Dawn:Canada/New England/08/31/08

[BuckeyePat]

In general, the trip was good, but there were some disappointments.

 

Embarkation

Arrived at the pier around 11:30 am to mass confusion. Line very long; no one sure if in "right" line as Spirit and Dawn passengers all together. I left my DH and went to where luggage was being loaded to confirm we were all to be in same line and told yes. Observed that taxis etc. which pulled up closer to this point were deloading and thus we "in line" were moving backward instead of forward. Once inside terminal the line we moved through was organized and I think the whole process took about an hour and a half before once on board. Not too bad given what we first faced!

 

Boarding

We were greeted with staff holding trays of juice or bubbly. Looked around and decided to find Venetian. We were hot and tired; New York was extremely muggy and warm. Had a light lunch; talked DH into ordering chilled soup [banana] due to reviews here and he thought I was nuts. [not a staple in the midwest!] He said it was very good. We split a club sandwich and while eating an announcement was made that cabins were ready.

 

Cabin

We were in a mini suite. Nice size[nothing to compare to as we are not experienced cruisers] and fair amount of storage. We started to wipe things down with antibacterial wipes [again due to comments here]. Things were dusty but we were cool until we found food under the 'coffee' table and on the 'dining' table as well as wrappers in corners on the floor. I called reception and they apologized and said our room would be deep cleaned once luggage had been delivered as that was what everyone was doing. This was fine with us and we continued wiping and our own luggage was delivered promptly so we unpacked. Frankly, had I had access to a vaccum I never would have called [LOL] as I was ready to get on with vacation....

 

Once unpacked we were ready to explore, but first had to get the air conditioning going. Stopped a young man delivering luggage and asked if he could help; he adjusted settings and said if no improvement maintenace would be called. The results of these issues: Room was cleaned later that night and maintenance came and repaired the air.

 

The only other cabin problem we had was upon waking the first morning the toilet did not work. I calmly called reception who said it would be reported. I peeked out about 30 minutes later and saw our steward and asked him about it; he said the problem was being worked on 'down line'. A maintenace person then came out of a room and asked me to try our toilet: Success!

 

Robes: One aside here! There were 2 robes in the closet; I used one and told my DH it was one of the most comfy I had ever worn and hoped NCL sold them in the shops [they don't, but should!!!!!]. My elation was short lived, as the next day these robes disappeared and were replaced with a waffle type robe; nice robes but not like the originals! All I could do was laugh, as we must have been given suite robes as a mistake or due to rush of getting rooms cleaned etc.

To be continued; must get on with my day....still doing laundry, sorting mail etc.!

[marthatravels]

Going on same trip in two weeks - how did you find the cell phone coverage while in ports?

[ohioNCLcruiser]

Thanks! We leave in two weeks for the same trip.

[ute_fan]

Going on same trip in two weeks - how did you find the cell phone coverage while in ports?

 

If you're on the 9/21 sailing, we'd love to have you join our roll-call.

[ohioNCLcruiser]

here is our roll call for the Dawn 9/21 cruise

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?p=16201039#post16201039

[BuckeyePat]

Going on same trip in two weeks - how did you find the cell phone coverage while in ports?

My hubby had no problem in Canada ports or US ports except Bar Harbor---and that was in Accadia National Park. His service is Alltell.

 

I have a tracfone; called before leaving to make sure I could make calls from Canada. Was told yes, which turned out to not be the case. Only other area that I could not get service was Accadia. I did receive a call while in port and ON the ship [in Boston]!

 

We did talk to some people who were not able to get service anywhere in Bar Harbor, but I apologize as I do not recall who their carrier was.

[SPORTSTER]

In general, the trip was good, but there were some disappointments.

 

Hello BuckeyePat.

We were on the same cruise and had a Balcony on Deck 11 which is mainly the mini suites but there were a few balconys also. We arrived at 10:15 and were on the ship at 11:00, the place was empty at that time. Our room was spotless and yes those robes were great you should have asked for them after they changed.

We enjoyed ourselves very much but things have changed a little for the worse in some areas. The food seemed to be better than it has been though but the prices for the upscale eaterys were a little high and now there are more pay places. I would rather the price be cruise price be upped and keep the upscales to a minimum, but that's just me it probably would work out the same I just felt it was a like yo much nickel and diming.

I thought the ship handled the storm just great, having spent some time in my younger days aboard a destroyer in the Navy I can tell you that with 27 foot waves we were pretty smooth.

