Dawn Review 6/1-6/8 Vow Renewal & Broken foot!

[motherof22boys]

Our family of four, (husband 50, myself 49, sons 18 & 17) had a great time on this cruise!  Everything was nearly perfect, with the exception of one bad incident on debarkation day.   I had originally booked 2 interior cabins with the drink package and put bids in for both to try to get balcony cabins.  A couple weeks before the cruise, I saw rates drop for the lowest balcony category to the same rate we paid for our interior cabins.  I called to see if we could get the upgrade for no extra charge and cancel our bids.  I was told we could do the upgrade over the phone at no extra charge, keep our drink packages, and cancel our bids, however we could not pick specific cabins.  I agreed to that.  The rep was able to tell me immediately our cabin assignments.  2 Priva Sea balconies on deck 9!  Perfect!  The rep was able to get them close together....only one cabin between us!

 

About this same time that I was able to upgrade, our 17 year old broke his foot.  The orthopedic surgeon put him in a walking boot and said he would ok him traveling with crutches and a knee scooter, and he could be partially weight bearing on it.  I called NCL special assistance and requested a shower chair and wheel chair assistance for boarding and debarking.  Both went very well!   We were ushered into a special line when going through security which was much shorter, and given a special section to sit in once we checked in.  We were the first group to board and they allowed the 3 of us to go with our broken foot boy!

 

Cabins were ready around 1:30.  The shower chair I requested was not in either of the cabins, but I quickly ran into our room steward, Rodherick, who immediately brought one.  I cannot say enough about Rodherick.  He was fantastic!  

 

Seadog67 in his live review, suggested the outside promenade on deck 7 for sail away.  We took his advice and loved it!  The views on both sides were fantastic and the area was easy for my son to navigate on his knee scooter since it was not crowded at all.

 

June 6th was our 27th wedding anniversary and my husband surprised me with a vow renewal ceremony.  The Group Service Coordinator,  Shirlyn Valdez helped my husband plan and organize the entire thing!  She was wonderful.  The ceremony was at 5 PM and we had dinner afterwards.  The entire restaurant staff came over and sang Let Me Call You Sweetheart and brought a wedding type cake that was huge!  The four of us each had a slice and they delivered the rest to our cabin later that evening.  We also had chocolate covered strawberries, canapes, and champagne waiting for us in our room that night as well.  On the final night of the cruise Shirlyn  had a cheese and cracker tray and more champagne delivered to our room.  An 8x10 photo was included with the package.  The overall experience was fantastic! 

 

All four of us really enjoyed this cruise.   We thought the service provided by the crew was great and found our fellow travelers to be both fun and kind!  Even our son commented on how supportive the audience was at karaoke regardless of the performer!  It was nice to see.  

 

We only had one negative experience the entire cruise.  It was on our final morning before we left the ship.  We decided to have a sit down breakfast at Venetian.  We had visited this restaurant many times over the week and it was our favorite place to dine.  The entire week we adhered to the guideline of "long pants required after 5 PM".  Earlier in the week my husband and I ate lunch there and he wore dress shorts (flat front, khaki style).  Nothing was said to him about wearing shorts and many others were also wearing shorts.  But on the last day when we arrived about 6:45 AM, the woman at the podium said to us "You can't come in.  No shorts allowed".  My husband and two sons were both wearing "dress" shorts.  I calmly replied that the Freestyle Daily on Day 7 said " Resort Causal and shorts are allowed in all dining venues except Le Bistro and Venetian AFTER 5:00 PM.  She said again "no shorts".  I wasn't about to let her ruin what was an amazing vacation, so we left.  As we were waiting for the elevator,  my son said to me that he saw a lot of guys in shorts in there.  At that moment the women from the podium appeared and said in an unapologetic tone "I will have you seated".  I have no idea what happened, but as we were walking to a table, I saw that my son was correct.  At least half of the men had on shorts.  Honestly, if she would have said she was sorry for the confusion, or in some way apologized for her error, I wouldn't have even mentioned the incident in this review.

 

I really appreciate the Live Dawn reviews in the weeks before we went.  They were great and very helpful!  Hopefully, I've provided a bit of info for anyone looking at vow renewals, or boarding with a broken foot!  I thought NCL handled both extremely well!  

[CarrieAP]

Thank you for sharing!! 

[April42749]

How was the weather?

[motherof22boys]

6 minutes ago, April42749 said:

How was the weather?

