DAWN 3-26 Thoughts, Comments and .... Follies

[captNcrunch]

Opened the fridge and realized that it is basically empty, so it's off to the market for us today. We returned to dreary, rainy weather - I want to go back :( .

 

Same here, did the market thing yesterday :mad:. But at least there were no science projects to be found!

and had snow on the ground Thursday, left over from the 3 1/2 inches on Wed.

[FundyGirl]

Great Photos Kathy, thanks for not including any of the incriminating ones from Cool Runnings in Ocho Rios :D

 

Oh they're coming!!!! :D

[captNcrunch]

Thanks for an awesome trip fellow Cruisin' Fools!

 

 

 

 

I second that emotion .......

 

( Hey Yvonne ...sing along thats .. more mowtown! :D )

 

You won't believe her real name!

 

If its not really Star, my second quess would be Plastique, other than that I out of guesses! I'll have to send Darcy an email as Laurel is still on vacation some where in NY!

[captNcrunch]

Oh they're coming!!!! :D

 

Lets play nice now .... just remember I had a camera to and I just might be tempted to post some shots of "ole whats her name" in a TOGA :D !

[Dolphins]

Happy to see that the Dawn still manages to please new passengers. We look forward to our 5th cruise on the Dawn in January. We will miss her when she relocates to Miami in the fall of 2007. The new Norwegian Gem will have a tough act to follow.

[meadowvalers]

[ATTACH]19641[/ATTACH]

I second that emotion .......

 

( Hey Yvonne ...sing along thats .. more mowtown! :D )

 

 

I'm singing!! :eek:

Already searching for the next cruise :)

[captNcrunch]

Happy to see that the Dawn still manages to please new passengers. We look forward to our 5th cruise on the Dawn in January. We will miss her when she relocates to Miami in the fall of 2007. The new Norwegian Gem will have a tough act to follow.

 

After 14 cruises on various lines this was our first venture into the world of free style and I must admit I am hooked! I will say however that its really the people you meet and sail with that can make or break a cruise. We had a PHENOMENAL Group of individuals whom I would love to sail with again, they made this one of the best cruises ever!

[scubamama]

After 14 cruises on various lines this was our first venture into the world of free style and I must admit I am hooked! I will say however that its really the people you meet and sail with that can make or break a cruise. We had a PHENOMENAL Group of individuals whom I would love to sail with again, they made this one of the best cruises ever!

 

The impostor and myself second that by all means. We were just discussing how it was the group that made this cruise so fantastic compared to the previous one we did.

 

Meadow: I had the same rocky feeling last night... seems this back to terra thing does not suit me well!

 

Will be back with a review and some pics soon, for now, we all still going through our 500 pics slide show with the girls.

 

To all of you, both sides of the border, East to West (literally because we really represented one ocean to the other!) cheers... and an open invitation to anyone who wants to visit our part of this great continent

[captNcrunch]

Here are some to ponder .. more to follow

http://community.webshots.com/album/549303498waCEPi

[tweety0227]

Great pictures Tom and Kathy. Will post mine soon.

[captNcrunch]

************ ******************

 

Contratulations to all the door sign contest winners:

 

flyingPirate .......Grand Prize ... proving that it's easy when you bring an entire suitcase full of decorations :D

cruiseDiva1 .......Honorable Mention

tweety0227 ......Effort

cruisinbunnies ....Foolish, shows that bribery will get you some where :D

fundyGirl ..........Invisible award, sometimes nothing will get you something :D

 

Thanks to all who participated, you are all winners!

[flyingpirate]

Babays!

 

I miss you all so much.

 

I can't seem to go to sleep at night without seeing your smiling and slightly blazed faces in my living room. :D

 

Still in NY, be home Monday night, and I'll upload my pics. Tom, Kathy, thanks for getting some up, almost like still being there. The house is rocking so badly, I almost had to take a seasick pill.

 

I had started a jump in review on another thread, should I just merge it here? As I am only humble second in command poet........

 

I will complete spreadsheet today and send it on with the webshots site and password, sorry it's not out yet, but we've been doing this sleeping thing, 13 hours each, the past two nights! Vacationing is such hard work.

 

And see Cruisin Kids Fools Pearl March 2007 in the Dawn Rollcall section. Let's talk and I'll get with T/A Fabuloso and see about a group rate.

 

Go Go To Ga! Tri Via !

 

[flyingpirate]

************ [ATTACH]19651[/ATTACH] ******************

 

Contratulations to all the door sign contest winners:

 

flyingPirate .......Grand Prize ... proving that it's easy when you bring an entire suitcase full of decorations :D

 

 

 

Well, yeah........but most of them were INSIDE the room.....lucky we left most of them with Fools as party favors...made space for all the completely unnecessary tchochkes and t shirts.

