22 days on the Dawn - any ??

[snorklinbarb]

Life is good when you can spend 22 nts on the beautiful Dawn! My 84 yr old father and I, and then my husband and I completed the 11/18 and 11/28 sailings out of NYC with slightly different itineraries. (Don't even ask why this happened) Also let me say it was our 3rd sailing on the Dawn, and all I can say is it just gets better and better.

 

I considered not writing much at all because I'll admit upfront we obviously love this ship and freestyle a lot. But everywhere I went - from excursions to the hot tubs to the myriad of onboard activities - I tried to ask fellow cruisers how they were enjoying the ship. And without doubt, whether they loved freestyle or not, just about everyone echoed the same tune: that this is the most friendly crew out there!! From the guy varnishing the rails to the waitstaff to the cabin stewards, this 60+nation crew is simply outstanding.

 

After watching the Dawn wheels in motion for this long, I think it all starts at the top. I've never seen a ship where the officers are as visible. They are out and about and through the restaurants constantly, from the Hotel Directors Klaus (later Hugo) to the gracious Food & Bev. Dir. Orhan, Asst F & B Karlheinz, Restaurant Mgr. Mirsad and the team of Maitre D's and Asst. Maitre D's. It is hard to sit through a meal without encountering someone stopping by in a friendly way just to see how things are going. And because they come by so often, any issues can be dealt with on the spot before they develop into a problem.

 

As a result, we saw freestyle working more smoothly, resulting in lesser burden on any waits for dinner. For example, it is not unusual to see a waitress dressed in a kimino summoned to another restaurant to help ease a busy time that has developed. And because the waiters are not working for individual tips, they have no problem leaving a restaurant that might not be so busy to go help out their "team". It really is teamwork at its best. Some people say that pooled tips diminish service but we found it not to be so at all. Many times waiters we had met one night came over to us at another table another day *just* to say hello, and this was way before they had any idea I was to be a long-term passenger!

 

Food is obviously such a subjective thing, but we found loads of choice with 6 entrees offered in Venetian (and Aqua, Impressions similar though not identical). 1 of the 6 is an excellent vegetarian choice and another is "A Taste of" such as A taste of Thailand, Lombard, India, New Orleans. The 3 main DR's are not always the same either with Impressions offering Chateaubriand on formal night when Venetian has the filet mignon. We found the lobster tails to be tasty and ample (3 small tails and you can, of course, have more).

 

I'll continue on with food....

[snorklinbarb]

My father in particular loved the ambience in Salsa where the talented harmonic quartet of Anna y los Vientos serenades in the atrium. The steak fajitas are the specialty and not to be missed (I assume the other sizzling fajitas are good, too). Let them bring you a sampling of hot & cold tapas to start off and ask for the guacamole rather than filling up on the salsa with your nachos. Laura as Maitre D' does a nice job telling you about everything and Sandee and Jerome served our CC dinner very well, too. Save room for the cranberry pecan pie!

 

We had excellent surf & turf the 1 night we went to Cagney's, a popular place run by Joey. 2 different nights we ate in Le Bistro and if Alan K. waits on you, you're in for a treat, though the staff all seemed top notch. Again I had an excellent filet, bernaise style and Bob had the salmon. He really couldn't tell the difference between the escargots here and the DR - maybe a little more garlic, but good in both places.

 

La Trattoria, a converted section of the Garden Cafe, has expanded since last year as it's gotten more popular. The fresh pasta station was quite good and both the chicken parm and lasagna were tasty. The second time there the service was uneven as it seemed our section had not yet been assigned a set wait team. Try the zuppa inglese or tiramisu for dessert!

 

As we tried to control our appetites or came back from a late excursion, we tried Blue Lagoon and found the wait staff more attentive than last year. We sampled the spicy buffalo wings, shepherds pie, fried rice, pork noodles, cheeseburger and potato skins and found them all perfectly fine with the fish & chips a standout and the burgers overdone (health regulations we were told).

 

We rarely went to the buffet though I did go there for breakfast with my father quite often. It was a little hard to find a seat at peak times and I'm just not much of a buffet person. The Indian vegetarian station at lunch though is a pleasant change of pace and the Chinese make your own soup station is fun, too.

