jimswims

Here's a link to our Dubrovnik pictures

 

https://markandkareneurope2013.shutterfly.com/pictures/317

These are great pictures. Thank you for sharing them. Looking forward to being there in August.

This is great! I am taking notes and I love your pictures. I am looking forward to reading more as we will be on the Spirit on 7/29 for the 11 day cruise. This will be our 3rd time on the Spirit as it is one of our favorite ships.

We have been in a balcony cabin on deck 10 on the Pearl, 10668 or 10168 aft, with our kids, a party of 4 just like you. Our kids, a boy and a girl are a bit older. The pull down and the couch do block easy access to the balcony. We made it work. We used the balcony a lot as we were in Alaska. We really enjoyed the cabin even though the space was a bit tight.

We have also stayed in the SC suites on deck 11 on the Gem. We love those suites as the 2 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms are ideal.

Fantastic video. Thank you for sharing it. Glacier Bay is one of my favorite places. There is something special about it. We were there 6 years ago on the Pearl. Our balcony was on the aft, Deck 10 and it was a spectacular view and felt like we could almost reach out and touch Margerie Glacier.

I thought Bamboo was gone as it isn't listed as a restaurant I can make reservations for. Glad it is still on board.

Hi there Cubechick! I think that you got your answer but I understand that Bamboo is now part of the complimentary dining choices. I just wanted to say hi. I see you are going on the Dawn repo. I doubt I have to say this but please take pictures:). We will be on the Dawn again next August. It will be our first cruise in 5 years:eek:.

Hope you are well and hope to see you on a ship soon.

Your assessment is correct. The balcony is big enough for two loungers and there is some extra shade depending on the direction of the sun. I love big balconies but do like the extra space inside if the weather is crumby. We have always gone deck 10 and either 10000 or 10500.

Happy sailing!

Thank you for the info. Since you have been in the suite you would know:D. I think we will be very happy in this suite.

On the NCL website, it says you get all 5 perks free if you book a "suite" or "The Haven". Would a mini-suite be considered a "suite" and entitlement to all 5 perks? or is it another type of suite that I'm not aware of? Very confusing. Thanks for any help.

In addition to what others have already said regarding mini-suites there is no Haven on the Sky, Spirit, Sun, Dawn, Star and Pride of America. Also, on the ships that do have the Haven, there are suites that do not have Haven access but still have other perks as part of booking a suite. The designation of "S" in the category when booking helps clarify this. I hope that I explained this OK.

I was just researching this same question but the SE is just for my wife and I. We decided on 10500 but was debating on 9000 or 9500. My wife wants a little shade and it appears that 10500 and 10000 offers this. It still looks like there is plenty of room on the balcony of 10500 for two loungers. Also, we are cruising in the summer so the extra inside air conditioned space may be a good idea.

Thank you, Jim. I was worried about that being the case. I have been on the Jewel twice and Dawn once. I much preferred the Jewel. I jokingly called the Dawn Jewel-lite. Not quite up to the same standard.

 

I just got off the phone with NCL and they have not uploaded the redeployed ships' schedules... I may dig around and find something else. Or we might move our Jade trip up a year as NCL offered.

 

I appreciate your taking the time to help.

Haha! I think the Jewel-lite is an accurate description in my opinion. I think it would be really fine/nice if I had not experienced the Pearl and the Gem thermal suites first.

I do like the Dawn but I prefer the Jewel-class ships. I have yet to go on the newer ships but I will get there some day.

Enjoy your search for your replacement cruise! I hope you can find something that works well.

I have been on the Dawn 3 times but have not been on her since 2012 (going on her again next summer). The suite breakfast and lunch was always in Cagney's.

Here are my thoughts on the Thermal Spa on the Dawn. I have not been on the Jade but I have been on the Pearl and the Gem. The thermal suites were excellent on these ships. The tiled, heated loungers, jetted pool, hot tub, and men's area was far superior on the Gem and the Pearl compared to the Dawn. I toured the spa on the Dawn but did not purchase the thermal pass. The Dawn did not have the big jetted pool and did not have the heated loungers. It does have a lap pool (still very small if you are someone who usually swims laps in a pool on at home) and I think also had a hot tub. The men's area was quite a bit smaller as well. To me, the thermal suite on the Dawn was OK but no comparison to the Pearl and Gem's. I did not bother with the thermal pass on the Dawn. It is still nice however.

Thanks for a great review. We live close to the port of Boston and really like to make the quick ride and hop on the ship. We have been on the Dawn a few times now. We will be on her again next summer. We are looking forward to returning to Bermuda and being on the Dawn again.

They did. I saw the "meet-up." When last I looked, the BA was docking, and the Summit was on the horizon.

That reminds me of 2009 when the Spirit did Boston to Bermuda and the Dawn did NYC to Bermuda. We left on Wed. morning, very early, as the Dawn was coming in doing this same "meet-up". The good old days :)

We also have found several in the shops at the Clock Tower Mall. We also collect ornaments from every ship and every port.

Curious, where is the Dawn?

The Dawn is in Bermuda. It leaves out of Boston.

We just got word that we won't be leaving until Wed. No one here knows why. I'm just curious. I'd be perfectly happy if they told me I could never leave.

