Dawn to Bermuda Review. A tale of two cruises

[megansdad1]

Today was the 1st and only day that the pool area was overly crowded. The sun was blazing and it seemed like the whole ship was on deck. Everyone was trying to get some pool time in before thing starting to come to an end. Even with that being said, it didn't keep me out of the pool. Another thing I forgot to touch on. As we were docked in Bermuda, the pool water keep getting greener and greener. To the point where you couldn't see the bottom anymore. And then when we left port it was clear again. I was told that they are not allowed to drain the pool while in port. But I still wonder what is turning the water green and if it was treated during that time.

 

Elements. By far the busiest show of them all. A lot harder to find seats here. It was pretty close if not at full capacity and for good reason. The best show of the group. It involved all aspects of the previous shows, the acrobats, illusionist and the dancers. It was beautifully put on and a little longer than the previous shows. I didn't have a lot of notes on day 6. Tomorrow was our final full day. I was starting to get that "oh crap it's almost over feeling!"

[megansdad1]

Day 7 At sea

NCL was nice enought to remind me that time was running out lol

 

 

Here are today dailies.

 

 

 

 

[Texas]

First, congratulations on the weight loss - I know how easy it is to put it on and how hard it is to lose it.

 

I am thoroughly enjoying your review with all the wonderful pics. Although we have not sailed with NCL in many years, We encouraged a group of friends to join us on the Dawn next September when she goes to New England/Canada. I am feeling much better since reading your review. Thanks for taking the time to post your thoughts and your photos.

[megansdad1]

Today will be some wrap up and odds and ends. We started with out normal breakfast at the Garden Cafe. Why mess with what was working. We went my the pool again. I expected a similar day like the day before. A lot of people trying to get that last day in at the pool. The weather was super nice. Wrong. It was very quiet. I am not sure if people didn't want to get bathing suits wet on the last day maybe?

 

One thing I didn't touch on was last night White Hot Party. As a tall fat guy, who likes to eat and is spill prone, I don't own a lot of white. And by not a lot, practically none. So I didn't get dressed up, but kinda wish I had. After seeing everyone in white, with blinky lights and funky glasses and hats, it looked like a lot of fun. So I went up to deck 12 to see all the fun. When I got up there, it was pouring out. So i elected to spend some time in the casino instead.

 

Tonight was the return to Cagneys. I ordered the chicken wing app. The waiter nicely informed me that the app was small and wanted to know if I wanted an additional app. So I elected the baked potato soup. The soup was awesome. I am glad he said something

 

 

 

This was a repeat type of meal, so no additional pictures. I ordered the filet again. I was tempted to get the porterhouse, but that was just too much food to eat. Especially with the dual apps and all the bread I was eating. For dessert, I had the previously pictured oreo cheesecake. One thing that was disappointing was that on the dessert menu, they had Chivas Royal Salute as a scotch option. I was very excited about this, since I have never tried it. Unfortunately the waiter informed me that they no longer stocked this and the menus had no been updated. boo

 

[megansdad1]

Tonight was Flyadage. Although I did enjoy seeing Gilles and Laure, I was feeling a little eh on the act by this time. They already did their act on the Welcome Board Show and saw them again in Elements, so by this time there was nothing new to see. So I left a little early to head down to Bliss to see the adult only show put on my the 2nd city comedy troop. This was one of the better decisions I made. It was crazy,crazy busy there. As in over capacity. When I got there, I was able to find a seat as some people were leaving from the Karaoke that had just finished up. But people kept coming in and they were finding places to sit on the floor in order to see this show. The show was the funniest things I have seen in a while. It was like an episode of who's line is it anyway, but with more audience participation. They even used some of my suggestions that I shouted out for scenes. Don't miss this show if you are on the dawn.