Things started out cold, foggy and rainy in Halifax.  I believe it was in the 50s.  We made the best of it, rented a car and drove to Peggy's Cove.  The weather was better in St John but still pretty chilly.  We rented a car again and drove to the sea caves.  The winds were strong near the ocean.  Bar Harbor was a beautiful day.  Sunny and more comfortable temps.  As a previous review mentioned, the fog horn on the ship was sounded on a regular basis most nights.  Portland was a bit warmer, rained very early but cleared up as the day went on.  Rhode Island was very foggy in the morning and we opted to stay on the ship.  

[motherof22boys]

31 minutes ago, CarrieAP said:

Thank you for sharing!! 

You're welcome!  Wanted to share some info since these boards have been so helpful to me!

[amygutman]

Kudos to the hubby for the vow renewal - just an amazing feat to pull off. I have to tell you - your positive spirit and willingness to go with the flow of weather and broken bones is fantastic, and I wish you and your family many happy cruises together in what sounds like a wonderful marriage. 

Amy

[motherof22boys]

8 hours ago, amygutman said:

Kudos to the hubby for the vow renewal - just an amazing feat to pull off. I have to tell you - your positive spirit and willingness to go with the flow of weather and broken bones is fantastic, and I wish you and your family many happy cruises together in what sounds like a wonderful marriage. 

Amy

Thank you so much for your kind words!  I definitely made sure we were prepared for the weather...packed 4 sturdy umbrellas and jackets for everyone.  I hoped for a nice day for Acadia National Park, and we definitely got it!  My husband was sure that I had found out about the vow renewal before hand, but honestly I had no idea.  I'm not sure how he did it, but it was an amazing surprise.  

[kitty-sail]

Congrats on the renewal of vows. It's nice to be reminded how 2 hearts were joined together.  

Shirlyn is truly fantastic.  I worked with her on my last cruise for a meet & greet. She's 5 stars in my book.

The Dawn is a great ship with a great crew.

[motherof22boys]

4 hours ago, kitty-sail said:

Congrats on the renewal of vows. It's nice to be reminded how 2 hearts were joined together.  

Shirlyn is truly fantastic.  I worked with her on my last cruise for a meet & greet. She's 5 stars in my book.

The Dawn is a great ship with a great crew.

I couldn't agree more.  Shirlyn and the entire crew really made it a special cruise for us.  I wish I could remember the bartender's name in Gatsby's who quickly recognized us and our love for his Pistachio Martini's! YUM!

[brookie848]

39 minutes ago, motherof22boys said:

I couldn't agree more.  Shirlyn and the entire crew really made it a special cruise for us.  I wish I could remember the bartender's name in Gatsby's who quickly recognized us and our love for his Pistachio Martini's! YUM!

 

Was the bartender Keshav from Pakistan? We were on the Dawn in November of 2017 and then again in February of this year. He remembered us and my preferred drink. 

[motherof22boys]

2 hours ago, brookie848 said:

 

Was the bartender Keshav from Pakistan? We were on the Dawn in November of 2017 and then again in February of this year. He remembered us and my preferred drink. 

I think it was Keshav!   Great service, fun, and one heck of a memory!

[CRAFTCRUISER]

On 6/9/2019 at 4:24 PM, motherof22boys said:

Our family of four, (husband 50, myself 49, sons 18 & 17) had a great time on this cruise!  Everything was nearly perfect, with the exception of one bad incident on debarkation day.   I had originally booked 2 interior cabins with the drink package and put bids in for both to try to get balcony cabins.  A couple weeks before the cruise, I saw rates drop for the lowest balcony category to the same rate we paid for our interior cabins.  I called to see if we could get the upgrade for no extra charge and cancel our bids.  I was told we could do the upgrade over the phone at no extra charge, keep our drink packages, and cancel our bids, however we could not pick specific cabins.  I agreed to that.  The rep was able to tell me immediately our cabin assignments.  2 Priva Sea balconies on deck 9!  Perfect!  The rep was able to get them close together....only one cabin between us!

 

About this same time that I was able to upgrade, our 17 year old broke his foot.  The orthopedic surgeon put him in a walking boot and said he would ok him traveling with crutches and a knee scooter, and he could be partially weight bearing on it.  I called NCL special assistance and requested a shower chair and wheel chair assistance for boarding and debarking.  Both went very well!   We were ushered into a special line when going through security which was much shorter, and given a special section to sit in once we checked in.  We were the first group to board and they allowed the 3 of us to go with our broken foot boy!

 

Cabins were ready around 1:30.  The shower chair I requested was not in either of the cabins, but I quickly ran into our room steward, Rodherick, who immediately brought one.  I cannot say enough about Rodherick.  He was fantastic!  

