Boston to Bermuda with Young Kids: August 15, 2014--TONS of photos

[lolavix]

 

 

I liked the contrast of the cargo colors to the gray morning.

 

I watched the planes the same way I had a week earlier, when we were sailing away.

 

DH told me that there is a person in each port who actually steers the ship into the dock, when the ship gets close. I hadn't realized it. Once they do, they move on.

 

So we were docked.

 

But we still needed to eat!

 

We went to the Garden Cafe and of course, it was jammed. I didn't want to deal with it the last day. I suggested the Venetian, so we could have one last relaxing meal. I don't think everyone wanted to go there, but since we hadn't had a sit down breakfast the entire cruise, off we went.

 

There is a menu at the Venetian, but you can pretty much get whatever you want. DS1 wanted yogurt, so they brought him some. DS2 wanted an apple, and so, he had an apple. Talk about spoiling us!

 

They do come around with pastries to start, so we all tried one. These seemed a little bit different from what was available in the buffet--maybe more fruit options?

 

I got grapefruit, and enjoyed the presentation.

 

I think we all ordered some sort of eggs, bacon, sausage combinations. The hash browns are formed, and not the individual pieces of potato the way they are at the buffet. This last meal was a blur, so I'm sure I'm forgetting something.

 

We finished and went back to the room to get our things.

 

One last photo of the kids in the room. This is our cabin, not theirs.

 

At some point, we had dropped off 'hero' cards for the staff of Splash Academy and Navel. They really made the trip that much more fun and special to us, and I have read that Norwegian does read these.

 

We then decided that it might be fun to see if we could see the inside of a suite. We headed up to Deck 12, but before we started our exploring, the kids wanted to "say goodbye" to Splash Academy. I told them it wasn't open, but they still wanted to see for themselves.

 

Yes, the doors were all shut and we could see the new schedule already posted. It was time to move on.

[lolavix]

This is when we had a bit more unexpected excitement injected into our cruise.

 

We went down the flight of stairs to Deck 12 from Splash Academy. We were going to cut through the Garden Cafe to get to the suites to see if we could peek into one, since many passengers were already gone and the stewards were doing the rooms. We all walked through the buffet area...or so I thought.

 

We made it all the way to the far end, and when we turned around, DS2 was missing.

 

Sometimes he lags behind, but normally, he'd be coming right along.

 

This time, nothing.

 

The buffet still had a lot of people, so DH went back to get him while the three of us waited. DH came back about a minute later without DS2.

 

We then walked around to the other side---no DS2.

 

Now I'm starting to panic...I'm thinking, it's debarkation day, all these rooms are open, he could be in any one of them. He had already said he didn't want to leave. What if he were hiding.

 

And then I started to think, "What if he walks off the boat?" I reminded myself that we needed passports and key cards to get off, but what if he just walked out with some other group? He's six and small.

 

It seemed like a long time, but it probably wasn't.

 

We went to the elevators and told DD and DS1 to stay with our carryon that I was lugging through the buffet. It had money, passports, camera, etc. so I impressed upon them how important it was that they didn't move away from the bag.

 

DH headed downstairs; I guess, to go to guest services to report DS2 missing. I then did an entire lap around both sides of the buffet--nothing. I started to feel the panic rising. Where was he?

 

Thankfully, when I got back to the other kids, they told me that my name had been called over the loudspeaker. Yes, I had the privilege (?!) of being one of the only people who needed to be paged the entire cruise. (The others were the non-US citizens who were very late getting to customs that morning.) I asked the kids where I was supposed to go and they weren't sure, but thankfully, two women were standing near us and asked if I was My Name and I said yes and they told me to go to Deck 7, which is where Guest Services is.

 

As I started running down the stairs, I saw DH and DS2. :D

 

DS2 was crying, I started crying, we were just a small puddle for a little bit.

 

I'm still not exactly sure what happened, but I think DS2 was playing with his penguin on the stairs, sliding him down the bannisters. He didn't realize that we didn't keep going when we descended from Deck 13 to Deck 12, so he wound up on Deck 7. I'm guessing that he started to cry, then, and someone brought him to Guest Services. There is an office in the back and that is where he was waiting for us.

 

Deep breaths for all, and we went back up to twelve to get the other two kids and put this behind us.

 

We went down the hall to the suites and did manage to peek in. Yes, much larger room, much larger bathroom. No pictures. I know that the suites have tons of perks, but I think for us, it worked out better two have two rooms, with two bathrooms. The kids enjoyed being grown up in their own room, and we liked having our own space, too.

 

We then proceeded to the library, since DH and DS2 had missed that the day before. We made ourselves comfortable since our color still had not been called.

 

 

The boys took out Chutes and Ladders to play.

 

They called our color a little bit early. We waited a little bit longer...part of it was we didn't want to leave, I think, but part of it was also that we figured we could either sit comfortably or stand in the long line which wound around deck 7.

 

We finally said goodbye to the library and headed down. We probably waited about 15-20 minutes. We handed the customs' officer our form and he barely looked at it. (Along with the other items we bought, we also bought my dad some Scotch for his birthday--good deals in the duty free shop...that was another thing we had done the previous, busy evening when we needed to look at photos, pack, get our luggage set out and go see the aerialists and Second City). We punched out of Norwegian with our key cards for the last time. By then we were around to the front, and we saw the balloons and decorations for the next group of passengers, and felt a little bit bad.

[lolavix]

The last thing we saw before we were back in the terminal was this:

 

and I'd like to thank all of you for reading along and traveling with me!

