Dawn Advice please !

[madams77]

Were were on the Dawn last month and had ice cream twice at "Sprinkles Ice Cream", Deck 12 Mid, 12pm - 5pm. It was at the end of one of the Garden Cafe buffet stations and was not self-serve, thankfully! It was soft-serve ice cream, vanilla, twist (vanilla/chocolate mixed), and chocolate. There was a choice of either an ice cream dish or a cone. Toppings I remember were mixed sprinkles, gummy bears, and chocolate sauce. There was another topping, but I don't know if it was caramel or butterscotch! It melted faster in the dish vs the cone!

 

I almost always asked for a side of ice cream with my desserts at dinner (both Main Dining Room and the speciality restaurants). It was scooped ice cream and not soft-serve. My bf also had sherbert several times for his dessert choice.

[dexddd]

Not the gummy bears again! Our son loved those on the Sun last June and we just got off DCL Dream - no gummy bears for him that trip but we are going on Dawn in 2012 so he can have them again let's hope (or maybe not hope).

[disneysteve]

I wonder why people in their right mind would give a cruise a negative review.

I've been on 4 cruises, so I'm not completely new to the experience but I'm no veteran either. That said, our last cruise, which happened to be on Dawn, was the worst of the 4. I posted a review when we got back (in July) and did have a number of negative things to say. Why would I post a negative review? I didn't set out to create a negative review or a positive review for that matter. I did want to give an honest review. In this case, that happened to include a number of things that I think could have been better. It also included a number of things that didn't stack up well when compared to our 3 previous cruises, which is the only point of reference I had to make any type of comparison. Overall, we had a good time as even a mediocre cruise is better than a week of work :p but we just found some things lacking.

 

As for soft serve, that was one of the things that disappointed us on Dawn. On our prior cruises (all on Carnival), the soft serve machine was self-serve and open 24/7. On Dawn, it only operated during limited hours, wasn't open late in the evening (like after the show) and sometimes was not self-serve but rather staffed by an employee who wasn't particularly generous with the servings. There was an ice cream counter service place but it was never open when we wanted ice cream so I don't know how good it was.

[phantomII]

Are there refrigerators in the balcony cabins? Looking at the pictures and floor plans I can't tell.

[angeljt]

Are there refrigerators in the balcony cabins? Looking at the pictures and floor plans I can't tell.

Our friends were in a balcony cabin and they had a fridge.

They had regular ice cream by the pool. Three different flavors every day. I believe I had peach one day and chocolate another.

[disneysteve]

Are there refrigerators in the balcony cabins? Looking at the pictures and floor plans I can't tell.

Yes, we had a minbar fridge in our balcony cabins.

[vols_159]

Thanks guys - certainly more positive than negative ! In talking about "scaling down" I was purely referring to size, which you have to when you talk about the Epic !.....I have no doubt that this ship will give us just a great an experience !

 

I'm particularly heartened to see that people who have done both prefer the Dawn.

 

As a Brit (oh yes) can I ask someone to confirm the mid-term break dates so that I can avoid them please ?

 

I would avoid the 1st 2 weeks in march.. that seems to be the annual spring break i went the 3rd week this yr March 19th and didnt expercience alot of college spring breakers..mostly teaches in elementary school

[davesgirl51]

Well we've gone and done it !! - Southern Caribbean on 5th Feb 2012 !!

 

If we hate it then it's all of your faults !!!! (just kidding - we can't wait !!)

 

Should be perfect for you !! Have a wonderful time. The Dawn is lovely and will have had her time in drydock :)

[davesgirl51]

Looking for "great" and the cost of "good" for a late fall sailing between Quebec City and Tampa October 2012. We were looking at a balcony cabin, but realized the time of year was not a great opportunity to use the balcony a whole lot..so decided to look at unobstructed ocean view.

(we won't save any money..we'll just spend it elswhere). I can't find any reviews on this type of cabin..I find the odd comment with regard to either a picture window or a porthole... if anyone has any help for us, it would be much appreciated.

 

Most of the OVs are below deck 7. A porthole is just that a hole, a picture window is probably 3x4 feet. I would seriously opt for a fwd BD on deck 8 starboard noting carefully its location to the Stardust Theater on deck 7 below. This can be accomplished by noting the location of the elevators.

 

You can also google the cabin number.

 

Good luck and enjoy. The Dawn is a lovely ship and your itinerary should be delightful especially if you are a history buff. :)