Dawn has put me off NCL

[cod]

Just back from a week on the Dawn and, for the first time, did not purchase a cruise reward certificate. But before I go on, I want to let you know NCL has been my favorite cruiseline for a while now and I'm Platinum +.

 

We (me, 2 daughters and 1 granddaughter) had connecting balcony cabins on deck 10. Cabins were okay and kept up well although I don't remember other NCL balconies being as small as these.

 

Entertainment was great...as always. My main gripe is with the MDR food and especially the service...very indifferent and, on a couple of occasions, downright rude.

 

And those darn pull-tab strips they sell. On every cruise I've been on, it always gets down to the final day and 'no one has won the $2000 yet'!! I spent too much time explaining to my 11 year old granddaughter that this is what is known as a colossal ripoff!!!

 

I promised another daughter (who could not go this time) that she and I would go on a cruise together later this year. I wish RCL was sailing from NO but since they are not, I am seriously looking at the Dream. I'm not a big Carnival fan but I think the time has come to give them another chance.

 

As always, JMHO.

 

One more thing. Loved the Spirit and Jewel (sailed both from NO.. the Spirit 4 or 5 times while she was here) and really liked both. Unfortunately, it looks like the Dawn is going to be parked here for a while. DARN.

Edited April 7, 2015 by cod

[punkincc]

Is your complaint about the pull tabs that they were selling them or that you bought them and didn't win?:). Not much of a revelation that lottery type tx are a waste of good money. I must be in la la land on a cruise because I do not recall any pull tab sales on any ship I was on. I can't imagine that issue having any impact on my cruise.

 

The MDR issue is disappointing. Could be a staffing issue and temporary, who knows. The Dawn was our first NCL ship and I have very fond memories of the cruise that hooked me on NCL. But we do tire easily of dinner in the same room every night and so we always go a few nights to a specialty, O' Sheehans or even the buffet just for a change of pace.

[Paphillyguy]

I don't want this to come off as rude but I don't quite see in your mini review what was so bad that made you swear off NCL. I saw the MDR issue but did you try other food venues. I am curious as to what was so bad as I will be on the Dawn in May. I know that all the changes with fee etc and the way they are being implemented are a huge turn off but what was it specifically about the Dawn that pushed you over the edge. Thank you.

[zqvol]

Interesting comments.

 

I know that the balconies have not shrunk, but I have always thought they were tiny. I agree with you that the pull tabs, and in fact all of those games are nothing but big rip offs, but you will have the same thing on Carnival.

 

As for the food and service in the MDR what you describe has been my experience on every (all 4 ) NCL cruise that I have ever been on.

 

I like Carnival too, but don't expect to find anything very different, though their cabins are a bit bigger.

[biker@sea]

Dawn has gone down hill since Sir Calvin Lodge left NCL as Hotel Director of dawn !

 

The crew just does not seem happy with the new top brass .

 

J.M.H.O.

.

[triptolemus]

And those darn pull-tab strips they sell. On every cruise I've been on, it always gets down to the final day and 'no one has won the $2000 yet'!! I spent too much time explaining to my 11 year old granddaughter that this is what is known as a colossal ripoff!!!

 

So, you're upset because you gambled a bit and lost??

[biker@sea]

So, you're upset because you gambled a bit and lost??

No, I think they are implying that something is wrong with the pull tab gimmick !

 

I too have never seen the $2000 prize won on the beginning of a cruise only the end .

 

Just sayin

[kchiumento]

Just back from a week on the Dawn and, for the first time, did not purchase a cruise reward certificate. But before I go on, I want to let you know NCL has been my favorite cruiseline for a while now and I'm Platinum +.

 

We (me, 2 daughters and 1 granddaughter) had connecting balcony cabins on deck 10. Cabins were okay and kept up well although I don't remember other NCL balconies being as small as these.

 

Entertainment was great...as always. My main gripe is with the MDR food and especially the service...very indifferent and, on a couple of occasions, downright rude.

 

And those darn pull-tab strips they sell. On every cruise I've been on, it always gets down to the final day and 'no one has won the $2000 yet'!! I spent too much time explaining to my 11 year old granddaughter that this is what is known as a colossal ripoff!!!

