8/11-8/18 Dawn Review

[CruisinJohn14]

Well after a long nap I am writing up my review for my most recent cruise on the NCL Dawn. This was my first time on NCL and I have been on Carnival, Royal and Celebrity in the past. My review is a little long sorry about that.

We went with a group of 19 which is the smaller of the groups that we have cruised with in the past and many of us have cruised before and this was out first time on NCL I have been to the New York Terminal before but it was awhile ago. We got there around noon and only waited around thirty min or so before we were on the ship. The first thing I noticed when I was boarding the ship was when they sprayed my hands or shall I say sanitized them. This was a big thing on this ship. Every time you ate or did any thing they always wanted you to sanitize your hands. Even when you got off and on the islands they would like that you have cleaned your hands and I found the Dawn to be the cleanliest ship that I have ever been on.

Once we were on board we were told that the Garden Café would be open for lunch. Well let’s just say that everyone one was there (seemed like all 2800 people) and the food wasn’t that great there. After I managed to find my way through everyone I was able to eat and then I began the journey of looking around the ship.

During the week the Garden Café was decent with food and what annoyed me was that food was all over the place. Some food was on one side and not the other so half the time it left me walking all over the place before I could actually sit down. When things were empty like syrup they took the empty bottle but never replaced it with another. They took it to the back to refill it and left many people waiting around and then it was the mad dash to it when it came back out. Sometimes I went to the Kids Place in the Garden Café to take what they were eating because sometimes it was better then what the Garden Café Buffet had to eat.

[CruisinJohn14]

The Dawn is a very nice ship. It’s big and has a lot of things to do. It’s a very very very clean ship and it doesn’t look worn down at all. It looked pretty new to me. The Casino I wish was a little bigger but overall great ship. The Staff was great. Everyone was nice and friendly and it couldn’t be any better. Especially the guy’s who made our room, they cleaned everything and was very friendly. I just whish I would have had met them at the begging of the week.

We managed to visit most of the restaurants. The only ones we didn’t go to were the ones you had to pay for. Although my gf did go to the Sushi place and found it very good and filling and said it was well worth paying fifteen dollars. Aqua seemed to be my favorite out of all the restaurants. I think the reason was because we weren’t there for almost 3 hrs every meal. We also traveled with a group and this time like I stated above we went with 19 (usually we go with groups that ranger from anywhere from 30-40 people). Every time we went to a restaurant the service was down right slow. We went to eat at 5:30 every day and yes I know a bigger group is harder to handle but no other line has had a problem with that before and it’s not like we just walked right in either. We made a reservation every night. Every night we tried to catch the early show but it was basically impossible to do so. The food was ok but no where near what I thought it would be from what I heard because I heard the food was going to be bad but it was good. Also another complaint I had was when I tried to order more then one meal they were very reluctant to give it to me and sometimes I had to ask several times to get another meal.

Another downside I found out was that juice is no longer free on the ships. I got information from Cruise Critic saying it was free when it really wasn’t. The only time it is “free” is for breakfast only. Otherwise all other times you have to pay for it.

[CruisinJohn14]

We arrived late into Nassau because of an emergency beacon which the captain said we traveled about 25 hrs our of our way but was able to make up ground through the night and was only an hour late which wasn’t bad but good thing the radar beacon was false. Soon as I got off the boat we went shopping as we knew the shops closed at 5 from my aunt who have been there before. After we did a little shopping we headed over the Atlantis and got a cab for 4 bucks a person. I must say Atlantis is a very nice place and the casino is one of the biggest I have ever seen. You are very limited to what you could do there if you are just visiting. You really need to be a guest to fully explore everything it has to offer.

The next day was Great Stirrup Kay. I got off the boat late and didn’t make it to the island until 11. I am not that big of a beach person so was in really no rush because I knew this was just a beach. Lets just say it was very very hot and it was very very very crowded. Yes I know that’s what I get for taking a cruise in August and I know you never know what the weather is going to be like but the place in general is just packed and there is very little room for you to go anywhere. I decided to leave around 1230 because I couldn’t take the heat anymore and went back to the ship. I was informed that soon as I left it down poured. I guess I left at the perfect time. I did take a video of the beach for people who have not been there before and I will be posting it on youtube for people to view and will link it once I get it up.

The next island up was Bermuda. I have been here before and it is one of my favorite islands. Yes we rented scooters. I know how many people are against that and how they drive on the other side of the road is hard getting use to and what not but if you really want to see the island it’s the best way to get around. We did some shopping and then headed over to Horse Shoe Beach which is one of my favorite beaches. I noticed the sand was not as pink as it use to be and it also seemed that the ocean was rougher then normal there. I am also glade to say that everyone made it back off the scooters with no injuries. A few close calls but nothing bad happen and it was great.

The next seas day back to NYC was very rough. The ship was rocking and it was hard to walk and what not but that’s what happens when your in the Atlantic I guess LOL. Other wise it was a great time at sea.

The shows were good and better then I thought. Second City was great and couldn’t have been better. The one guy even had an audition for SNL coming up. Jimmy the cruise director was great and was one of the better cruise directors that we have had and you could really tell that he liked his job. Frediani and the Gleason magic show was good both of those guys were very talented.

The Nightlife on the boat really didn’t have much to offer. All there was for nightlife was the 730 or 930 show and then Karaoke in the Dazzles lounge or some dance in the Spiniker lounge. I also thought that they did way to many things in the Spiniker lounge as it was to small a lot of the time to fit the people. Also it seemed like you really couldn’t find good half the time at night. The only place that you could find food was the Blue Lagoon. I must say though they have the best burgers ever. I had at least three a day and for a 24 hr place that had a very good selection compared too many ships. I am not sure if it is me or not but I noticed the lack of midnight buffets of ships in the past few years and I liked that very much. Are they doing away with this?

Many of the activities I did and enjoyed them very much. If anyone was on this cruise from 8/11-8/18 and got to see the weakest link game up in the Spinkier lounge I was John : ) yes that’s me and I got voted off as I was the only male left lol. The Wii boxing and tennis was great and it was cool to see the finals in the Star Dust Theater. The Star Dust Theater was very nice although the seats were very hard to sit in as I was 6’4 and had no leg room at all and the only people who suffered were the people on both sides of me.

I also like to add that they have happy hour on the ship. It is buy one get one drinks which come out to around 2.75 a drink as they charge 5.50 for one drink. The time for happy hour is 4-5 pm only in the Spiniker Lounge and also The Bup. Just thought I would throw that in there as I didn’t find that out until the end of the week but it was still a great time : )

Getting off the ship was just the same as everything else. I was the last called but didn’t bother me as I was not in any rush to get off the ship. Over all it was a good cruise with some plus’s and minus’s and I will be going on the Spirit in two weeks. So we will see if that can top this one. If anyone has any questions or comments don’t be afraid to ask.

[MOMOFTWOSONS]

Hi John!!

I also reviewed the Dawn upon my arrival home today & I was happy to read your post about the bug bites - my legs are covered in bites. I was starting to wonder if it was bed bugs because I don't remember getting bit at all....

[SweetpeaOne]

Thanks for sharing your review. Sounds like you had a good time..