The Good, the Bad, the Ugly on the Dawn

[Grampyshottub]

My wife and I have just returned from Our forth cruise to Bermuda, and I must say we have seen a fair ammount of changes of which too few were for the better. I have read post over the past few days about children in hot tubs, poor performance by the crew, (mainly by just going through the motions) which, in many cases is quite understandable. Bad food ect. This post contains three things. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly, and a lot of it. Before you jump to conclusions, and say I'm picking on NCL, or another one who will find fault with anything having to do with fun there is a good chance that you were not on this cruise. Everything that I am stating really did happen. I invite anyone to sit back and observe what is going on.

I will in no uncertian terms go on the record as stating that the UBP will be the downfall of Mr Del Rio, and the Stockholders will at some point have to adress the issue,(as well as the other cruise lines) . My wife and I enjoy our cocktails, so people can't say that we aren't drinkers (we have the weekly bar tab to prove it). We were'nt even out of Boston Harbor when my wife and I found ourselves smack in the middle of an impromptu chug fest. We were just sitting there watching the Boston Fire Department fire boat giving the Dawn a great send off by putting on a display for us. The next thing, we are surrounded by a group of people who I assume were just barely over the drinking age and who's chants of "chug chug chug" drowned out the sail away party. Well, you look forward to a vacation you saved for a year and you wind up in a frat party of the likes of a bad remake of Animal House.

Later the same evening we were in the Atrium and there was a young couple who were so smashed they had all that they could do to stand. They must have held on to one of the support columns for fifteen minutes afraid to move. Passangers gave them a wide berth. A hundred or so people saw them, they had too. The Front Desk is right there. The Atrium is a main throughfare on the Promonade deck. This stuff just goes on and on. Some people would say "well where was security"? Would you want to deal with this? Another day on the pool deck here is this young man in the Mens room smashed out of his mind throwing up all over the place. One night here is this young Mother singing Karoke at midnight with her five or six year old. Another night you got a six year old at midnight again sitting at the bar. That should not be.

I like to think that I have faith in my fellow man however, that's becoming harder and harder to grasp. A case in point. Kids in the hot tubs and pools. OK on the Dawn the upper aft section on deck 12 are the Kids pools. Use them. Kids pools for Kids. They have the best view from the ship. They were empty! no kids, why? Make those the for adults only and upgrade them for adult pools. Believe me I like kids, but some of the parents I question. We had a cabin that was next to a cabin with two little kids in them. Mom & Dad thought that their little darlhings could do no wrong. I don't blame the kids I blame Mom & Dad. Letting them run all around the hallways screaming at the top of their little lungs, getting in the elevators and pushing all the buttons so a packed elevator stops at all decks. Not realizing that everyone wants to kill Mom & Dad for thinking how cute is that...not very. These are the same people who put the dirty diapers in a plastic bag outside the door of their cabin and stink up the whole hallway. They never heard of Babies are Us, the sell travel diaper pails. That's a nice thing to have to pass on the way to your cabin after a night out. If you were a Cabin Steward would you want to deal with that? Next time you think that the crew is surly maybe they have a right to be. Our Cabin Steward was outstanding.

What's with the Gangsta get up? You go to the Venetian for dinner and your asked if you would like to share a table, no way. We are dressed up for our anniversary and you want us to share a table with a guy in cammo cutoffs and David Ortiz 500th home run tee shirt I don't think so.

The Crew did a great job. It's all the guys and gals in the trenches that carry it off. I hope that they get the recognition that they deserve. They really have to put up with a lot. We hope that they get a piece of the pie. The four worst corprate decisions, New Coke, Clear Beer, WoW potato Chips, and NCL's UBP. I overheard on a more than one occasion "Ah you don't have to tip it's included", think twice maybe with all they have to put up with, they deserve it.

[FranknBeans]

Interesting read and I'm not surprised with the over drinking. I too really feel for all the staff that have to put up with the nonsense.

Thank for writing review.

[rolyasmatt]

You were on the cruise with most likely the least amount of younger people. Back to school. Maybe a cabin in the woods in Vermont is better suited for you or 21+ resort? It's vacation, I'm not a child or young. I chugged and had a great time. I was on Dawn 10/9 cruise. No complaints.

[Shayhooper]

We live on the west coast so midnight ship time is only 9PM our time, which is a reasonable time for a 6 year to be awake. My 6 year old is up that late and later on nights where she doesn't have school the next day.