Wow! I would feel the same way if they told me that too. Hope all is well and that you are enjoying the Dawn and Bermuda.

Thanks for the updates!

Glad you are having a great time. I do not go back on the Dawn until next August so I enjoy hearing about your cruise!

I love Horseshoe Bay! Looking forward to hearing about it.

Since NCL just changed the departure time to 3pm from the 5pm original time, I wonder if all those people just didn't know. I'm sure it was in the daily but this kind of change should be something that gets announced over the PA several times and then maybe also on a separate sheet of paper delivered to your stateroom.

 

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In addition to potential announcements and papers I know that in previous cruises there was a sign that is pretty hard to miss that says what time to be back on-board. I used to see it when leaving the ship going through and scanning the card at security. This has been true even on the Bermuda cruises that I have been on even though we are in port multiple days.

Haha! That is a great story. Thank you for sharing it. I always go down the slides on ships! My kids are not amused but I still do it. Now you have another excuse to go back on the Getaway and to do it again without the shirt.

Thanks for taking the time to write and post your review.

We have been to Bermuda a lot out of Boston and also out of NYC. We also like to cruise in suites and have our kids with us. They are almost 21 and 18 so I guess "kids" is a bit misleading. We have not booked a suite in the Haven yet. We sail in peak time when lots of families also are on-board. We were debating on the Breakaway for next summer since we have not been on her yet. Ultimately, we decided that we would book a nice suite on the Dawn again. After reading your experience in the Haven I am really glad that we booked the Dawn.

We were in 10668 on the Pearl to Alaska in 2010. This cabin is right next to 10168 on the Pearl. It is a Jewel class ship so I am assuming that the Pearl and Jewel will be the same. The only other cabins on deck 10 aft were suites. My wife and I and our 2 kids (teenagers) all stayed in this cabin. The balcony is awesome! Lots of room, a bit sheltered from the weather and wind.

The couch converts to a bed and the pullman comes down from the ceiling. The bed from the ceiling and the couch block the access to the balcony. You can climb over and under to get to the balcony so it is not impossible. It is a tight space for 4 but we made it work just fine.

There were 2 lounge chairs, 2 standard chairs, and a small table on the balcony. My in-laws, 2 other adult relatives, and the 4 of us (total 8, 6 adults and 2 teens) were on the balcony and were able to enjoy Glacier Bay just fine.

We loved the cabin for the balcony and thought it was the perfect balcony cabin to see Alaska. My in-laws had a balcony cabin, port side on deck 10. We spent most of our time on our balcony, especially the day we went to Glacier Bay.

I have been on the Dawn three times (last in 2012) and on the Gem once (2011). I like both ships. I prefer the Gem for a few reasons.

I like the Great Outdoors, a dining/sitting open air area at the aft of the ship past the buffet. I like the pool area on the Gem as well. There is an adult only pool and another pool with a slide for kids and everyone. I thought the the pool area was better on the Gem in general although I am now used to the stadium seating style on the Dawn. This is not on the Gem.

I like the Bliss lounge on the Gem with the bowling ally.

I think the flow of the atrium and the reception area is better. It seems to be laid out better in my opinion.

The spa is amazing on the Gem. It faces forward and has amazing views. The men's area has a much better layout and there are tiled, heated loungers in the common area. The jetted pool area is also much better on the Gem.

We were in suites on both ships and the cabins were great on both. I am going to look back at my reviews to see if anything else comes to mind.

Lovely to "see" you Jim! Glad you are going to be cruising again, and goodness knows Boston to Bermuda is always a good one! Currently we have the Dawn repo in October 2016 booked, but I will keep your cruise in mind!

The repo sounds great as well. My wife's work schedule does not allow us to cruise off peak so we miss out on all the great ones that you do.

Today, I am helping my friends book their Alaska cruise for next year. I thank you in advance since I will be walking them through both of your Alaska cruise reviews.

Take care and hope we will be on a ship together soon.

As much as we'd like to see Alaska I can't see traveling from NJ for a seven day cruise. I know I can do a B2B but that's pretty much seeing the same things. One of the things we like most about cruising is the single unpack and pack. At the end of seven days wouldn't like to traipse on a train and hotels with cruise type luggage

I understand your point. We live less than 30 minutes from the port of Boston and also drive to NYC so most of our cruises have been easy drives. We spent 4 days in Seattle pre-cruise when we went on the Pearl to Alaska. We did not even rent a car. Seattle was easy to navigate on foot for us. We also had our kids with us. As far as luggage, we had our pre-cruise luggage (small bags with what we needed) and our larger suitcases for the cruise. It worked out better than I thought it would.

I apologize if I took this thread off topic. I just wanted to respond.

Did Spirit out of New York, Pearl out of Miami, Wanted to see Alaska this time :D:D:D

 

Hope to go out of Manhattan again next year:D

We were on the Spirit with you way back in 2006! Enjoy the Pearl and Alaska. The Pearl is an awesome ship and Alaska was our favorite cruise to date:D

I often get a soda water with lime. Sometimes it comes as soda water, sometimes tonic water though. I have even have a bit of cranberry juice (or other juice) added to change it up a bit.

Enjoy your cruise!