I'm a Carnival Fan - Considering a NCL Dawn cruise

[mpcaruth]

Given the itinerary, my family of 4 is considering booking a NCL Dawn cruise. My son has seen the colorful NCL ships in port and wants to try NCL. We have sailed Carnival's Victory, Legend, Sensation, and Freedom. We have also sailed Royal’s Grandeur of the Seas, which was too geared towards the older crowd for our liking. So, for you folks that have sailed Carnival and NCL, can you help me decide if NCL is right for my family?

 

Things we love about Carnival:

• Movies under the stars (larger ships)

• Almost nightly comedy club

• multiple pools

• my DD loves Camp Carnival

• my son loves waterslides and mini-golf

• late night kids club is a must

• We think Carnival food is very good (much better than Royal). We do not eat at the specialty dinning rooms.

• Cheap fares for 3 & 4th guests

• Large OV rooms (220 s.f. with kids’ beds NOT overtop ours. Couch pulls out with a bunk over couch)

 

So, how does NCL Dawn compare? Besides the Epic, is there another NCL Caribbean-itinerary ship that you recommend? What does the Dawn offer that we will not get on Carnival? Basically, NCL looks fun, but we know we love Carnival…

[ictcruiser]

• Movies under the stars (larger ships)

• Almost nightly comedy club

• multiple pools

• my DD loves Camp Carnival

• my son loves waterslides and mini-golf

• late night kids club is a must

• We think Carnival food is very good (much better than Royal). We do not eat at the specialty dinning rooms.

• Cheap fares for 3 & 4th guests

• Large OV rooms (220 s.f. with kids’ beds NOT overtop ours. Couch pulls out with a bunk over couch)

 

quote]

 

I was one the Dawn in Feb 2009.

 

There is really only one main pool and then a kids "Splash Zone". There is a separate spa / adults only pool; but it is inside and comes with a fee.

 

The Dawn does not have a big waterslide; there are a couple small slides in the Splash Zone.

 

The food is great!

 

All feedback I have ever heard about the Kids Crew is that it is wonderful!

 

I love NCL...but based on what is important to you and your family, I might keep looking. I just don't think the Dawn can fill your "must haves".

[fiftyguy]

Given your description, you might want to look at the NCL Pearl to the Western Caribbean. The ship runs from October 2011 through April 2012. This might favor more of your son's likes. The following is lifted from the Pearl homepage.

 

Second City® comedy troupe, Broadway-style shows, a state-of-the-art fitness center, Nintendo Wii™ on a 2-story screen, waterslides, a climbing wall, bars and lounges of all kinds, pools, hot tubs, kid’s centers, teen discos and more are all on board and included in your cruise fare.

 

I love the Dawn, but it is a little older and doesn't have the bels & whistles of the newer ships.

Happy Planning!

[ree1009]

I hope you dont mind if I jump in. I am also a Carnival fan and am looking at NCL for a future cruise. Does NCL have the nightly shows and how does the "freestyle" crusing work? what "extras" do you have to pay for and about how much are they? I know bowling is like $5pp. Thanks in advance for your answers and I hope this helps the OP as well!

[weltek]

ree1009:

Yes, NCL has nightly shows and they are quite good. Most feature singing and dancing, some acrobatics. The Epic has the most varried entertainment, but current standard shows are: Bollywood, Band on the Run, a magician, a comedy troupe, and a staff farewell show. I'm sure others can give you more details. There is an early and a late show most (every?) nights. In addition, there are other activities every night like special "game shows," dance parties and smaller lounge acts.

 

As for freestyle, there are a few key concepts:

 

1. You just show up in the dining rooms, or any other dining venue (a few have surcharges, but there are plenty of free options including the main dining rooms, room service, buffet and Blue Lagoon "fast table service" restaurant), literally whenever you want during open hours (which are generously long). Most times, there's not a wait (I've NEVER encountered one at breakfast or lunch, only a few times for dinner). If there is, you'll be handed a buzzer that will tell you when a table is open and they'll seat you. You can make reservations in the specialty restaurants, and this is encouraged if you want to make sure you get a seat, as they have limited capacity. Teppenyaki seems to be the only one that is consistently full.