[Samstress]

You were on the cruise with most likely the least amount of younger people. Back to school. Maybe a cabin in the woods in Vermont is better suited for you or 21+ resort? It's vacation, I'm not a child or young. I chugged and had a great time. I was on Dawn 10/9 cruise. No complaints.

 

Me too. Same cruise. No complaints.

Cheers....

[NLH Arizona]

Thanks for your comments, I'll be on the ship in December. It certainly seems like you drew the short straw as far as the behavior of the other passengers, which can really hinder one's experience. Glad to hear that the crew was great. How was the rest of your cruise...food, entertainment, etc?

[GORDONCHICK]

I think I'm a little concerned about our Thanksgiving cruise on the Dawn. We will probably spend more time than usual in our cabin. We aren't drinkers and don't want to be in the middle of a frat party. That's why our Carnival thing was a one and done thing.

[NMLady]

You called your post The Good, the Bad, The Ugly. Somehow I must have missed where you told about The Good.

[herdingdogmom]

I enjoyed the UBP on my cruise last month on the Pearl, but agree that some guidelines need to be put in place on not serving people who are impaired.

 

I too saw people who were in bad shape and made a lot of clean up work for the poor crew and saw several who were drinking as much as possible.

 

The dirty diapers in the hallway would have made me ill. No excuse for that. Too bad FDR wasn't on your cruise to see and smell that. Unbelievable.

[hypercafe]

We just got back from the GEM. I did see some heavy drinking, especially at topsiders, however it had no impact on us. I do not feel sorry for the crew because from what I saw while waiting for a drink was the bartender encouraging shot's etc.

 

We have tried some of the luxury lines and Oceania. On these lines you will see almost no children and Oceania has no facilities for them nor a program for them. There are no contests at the pool nor any music to speak of. The ship seems like a floating senior center. We are in our late sixties, but have decided NCL is for us as we find the other lines quite boring. There is a line for all !

[Va. Plumber]

Perhaps NCL should require passengers to read "Emily Post" prior to embarkation. Everything you cite is due to boorish behavior by passengers.

Sorry, wrong cruise line for you.

 

I have met a lot of very nice people on cruises and witnessed a lot of jerks.

Unfortunately, NCL doesn't have the time and manpower to police the actions

of people who don't know how to act in public.

[Shawnino]

We live on the west coast so midnight ship time is only 9PM our time, which is a reasonable time for a 6 year to be awake. My 6 year old is up that late and later on nights where she doesn't have school the next day.

 

Why does where you live matter?

[SwissLe]

"Do not judge others, and you will not be judged. Do not condemn others, or it will all come back against you. Forgive others, and you will be forgiven."

[skeeter195]

People on vacation tend to drink more than at home. This may lead to a night or two of having to much to drink and letting the booze get the best of you. You say you have a weekly bar tab at home, well you are an experienced drinker and know when enough is enough. A lot of people save for a cruise and when that week comes, they will "let loose" and unwind on a well deserved break from work or other stresses of home.

 

I personally do not care when I see a bunch of people young or old having a good time. When I see the young ones chugging it brings back memories of when I did the same thing. A chug chant is fine as long as it does not go on forever. After all a bar is a place to have fun, laugh and enjoy company.

 

As far as someone throwing up in a bathroom, I would say "boy I am glad he at least made in there and did not throw up in public". I would then make sure he was ok, then move on to the next bathroom to do my business.

 

I like the UBP and have had it twice already and have one more cruise coming up with it. On my last cruise the second night I took advantage of it a little to much to the sound of 19 drink receipts in my pocket the next morning. It happens to the best of us.

[Wavesprite]

Why does where you live matter?

 

I believe they were saying that if they went on an East coast cruise then midnight is not unreasonable to see a child up because it's really 9pm to us "left coasters" due to the different time zones.......

[emcelh]

We just got back from the GEM. I did see some heavy drinking, especially at topsiders, however it had no impact on us. I do not feel sorry for the crew because from what I saw while waiting for a drink was the bartender encouraging shot's etc.

 

We have tried some of the luxury lines and Oceania. On these lines you will see almost no children and Oceania has no facilities for them nor a program for them. There are no contests at the pool nor any music to speak of. The ship seems like a floating senior center. We are in our late sixties, but have decided NCL is for us as we find the other lines quite boring. There is a line for all !

 

I agree. We were on the same cruise as you and there was were only a couple of times when we saw a few groups of people who appeared to be over the top.

