Dawn Garden Villa review 1/6/13

[CapeCodMama1976]

Thanks again! I checked out #43! Very cool. We opted for a family suite without balcony because of the 3 year old. I just felt much better not having to worry about him. Instead of the balcony we have a wall of windows so still nice and bright wih plenty of room ;-) love all your pictures, I am getting so excited

[cherylroslyn]

Thanks again! I checked out #43! Very cool. We opted for a family suite without balcony because of the 3 year old. I just felt much better not having to worry about him. Instead of the balcony we have a wall of windows so still nice and bright wih plenty of room ;-) love all your pictures, I am getting so excited

I'm in an SJ the week after you as well....

 

 

Its no GV...but I'm pretty excited, I am taking my mom as a present for her birthday which is today!!!!!

[mom2tcdx2]

Love looking at the photo's of the GV, I personally know it will never be within my budget no matter what time of year I could sail. Though a little sad to see some of the really neat cabins that I just can't afford.

[Atlanta07]

Quick ? for you - do you remember the room numbers for each of the rooms within 14500? For instance - I believe the cabin number for the 3rd room that has the patio door is 14506...can you confirm this? Also - any idea what the other two cabin numbers are? We just want to be prepared so we know what rooms we will be assigned when we get to the port without any confusion. :) Thanks!

[ksimpso3]

14000-master by living room

14002-middle room

14006-back room with sliders to patio

We never told anyone which room we were in because we wanted to wait until we got in it to choose. I personally think 14006 was the best room (my 20-something daughters got it:(). Next time it's mine!!:D

[Atlanta07]

Thanks again! :) You can see I was on a mission with this question. Last time we were in 14500 - this time we are choosing 14506.

[bob brown]

Thanks for your great review and photo's....I missed it when you first posted it, so glad it was 'bumped'....

I believe you were trying to choose between the Gem and the Breakaway for your next cruise...

I assume you're aware the Gem is the last ship offering GV's...what do you think about them not offering them on the newest ships?

Kind of surprising, considering the larger size, and variety of other cabins available....I suppose they had a hard time selling the GV's at times, and could not discount them too much to fill them.....

Edited April 7, 2013 by bob brown

[ksimpso3]

Thanks again! :) You can see I was on a mission with this question. Last time we were in 14500 - this time we are choosing 14506.

We put our daughters in 14006 for 2 reasons:

1: they are in their 20s and we knew they would meet others and probably bring them back to hang out in hottub and garden area late at night..figured it made most sense to put them in that room

2: my sister and mother were sharing a room and my sister won't share a bed, so she wanted middle room with pull out sofa

 

Well, they did bring people back to the villa, but decided to go to upper balcony so as not to "bother" anyone! Let me tell you....it is very loud at night if people are walking up there!! And, as I made a video of the villa, I found that the back bedroom is very sound proof as the music playing out of the balcony couldn't be heard in that room until the sliding door was opened. I learned my lesson and will definitely take that room if we are ever in the villa again!!

 

Each one of us had a separate account for billing and it wasn't an issue. Have a great trip!:)

[ksimpso3]

Thanks for your great review and photo's....I missed it when you first posted it, so glad it was 'bumped'....

I believe you were trying to choose between the Gem and the Breakaway for your next cruise...

I assume you're aware the Gem is the last ship offering GV's...what do you think about them not offering them on the newest ships?

Kind of surprising, considering the larger size, and variety of other cabins available....I suppose they had a hard time selling the GV's at times, and could not discount them too much to fill them.....

I am aware the newer ships don't have the garden villas, and am kind of surprised also, but they do take up a lot of "real estate" on the ship. NCL probably makes the same, if not more, money on separate suites over a villa, but I am kind of sad. I would like to try the other ships, but coming from a garden villa to smaller suites will be hard. I am going on the Carnival Glory in July with girl friends, and am very nervous about it!! I booked a corner aft balcony room so I have a little bit of outside space, but it's no villa;)

[bob brown]

I am aware the newer ships don't have the garden villas, and am kind of surprised also, but they do take up a lot of "real estate" on the ship. NCL probably makes the same, if not more, money on separate suites over a villa, but I am kind of sad. I would like to try the other ships, but coming from a garden villa to smaller suites will be hard. I am going on the Carnival Glory in July with girl friends, and am very nervous about it!! I booked a corner aft balcony room so I have a little bit of outside space, but it's no villa;)

"Real Estate", indeed! I was looking at the Breakaway's deck plan, and see that even if you booked a Haven Deluxe Owne's Suite with Large Balcony, along with the connecting Haven Courtyard Penthouse with Balcony...the combined square footage would still be less than a quarter of that of the Dawn's Garden Villa's.

