My review of NCL Dawn 7/8-7/15

[LaurynNitzy]

An introduction - My husband and I are both 28 and went on the Dawn for our 1 year anniversary. I am a licensed clinical social worker and my husband works in finance. We have both lived in Manhattan for 5 years. My DH has been on 2 RCCL cruises and I have been on 1 RCCL cruise. We decided to do NCL b/c we didn't want to fly to FL to get on a boat and could only take a week off of work.

 

We arrived at the port in NYC around 11:30am - after a 10 minute cab ride from our apartment :). We waited maybe 45 minutes and started boarding the ship. Took no time at all.

 

The Dawn is a beautiful ship, well maintained and very clean.

 

We had lunch right away the Venetian - I had a veggie burger which I hated and my husband had a hamburger. I asked for BBQ sauce and they said they didn't have any - I was a little worried.

 

After reading CC boards, we went and made our reservations for the week at Bamboo, Salsa, and La Tratteria. Had no trouble getting the day and time we wanted.

 

We booked a balcony guarantee and were placed in a BA level room on deck 10. 10016. The room was fine - we were able to fit everything and unpack. The bathroom was a nice size and the way they compartmentalize everything made it seem bigger.

 

We did find underwear under our bed when we were unpacking and had to call the room steward to come clean them up... He laughed as he was doing it.

 

Our room was kept clean, make-up and turn service was always quick. We didn't have any requests so we didn't see the room steward often. Only got 2 towel animals. I am a kid at heart so I would have liked more.

 

As far as the food, I was not a fan. I am picky but I found everything too salty or not done the way I like it. I did love the mac and cheese in the Blue Lagoon and managed to eat Casear Salad, baked potato, and french fries at every meal. I did like the soups however. My husband liked everything. We ate in the main dining rooms 4 nights and Salsas, LA Traterria, and Bamboo 1 night each. I liked Bamboo the best. My husband liked Salsa's. I am used to eating in NYC restaurants so it was tough for me. I didn't like the food on our last cruise either...

 

We got up early each day and got our pool chairs. We loved hanging out on the deck and relaxing all day.

 

We went to all of the shows and really enjoyed them. Loved Bollywood.

 

I also went to 2 art auctions, didn't buy anything but enjoyed watching.

 

My husband used the gym every day and seemed to like it.

 

Bermuda is amazing and we did a snorkeling excursion there. I want to go back for vacation.

 

We had been to Atlantis in November for 4 nights so we just walked around Nassau and did some shopping. Wish we were docked all day instead of night.

 

One of my biggest complaints was the smoking. We are non-smokers and smoking is basically outlawed in NYC and NJ. I was not used to the smoking in the bars and was not able to hang out there too long.

 

The cruise director Matt and his staff were great and enjoyed them. We found the staff friendly but since we didn't have any requests, nothing was done out of the ordinary for us.

 

We liked freestyle but we think we enjoyed the "traditional" seatings better. We liked getting to know our waiter on the last cruise. We tried to talk to the waiters and find out more about them but they didn't seem to be too interested.

 

The coolest thing was we saw 3 schools of dolphins in the ocean when we heading back to NYC -- I think we were off the coast of NC. It was amazing to see them jumping the water.

 

Disembarkation was fine. Got off when our color was called and we were home 15 minutes after leaving the ship!

 

Overall, we had a great trip for the price and the ease of living in NYC and taking the ship out of NYC. We would definately do it again if it meant not flying to Fl! I would give the ship 3 1/2 stars out of 5.

 

Please post any questions :)

[rpsinnj]

very good and fair review good job

 

we though food for lunch was just ok but loved the steaks in paid dinning

[seahorse]

Did you go to the Star Bar?.........did they turn it back into a smoking bar:( ??

[immargaret]

Did you go to the Star Bar?.........did they turn it back into a smoking bar:( ??

 

Star Bar was still non-smoking a couple weeks ago.:D

[LaurynNitzy]

no... we didn't go to the Star Bar. We were mostly by Dazzles, Gatsbys, and Spinnacker. I wish I knew about Star Bar - it wasn't listed as non-smoking anywhere!

[seahorse]

Star Bar was still non-smoking a couple weeks ago.:D

 

Gee thanks Missy........you are a wealth of information:D

[MartiniGal]

LaurenNitzy -- thanks for the review. Which snorkeling excursion did you do in Bermuda? We are doing one -- the Ultimate Catamaran Snorkel. If you did that one, would love to know your thoughts - :)

[NJBear]

............We got up early each day and got our pool chairs. We loved hanging out on the deck and relaxing all day............

Please post any questions :)

 

What time is "early"? did you get poolside chairs?

 

Thanks

[LaurynNitzy]

To answer both questions...

We did the "Fantasea Glass Bottom Boat and Snorkel". It was fun but wished it was a little more. Worth it though...

We were outside and physically sitting in our pool chairs by 9:30am - I didn't just leave stuff there - I think its rude.