 

I promised another daughter (who could not go this time) that she and I would go on a cruise together later this year. I wish RCL was sailing from NO but since they are not, I am seriously looking at the Dream. I'm not a big Carnival fan but I think the time has come to give them another chance.

 

As always, JMHO.

 

One more thing. Loved the Spirit and Jewel (sailed both from NO.. the Spirit 4 or 5 times while she was here) and really liked both. Unfortunately, it looks like the Dawn is going to be parked here for a while. DARN.

 

 

Hmm okayyy. So the pull tabs upset you. The service in the MDR was mediocre and your balcony was smaller than you hoped. I'm still waiting to hear the awful part.

[SeaShark]

Just back from a week on the Dawn and, for the first time, did not purchase a cruise reward certificate. But before I go on, I want to let you know NCL has been my favorite cruiseline for a while now and I'm Platinum +.

 

We (me, 2 daughters and 1 granddaughter) had connecting balcony cabins on deck 10. Cabins were okay and kept up well although I don't remember other NCL balconies being as small as these.

 

Entertainment was great...as always. My main gripe is with the MDR food and especially the service...very indifferent and, on a couple of occasions, downright rude.

 

And those darn pull-tab strips they sell. On every cruise I've been on, it always gets down to the final day and 'no one has won the $2000 yet'!! I spent too much time explaining to my 11 year old granddaughter that this is what is known as a colossal ripoff!!!

 

I promised another daughter (who could not go this time) that she and I would go on a cruise together later this year. I wish RCL was sailing from NO but since they are not, I am seriously looking at the Dream. I'm not a big Carnival fan but I think the time has come to give them another chance.

 

As always, JMHO.

 

One more thing. Loved the Spirit and Jewel (sailed both from NO.. the Spirit 4 or 5 times while she was here) and really liked both. Unfortunately, it looks like the Dawn is going to be parked here for a while. DARN.

 

As someone who has sailed both, I will be especially interested to read your review once you return from the Carnival Dream and can offer a comparison between the Dream experience vs NCL and the Norwegian Dawn.

Edited April 7, 2015 by SeaShark

[vantec]

I agree with you about the Dawn - our first NCL cruise was last year on the Jade and we loved it, so we quickly signed up for the Dawn, and were disappointed - the food was bad in the MDR and the buffet, the service was also bad in the MDR. Had the Dawn been our first NCL experience, we would not try again. Since we have had the Epic booked for awhile we'll see how we feel about NCL after that cruise in January.

[cod]

I was at the casino several times...slots and blackjack. Won a little over all but fully expected to just 'make a donation'. What is annoying about the strips is all the hype and, yes, no one twisted my arm the two times I weakened and purchased them so that DGD could have some fun.

 

I'll be a little more specific about the food. I let my two daughters use my specialty restaurant coupon to go to Le Bistro one night. (My DH and I always enjoyed doing that). One daughter had the duck but said it was as dry as a bone. The other had some cheese and vegetable dish but she said she found no vegetables...just a 'tower' of cheese. She said the waitress asked twice if everything was okay as she passed their table at full speed. Anyway, they were not impressed.

 

I always liked going to the dining room on the day we boarded. When we got off the elevator on 7 to enter the Venetian DR a fellow was standing there telling us the DR was almost full and that they were serving only sandwiches and so we should go to the buffet on 12. I told him we'd chance it so we walked down the stairs and found it was about a 1/4 full and they had a full lunch menu. It was not yet 1:00 so it wasn't that they were about to close down. When we left, he was still there and I wanted to say "XXXX,XXXX, pants on fire" but controlled myself.lol And anyway, I'm sure he was just following instructions.

