~*~* 6/12 Dawn Review *~*~ Better Late Than Never~

[2Cruise4Ever]

All,

 

Sorry it has taken so long to get this together, but it's taken a while to get caught up at work, home, etc. In the spirit of "chunks," "hunks," "episodes," etc., I'll call this one

 

ACT I

 

6/12/15 ~ Monday

 

 

 

The train ride from BWI to NYC went very smoothly. We even had a baggage porter at Penn Station which was a very pleasant surprise.

 

 

 

Embarkation: (Arrival 12:30 p.m.) – not what we expected. We were told that we would have VIP embarkation. No such thing in the entry terminal (prior to security). We were told that the Lattitudes and VIP line had already been called and we had missed it. There was no one upstairs in the VIP lounge (as I had read on Cruise Critic). So, we had to join the masses. Good news: we were through security in about 20 minutes. After security is where being a Lattitudes member made a difference. We got through check-in in about 20 minutes. There were about 50 people in the Lattitudes line, but probably around 200 in the non-member line. After taking the obligatory “Welcome Aboard” picture, we headed out of the terminal building and came face to face (well, ok, Hull to Face) with the magnificent beauty of M/S Dawn. I gasped. Her colors were so vibrant and her stature so grand it was if she was saying, “Welcome to my humble home. I can take you ANYWHERE!.” We just stopped and stared for a moment to catch our breath. As we made our way to our cabin, we were greeted very warmly with a smile from every NCL face we saw. WE stayed in an AB Penthouse, Port Side (#11530). Once we entered, we gasped again. I’ve seen tons of pictures of this suite, but they really don’t do it justice. It truly was beautiful and majestic. I thought to myself, “This is going to be AWESOME!” I promised my fellow cc-er’s that I’d take a lot of pictures. So, after everyone had recovered from the shock value of our cabin and settled down, I very calmly said,……… “OK, every last one of you……..GET OUT!!!!” (JK) Jim and the kids went out on the balcony while I took pictures. I wanted them of the cabin while it was still undisturbed. No sooner had I finished taking pictures when our doorbell rang. It was Carlos our concierge. I was impressed immediately. He was warm, inviting, and absolutely doted over our children. Grace took to him right away (a rarity for her). I was disappointed to learn that he would be leaving us on Wednesday as he would be going on vacation. But, he assured us that his replacement, Ruth, would be excellent. After he departed, Jim opened the champagne that NCL had given us as a thank you for booking the suite. We toasted The Dawn and I began to unpack some. Of course my OCD kicked in and I went over every surface with the anti-bacterial wipes I had packed and told everyone to wash their hands. OK, now I could relax.

 

 

 

Our cabin was very child friendly. I felt comfortable enough not to have to watch Grace’s every move. There really wasn’t anything she could get into or hurt by (other than opening every drawer and cabinet, which she did frequently). The balcony was very secure. And, short of standing on the chaise lounge and jumping over (eeek!!!), the kids were in no danger out there (call it OCD or paranoia, I still didn’t allow Grace out there by herself).

 

 

 

We had ordered an in-cabin bar setup of Tangerey and tonic. The Tanguerey was there to greet us, but no tonic. We asked our concierge, our butler, and our room stewards about it. But, it didn’t show up until around 8:00 that night. We found out later, it had simply been delivered to the wrong cabin. No harm done. But, some other people were probably wondering “what a strange gift!”

 

 

 

OK, back to the cabin: 4 TV’s, 2 full bathrooms, master bedroom, small (I mean SMALL! But, perfect for the kids), living area (very comfy), and dining area. And, storage, storage, storage!!!! There were cabinets and drawers EVERYWHERE! Much to Grace’s delight J. The Jacuzzi tub in the master bathroom was small, but very inviting. I was sure we would get much use out of it.

 

 

 

I had almost unpacked the kids when our doorbell rang again. It was our butler, Lanie. She had a very professional, but warm demeanor. The kids took to her right away, too. We asked about bed rails for Grace and she recommended a crib instead. Great! It fit perfectly in the small bedroom and easily folded up and tucked away during the day (it was actually a GRACO Pack-N-Play). Lanie took our dinner reservations (because we hadn’t decided on them yet when Carlos stopped by) and explained how a few things worked in the cabin and around the ship. There are 3 separate phone lines in the cabin. One in the master bedroom, one in the dining area (cordless….I brought this with me everywhere when I wasn’t with the kids), and one in the small bedroom. It was interesting how they all worked. If someone called the cabin, all 3 phones rang. But, you could use one phone to call the other. Nice treat. The Kids Crew actually used our phone instead of the pager whenever I dropped Grace off (she’s not potty trained yet).