 

[meadowvalers]

Scubamama and Flyingpirate, so glad to know that I was not the only one rocking and rolling :o , it finally subsided yesterday late evening for me :) .

 

Flyingpirate, I have already checked out what I can about the Pearl. the 9 day itinerary looks promising. Not sure if we can also do the 5 day. Would have to break the piggy bank for that. Will join the roll call thread soon.

[Cruisinbunnies]

And see Cruisin Kids Fools Pearl March 2007 in the Dawn Rollcall section. Let's talk and I'll get with T/A Fabuloso and see about a group rate.

 

 

 

NCL has the itineraries up for March of next year. March 16 looks good for the 9 day leg. The 5 day after may be the way to go back to back. Just a thought!

Darcy

[Cruisinbunnies]

Saturday March 25, 2006

 

Met up with cruisediva, halger, captNcrunch and mur-cruiser, BigAlB for a pre cruise M+ G at the stage deli. We were greeted with a waterfall in the restaurant. All ate too much and had a good laugh. Ended the evening at a Times Sqr Irish Pub for a couple of drinks.

 

Apparently, the flyingpirate was in the area that evening. We would just have to wait for tommorrow to meet her!

 

Sunday March 26, 2006 Embarkation

 

Quick cab ride from W 45 St hotel to pier. Entered Pier and were directed to the latitudes area upstairs. Met up with fellow CCer's via the orange ribbon on each CCer. captn had enough ribbon to wrap all of his M + G gifts. Actually, he looked like the pope, in all of his orange glory.

 

Heard at least once in the terminal building that day - "Are there any fools up there?" (thanks, Silva!)

 

Rosie O'Donnell had a gig onboard before we sailed today. Delayed embarkation slightly. Latitudes area had refreshments and a couple of NCL reps. Pretty hot up there.

 

Started embarkation at around 12:30 and we were on by 1 pm. Pays to be a Cdn citizen to avoid the long US embarkation lines!

 

Ate ate Venitian with cruisediva and tweety while waiting for room to be done. Had the banana cold soup . Had it again for desert because it was so good. Do not miss the cold soups at lunch!

 

After lunch, got into our room and were completely unpacked by 3:30 PM. We has an AB on deck 10, port side! Muster drill at 4 pm and then change into bathing suit for sailaway hot tub party.

 

Arrived at bow hot tub @ 4:45, ship was going up the Hudson, but I was the only on to show up at the hot tub. Then, 4 other crazy canucks (fundygirl) showed up and the party was on. 43 degrees at sailaway. Champagne in the tub. Flyingpirate in the tub, along with her clothes. The 11 day party had begun!

 

Ate at Cagney's that evening and took advantage of the sailaway 2 for 1. Ate with meadowvalers and scubamama. Filet done correctly and very tasty. Excellent service from Anil. Restaurant basically empty at 8:30.

 

Headed down to flyingpirates sailaway party in the deck 10 owners suite. Got a look at a bum squeeze and a whack of Entemann's pasteries thanks to tweety! (thanks again tweety for the pastery parade. It was wonderfull!). Blender was going at a brisk pace.

 

Ended the evening in the cinema. Flight plan was playing. Sound was not very good and there were too many people coming and going. We have a nice enough home theater at home that it would be a waste to watch a movie on board. 20 minutes in, we were off to bed!

 

 

[Cruisinbunnies]

Monday March 27, 2006 Sea Day

 

Got up around 8 am and headed of to the Garden Cafe for breakfast. We ate up here every day except one, as we enjoyed the omlette and waffle stations. Most of the time, it was a 10 min wait but it was worth it. I'm sure if you get up earlier, the lines are shorter. The potatoes were always good and the skim milk always ice cold.

 

M+G at 10:30 in the Star bar was well attended and lots of fun. Thanks to cruisediva for organizing it and making up all of the name tags, which probably took some time to do. Thanks to captncrunch and mur-cruiser for conducting the door decorating contest and the gift exchange. We were there until shortly after noon. Attended by Dawn HD, AHD and CD and some other staff!

 

I worked out at the fitness center. What a good place to work out! Only a couple of treadmills and steppers were out of order and the place was in good repair. Met some great people up here during the 11 day cruise.

 

Had lunch at the NY deli, which is set up each day in the garden cafe. I ate here on 4 occations for lunch. Enjoyed the pastrami on rye with sauerkraut and swiss each time. Yum, yum!

