The "F" word...FITNESS & other questions

[amallison]

That's right, I said the "F" word that nobody wants to think about when planning a vacation...fitness! My husband and I will be going on our first NCL cruise with his company on the Dawn in January. I know that there's a fitness center on the Dawn but can anyone tell me anything about it? What kind of classes they offer or equipment they have?

 

We've both been really health conscious this year & I'd like to keep it up while on vacation. I'm not sure if there are more details available once our agent books everything and sends us our login info for ncl.com or what. We should be getting that information this week.

 

Overall, I've looked around NCL.com at excursions and all of the deck plans and stuff but I have no clue what to expect. I am a very detail oriented person and I like to plan, so this is driving me nuts. Is there anything specific I should be prepared for on NCL? We started a tradition on our cruise in January to have dinner at a specialty restaurant, just the two of us, at least once a cruise. Which one would you recommend on the Dawn?

 

Any specific dishes in the MDR that we should try? Or any we should avoid?

 

Anything else you can think of that we might need to know? Anything we might not want to miss? Anything we should most definitely avoid?

[VonChap]

Classes including TRX are available on the Dawn. There's a jogging track and on last years Dawn 2 week repo, some of us walked 5 miles a day on the Promenade deck.

[amallison]

Thanks VonChap! 5 miles a day...that's awesome!

 

I'm looking forward to the food (I don't care how much you like cooking, when someone else is doing the hard work it's always better)...but I'm hoping to be able to keep it off my waistline!

[Aries 65]

Always take the stairs! Works like a charm to keep off the extra inches.

[amallison]

Always take the stairs! Works like a charm to keep off the extra inches.

 

Very true Aries! Somehow though, those yummy (I mean pesky) desserts always seem to catch up with me! ;)

[IndyColts84]

I can't speak for what types of classes were available but there were always a few sign up sheets for various classes and seminars (usually a fee) up at the entrance to the gym facilities.

 

As for cardio equipment, there were several treadmills, ellipticals, and other various cardio machines that lined the perimeter of the gym, some with views others not so much.

 

For strength machines it was pretty typical affair. Lat pulldown, chest press, curl/tricep machines, leg press, ab crunch and row machine.. Enough to get a solid work out.

 

Where I was a little disappointed was the free weight section. Very small area off to the side with minimal weights. A rack of dumbbells that went to 75 I believe, a couple benches, one flat and two that could incline. Compared to some of our other cruises, this was the least fleshed out for myself, though I have a pretty demanding routine as far as free weights go. For most people, and certainly those just looking to keep the scale from rounding up after the cruise, the gym will more than suffice!

 

I second the mention of using the stairs! My wife, though very much in shape refuses to take the stairs for more than a couple decks...you know...she's on vacation! I make a game out of it and try to beat her to the desired floor both going up and down. So far I've lost twice! And if you're an active type bouncing around the ship from venue to venue, you will use the stairs a lot!

[Pockymuncher]

For the dishes in the MDR, the spaghetti bolognese wasn't very good. I wouldn't order it again. Everything else is good, just order more than one entree, they don't care.

 

For the fitness center, I just got off the dawn last week. I took some pictures if you want to see but I'll list what I recall using/seeing. For cardio, I think I saw treadmills, elliptical, that sort of thing, I didn't really use any of it. They offer classes that I didn't see anyone using.

 

For weights, the only free weights available are dumbells. They go up to 75lbs only. 2 flat benches bolted to the ground, 1 incline bench bolted to the ground. There are no set weight barbells, no olympic barbells, no bench press, no squat rack, no smith machine, nada nothing else.

 

They have a leg press machine if you want to use it to substitute squats. In one of the rooms that have the classes, you can hang the lat bar off the TRX holds in the ceiling to do pull ups. Be careful though the ceiling is very close and you can hit your head at the top.

 

There is a bench press machine and also a lat pull down machine. You can't adjust the height of the cable but you can do things like tricep pull downs and such on it if you're creative.

[HarpHarp]

The Dawn's fitness center is quite nice, though not overly large. The thermal spa is worth the day pass fees, especially if the weather is cooler at embarkation. Look for the free classes (stretch & abs) in the early AM, the walk a mile with the cruise staff and dance or stretch classes in the afternoon, if you don't want to pay the fee for the other classes. I found the stretch class, grabbing a cup of coffee after & then getting dressed & going to breakfast was the perfect way to start my day.

 

Have fun!

[rjm11]

in addition to the "free"classses (stretch and abs classses mostly) there was also Yoga, spinning, TRX that had a fee. Go to the fitness center on the first day, and they will have a list of all the classes for the week, and you can sign up there- if you sign up for multiple there was a discount (this was a couple years ago, but I assume it's still true). There is usually also the option of purchasing some personal training sessions, or a package of them, if that's your thing.

 

I agree about the stairs! I've never gained more than 2 pounds or so on a cruise (without watching what I eat at all) because of the extra activity I'm assuming.