 

 

 

After Lanie left, Jim and I gobbled up the canapés she had prepared for us: absolute delectable! If these were any indication of how the food was on the rest of the ship, we were in for a real treat. We were all starving at that point, so we decided to check out the bar-b-q on the pool deck. But, alas, it wasn’t going to start until 4:00 (it was now 2:30). I had forgotten that. So, we headed into the Garden Café. It was very crowded, but moved along nicely. The food there was just as good as you expect to find at any cafeteria-style restaurant, and always hot and always plentiful. Oh, wait, let me back track a little. As we were leaving to go to lunch, we found our luggage right outside our door. A very pleasant surprise because we didn’t expect it until much later.

 

 

 

After lunch, we headed back to our cabin to get our life vests for the muster drill. The drill went very quickly. And, we were back in our cabin in time to watch the Crown pull away from the pier. Then, we were next. I was flushed with excitement. We had planned to go up to the pool deck for this, but we really didn’t want to fight the crowds with our kids in tow. So, we all stepped out on the balcony and watched the Manhattan skyline go by. I took pictures of the EmpireStateBuilding and the VerazannoNarrowsBridge. As we passed under it, I remember the little piece of trivia my dad told me about the bridge: the tips of the two towers are 3 inches further away from each other at the top than they are at the bottom due to the curvature of the Earth. Interesting piece of information. After we split off from the Crown, I finished un-packing everything and we headed out for dinner. We grabbed some burgers from the Bar-B-Q and went into the kids café to eat them. It was very, very windy outside. Tip: hold onto your trays while outside. They WILL bow right out of your hands. The kids café was just darling. The chairs are perfect size for the little ones and the buffet height is about 3 feet off the ground. Very, very cute! The food on the buffet is everything a kid could want: burgers, dogs, dinosaur shaped chicken fingers, fries, pizza, cookies and brownies. The kids loved it!!! We then went back to our cabin to relax a little and got the little one ready for bed. It had been a looooooong day! Oh, wait, before that we went to the Kids Crew orientation which was great: short, sweet, and to the point. At 9:00 I took Sean up to the Kid Crew for an hour of fun while I went to the casino for some fun of my own. After a few slots took the cash I had brought in there, I picked up Sean and went back to the cabin (a little after 10:00). Grace was sound asleep and Jim was watching a little TV, dozing himself. As I lay in bed reflecting on the day, I found I was most impressed with how our children were treated. EVERY staff member was almost overly accommodating to our kids. And, every NCl staff member we saw ALWAYS had a smile with a warm greeting. Just what I had hoped for!!

Pics can be viewed here: http://community.webshots.com/user/richardsjlsg

[NormanW]

Hello,

 

Your picture here:

 

http://community.webshots.com/photo/362941314/375517005SRydcL

 

Is the AMBASSADOR II and is a casino cruise ship owned by Sterling Casino LInes.

 

http://www.sterlingcasino.com/

 

-Norman

[2Cruise4Ever]

Norman ~ thank you for clearing that up. We weren't sure exactly WHAT that ship was for. Hmmmm...casino you say???? I may have to check her out when I go to the Bahamas in September......

[Jeanne S]

Great review and Photos. We had a 2 and 4 year old at Disney and Atlantis (posed in the same chair) and would have gone to the Alligator AirBoat Excursion had we not had the day lopped off our cruise due to that wave. After the Airboat Ride did you see the wild animal and reptile show with Otterman? I am looking right now at a photo of me on my deck from my 2003 Dawn trip holding a baby alligator that Otterman placed in my hands.

 

What a lovely family you have and adorable kids! Looks as if a great time was had by all.

[2Cruise4Ever]

Thank you Jeanne. Yes, we saw the alligator show afterwards. Everyone in my family (except the little one) got a picture holding Snappy. I'll post more ACTS with details of Disney, Miami, and Atlantis.

[liker1]

Thank you for posting your review. Could you please post the dailies if you collected them. thank you

[2Cruise4Ever]

I never received Sunday's for some reason. And, I can't find Wednesday's. But, I have the rest. It's just a matter of scanning them in. I'll try to do that today or tomorrow.

[Snorkelfan]

Liza, so far great review and I can attest to all of it! the pictures are great and your kids are gorgeous!!!! I wanna go back!!!!!

[debjo]

For Liza...

Loved your idea of posting in "Acts"...quite clever! Your pictures were great...your little ones just adorable! Am looking forward to reading the rest of your "acts"...I probably should be getting back to finishing my "episodes" too! I does take a bit of time organizing all of your thoughts, details, & pictures doesn't it! Don't worry about being "late"...I'm two months behind now!

 

Until later...

