Just back from the Dawn

[peanutJMV]

Just back from the Dawn. Beautiful weather, we sailed East about 500 mi out to avoid Ophelia, Reversed itinerary. After 3 sea days we arrived in Nassau on Tues at 8pm, stayed overnight, and sailed out at 8pm Wednesday. We skipped Great Stirrup Cay which was a disappointment to us and many others on the ship. I didnt see any reason to skip the port other than to long in Nassau and Nassau is a big shopping area. GSC is not a long distance from Nassau, we arrived in Miami on Thursday and Port Canaveral on Friday.

 

The ship is beautiful. However cruising on the Dawn for the 3rd time, I found a

big difference in the friendliness/service of the staff. I also found many cutbacks from last year in regard to the quality/quantity of the food and service. Actually I was disappointed. We bragged about this boat to my friends and convinced them to join us on the trip. Both couples booked balcony cabins, they were also disappointed. Since they changed to auto gratuity, I definetely see the change in the attitute, courtesy and overall friendliness, not many go above and beyond. Our room stewards were fantastic and we certainly left them an extra tip.....

 

I understand auto tipping could be a good thing and such a minor fee @ $10.00 PP/day. I spent much more on tipping on the other cruises.

However I do see a change in the staff.

 

Putting aside the above, overall, we had a nice time.

I dont want to discourage anyone from the Dawn, she is beautiful!!!

Maybe we just needed a change.

To all who are sailing soon, have a wonderful time.

 

 

June

[newmexicoNita]

June, I think all the lines are cutting back on the food quality. Probably due to the cost of fuel not to mention many of us are spoiled from years past when the food was the best part of cruising. As for the friendly staff, well, maybe they all got transfered to the Jewel cause everyone was overly friendly or almost the entire crew anyway. Missing CSC, what a disappointment. Through the years we have booked 4 cruises with private islands and only made it once.

 

as long as you had a good time, that is the important thing, I am not sure the $10 per day has really affected the service, but maybe it has. My feeling is, after so many cruises, especially on a certain ship the awe is gone.

 

NMnita

[azdmelani]

I was on the ship this week as well. Weather was beautiful, but the ship did not come close to meeting my expectations (this was my 4th cruise, 1st on ncl). The food was terrible, activities were mediocre, nightclub was in a bad location on the ship. Our balcony cabin while nice was too tiny for two of us to get showered and ready for dinner at the same time. I am also not a smoker so the fact that you could puff away on the portside of the lounges astounded me (didnt matter where you sat, the place still got smoky). The one bright note of the week was illusionist Charles Bach, he was fabulous!

 

Disembarkation today was so unorganized; elevators werent working and we had to lug our suitcases down the stairs to 7, to be met with a sea of people doing the same.

 

I am not going back on NCL and would not recommend it to my friends. We had spoken to others on the ship who felt the same way and said the quality had really declined as well.

[peanutJMV]

Azdmelani,

 

Glad It wasnt only me and my friends.

Im really not a difficult person to satisy however Im in total agreement.

Time to go back to RCCL, havent tried Carnival but heard it was nice.

[minivanmama]

I wonder, maybe since the Dawn is so popular NCL does not try as hard to please. I hope they get their act together since other cruise lines will be cruising out to NYC year round giving us more choices.

[maurick]

I also sailed this week with my husband. 4th time. We felt the staff was the same and had no complaints. Food was just as good to us. We ate in the buffet at dinner twice and food was wonderful. We did the Express coming off. Many passengers tried to leave and their luggage was taken off and were trying to sneak off with the Express people. They got caught and had to return to the ship. That made my day!! We too were stuck on deck 7 waiting and waiting. But, I would not let them keep me from going again.

 

Our balcony cabin was fine for 2. The only place was too much witht the smoke was King Purly Pub and the casino.

 

I can't believe we were on the ship. The staff was outstanding!

[immargaret]

I haven't cruised on the DAWN, but this thread really surprises me. The DAWN always has had such great reviews in the past. I'm wondering if things have gone down hill a bit since they moved many of the great employees from the DAWN over to the JEWEL.

 

:)

[newmexicoNita]

I haven't cruised on the DAWN, but this thread really surprises me. The DAWN always has had such great reviews in the past. I'm wondering if things have gone down hill a bit since they moved many of the great employees from the DAWN over to the JEWEL.