 

DH and I utilized room service for breakfast quite often for continental and 3 different times we had some mistake (cereal, no banana; 1 cup instead of 2 type of thing). Also the fellow taking the orders was not very pleasant. Fortunately at our CC mtg sr officers were gracious to come by and offer us their cards and personal servic. so we were always bumping into them out and about to give them feedback. So if something was a bit amiss, we had ample opportunity to pass along our comments and the staff was so receptive to the CC groups' opinions. The Food & Bev. Dir. organized an excellent meal at Salsas for us as well.

 

Next a word on entertainment...

[snorklinbarb]

Forgot about the Asian complex. First time ever for us to try Bamboo and boy, it's a lot of food! You're given 2 entrees each after a starter and we had Peking duck, shrimp tempura, 3 varieties Asian pork and sukiyaki between Bob and me. We live so close to Chinatown in NY that going to an "Asian fusion" restaurant onboard didn't have much appeal but it was very very good! From 5:30-6:30 pm every night, look for the "early bird" special which is half price.

 

Sampled the teppanyaki twice and it was both a "show" like Benihana as well as very tender (but rich!) steak, shrimp, scallops, etc. with much more to choose from. A couple next to us chose the lobster and the chef didn't like the way they turned out....before serving them, he started again with new lobsters that looked better to him. Apparently they turned out great.

 

We were determined to "hit" every restaurant and so did sushi for lunch. That's offered on sea days only at lunch and also every night. We did the $10 all you can eat off the conveyor belt and the chef threw in a couple of "extras" as he could see we both loved sushi.

 

On to the entertainment. Something unique to the Dawn is Murder Mystery Night. This is a dinner & activity combo that a lot of us had a lot of fun doing. Kudos goes to Paul Baya and Mike, CD and Asst. CD team fantastico who are constantly coming up with new ideas! We enjoyed some really great entertainment on the Dawn once again in the beautiful 1000+ Stardust Theater, usually with a game show of some sorts (Jeopardy, Millionaire, Weakest Link, Family Feud) wedged between shows.

 

The Jean Ann Ryan Company presented 3 great shows. With a huge number of repeaters on the Dawn, though, I hope NCL is looking into getting some new shows for the new year. We met a lot of folks onboard for the 2nd or 3rd time who are ready for some exciting new shows. Apparently putting up a new production is a tremendous task, so we'll have to wait and see. That said, this troupe is excellent and has incredible energy.

 

Modal Magic band will remind previous Dawn cruisers of the Ironics, but with a guy. And they have all the choreography and flourishes to make them visually fun to watch as well. Flex is the Caribbean band which plays poolside and for the sailaway BBQ's (great ribs!) and the Norwegian Showband has a big band night for those inclined to romantically sashay around the dancefloor.

 

Every night starting around 10:30 or so is some sort of deck or theme party such as 50's, Caribbean night, etc. As for late night activities, you'll have to ask someone else.

 

We did a lot of ship excursions and found Greg & the shorex staff very pleasant to deal with. However, a description of the shore excursions, usually found in each cabin, was not provided, which did not make getting information easy. One of the best excursions was Best of Barbados, which included a stop at the 500,000 yr old Harrison Caves, the orchid gardens and Gunhill signal station.

 

The dynamic dance duo Roman & Svetlana offer 3 dance lessons onboard - talk about a workout and a lot of fun! There were also lectures, trivia, arts & crafts, movies in the cinema and plenty of other stuff to keep you entertained besides the usual Bingo and the casino.

 

Maybe some of the other CC group will jump in. It was such a pleasure meeting everyone, super people! Any questions???

[sodell]

Thanks Barb... Thought you were MIA... but you were CIA :) . Great review so far, can't wait for the rest of it.

[cruzholic]

May I say Welcome Home my Friend' I hope my email wasn't too much a surprise. Waiting to read your response in an email. And yes there is a cc roll call for the Island PRincess Feb. 18, 2005. Sure hope you can join us.

[Dolphins]

Just returned from Dawn where we met Snorlin' Barb and other Cruise Critic members. Couldn't agree more about the ambiance of the Salsa Restaurant where we dined 4 nights to the music pianist Vladimir in the Atrium and the superb Anna Y Los Vientos quartet above the Jave Cafe.