[SPORTSTER]

We have Verizon as our carrier and always had a signal. We didn't go to Acadia this time. We rented a car and drove out to Peggys Cove and enjoyed that very much and we had the car for the rest of the day at a total cost of $59.50. But the phone thing was no problem and you can call Verizon before you go and they will do something to your phone that allows for calling at a reduced rate when in Canada.

[BuckeyePat]

Hi, To you!

Yes, we were on the same deck. I agree, the storm was handled well by the ship---not so well by some of the passengers:eek: ! By that last night I had enough bonine in me and DH was on ginger, so we did not get sick;) , but it was rocking and rolling!

[BuckeyePat]

One other comment about the cabin---or at least location. As has been mentioned in earlier reviews, there were loud banging/knocking sounds which began at about 4:00 am each day. I have yet to figure out what it could be! Our cabin was forward of the buffet, and there were just pool side tables above us. I would awaken and then go back to sleep eventually; my DH slept through the noise.

 

The Ship

Not much to say that has not already been said. The Dawn is beautiful and well maintained. Crew are always cleaning the common areas which are a pleasure to spend time in. I thought the shopping was lacking, and did not care for the very pushy men in the jewelry area. Turned me off, so did not look for anything to buy after my first visit. I did keep landing in a dead end on one deck; but at least found forward and aft easily by the end of the week! LOL

 

Entertainment etc.

Went to Stardust first night for the "sample" show. Saw Band on the Run and Bollywood. Stepped into balcony area for South Beach. Enjoyed Band on the Run very much. I did not care for Bollywood nor South Beach, but am sure others loved it. Well, except maybe South Beach; my DH was sitting next to a woman in the casino that night and she told him many people were walking out on it. Again, very subjective.....

Loved Jose and Patti; just wished they would have put them in the larger Spinnaker Lounge. Not enough room in Dazzles as week goes on and they become more popular! Bernie Martini was enjoyable if looking for a mellow piano/singer venue. There was music everywhere and all of it was enjoyable.

Attended the memory 'course' offered by the magician. DH bought his CD/DVD as he loves that kind of thing. Did not do Bingo, games etc., but spent time each evening in the Casino. Actually there was more going on than anyone could possibly do, even though this was a very port intensive cruise.

Not sure where to put Photographers, so will add here. They were never too pushy; if you said no thanks that was the end of it. We did buy a few pictures---to be expected by newbies, right?;)

 

Tendering/Ports

We had 2 ports which needed tenders. The first, Bar Harbor, also required everyone going through immigration. The process was a fiasco. Our NCL tour was at 9:00 am and we reported to Spinnakers as noted in Freestyle at 8:00 am to begin the clearance procedure. Well, so did 1,000+ other people. There were not enough staff to at least tell us not to worry, nerves were frayed, crew eventually stated going through the line to pull out those with early tours. We were shocked, as of course want to think that a company which does this week after week would have a system. It was hot, close, people were bitching, and just an overall unenjoyable experience. Some crew were blaming immigration, but no one was buying it. There should have been a system to prevent these masses from pouring into one spot at the same time!

 

And guess what? By tender port #2--Newport---there was! If you wanted to tender you had to go to Dazzles and get a ticket number and wait for your number to be called! Voila!!! Of course, nothing is simple.To no fault of NCL's the weather did not cooperate and due to fog, tendering was delayed about one and a half hours. But, once it started it was orderly and you could do other things waiting for your number to be called. As a side note, due to the iffy weather in Newport I think I heard the cruise director announce they were adding onboard activities for those who did not want to suffer 100% humidity....

Brief Port comments, as I know there is a port section: Peggy's Cove in Halifax was beautiful; St. John is one I would skip and stay on ship if ever dock there again; Bar Harbor and Accadia in particular is breath taking; Boston is Boston[was very hot and humid!] and Newport is darling. We just walked around as we have done mansion tours before and did not get off ship until noon or a little later due to weather.

 

To be continued....

[marthatravels]

Really appreciate the up to date New England/Canada info - this is our first time on NCL - thought we would try something different and fall weather (a nice change when you are coming from the south!!) - checking on the Boston info - was the pier "walkable" into town?