[megansdad1]

Things i missed

 

I think it was one morning of Day 7 that I was woken up around 4am to what sounded like a vacuum. At 1st I thought I was crazy or lost track of time. Neither one was the case. Apparently there was some type of flooding in the hallway right outside of my door and they were dry vacuuming the rug. I was not happy about this one. I snapped a picture that night and you can see in the upper part of the picture that the carpet was still wet. This was the 2nd case of flooding that occurred. Once was in the women room on 13

 

 

Speaking of facilities. As stated earlier, Kristen reverted to using our room instead of the public facilities, due to the flooding and being out of order. We ran into intermittent problems with our own toilet. It would not flush for hours at a time. Then it would just flush randomly. We would call to report it, but by the time they would call back, it was working again, so nothing happened

 

The Sugar Cane Mojito Bar.

 

This bar was located in the Brazilian restaurant located on deck 13. This seems like a waste of a bar and concept. The bar is super small and serves to fill the order for the Brazilian place and Cagneys. So the whole time we had a drink there, we felt out of place. There were so many crew members there that we felt like we were messing up their flow. Its a shame, because I really enjoyed my Mojito.

 

 

 

 

 

[megansdad1]

We chose to carry off our own luggage. We were on deck 8 and we get off on deck 7. Since we only had one suitcase each, we decided to just carry it down the one flight. I had already picked up and filled out our customs form. It was a great decision. It was super smooth and we were off the ship in no time. My brother picked us up outside and we were on our way home.

[megansdad1]

Wrap up. A tale of two cruises.

 

I figured I would give my overall impressions and compare to previous cruises.

 

Embark

Even with the slight delay which were reported being due to computers being down, it was super quick and friendly. This is a push based on the other cruise lines. Nothing special, nothing bad.

 

Room

Room was slightly smaller than what I was used to. I really liked the dual bathroom on the Disney dream, but I understand that is a much newer ship compared to the dawn. The bedding was new, but was really hard. My preference has been the comfort bedding on Carnival. I slept so well on my Carnival cruises. Plus having the toilet issues was a tick down. Never experienced that before. Advantage Carnival and Disney.

 

Dinning.

I was pleasantly surprised by the food on NCL. One of the things I love about cruising is eating. The specialty dining was pretty even between CCL and NCL, and I didn't use specialty in DCL. The MDR on NCL was better than Carnival and freestyle dining is the way to go. I don't think I ever want to go back to a set dining time. I preferred the buffet on Carnival and missed the pizza that was available on CCL. Desserts were better on CCL but overall advantage NCL

 

Entertainment.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the shows on NCL. They were really top notch. Which is similar to Disney and better than what I experienced on CCL. I did find that carnival had more events, i.e comedy shows, that I liked to attend. So overall this gets a push.

 

Bars/Nightlife

I found the bars to be similar across the lines, with the disadvantage going to DCL because the clubs and bars were always quiet, although very nice. Deck parties were similar across the lines. I wish disney would put in casinos, but that is no big issue. I will get into the UBP in my value for money part. Push between CCL and NCL

 

Staff

Truly a tale of two cruise here. I loved, loved my room steward. But some of the wait staff was hit or miss. Which I found to be close to CCL. One thing I didn't like about freestyle eating was that I enjoyed building the relationship with my wait staff as the cruise progressed. I still remember my servers from CCL (10 years ago) and DCL, but I none of the wait staff sticks out from this cruise. NCL and CCL is a push with service, with a big advantage to DCL for service (top notch)

 

Disembark

Push along all lines. Never had any issues with getting off the ship, outside of a previous rude customs agent.

 

Value for Money

Here is the big one for me. I don't cruise a lot, so this boils down to be the most important part. I did enjoy having UBP and SDP. I got good use out of the UBP because I had it. I am not a big drinker and would have had just as much fun having two drinks a day vs the 6-7 I had with the package.

 

I will base these costs based on two travelers with expenses. I am not figuring in ports and transportation in this one.