[uneamie]

Great review! Glad you had a wonderful time.... 22 days? :eek: We are doing the 11 day in January and I thought ours was a long cruise. Lucky you! Just a few quick questions. What did you do in Dominica? Did anyone you know do the tubing excusion? What did you do in Antiqua? Looking forward to your excursions review. :D

[snorklinbarb]

Hi Uneamie,

 

In Dominica we did a rainforest tour with a group of folks put together pierside and toured the rainforest, stopped for scenic views, hiked to Trafalgar Falls, with the highlight being Bob taking a swim in the falls. Though the weather was beautiful, it was raining in the rainforest and the climb down was pretty treacherous, but he was determined to add 10 yrs to his life!:D

 

Since we stopped in Antigua twice, the first time I did Island 4x4 plus Beach offroad safari, a really wild Universal Studios ride coupled with a stop at Turners beach. It was great fun. I sent my father on the Nelson Dockyards historical walking tour as he's a military buff and he enjoyed it immensely. On the 11/28 sailing, Bob and I did the Fort St. James Beach Tour which was about 5 hrs at the beach including a BBQ lunch. The waves were really pounding and there was some undertow. I don't know if it was usual conditions or not as it was the Caribbean side, but it was pretty tough at points. Wouldn't recommend for small children.

 

In all my time onboard, we only had one day of rain and that was the first time on Barbados, pouring rain. They told us they've had lots of rain this year on the island.

 

Don't want to bore everyone with what we did day by day, but happy to answer any specifics. Tubing on Dominica was cancelled, we were told by fellow CC'ers due to high river conditions.

 

We mainly went on ship excursions and with the various itinerary changes we experienced, and with my elderly father, it worked out very well for us. Lots of our CC group had good luck on Dominica with local operators they had booked in advance such as Lester Pond. Some folks who had booked independent tours on St. Thomas were left scrambling when the day got shifted entirely. All depends on how much effort you want to put into it, but there were local drivers waiting in every port along with NCL's offerings.

[ChrisConnolly]

Hey Barb.. glad to hear you had a good trip... Can you give us more info about the itinerary changes? Was any reason given?

[snorklinbarb]

Hi Chris,

Always enjoy your posts and wonder how you finally decided to pop the question after all the great suggestions you got!!:)

 

As most of us on CC knew, the 11/28 cruise was not to have included Tortola. But it obviously came as a surprise to some. A corrected itin with a letter from the Captain was on our beds upon check-in and he came on the PA twice to explain that the thruster bearings on one of the azipods was wearing which would impede the speed the Dawn could travel.

 

Any change of itinerary can throw people off and initially that might have been the case. Then after our 2nd day at sea when we went to bed, there was no Freestyle Daily so we kind of sensed something was going on. We were informed the next day that one of the engines had overheated which would have caused us to get into St. Thomas, our first scheduled port, at 3 pm had we stuck with the original itinerary. So instead, St. Thomas was moved to the following Sunday and an additional 2 hrs was added to the call.

 

A surprise call was announced at the same time for St. Croix. For some it was nothing more than a stretch your legs time, with a walk around the fort and park in Frederiksted, but some made it over to Christiansted. Additionally, the Captain explained that we would not be calling on Grenada, but would be stopping in Tortola after all.

 

Again, initially there were people who seemed upset that Grenada was cancelled, but word soon spread throughout the ship about the devestation left by the hurricane. So little by little, the mood changed again as people now seemed happy that Tortola was back on the board.

 

The only ones not happy about all of this were those who had booked independent excursions and were scurrying to contact operators and regroup. We also heard someone had a St. Thomas wedding planned but never heard if they were the intended or just attending!!!!:eek:

 

All bars were open for a few hours one afternoon and a very small credit was offered for the change in itinerary. After all was said and done, everything actually worked out OK. The engine was fixed rather quickly but the azipod issue will continue right up until drydock. The whole Grenada-Tortola situation, I suspect, will continue to be the subject of future discussions here, but as far as I understand it Tortola is now off the itinerary.

[uneamie]

Hi Uneamie' date='

 

In Dominica we did a rainforest tour with a group of folks put together pierside and toured the rainforest, stopped for scenic views, hiked to Trafalgar Falls, with the highlight being Bob taking a swim in the falls. Though the weather was beautiful, it was raining in the rainforest and the climb down was pretty treacherous, but he was determined to add 10 yrs to his life!:D

 

.[/quote']

Thanks Barb ;) ....sounds like right now till they get Dawn into drydock and fix her it's best to book excursions through the ship or wait to do your touring with tour guides at the pier. I would not want to have t scarmble around canceling tours if our itinerary changes and it appears it could be likely more than not. I am just hoping that Dawn does not need to be dry docked before our cruise Jan 30th. So many arrangements have been made for this specific vacation with work, our pets etc... so from now until then I will be on edge with this whole business. Some people can take their vacations when ever and some can't! My husband cannot do that with this new job so if this cruise gets canceled we won't be cruising for another year. :(

Thanks again for the great detail in your reviews. :)

[fin]

Because I had booked a flight from St Thomas to Tortola, and we missed the time scheduled for me to be there, the desk kindly allowed me to telephone the flight school in St Thomas to advise of the change in our schedule. Ironically, I ended up going to Tortola twice, but that was just fine.