 

:)

Margaret, read Goldmom's mini review: totally different. I don't know how we can get so many different views of the same experience. It never ceases to amaze me. We just got off the Jewel as you know and I am waiting for the first negative review. I am sure it will come as there were a couple reviews on the first few sailings that were not glowing. We all see things in a different light. NMNita

[goldmom]

We were also on the Dawn. We didn't do express debarkation but were off the ship very quickly once they called us. Maybe evryone tried to do express. Once they called us it was maybe 25 minutes and we were across the street and in a taxi on our way home.

 

We thought the food was fine and certainly comparable to other cruises we've been on. The service could be a bit spotty, but it really seemed to depend on who you happened to get for a waiter. We found that most of the staff was very friendly, but I would agree that there were only a few who really went that extra mile to provide outstanding service.

 

We felt the Balcony cabin felt small, but it was what we expected. The bathroom layout does make it a bit tight, but it was workable for two people.

 

I thought Ricky, the Cruise Director, did an OK job. He wasn't great and sometimes seemed to be trying too hard. Also, as the ship wasn't full there was never a problem getting seated for dinner or making reservations or getting seats at the shows.

 

That said, we still had a great trip and I would certainly sail NCL again.

[Tomct]

I'm still not putting much faith in the negative reviews as yet, but one concern would be the loss of some key "players" who are now on the Jewel. NCL , and maybe most cruise lines, have certainly done this in the past, as I know they did it with Star personnel going to the Dawn. I do not recall such reviews for the Star following the debut of the Dawn.

 

I know some seasoned cruisers, NCL Dawn and beyond, who are sailing on Oct. 30th. I'll take their opinions to the bank!! They have a great roll call going, so check them out after their return, if not before.

[snorklinbarb]

Peanut,

Having sailed on NCL several times since auto gratuity was instituted, I've been impressed with just how high the level of service, smiles and how really helpful and friendly the crew has been on several ships, the Dawn in particular. Just to clarify regarding the Dawn, the $10pp/day fee is nothing new and was in effect when we sailed the ship into NYC in May' 03. So that wouldn't account for any recent changes.

 

Given others' recent experiences (this week and many other reviews), it sounds like you may have had a letdown after 4 cruises on the same ship, plus perhaps you didn't have the best of luck. Can't agree that the balcony cabins are too small for 2 to get ready for dinner, though. In several balcony rms on the Dawn, we've found them actually pretty roomy.

 

I think there's been a bit of a letdown on this board in general since Colin Kerr left the ship. It will take some time for Ricky/Lance to regain that footing as the bar as been set so high. After Paul Baya & Colin, it's a hard act to follow.

 

I thought they'd done a much better job with the smoke my last 2 trips on the ship (Feb. & Apr. '05). They've removed the ashtrays from the "planters" by the elevators outside the Stardust and other decks and replaced them with fake flowers. They've tightened up the enforcement of their smoking rules elsewhere where smoking is allowed. I hate smoke, too, but other than the expected casino smoke, never found it a problem anywhere else. Sorry you were bothered though.

 

Regarding the food, another poster said it was "terrible". I've read literally hundreds of rave reviews about the food and experienced terrific meals all over the ship myself. I'm always leery when someone drops a bomb like "terrible" or "horrible" but doesn't give one single example of such an extreme. :eek:

 

Sorry you missed GSC. But at least, given the Captain's clever maneuverings, you also missed the hurricane! :D

[azdmelani]

Peanut' date='

Having sailed on NCL several times since auto gratuity was instituted, I've been impressed with just how high the level of service, smiles and how really helpful and friendly the crew has been on several ships, the Dawn in particular. Just to clarify regarding the Dawn, the $10pp/day fee is nothing new and was in effect when we sailed the ship into NYC in May' 03. So that wouldn't account for any recent changes.

 

Given others' recent experiences (this week and many other reviews), it sounds like you may have had a letdown after 4 cruises on the same ship, plus perhaps you didn't have the best of luck. Can't agree that the balcony cabins are too small for 2 to get ready for dinner, though. In several balcony rms on the Dawn, we've found them actually pretty roomy.

 

I think there's been a bit of a letdown on this board in general since Colin Kerr left the ship. It will take some time for Ricky/Lance to regain that footing as the bar as been set so high. After Paul Baya & Colin, it's a hard act to follow.