 

NCL. Exterior room with very obstructed window view on an older but nice ship. Final cost for 7 days for two adults with TIPs and service charges was $3200

 

CCL Balcony room. Similar type of ship (Legend) and age. Final cost for two (which includes drinks bought and specialty dining paid) was about $2200 for 8 days

 

DCL Extended Balcony room. Newer ship and more to do. Final cost for 2 was $2500 but was for a 3 day.

 

So what does this all mean. Cruising is very subjective and this is just my opinion. Value for money, CCL wins. I did enjoy my NCL experience, but I feel for the money, it could have been better. I would have preferred to have a lower cruise rate without perks. Unfortunately with work schedules, last minute fares are not an option. Kristen was slightly disappointed with NCL. This is her 3rd cruise with them and she sees how they have changed over the years, and not for the better. The bathroom issues were a big bummer. And her previous two cruises have been on DCL and there, service spoils you. If NCL comes around with the right price, I will cruise with them again. I had a very good time. So my initial thoughts are, if we are doing a family cruise, I will pick fewer days on DCL for a similar/lightly cheaper total cost. Next vacation between the two of us, I may explore other options like Celebrity, RCCL or Princess. Or take a super affordable CCL trip. I am also turned off about the new water policy. But I will allow more that for that to shake out.

 

I hope you enjoyed the review. Let me know if you have any questions and happy cruising

[Sand and Seas]

Great Review! I especially enjoyed your Wrap-up post and the way you compared it with your other cruises. Good information for those of us who haven't sailed or sailed recently on the other lines.

[megansdad1]

Another thing I forgot, which is more on the personal level. Thank you for those who liked the review and for the kind words on out weight loss. I took this cruise will the expectation that I would eat and drink as I chose. And I did that. I did go on walks here and there. The final result was a 7 lb gain over the 7 days. Which is what I expected. I did take the stairs almost all the time. I finished with just over 200 floors for the 7 days, which is 400 individual stair cases.

 

 

I have now reverted back to normal eating and working out. It was a rough transition, but I am over the hump. lol

[jlat]

Great review, very objective. Our last cruise was on the Dawn. It is a great ship with some quirks. We had toilet problems as well, but they were mostly in the public spaces and started on the 2nd day. Many of the public space toilets were either overflowing or shut down entirely. It seems that this was not resolved during the dry dock. Again great review, thanks for sharing.

[jancl57]

Thank you for you review. I enjoyed reading every word! We cruised on the Dawn 4 years ago. We had a balcony stateroom on the 10th deck. No UBP of SDP. Total cost of cruise, with tips and bar bill was $2,900. We just booked for next June. The balcony stateroom cost is $3,900 w/o tips so add another $189 to that. so close to $4,100. So we opted for an inside cabin. Cost is $2,776 w/o tips, so about $3k with tips. More then the balcony stateroom 4 years ago! But, we like the fact that don't have to fly anywhere and live just 20 minutes outside of Boston. We loved the cruise 4 years ago and am pretty sure we will enjoy it again next year, despite going from a balcony to an inside cabin.

 

Thank you again for your review....we can't wait to go back to Horseshoe bay again!

[tiger belle]

enjoyed your review...many thanks...I will be sailing on Dawn out of NOLA in November...it is my first cruise with NCL...I have sailed mostly with Carnival in the past and I sailed twice with RCL...as I inferred from your summary comparison, the various cruise lines are more similar than different among similar sized ships, and I feel the same way about RCL v Carnival...I just want to try a different cruise line, so I will see in November how my first NCL cruise goes

 

I am dismayed to hear of the bathroom issues and that apparently the problem wasn't resolved in dry dock--that is a bummer...I also like the set dining times because you develop the relationship with the wait staff plus your table mates-- I have some good memories from past cruises...I may not miss it and might end up preferring free style dining...we'll see

 

I do have one question...did you ever use room service? if so, how was your experience, especially compared to room service on Carnival?