[ute_fan]

Tendering/Ports

We had 2 ports which needed tenders. The first, Bar Harbor, also required everyone going through immigration. The process was a fiasco. Our NCL tour was at 9:00 am and we reported to Spinnakers as noted in Freestyle at 8:00 am to begin the clearance procedure. Well, so did 1,000+ other people. There were not enough staff to at least tell us not to worry, nerves were frayed, crew eventually stated going through the line to pull out those with early tours. We were shocked, as of course want to think that a company which does this week after week would have a system. It was hot, close, people were bitching, and just an overall unenjoyable experience. Some crew were blaming immigration, but no one was buying it. There should have been a system to prevent these masses from pouring into one spot at the same time!

 

In slight defense of NCL, customs/immigration really can cause issues that are outside their control. I've been it happen before, when it was obvious that the problems were being caused by the officials in charge. Also, not that it's any help to you, but the first cruise to a different itinerary each year normally causes extra confusion. Since your sailing was the first one for the Dawn to Canada/New England this year, I'm not too surprised to hear there were some glitches. We sailed on the Jewel her on her first cruise back, departing from Miami, and it was obvious that there was still some tweaking that needed to be done.

 

Hopefully these issues will be addressed before we sail in 2 weeks!

[uppitycats]

The Jewel's itinerary must be slightly different...we're going on the New England/Canada cruise too, but to Boston, Halifax, Quebec, Charlottetown, and Sydney. Or maybe yours was a 7 day and ours is 10?

[ute_fan]

The Dawn's is doing a 7 day itinerary. I wished I had time to go on the 10 day one instead, but with a fairly new job, I'm lucky to be getting a week!

[BuckeyePat]

Really appreciate the up to date New England/Canada info - this is our first time on NCL - thought we would try something different and fall weather (a nice change when you are coming from the south!!) - checking on the Boston info - was the pier "walkable" into town?

I need to refer you to the Port page. My sister drove to Boston from her home in Fitchburg and picked us up at the pier. I am sure something can be walked to, but don't know what! Boston was very congested, hot and humid. We did a duck tour and it was great fun! Drove to Prudential Center for that and then just walked around and ate a late lunch as just too much hassle to get car out of Pru Center garage and try to find our way around!!!

[AFAMILY]

Really appreciate the up to date New England/Canada info - this is our first time on NCL - thought we would try something different and fall weather (a nice change when you are coming from the south!!) - checking on the Boston info - was the pier "walkable" into town?

 

When we did this cruise in 2006, NCL was selling roundtrip shuttle passes at the Shore Excursion desk for as I recall $10 pp that will take you from the pier to the Quincy Market area.

 

Maybe the OP can comment if the shuttle is still offered. It's really too far a walk to get to downtown or any of the tourist areas, and not the nicest area to walk through.

 

Enjoy your cruise! :)

[BuckeyePat]

2.0 upgrades

Not sure I even remember them, but here goes for what I can recall. Bedding was fine; bed itself seemed hard and we like hard beds! Bubbly upon boarding; 2 cookies delivered the last night. Fruit card appeared first sea day; hit or miss as to when it was replaced. Just as easy to go to buffet for fruit...Robes in closet.

 

Casino and Casino at Sea

As mentioned by others, Casino is smokey. I booked our cruise thru NCL website and then transferred to Cas at Sea. Our slot card with a drink card were in our cabin as well as a welcome letter from the Cas Hosts. One night a few chocolate treats were delivered to our cabin from Cas at Sea. Nice touch. I would have liked to see more slot machines and newer games, and bet that happens soon due to Harrah's affiliation. Had fun and won a little--which they got back:rolleyes: ....

 

Dining

Well, here goes...and am sure I will upset some of you. Our first night we reserved dinner at Cagney's. It was terrible: within 2 minutes of sitting we were asked if we wanted to order. I asked if we could order a drink first. Received that--ready to order now? [Can I take a sip first is what I was thinking...but did not say.] So, we ordered. Dh had warm shrimp coctail, warm tomato salad, cold steak. I had brown, warm lettuce wedge and lukewarm steak. We had both ordered sauces for our steaks and I had ordered onion rings as a side. I had to flag down someone who I assume was the manager and ask if we could have those items and received them when steak was almost gone[onion rings were cold]. We were seated next to a work station so the ambiance was clang, bang slam. Best part of the meal was coffee.

 

Next morning we went to the buffet. It was chaos. Walked around twice trying to find a seat; at least knew to do it before getting food. Fruit was good; none of the hot food was near warm. Just too, too many people for the area and signage not good for food options. We felt like we were in a battle zone.