 

It is now my opinion that the wants and desires of the paying guests are given huge consideration by the captain and the management in deciding where to go. I feel they do make an effort to be as accomodating as possible. Certainly they did in my case.

 

And it was just that attitude of concern and caring that was instrumental in my booking yet another cruise on NCL at the end of February.

[Galley Girl]

Welcome Home Barb,

I was looking for you the whole time you were gone. Sounds like Dad made out fine and had a great time. But I bet you need a new pair of sneakers.LOL

Great review!

Talk to you soon,

Joanne

[Dolphins]

I thought the entire crew handled the schedule changes very well. We got a full day in St. Thomas instead of the hurricane damaged Grenada and Tortola was returned to the itinerary. One of our best cruises.

[btown]

Uneamie, Don't even think it! The Dawn is sailing Jan 30. No doubts about it. Remember, the power of positive thinking!!

Snorklin Barb, I loved your review of the Dawn. Really brings it all back in color. Gary says the first thing he is going to do when we get on the ship is order a triple order of wings and bring them back to the room! LOL

[snorklinbarb]

btown,

 

They have the wings as an appetizer in the DR one lunch (I ordered 2 orders as my main course!!:p) and at Blue Lagoon (regular or spicy) anytime....with the blue cheese dip, of course!:D

[Mustangs]

Great review Barb!

 

I must say, we had a fantastic cruise on this Dawn sailing. It was our first experience with NCL, and we were very satisfied. It was great meeting some of the cruise critic people! The Dawn staff deserves applause.

 

Although food "quality" may not have been top-notch compared to some other cruise lines, we were very happy with most of the restaurants that we tried. Wait staff was excellent, especially in Impressions (Keith and Simona), where we dined four times. The Venetian, which offered a great sit-down lunch, seemed very busy, and much less intimate at supper. We also enjoyed the Aqua on several occasions, as well as la Trattoria and Salsa. We were pleasantly surprised by the Garden Cafe, the Blue Lagoon, and the fish and chips in the Pearly Kings Pub. We never had to wait to be seated, and we only made reservations twice.

 

Negative comments are hard to come by. Our room was a bit noisy. While sailing, the balcony door would shake, and it almost sounded like there were a few screws loose somewhere. Sound insulation between cabins was poor, and we always knew when our neighbours were using their bathroom! I was disappointed that they didn't have chocolate milk (we even asked).

 

Overall, we would rate this as a four star cruise, and would love to sail the Dawn again!

 

Heading back outside to shovel more snow - Yuk!

 

Alan and Anne

 

RCCL – Grandeur of the Seas – 03/97

RCCL – Monarch of the Seas – 11/97

Carnival Paradise – 01/98

RCCL – Majesty of the Seas – 11/98

Carnival Paradise – 03/99

RCCL – Enchantment of the Seas – 11/99

RCCL – Grandeur of the Seas – 11/00

Regal Princess – 01/01

HAL – Volendam – 03/03

Carnival Paradise – 12/03

NCL Dawn - 11/04

[Welove2cruise2]

and we certainly agree with all you've reported! We had a fantastic time, and it was great meeting everyone from our CC roll call who attended our first meeting and last dinner at Salsa's.

 

To add to what Barb has said, we had the most wonderful room stewards -- Eric ("Shrek") and Marabela ("Princess Fiona") -- they were very attentive, did a great job with our cabin, and towel animals every night! We absolutely LOVED the balcony stateroom (after four cruises on the Majesty in cabins ranging from 108 to 145 SF!!). When we first stepped into our cabin, I thought we'd never be able to go back to the Majesty! But despite it's size, we will go back again, if only for the itinerary. Our bar setup was in our stateroom (minus 1 bottle, which was quickly taken care of) when we arrived, and we thoroughly enjoyed our nightcap or before dinner drink on our balcony every night.

