Back from the Dawn - review (and comparison to the Sun)

[bostongal965]

Just back from a week on the Dawn (and suffering from PCD - post-cruise depression!!). This was my third cruise but my first review, so I'll be throwing in some comparisons to the Sun, which is the ship my other two cruises were on.

 

Background Information - this cruise was taken by my husband (47), my two adult children (25, 22), and me (47). It was my husband's and my 3rd cruise, all on NCL, and my children's first. My husband and I stayed in an aft balcony, and my kids stayed in an inside across the hall.

 

 

Cabins - Our two previous cruises on the Sun were in balconies, first an aft, and then a regular. We liked the aft so much we went back to it for this cruise - and very happy we did! On both the Dawn and the Sun, the aft balcony is a little bigger. However, on the Sun, the rail was solid, and tilted away, leaving the top open to the elements (and soot and various bits of trash from the Great Outdoors). No such problem on the Dawn - the rail was clear plexiglass and the roof was covered.

 

While the stateroom itself was smaller on the Dawn, the bathroom was bigger. I liked the shower much better on the Dawn, but I liked the sink better on the Sun - lots of nooks and crannies to store things. The hair dryer on the Dawn was outside in a vanity area - much better than the dryer on the Sun!

 

One thing I missed from the Sun was the desk area - the Dawn had a table, and the vanity area instead. The Dawn had the new flat screen TVs, but they weren't interactive like on the EPIC - way better than the old-school sets on the Sun, though!

 

We had fabulous room stewards on the Sun - we were a little disappointed by our steward on the Dawn. He was very friendly, and left us towel animals every night but the first and last. The cabin was cleaned. However, he wasn't very good at details - we had to ask for robes and a coffeemaker. Once we had the coffee maker, he forgot to leave us coffee til we asked. He left us the coffee, but then forget to leave cups, so we had to get some from the buffet...

 

A question for those of you Latitudes silver and above - are you supposed to get chocolate every night? We got it once, the second night, at the same time as we got our ships pins. Just curious.

 

We also had a problem with the safe the second to last night - we reported it, but it didn't get fixed before we left.

 

Our kids were in an inside across the hall. The room was nice - cozy. I know is was smaller than the inside rooms I glimpsed into on the Sun. It didn't have a couch, but did have a chair, table, and vanity area. The closet and bathroom were nearly the same as the balcony room, and the kids reported that the beds were very comfortable. They also had a problem with the safe on the first night, as well as the toilet. Both were fixed immediately. They also got towel animals every night but the first and last.

 

Next installment - embarkation!

[bostongal965]

When we sailed out of Canaveral, we stayed at the Radisson Resort at the Port, and took advantage of their included parking and shuttle.

 

This time we stayed in a Springhill Suites just outside of Tampa. Nice big room for 4 adults, with 2 queens and a foldout couch. Also had a mini-fridge and microwave. There was an outside pool and jacuzzi, but we didn't use them - it was a little cool for us, but there was a family out there having fun!

 

We drove to Tampa and parked at the port - we prepaid parking, and so that made it extra easy, and walked across the street to the boat!

 

This is where our Latitudes membership really had its privileges. Both times at Canaveral, I didn't see too much of a difference in lines or waiting time. However, there was a big difference here. The first line to get the cards was shorter, and then the way they grouped you to go on was significantly shorter. We were the first group on after the suite passengers.

 

We got on the boat, walked around a little, and then went to the Venetian for lunch - yum!! We took the spa tour and then booked passes for each of us for the week - money very well spent, IMO - I also booked a massage. We got to go to our rooms around 2:00, I think. We had ordered a Bon Voyage package for the kids - they loved the decorations. We ordered both a bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries for our room - unfortunately they were not there yet. We wanted the wine for sailaway - it didn't get there until the evening. The strawberries were there for sailaway, though!

[bostongal965]

I was a little worried that I wouldn't like the Dawn - reviews here had been a little lukewarm, and it didn't have some of the things I really liked about the Sun, namely Las Ramblas, the Great Outdoors, and the Observation Lounge.

 

 

I needn't have worried - we really liked it!! Nice atrium, much bigger than the Sun. The Pearly King's Pub was a great spot - with one of the best bartenders in the entire NCL fleet, "Chips" Ohoy - what a blast. The ship itself is filled with art - loved that! I liked the "Quiet Space" forward for sunbathing (too bad we didn't get a lot of sun) and the "secret" hot tub. I liked the layout better in general - and loved that there were lots of restrooms in the public spaces - I had trouble finding them on the Sun. The biggest difference I thought was in the buffet area. I had read a lot of complaints about the layout of the buffet on the Sun. I could never understand until I saw the buffet on the Dawn - it was laid out SO much better!