 

Went down to the art auction. Got a 2 for 1 Dorit Levi, an artist that we collect and were thrilled with that. Art auction for us are really enjoyable. Again, we met some great people down here, some of whom dropped a pretty penny during the cruise. Not sure why the ship does not have a permanent art gallery. Most actions were stand up only and filled Dazzles quite quickly.

 

Ate at Aqua that evening with 9 other ccers. Aqua was my third favorite restaurant after Le Bistro and Impressions. Captains dinner that night was good, although the service stumbled a bit. It was hard during the whole cruise to get your coffee the same time as the dessert. Most times the coffee came after the dessert was finished. Caps and expressos were always good throughout the cruise.

 

Saw Sasso the comedian at the Stardust that evening. A NY comedian, he was funny but tended to draw out certain segments too long.

 

Hit the hot tub @ 10:30 with fundygirl and gang. They really need to keep them open longer, but I understand that they need to do their job cleaning the pool area. Stayed till 11:30 anyway and went to bed.

 

Weather starting to warm up. The caribbean is not to far away!

[captNcrunch]

Finally the last of the pictures have been loaded same link just more photos ....

http://community.webshots.com/album/549303498waCEPi

 

I am not responsible for any incriminating shots, remember you put yourself in that position. Damn I missed the bum squeeze :mad: !

[captNcrunch]

 

NCL has the itineraries up for March of next year. March 16 looks good for the 9 day leg. The 5 day after may be the way to go back to back. Just a thought!

Darcy

 

 

Man that web site is messed up, I checked and there are multiple 10-11 day sailings listed as being 2 and 3 days apart. Will they ever get into the current century?

[Cruisinbunnies]

Tuesday March 28, 2006 Sea Day

 

Got a good work out in at 8am and then headed up for breakfast up at the Garden Cafe. Enjoyed the spa pool and hot tub as well. Nice space. Quiet and devoid of noise.

 

They have the mamosa and liquor cart out during breakfast but really don't push the product too much. There really was never an issue getting a seat during peak times at breakfast. Tables were cleared quickly and the buffet itself seemed to be fresh and plentiful throughout the cruise.

 

Ate at the Blue Lagoon for lunch today. Had a cheese burger while callmelucky had the wonton and chicken wings. She finished eating before I got my order. Waiting on fries. Good food and friendly, if not quick service. The girls who work here are tiny compared to me. Mostly Romanian women. Very friendly and hard working.

 

Attended another art auction where we obtained a rare Renoir etching. I believe I bought it just for the sake of owning a Renoir (Come on over for a beer, and oh, by the way, here is my Renoir!:rolleyes: ). Mark runs a pretty good show. Pretty descriptive in his remarks and has lots of fun.

 

Did the Margurita tasting today at Salsas. 4 for $15. This event was lots of fun. The crowd got louder and louder as the hour moved along. Still like the classic marg the best.

 

Stopped in at Pearly Kings for Best of friends and some trivia. Great place to be before dinner. Highly recommended. Some of the best times on the ship were in this bar. 20 oz draft for $4.50 plus grat.

 

Reservation for 18 cruisin fools at the Teppanyaki. Ordered the imperial feast and the filet was once again melt in your mouth tender. The chefs put on a good show as well. Tons of food. I think I am starting to put on weight.

 

Went up to the caribbean deck party at the Oasis pool. Ricky and company ran pretty much the same show as they did on the Spirit last year. Ricky isn't everybody's cup of tea, but he works hard and his team puts on some good shows as well. I enjoyed Ricky on this cruise but would like to compare him to someone else. I hear that Colin Kerr is all the rage. I hope to cruise with Colin sometime with NCL.

 

I'll comment on the BA balcony we had now. We were upsold to the BA from a C cabin 6 weeks before the cruise. The BA still ended up being cheaper than the original price we booked the C last May. It pays to book early and watch for deals.

 

There was ample storage in the room. The fridge came stocked with pay items. We just cleared it out to make room for the 24 pack of coke we carried onto the ship. We ordered the bar setup as well. Bottle of crown royal, bacardi gold and a case of bud was waiting for us in the room. We never did get the confirmation, although they did charge my card 6 weeks out from the cruise.

 

I really though that the bottles would be 26 oz, but they were 40 oz. I believe that the bar setup prices are an outstanding value and if you enjoy a few drinks in your cabin, you should go for it. A number of people did smuggle, and some, but not all, got caught. The things people will do to get a bottle on board is truly amazing. They don't smuggle because of the cost of drinks on board, they do it as a challenge.

 

The bathrooms are great. The shower is nice and tall and wide and can comfortably accomodate my girth. The amount of water that comes out of the head is also fantastic. Actually took 2 showers per day most of the time.

