Review of Dawn -- Florida and Bahamas-- 10/22 to 10/29.

[robyn525600]

This is my 3rd time on the Dawn so I am very familiar with the ship was well as sailing out of NYC.

 

EMBARKATION: Got there about 11am and was on the ship by 12:15. Very smooth. We were upgraded to a balcony handicap cabin (9208) which is very spacious – loved it. My friends were in a min-suite, which they paid more for but our cabin was bigger. Good times!

 

PORTS:

 

~Port Canavrel: we went to Universal Studios. Didn’t care for the park at all. I love their other park, Islands of Adventure, but this one left a little to be desired. I liked the atmosphere of the park but their rides and attractions were disappointing.

 

~Freeport: first time here. We went to Port Lucaya to go shopping. It was nice but not as big as I was hoping. Then we walked to the beach on the other side of the Sheraton. Very pretty beach. It turned out that our taxi driver, Audley, was one of the official drivers for Pirates of the Caribbean I & II and he had pictures of himself with Orlando Bloom and some of the other actors. That was a lot of fun to see. And then he told me that I was sitting in the same seat as Orlando – needless to say, I got a little giddy about that. 

 

~Great Stirrup Cay: LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this island. It was my 5th time at this island and I could spend a week here and be content.

 

~Nassau: I’ve been here 5 times too and I am over Nassau. The end.

 

WEATHER: We had great weather in all the ports. The first day at sea was a little chilly but with a light jacket, you could sit out on the pool deck to read. But the last 2 nights at sea were ROUGH. The captain graciously went further out to sea on Saturday morning so we could get out of the storm and have a sunny/warm day. But in order to get back to NYC, he had to turn back into it in late afternoon and pick up speed. Well, the seas were ROUGH. My 3 friends retired early to their cabins because they started to feel nauseous. I was doing ok until I went back to the cabin at about 10:45 and started to pack and I think with me bopping around the cabin trying the pack and the ship rocking, I started to feel yucky so I opted to go to bed and finish packing in the AM. The captain said we hit 17’-20’ waves.

 

ENTERTAINMENT: You really can’t beat the Jean Ann Ryan Company. Both of their shows, South Beach Rave and Bollywood, are excellent. Even though I've seen them numerous times, I never get tired of those shows. Also on board was Romano Frediani – a fast action juggler – show was excellent but his ego could fill the entire theater! Also on board was the magic of Gleason – I didn’t see this show since I saw him on the Carnival Legend last year but from what I heard, he had an accident in his show. Not sure of the specifics but he was ok.

 

FOOD: We pretty much ate every where except Le Bistro. All the restaurants are great – loved Bamboo! And Cagneys!

 

STAFF: Never once did our stewards introduce themselves, which I thought was rude. But the dining room staff and bar staff was OUTSTANDING! The best I’ve ever experienced.

 

DISEMBARKATION: The easiest yet. We opted to do express debarkation and we were off the ship in 15-20 minutes.

 

Only two complaints --- 1) the windows were filthy - even before sailing NYC, I noticed it. 2) the karaoke should be in a non-smoking environment since it is a family event. Also, they are unable to take your cd's as it's all digital. That was a let down.

 

But all in all, a great cruise!

 

If anyone has any questions, please feel free to ask!

[Paula1577]

Hello, thanks for the information. I just have a couple of questions. Was this your first cruise with NCL? We are schedule to go Nov. 5 and the boarding time is at 2pm so I was not sure if we could arrive early. Was the first day at sea rocky and chilly?

Thank you

Paula

[Paula1577]

I just realized that you stated that you have been on the Dawn previously.

[whatawonderfulworld]

And, of course, I concur with all of your positive findings! We loved our cruise (we were on the week before) and we love NCL! I too could have spent a week on the private island. Everyone who looks at the pictures I took has the same reaction "ahhhhhhhhh...that's beautiful."

 

Tell me...when you read a negative review for the same cruise, do you sometimes wonder "were this folks on the same ship?" I know I feel that way.

 

Have you planned your next cruise? Do you know which ship is going to take the Dawn's place when she moves down to Florida?

 

Again, thanks for the insightful review.

 

Ciao,

 

W A W W

[Porsche Lover]

My husband and I were on the same cruise. We also had a great time. We went to Cocoa Beach and just walked on the beach. Unfortunately, it was too cool for sunbathing. Walked around the surf stores and had a great lunch off the ship. Freeport was wonderful. We went to the beach for 3 hrs. which included a bbq. Weather was perfect. Great Stirup Cay is just fantastic. You take the tender to the island and it's just so much fun. Again, we had perfect weather. We arrived in Nassau at night and went to the Atlantis Hotel for some gambling...didn't win. Then, the next morning, we got off the ship for some shopping. I think the Dawn is a really nice ship...it's spotless and the staff was just great. Had a balcony room on the 10th floor. Weather was rough coming home on Saturday, however, we never get seasick. Just felt sorry for others who didn't feel well. Food in the main dining rooms was good...so much better than the Spirit which we were on in May. Also, Aqua and Impressions are small sized dining rooms. They are very pretty and you feel like you are in a restaurant...not a dining room on a ship. Salsa was very good for Tex Mex food and is included. Blue Lagoon is a must for wings and potato skins...any time - day or night. Cagney's which we enjoyed on the Spirit was disappointing only because everything was overcooked. Same could be said of Bamboo...overcooked lobster and a combination of poor quality beef/overcooked. We opted for carrying our own luggage off the ship and were picked up by car service at 10:15 a.m. Home by 11 a.m. Can't beat that. We highly recommend this ship.