The GV's are by far the largest suites at sea. Twice that even of the Duplex Suites on the QM2. And as was pointed out, the two GV's do have a slight variation--one a wet bar, the other a galley, so they would complement each other if someone booked both of them together.

Now that's what I would call 'real estate'.;):D

[francina]

I really loved your review and pictures.

[ksimpso3]

I really loved your review and pictures.

Thanks.:)

[cruiseclues]

Enjoyed your review and all those photos and info of your Garden Villa. :):)

[ksimpso3]

Enjoyed your review and all those photos and info of your Garden Villa. :):)

Thanks. I see you were on the Carnival Glory in Feb. How was it? I am going on her in July. I am a little hesitant because my only other cruise on Carnival (in 1988) was awful. I have only cruised NCL since, and love them, so I am a little worried about trying Carnival again. How did this ship compare with others you have been on? I am going to Canada and I'm sure you were in the Carribean so I know ports of call will be totally different, but how was your time on the ship? Were you able to get a seat near a pool? How were the shows, food, etc?

[English101]

Loved your review! Not sure how I stumbled upon it though! Thanks for sharing! I've bookmarked it as one of my dream vacations!:cool:

[3DBeach]

Happy this review was bumped up, missed it somehow and it was great! Thank you for all of the pics etc. i would absolutely love to book a GV someday.

[expectGREATthings]

I loved your review and the pictures were fantastic. It's great that you could cruise with your family. That time spent together is priceless. I was wondering how noisy it is in the GV when they have the band playing out by the pool. I thought about that when we were on the Dawn this June. We had a two bedroom owners suite on deck 12 that was quite nice, but it couldn't hold a candle to this.

Thanks again for your great review,

Michael

[chloemonkey]

"Real Estate", indeed! I was looking at the Breakaway's deck plan, and see that even if you booked a Haven Deluxe Owne's Suite with Large Balcony, along with the connecting Haven Courtyard Penthouse with Balcony...the combined square footage would still be less than a quarter of that of the Dawn's Garden Villa's.

The GV's are by far the largest suites at sea. Twice that even of the Duplex Suites on the QM2. And as was pointed out, the two GV's do have a slight variation--one a wet bar, the other a galley, so they would complement each other if someone booked both of them together.

Now that's what I would call 'real estate'.;):D

 

We have done JUST THAT! Five times now on the Star.....truly a remarkable amount of space and they do open both the living room walls as well as the outdoor/courtyard area. We are only a group of 11 so plenty of room for us! Had to cancel for this December as one of our daughters is expecting....but have both GVs booked again for march!

 

I too am sad that the newer ships do not offer these large accomodations. We have even booked the GV for four people as we enjoy it that much....

 

TRULY enjoyed these photos and nice to compare both Gvs......I do miss having an individual balcony attached to each bedroom on the Star and it seems as though this GV maybe had those? Will have to check.....also have to check if BOTH GV's can be opened up to create one as on the Star as we are getting tired of the Star's itineraries a bit! Those photos of Roatan, Belize, etc....looked a bit "too" familiar to me!

[chloemonkey]

Thanks. I see you were on the Carnival Glory in Feb. How was it? I am going on her in July. I am a little hesitant because my only other cruise on Carnival (in 1988) was awful. I have only cruised NCL since, and love them, so I am a little worried about trying Carnival again. How did this ship compare with others you have been on? I am going to Canada and I'm sure you were in the Carribean so I know ports of call will be totally different, but how was your time on the ship? Were you able to get a seat near a pool? How were the shows, food, etc?

 

We have done TWO Carnival cruises since our last GV in December and loved them both! Of course their "suites" should probably not even be called "suites" but the funny thing was that we enjoyed the food more on Carnival than the Star! And we only do specialty dining on the Star....

 

Both Carnival trips were due to the ease of logistics in just being able to drive to the port in under 45 minutes. We had not been on a Carnival ship for 8-9 years.....so were not sure how we were going to do....BUT again, we had a GREAT time, loved the food (main dining room for 5 days too!) and would def do them again...

 

So I think that you are going to have a great time!

[chloemonkey]

Thanks again! :) You can see I was on a mission with this question. Last time we were in 14500 - this time we are choosing 14506.