[sixesandeights]

Why does where you live matter?

 

Because time zones exist....at midnight on the east coast it is only 9pm on the west coast. 9pm is not an unreasonable time for a child to be awake.

 

6&8

[sixesandeights]

My wife and I have just returned from Our forth cruise to Bermuda, and I must say we have seen a fair ammount of changes of which too few were for the better. I have read post over the past few days about children in hot tubs, poor performance by the crew, (mainly by just going through the motions) which, in many cases is quite understandable. Bad food ect. This post contains three things. The Good. The Bad. The Ugly, and a lot of it. Before you jump to conclusions, and say I'm picking on NCL, or another one who will find fault with anything having to do with fun there is a good chance that you were not on this cruise. Everything that I am stating really did happen. I invite anyone to sit back and observe what is going on.

I will in no uncertian terms go on the record as stating that the UBP will be the downfall of Mr Del Rio, and the Stockholders will at some point have to adress the issue,(as well as the other cruise lines) . My wife and I enjoy our cocktails, so people can't say that we aren't drinkers (we have the weekly bar tab to prove it). We were'nt even out of Boston Harbor when my wife and I found ourselves smack in the middle of an impromptu chug fest. We were just sitting there watching the Boston Fire Department fire boat giving the Dawn a great send off by putting on a display for us. The next thing, we are surrounded by a group of people who I assume were just barely over the drinking age and who's chants of "chug chug chug" drowned out the sail away party. Well, you look forward to a vacation you saved for a year and you wind up in a frat party of the likes of a bad remake of Animal House.

Later the same evening we were in the Atrium and there was a young couple who were so smashed they had all that they could do to stand. They must have held on to one of the support columns for fifteen minutes afraid to move. Passangers gave them a wide berth. A hundred or so people saw them, they had too. The Front Desk is right there. The Atrium is a main throughfare on the Promonade deck. This stuff just goes on and on. Some people would say "well where was security"? Would you want to deal with this? Another day on the pool deck here is this young man in the Mens room smashed out of his mind throwing up all over the place. One night here is this young Mother singing Karoke at midnight with her five or six year old. Another night you got a six year old at midnight again sitting at the bar. That should not be.

I like to think that I have faith in my fellow man however, that's becoming harder and harder to grasp. A case in point. Kids in the hot tubs and pools. OK on the Dawn the upper aft section on deck 12 are the Kids pools. Use them. Kids pools for Kids. They have the best view from the ship. They were empty! no kids, why? Make those the for adults only and upgrade them for adult pools. Believe me I like kids, but some of the parents I question. We had a cabin that was next to a cabin with two little kids in them. Mom & Dad thought that their little darlhings could do no wrong. I don't blame the kids I blame Mom & Dad. Letting them run all around the hallways screaming at the top of their little lungs, getting in the elevators and pushing all the buttons so a packed elevator stops at all decks. Not realizing that everyone wants to kill Mom & Dad for thinking how cute is that...not very. These are the same people who put the dirty diapers in a plastic bag outside the door of their cabin and stink up the whole hallway. They never heard of Babies are Us, the sell travel diaper pails. That's a nice thing to have to pass on the way to your cabin after a night out. If you were a Cabin Steward would you want to deal with that? Next time you think that the crew is surly maybe they have a right to be. Our Cabin Steward was outstanding.

What's with the Gangsta get up? You go to the Venetian for dinner and your asked if you would like to share a table, no way. We are dressed up for our anniversary and you want us to share a table with a guy in cammo cutoffs and David Ortiz 500th home run tee shirt I don't think so.

The Crew did a great job. It's all the guys and gals in the trenches that carry it off. I hope that they get the recognition that they deserve. They really have to put up with a lot. We hope that they get a piece of the pie. The four worst corprate decisions, New Coke, Clear Beer, WoW potato Chips, and NCL's UBP. I overheard on a more than one occasion "Ah you don't have to tip it's included", think twice maybe with all they have to put up with, they deserve it.

 

Wow...I am very glad you are not on my cruise. You seem to think everyone should pander to you regardless of the fact that every other PAX paid for a vacation too. Some people like to drink and are SOCIAL. I am sure this is an alien concept to you as you seem to be a complainer by nature. You also seemed to miss the fact that NCL cruises are freestyle and do not require people to dress up. I have a son who will be 11 months old on my next cruise. He will be with me when I have a drink in one of the bars and there is nothing wrong with that. As long as he is not screaming it has no effect on your or anyone else. Its a vacation and I don't at all have to abide by your desires. I hope this "experience" was enough to push you to a different cruise line.