 

I thought they'd done a much better job with the smoke my last 2 trips on the ship (Feb. & Apr. '05). They've removed the ashtrays from the "planters" by the elevators outside the Stardust and other decks and replaced them with fake flowers. They've tightened up the enforcement of their smoking rules elsewhere where smoking is allowed. I hate smoke, too, but other than the expected casino smoke, never found it a problem anywhere else. Sorry you were bothered though.

 

Regarding the food, another poster said it was "terrible". I've read literally hundreds of rave reviews about the food and experienced terrific meals all over the ship myself. I'm always leery when someone drops a bomb like "terrible" or "horrible" but doesn't give one single example of such an extreme. :eek:

 

Sorry you missed GSC. But at least, given the Captain's clever maneuverings, you also missed the hurricane! :D[/quote']

 

 

To give an example of the food: the swordfish last night was so overcooked my companion couldnt eat it. We ate in Le Bistro the first night and were looking forward to trying the fondue. It was cold when it got to us. We sent it back, only to get it slightly warmer with burnt chocolate on the bottom. Seems others in the restaurant had the same problem. Room service toast was soggy and would not make hot food by request (as people had suggested). They had " crepes gruyere" for the president's dinner. There were no crepes, just gruyere mozzerella sticks. We also had waiters laugh at us when we ordered more than one dessert, or one night give us our souffle without putting a hole on top and pouring the sauce in. And our chocolate souffle last night was undercooked and runny inside.

 

Hope that suffices as enough examples as why the food was "terrible."

[sunshine 229]

To give an example of the food: the swordfish last night was so overcooked my companion couldnt eat it. We ate in Le Bistro the first night and were looking forward to trying the fondue. It was cold when it got to us. We sent it back, only to get it slightly warmer with burnt chocolate on the bottom. Seems others in the restaurant had the same problem. Room service toast was soggy and would not make hot food by request (as people had suggested). They had " crepes gruyere" for the president's dinner. There were no crepes, just gruyere mozzerella sticks. We also had waiters laugh at us when we ordered more than one dessert, or one night give us our souffle without putting a hole on top and pouring the sauce in. And our chocolate souffle last night was undercooked and runny inside.

 

Hope that suffices as enough examples as why the food was "terrible."

 

You might want to be careful about giving examples like that. The next thing you know you will find yourself described as the person whose 'whole cruise was ruined' because the waiter didn't pour sauce on your souffle.:rolleyes:

 

On a serious note though, I'm sorry to hear that you were disappointed. When I was on the Dawn ( over a year ago though) we had a good time and enjoyed the food. Most of the wait staff was good, we found a couple of teams who were excellent and one team that was pretty bad. They diodn't laugh at our orders but just acted as if serving us was too much trouble. I wrote it off to some one having a bad day but would have been disappointed too if it had happened very often.

 

The thing with the Dawn on this itinerary is, IMO the ports are not that exciting so, it is the ship experience that makes or breaks the cruise. Little things that you might overlook if you had more interesting ports take on more importance when the ship is the main reason for cruising.

[DivaG]

It always amazes me also how many folks can be on the same cruise and have such different experiences. ;)

 

We just returned from this sailing and also sailed on the Dawn last year - this same week - there were many "differences" that we (my husband and I) noticed. First and foremost - Colin was not there. lol We were not expecting the same cruise as last year. Thank goodness because we experienced so much more this year. I think when you compare - there will always be disappointments. We tried to get shrimp cocktail at each dinner seating throughout the week. No such luck. The bananas left alot to be desired - they were there too long. ;) Yes we were disappointed - but it certainly didn't deter from our cruise experience. Due to the hurricane, we did not pick up rations in Miami as is usually the case. I think the crew and staff did an excellent job considering we experienced 2 sea days that were not planned for. We ate in the Venetian, Le Bistro, Salsas, Impressions, Aqua, Blue Lagoon, Bimini Bar and the Garden Cafe and never once had a bad experience. We felt the staff went above and beyond the call of duty and made a point of writing out comment cards for everyone who served us this week. We had one waiter in Venetians who was not a happy camper ... it happens. Maybe he was having a bad day. He wasn't rude, just a bit distracted at times. No great comment for him. I can certainly understand the disappointment with the fondue. It should have been hot and not burnt. I know nothing about desserts - but understand the disappointment when something is not done correctly. :eek:

 

We ordered room service 5 times (breakfast) and had no problem - in fact our coffee stayed hot for hours. We were amazed and thought it was a fluke until our coffee was hot each time for hours. :cool:

 

We loved the Dawn last year and decided to invite our family to join us this year. They had a good time as well. After being on the Dawn twice, I'm ready for a more serious itinerary and will definitely cruise with her again in the future. Right now my husband and I feel that we want to have other experiences to compare her to. Although I feel that a vacation is what you make it - the service of any staff is always a serious consideration in the value of the vacation, but for me (IMO) is wayyyyy on the bottom of how I relate my vacation experiences. Then again - food is very important. ;)

 

 

G

[azdmelani]

You might want to be careful about giving examples like that. The next thing you know you will find yourself described as the person whose 'whole cruise was ruined' because the waiter didn't pour sauce on your souffle.:rolleyes:

 

Haha very true. That was not the case, but was trying to paint a general picture of our cruise throughout the week and the different array of issues we had.

 

Everyone has different viewpoints and I know people out there (like Diva and others- sorry we didnt get to meet you) who had the time of their lives. But I do think people come on these boards to get the full picture of what their experience might be like (good or bad) and I want to give them my view of the week. It just did not live up to experiences that I have had on past cruises on other cruise lines.

[debbiet70611]

I also just returned from this curise - this was my 4th cruise and the 1st with NCL. My son and his girl friend accompanied us this trip. We all had a fantastic time. We had no complaints with the food or the staff.

 

Even though some people may have been a little disappointed with Ricky, I felt that he was very good. He always seems to be around and is very approachable. His staff seemed to get along well, even though Ricky and Dave are fairly new on the Dawn.

[maurick]

Ricky was great! We had him on a past cruise on the Dawn. He was very friendly and did his job well. Just what more can you expect. Some ppl are sure hard to please.

[DivaG]

You're right. Ricky was great. What a ball of energy!!! We just loved Colin from last year ... not taking anything from Ricky - just loved Colin. ;)

 

 

 

G

[nycruise]

I think the big problem with the Dawn is that most people interested in cruising in the NY metro area have cruised the ship at least once. Multiple cruises on the same ship does get boring, especially is it's on the same or similar itinerary. I think NCL made a mistake in not swapping the Jewel and the Dawn, I'm sure the newer ship would have generated a lot more interest here in NYC.

[papadave]

Next year the Dawn will switch to a Canada/New England route. I've also read that some of the entertainment will change. This should give folks who've been on the Dawn a new experience.

 

If you've only been on the Dawn once (as I have) then it is hard to imagine that you ate in all the restaurants. It possible, if you had more than one dinner each night, but it isn't likely.

[DivaG]

Next year the Dawn will switch to a Canada/New England route. I've also read that some of the entertainment will change. This should give folks who've been on the Dawn a new experience.

 

If you've only been on the Dawn once (as I have) then it is hard to imagine that you ate in all the restaurants. It possible, if you had more than one dinner each night, but it isn't likely.

 

 

Thanks for the info. I'd be interested in being on the Dawn again - with a different itinerary. I love the ship.

 

Last year we only tried Aqua, Salsa and Le Bistro. This year we were able to squeeze in a few more that we wanted to try. Still haven't done Bamboo and probably won't considering I eat lots of Chinese and Japanese all the time at home. ;)

 

 

G

[DawnCruise05]

If you've only been on the Dawn once (as I have) then it is hard to imagine that you ate in all the restaurants. It possible, if you had more than one dinner each night, but it isn't likely.

 

I agree...I've been on the Dawn twice this year and I still haven't made it to Cagney's! :) Hopefully I'll get the chance in December!!! :D

[Wendolyn]

Next year the Dawn will switch to a Canada/New England route. I've also read that some of the entertainment will change. This should give folks who've been on the Dawn a new experience.

 

We're looking at the Dawn New Englnad cruise for next fall, and so I'm scouring the Dawn threads for info. Having just been on the Star, it sounds very similar. We had picture window cabins and want to try the balcony ones next, even though they look small.

[papadave]

You can see cabin sizes by navigating the NCL web site. I prefer to spend my money on wine and excursions instead of a special cabin, but that's my preference.

[Wendolyn]

Where at the site do they give room dimensions? I've only been able to find the size of the Garden and Owner's suites.