Dawn Western Caribbean Review, 4/20/14

[vent1020]

We are doing the Western Caribbean on the Dawn at the end of November in a 2 bedroom family suite.(Our first time in a suite) Enjoying your review.

[MelissaFreed]

This was probably the low point of the entire trip for us. We were scheduled for the NCL snorkel and private island excursion. We received a letter in our suite the first night stating that the private island portion was cancelled due to renovations on the island. As a result our snorkeling time was extended by 45 minutes. No big deal. The night before we arrived in Belize we received a letter stating that our excursion was cancelled altogether due to mechanical issues with the boat. At the last minute, 5 minutes before the excursion desk closed for the night, there I was scrambling to pick something else. The only excursion left that allowed younger kids, and would keep them content, was the private island. I figured how bad could a private island for the day be?

 

The cost was $49 a person. That basically got you a tender directly from the ship to the private island. The boat ride was fantastic, about 15 minutes. We passed lots of little islands along the way that made for nice scenery. We arrived and were given very clear directives on when we would be picked up. I'm going to do a pros and cons type of review here:

 

Pros

First mate gave a nice history lesson of Belize on the ride to the island

The water was beautiful and calm

Food and drinks from the bar were pretty good

Food was reasonably priced

Trampolines in the water for the kids (and husbands if they are like mine)

Clean bathrooms

Plenty of wait staff walking around=very little time to wait for a drink

Staff was very friendly

 

 

Cons

There isn't really sand...more like crushed up coral (suggest water shoes)

Found a piece of glass about 2in x 6in at the waters edge

Not good for snorkeling

Drinks were expensive

 

All in all the kids had a great time so that's what is most important to me. I probably wouldn't book again as I didn't see the cost justified for this excursion. My husband and I would love to go back to Belize to spend more time. I would have loved to do a ruin tour but I didn't think it would keep the interest of my 8 year old. For those keeping track, we did tip the wait staff a couple of dollar per round of drinks/food, and we tipped our first mate on the tender ride back to the ship. Also, there is a small gift shop on this island.

 

Please forgive me, as this was probably the peak day of my camera issues. I only got a few shots...

 

 

 

 

[MelissaFreed]

Costa Maya...a beautiful place to port. The Epic ported here with us today! We had a surprise for the girls in store :D

 

We were off the boat very early to meet for the girls to swim with dolphins. We got off the ship and walked to the end of the pier where it was very easy to locate our tour group. After about 15 minutes the group was escorted off to the side to begin getting life jackets and some instruction. For those doing the dolphin swim at the port...they do offer lockers and there is a bathroom right there. They give you about 10 minutes to get ready. There are loungers on the other side of the rope right at the dolphin pools for viewers. We were literally watching them from 5 feet away (only our girls did this). It was a typically dolphin swim...groups of about 10 at a time. Everyone got a chance to have the dolphins pull them through the water, kisses, hugs, etc. The dolphins did a few flips and tricks. What was really nice was that as one dolphin and trainer was working with someone in the water, the other trainer had another dolphin with the rest of the group giving some education and allowing for more hands on time. The girls had an absolute fantastic time and it was the highlight of the trip for both of them. After the swim was over you could go to the gift shop and view the photos that were taken. We opted to buy the disc which cost us about $100 since there were two of them. The pics were so much better than the ones I got and there was close to 100 pics taken of the girls. Very much worth it in my opinion.

 

From there we were headed "downtown" to the Tropicante. The Tropicante is a small restaurant/bar located right on the beach. I did email the owner before hand to reserve loungers for us. I forget the actual website, but if you google Tropicante it will show up. We opted to ride the shuttle that picks you up right at the pier. I think it was $2 a person and we got off stop #3 for the Tropicante. You walk one block towards the beach, then one block to the left. You can't miss it. Disclaimer...there are tons of vendors and they are somewhat aggressive, but friendly. As we were walking from the shuttle there was a person every 5 feet trying to get us to visit their bar. I asked one where Tropicante was and he said to follow him and tried to lead me to their beachfront bar. Another guy quickly showed us the right direction.

 

Our loungers were set up and waiting as requested. The beach was somewhat crowded but I never felt like people were on top of one another. A couple from the Epic were sitting beside us and we swapped info on our ships :) The beach and water here really was beautiful. The water was very calm, and although there were some fish to follow with snorkels, there wasn't that many. I did see places to rent snorkel equipment, rent banana boats, and parasail very close by here. The "street" right behind the beach is lined with vendors, and vendors will walk up and down the beach all day. I would say a vendor approached us every 4-5 minutes. Even though there was a lot, a simple "no thank you" did the trick. Drinks were excellent here...some of the smoothest tequila I've ever had (and I've had a lot!). We ordered a lot of food and everything was awesome; enchiladas, quesadillas, nachos, fajitas. I felt like everything was very reasonably priced. There are bathrooms inside Tropicante for patron use, as well as free wifi. Just ask for the password. There were only two guys waiting on lots of people here. I overheard the owner telling someone that they were down a couple of servers that day. These two guys busted their tails! Service was fast and always with a smile. We tipped our serve very well this day.

 

We ended up hitching a ride back to the port in a taxi...I think $3 or $4 a person. All we did was walk one block back to the road and there were plenty of taxis. We had some extra time back at the port so the kids and I took a dip in the big pool (with swim up bar for the adults :D ) while the hubby did some shopping. He didn't end up buying anything so I'm guessing the shopping wasn't anything spectacular. From there it was back on the ship with tired, but happy kiddos.

 

 

[MelissaFreed]

 

[MelissaFreed]

 

 

[MelissaFreed]

 

 

[Cruzn Bills Fan]

Dawn is my favorite NCL ship so far (sailed Epic, Dawn & Pearl). We sail Getaway in NOV. Dawn's pool deck is great with the "stadium seating".

[Manateemike]

I do hope you will include your Cozumel experience in this wonderful review! Mentioned before that I too was on this cruise and your pictures and written review is very well done. I'll be looking forward to the future review of this cruise. Please don't give up!:)

[FitchburgWIFamily]

Thank you for your great pictures. We are in a family suite next March. On the Star, in the family suites, there was a network of curtains between the beds. On the Dawn, is the only divider the one between the sofa and the queen bed? Is there a divider between the sofa and the murphy bed?