NCL Dawn on the HAL Forum......

[scopewest]

So glad you had a good time!

[rkacruiser]

Sail,

 

Welcome home and I am glad you had a pleasant cruise experience! I look forward to your comments and comparisons.

[RuthC]

Welcome home. I'm glad that your first time back to cruising went so well; it gets easier each time out.

Hopefully you'll have more to say once you get settled back in. I'm looking forward to reading all about it.

[canadianbear]

It warms my heart that your first venture without your DH with you on a cruise went well. It's a huge step and I admire you for going. It's so nice that your good friends were on the ship with you as I'm sure that helped ease some of your worrying.

 

I've never been on NCL but am surprised laundry wouldn't be included in a Penthouse suite-it's something I would have expected. (glad you will be writing that in their suggestion box!!)

 

Welcome back to the chores and I will also be looking for your "more later" when you get organized.

[Roz]

Wishing you many more cruises to come. I know it was a big step for you, and I understand not wanting to sail HAL, at least for the time being. Glad you had a great trip.

 

Roz

[kalliekae]

Glad you had a great cruise. It's nice to get a different perspective. We were always loyal to HAL until I had to try a mega ship to the Caribbean. RC's ships are truly WOW! I am hooked on those ships, but we still choose HAL for other cruises. Looking forward to your review of NCL as our friends just returned from an Alaskan NCL cruise and loved it.

[Jade13]

Glad you enjoyed your cruise on NCL. Can't wait to hear more.

[sail7seas]

I'm so appreciative for all the nice comments. Thank you for 'welcoming me back home'. :)

 

[Barrheadlass]

I too am looking forward to hearing more about your trip...so glad you enjoyed it!

[sail7seas]

Through the years, I've never done a formal review though I truly admire those who organize theirs into categories and bullet points. Fair warning.... I get very wordy and lose myself in my experiences as I write about them here. If that dribble is annoying to you, I will not be offended if you move along.

 

Please bear with me but I seem to adopt the style of random comments rather than neat and orderly. :o

 

Very unusual but NCL Dawn boards on Fridays for their seven day Boston to Bermuda to Boston cruises. Being retired, it's all the same to me. :)

 

My friends' son picked me up at about 10:30 and we were off to Black Falcon. Took us no time and upon arriving, a nice stevedore immediately took our luggage. We were directed to a priority line, were escorted to a check in person at the long counter where there was a large staff working. Fast and easy check in and an escort took us immediately to the gangway, had our cards scanned on and we were delivered to our suites. My friends were a few doors down from me which was perfect.

 

I was immediately pleased with my cabin and found it to be very comfortable and certainly more than plenty of space with a generous verandah and I knew I would enjoy it if the beautiful weather kept up. (It did. :) )

 

Dawn has a restaurant where suite guests can enjoy breakfast and lunch and it is open to all for dinner. I really liked this restaurant and we had a nice lunch there after boarding.

Life Boat drill followed and we were assigned to the main Show Lounge and instructed to not bring life jackets. Though the drill was not nearly as thorough as HAL's, it was definitely comfortable being seated in the air conditioning. :)

 

When we returned to our cabins our luggage had arrived and unpacking was fast. Even I can't need all that much for a seven day cruise to Bermuda. :)

 

Butler arrived with delicious snacks which came every afternoon precisely at 3:45. It was fun wondering just what would be delivered each day. Most was delicious though really too much food.

 

I am one of the Traditionalists on HAL who insist on Main Upper Dining at 8 P.M. each evening at 'my' table. Well, more accurately, I used to be. I must admit I am converted to Freestyle Cruising. Perhaps it is my age catching up with me, traveling as a solo, or 'time for a change' but I loved dining when and where we wanted. We had a notion the MDR's may not be appealing to us and we had reservations for the various alternative restaurants on Dawn.

 

We dined in Cagney's, Le Bistro (sort of), Le Cucina, Aqua and had planned to dine in the Japanese Restaurant but we didn't get there.

 

I mostly skipped breakfast and had coffee in my cabin on the wonderful Lavazza coffee maker in each suite. Coffee was good cofee and available at will.

