FLArmyWife

On 12/27/2019 at 4:27 PM, ebseckar said:

We received the same text before our cruise on the Dawn earlier this month. Having embarked and disembarked, I believe the problem is not with the Dawn, but rather with Terminal 2 in Tampa. It is our least favorite terminal.

 

Everyone coming off the ship is required to take an escalator or elevator downstairs once inside the terminal. You are required to have one hand free to ride the escalator. Otherwise, you are required to take the elevator. The wait for both the escalator and elevator were extremely long and this created a long line of people waiting to get off the ship. Needless to say, all of the passengers are not off the ship in a timely manner. I believe this is what delays the ship from being ready for the boarding of the new passengers. 

 

Terminal 2 also does not have a designated area for suite passengers until after you go through security. We arrived shortly before 12 and there was not a line outside the terminal (other cruises we have waited in a long line outside Terminal 2). Once inside the terminal, there was a line to get through security. After that, you can proceed to the suite check-in line.

Yep were on the dawn 15-22 and had received the same text. Except people showed up around 9:45 and were able to start getting checked in and on the boat no problem. We arrived around 11:30 and walked through everything and right onto the boat with no problems. Now getting off was the nightmare. 3 hours for self disembarkment!

Do they offer a shuttle to the port? We're on the east coast and within a few hours from each of several ports but would love to take a cruise from the west coast some time.

Just did the Dawn the 15-22. 
I cruised with a toddler and wasn't impressed in their kids club but understand smaller ship means less room available for toys and such. My son only spent 2 hours on day 2 there and refused to return after that. We did love that the kid's pool area had an actual pool and not just a splash pad as many other, some even larger, ships.

We stayed in a mini-suite and loved it. Very roomy and the pull-out couch was very comfortable. The safe worked in our room but many others on the ship with us, including another room in our party, the safe did not work. 

Ship was short staffed and it showed. Any time we sat down to eat in the main dining rooms it would take 3 hours! And, they were out of Moscato before we even pulled out of port and never did get stocked the entire 8 days. They were out of Pina Colada mixture day 1-3 or so. 

As another poster mentioned, we experienced trouble with the "freestyle" dining. Many dining options, including the large main dining rooms, would fill up with reservations and become an hour plus wait to even be seated. We gave up after the 3rd night and just ate at the buffet the rest of the time. We had a server 1 night spill water all over the table and us because, even though she tried 3 times, she missed our cups each time. And that was while we were still "in port" in Tampa (we'd pulled away from the dock but weren't out of the bay yet). Two of the three nights in the main dining party members were not asked at what level they'd like their steak cooked and so it was just always brought out medium rare. 

My sisters kept having issues with their PBP. My middle sister kept being told she didn't look like her photo. The other had to carry around her DL because they kept saying there was no way she was old enough. We also had an issue one night in bliss where, after only 1 drink, both my sisters and 2 cousins were told they were drunk and the bartender wouldn't serve them. 

Guest service employees were rude any time we had to go to them to ask a question. 

Entertainment was decent. Not as elaborate as some of the bigger ships but not terrible either. Prices for bingo and deal or no deal were very expensive, but the cruiseline has to make money somewhere.

We liked that the ship had a smaller casino. Some of the bigger ships the casino is so large and impossible to get to some areas easily without walking through it. On the Dawn I'll be honest, I didn't even find the casino until day 3 or 4. 

The shore excursion desk was a headache for the simple fact they didn't know the information about their own excursions. We booked one that stated ages 3 and under were free but on day 1 they called our room to say my son, age 3, would need a ticket because NCL's policy is anyone 2-12 needs a child ticket. I had to go down to the desk and argue with them. The guy had no idea and kept insisting I had to pay. I had to highlight in the information about the excursion where it said 3 and under were free. Then he had to go to the manager before it got all worked out. Then when the excursion had to be modified (because some of it was canceled due to weather) we went through the issue again. 

Our room steward was amazing (sad I didn't catch his name) as was Horace from the buffet area (really all the buffet staff). Chelsea from the jewelry shop was awesome. She's from Roatan (one of our ports) and we had a nice chat about our sons [roughly the same age]. 

Getting off the ship was a nightmare though. I'm not sure if it was NCL or just the port in Tampa, but it took us almost 3 hours to self-disembark. We've done that on all cruises and never taken more than 45 minutes to get off the boat and through customs. Pictures were cute but SO expensive. 