 

On the downside: the pool area was on the small side, though, and very slippery. Our two rooms were above the Spinnaker Lounge, and the music was loud, not just thumping bass, but loud enough to hear the words to sing along - luckily for us, we are night owls and sound sleepers, so it didn't bother us too much. I also didn't like how Blue Lagoon and Moderno overlooked the atrium - when someone was playing in the atrium, it overwhelmed the space in the restaurants.

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the review!

[bostongal965]

Thanks, KirkNC - and there's more! :D

 

Food is definitely subjective, but overall we found the food to be good to great. The service was fine - friendly, but not intrusive. We ate in Venetian at least once for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We also ate in Aqua once for dinner (best MDR service that night). We did the buffet several times - more on this ship than the Sun, not sure why. Lots of choices!

 

I was excited about being on a ship with the Blue Lagoon - the Sun has the Sports Bar with a similar menu, but it isn't open 24 hours. Outside of the wonderful wings, though, I didn't care for the food too much. Breakfast is served in the Blue Lagoon - it was decent, but the menu is more limited than the MDR.

 

We ate at two specialty restaurants, Le Bistro and Moderno. Both were favorites on the Sun. Le Bistro exceeded our expectations and then some. However, Moderno was a disappointment - probably the biggest of the trip. We loved the restaurant on the Sun, and had some our best food and service there. I don't know if they were training the servers, but a couple didn't seem to know what they were doing. They didn't ask for drink orders. Food was dropped on my husband and son. Plates were left sitting on the table for too long, and some of the meat seemed a little undercooked (and we are medium rare type of people). The worst part was that the restaurant overlooks the atrium, and we were dining at the same time that Patti & Jose were doing their Neil Diamond tribute. Now, I know people here rave about them, but they aren't really my cup of tea. Hearing Jose drone on about each song before he played it was a mood killer. My recommendation is you check to see what's going on in the atrium before you make your reservation. I seriously considered asking for my money back, but we did eat. The salad bar and garlic potatoes were very good, as were several of the meat selections (the lamb was great). I read a review from someone who went Friday, and they loved it - maybe we just hit a bad time. I would absolutely give it another shot, just not when there is entertainment in the atrium.

 

As far as entertainment goes, we saw Second City, Bollywood, Band on the Run, and Arte Diem. Second City was great - very funny. Bollywood and Arte Diem had a lot of the "cirque" type acrobatics - some truly breath taking moves. Band of the Run was our least favorite, but still good (probably would've liked it more if we saw it first - it paled by comparison to Bollywood).

[bostongal965]

We took the spa tour the first day, and booked passes for the week. Money very spent, IMHO, especially considering it was cloudy and/or rainy for the first half of the trip. The Sun has a steam room and sauna that can be used for free, so I was a little reluctant to buy the passes until I saw the space.

 

The passes were $119 each for the week - I realized that you aren't paying for access as much as you are paying exclusivity. They only sell 100 passes, 50 male and 50 female, for the week. This area was never crowded like pool area, and it was adult only. In addition to the steam area and sauna, there were loungers that overlooked the wake. There was a thalassotherapy pool, which was like a jacuzzi you could lie down in...heavenly. There was a heated lap pool (very nice, since the main pool stayed pretty chilly throughout the week) and a regular hot tub (without kids or drunks sitting in it :p). There was also tea, juice, and ice water available.

 

I did get a hot stone massage, which was very nice. The salon attendant was very good, though while she was a great sales person from NCL's POV, she was a little pushy from a client's POV.

[bostongal965]

We did the Western Caribbean itinerary of Roatan, Belize, Costa Maya, and Cozumel. The weather conspired against though, and we only had one really sunny day.

 

We went ashore for awhile in Roatan, but didn't do an excursion as it was pouring down rain. The tourist village is very small and there wasn't a lot to do in Coxen Hole. This was a first time port for us, and we were thinking of the beach until we saw the weather. Luckily we had the spa passes!!

 

We had done caving tubing in Belize before, but the kids didn't want to spend the whole day on an excursion. So we tendered into Belize, shopped in the tourist village, and had lunch at the Wet Lizard. We tried the infamous Belikin Beer! The tendering process back was an arduous one. Unfortunately a woman fell (not sure if she slipped or fainted - hope she is ok), and it took some time for medical help to arrive. Then, halfway to the ship, an engine blew, and we slowed to a crawl. We were on the tender about an hour - unpleasant, to be sure.

