Yippee -- I beat the post-cruise blues...

[CC Help Michell]

.... by booking our next, of course! Since we got back from our Hawaii trip last month I've been a busy bee trying to figure out what cruise to do next! :) We booked the future cruise deal while on board ($150 outlay gave us a $250 deposit sufficient to hold any non GV/owner's cabin on any NCL cruise in the next 30 months -- we pay nothing else until final payment is due). I'd promised that after our trip to Hawaii (on which the itinerary I planned and we carried out would have made Eisenhower proud prior to Normandy), our NEXT cruise will be relaxing, international, and have a casino and sea days.

 

So I did my research here and we've booked Cabin 8670, an AE Suite, on the Dawn in April '09. SO happy to have another great cruise to look forward to, as well as a "legit" excuse to keep hanging out on CC! :) Many thanks to Cosmopolitan and the other Dawn fanatics here for a lot of very helpful info on the Dawn. I loved being able to search for that cabin number (and other AE cabin numbers) and see photos, read reports, etc. It will also be our first aft balcony, which I have coveted from afar for the last five cruises I've taken! Wheee!

[romy]

Good for you! I'm planning to do the very same thing while we're aboard the Pearl in a couple of months. I can't go through PCD again:eek: . I'm sure you'll love the Dawn, I hear fantastic things about her!

 

Happy Sails!

Romy

[Welove2cruise2]

Congratulations! The Dawn is a great ship, and those aft AE's are to DIE for!!

[silkhair1]

I am jealous. I want to go now!

[Grandpaul]

Coming up on 20 years of cruising and the single most important thing Ihave learned is to never go on a cruise without having the following one booked. Helps a lot. As mentioned above the Dawn is a great ship.

[M5M]

Apparently you liked the on board sign up? How did that evolve?

[Cosmopolitan]

MichellP ~

 

Good for you:-)

 

Where are you cruising to in '09?

You're way ahead of me...I'm still doing '07 and '08.

 

I cruised my first AE 2 weeks ago. (We've always cruised fwd.) It was really lovely and so was the butler;) Leave your "slider" open at ALL times...except when your doorbell rings!

 

I viewed "some" of your Hawaii pics. Too funny...your files look like mine! We are "scary" people:eek:

 

We are staying in your "AE" suite on the Dawn in October. I'll describe in detail when we return.

 

You will love the Dawn. A lovely ship with a great crew and staff:)

[CC Help Michell]

Apparently you liked the on board sign up? How did that evolve?

 

Well, the flyers for it were everywhere, so it was easy to read about. I just stopped by the Latitudes office on the last day of the cruise, read the paper the coordinator had with more details on the terms and conditions (cancellation provisions, etc.) and authorized a $250 charge to our sign and sail. Of that $100 was immediately credited back at OBC for our Hawaii cruise, leaving a net charge of $150. I received a letter confirming that we had booked the future cruise package, the paper with the more detailed terms and conditions, and a business card for a "latitudes rewards consultant" (a PCC with more training on reward redemption).

 

When I called him this week all he needed was my Latitudes number to access the future cruise credit, and he did the booking and applied the $250 credit, which serves as our whole deposit on the cruise in '09. Hope that helps!

[CC Help Michell]

MichellP ~

 

Good for you:-)

 

Where are you cruising to in '09?

You're way ahead of me...I'm still doing '07 and '08.

 

I cruised my first AE 2 weeks ago. (We've always cruised fwd.) It was really lovely and so was the butler;) Leave your "slider" open at ALL times...except when your doorbell rings!

 

I viewed "some" of your Hawaii pics. Too funny...your files look like mine! We are "scary" people:eek:

 

We are staying in your "AE" suite on the Dawn in October. I'll describe in detail when we return.

 

You will love the Dawn. A lovely ship with a great crew and staff:)

 

Thanks for the reply, Cosmopolitan! I'm excited you are going to be in that exact cabin and will be eager to read your report. I like how you report positives, negatives, and furnish lots of details. We chose the Dawn in part because so many people cruise her over and over -- that says a lot about the ship and her crew.

 

The Dawn itinerary we chose visits Samana, St. Thomas, Tortola, and GSC. I've been to St. Thomas and GSC before, but not to Samana or Tortola, so I'm looking forward to seeing a couple of new places. We're done cruising for '07 now that school's back in session. We're thinking of one in the summer of '08 with some friends -- but they are RCCL addicts so a lot depends on the cost.

 

This will be our first suite, but we've always left the balcony door open in the past, so I'm sure we will again -- especially since the sound of the wake has always been one of my favorite things about cruises -- that's why an aft balcony has been a dream for a long time for me! Good point about the hallway door -- I expect if the balcony door is open, too, you have now created a wind tunnel! I would hate to see my files go flying down the corridor! Glad to learn I'm not the only one who organizes like that -- although for the Dawn cruise I'll try to limit myself to a three ring binder with dividers. :)

[odblnt]

MichellP,

 

All I can add is, "Ditto!"

 

DW had a hankering to see the Panama Canal and time-wise it worked out best for next fall. While we had an AF for Alaska, she said that for 19 days she wanted a little more room to stretch out. Of course I said, "Whatever you want, dear," and promptly called the Cruise Rewards PCC. It's a great deal, since the normal deposit for our cabin is $800, but our Cruise Rewards certificate takes care of it.

 

Pete

[CC Help Michell]

MichellP,

 

All I can add is, "Ditto!"

 

DW had a hankering to see the Panama Canal and time-wise it worked out best for next fall. While we had an AF for Alaska, she said that for 19 days she wanted a little more room to stretch out. Of course I said, "Whatever you want, dear," and promptly called the Cruise Rewards PCC. It's a great deal, since the normal deposit for our cabin is $800, but our Cruise Rewards certificate takes care of it.

 

Pete

 

Oh so fun! :) Cruise number one after I retire (I'm a teacher; I can't travel spring and fall when most of the full transits of the Panama Canal take place) will be to do exactly what you are doing.

[judyf]

Michelle you will love the Dawn. I have sailed her twice and she is a great ship.

 

Always nice to have your next cruise booked.

[odblnt]

Oh so fun! :) Cruise number one after I retire (I'm a teacher; I can't travel spring and fall when most of the full transits of the Panama Canal take place) will be to do exactly what you are doing.

 

My DW was a teacher, too. She retired this year. Our trip on the Pearl was part of the celebration. As a matter of fact, her retirement was effective while we sitting outside with a drink in Victoria, waiting to cast off.

 

A friend from her old school pulled up beside us Friday afternoon, rolled down his window and shouted, "It's the weekend!"

 

We rolled down our window and shouted, "Every day's a weekend!"

 

He sort of muttered, "Oh, yeah."

 

Pete