 

I will describe one DR experience so that all 'doubters' will get the drift. First let me say that we tried to get in Aqua twice and always found the line too long, even shortly after 5 when they wouldn't open till 5:30. The Venetian was not only easier to get in to, we were very near the rear elevators and so it was a direct shot. This was the evening of the Element Show and we wanted to make the 6:45 show. We were some of the first to enter the DR...a little before 5:00 and our order was taken rather quickly so we thought 'all was well'. Then our waiter disappeared and was replaced. We'd gotten our starters fairly quickly but by 6:10 we'd not gotten our entrees. The table next to us, who ordered at the same time we did, were through with their entrees and we finally got our waiters attention and asked about our dinners. In a real 'smart alecky' tone he said, "Well, you got your starters" and stopped just short of saying, 'what more do you want'. Our dinners came about 5 minutes later and in the meantime the Matre'd came over and his solution to the slow service was to come back later for dessert and coffee. And - out of curiosity - we asked him what happened to our original waiter and he said that there was an emergency in the kitchen(?) I have no idea what that could have meant.

 

If and when I come back to say more, it will only be good...enough complaining!

[cliffd64]

 

And those darn pull-tab strips they sell. On every cruise I've been on, it always gets down to the final day and 'no one has won the $2000 yet'!! I spent too much time explaining to my 11 year old granddaughter that this is what is known as a colossal ripoff!!!

 

 

I tried to convince my wife that those things were a ripoff but she ended up buying some as part of a bingo package one sea day, and of course won $500 bucks on one so I guess I'll never have the chance to convince her otherwise....

[abbyar]

OP, I feel for you, but everything you've described has happened to us on other cruise lines, including DCL, where they've pushed us to the buffet on arrival day. The nature of the dining on cruise ships is everyone shows up at the same time, and sometimes you get lucky with timing, other times not.

It does sound like the specialty dinig wasn't the best experience, but doesn't sound much different than my last experience at Palo (DCL).

[fairygirl1]

Hubby and I just sailed on the dawn in august. We had no major complaints with the ship. We made our dinner reservations online before we sailed and literally walked right in each time. I do agree some service was slow and /or indifferent, but hey-we all have the occassional bad day at work ;) as for those pull tabs-i just feel they're a total waste of my money anyway, so i cant really comment there!

[Loucat]

We sailed on Dawn twice and would again if she were in a Florida port.

I do not find MDR food on any cruise line to be that exceptional. Dawn was good some nights and then not so good other nights.

We have had the same experience on RCI and actually stopped sailing that line due to the food.

We are foodies; what can I tell you!

Now we sail less; do suites and eat in specialty restaurants.

We have an Azamara cruise scheduled for 2016 and they have excellent food.

We also like X with an Aqua class cabin and eat in Blue.

On NCL, we did the UDP.

[searoses]

I thought the service was rushed and impersonal...barely eye contact for the one dinner we had in the mdr.....have been moving away from them for a few years...ncl would not seat us with others which was disappointing ....tried le bistro and loved it ....moderno was awesome...the rest of the time we did the buffet...if the quality of the ingredients was still there I wouldn't much care about the service....at least at the buffet you can see what you're getting...food doesn't make the cruise for us so we will still our trips to bermuda...

[maywell]

I tried to convince my wife that those things were a ripoff but she ended up buying some as part of a bingo package one sea day, and of course won $500 bucks on one so I guess I'll never have the chance to convince her otherwise....

 

That must be awful for you. ;)

[NanaBet]

I've sailed numerous times with NCL, including four times on the Dawn and booked again for July. With regards to the pull tabs, I have seen folks win big. But then again, it is what it is - gambling! You win and you lose~

 

With regard to the dining rooms, we've never had a bad experience. The whole idea of a vacation for us is to relax and go with the flow. If we wanted to be free to attend a certain show, we made a reservation. Otherwise, we took what we got.

 

I've also been on the Carnival Ships. You can't compare that line with NCL or RC. If you were upset with the service and the food on the Dawn you will not be happy with Carnival.

[searoses]

Amen to that but members of my extended family do sail carnival ....to each his own...

[NLH Arizona]

OP, Sorry to hear about your experience. I'll be on the Dawn for the first time this December. Was wondering how was service around the ship, sans the MDR?

[fshagan]

Gambling is either 1) something you enjoy to do no matter the outcome or 2) a tax on people who don't enjoy it but are really bad at math.

