Just off the Dawn today!!!

[Junebug27]

We just left the dawn today! I thought I would give a quick review of the good and the bad!

 

This was our 7th Ncl cruise, the Dawn was the first ship we sailed 10 years ago, then the Jewel twice, Breakaway twice and the Escape. Initially I had concerns about going back to a smaller ship.  we stayed in a double balcony owners suite. 

 

The room:  huge! We have stayed in suites before but this was gigantic, my gymnastics loving 7 year old could run across it and do 3 cartwheels before reaching the master bedroom.  We loved the extra space and huge balconies!  The room decor was fine but a little shabby, broken floor and wall tiles. 

 

Plumbing issues galore, I won’t lie I have never encountered this and it was a pain, we had two toilets and midday often they wouldn’t flush for hours, I have heard this is common but it happened everyday.  Hot water was scarce.  Most mornings it would be warm, during the afternoon after days in port when we looked forward to a warm shower it was ice cold.  Also slow drains a few times, a 3 minute shower could overflow into the bathroom at times. I called the front desk 7 times regarding the hot water, asked for the hotel manager, since we were in a suite they said it had to go through the concierge and it seemed to be ignored at that point. I’m pretty easygoing so for me to call at all is a big deal, I got it pretty early on trying to get that fixed was a dead end. 

 

Our room steward Janelle was the absolute sweetest, hardest working lady on the ship, She was just wonderful, I enjoyed chatting with her each day and our room was always done perfectly, I never had to ask her for anything at any time. 

 

In general I felt the ship was refurbished nicely and I enjoyed the small ship feel.  The one pool was tough and it was so full of people and kids, we went in early morning once and it was nice, we then heard someone pooped in it that afternoon so that was it for the pool for us!

 

Entertainment was great, lots of dance and music, acrobatics, my daughter loved it and so did we! Light enjoyable entertainment and around the ship we enjoyed the live music every night.

 

Food,  quite good, la cucina, teppanyaki, los lobos, Cagneys all good! Bamboo not as good as I remember, don’t worry if you can’t get a table, it’s free but asian night in the garden cafe is better.  Suite breakfast in cagneys was excellent, lunch is pretty boring there, we only did that twice as it’s the same 5 items. 

 

Great stirrup cay was really nice, we enjoyed the less crowded day there after being there on megaships.

 

overall a very nice relaxing cruise, friendly staff as always, maybe even more on the small ship, lots of staff remembering my daughters name etc, a very warm personable atmosphere. 

[Pauser]

Sounds like a great cruise! We were on the Dawn several years ago and liked it. I just prefer the smaller ships. Glad you enjoyed your cruise. Thanks for the review.

[mking8288]

Nicely done and welcome back to the heat wave ! 

 

The plumbing issues were never fully resolved onboard - did Guest Services do anything for you ?  This would be an appropriate one to escalate, up to the head of housekeeping or GM while onboard. 

 

I saw that the Dawn came back very, very early again this morning, it was sailing under the VZ Bridge around 1:30 am en route up the Hudson - probably docked while the late/final night of partying was wrapping up.  This happened last week also with the Dawn & the Escape returning from Bermuda.  

[Junebug27]

Yes they were never fully resolved, the last call I made I tried to escalate, I was pretty pissed to be honest, and said put me on with the hotel manager, General manager etc and they kept saying your concierge has to put it through to a manager.  I thought it was strange, almost because we were in a suite and had a concierge everything had to go through him? My guess was this had been going on for previous cruises and they were aware of the problem, it was a big fix and they were avoiding it. I fully expected calls from the concierge or manager the next day and did not receive one, did not even see the concierge until disembarkation.  After 7 ncl cruises I was truly surprised by all of that. 

 

Yes we were fully docked in NYC by 2am, we were off the boat at 7:15 this morning. 

 

 

 

 

[bonvoyagie]

We enjoyed our 14days on the Dawn back in 16. We were also in a two bedroom suite on deck 11, had a wonderful room steward and butler - we also had hot water issues in one of the sinks-  our room steward had it fixed by the time we got back from our day in port.