Debjo

[Cosmopolitan]

Debjo & 2Cruise:

 

I'm anxiously awaiting.....Come on girls...you have a 3 day weekend!:)

[2Cruise4Ever]

Cosmo ~ my kids have a 3 day weekend, too :cool: I kept a journal while on board. So, you'd think I could just type what I wrote. But, nooooooooo, every time I sit down to do it, I hear, "mommy, can ya'......"

 

And, of course, I'm dreaming about my next cruise, too :D

 

I will try to get ACT II in this afternoon while the little one is taking her nap.

[debjo]

For Cosmopolitan...

EPISODE FIVE will be posted this afternoon...had a problem with Webshots taking all my accompanying pictures...only 54 of the 71...guess I've got to do some more deleting...perhaps some pictures from the earlier EPISODES will have to go!

 

Stay tuned!

 

Debjo

[2Cruise4Ever]

OK, late again.... but here comes ACT II:

 

 

 

6-13-05 ~ Tuesday ~ At Sea

 

 

This morning, I awoke at 5:30, made some coffee and watched the sunrise (my absolute favorite thing to do on a cruise). Today, we had a very busy day. First up: breakfast. We had placed our order card on the door the night before. Like I had read on CC, I wrote in eggs Benedict and pancakes. Neither was on the menu. OK, I thought, let’s see if this works. At a minute or so before 8:00, Lanie called to tell us that breakfast was on the way. Oh, and also that eggs benedict is not on the menu today, but she had ordered it special just for me! WOW!!! Well, that did it for me! We would definitely pre-tip her something today! All Sean wanted to do was go to the Kids Crew today. So, after breakfast and showers, I took both kids while Jim got ready for the day. I came back to the cabin to finish getting ready for the day. Then, it was off to the CC M&G while Jim spent some time in the casino. Some members of the Dawn staff attended our little get-together: Colin, the CD, Hugo, the Hotel Director, Tony, the Food and Beverage Director, and Dwen Binns, the Assistant Hotel Director. They had reserved the Star Bar for us with a nice spread of Danish, coffee, tea, and juice. I don’t remember real names (LOL), but some of the CC-er’s who attended were Log Cabin, Snorkelfan and her DH, Jdent, Moeeesha, Ebedore, Twobkchk, MLM228, Mom-of-3 and her DH. It was nice to put faces to screen names and after all we had chatted about on-line, I was looking forward to some more banter. But, then,…… can you hear the crickets???? I think Mom-of-3 brought up the subject of children and the conversations started flying. I indicated how much our kids liked the Kid Crew and Mom said that she had the perfect babysitter for her 3 young ones: grandma . . . . . . . . at home!!!! LOL. I got the distinct impression that she was more than happy to oblige the extended family when they hinted at not being able to spend much time with the little ones (sound familiar?????). We parted ways after about 45 minutes or so. And, I headed out to find Jim so we could pick up the kids. The Kid Crew closes at Noon and it was now almost that time. OK, we started to mosey our way up there only to discover that it is a lot further away than we anticipated. Hint: if you’re not anywhere near the aft and you need to get to the Kids Crew, you’d better RUN!!! Can you say Flo-Jo???? :eek: Not to mention the fact that the Kid Crew is on Deck 12 and there is no access on Deck 12. We looked like something out of a Jerry Lewis movie, running here and there trying to get to the kids. After this go-around, we decided to allow at least 15 minutes to get there and to make sure we were on Deck 11 once we went all the way aft. We discovered also that Sean would much rather spend his time there than anywhere else. “Awww Mooooom!!!” Why do they have to close???? Well, because, it’s time to do other things. “Like what?” Well, um, for instance. . . . . . EAT!!!! Grace usually cried whenever we dropped her off there. But, only for a few minutes. She does that at day care anyway (her usual M.O.). The counselors there told me that once we were out of sight, she stopped crying.

 

 

OK, onto lunch at the Venetian. Jim enjoyed the veal and I had a Steak and Cheese Sub. The kids had their faves: dinosaur-shaped chicken tenders and fries. The sub was definitely NOT from Philly. But, it was very, very good nonetheless. Jim said the veal was some of the best he’s ever had. After lunch, while Gracie took her nap, I took Sean to the kids pool. What a hoot!!! He was in one pool and out and into another one before I could even get both feet in the first one. That kid has more energy than the sun itself. He gives Colin Kerr a run for his money for sure!!!! We spent about an hour there and then headed over to the Oasis pool where it was very, very crowded. The T-Rex kids pool was much more conducive to our needs. Note to self: just go straight there and stay put. OK, back to the cabin to change and see about our next activity. Grace was up by the time we got back and both kids wanted to go back to the Kid Crew. So, off we went (deck 11 this time J). Jim and I decided to check out this awesome Martini Clinic we had heard so much about and boy am I glad we did. Gede was awesome. He really knows his stuff. We all had a blast. A few CC-er’s were there, too. Jim had everyone lighting so hard they were all crying. Of course, the 5 martinis helped facilitate that :D . The special was 5 martinis for $10. Ya’ just can’t beat that. Gede made us the Classic, the Appletini, the French, the Chocolate, and my fave: the Cosmopolitan. Feeling a little loopy, we picked up the kids and headed back to the cabin to get ready for the VIP party.