 

I "get" it! We always have to PAY whichever daughter ends up with the "middle" room $1000 for the casino as they state that it is not fair! I tend to agree.......if dividing the rooms amongst couples, that middle room certainly should be discounted as it is nothing compared to the other two.

[SuiteCruiser]

I "get" it! We always have to PAY whichever daughter ends up with the "middle" room $1000 for the casino as they state that it is not fair! I tend to agree.......if dividing the rooms amongst couples, that middle room certainly should be discounted as it is nothing compared to the other two.

 

That's what we did, we knocked off 20% from the middle cabin and the two masters paid the difference.

 

I believe the Dawn GV has no private balconies, either, but the Jewel class GVs are much smaller without the whole top deck. They only have one master and then 2 penthouses but they all have private balconies.

[ksimpso3]

We have done JUST THAT! Five times now on the Star.....truly a remarkable amount of space and they do open both the living room walls as well as the outdoor/courtyard area. We are only a group of 11 so plenty of room for us! Had to cancel for this December as one of our daughters is expecting....but have both GVs booked again for march!

 

I too am sad that the newer ships do not offer these large accomodations. We have even booked the GV for four people as we enjoy it that much....

 

TRULY enjoyed these photos and nice to compare both Gvs......I do miss having an individual balcony attached to each bedroom on the Star and it seems as though this GV maybe had those? Will have to check.....also have to check if BOTH GV's can be opened up to create one as on the Star as we are getting tired of the Star's itineraries a bit! Those photos of Roatan, Belize, etc....looked a bit "too" familiar to me!

The Dawn GV does not have private balconies off the bedrooms. They will open the living room and outdoor courtyard walls if "renting" both. I absolutely loved it!!! Trying to book it again for next May or June going to Bermuda from Boston. I am jealous that you got to do it 5 times!! I did get pictures of the Star Gv when docked next to it in Cozumel, and I think the Dawn's upper balcony looked a little nicer than the Star...but I would do either one again:D

[ksimpso3]

I loved your review and the pictures were fantastic. It's great that you could cruise with your family. That time spent together is priceless. I was wondering how noisy it is in the GV when they have the band playing out by the pool. I thought about that when we were on the Dawn this June. We had a two bedroom owners suite on deck 12 that was quite nice, but it couldn't hold a candle to this.

Thanks again for your great review,

Michael

I loved listening to the band playing at the pool while relaxing on our upper balcony...it was one of my favorite parts of the GV! It certainly was not too loud, and if you moved further back on the balcony you could barely hear it. The GV does have a stereo system with it (not many choices of music, but whatever) that you could hear on the balcony with the hottub, but couldn't hear anything once you went indoors. I was absolutely amazing!! Do it if you ever get a chance.

[ksimpso3]

Loved your review! Not sure how I stumbled upon it though! Thanks for sharing! I've bookmarked it as one of my dream vacations!:cool:

Do It!!! You will LOVE it!! Book it with 2 other couples if you have to, but it is manageable financially depending on when and where you go. Hope you can experience it sometime...everyone should!:D

[ksimpso3]

We have done TWO Carnival cruises since our last GV in December and loved them both! Of course their "suites" should probably not even be called "suites" but the funny thing was that we enjoyed the food more on Carnival than the Star! And we only do specialty dining on the Star....

 

Both Carnival trips were due to the ease of logistics in just being able to drive to the port in under 45 minutes. We had not been on a Carnival ship for 8-9 years.....so were not sure how we were going to do....BUT again, we had a GREAT time, loved the food (main dining room for 5 days too!) and would def do them again...

 

So I think that you are going to have a great time!

I had fun on my Carnival cruise, but it was no GV! I tried not to compare to NCL too much, but it wasn't easy. I thought the food was the same on Carnival as NCL, but didn't like the dining experience as much. I also thought the theater shows on Carnival were a little bit "low-budget" compared to NCL. I did LOVE James in the piano bar...only sorry that we only found him on the last night of our cruise.

The weather was not that great in Canada...in fact it was so foggy the first sea day that the fog horns blew every 2 minutes all day and night (Kind of shocking if you were on the pool deck:eek:). I don't think I would cruise there again because I like sun and warmth on a cruise, and that was a bit lacking on this one. However, it was MUCH better than my other Carnival cruise, and I won't rule Carnival out for a future cruise (although NCL is still my preferred line.) All in all, I had a great time on my Carnival cruise:)