NCL Dawn, Rosie's Cruise 7/10-7/17 Review.

NCL Dawn, R Family Vacations, Rosie O’Donnell’s Gay/Lesbian Family Cruise

7/10 – 7/17/05 , NYC – Halifax – Boston – Provincetown – Martha’s Vineyard – NYC

2 Sea Days, Cabin 10202 (10th Floor, Aft, Balcony, 168 sq feet room, 36 sq ft balcony)

Category BB

 

Background

R Family vacations is a travel company inspired by Rosie O’Donnell that her partner Kelli (wow is she beautiful) Directs with a man named Greg (apologies to Greg for not having his last name, he’s a great great professional travel guy). This was R Family Vacation’s 2nd annual cruise (next year Alaska on NCL Star). The target group is Gays/Lesbians with children, and their families and friends. I mention the background because it will give you context for the cruise. THIS WAS NO WAY THE USUAL cruise, thank God.

 

Ship

Cabin: Another friend and I grabbed a balcony room apiece so I was alone in my room.

Closet space: Very adequate for 2, 4 large shelves inside a large closet, 4 separate drawers, 2 nice pull down pieces within closet, small refrigerator tucked in the same area with a large shelf above it. Was easy to put away my stuff and store all the goodies Rosie and the crew gave out during the trip.

 

Room: Standard NCL balcony double. Bright colors. Nice sea art. Small (very) night stand next to bed. Large (very) mirror above bed. The room looks like the 360 degree pictures you can find online. Balcony doors very nice, easy to lock and open, slide easily. TV is placed on a wall unit that has a top shelf for storing more stuff, in a ½ moon stule. Approx 2’ x 2’ table under the TV wall unit. About a 13” TV.

 

Balcony: two comfortable chairs, small plastic round table. Glass under the railing so view was unobstructed. My cabin was just behind where the larger 11th floor protruding balconies ended

 

Bathroom: (a highlight) Excellent with separate shower and toilet stalls. Shower was great, sink had nice mirror that included a magnifying mirror, though I had to crouch a bit for that. Great hooks on the door and very good lighting. Shower pressure is great with nozzle that was adjustable and a disposer of body soap and shampoo.

 

Dining Rooms and Food:

To be fair, I live in Manhattan and am spoiled with high quality food on a daily basis. For a Manhattanite the food is probably considered just OK, nothing special. But to be fair, and excuse me if this is insulting to non NY’ers, for most people living in places where a night out is to Red Lobster or a chain Italian restaurant, the food is very good. At the specialty restaurants Le Bistro and Cagneys (cover charges) the food is good, even for the more sophisticated foodie. I didn’t go to the premium Sushi restaurant and didn’t hear anyone speak of it in my circle. The food in the main dining rooms (Aqua, Impressions and Venetian) was acceptable. The ambiance for each of these dining rooms is very nice, especially the Venetian in the aft (probably my favorite) with a beautiful panoramic view of the ships wake. I was seated at a table facing the sea shortly after leaving Halifax when a whale decided to show off by leaping and doing a belly-flop - a very special moment, among many on the trip.

 

I found all of the restaurants well designed (except maybe Cagney’s that seemed an afterthough thrown next to the atrium glass elevators). The Garden Café seemed very good for the quick bite, the pizza wasn’t even bad, and you know as a NY’er I got pretty high standards there.

 

Ports

Halifax – pretty and nice. Because it was “Rosie’s” cruise, though her wife Kelli and Greg are the workers behind the star when it comes to the travel planning, etc., we had some very special welcomes. On a crisp beautiful dawn we arrived in Halifax to be greeted by a tug boat that supported a huge baseball cap awning playing children’s “by the sea” type music, tooting its horn and escorting us. There was a beautiful family waving to us from the tug. I confess, it choked me up (as did most of the week – if you ever do this cruise, keep tissues close).