 

Lunch was mostly buffet, Cagney's or ashore one day.

Never thought I would say this about NCL but anyone who knows me at all knows of all things I am honest. I found the food on NCL equal to my taste as HAL's in almost all venues, all meals. The selection was far larger on Dawn and hot, fresh, appealing, attractively and efficiently served. Friendly stewards were busy but shared a pleasant word with us and were focused on pleasing us and they were successful.

 

I certainly didn't count heads but my casual impression was there was more staffing on Dawn than I have experienced for a long time on HAL. The stewards both doing cabins and dining were busy but I did not feel that out of breath, rushing, hurrying, short handed feeling I noticed on occasion on HAL. I am not always sure there are enough people trying to get all the work done on HAL. Perhaps I'm wrong but staffing feels down to me. It did not feel that way on NCL. Others who have sailed them for years know better than me and can correct if they feel NCL has cut crew.

 

 

 

I truly was amazed how good some of their alternative restaurants are. We had Unlimited Dining Package as part of our booking benefits so didn't even have to pay extra for those venues though we certainly would have, if necessary.

 

NCL has automatic service charge applied to all onboard accounts as does HAL so no additional tip is necessary but we were always happy to write a bit more tip on the slips we received at the end of our meal.

 

On HAL, I had an almost impossible time trying to get a decaf, black iced coffee on all HAL ships. On Dawn, I asked for it with all meals and had it cheerfully provided. THAT was a treat for me as it was hot and humid and that is my refreshing drink of choice.

 

To sum up re: dining......... I was very satisfied with all meals we had on Dawn and while I certainly enjoyed some more than others, I will never again think of NCL as inferior as to dining. IMO, IMO, IMO...... I know not all will agree but I do have some basis for comparison of food on cruise ships seeing I've sailed a great many times and though some of my experience on Princess, Celebrity, RCL and Carnival (sort of) is not recent, it nevertheless gives me comparison.

 

More to come...... :)

 

 

 

Edited August 7, 2015 by sail7seas

[jbhcw]

So glad you enjoyed your cruise...know it would be hard to venture out the first time by myself..hoping we will hear more about your NCL cruise...

 

Just back from the Boston area to visit family a few weeks ago..and found out a cousin and her daughter are doing a cruise on her in October:):)

[Krazy Kruizers]

Looking forward to more.

[POA1]

Excellent start! Looking forward to the rest.

[Love the beach]

So glad you went and that you had a good time! Love hearing all about it!

Marge

[Cruise_More_Often]

On NCL free laundry is a Platinum Latitudes benefit.

[Cruising-along]

I really wish HAL would give us the option of adding our extra tip onto a slip at the end of the meal. It would be so much easier than remembering to carry cash...

 

Thank you again, I'm enjoying hearing about your cruise. :)

[sail7seas]

On NCL free laundry is a Platinum Latitudes benefit.

 

On HAL, it is both a Four/Five Star Mariner benefit along with Suite where it includes dry cleaning. :)

 

[0bnxshs]

Welcome home, S7S! :)

 

We enjoyed our NCL Sun cruise of a few years ago too. It's always revealing when one puts on another set of shoes... sometimes they hurt, sometimes they are quite comfortable... but they are always something more than we knew before we put them on.

 

Thanks for the "eye opening" review. Well done and.... welcome home. :)

[Lizzie68]

Very interesting, I am enjoying your observations and comparisons.

[cruz chic]

Sorry I'm so late to the party. It's been a long, difficult day today. First of all welcome home! You've been missed. I'm so happy you enjoyed ncl. I've been tempted to try them myself. I find that Hal waiters seem to struggle so much. It never seems that way on princess in the MDR. I really love open dining and I'm the last person who would have ever thought that. Sometimes it good to be forced into something new. Really enjoyed what you have written so far. Thx for your effort. I'm sure you're tired.

