Just back from the Dawn

[wallygator]

We were also on the Dawn last week. I was pleased that the Captain decided to change our schedule for the safety and comfort of all. The weather was almost perfect as was the entire cruise in my opinion. This was my fourth cruise on the Dawn with others two others on the Star and one on the Sky. I found the food to be varied and plenty and prepared well and tasty. I was sailing with my three grand daughters ages 2, 4 and 7. The waiters in the dining rooms treated them like three little princesses. No request we made was too great and always completed with a smile. The shows were very well done but I do hope they have some new ones before my next Dawn cruise on 03/05/06. I enjoyed seven days of great weather. I was reunited with some old friends and made some new friends. I meet many wonderful people from all over the world. I have no complaints at all. I got much more than my moneys worth.

 

 

Keep smiling and never stop crusing :) :rolleyes:

[papadave]

I made a mistake. On other cruise line web sites you get to see specific staterooms and sizes. I don't see sizes on the NCL site.

[MIcruisers3]

To see the square footage you have to go through the Voyages and Pricing link. Then click on the ship you want, and when you get to the screen that says select a stateroom, click on that and then the stateroom number to get the exact square footage and amenities.

[Wendolyn]

At one of the larger web travel sites they gave me the dimension of the balcony room on the Dawn, so I might pop back in and check out the Star cabin we had, just to compare. If it's close, I'll be happy because we were very comfortable in our cabin.

 

Edited to add: Thanks, M, I'll try that out first.:)

[Wendolyn]

Found it! The balcony rooms on the Dawn are 8 feet bigger, so that works for me!

[jrose529]

We splurged on a balcony room this past August on the Dawn and we will never go back to a window room. We actually had two adjoining balcony rooms and it was fabulous. Not that we can afford to cruise very often with a balcony, but we really enjoyed the fresh air and the extra space.

 

There was so much we didn't get to do on this trip and I'd love to sail the Dawn again. We never got to Teppanyaki or Salsas. The only problem we had with service was on formal night in the Venetian. We had to wait aver an hour to be seated and the waiter's were just okay. It didn't ruin our trip at all, we just made the best of it. We had drinks in Pearly Kings while we waited, so that was nice and made the time fly. We decided to try Venetian again and loved it. DH & DS thought the food there on Caribbean night was delicious and the service was wonderful. It was one of their favorite meals. It's all about attitude sometimes. The only time I was unhappy on a cruise was on Carnival, 10 years ago. Our tablemates were terrible and that made dinners nearly unbearable. We still found things we enjoyed doing, so the trip wasn't a total dissapointment.

[Wendolyn]

It's the lure of fresh air that did it for me- I loved the view from our picture window, but I was really regretting not having a balcony to step out on. The weather was so much better than I thought it would be in Alaska- it really only rained one day.

[snorklinbarb]

We were also on the Dawn last week. I was pleased that the Captain decided to change our schedule for the safety and comfort of all. The weather was almost perfect as was the entire cruise in my opinion. This was my fourth cruise on the Dawn with others two others on the Star and one on the Sky. I found the food to be varied and plenty and prepared well and tasty. I was sailing with my three grand daughters ages 2, 4 and 7. The waiters in the dining rooms treated them like three little princesses. No request we made was too great and always completed with a smile. The shows were very well done but I do hope they have some new ones before my next Dawn cruise on 03/05/06. I enjoyed seven days of great weather. I was reunited with some old friends and made some new friends. I meet many wonderful people from all over the world. I have no complaints at all. I got much more than my moneys worth.

 

Welcome back, Wallygator.

Sounds like you and your CC grp had a great time. I read on another thread that it was the last showing of "Bollywood". Maybe someone else can confirm this?

 

If so, in the last year, NCL will have replaced 2 out of 3 shows. What a luxury problem for them to have - that so many people would repeat the Dawn that they would need fresh production shows! :D

 

Having seen Bollywood & So. Beach Rave a number of times, I, like you, would be delighted with something new.

 

How did you like Second City? We found them a nice change and enjoyed the second performance up in Spinnakers & their workshop, too.

[Harleycat]

We just got back from that cruise as well and had a wonderful time. I did not experience any of the problems you had. The crew was great, the food good and second portions or extra desserts were bought out with no questions asked.

 

I was very glad the captain changed the itinery. It made for a much more enjoyable cruise.

 

My husband actually had to complain because his banannas were too fresh, he likes them a little mushy. Our Butler didn't want to get in trouble for bringing us mushy banannas so we took to hiding them until they ripened.

 

The only downside for us was that they started working on the crew hot tubs during the cruise and the noise and smell from the plasma cutters was horrible. On the upside, they moved us to the Garden Villa to get us away from it.

[lilsdad]

We were also n the 9/11 cruise. I think some people go an a cruise just so they have something to complain about! We had a great time. We things absolutly perfect? No, but what in life is? A cruise like any other vacation is what you make of it. I thought the service, food, entertainment, were all great. It was our 30th wedding aniversary. We got the romance pkg. It was well worth it. They treated us very special. I wll definatlely go again. Please don't let the negative posters change your mind.

 

JL

[wanderingjew]

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!

 

Ihad a little wait of 15 minutes on the deck waiting to leave the ship i was home by 1130 taking the subway

[Dolphins]

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.

 

:)

 

After three great cruises on the Dawn, I hope the departure of many familiar faces to the Jewel will not have a negative effect on our next cruise on the Dawn in January. Hopefully, they will come up with some new shows.

[Wendy-Europe]

Hi,

 

I was on that 09/11 cruise too and Einar (my travel companion) did his first cruise.

 

We were both happy with the cruise - you can find a quiet place and you can have a loud party.

 

We both like to have nice dinner- and we found, that they did a great job at the restaurants.

 

We were not so happy with Cagneys - the Filet Mignon was great - but the sidedishes were reheated. We ate at Impressions, Aqua and Venetian (several times, we had one not so good experience with one very slow waiter - but we were not in a hurry). We also tried the Sushi Bar and Salsa and of course - we ate at the Garden Cafe and Bimini Bar.

 

We were always prompt seated and we never had to wait.

 

The choices at the main restaurants were nice prepared and the dishes arrived hot.

 

Our cabin was very good - but I understand, that the stewards have a lot to do and I think, you should not check every corner with white gloves... I had a little bottle of sanitizer with me and I cleaned a few spots at the fridge. But that could happen at nearly every hotel in the world.

 

We enjoyed the trip very much - we met nice people (hi everybody) and we were happy with the decision to change the itinerary - so we had wonderful weather instead of the possibility to cruise in a hurricane. (I wouldn´t hear the people, if they follow the standard itinerary and half of the guests and crew were seasick...)

 

If I had to rate this trip, I would give 8 of 10 points (there are a few better ships in the world like the "Europa" and the QM II....). But you receive a very good value for your money at the Dawn!

 

OK - I fear: lots of mistakes - but I hope, I could point out my opinion...

 

Greetings....

 

Wendy