 

Boston – since I’m there often I chose to stay on the ship and take advantage of the incredible little private type indoor pool and 2 great great Jacuzzis in the aft of the 11th deck, part of the gym complex. This hideaway saw me every day for some laps and an amazing, I mean amazing Jacuzzi in a square Jacuzzi with built in chaise seating where you lay down as you bubble up… I think it restored me to sanity, I LOVED THIS SPACE ON THE SHIP.

 

Provincetown – New England’s gay mecca lived up to its name. Extraordinary beauty with great shops along Commercial Street/Ave (whatever). The Gay Bears (hairy men for those out of the loop) were in town and considering I’m one of those it was fun to get “bear/cat called” as we walked around – hey, I’m 50, what do you want from me?

 

Martha’s Vineyard – The surpise jewel of the trip and by far my favorite place. Rented bikes and did a 12 mile trek to Edgartown and back. Out of a Rockwell painting, the weather cooperated, as it did through the week until out last Sea Day when we had a thick rolling fog all day (loved the fog horn, felt like I was in a 40’s movie, Bette Davis, I’ll never forget you! This island is truly special. The beaches great, the people friendly, the houses out of a magazine. Can’t say enough about Martha’s Vineyard. Even got to have one of those rocky/rolly tender rides in which are always fun.

 

Entertainment

You better take a deep breath here. From the Kinsey Sisters, a very talented drag acapello (sp) group to Melissa Etheridge, yes, Melissa Etheridge singing Joplin from the Grammy’s, amongst other toons (Melissa – I’d come to your window any night you’d like!), the entertainment was like being at a Rosie show in its day. Judy Gold gave us no holds barred comedy, a host of Broadway belters brought us extraordinary renditions of favorites, even the basic piano players and the different piano bars were superb. Of course Karioke, with all these Broadway types on board was special – as it was especially when a 3 yr old asked for “Shake my booootie” – with an angelic face and strong difficulty saying booty (another kleenix moment I assure you). The DJ Michael Connelly had people, from 2 yrs old to 90, up, dancing and incredibly happy. No doubt best DJ in the country. (Rosie finds these people!) Sharon Glass, an extraordinarily gracious woman, joined us to chat about her role in Queer As Folk (a pro-gay straight mother of a gay child for those that don’t know). Mario Cantone (Sex/City) floated around the ship. And of course Rosie. This woman is probably the MOST GENEROUS, genuine and true star we have today. Available, honest and deeply spiritual, she is driven by the best of the highest spiritual values. An example: a lesbian couple with two foster children won a contest that awarded them passage on the ship. The older foster child explained her parents were fundamentalist Christians that rejected her when she announced she was a lesbian. The girl started to cry as she told the story (got the Kleenix?). It could have been a very very tough moment had Rosie not done what she did. She pointed to the audience (who were wildly applauding and sending real Christian love – sorry, I’m a Christian and just get so annoyed at how the “right” fundamentalists think they have the rights on God’s love and enlightenment – anyway, Rosie then turned to the family and said, “As long as we do these cruises, your family is on, every year.” Considering because of the cruises growing popularity, I doubt they’re going anywhere. The place erupted from Rosie’s kindness. That’s just one example that doesn’t even include the Volvo agreed to lease free for one year that Rosie pushed them to make 2 (whether staged or not it was brilliant). I worked 18 yrs in the travel industry and trust me folks, this lady is not making money on this cruise but she made sure a host of people who couldn’t normally afford this trip were there and will continue to be there. At at her core Rosie is one brilliant comic, fresher than even. Funny, loving and, ready for this word – perspicacious! That sums up Rosie who, if by some chance reads this. THANK YOU. You and your family have a permanent place in my prayers and heart.