 

 

The party was a lot of fun. We met Colin (again), the Captain, Hugo and other senior ranking members of the hospitality crew. We met up with Log Cabin and his wife while we were there. And, our kids charmed everyone as usual. Grace flirted with all the men and had them eating out of her hand like always. That girl can work a room, let me tell ya’! I was able to spend some time with Colin. He has more energy than any man should ever legally have. He makes my kids look like they’re comatose! He was so nice and really played up to the kids. I asked him where we should eat dinner (that we were thinking about the Venetian again since we had such good food and speedy service). He said, “Let me take care of that for you” and made us reservations at Venetian. I thought that was really nice of him, but certainly not necessary. It turned out to be far more than I could ever have expected. More on that a little later.

 

 

I was also able to spend some time with Hugo. He was so nice and friendly. His wife and son are at home and he misses them dearly. He and his wife met while both working on a cruise ship. And, when their son was born, she obviously had to quit NCL and stay home. So, Hugo and I chatted about being parents for a while. He asked me if we were planning on eating in any of the specialty restaurants while on board. We had made Ressies and Cagney’s and Le Bistro. He said that both were fine selections and that they both be on the house!!! (WHAAAAATTT ????? ;) ). I told him that wasn’t necessary. But, he insisted. Well, ok, I’m certainly not one to turn down hospitality. I made a mental note to send him a thank you card ASSAP.

 

 

OK, so after the party, we went to our cabin to freshen up a bit for dinner. Only one word I can say about dinner: WOW!!!! First of all, there was a long line at the door which surprised me because the Venetian is so big. But, we had reservations (courtesy of Colin) so we walked up to the hostess and I said, “Good evening; we have a reser…..” She cut me off and said, “Mrs. Richards! Welcome!” with a great big smile. I felt like I was the most famous person in the world! She motioned to one of the other hostesses and we were escorted to our table. And, not just any table. One of the best in the house. The Venetian is all the way aft. And, our table was literally all the way aft over-looking the wake of the ship through floor-to-ceiling windows. The view took my breath away. And, the service was fantastic. They brought a high chair for Grace immediately. And, each dish was served exactly when we wanted it. Quickly, but we never felt rushed. Jim and I both had the same thing: cream of mushroom soup (our absolute favorite NCL dish), Caesar salad, and lobster (which I had 2 of!). All was delicious, hot, and fresh. The kids had their usual: chicken fingers and fries again. I know we had dessert. But, for the life of me, I can’t remember what it was. They say that the memory is the first thing to go……. I must be getting old. After rolling our very stuffed selves outta there, we went back to the cabin for a quick change of clothes (it was formal night). Then, we dropped the kids off at the Kid crew again (both of them begging to go) and Jim and I headed to the casino. Slots were a no-go and so was Black Jack. We both lost at those. The name of the game tonight was Roulette. We ended up $15 ahead by the time we had to leave. Not too shabby for an evening of fun. We were absolutely shocked when we arrived at the Kid crew: it was midnight and both kids were wide awake :eek: !!!! We fully expected them to be completely crashed out. But, nooooooooooooooo, they were wound up like a top. Not so by the time we got back to our cabin, though. We all collapsed into bed, dreaming of the very hectic day ahead: Disney – yikes! We were going to be tired!

[wanderingjew]

What restaurants serve sit down bfast and lunch?

[2Cruise4Ever]

The Garden Cafe serves all 3 meals every day (buffet style - pretty good). And, you can get 24 hour service from the Blue Lagoon (awesome fish n chips!) and room service.

 

The Venetian was open for breakfast and lunch every day except Thursday at Great Stirrup Cay. It was closed for lunch. And, the Bamboo restaurant was open on Sunday, Monday and Saturday for lunch (no reservations required for these 3). All the other restaurants are open for dinner only. Although, the bars would serve what's called "snacks" sporadically throughout the week.

 

Happy Sailing!

[jrose529]

2Cruise4Ever,

Great review, I can't wait for Act III. :D

Thanks,

[debjo]

For 2Cruise4Ever...

Sounds like you got the "royal" treatment...and enjoyed every minute of it! Congrats on getting the "on the house" specialty restaurant meals! Someday, I hope to enjoy the "perks" of the penthouse cabins...dreaming is so much fun!

 

Looking forward to the next ACT. Don't worry about taking so long...we are all busy. Why, I've just posted the next installment of my EPISODES...only two more to go now!

 

Debjo