 

Dinner was dress up or not; we dressed up, went for pictures and then to Pearly for a drink due to lines at Venetian. After one drink, gave in to the masses and put our name in for a table. You have to stand around the hall as they literally yell out table numbers; we waited about 40 minutes. Frankly, I would have been happier if they gave up the pretense and gave me a buzzer like your local Friday's. Instead, once again you stood around alot of angry people vocallizing "Never Again"! It was not pleasant. And then? Food was inedible and service was awful. My DH described it as a cattle call waiting to eat in a bus depot. The noise level was so great you could not carry on a conversation without yelling. And we dressed up for this?

 

Next day was a port day[Halifax] and we found a cute Italian place on the Boardwalk to eat. So, we gave up on restaurants and decided on a snack at Blue Lagoon later that evening. I had a salad[cold] and diet coke, served in a warm can with a cup, no ice. DH had fish and chips---which were ice cold fries and deep fried breading with very little fish[1 piece]. He got a warm can of sprite which was flat. He asked for a new one, and....

That was my breaking point; stupid, I know. But for $3000, come now. I looked at the date on the pop/soda and it was May112008, which in my area of the country is an expiration date. We went to reception and asked if we could speak to a supervisor about food service and quality. I did this because you folks all say Don't come here and complain if you haven't given them a chance to correct things while on board. So, I wanted to give them that chance---and that will be Part 4! [hint: it is a happy ending, so no attacks until you read the ending! Just too tired now to finish]

[kb996]

Do you know if Aqua was open for balcony and higher passangers for breakfast? Another poster has said it was, but was printed on a small card left in the cabin.

 

Thanks for a great review, can't wait to read the rest.

[Cruizer_J]

Thanks very much for your review. Glad to read that it has a happy ending, as the dining part was not sounding promising!

 

We are considering a NE/CA in the future. Can you say a bit more about why you would skip St. John? Thanks again.

[Bustaty]

Do you know if Aqua was open for balcony and higher passangers for breakfast? Another poster has said it was, but was printed on a small card left in the cabin.

 

Thanks for a great review, can't wait to read the rest.

 

Hi, we just completed the same cruise as BuckeyePat and I will say that our experience, as a group of 9, was very much as she described it.

 

In answer to your question, yes, I had read about the Aqua being open for breakfast for balcony and above, here on CC and there was also a card left in our room. This was absolutely one of the best decisons we made. Too digress just a tad, our introduction to the Garden Cafe upon embarkation was terrible, tables not cleared, thus no seating available, no cutlery, no plates...geesh. So when I suggested that we try in AM Aqua for breakfast, everyone agreed. It was very good. So good in fact, no one returned to buffet again on this cruise.

 

It was very relaxing. Much easier to do with young children. Seated immediately. On side board were, milk, cereals, fruit, smoked salmon, pastries and yogurt to start. Then you could order from main menu, if you wished, assorted style of eggs, waffles, pancakes, bacon, sausage, you know typical breakfast food. They had two types of eggs benedict, if you are a fan, we are, and we thought they did a very good job on them. Service was not particularly quick, but that was fine with us. We found this time of day to be very peaceful and a good start to our day.

[lastingtouch]

We too were on the cruise. We've been enough times to know when it's a good time to have dinner and where to go. On this cruise the average age was 56. We did this cruise 2 years ago and realized that the older the passengers, the earlier they eat. We had reservations at Salsa (7:30)the first night and had no problems. We had Sushi one night (7:30)and ate at LeBistro (8:30) another. Had dinner in our cabin 3x's. Breakfast and lunch for the most part at Cagney's but also had lunch at Blue Lagoon and the buffet. And yes we had a suite, aft on deck 8.

 

We've seen the shows many times so spent most nights in the casino or at Spinnacker. I hit one machine for $865 but also donated it back. We did enjoy Dave Heenan this trip and happened to run into him all the time. Even on shore! He always with the jokes! lol

 

The crew was great as always. We can't say enough about Anshuman, Carmen, Timea, Paul and Josephine! And our cabin stewarts, Gerry & Darry were working all the time. We love NCL and that's why we keep going back. I think we've gone enough times to know when, where and how to manage our time onboard. Never had any problems. I think it might also have something to do with attitude. We're on vacation so we try not to let anything bother us.