 

The beds were comfortable but it was soon evident that the matresses might need to be replaced soon. The rest of the cabin was in good repair, except for the remote for the TV, which needed to be replaced twice and the safe, that also needed attention twice as it would not open for us.

 

We did not get good use of the balcony, mainly because we were so active on board. The extra space that the balcony room itelf provides is great. We would leave the door open at night to allow the sea sounds to enter our room. The only problem with that was the smoke infiltration in the morning. We ended up closing the doors after that. Would I get a balcony again? Not really high on my list. Even the mini suite showers would have been a challenge for me, with the tub making for less headroom. Probably stick to an outside and see if the upsell desk gives us a wicked deal.

 

Our room stewards, Alex and Jalvine, were very friendly and introduced themselves on the first afternoon. They cleaned our room well, did not replace towels that we left hanging to use again (some stewards, including land based ones, just change all of the towels regardless. We try to do our part in minimizing the amount of laundry the ship has to do and our stewards followed this policy). Alex was also instrumental in obtaining the sheets we needed for the Toga party. Thanks again, Alex. They accomodated the couple of requests we had quickly and efficiently.

[Cruisinbunnies]

Finally the last of the pictures have been loaded same link just more photos ....

http://community.webshots.com/album/549303498waCEPi

 

I am not responsible for any incriminating shots, remember you put yourself in that position. Damn I missed the bum squeeze :mad: !

 

Great picture of you and your bum hip on the cool runnings, dancing with one of the girls. Is that me encouraging you in the background?:confused: :rolleyes:

 

Now that was fun!!:D

 

[captNcrunch]

Awakened to a beautiful sun rise. Breakfast in the garden, nothing special but the toast is still hot enough to melt the butter. Coffee by the pool and much to my surprise :rolleyes: many of the chairs are covered with blue striped towels!

 

I found the Dawn to have plenty of deck space, the forward deck with the hot tub was very enjoyable sans the wind. This was also the day I realized that the Dawn has a deck 13 :confused: ! Beware of the draft beer at the Bimini Bar, got charged for a Heni when I had a Bud, when questioned bartenders said same price :mad:. This was not true at any of the other bars.

 

Margarita clinic today, 4 full size ritas in an hour for $15. Top shelf tequila along with chips and some guacamole, excellent.... I'm quite happy now.

 

Pearly Kings for a bit of Sing-a-long and some Trivia, first mate needed some coffee, not a good idea charged 1.73 for the same thing that is free in the garden :mad:. The Perly Kings was one of the favorite hang outs.

We found out on the last day that the menu on the wall was real, there is a chalk board menu of always available food!

 

Teppanyaki for dinner tonight with 16 of my new friends, Dinner was good food could have used a bit more flavoring, salad, soup (which I did not care for), and for the main course I chose chicken and shrimp all main courses served with fried rice. Service was very good and the atmosphere was great.

 

Off to Dazzles for some karaoke and a night cap. Dazzles was quite comfortable with a good sound system. After karaoke the DJ takes over for the rest of the evening. Does anyone understand why when the DJ has the house rocking with a certain genre of music, they suddenly switch to some cr** that turns everyone off and empties the place? This seems to happen on every ship and I can't for the life of me figure out why!

 

After three days I was convinced that the numerous senior staff we saw constantly around the ship was not for show. They were very friendly and approachable. Their presence continued throughout the entire cruise.

[Smellytoes]

I was looking at some of your pictures and I must say a western carribean itinerary is my dream trip. Next year the Dawn is doing this same itinerary during my kids April vacation at a price that is less than the 10 day we're taking next Sunday but if I even bring it up DH will KILL me.

[Smellytoes]

I forgot to ask, how many of the ports you went to had decent snorkling???

[captNcrunch]

I forgot to ask, how many of the ports you went to had decent snorkling???

Here's my run down -

1) Grand Cayman 7 Ships in Port, went to Eden Rock less than 5 min from tender pier. Excellent large school of tarpon less than 3 feet from point of entry, if you have your own gear it's free!

2) Roatan, Tabyana Beach, again excellent large reef close to shore. Plenty of fish and coral.

3) Belize, not bad took ship excursion Belize Paradise Catamaran snorkel and beach, weather was so so bit of rain and cloudy. Snorkel was good but seas were rough and it was windy. Reef is 20 min ride from ship. Saw a pair of eagle rays.

4) Cozumel, Chukanaub Park is not open yet, but was scheduled for this month. Did not snorkel at Paradise Beach. But this has always been a great spot!

5) Great Stirrup Cay, good plenty of fish, not much coral.