 

One advantage of the CC M&G is that we get some direct lines to key officers - including the Hotel Director - in every meeting I have been to they say that if we have problems bring it to their attention.  In fact during the cruise I have been recognized by some of the officers who have stopped me to ask if things are going well.

 

The Dawn is older and I am sure that there are items that would take way more time than even the month long dry dock could take care of. Meanwhile the crew tries their best to maintain them. 

[don't-use-real-name]

57 minutes ago, bonvoyagie said:

/s/ - we also had hot water issues in one of the sinks-  our room steward had it fixed by the time we got back from our day in port.

/s/

The Dawn is older and I am sure that there are items that would take way more time than even the month long dry dock could take care of. Meanwhile the crew tries their best to maintain them. 

About that HOT water issue - problem is the higher up your cabin and the further away from the heat source it takes

a while for the hot water to get to you. One must be very careful in the showers and baths getting the water temperature

set or mixed before stepping in. Probably that way on all ships - imagine waiting for hot water on deck 18 on the -AWAY

class ships.

 

About the OP's complaint on the drains - maintenance should have popped the drain cover off and inspected for

hair and other debris clogging the free drainage - had a similar problem on the sister ship STAR.

Hearing moan-ful rasping noises the drain traps need to have water in them to insulate from that and keep odors at bay.

Basic simple plumbing maintenance from time to time would fix these minor irritations.

But alas there is not a lot of time to do all this - only fix the problem areas as they happen.

 

*****

That 2nd post-reply - just when the heck does the chain of command go from the Hotel Manager thru the Concierge ???

Your cabin steward - your Butler - your Concierge - and then the Hotel Director/Manager who then directs the

appropriate department to look into and fix the problem - the Concierge does not run around with a left handed speed

wrench to fix plumbing problems nor does the Butler !

The Concierge wasn't Roel Gonzales was it ?

The DAWN is a nice ole ship but what I am reading of her recently it is going down hill - maybe there should have

been a crew change with the dry-docking.

Been on 5 cruises on her and everything worked fine except the wait for it - the HOT water to arrive !

[newmexicoNita]

Darn I hate to hear about plumbing problems. This doesn't make for a great experience but you seem to have taken it as well as anyone could cause you still enjoyed your cruise. We have been lucky, 24 NCL cruises and never a plumbing problem except a few issues, a few days with hot water late in the PM when so many are showering, etc. 

we have done the Dawn twice since she was refurbished and love her. WE did her prior as well, but wasn't as impressed then.  

[mugtech]

If we would have had such problems after paying for a suite we would have raised holy hell until it was resolved.  OBC is NOT the answer.

[Junebug27]

9 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

About that HOT water issue - problem is the higher up your cabin and the further away from the heat source it takes

a while for the hot water to get to you. One must be very careful in the showers and baths getting the water temperature

set or mixed before stepping in. Probably that way on all ships - imagine waiting for hot water on deck 18 on the -AWAY

class ships.

 

About the OP's complaint on the drains - maintenance should have popped the drain cover off and inspected for

hair and other debris clogging the free drainage - had a similar problem on the sister ship STAR.

Hearing moan-ful rasping noises the drain traps need to have water in them to insulate from that and keep odors at bay.

Basic simple plumbing maintenance from time to time would fix these minor irritations.

But alas there is not a lot of time to do all this - only fix the problem areas as they happen.

 

*****

That 2nd post-reply - just when the heck does the chain of command go from the Hotel Manager thru the Concierge ???

Your cabin steward - your Butler - your Concierge - and then the Hotel Director/Manager who then directs the

appropriate department to look into and fix the problem - the Concierge does not run around with a left handed speed

wrench to fix plumbing problems nor does the Butler !

The Concierge wasn't Roel Gonzales was it ?

The DAWN is a nice ole ship but what I am reading of her recently it is going down hill - maybe there should have

been a crew change with the dry-docking.