 

again thanks

[NECruiser83]

Thank you for taking the time to write this review, I really enjoyed it. I enjoyed how you highlighted the good and bad, and not just focused on the bad as many people do. I have cruise #3 with RCI booked on Harmony of the Seas for this November, and next November I will be sailing NCL Getaway. I am looking forward to checking out a new line. I have my heart set on a bermuda cruise just me and DH, leaving 7 year DS with the grandparents. I also live in RI, so leaving out of Boston is ideal! It is nice to hear even with the hiccups/issues you encountered, that you would still sail NCL again. I am hoping to make this our next cruise we book, more than likely spring of 2018.

[megansdad1]

enjoyed your review...many thanks...I will be sailing on Dawn out of NOLA in November...it is my first cruise with NCL...I have sailed mostly with Carnival in the past and I sailed twice with RCL...as I inferred from your summary comparison, the various cruise lines are more similar than different among similar sized ships, and I feel the same way about RCL v Carnival...I just want to try a different cruise line, so I will see in November how my first NCL cruise goes

 

I am dismayed to hear of the bathroom issues and that apparently the problem wasn't resolved in dry dock--that is a bummer...I also like the set dining times because you develop the relationship with the wait staff plus your table mates-- I have some good memories from past cruises...I may not miss it and might end up preferring free style dining...we'll see

 

I do have one question...did you ever use room service? if so, how was your experience, especially compared to room service on Carnival?

 

again thanks

 

You are welcome. I didn't use room service. I am kinda burnt on room service. I would rather go up to deck 12 and grab something. Plus it is not worth the extra fee for it.

[Buford T Justiice]

Very nice review. Thanks for taking the time to review the Dawn and your thoughtful observations.

[PCLMassachusetts]

Great review. We are sailing on the Dawn in 8 days and very much looking forward to it. Sailed her a couple years ago out of NOLA and weirdly we did not experience any of the bathroom issues that are posted on here so frequently. Although, we really didn't use the public facilities too much, always found it easier to just go back to the cabin for the most part. Looking forward to seeing the changes first hand post dry dock.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

The carpets in the hallways did amuse me. I wondered why the red fish was the one the swam in the other direction.

 

 

 

Thanks for the fun review. That's the "rebellious fish," which used to be a major feature in NCL's marketing. As NCL introduced Freestyle, they were the rebellious fish, the one going against the current of the cruise industry. Now there's a drink called the Rebellious Fish, and you can still see the school of fish logo on doors on some older ships, but it's use has mostly disappeared. Thanks for catching that.

Edited July 8, 2016 by Cruiser Bruiser

[cincicruisers]

Thanks for taking the time to share your review with us.

[jethrojam]

Thanks for your review!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[Framily]

Thanks for the fun review. That's the "rebellious fish," which used to be a major feature in NCL's marketing. As NCL introduced Freestyle, they were the rebellious fish, the one going against the current of the cruise industry. Now there's a drink called the Rebellious Fish, and you can still see the school of fish logo on doors on some older ships, but it's use has mostly disappeared. Thanks for catching that.

 

Thanks for the history on the Rebellious Fish, they told us last week that the red fish would help us know if we were headed forward or aft! FYI, this drink was my favorite drink of the day, until they ran out of the ingredients to make it. I still loved the cruise!

[biker@sea]

Thank you.:)

 

 

.

[tuktukan]

Great review! It will be helpful for our upcoming trip! Thanks!

[VermontMaple]

I'm sure I speak for all of us, THANK YOU for taking the time to do such a thorough review. I'm taking SEVERAL pointers from you when we go on the Dawn in August.

 

 

 

 

Wrap up. A tale of two cruises.

 

I figured I would give my overall impressions and compare to previous cruises.

 

Embark

Even with the slight delay which were reported being due to computers being down, it was super quick and friendly. This is a push based on the other cruise lines. Nothing special, nothing bad.

