Dawn July 4-11 Review

[Crusinwithfamily]

Which night was the "formal" night? I know it's pretty laid back, but we like to dress up just a bit more than the casual. Thanks.

[Anngeojes]

Honesty, I don't think there was one. I saw a few people dressed up on different nights and lots of them getting portraits.

 

I may be mistaken, but I don't think they announced any night as "formal". Truth be told, I wore nice shorts and a collared shirt every night and was well dressed compared to some.

[meglet]

The last two summers I've sailed the Dawn to Bermuda, Saturday night was billed in the dailies as Norwegians Night Out or something like that. It was the night I saw a few more people dressed up. It's the night I chose to get more dressed up anyway.

[billsgal]

Honesty, I don't think there was one. I saw a few people dressed up on different nights and lots of them getting portraits.

 

I may be mistaken, but I don't think they announced any night as "formal". Truth be told, I wore nice shorts and a collared shirt every night and was well dressed compared to some.

 

And could you wear shorts to dinner in the Venetian? Everything I have read states no shorts or flip flops in the dining room at dinner? Would love to know if that is still being required.

[Safeandsound]

No flip flops in the venetian on any night. There were 2 nights that you couldn't wear shorts in Venetian. I just don't recall which nights. I think it was Sunday and Wed but i'm not sure.

 

S&S

[Safeandsound]

Thanks for your review. We were on board with you and had a similar experience as you.

 

S&S

 

Just got off the dawn Boston to Bermuda cruise. Below is a quick review, feel free to ask questions:

 

Our Party:

4 adults (80,80, 51, 51) and 1 teen (15yrs)…all have done multiple (7)RCL and (2)Celebrity cruises….our first time on NCL

 

The Ship:

Obviously, an older ship, the crew was always doing something to clean her up. I must say it was one of the more confusing ships to navigate. i loved the promenade deck, walking a few laps was a great way to prepare for dinner.

 

Hurricane Arthur:

We left the day the hurricane was hitting boston. The captain left the dock around 5:30pm, but stayed close to boston until the hurricane passed by. As a result, we arrived in Bermuda at 7pm Sunday instead of 11am. As compensation, the captain kept the ship in bermuda until 6am Wednesday instead of 5:30 pm Tuesday. Given the circumstances, it was a great move, nobody we talked to had a problem.

 

Even though we waited out the storm, the first night and next morning were pretty bumpy (12-15 ft seas), but the rest of the week was great.

 

Deck Chairs:

Clearly, the dawn does not have enough deck chairs for everyone on the ship. If you wanted to sit by the pool, you needed to be out by 7:30am, if you wanted anything in the sun you needed to be out by 9:30m. The one thing that shocked me was that there were only 7 chairs on the entire promenade deck. We figured that if we struck out on the top decks, we could at least sit outside on deck seven. On the second sea day, there were dozens of people looking for chairs, many of which ended up sitting at on the deck. We were kind of shocked that the cruise line can't address this.

 

 

Entertainment:

Great shows, some of the best we have seen on a ship. The production show was great, the comedian, Rod Long was really funny. Second City wasn't for everyone, but we thoroughly enjoyed all their shows. Elements and the magic show weren't as good, but still very solid entertainment. Also enjoyed battle of the sexes, love and marriage and dancing with the stars. Dancing with the stars was particularly entertaining as NCL incorporated the comedian in the show, very funny.

 

Food:

Surprisingly enough, the food and service in the main dining rooms was far better than in the specialty restaurants. We ate at venetian once for dinner, once for lunch and once for breakfast, all were excellent. We ate at Aqua three times for dinner, Eduardo our waiter, was by far the best server on the cruise. La Cucina was good, but the food was luke warm and the service uneven. Bamboo was awful, the service was terrible and most of the food served was cold (i think we caught them on a bad night, the staff seemed to be yelling at each other). Based on the bamboo and la cucina experience, we chose to stay with Aqua and venetian the rest of the cruise. I heard Cagney's was good, did not want to take a chance.

 

The buffet was interesting. The food was ok, but it was challenging to navigate and every time we went, I felt like we were constantly bumping into people. Embarkation day was a nightmare, most mornings felt like the southeast expressway at 7:30am in boston.

 

We tried the Blue Lagoon for lunch, essentially the same food as the buffet (burgers, dogs, etc.) but the service was lacking. We never received our appetizers and had to ask for silverware.

 

They say you can eat whenever you want, which seemed to work if you at at 6pm like us, but several times we saw big lines trying to eat between 7-8 in the main dining rooms. The good specialty restaurants (carneys/lacucina) seemed to book up early on sea days.

 

Passengers:

An eclectic mix of people. Everything from old people on scooters to kids/teenagers (800+). I have never been on a cruise with so many people drinking early in the morning or kids running around so late at night. We did not let the crazy behavior bother us, but there was a fair amount of poor behavior from both adults on children on this cruise.

 

The Room:

We booked two family balcony rooms (9218,9220) supposedly 203 sq feet each. The rooms were quite small and poorly designed, especially for three people. Once we opened the third bed we could not get to the balcony. If you were in the bathroom, you needed to be an acrobat to shower, shave and change with the door closed. The shelves in the closet required some tough yoga moves to get at your clothes.

 

I am sure it would be easier for two people, but would not recommend this room for a family.

 

Bermuda:

Loved Bermuda, we bought the 2 day bus pass. Went to horseshoe bay and hamilton on day one and St George's and the Crystal Caves on day 2, all were great. Also visited the shopping area and museum at the dockyard, both were worth the time.

 

Overall:

NCl Freestyle cruising was fun, but I am not sure we will try it again soon. We loved the entertainment, but the uneven service and small rooms left a bad taste.

[declansdad]

No flip flops in the venetian on any night. There were 2 nights that you couldn't wear shorts in Venetian. I just don't recall which nights. I think it was Sunday and Wed but i'm not sure.

 

S&S

 

 

Saturday and Wednesday I believe.

[jenesaisquoi]

Was lobster served in the Venetian dining room? Was it served on the first night?

[Anngeojes]

We wore shorts (nice, Bermuda length type shorts) and a nice shirt every night. The signs I saw said no flip flops, tank tops or baseball hats in the dining room. I would say the majority of people were in shorts....(plenty of tank tops too)

 

I don't recall any lobster on the menu, I seem to remember langoustines, no lobster.

[Safeandsound]

I know that on the two more formal nights (Sat and Wed) they were turning away people in shorts from the Venetian. Maybe the other MDR, Aqua allowed shorts but not the Venetian on those two nights. Other nights shorts were fine in Venetian.

Edited July 14, 2014 by Safeandsound

[mabones]

I think I would prefer O'Sheehans, also. I thought I read somewhere that it was going to be implemented this year. I hope so for my upcoming cruise in November.

[Crusinwithfamily]

thx