Been on 5 cruises on her and everything worked fine except the wait for it - the HOT water to arrive !

Yea I have waited for the hot water many times on cruises, I can say honestly this was different.  I do believe there is a more serious plumbing issue.  At one point we let it run for a half hour trying to have it warm up to Luke warm and it never did.  Most days at some point we can get a steady Lukewarm and then it would slowly turn cold over a few minutes.   The last day it was only boiling hot and wouldn’t cool down at all. 

 

I also thought the whole direct concerns to the concierge thing was off and strange.  It  was Roel.  

[Junebug27]

2 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

Darn I hate to hear about plumbing problems. This doesn't make for a great experience but you seem to have taken it as well as anyone could cause you still enjoyed your cruise. We have been lucky, 24 NCL cruises and never a plumbing problem except a few issues, a few days with hot water late in the PM when so many are showering, etc. 

we have done the Dawn twice since she was refurbished and love her. WE did her prior as well, but wasn't as impressed then.  

Yes I really found many other positive things to focus on and we definitely enjoyed our cruise! I made a conscious effort to just accept the water situation and enjoy the cruise. I also was really impressed by the refurbished dawn and thought the ship looked as modern and fresh as the breakaway or escape.  

[NayRN]

Love the Dawn! I’ve only sailed once on her in an OS...10006. That suite is huge and I really enjoyed both the forward and side balconies. 

 

So sorry you had the problem you did...but it sounds to me like you have a really positive attitude...the glass is neither half-full or half-empty, it’s always refillable! 🍻

 

 

[Junebug27]

3 hours ago, NayRN said:

Love the Dawn! I’ve only sailed once on her in an OS...10006. That suite is huge and I really enjoyed both the forward and side balconies. 

 

So sorry you had the problem you did...but it sounds to me like you have a really positive attitude...the glass is neither half-full or half-empty, it’s always refillable! 🍻

 

 

That was our room!!!! 10006!! Absolutely! We love having extra space, it’s primarily why we paid more for the suite and I was blown away at the size, we have been in multiple 2 bedroom suites and none came close!  We got more then we expected with the room, The glass was overflowing in that department, we did consciously say something can always go wrong let’s just not care too much about the water situation and we didn’t, Sangria out on that gorgeous front balcony on those ridiculously comfortable loungers makes it hard to be mad about anything!!

[puppycanducruise]

Thanks for your report.

Too bad about the plumbing issues, but I'm glad you had a good cruise anyway.

[dexddd]

13 hours ago, don't-use-real-name said:

About that HOT water issue - problem is the higher up your cabin and the further away from the heat source it takes

a while for the hot water to get to you. One must be very careful in the showers and baths getting the water temperature

set or mixed before stepping in. Probably that way on all ships - imagine waiting for hot water on deck 18 on the -AWAY

class ships.

 

About the OP's complaint on the drains - maintenance should have popped the drain cover off and inspected for

hair and other debris clogging the free drainage - had a similar problem on the sister ship STAR.

Hearing moan-ful rasping noises the drain traps need to have water in them to insulate from that and keep odors at bay.

Basic simple plumbing maintenance from time to time would fix these minor irritations.

But alas there is not a lot of time to do all this - only fix the problem areas as they happen.

 

*****

That 2nd post-reply - just when the heck does the chain of command go from the Hotel Manager thru the Concierge ???

Your cabin steward - your Butler - your Concierge - and then the Hotel Director/Manager who then directs the

appropriate department to look into and fix the problem - the Concierge does not run around with a left handed speed

wrench to fix plumbing problems nor does the Butler !

The Concierge wasn't Roel Gonzales was it ?

The DAWN is a nice ole ship but what I am reading of her recently it is going down hill - maybe there should have

been a crew change with the dry-docking.

Been on 5 cruises on her and everything worked fine except the wait for it - the HOT water to arrive !

I have no idea where the hot water comes from on a ship but we've stayed in the very front rooms on away class ships on 16 and 17 plus OS on Dawn on ten and never had any long wait. Hot water at my home actually takes longer and there I know how far it has to go.

