goldy24

There is a roll call here with only 3 people,  (and also one on  FB with more).   We are on that cruise too with a group of 9.  We are new cruisers, and we are looking forward to it.

Thanks for posting this!

Thanks - this was my question too. I had heard about the $125 onboard credit for upgrading. However, I called NCL and she said she can't confirm that NCL does this, and it is not in the "terms and conditions".   Glad to hear u can do it.

Has anyone had experience getting 250 minutes as a perk and then upgrading to unlimited plan once you are on the ship?  

Thanks for the detailed reviews Amy!  Love the pictures too!

Is there usually madness around the buffet then?  We are first time cruisers going in a couple of weeks, and really don't know.

Thanks for this information. We are going on august 3rd with 3 families (many are newbies to cruising, including myself). This is very helpful.

Anyone going?

1 hour ago, trex-de said:

We just finished the Bahamas cruise today. 

 

I fully agree with the previous post. Dawn is my favorite ship. This is my fourth time on her.  I can add:

 

LOVE Los Lobos. As a suggestion, A la cart is very reasonable there. DW and I had dinner for $27 total before tip.  Chips & salsa, table made guacamole and an entree for each.  Laronz (or Lawrence) May be the best server we have ever had. 

 

Our commedian was Jim Colliton. He was great. 

 

Not enough loungers around the pool.   The staff starts to put chairs down at 8.  If you are not there, you will not get a seat by the pool. I have a hilarious photo of people standing on the spot where the chairs will be placed. For the record, we deferred to an elderly woman from Scranton who was very aggressive (and rude). 

 

Hate the layout of the buffet. Only had one breakfast there. 

 

Hope to sail Dawn again someday. Bye for now. 

This is great! Thanks for the information!

1 hour ago, CruisinPandora said:

Just did a B2B on Dawn. Cruised her 3x when she first came to NYC, got off today. Huge delay in ship clearance this morning but we finally got through.

 

Likes

• Beautiful ship and friendly and work hard to please service crew. Hey Cheng! Thank you!
• Dawn's secret atrium third deck (we call the crow's nest, officially The Lounge, deck 9)
• Agree: "not too big and manageable."
• Best handmade ice cream/sorbet/sherbet for dessert in Cagney's, O'Sheehans, etc.
• Pulse Fitness Gym
• La Cucina: Great pizza and you can order out (as told by wait staff).
• Bliss Ultra Lounge so much great entertainment and fun games.
• Food and bar at O'Sheehans was great, staff super friendly, ate lunch there most days.
• Agree: "dont go without trying O'Sheehans Brownie Smores Cheesecake" (hubby had it everyday, one of the reasons we went to the gym, lol)
• Agree: "NCL Dawn the almost perfect ship without the floating amusement park stuff."
• Agree: "did the Gem last year and loved it - perfect size and just right combo of activities for us." (8x for us. We miss her in NYC, saw she's making a brief comeback though)
• Entertainers "Jose and Patti" were always great with lots of variety and knew how to draw a crowd.
• Elements production show was amazing!
• Cruiser "Sarah" among others made karaoke on the Canada/New England cruise worth waiting for.
• Jason (comedian) and Po (magician) were great.

Dislikes

• No Spinnakers
•  Agree: "the strong smell of smoke from adjacent Cigar Bar and Casino."
• Agree: "the wine bar was a waste on the Dawn"
• Agree: "We're not huge fans of Moderno"
• Agree: "miss having two methods to get out of the back end of the Garden Cafe"
• JMHO: We did not enjoy the inside buffet at all. Ate there once, didn't enjoy it at all.
• Not enough loungers on deck 7 to just sit, watch the sea go by, read, etc.
• Agree: "the ship takes some getting used to its layout, especially deck 8. It can be like a maze."
• No official announcement of Latitudes Loyalty party. (Most NCL ships now) If you don't visit Cruise Next Desk when you board you won't be informed.
• Platinum members now get 16 oz. instead of 2 liter bottles of water even though the water comes from NCL's own taps.
• I may write a review on other changes that have been increasingly noticeable with NCL. Been cruising with them since 2007 and some changes seem small and unnecessary. Writing my PVP today.

With all that said, a cruise is always what you make it and we always do it the way we want.

 

Happy cruising all!

 

Thank you for the great information! Very helpful!

Thanks for all the great feedback and tips.  This cruise newbie is finding all of this very helpful.

Addressing her perks.

Beautiful ship,  not too big and manageable. Great refurbishment. 

I've heard it works great!  If you have 5 people, the extra person can take the NCL excursion, use the shore excursion credit  and get a day pass, and then meet up with the rest of the group.  However, if your group is late for any reason, only she will definitely be back on the ship because she is with the NCL excursion.