 

If you enjoy it, go for it, but don't complain that no one is winning. The purpose of gambling (for the house) isn't to give people money, but to take money from them while they enjoy the process.

[Snowrose]

DH talked a friend into cruising last year. They enjoyed it so much the family has gone 3 times in the last year, all on NCL. They just came off the Dawn a few weeks ago and said the Dawn was their favorite ship of the three they'd been on, so far. :)

[Jay Sam]

I feel NCL and Carnlval have some similarities as far as the relaxed feel of the ship, but that's where I feel the similarities end.

 

To me, the customer service is far superior on Carnival. Been on 5 Carnival cruises and not one has disappointed. The Carnival staff cares about their customers more than I experienced on either NCL's Star or Epic.

 

The food at Carnival's MDR service is better too. NCL wasn't bad, just not as good as on Carnival. Of the 5 main lines I have taken, only Celebrity is better than Carnival re: MDR food.

 

I would choose Dream over any ship of NCL's ships.

[cod]

I'm back. But enough said about the DR food and service. No complaints about the staff otherwise. One daughter that was along had cruised more than the other...she'd been on Holland America, RCCL. NCL several times before and Carnival...about whom she says 'NEVER AGAIN'. She and DH are booked on the Pride of America in May. Other daughter had only cruised twice before, both Carnival. Her opinion of NCL (over-all) was 'okay but kind'a boring'.

 

Now for the good. The entertainment was excellent. Their singers and dancers were the best I've seen in my 20+ cruises. The magician show was very good, as were the acrobats. In the past I remember the Elements show being on the last night...this time it was on Friday night. On Saturday night they had 2 or 3 different shows, one performance each. If they have the 'Neil Diamond' tribute on your sailing, don't miss it!! I think it was as good a show as you'll see at sea!!

 

Well, I did what I thought I wouldn't be doing again in this lifetime. I booked a Carnival cruise on the Dream for myself and a 3rd daughter who couldn't come along on the Dawn. I may be sorry but at least I'll be sorry in a roomier balcony cabin! And I'm rather looking forward to 'assigned dinner seating' again after the Dawn.

 

Ciao and happy sailing!!

[cod]

Ooops, I forgot to mention the ports!

 

!) Cozumel. One daughter and my granddaughter did one of the swim with the Dolphin tours early that morning. They opted to do it through NCL since we had quite a bit of OBC. The other daughter and I shopped a bit and then went to a restaurant called Guidos where we waited for the Dolphin tour goers to join us. Lunch was excellent by the way. We asked our waiter where was good place to go and swim. He said he's go to the 'Money Bar'. We did and were pleased. We got a bucket of SOL ($20 with tip) and the snorkeling was very good!! It's about 5 miles out of downtown and I think the cab was 10 or 12 for the four of us each way. It's a place I'd recommend.

 

2) Belize. Private cave tubing tour. Good reviews but not so great. They were with some Carnival cruisers who had to be back on board much earlier, so (after the cave tubing), a meal, the walk back through the jungle and the drive back to port were very rushed. They gave this a B-.

 

3) Roatan. Another private tour. Snorkeling on a catamaran. They said the snorkeling was fantastic. There was actually a cook on board and all the food was delicious. And all the drinks you could want ...from beer to frozen drinks. They gave this an A. The seas were a little choppy (unusually so said the captain) but otherwise they said it was all you want of an excursion.

Cost? They said it ended up being $287 for 2 adults and one 11 year old.

 

3) Costa Maya. We all agreed we should have just stayed on board. The port area is expensive (no dickering) for both stuff and drinks in either of a couple of bars. After having a drink, we asked our waiter where we might go in town. He gave us the name of a place and we set out. We found it after a cab ride and we had very good shrimp and fish tacos and reasonably priced beer. We were on the beach but it was not a good swimming place.

I'd been to Costa Maya a couple of times before but never left the port area. This is definitely my least favorite of any Caribbean port!!

 

If you need more info on any place mentioned, I will call DD who made all the arrangements. I know the Roatan snorkeling required a deposit and the cave tubing (reasonable compared to what NCL charges) did not.