 

6&8

[RuthlessBoss]

Wow...I am very glad you are not on my cruise. You seem to think everyone should pander to you regardless of the fact that every other PAX paid for a vacation too. Some people like to drink and are SOCIAL. I am sure this is an alien concept to you as you seem to be a complainer by nature. You also seemed to miss the fact that NCL cruises are freestyle and do not require people to dress up. I have a son who will be 11 months old on my next cruise. He will be with me when I have a drink in one of the bars and there is nothing wrong with that. As long as he is not screaming it has no effect on your or anyone else. Its a vacation and I don't at all have to abide by your desires. I hope this "experience" was enough to push you to a different cruise line.

 

6&8

 

You were not there to witness what occurred. Over the top drinking is not social drinking. Rowdiness is not social drinking. The drinkers may have paid for a vacation, but likely the UBP had a huge impact. Hope your baby enjoys going to bars with you.

[Rede411]

Could be the departure port more than anything. While the UBP may a nice addition to some, for M*******s it's a free for all. Dressed up for most Bostonians on a cruise would be anything sports related, on top of which Boston is a college town. Sorry you had to deal with that Keg party

[RiotAct]

Could be the departure port more than anything. While the UBP may a nice addition to some, for M*******s it's a free for all. Dressed up for most Bostonians on a cruise would be anything sports related, on top of which Boston is a college town. Sorry you had to deal with that Keg party

 

Patriots..... ::shudder::

[j603]

People on vacation tend to drink more than at home. This may lead to a night or two of having to much to drink and letting the booze get the best of you. You say you have a weekly bar tab at home, well you are an experienced drinker and know when enough is enough. A lot of people save for a cruise and when that week comes, they will "let loose" and unwind on a well deserved break from work or other stresses of home.

 

I personally do not care when I see a bunch of people young or old having a good time. When I see the young ones chugging it brings back memories of when I did the same thing. A chug chant is fine as long as it does not go on forever. After all a bar is a place to have fun, laugh and enjoy company.

 

As far as someone throwing up in a bathroom, I would say "boy I am glad he at least made in there and did not throw up in public". I would then make sure he was ok, then move on to the next bathroom to do my business.

 

I like the UBP and have had it twice already and have one more cruise coming up with it. On my last cruise the second night I took advantage of it a little to much to the sound of 19 drink receipts in my pocket the next morning. It happens to the best of us.

 

Same with us AND to the OP, it was ME Christmas treeing the buttons on the elevators, not my son. :D

[ronandannette]

We just got back from the GEM. I did see some heavy drinking, especially at topsiders, however it had no impact on us. I do not feel sorry for the crew because from what I saw while waiting for a drink was the bartender encouraging shot's etc.

 

We have tried some of the luxury lines and Oceania. On these lines you will see almost no children and Oceania has no facilities for them nor a program for them. There are no contests at the pool nor any music to speak of. The ship seems like a floating senior center. We are in our late sixties, but have decided NCL is for us as we find the other lines quite boring. There is a line for all !

 

Apologies in advance for hijacking this thread, but I'd really like more information if you could. We're considering Oceania and what you've said is exactly what I'm afraid of. Everyone on the Oceania board is so "high" on them I don't think I'm getting unbiased feedback.

[hypercafe]

Apologies in advance for hijacking this thread, but I'd really like more information if you could. We're considering Oceania and what you've said is exactly what I'm afraid of. Everyone on the Oceania board is so "high" on them I don't think I'm getting unbiased feedback.

 

 

What we dislike about Oceania is the ship is too quite. There is little to none music around the pool during the day with no activities. One show, which is good, at 9:30. Classical music in the bar during happy hour at 5:30. Piano player in another bar and some activity in the observation lounge later at night. No BBQ,s or parties outside. Trivia twice a day is the big deal. The big deal at night is eating. Passangers are 60 plus plus and kids are not welcome. They make a nice, up market trip, but very quiet wich boarders on boaring for us.

 

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[pathubia]

Same with us AND to the OP, it was ME Christmas treeing the buttons on the elevators, not my son. :D

 

LOL!! My kids call it "ghost riding"...Hit all the buttons then jump off....They are 31 and 22 now, their button pushing days are over, but their drinking days are in full swing...

 

Go Patriots!!!