[dexddd]

24 minutes ago, Junebug27 said:

That was our room!!!! 10006!! Absolutely! We love having extra space, it’s primarily why we paid more for the suite and I was blown away at the size, we have been in multiple 2 bedroom suites and none came close!  We got more then we expected with the room, The glass was overflowing in that department, we did consciously say something can always go wrong let’s just not care too much about the water situation and we didn’t, Sangria out on that gorgeous front balcony on those ridiculously comfortable loungers makes it hard to be mad about anything!!

We had 10006 on Dawn to Bermuda a few years back.  We never had any plumbing issues or hot water issues so must be a larger problem.  Their response, or lack of, is not acceptable.  The room was  overhauled recently during the drydock but I was curious about things like tile and light switches.  There are a ton of switches in the room and when we were on they were beat up. 

 

Their avoidance seems  similar to the fogged windows in suites on Deck 12 Star situation.

[dexddd]

I should have added that Dawn used to get probably the most reports in the fleet about plumbing issues, mostly for leaks, but the last few years have not had many.

[mking8288]

We stayed in 4 different staterooms this May, Deck 4 Fwd, Deck 5 Mid & Deck 9 Fwd - water pressure was acceptable but "low-flow" - drains worked fine ... did have flushing issue with 1 of 2 Deck 9 Fwd (newer ones - with the sliding door) cabin.  Reported/notified RS and it was prompty restored after dinner - something in that section probably clogged up the vacuum lines (access panels for inspection & maintenance behind panels outside in the hallway) for the grey and/or black water.  Otherwise, we didn't hear/read anything from others on the Roll Call about plumbing issues.  

 

I know that as we disembarked her in mid May, some of the crew members were rotating & heading elsewhere ... home/vacation/transfers - but the response/lack thereof is a managerial/leadership issue.  

 

Slightly off-topics, we're looking for those little blue "Comment" cards in the MDR & didn't see any (crew told us - just fill out the Vacation Hero cards ... also, none to be found till later) and walked by Guest Services to look it - nada, none put out, not until more than midway thru our 7 nights.  The "Dear HD/GM" mailbox wasn't out/somehow semi-hidden in plain sights ?? until midweek.  Now that I think about it, the management by high profile walking around & stopping to speak to onboard cruisers were as obvious compared to the teams on the Escape ... of course, that's the senior officer's personality.  

 

 

[bob brown]

Nice balanced review...thanks for posting it.   I am disturbed more about the lack of response to your problem, than the problem itself.   I find that unacceptable, whether one is in an Inside or a Garden Villa...

As someone mentioned, at CC meet and greets, the hotel manager will often implore attendees to contact him/her if their problem is not resolved thru normal channels, and they give out cards with their ship phone number (IIRC, 8888).   

The idea is to give them the opportunity to resolve it on board, and not suffer thru it, and then tell all here on CC, after they can no longer do any good.

 

That said, I would take it up with NCL's customer relation's, in Miami, and document all that you can recall, in hope that they will rectify the situation, and perhaps also offer you some compensation of some sort.

[Harratine]

When we were on the Dawn two weeks ago, there was a couple officers that we talked with during the Latitudes meet and greet.  An interesting comment was that NCL was looking to retire the older ships in the next 5 or so years as the Leonardo class ships come online. 

[bob brown]

3 hours ago, Harratine said:

When we were on the Dawn two weeks ago, there was a couple officers that we talked with during the Latitudes meet and greet.  An interesting comment was that NCL was looking to retire the older ships in the next 5 or so years as the Leonardo class ships come online. 

Makes sense...the Spirit, Sky, and Sun will probably go first...

[bonvoyagie]

followed by the Star, and Dawn. 

 

I read in some trade papers that NCL wants to become more world wide so the plan is to put smaller ships into new markets and see if the market warrants larger ships. They may also look at leaving the smaller ships in smaller ports that can't handle even a Jewel class ship.