[EileenN]

Sailing in December. Do you have the names of any of the crew members, concierge, cruise director, food and beverage manager, etc? Would love to see some of the old folks from other cruises.

[Cosmopolitan]

Hello, thanks for the information. I just have a couple of questions. Was this your first cruise with NCL? We are schedule to go Nov. 5 and the boarding time is at 2pm so I was not sure if we could arrive early. Was the first day at sea rocky and chilly?

Thank you

Paula

 

You can arrive early.

 

We usually arrive between 10:30 - 11:00. The sooner you board the ship, the sooner you start your vacation.

 

Rocky depends on the weather conditions, chilly -you will probably need a jacket or sweatshirt for sailing.

 

Have a wonderful cruise:)

[robyn525600]

They start letting people on board by noon-ish but your cabin isn't ready till 2pm so they ask that you go have lunch first.

[robyn525600]

Sailing in December. Do you have the names of any of the crew members, concierge, cruise director, food and beverage manager, etc? Would love to see some of the old folks from other cruises.

 

Concierge was Simone. Cruise Director was Jimmy and Asst. Cruise Director was Ingrid. Only cruise staff names I can rememeber are Richard, Fabio, Alvin and Christine.

[4merlurker]

WEATHER: We had great weather in all the ports. The first day at sea was a little chilly but with a light jacket, you could sit out on the pool deck to read. But the last 2 nights at sea were ROUGH. The captain graciously went further out to sea on Saturday morning so we could get out of the storm and have a sunny/warm day. But in order to get back to NYC, he had to turn back into it in late afternoon and pick up speed. Well, the seas were ROUGH. My 3 friends retired early to their cabins because they started to feel nauseous. I was doing ok until I went back to the cabin at about 10:45 and started to pack and I think with me bopping around the cabin trying the pack and the ship rocking, I started to feel yucky so I opted to go to bed and finish packing in the AM. The captain said we hit 17’-20’ waves.

 

Were any of you taking seasickness meds? Did they help?

 

~Connie

[Dolphins]

We entered New York Sunday morning on the Spirit just behuind the Dawn. We also hit the same rough weather Saturday night. I noticed the Crown was also in port Sunday morning. I'm waiting to hear how that smaller ship fared in the Saturday blow?

[jxmommy]

This was our 1st cruise and definately will not be our last. The Dawn was excellent. We traveled with our kids, ages 4 & 7. The kids crew staff was fantastic. They took them to some shows and had a special kids only dinner. My 4 year old daughter loved them. Their names were Airplane, Kangaroo, Caspar, Jitterbug and Pickles. My kids did not want to leave. The had constant activities. They put on a talent show at the end.We spent most of our free time in the Pearly Kings Pub. The service was great. We also loved the Mexican place. Other than that we ate at the Venetian. It was close to our room and Buffets are a hastle with small kids.The food was good on most nights and the breakfast was average.We went to Kennedy Space Center in Florida and loved it. It was a very Patriotic Place. We learned a great deal about our Astronauts. I would go back ther again. Next time I would just take a taxi from the port instead of booking the excursion through the cruiseline. Our next cruise will definately be with Norwegian. The freestyle cruising is the best.

[ameyer999]

Great to see some positive feedback from a parent with small ones. We're on the 11/5 sailing with a 9, 7 & 4 year old from NJ (teachers convention week). The kids never stop talking about Camp Carnival so I had my fingers crossed the NCL kids program would match up to that.

 

Saving on shore excursions: As a family of 5 I'm always looking to save (5 times anything always adds up to lots of $$) We're going to cab from Port Canaveral to Kennedy and buy tickets there. Also, we're a big beach famly so we're going out on our own to find the sand. I've taken the excursions to Atlantis and said to myself next time I'm going on my own. I found this review of Bahamas beaches very helpful.

 

For my kids sake I hope other NJ folks are playing hooky with the kiddies and sailing away. See y'all out there.

 

AM

[4merlurker]

AM, we have a great roll call going! Come on over and join us! Say hi!

 

~Connie

[robyn525600]

Were any of you taking seasickness meds? Did they help?

 

~Connie

 

Connie-

 

My friend wore the patch all week and he was fine during the rough waters.