 

First time in Costa Maya - it was awesome - beautiful day. The tourist village is really cool - it even has its own pool with a swim up bar. We took a private excursion to the Chacchoben ruins - amazing. We went with Native Choice - strong recommend. They did an excellent job. We were in a group of 10, and we went in a nice air conditioned van. Our guide, Frine, told us a lot about the history of the area. When we got to the ruins, she took our group away from the other groups so we got to see some of the areas without a lot of other groups around. They also provided us with bottled water, which was a very nice touch.

 

We were excited to go back to Cozumel, and we were planning to go to the beach, but Cozumel turned out to be a tender port, so we opted to stay on the ship. Good thing, too, because the tendering process was problematic that day as well. It was close to 1:00 before it was opened up to at leisure tendering. People were not happy, but it was out of NCL's control (as were the tendering issues in Belize).

[bostongal965]

We did the walk off disembarkation - easy peasy. Not much to say, lol :p

 

Overall, it was a great trip. Minor issues were generally fixed or didn't matter. Some things, like the weather or tendering, can't be helped, so I don't let them bother me too much (after all, I'm on a CRUISE :D). I think I created two more cruising addicts - both of my kids are talking about taking another one!

 

Any questions???

[HokiePoq]

Thanks for the review! Lots of helpful info.

[sunnywithachance]

Thanks for the review. Did you happen to see the wine package offered, if any?

[fsdorado]

We're excited to read your review!! We just booked the same cruise for next Thanksgiving in an aft balcony on deck 9. It will be our first time on NCL. Is there anything we shouldn't miss?

[LAFFNVEGAS]

Thanks for your review bostongal, of course you boarded as I disembarked :) It is funny how people have different experiences that is why it is always important to always go with an open mind because what happens with one person is not always the same for another.

I totally agree with you on Le Bistro, it was great, service was wonderful and I really think the food in Le Bistro is some of the best on the high seas. Now we went to Moderno on Saturday night of our cruise and yes Patti and Jose were performing in the atrium and oddly that was one of the really good things we liked was basically having a dinner and a show :D Our Moderno experience was excellent, meats were prepared perfectly and loved the salad bar.

We too had problems with tendering in Belize but nothing to the extent you had, general tendering started about 10:30 and we got on one of the boats that was big to head over. They claim it is 5 miles out that they have to tender, so kind of a pain. I said the boat ride was an excursion in itself.

To bad you had a rainy day in Roatan, ours was cloudy till late afternoon but at least no rain. Roatan is stunning when the sun is shining. And really too bad about having to tender in Cozumel we were docked near downtown with the Star. I think that on some weeks there are just not enough piers so they draw straws, next week it will be another ship that has to tender.

Thanks again, you reminded me how much we really loved our cruise on the Dawn :)

[BlueLadyBlue]

Thanks Bostongal. We are booked for our first NCL cruise in March on the Star out of NOLA in an aft balcony - first time in an aft. The same ports that you stopped at and we booked the Native Choice in Costa Maya as well so glad to hear you enjoyed them.

[cndycruiser]

I am going on the Sun this January and am super excited about the Great Outdoors Rest. and the Observation Lounge too. It is my fifth cruise with NCL, my last being last year on the Star, so I enjoyed your review. You mentioned that the Sports Bar is not open 24 hours a day, but is it open most of the day and night, til at least 11 p.m.? Any other tips or secret places on the Sun you could tell me about!

 

Thanks!

[bostongal965]

To answer some questions:

 

sunnywithachance - there was a wine package, 20% off 6-8 bottles of wine from a special list. I didn't see the list though, so not much help there. They had a red and white "wine of the day" but I'm not sure how they were discounted. They also offered 20% of martinis in the Star Bar for about an hour or so each evening, and towards the end of the week they were having some 2-for-1 specials on single liquor drinks. They also had the "buy 5, 6th is free" bucket of beers special.