 

One of our favorite places in the evening was at the Java Cafe for coffee and dessert -- and listening to Anna Y Los Vientos! What a wonderful band they were! We ate in every restaurant except two of the main dining rooms (if you can believe that) and Teppanyaki (next time!). Loved the fish & chips in Pearly Kings, chicken wings at the Bimini Bar, and the wonton soup in the Blue Lagoon! We even had dinner one evening at the Garden Cafe (and I'm not much into buffets for dinner) because DH didn't want to "dress up" and I must say I was surprised that it was as good as it was! They had a pasta action station where they would make up to six different kinds of pasta noodles with three our four different sauces and whatever extras (garlic, onions, etc.) you wanted to add. Yummy! Pretty good chicken parm too.

 

We enjoyed the three major production shows and two of the comedians (Adam Ace and Dave Heenan). ALL of the entertainment was incredible, from the piano players to the ship's show band. We even went to a movie one afternoon -- they had a great selection of movies every day in the cinema. And the cruise director, Paul, and his assistant were terrific. Especially loved their "Good Morning Dawn" show every morning -- don't miss it!

 

We've only sailed on the Majesty, so the new technology on the Dawn was great -- we'd put the TV on every morning to a station that showed our position as well as a lot of other information, including the weather and pool temperatures. They also aired a virtual tour of the ship that was very interesting.

 

There are so many "nooks and crannies" on the sun deck to hide out! We never had any trouble finding a spot in the sun (although it was tough getting a lounger near the pool).

 

The itinerary change had me a little worried, since we'd booked a private tour in Dominica and were arriving a day earlier. I sent an e-mail to Lester Pond, but never heard back from him. However, when we arrived in Dominica he was waiting for us!

 

The change also had many passengers upset due to having to deal with customs and immigration before debarking in St. Thomas. We stood in line 55 minutes -- small price to pay for a full day in St. Thomas, as far as I'm concerned! The stop in St. Croix was really a "stretch your legs" stop.

 

We had WONDERFUL weather throughout the cruise! The rain in Dominica was brief on and off showers, followed by sun and beautiful rainbows!

 

If I had to find anything to complain about, it would be that they didn't have the deck parties in the evening like they do on the Majesty every night -- the one night they did have a deck party beginning at 10 PM or so, we HAD to go to bed because we had a very early shore excursion scheduled for the next morning and had to be up at 6! I suppose it's because there's so much else going on everywhere else on the ship... perhaps they've tried it and people just weren't interested? But believe me, we found plenty to do!

 

For everyone going, you'll have a wonderful time!

[Dolphins]

We also agree with you regarding the entertainment and musicians on the Dawn. We are big fans of Anna Y Los Vientos whom we have enjoyed on previous cruises and who provide the perfect music for dining in Salsa. The house band was outstanding especially when they played for dancing in the Spinnaker Lounge. Vladimir was great at the Atrium piano and Pamala Stanley in Gatby's is the best entertainer I have ever seen on a cruise ship. She sang and played that piano for almost two hours nightly without a break.

[msbobo417]

Let me say that my husband and I had a great time on the 11/28 Dawn sailing, in spite of the itinerary changes. It was fun to meet Barb & Bob and some of the other CC members, and cool when we wound up sitting next to each other at Adam Ace's performance and wondered if either Bob or Steve (my husband) would be singled out in the crowd when Adam did his hilarious bit on guys' cruise shirts. (Neither were singled out.)

 

There was much to do, overall good entertainment and food, although we did see some things that could be improved. We ate in the optional restaurants twice (at Bamboo and Salsa with the CC crowd) and found both to be very good. At Bamboo we ate from the standard menu rather than the Sushi or Teppanyaki offerings, and found the amount of food almost overwhelming, as well as of good quality. The rest of the time, we ate our dinners at one of the three main dining rooms; grabbed lunch at the Garden Cafe (if we ate lunch at all); and split our breakfasts between the Venetian and the Garden Cafe, depending on how fast we wanted to get ashore on island days. Generally, the breakfasts at the Venetian were superior to those at the buffet, since the oatmeal actually came hot (vs. tepid at the buffet), and if you're like me, you need toothpicks to open your eyes in the morning <g>. The service was very good, and they even had soy milk, which my husband prefers for his coffee, although you had to ask for it, and it wasn't on the menu.

 

Even though I understand the ship was completely booked, at all hours at dinner time we had very little waiting time, and as said, we were going at different times each night. Four of the 11 nights we dined at a table for two, and at max waited LESS than 10 minutes for the table. When we were lined up at Impressions, which is, admittedly, harder to get into, we got a table fairly quickly by sharing. Aqua was easiest to get into. We preferred the Venetian for the decor, and the fact that it had big windows looking out on the Ocean. The other dining rooms have less.