 

Ship Service

The NCL crew couldn’t have been more accommodating. They’ve either had excellent ‘cultural diversity’ training or they’re just seasoned professionals whose individuality has been transcended through their years of service to the cruising community. There were a lot, I mean a lot of great, and some challenged kids on board. From what I saw, every situation was handled beautifully. From dining room to cabin stewards (MINE WERE SUPERB – how many of you have ever had a hanging monkey towel in your room, and a swan, and a bunny, an elephant, a whale, etc? Every night was a joy to go back to my room and see what animal I’d have), the staff, at every level were going the extra mile. It was clear the cruise was special to the staff too and perhaps most poignantly noted when they’d try and pile into the Stardust Theatre to get sneak peaks at the entertainment. You could see crew asking celebrities for pictures, they were genuinely excited to be there. The Capt mentioned that Melissa’s interpretation of Take a Piece of My Heart was the best performance ever given on that stage. Damn, it was probably the best performance I’ve ever seen in 50 years on any stage!

 

A special note to the lesbian/gay families who haven’t yet gone on a Rosie cruise. DO. Not only because it’s a nice vacation. Not only because it’s like being a safe spiritually/lovingly driven environment where you and your kids can grow closer by healing some of the separation you may feel. Not only because you’re going to see entertainment pulled together you’ll probably rarely get to experience with your kids like this again. But because it will renew you, strengthen your family, create new meaningful relationships and bringing extraordinary positive memories for you and your family to look back and remember you were there when… Yes folks, this is a “You were there then” experience.

 

Blessings on the R Family Vacations (http://www.rfamilyvacations.com) team for leaving me incredibly happy and to NCL for having the intelligence to lead in the industry.

 

Forgive me for not editing this piece but I just came home, need to sleep but wanted to hit the keyboard while I’m in the fresh afterglow. (at the casino till 4am – yeah, I lost)

Great review!

 

I was hoping someone would post about the cruise. :D

 

btw- I don't think much of anything needed editing

Great review!

 

I was hoping someone would post about the cruise. :D

 

btw- I don't think much of anything needed editing

 

Thanks very much...

I enjoyed your review. Thanks! I'm jealous though. The entertainment alone sounds to die for!!! :)

Thanks for the great and detailed review. :D I'm glad you had such a wonderful trip.

Were there any interesting programs or lectures on this cruise?

Yes but I'm sorry I didn't keep the Free Style dailies. I know they had doctors who provided information on the latest in fertility (I hope I have this right), Sharon Glass and Rosie answered questions about their episodes together on Queer As Folk and Mario Cantone showed his HBO special and then took questions. There were a lot more but I was on vacation and preferred the jacuzzi... and to rest my mind.

I enjoyed your review. Thanks! I'm jealous though. The entertainment alone sounds to die for!!! :)

 

It's Stu of Judy/Stu... Yes, the entertainment was special. I think you would have loved the environment too - definate trip to remember.

Thanks for a great review

 

 

:)

It's Stu of Judy/Stu... Yes, the entertainment was special. I think you would have loved the environment too - definate trip to remember.

Stu! I didn't recognize your member name. Where have you been hiding??? Now I can go back and reread your review and have a whole new appreciation for it knowing a little bit about you. Thanks again!

Thanks for sharing. I'm sure it was special for all!

Thanks for sharing. I'm sure it was special for all!

WOW!!! What a GREAT REVIEW!!! And what a GREAT CRUISE!!!! Just the entertainment alone sounds FABULOUS!!!

 

You know, my DD babysits for a couple down the street, and one of the Mom's kept saying she was going on the Dawn last week but it was going UP, to New England and Canada, and I kept saying are you sure??? I was just on the Dawn in April and it does DOWN to Florida and the Bahamas! NOW I know what cruise she was on!!!! I am going to have to call the Mom's and ask them ALL ABOUT their cruise!!!

 

It sounds as if your cruise was very special and you will have MANY wonderful memories, do you plan to go on the Star next year? It seems as if "R Family Vacations" and NCL work well together!

 

Thank's again for sharing your cruise with us!!!

 

Suesan:) :) :)