 

Room

Room was slightly smaller than what I was used to. I really liked the dual bathroom on the Disney dream, but I understand that is a much newer ship compared to the dawn. The bedding was new, but was really hard. My preference has been the comfort bedding on Carnival. I slept so well on my Carnival cruises. Plus having the toilet issues was a tick down. Never experienced that before. Advantage Carnival and Disney.

 

Dinning.

I was pleasantly surprised by the food on NCL. One of the things I love about cruising is eating. The specialty dining was pretty even between CCL and NCL, and I didn't use specialty in DCL. The MDR on NCL was better than Carnival and freestyle dining is the way to go. I don't think I ever want to go back to a set dining time. I preferred the buffet on Carnival and missed the pizza that was available on CCL. Desserts were better on CCL but overall advantage NCL

 

Entertainment.

I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the shows on NCL. They were really top notch. Which is similar to Disney and better than what I experienced on CCL. I did find that carnival had more events, i.e comedy shows, that I liked to attend. So overall this gets a push.

 

Bars/Nightlife

I found the bars to be similar across the lines, with the disadvantage going to DCL because the clubs and bars were always quiet, although very nice. Deck parties were similar across the lines. I wish disney would put in casinos, but that is no big issue. I will get into the UBP in my value for money part. Push between CCL and NCL

 

Staff

Truly a tale of two cruise here. I loved, loved my room steward. But some of the wait staff was hit or miss. Which I found to be close to CCL. One thing I didn't like about freestyle eating was that I enjoyed building the relationship with my wait staff as the cruise progressed. I still remember my servers from CCL (10 years ago) and DCL, but I none of the wait staff sticks out from this cruise. NCL and CCL is a push with service, with a big advantage to DCL for service (top notch)

 

Disembark

Push along all lines. Never had any issues with getting off the ship, outside of a previous rude customs agent.

 

Value for Money

Here is the big one for me. I don't cruise a lot, so this boils down to be the most important part. I did enjoy having UBP and SDP. I got good use out of the UBP because I had it. I am not a big drinker and would have had just as much fun having two drinks a day vs the 6-7 I had with the package.

 

I will base these costs based on two travelers with expenses. I am not figuring in ports and transportation in this one.

 

NCL. Exterior room with very obstructed window view on an older but nice ship. Final cost for 7 days for two adults with TIPs and service charges was $3200

 

CCL Balcony room. Similar type of ship (Legend) and age. Final cost for two (which includes drinks bought and specialty dining paid) was about $2200 for 8 days

 

DCL Extended Balcony room. Newer ship and more to do. Final cost for 2 was $2500 but was for a 3 day.

 

So what does this all mean. Cruising is very subjective and this is just my opinion. Value for money, CCL wins. I did enjoy my NCL experience, but I feel for the money, it could have been better. I would have preferred to have a lower cruise rate without perks. Unfortunately with work schedules, last minute fares are not an option. Kristen was slightly disappointed with NCL. This is her 3rd cruise with them and she sees how they have changed over the years, and not for the better. The bathroom issues were a big bummer. And her previous two cruises have been on DCL and there, service spoils you. If NCL comes around with the right price, I will cruise with them again. I had a very good time. So my initial thoughts are, if we are doing a family cruise, I will pick fewer days on DCL for a similar/lightly cheaper total cost. Next vacation between the two of us, I may explore other options like Celebrity, RCCL or Princess. Or take a super affordable CCL trip. I am also turned off about the new water policy. But I will allow more that for that to shake out.

 

I hope you enjoyed the review. Let me know if you have any questions and happy cruising

[bluesea777]

 

[/url]

 

I took Kristen over the the other side of the beach. Upon entering you can go left to the main part, which we did, or go right to a small area. This smaller area is great for the little kids. It is blocked by rocks, so it has practically no tides. It is shallow and had more fish than the main beach.

 

 

 

We call that the Children's Beach. It does have tides just like the regular beach. When it is at low tide during the full moon phase, it gets really low - to your knees!

 

Our son had his first swim in there aged 1 month. We took him there a lot during his growing years.