 

If you have any questions, feel free to ask and I will do my best to answer them.

[pathubia]

I booked our October cruise a week after we got home. I can't wait!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Jan_In_Maine]

Thanks for taking us all with you on your cruise ... We leave this Friday (two days!:D) and its been enjoyable to read about your adventure while waiting! Jan

[pisenor]

You had me from the word go....

What a great review, thank you for spending the time and sharing this with all of us. I know this was your first cruise and I am certain it won`t be your last. After all, cruising is highly addictive. I am already looking forward to your next review! ;):D

 

Thanks:cool:

[rimom71]

Yikes! What an eventful last morning! So my question is...have you booked the next one yet?:p

[ClarkBHM]

Great review! Thanks for sharing.

 

We'll be in on the Dawn in January, so the abundance of pictures was greatly appreciated. Only wish we could have gone to Bermuda a few years ago on the Gem (we were diverted to the Bahamas instead.)

[lolavix]

Pathubia--Lucky! :)

 

Jan-in-Maine--You are very welcome. Enjoy your trip!!

 

Pisenor--Thanks for your kind words. I am not sure when our next cruise will be, but it's likely that I will do another review. I'm glad you've enjoyed my review.

 

ClarkBHM--The Breakaway was diverted last week, and the Dawn left early, and we were so grateful that we had our scheduled cruise the week prior. I would highly recommend everyone visit Bermuda once in their lives. Enjoy the Dawn when you go.

[geocruiser]

Thank you for your wonderful review and letting me enjoy your beautiful pictures of your trip and your family.

[soaringfalcon]

Thanks again for a wonderful review. I really loved it. There is just nothing like the magic of a first cruise and I loved watching you discover it. Welcome to the NCL family :)

[lolavix]

Geocruiser--Thank you for reading along and your kind words.

 

Soaringfalcon--Thank you. We loved our first cruise and will be back for another someday. :)

[www3traveler]

Thank you for all the wonderful pictures. I will be on The Dawn for the first time this January. I can not wait.

 

Mandy

[lolavix]

wwwtraveler--You are very welcome. I think you'll enjoy the Dawn!

[baflagg]

Thanks so much for posting this great review and all the pictures. I've been reading different posts here as I'm planning to book the Dawn today for the Boston/Bermuda cruise but was unsure how kid friendly it was.

 

We were on the Breakaway a couple of summers ago and my daughter (8) had a great time but wasn't sure they would have as many activities on the Dawn. So was thinking about booking the Breakaway again. I can see however by your review and pictures she will have a great time.

 

Thank you for helping me to make my decision.

[flowers44]

Bermuda is my favorite place to go. I have been there for the last five years in a row on one cruise or another. We chose the Dawn for our 50th Anniversary Cruise and took our children and grandchildren with us. There were 15 of us and we had a ball. Last year, my DH and I did a B2B and the second half was a 5 day to Bermuda. Your review was wonderful. I brings back such wonderful memories. This year, it is off to the Southern Caribbean on Repositioning Cruise in October. Keep on Cruising.

[lolavix]

Baflagg--The Breakaway probably does have more activities, but the Dawn had plenty to keep my three kids busy...I hope you have a great cruise! :)

 

Flowers44--We'd love to go back to Bermuda. Who could get tired of such a lovely place? Enjoy your cruise this year!

[momo24]

Wonderful review and pictures. I have been on this cruise 5 times and yet you have shown places in Bermuda that we have not seen or heard of.

 

We are going again in October and thanks to you we will be going to different places.

[Barb Nahoumi]

Thank you again for sharing your trip and great pictures with us. We will be cruising on the Dawn to Bermuda, for the 4th time this sumer, and your pictures have brought it all back.

 

Can't wait.

[AlexandNessa]

I'm very happy someone bumped this recently, or I'd have not seen it not. This was a fabulous review, and I loved your pics. Thanks so much for taking the time to write and post. Enjoyed it very much. :)

[dcipjr]

Great review! Plenty of details, pictures, well-written...I'm also glad someone bumped it so I could read.

 

We sailed on the Dawn on the sailing prior to yours. From the looks of it, your weather was better! I enjoyed reliving the cruise through your review.

[AEckhardt]

I'm also glad this popped up again! I commented last year about thinking of doing the Dawn again, and earlier this month I booked an early September Boston to Bermuda! Seeing the ship in detail reminds me how much fun I had the first time I sailed on her! Of course, I love Bermuda and can't wait to explore new places :)

 

Lolavix, I have to say this is probably the best, most in detail review I have found of the Dawn! I love your excellent quality photos to go along with your writing. It really brings it to life! Thank you!

[lolavix]

momo24--I'm glad this review helped you. It's fun to change things up with a few new places in addition to your old favorites.

 

Barb Nahoumi--You are very welcome.

 

AlexandNessa--You are welcome as well. :)

dcipjr--We did hear that the weather was better for us than the week before. And I think the week immediately after us had weather issues as well. Thanks for your kind words.

 

AEckhardt--Have fun in September, and thank you for your kind words. I am glad this review has been helpful for people. :)

[soccersharon]

Thank you for your review and fantastic pictures. We are booked on the Dawn in July, and can't wait to visit Bermuda for the first time.

 

 

Sent from my iPad. Typos are inevitable.

[alexsma]

Thanks so much for your post, I really enjoyed the pictures and all the details. We are cruising on Dawn in April 2016 it will be our first cruise and first big trip with our DS2 who will be 4 at the time.