 

Seadog67 in his live review, suggested the outside promenade on deck 7 for sail away.  We took his advice and loved it!  The views on both sides were fantastic and the area was easy for my son to navigate on his knee scooter since it was not crowded at all.

 

June 6th was our 27th wedding anniversary and my husband surprised me with a vow renewal ceremony.  The Group Service Coordinator,  Shirlyn Valdez helped my husband plan and organize the entire thing!  She was wonderful.  The ceremony was at 5 PM and we had dinner afterwards.  The entire restaurant staff came over and sang Let Me Call You Sweetheart and brought a wedding type cake that was huge!  The four of us each had a slice and they delivered the rest to our cabin later that evening.  We also had chocolate covered strawberries, canapes, and champagne waiting for us in our room that night as well.  On the final night of the cruise Shirlyn  had a cheese and cracker tray and more champagne delivered to our room.  An 8x10 photo was included with the package.  The overall experience was fantastic! 

 

All four of us really enjoyed this cruise.   We thought the service provided by the crew was great and found our fellow travelers to be both fun and kind!  Even our son commented on how supportive the audience was at karaoke regardless of the performer!  It was nice to see.  

 

We only had one negative experience the entire cruise.  It was on our final morning before we left the ship.  We decided to have a sit down breakfast at Venetian.  We had visited this restaurant many times over the week and it was our favorite place to dine.  The entire week we adhered to the guideline of "long pants required after 5 PM".  Earlier in the week my husband and I ate lunch there and he wore dress shorts (flat front, khaki style).  Nothing was said to him about wearing shorts and many others were also wearing shorts.  But on the last day when we arrived about 6:45 AM, the woman at the podium said to us "You can't come in.  No shorts allowed".  My husband and two sons were both wearing "dress" shorts.  I calmly replied that the Freestyle Daily on Day 7 said " Resort Causal and shorts are allowed in all dining venues except Le Bistro and Venetian AFTER 5:00 PM.  She said again "no shorts".  I wasn't about to let her ruin what was an amazing vacation, so we left.  As we were waiting for the elevator,  my son said to me that he saw a lot of guys in shorts in there.  At that moment the women from the podium appeared and said in an unapologetic tone "I will have you seated".  I have no idea what happened, but as we were walking to a table, I saw that my son was correct.  At least half of the men had on shorts.  Honestly, if she would have said she was sorry for the confusion, or in some way apologized for her error, I wouldn't have even mentioned the incident in this review.

 

I really appreciate the Live Dawn reviews in the weeks before we went.  They were great and very helpful!  Hopefully, I've provided a bit of info for anyone looking at vow renewals, or boarding with a broken foot!  I thought NCL handled both extremely well!  

Who did your renewal ceremony?

[newmexicoNita]

On 6/9/2019 at 3:24 PM, motherof22boys said:

Our family of four, (husband 50, myself 49, sons 18 & 17) had a great time on this cruise!  Everything was nearly perfect, with the exception of one bad incident on debarkation day.   I had originally booked 2 interior cabins with the drink package and put bids in for both to try to get balcony cabins.  A couple weeks before the cruise, I saw rates drop for the lowest balcony category to the same rate we paid for our interior cabins.  I called to see if we could get the upgrade for no extra charge and cancel our bids.  I was told we could do the upgrade over the phone at no extra charge, keep our drink packages, and cancel our bids, however we could not pick specific cabins.  I agreed to that.  The rep was able to tell me immediately our cabin assignments.  2 Priva Sea balconies on deck 9!  Perfect!  The rep was able to get them close together....only one cabin between us!

 

About this same time that I was able to upgrade, our 17 year old broke his foot.  The orthopedic surgeon put him in a walking boot and said he would ok him traveling with crutches and a knee scooter, and he could be partially weight bearing on it.  I called NCL special assistance and requested a shower chair and wheel chair assistance for boarding and debarking.  Both went very well!   We were ushered into a special line when going through security which was much shorter, and given a special section to sit in once we checked in.  We were the first group to board and they allowed the 3 of us to go with our broken foot boy!

 

Cabins were ready around 1:30.  The shower chair I requested was not in either of the cabins, but I quickly ran into our room steward, Rodherick, who immediately brought one.  I cannot say enough about Rodherick.  He was fantastic!  

 

Seadog67 in his live review, suggested the outside promenade on deck 7 for sail away.  We took his advice and loved it!  The views on both sides were fantastic and the area was easy for my son to navigate on his knee scooter since it was not crowded at all.

