, thanks for a very objective review. We are sailing her in April and were anxious to see a recent review. She is one of the few NCL ships we have not cruised. I am very disappointed in your appraisal of the Asian restaurant, as we were looking forward to eating there. We loved it on the Pearl and the Spirit..So sad!!!!

 

As for the embarkation, apparently it has improved or let's hope so anyway!!!

 

I like the way you graded different aspects of the cruise with a brief explanation.

 

Thanks again.

 

Nita

Edited January 4, 2014 by newmexicoNita

[che5904]

I like the way you graded different aspects of the cruise with a brief explanation.

Nita

 

Yes Nita that's what I really liked about it as well.

[che5904]

we cannot stand the "Zoo" that is the buffet,

 

:D I love this statement. That's the way I feel about all buffets, no matter where they are.

[legion3]

PD, thanks for a very objective review. We are sailing her in April and were anxious to see a recent review. She is one of the few NCL ships we have not cruised. I am very disappointed in your appraisal of the Asian restaurant, as we were looking forward to eating there. We loved it on the Pearl and the Spirit..So sad!!!!

 

As for the embarkation, apparently it has improved or let's hope so anyway!!!

 

I like the way you graded different aspects of the cruise with a brief explanation.

 

Thanks again.

 

Nita

 

Just saying that his bamboo experience was not ours. We felt the meal was ok and was not terrible by any means. But different nights who knows. We would do bamboo again but it was not the best of the specialties but the food was the proper temperature and service was reasonably quick.

 

However if we had to pick one not to go back to it would be bamboo.

The kids liked it.

 

Had high hopes for le bistro but it was hit and miss. La cucina was our favorite and would be the first choice to return to. FWIW.

[newmexicoNita]

Just saying that his bamboo experience was not ours. We felt the meal was ok and was not terrible by any means. But different nights who knows. We would do bamboo again but it was not the best of the specialties but the food was the proper temperature and service was reasonably quick.

 

However if we had to pick one not to go back to it would be bamboo.

The kids liked it.

 

Had high hopes for le bistro but it was hit and miss. La cucina was our favorite and would be the first choice to return to. FWIW.

 

I will be anxious to see how others rate Bamboos. We too, had mixed feelings this last cruise with Le Bistro.

[kb777]

Can you tell us the name of your butler, we will be in an aft suite on the 2/9/14 sailing.

[mc_reeve]

Thank you for the review OP - it was very helpful on many levels. When we upgraded to a suite we were told that this would help us avoid the embarkation problems - so much for that.

 

Passengers on Dawn cruises leaving on January 12 and later will probably have the same issues reported on the December 1 boarding. Reports that the problems have been solved on recent cruises are because there have been no passengers picked up in Cozumel since mid-December. The process starts again on the January 12 cruise and continues through the spring. It is not clear that the issue has been resolved but previous posts in early December indicate that NCL was very aware of the problems now. (The cruises out of Coz are for Europeans and are only available via Virgin Cruises. They are 7-day cruises, Coz to Coz, with Tampa as the first port on the cruise.) Those going on the January 12 and later cruises should post their experiences.

 

Previous cruisers have recommended making sure you have plenty of water and some snacks for the embarkation line, something for rain or sun protection depending on the weather and plenty of patience. NCL made a business decision that has obviously blown up in their faces because someone assumed the immigration process would not change or would not cause a problem. It is what it is - we don't plan to let a bad first few hours ruin our cruise.

 

Note that on outbound cruises occurring on and after January 12, your boarding information states that you should not show up any sooner than an hour before your 1pm boarding. Don't assume you can board in time for lunch. It isn't clear from previous posts that showing up very early or very late reduces the problems at all, but it would be interesting to hear from anyone who managed a quick embarkation on a cruise when Cozumel passengers are on-board.

[aimathy]

Thank you for a great, honest review. We leave on the 12th and we're excited! I am not happy about our (probable) long wait to board, but at least we know about it ahead of time, so hopefully it won't be too bad of a shock. Thanks again!

[che5904]

Thank you for the review OP - it was very helpful on many levels. When we upgraded to a suite we were told that this would help us avoid the embarkation problems - so much for that.

 

Passengers on Dawn cruises leaving on January 12 and later will probably have the same issues reported on the December 1 boarding. Reports that the problems have been solved on recent cruises are because there have been no passengers picked up in Cozumel since mid-December. The process starts again on the January 12 cruise and continues through the spring. It is not clear that the issue has been resolved but previous posts in early December indicate that NCL was very aware of the problems now. (The cruises out of Coz are for Europeans and are only available via Virgin Cruises. They are 7-day cruises, Coz to Coz, with Tampa as the first port on the cruise.) Those going on the January 12 and later cruises should post their experiences.

 

Previous cruisers have recommended making sure you have plenty of water and some snacks for the embarkation line, something for rain or sun protection depending on the weather and plenty of patience. NCL made a business decision that has obviously blown up in their faces because someone assumed the immigration process would not change or would not cause a problem. It is what it is - we don't plan to let a bad first few hours ruin our cruise.

 

Note that on outbound cruises occurring on and after January 12, your boarding information states that you should not show up any sooner than an hour before your 1pm boarding. Don't assume you can board in time for lunch. It isn't clear from previous posts that showing up very early or very late reduces the problems at all, but it would be interesting to hear from anyone who managed a quick embarkation on a cruise when Cozumel passengers are on-board.

 

From my understanding things had improved on the last Coz cruise. The problem with embarkation is due to disembarkation. I seem to recall that the last sailing that had Coz cruisers disembarked smoothly. So if they rectified the problem (as a couple of posters from the last Coz sailing indicated), then the Jan 12th cruise should disembark without issue and the Jan 19th should embark without the confusion.

 

We will see in a couple of weeks but it sounds like whatever the issue was they may have gotten it worked out.

[gra2172]

Thank you for a great, honest review. We leave on the 12th and we're excited! I am not happy about our (probable) long wait to board, but at least we know about it ahead of time, so hopefully it won't be too bad of a shock. Thanks again!

 

This is how Im feeling about it as well. I figure no matter what time we arrive at the pier, we might be waiting, either near the beginning of the line or at the end of it, so I might as well be prepared to deal with it. ;)

 

If you dig around on google, you can find a travel agent site that says the dates. I found this one: http://www.playadelcarmen.com/general-info/cruise-from-cozumel-with-norwegian/

 

It says people board in Cozumel

November 2013: 22nd, 29th

December 2013: 06th

January 2014: 10th, 17th, 24th & 31st

February 2014: 07th, 14th, 21st & 28th

March 2014: 07th, 14th, 21st & 28th

April 2014: 4th, 11th & 18th

[Demonyte]

You're not allowed to link to any TA sites here on CC. Info is correct though, I too pasted it to the thread discussing the matter couple of weeks ago.