Many others on our ship were just as frustrated and disappointed getting off the ship where there were others who weren't bothered by anything. It is all in the eyes of the beholder. 

Thanks. currently it's showing 0 available but I'm sure it's because we are more than a year out

Out of curiosity when does NCL usually open the excursions up for booking?

Thank you thank you.

Thank you for such a thorough but concise review! Still have a large amount of time until our trip on the Dawn, but it's nice to get an idea of what to look forward to.

I'd say they do seem to be.

We did a short 3 day 2 night to Grand Bahama at the beginning of July. Night 2 we did Bingo and it was $40 for 3 boards (1 for each game). They were the type where they had like 3/4 of a hole and you fold back/down the paper for the # called on your board.

This time last year did a 7 day through a whale tail ship and we played bingo. It was around $40 or $50. It included 3 boards for each of 3 games (so 9 boards total) and a "collectible dabber". I won the 1st game on the 1st night and got a $100 OBC. That was nice as we hadn't originally had any extra $$ for drinks and the OBC winnings covered bingo and a few drinks.

Thanks!

Anyone else notice that this thread is mentioned now in the link that was posted earlier?

Thank you all for more information! I did some more digging and found some options I think will work well...

Have you actually contacted NCL to ask? Are you sure the age limit isn’t just the age they start charging?

Yea some have an actual age limit. I understand for some of the more 'intense' ones but some of the level 1 excursions I was shocked to see an age restriction

Found this this morning..

If you go to 10:37 of the video they take a quick look at the t-rex pool and it's from January 2018!

So USAA quoted $329 for the most expensive one that covers everything....

the one for NCL was $261. I know USAA covers more but for cost I will need to stick with NCL for now but keep USAA in mind for the future

Thank you!

Thank you.

Didn't even think to look at USAA for the travel insurance. I just always book through the cruise company.

I only booked the cruise about 7 days ago... could I go in and modify it to remove the trip insurance through NCL and then contact USAA for 3rd party? Or am I stuck with it and I'll just need to remember for in the future.

My husband and I are both lactose intolerant. My toddler has a slight allergy/high intolerance (he had a high allergy as an infant but the pediatrician says he has mostly outgrown it so now we just monitor his intake).

I'm not too worried about monitoring his entrees at night or during lunch, but in the morning (at least as of right now) his routine is to have cereal. My question is, can I bring special milk on board for him if I have a doctor's note? Or do they offer lactose free/dairy free options? If not just out in the common area should I contact customer service and then will they have it available upon our request?

Even if the excursion is just one of those spend time at a more private beach and if lunch is included that's an even bigger bonus

I'm looking for idea on toddler friendly excursions, through NCL, to do when we visit Cozumel, Costa Maya, and Harvest Caye.

I have spent time on the website but am irritated that it'll be categorized under "family recommended" but then there is an age limit of 5 or even 8 in some cases.

Anyone have any suggestions? My son will be just shy of 4 when we sail.

Hubs and I cruised NCL back in 2012 as a honeymood/welcome home from Afghanistan trip.

When we were on the ship we spent about $300 and was able to get a CD with ALL the photos we'd taken and a print release.

I noticed on the NCL website their photo packages are 10, 20, or 30 count photos.

Does anyone know if they still do the CD option with unlimited photos?

Call NCL to set the order. I do this frequently as my wife doesn’t drink. We have an adult daughter travel with us sometimes and she is always #2 on the reservation. My daughter and I drink and all 3 of us are happy.

 

If my wife wants a soda or whatever, she buys it. I am happy buying a soda instead of my unlimited bourbons each day!

 

 

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Yeah I was able to call and get it changed. My family doesn't drink sodas except maybe once a week or so as a treat. We always take our own reusable bottles for water. My mom will not drink but my sisters, who will be 21 and 26, will be much more appreciative of the bar package.

Here's what a BA/BA Plus Priva Sea balcony looks like...

 

 

The BA Plus balcony is a bit deeper.

That's nice

Hull balcony

I booked a room like this and was confident our (then) 3 year old would be fine but my dh isn't sure. I think this picture will help explain what an enclosed balcony is!

Thank you!

Thanks Two wheels.

So If I booked already and didn't realize that guests 1 & 2 needed to be the ones on the package, Is there a way to change that on the ncl site?