 

June 6th was our 27th wedding anniversary and my husband surprised me with a vow renewal ceremony.  The Group Service Coordinator,  Shirlyn Valdez helped my husband plan and organize the entire thing!  She was wonderful.  The ceremony was at 5 PM and we had dinner afterwards.  The entire restaurant staff came over and sang Let Me Call You Sweetheart and brought a wedding type cake that was huge!  The four of us each had a slice and they delivered the rest to our cabin later that evening.  We also had chocolate covered strawberries, canapes, and champagne waiting for us in our room that night as well.  On the final night of the cruise Shirlyn  had a cheese and cracker tray and more champagne delivered to our room.  An 8x10 photo was included with the package.  The overall experience was fantastic! 

 

All four of us really enjoyed this cruise.   We thought the service provided by the crew was great and found our fellow travelers to be both fun and kind!  Even our son commented on how supportive the audience was at karaoke regardless of the performer!  It was nice to see.  

 

We only had one negative experience the entire cruise.  It was on our final morning before we left the ship.  We decided to have a sit down breakfast at Venetian.  We had visited this restaurant many times over the week and it was our favorite place to dine.  The entire week we adhered to the guideline of "long pants required after 5 PM".  Earlier in the week my husband and I ate lunch there and he wore dress shorts (flat front, khaki style).  Nothing was said to him about wearing shorts and many others were also wearing shorts.  But on the last day when we arrived about 6:45 AM, the woman at the podium said to us "You can't come in.  No shorts allowed".  My husband and two sons were both wearing "dress" shorts.  I calmly replied that the Freestyle Daily on Day 7 said " Resort Causal and shorts are allowed in all dining venues except Le Bistro and Venetian AFTER 5:00 PM.  She said again "no shorts".  I wasn't about to let her ruin what was an amazing vacation, so we left.  As we were waiting for the elevator,  my son said to me that he saw a lot of guys in shorts in there.  At that moment the women from the podium appeared and said in an unapologetic tone "I will have you seated".  I have no idea what happened, but as we were walking to a table, I saw that my son was correct.  At least half of the men had on shorts.  Honestly, if she would have said she was sorry for the confusion, or in some way apologized for her error, I wouldn't have even mentioned the incident in this review.

 

I really appreciate the Live Dawn reviews in the weeks before we went.  They were great and very helpful!  Hopefully, I've provided a bit of info for anyone looking at vow renewals, or boarding with a broken foot!  I thought NCL handled both extremely well!  

glad you had a wonderful cruise and hope your son is healing well. I wonder what the stupid gal was thinking. Of course most of us know the dress code is for after 5. it is too bad that had to happen to you. Dawn is one of our favorite ships due to the wonderful staff. WE have never had a bad experience with anyone crew member except the spa manager many years ago. But I won't go there, it was so long ago 

[motherof22boys]

17 hours ago, CRAFTCRUISER said:

Who did your renewal ceremony?

I couldn't remember his name, but I just checked our Vow Renewal Certificate and it was Alain Magnier, General Manager.  He was a fantastic officiant!  He was very kind and stayed after the ceremony to pose for pictures with us.

[motherof22boys]

10 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

glad you had a wonderful cruise and hope your son is healing well. I wonder what the stupid gal was thinking. Of course most of us know the dress code is for after 5. it is too bad that had to happen to you. Dawn is one of our favorite ships due to the wonderful staff. WE have never had a bad experience with anyone crew member except the spa manager many years ago. But I won't go there, it was so long ago 

Thank you!  My son was just told that he would have 4 more weeks in the walking boot, so he is a bit disappointed that he won't be playing soccer this summer.   I agree that the rest of the Dawn staff is outstanding and I"m sorry to hear about your experience with the spa manager.  We are still talking about what a great time we had!

[amygutman]

Mazel tov on your renewal!!!! 

Hopefully many, many more happy years of cruising for your entire family!

Amy

[CRAFTCRUISER]

Alain is great.....

[CRAFTCRUISER]

On 7/3/2019 at 5:47 PM, motherof22boys said:

I couldn't remember his name, but I just checked our Vow Renewal Certificate and it was Alain Magnier, General Manager.  He was a fantastic officiant!  He was very kind and stayed after the ceremony to pose for pictures with us.

Where was ceremony held?

[motherof22boys]

11 minutes ago, CRAFTCRUISER said:

Where was ceremony held?

I don't recall the name of the room where it was held.  It was a large conference type room but they had it decorated beautifully.  There were four huge floral arrangements atop of white pillars and speakers were on the walls for music.

[CRAFTCRUISER]

8 hours ago, motherof22boys said:

I don't recall the name of the room where it was held.  It was a large conference type room but they had it decorated beautifully.  There were four huge floral arrangements atop of white pillars and speakers were on the walls for music.

Ok thanks