Our review of the Nov 7 - 21 Boston to New Orleans Repositioning Cruise on the Dawn

[kiberkid]

We had a wonderful cruise and had so much fun. Here is a quick review of some key points on the cruise. All in all it was an outstanding 14 days.

 

Embarkation

Extremely easy & seamless. Got to the port around noon and was onboard & in our cabin by about 12:30.

 

Staff

A few to mention:

 

Virginia - Concierge

Virginia did her job. She made dinner reservations for us at the times we requested, give or take 15 minutes, which is totally acceptable. She came & introduced herself to us at Cagney's on the 2nd day of the cruise & we mentioned we would like to talk to her. She told us she would be at her desk all morning. After our breakfast (which was about 10 minutes after we talked to her) we went to her desk. She was not there. We waited for 15 minutes & left without talking to her. About 3/4 the way through the cruise, one of our group had a medical situation late one evening which we were not aware of. As we were waiting for a table at Cagney's the next morning Virginia came over and asked if we had heard of the situation. We didn't know what she meant. She then went on to say one of our Gramma's had a problem in the casino the night before and that her daughter in law was there & they took them away. That is all she would tell us. We didn't know if she had had a heart attack, fell & broken her hip or wrist or even died!! As it was a late night for them, we didn't find out anything until after lunch and as it turns out, all was ok. We were really upset that Virginia would tell us part of the story & leave us hanging as well a breaking a confidence. In her position, it was not up to her to tell us the news.

 

Marivic - Butler

Excellent, sweet, efficient, professional, polite, respectful. She anticipated our needs before we realized we had needs. I am not sure, if we ever have another suite, that another Butler will be able to measure up to her.

 

Windsor - Cabin Steward

He was not our Cabin Steward but was for 2 cabins in our group. He was amazing, caring & efficient. He knew that we were relatives to people in his cabins & he knew our names. We all just loved him.

 

Rolando - Cabin Steward

He was our Cabin Steward. He was very efficient, polite, & helpful We had a few maintenance issues in our cabin which we did not mention to him, but he was aware of them & he brought a maintenance man into our suite to address the issues.

 

Alvin - Cruise Director Staff

Extremely rude. We tried to partake in the telephone scavenger hunt which he facilitated. He showed up 20 minutes late and then only gave us 15 minutes to find 7 or 8 areas in the ship and call him from the phone in that area. When we found the first correct phone and I called him, he was rude and told me I was wrong. My sister in law called him back from the same phone he was rude to her as well, but said we had the correct phone.

 

Lady from the US in shore excursions, I believe she was the supervisor

Our tour in San Juan was supposed to be 3 hours and we were dropped off after 2 hours. I went to the shore excursion desk to address our concern & was snapped at by her. She stated that the reason the tour was only 2 hours was because it was a holiday & there was no traffic. I asked why he could not have just driven us around for an hour or so & explained more about the area. She told us that we got what we paid for and that was that!!

 

Officers

Really had nothing to do with them except a polite smile when we went to the Latitudes party.

 

Cabin - SJ Family

This was our first experience in the Suite Life and we loved it. The cabin was an amazing size. We were able to host 4 or 5 get togethers with our group of 14 and we still had room to spare. We loved the retracting wall and used it at night & in the morning to shade the bed from light. The coffee machine as a really nice touch and the bathroom was large enough for a party. We did have a leaky window and shower. That didn't bother us as we just put down a towel and sopped up the water.....we don't wash the towels anyway!! Ronaldo kept the towel on the window changed, but it only leaked when it rained. Being up so high (deck 12) and so close to the bow, we really felt the ship movement, but both of us enjoy that. We would definitely book this suite again.

 

Shows

Patty & Jose were a hit. We enjoyed their shows and saw them several times. It was the NCL troup's first cruise & they did need some polishing, but they were not bad. The Irish singer was the favorite of lots in our group. We did not enjoy the comic. We didn't see the hypnotist or juggler but the juggler did embark with us in one of the ports & security did not want to let him onboard as he had knives in his suitcase. Once he explained who he was they let him on. We appreciated the fact that they questioned him. There were a few other entertainers that we were unfortunately not able to see as we had other activities going on with our group.

 

Food

The food was good, but not 5 star. I didn't care for some of my choices, but it was not because the food was bad, it just was not for me. La Bistro & Teppanaki were extremely good We really enjoyed going to Cagney's for breakfast & lunch and the service & food was excellent. My husband loved the double shrimp cocktails. The staff in the Garden Cafe was extremely helpful and attentive when we brought in the Grammas there with their walkers.They carried their plates & drinks for them & were 'johhny on the spot'.

 

Restaurant Service

The service in the Venetian restaurant was not good the night we were there. We were a group of 14 at 2 different tables each with our own wait staff. One table received excellent service & they were almost finished their dessert and we did not even have our salads. Once we made our waiter aware (he had forgotten about us????) he panicked & rushed us. He gave us our dessert menus at the same time as our main course. While we were eating our main course he brought the desserts. It really was not a pleasant experience and we did not go back to the Venetian we also voiced our concern to the head waiter. I think they are understaffed & the staff is overwhelmed. After that we went to the Aqua and had good service there. With the exception of a couple of birthdays, we tried to keep our groups down to 5-7 people as I think that the number 14 overwhelmed them, even though we would be at 2 different tables with 2 different sets of wait staff.

 

Bar Service & Photographers

They were present and easily found, but did not hound us. If we wanted a drink.. presto... there was a waiter/waitress. The photographers offered to take our photo, but when we said 'no thanks' they didn't bother us again. This was very much appreciated. I know that they have to 'drum up business' but they did it in a very professional and unobtrusive way.

 

Casino

As a non smoker, I found the casino a very unpleasant place to be. They seem to have an adequate (not wonderful) air exchanger but we still found the place to be very smokey. Along with the very stingy machines (I guess it is a way for NCL to make lots of $$) it was not a place I wanted to be. This is a shame as on other lines my mother & I love to go to the casino after the show, but on NCL Dawn, the smoke filled room was not the invitation we needed to donate our money to the machines.

 

Debarkation

Very organized and easy. Port of New Orleans is large and it is a long walk from the ship to the taxis/transportation. Luggage is taken off one luggage tag color at a time, so when you get to the luggage area there is not a sea of bags. Just your color and the few left over from the previous colors. It is not chaotic as some ports. Very much appreciated.

[CTCruiser001]

Thank you for doing this review. It is a cruise the DW and I are considering someday.

 

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[pathubia]

Thanks for posting.....

Windsor was our room steward in October, he was GREAT!!