[sail7seas]

Dawn was kept clean and for the most part is in better than decent condition. I did not love all the decorating and furnishings but given we were on a (semi) tropical cruise, the weather beautiful, the ship's colorful decorating worked well enough. The pool area was where I noticed some work would be necessary soon. My cabin was in very good condition. No carpet stains, all plumbing/air conditioning operated as intended. The bathroom was probably the same or a little more square footage as Neptune Suites but was laid out better. The toilet had a folding door which could be closed for privacy if someone was using sink/shower/tub. The combination shower/tub was in very good condition and also had a folding form that could be slid when the shower was in use but left open if soaking in the tub. More than adequate bathroom storage shelving and lots of towels. Oversized white bath towels were not the very thickest ever but were clean, replaced as frequently as any guest wished, lots of hand towels and hand cloths. Very nice dressing table, lights not so great for makeup but I managed :). Much better drawer storage than Neptune suites and the hair blower was conveniently stowed in a metal form against the side of the dressing table unlike on HAL where a drawer is lost to permanent storage of the hair blower.

 

Large wall hung flat screen tv with fewer channels than HAL but they had FOX, BBC, MSNBC and CNBC. There were a few movie channels, I think and the usual ship board info and advertising stations.

 

Captain made a daily 'from the bridge' announcement and was very pleasant. We were invited to a VIP cocktail party but I didn't attend. My friends met Captain and other officers and said they enjoyed a nice chat with them.

 

We were far forward on the ship. Location of Suites on this ship were not mid-ship the way I like and I expected a bit of roll and pitch being so far forward and had that second night out and first nigh going home. I almost never suffer mal de mer but did a bit this trip. It was mild and I had my medications with me so no big deal but noteworthy for me as it is unusual. One of my friends also suffered a bit and that is why we missed dinner in the Japanese Restaurant which was a small disappointment.

 

We had Unlimited Beverage Cards, also a benefit of booking suites at the time we booked. We could have as many drinks as we wish and all that cost $11 or under were included. Just about all drinks fit that price range and if we ordered one that exceeded, they only charged the overage, not the full amount of the drink..... unlike HAL. I am not a big drinker but do enjoy a few glasses of wine. I found it very interesting to notice I saw very few people behaving as though they had consumed too much. I am sure there were some but I had a very different image we could be bothered by over-drinkers. It didn't happen.

 

Downside is the ship felt crowded in some areas, some times. Casino was the only place we were bothered with cigarette smoke. It was quite heavy and I could not stay there long but it was so pleasant to know I could use my verandah at will and not suffer second hand smoke. My cabin smelled fresh and clean and was a delight..

 

We arrived as 're-scheduled' for 1 P.M. in Bermuda and disembarkation began almost immediately. We had plans to meet a friend of mine for lunch and we had a short, nice walk from the ship to a restaurant in the Dockyard area. He joined us right on time and it was wonderful sitting, chatting, eating and I had my one and only tropical sweet drink of the trip during that lunch. I so appreciated him putting himself out to come see us and loved his company. My friends enjoyed meeting this lovely gentleman.

 

There were the usual excursions available and my friends, being very active and athletic, chose to do a jet ski excursion, catamaran sail to snorkel and see some of the multiple reefs around the island, one of them went fishing....... they loved their activities and the beautiful weather made it so enjoyable. I chose to hear about their adventures at dinner and was happy spending my time on the ship. Other than lunch ashore, I hardly left the ship which is not that unusual for me.

 

Shows and Bars next....... :)

 

Edited August 8, 2015 by sail7seas

[sail7seas]

I meant to add above that I love beautiful table settings, enjoy beautiful flatware, goblets, dinnerware and HAL's Rosenthal dinner sets are so much more beautiful than anything I saw on NCL. They are two different leagues for table settings not only in MDR but in all the alternative restaurants we visited as well.

 

Cagney's is Dawn's something like commensurate restaurant to Pinnacle but the elegance factor to table settings, layout, decorating of Pinnacle wins in all categories though we had very, very good service in Cagney's.

[POA1]

Thank you for review. DBIL & DSIL really like NCL, especially when they sail out of New York, which is closer for them.

[sppunk]

So the real question: has your allegiance weakened? ;)

[innlady1]

I'm so glad you enjoyed your 1st cruise on NCL...and your first time as a solo. Did you enjoy staying at the Dockyard? As sapper said, there's not much to dislike about Bermuda!