 

(More on my review).

[Mustangs]

Once again, we would like to say that we were very happy with this recent Dawn cruise. However, being Canadians, we were grouped into "non U.S." for embarkation and disembarkation. Embarkation took over two hours, perhaps due to the fact that we arrived at 12:30 (peak period). Disembarkation was very painful - taking over three hours. In fact, we went to the Starlight theater at 8:30 am to find such a long line (that wasn't moving), that we decided to go back to the Garden Cafe for 30 minutes to get another coffee. When we came back down around 9:00, the line was progressing into the theater, where we were given numbers for clearing customs. They started calling numbers by groups of 150, which almost caused a riot due to the fact that the earliest people in the theater holding the lowest numbers were the furthest from the doors. NCL did a very poor job of traffic control in this case, and we thought that a fight might break out due to short tempers. Our "group" finally made it off the ship to clear customs around 11:30, and we had our luggage by 12:00. This has been our worst disembarkation ever (Carnival's Paradise came second).

 

Perhaps NCL could work on this.

 

Anne and Alan

 

RCCL – Grandeur of the Seas – 03/97

RCCL – Monarch of the Seas – 11/97

Carnival Paradise – 01/98

RCCL – Majesty of the Seas – 11/98

Carnival Paradise – 03/99

RCCL – Enchantment of the Seas – 11/99

RCCL – Grandeur of the Seas – 11/00

Regal Princess – 01/01

HAL – Volendam – 03/03

Carnival Paradise – 12/03

NCL Dawn - 11/04

[snorklinbarb]

It was sooo nice meeting all of you on the ship, though it doesn't sound like a great way to end a vacation, Mustangs.

 

We could relax around all of you. I felt I needed the 11 nighter to decompress after being with my father for those 10 nights. At 84, he'd have 6 laps around the Promenade Deck done by 7:30 am, sometimes shoot golf, basketballs, did an excursion everyday, went snorkelling at Coki Bay, took swing dance lessons and looked for a dance partner every time Larry Lockwood's band was playing!:eek: Whew~ I felt like I was living through "Cocoon". The crew was still talking about him when we got off in NY!:D

 

thanks to you all for making our vacation extra special!:) Glad to see Tortola's back on the itin.

 

p.s. Uneamie, we're also Barbara & Bob...guess that means you're gonna love the Dawn!!

[e.durban]

Hello to all the wonderful folks we met on the 11/28 Dawn! Sorry we didn't get to meet your father-he sounds like a pistol (as my grandmother used to say) and thanks for all your efforts organizing our CC gettogethers. It was an absolutely marvelous cruise (except for those scary, scary drinks in the otherwise beautiful Star Bar!) Here's an odd end-of-cruise tale, though...we kept our stuff in our room until our color was called, but Ken & Ken were told by their steward (a person they had seen only once in 11 days,) that he could arrange for them to stay in their cabin in return for a small cash payment, otherwise they would have to vacate immediately! Naturally, they went immediately and reported him to management. Can you imagine? I imagine that was his last day with NCL...Anyhow, we had a terrific honeymoon- the ship is relaxed, but can be quite elegant when the occasion calls for it: although I had not brought a tux, I saw several gents sporting them, and they never looked out of place. Best wishes to you all for very happy holidays from David & Cheryl.

[snorklinbarb]

Hi edurban,

 

Honeymooning on the Dawn must have been something really special! Really enjoyed the time we spent with you and the lovely bride.:)

 

I got an email asking me how far 6 laps is around the Promenade Deck!!:D I know it's very hard to believe that someone nearly 85 yrs old could do 2.8 miles everyday, let alone before most people have even opened their eyes!;)

 

On the many business cards and such that we all got, I had an email address and sent along the little story about the cabin steward you mentioned. I got a note back thanking us and saying that a meeting of stewards was immediately held, reiterating that any kind of behavior like that is intolerable. We had a leisurely breakfast in Venetian and then just hung out in our cabin. That's supposed to be one of the benefits of freestyle, right?:cool:

[defreeze]

Snorklin' Barb,

 

I notice from your post that you mentioned a Cruise Critic gathering.

 

We are going on the Dawn in January.

 

How was the CC meeting set up?

 

Did you do it onboard or beforehand?

 

How were people contacted?

 

Thanks.