 

2. You can generally wear whatever you want. During dinner, one of the two main dining rooms is designated more "casual" on each ship and you can wear shorts. I believe you can also wear "whatever" in the specialty (fee) restaurants.

 

3. You can disembark at your leisure, and not have to wait for your "group" color code to be announced IF you can carry off your own luggage. This also means you get to keep your luggage in the room the night before! If you want them to take your luggage off the ship, though, you'll need to wait for traditional disembarkation. Your room location will likely have a lot to do with your choice! Elevators are busy on disembarkation day, so deck 10 room will require a long wait for an elevator or a long walk with suitcases on stairs!

 

I think it's becoming more common for the lines to all go to a daily service charge in lieu of tipping at the end, so that's not really a "freestyle" thing. It's $12/pp/day and is automatically added to your account every day. This goes to a shared tip pool and employee incentive program. It doesn't include tips to bar staff, specialty restaurant (fee) staff, spa staff, etc....the people that are "optional" for you to use. They will have a ?15%? tip auto added into the cost for you.

[ddloml]

Given the itinerary, my family of 4 is considering booking a NCL Dawn cruise. My son has seen the colorful NCL ships in port and wants to try NCL. We have sailed Carnival's Victory, Legend, Sensation, and Freedom. We have also sailed Royal’s Grandeur of the Seas, which was too geared towards the older crowd for our liking. So, for you folks that have sailed Carnival and NCL, can you help me decide if NCL is right for my family?

 

Things we love about Carnival:

• Movies under the stars (larger ships)

• Almost nightly comedy club

• multiple pools

• my DD loves Camp Carnival

• my son loves waterslides and mini-golf

• late night kids club is a must

• We think Carnival food is very good (much better than Royal). We do not eat at the specialty dinning rooms.

• Cheap fares for 3 & 4th guests

• Large OV rooms (220 s.f. with kids’ beds NOT overtop ours. Couch pulls out with a bunk over couch)

 

So, how does NCL Dawn compare? Besides the Epic, is there another NCL Caribbean-itinerary ship that you recommend? What does the Dawn offer that we will not get on Carnival? Basically, NCL looks fun, but we know we love Carnival…

 

I liked NCL and the Dawn. My DW prefers Carnival. Think of 'freestyle' as 'anytime dining' on Carnival. I thought that the food was good in the 'free' MDRs on Dawn, but the food quality is better in Carnival MDRs. In the NCL Dawn MDRs, the service was slower and not as attentive. We had different waitstaff for every meal. On our 7 day cruise, we ate dinner in 4 specialty (surcharge) restaurants. Surcharges ranged from $10 (Tex-Mex & Chinese), $20 (Le Bistro (French) - the best restaurant on board!) to $25 (steakhouse). The service and food quality in all of the specialty restaurants on NCL Dawn was top-notch. DW likes Carnival better because of the same MDR service team and assigned (late seating) dining. They get to know her preferences, and she likes to become their friend! The Carnival MDR has Shrimp Cocktail on the menu every night; a must-have item for DW! It wasn't offered as often on NCL Dawn MDRs, although it was a regular item on the steakhouse menu.

 

I think that the Tex-Mex restaurant was replaced with a Brazilian steakhouse-type restaurant since our sailing last year. The free Blue Lagoon restaurant was a nice alternative to the long lines in the buffet, and it was open 23 hrs per day. I liked that one of the MDRs was open for lunch on embarkation day; it made for a relaxing time during the hustle of embarkation.

 

The Dawn had an indoor movie theater, but that has been removed with the recent drydock. They didn't have movies under the stars. They showed the same films on the in-house TV network, so you could watch them in your cabin. The shows were comparable to Carnival. They had a nice Filipino cover band. The Second City comedy troupe performed regularly. They had other club-type entertainment too (magician, juggler, piano bar, karaoke). The production shows were very good - Vegas quality.