 

One mention about the Immigration check. We too noticed some confusion but most of the time it's because many passengers don't read the information in their cabin. Then they walk around complaining to other passengers and crew.

 

You can call me an NCL cheerleader and I guess I am! :D Can't wait to go again!!!

[DMH15]

lastingtouch -

 

I find the higher the aveage age of the PAX onboard - the less competition for sushi!

 

Last year on Jewel - Transatlantic - I was the only PAX in the sushi restaurant for lunch! They treated me like a queen! Loved it!

 

Funny, they mentioned two weeks earlier it had been Spring break and you couldn't even get in for sushi - it was so crowded.

[lastingtouch]

lastingtouch -

 

I find the higher the aveage age of the PAX onboard - the less competition for sushi!

 

Last year on Jewel - Transatlantic - I was the only PAX in the sushi restaurant for lunch! They treated me like a queen! Loved it!

 

Funny, they mentioned two weeks earlier it had been Spring break and you couldn't even get in for sushi - it was so crowded.

 

I totally agree. To our surprise even the beer tasting was not well attended. On the first day there were maybe 25 at attendence. The European Beer Tasting held the last day was cancelled. There were only 4 of us and they usually require at least 8 but they were willing to have it if 2 more showed up. As the passengers passed through Pearly Kings to go for dinner at 5:30, we tried to snag them to no avail. :( They gave the four of us a free beer for showing up.

[Bustaty]

We too, had no problems with reservations at any of the restaurants, and we ate 4 x at specialty, however we did make them earliest possible, so the little ones would be happy too. Ditto on the Venetian.

 

We have cruised on, (an Italian line that is now defunct, Celebrity, Princess, Royal Caribbean and Oceania) and now NCL. I can honestly say we don't have a favourite here, they all offer something different, depending on type of cruise we are taking. Having said that, this was the first line we were ever greeted with such a buffet disaster. So, maybe, my attitude, did need a little tweaking lol, after that one. Even, my mild mannered hubby said he was shocked. When this is your first time (for us) on NCL it does create a bad first impression, no excuses.

 

It was all uphill after that one, I am happy to say. Room stewards, the entertainment we saw, musicians in lounges, all very good. So good, we have booked another family cruise, only bigger for January!

[BuckeyePat]

After asking reception if I could speak to a supervisor, she made a call and said someone could talk with me the next day at 11am. That did not work due to going ashore, so she suggested I call the next day upon return.

 

The next day I decided to just let it go. Upon returning to our cabin from shore, there was a phone message asking me to call and set up a time. So, I did that and was to meet in reception area at 6:30PM. Upon arriving there was a woman on one of their phones being very vocal about yoga purchases and I was uncomfortable with that. Next thing I know there is not 1 person to meet me, but 3 gentlemen. Yikes!

 

I asked if we could move as I had no interest in any type of scene or attracting curiousity of others. We went around the corner into an office. I just explained my disappointment with our dining experiences and we all talked awhile about those and what their expectations were. [not what I had experienced] A restaurant manager, Kaya Aydin, gave me his card and requested I call him anytime I was going to a restaurant. They also wanted to know where we were eating that night, which happened to be Salsa.

 

Mr. Aydin and others [was not given cards and do not remember names] arranged for out Salsa dinner to be taken care of. Someone brought us a wine list and my DH was going to order one glass and she said no, get a bottle and you can have some tomorrow night. I wanted a margarita and she said I must ask my supervisor. Now, I know I look old enough to drink, so that is when we first realized everything was being taken care of. And we were treated like gold.

 

Were we impressed? You bet. Not because they covered a $10 meal and bought us a drink [drop in the bucket compared to what we spent], but because they showed that they cared. And each time I saw Mr. Aydin he always asked if all was ok.

 

Before you ask, No, I did not call him and report where I was dining. I know as well as anyone else that there were 2500 other people who also needed to be taken care of.

 

We went to Aqua the next night and were treated so differently than the Venetian experience that my hubby and I feared our pictures were posted like the FBI's 10 most wanted!:eek: I don't think so, I just think it was timing etc...The last few days we just ate a meal on shore and had a late snack in the buffet.

 

This whole experience gave both of us a different outlook. By day two I thought never again, and now we know we would return to NCL and yes, the Dawn. I had made my DH promise before we went that if he did not like this ship/cruise line he would someday try another. After these employess showed they were responsive, his whole opinion changed. Very important to me---- someone who wants to cruise many, many more times!