 

fsdorado - enjoy that aft balcony!! The smell in the morning while the bakery is cooking is scrumptious...mmm. Not sure what you like, so not sure what you shouldn't miss - if you like sports bars, definitely go by the Pearly Kings and and see if "Chips" Ohoy is there (he's been with NCL for over ten years, but I'm not sure how often he changes ships). If he's there, you'll know - he's so fun. He was doing bar tricks and telling jokes - a blast. If you like coffee/espresso, definitely treat yourself to some from the Java Cafe. Go to a specialty restaurant or two - while I'm generally happy with the MDR's food and service, the specialty restaurants are (normally, lol) a cut above. Bollywood and Arte Diem were amazing shows. If you're a fan of hot tubs, go up to deck 13, past the Bimini grill, and find the "secret hot tub" - it's not so much of a secret, but it's bigger and not used as much as the ones on the main pool deck.

 

LAFFNVEGAS - I was following your day by day until I boarded! So fun. Le Bistro is just amazing. My mouth is watering just thinking of it! As far as Moderno goes, part of my disappointment was due to how pleased I had been in the past. Maybe if someone different were playing in the atrium or Patti & Jose were doing a different kind of show (seriously, that man can talk talk TALK about Neil Diamond - yikes), we would've enjoyed it more. I'm thinking it was an aberration, too, based on other reviews of the restaurant from the same trip.

 

The Belize tendering was just bad luck - my husband and I wouldn't even have gone over if the kids weren't with us. They had never been, so off we went. We had just boarded the tender when the woman had her accident, so we were sitting inside while the medical people were doing their thing. Then they continued boarding before they took off. My son had moved to the front because it was so hot without ventilation, and he saw the engine catch on fire - all we knew was that we slowed to a crawl. I know it's Belize's laws and not NCL that require the use of Belizean tenders - also things happen. All in all, I would rather be stuck on a hot tender than requiring medical attention. I hope that woman is ok.

 

I knew there was possibility of tendering in Cozumel - seven ships and six slots. Unfortunately the wind and water weren't cooperating, so the tendering slowed to a crawl. We were glad we made other plans for our day (like enjoying a relatively uncrowded pool deck - nice!!).

 

I did love my cruise! I wish I were still on board (I'd even watch Patti & Jose do their Neil Diamond show ;)).

 

BlueLadyBlue - Native Choice was so good - it was my first private excursion, so I was a little nervous. I had heard about them here, and also checked Trip Advisor. Very pleased with their service! Enjoy the aft - this was our second.

 

cndycruiser - the Sports Bar is open 5:30 PM to 5:30 AM. The menu is similar to the Blue Lagoon (but no breakfast). The wings are great! If you like soft serve ice cream, you can get it from the right hand side of the Great Outdoors (as you are looking at it - the side closer to the Sports Bar). It's kind of hidden. You can use the steam and sauna for free on the Sun. If you like sangria, the sangria in Las Ramblas is really good - you can also get chips and salsa in there, as well as tapas.

 

The Sports Bar has popcorn - as does the Pearly King's on the Dawn. I forgot to mention, we ordered pizza one night in the Pearly Kings - it was good. Better than Little Caesar's and on par with Domino's or Papa John's. It's not the same pizza that you find on the buffet.

[2boyzmom]

Hi- thank you for the review and comparison. We have been on the Dawn a few times and am now going on the Sun in a few months so I enjoyed your comparison. It sounds like the Sun still has the old TVs and hairdyers. Geez. You think they would have upgraded those by now. I loved the Dawn but also missed the great outdoors and observation area that is also on the Jewel. Overall, did you prefer one over the other? How is the showrtoom size and seating on the Sun? We will be in a suite so I think there is reserved seats which makes it nice...

[bostongal965]

2boyzmom - I don't think I could choose between the two! I loved them both, but for different reasons. The Sun is smaller, but special :)

 

I was on the Sun in January of this year, and they still had the old hair dryers and TVs in the balcony cabins. I think they might have the new flat screens in the suites, though - thought I might've read that here.

 

I liked the theater on the Sun better - it had more balcony seating, it seemed, and it had cocktail tables in the front, which I liked. Not sure how it's overall size compared, but I'm pretty sure there was reserved seating for suites. I liked the NCL production shows better on the Dawn, but I liked the variety of outside acts on the Sun.

[bostongal965]

Something else I really liked about the Sun was the Sports Bar - I liked being able to catch a bite and a game in the same place. As much I enjoyed watching football in the Pearly King's on the Dawn, I missed being able to nosh on those great wings at the same time!!

[mafig]

2boyzmom

 

I was on the Sun in January of this year, and they still had the old hair dryers and TVs in the balcony cabins. I think they might have the new flat screens in the suites, though - thought I might've read that here.

 

 

 

Anyone know if they've upgraded the TVs in the mini suites?