 

The balcony cabin we had was smaller than Carnival's, but the bathroom was nicer. The closet space wasn't as efficiently laid out as Carnival's either. I cannot speak to kids' programs for either cruise line. I also don't care too much about swimming pools and roasting in the sun on deck, so I don't want to compare. I did enjoy Carnival's Serenity Deck on our last cruise, because there was some shade to be had. I also enjoyed sitting in the Spinnaker Lounge on NCL Dawn during the day. It had a great view, directly above the bridge, in an air-conditioned environment. Unfortunately, NCL is in the process of relocating the lounge to the aft end of the ship, and I don't believe there are any windows for a great air-conditioned view anymore.

 

Service charges on NCL were $12 pp/day as opposed to Carnival's $10 pp/day. That could add up if you have a big family/group on a longer cruise.

 

All in all, both cruise lines would cater to families very well. They are both more alike than different.

[Tatka]

We were on CCL Miracle and NCL Dawn one months apart so I will try to compare.

 

1) Service was a bit better on NCL

2) Cabins are larger on CCL, with family of 4 on NCL I would book a balcony.. you will not fit in insides.

3) I liked pool areas on Miracle more (there are 3 instead of 1), but on CCL Liberty it was a zoo just like on Dawn and Spirit :).

4) We liked entertainment better on Dawn than on Liberty and Miracle. Especially smaller scale (live music is plenty)

5) Decor is much much nicer on NCL. I still feel dizzy after Carnival color scheme

6) Regular DR food is a wash with more seafood choices on CCL and better meat choices with NCL. Buffets are better on NCL especially for breakfast.

7) TV programming is much better on NCL, but CCL lets you see your ship account.

[mpcaruth]

Thanks so much for all your posts. I really appreciate you taking the time to compare the two. I honestly don't think we could go wrong. We love cruising.

 

I do have a specific question: Do the NCL cruises have a stand-up comedy show? Is it separate from the main nightly entertainment? I really enjoyed having the option of 3 different entertainment choices at night on our last Carnival Freedom cruise (movie, comedy, main theater). This is not a deal breaker, becuase usually during port days we are sooooo tired inthe evenings.

 

Another... I like the corney, as well as enriching, activities the crew organizes during sea days. How do the activities compare to Carnival? I actually enjoyed RCL's better than Carnival (crafts, photography, cooking).

[weltek]

Each night there is a main theatre show (comedy two of the nights I think), and many other options in other venues. For example, the Bollywood main theatre show might be the same night as a smaller improv Second City show and the same night as a jazz band show. Not to mention the every-night small lounge acts (single or paired singers/musicians).

[ree1009]

weltek, thank you so much for your reply. It was very informative! It sounds like NCL will be a great choice. Thanks for taking the time to answer!

[jimswims]

We have sailed on the NCL Dawn (2007) and the next year sailed on the Carnival Miracle (2008). We also are a family of 4. We have preferred NCL over Carnival because we like the freestyle dining and do not mind paying a cover charge for a Specialty restaurant. We also do eat in the main dining room on NCL too. Our dining experience on Carnival was nice but it was a nightly 2.5 hours and we had 3 different Assistant Waiters in one week. They were opening up for the second seating and we were trying to quickly eat our dessert. It was still a good cruise but this dining experience was not wonderful.

 

We sailed in a 2 Bedroom Family Suite on the Dawn. It also had 2 bathrooms, a butler, and lots of wonderful perks. It made for a stress free, relaxed, and fantastic cruise. We also sailed on the Miracle in a suite and we like the room but it did not compare to the suite on the Dawn. The standard cabins on NCL are smaller. I am not sure if you can book a balcony for a family of 4 on the Dawn. I believe that it may be a mini-suite or ocean view for quad occupancy. However, there are some new family suites on the Dawn on Deck 12 that remind me a lot of the Carnival suites. Your family may really enjoy that cabin and all the perk that come with it.

I think that there are more similarities than differences.

[halos]

This person is on their first NCL cruise (in a long while....they did sail NCL once years ago but have since been sailing RCI)

Give this a read~~They are on The Dawn right now

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=29944723&postcount=12