cruisingnewb24

Just got off of the Dawn. The Suites Only breakfast and lunch are available in Moderno, then Cagneys for overflow. Its NOT Moderno for breakfast and Cagneys for lunch. They fill up Moderno first, then overflow into Cagneys. However, the embarkation lunch for Suite Guests IS Cagenys. Very good meals for breakfast AND lunch, but the menus do not change daily, or at all for that matter.

We just got off of the Dawn on a 10 day Baltic cruise. The wind is a factor no matter where your cabin is. You can't control weather. A high ranking officer told me that the Dawn was one of the first of its class and its sister ships accommodate wind much better because of what they learned with the Dawn. On a port intensive itinerary, we did not miss a balcony AT ALL. We never had a suite without balcony, but this cruise, we saved a ton of money opting for the no balcony family suite. It was the right move for us. The forward facing suite balconies, from what we could see from our neighbors, were above water, but the wind factor and the wind tunnels created by opening the balcony doors were pretty bad. We noticed it when we walked by rooms with open balcony doors. Deck 12 balconies were big.

Just got home from 10 day Dawn Baltic cruise. In general, we had a good time. I will answer some of your questions: 1. Free at Sea Plus - We opted out because we had 1 sea day and the itinerary was port extensive. Having said that, you should be aware that a 7am to 9pm port day will not mean 14 hours of free time. On Board time is anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour before the ship leaves. I did not feel any need to do the Free at Sea Plus upgrade. We did additional upgraded dining, but the alcohol selection with the regular Free at Sea was good enough. The internet is not good and the Plus internet will not be much better. Opt in to your cellular network provider for international wifi or get a Wifi egg. 2. Ports in Europe - I don't know what ports you are traveling to, but most of the ports we were at were not really the "find a bar and relax" types of ports. They were heavily industrial ports and you really need to book shuttles or exclusion transportation to get to the cities. We NEVER book excusrions through Royal Carribean or Carnival, but we really enjoyed the "on you own" excursions through NCL. 3. Cabin - we opted for a Family Suite. It was big enough for 4 of us and had just the right amount of amenities. A big Bath Tub was a huge selling point. You will feel the ship move no matter where your cabin is. Dawn is a small ship. 4. NCL Airfare - Booking Airfare through NCL will not allow you more than 2 days in the cities of embarkation and debarkation. We opted out so that we could stay in Oslo 4 days and London 5 days. It ended up being cheaper. Overall, the Dawn is a small and capable ship. The free dining was subpar, except for Osheehans. The paid dining was excellent. The service was great as a Suite Guest. If you find the right bartender, you will not miss the top shelf stuff. My fav bartender was heavy handed in pouring and often times gave me upgrades.