Dawn Repo 2016 Picture Review

[AKR2011]

Happy Sunday! My husband and I just returned from the Dawn Repo from Boston to New Orleans, and I thought that I would do a photo review. I had looked for one before I booked mine and never found one. Perhaps this will help someone looking to do a future longer cruise on The Dawn.

 

 

A little background: My husband Alex and I have been married for 5 years now, and this is our fourth cruise together. We are a fun-loving active couple that likes a good adventure. True story, we had a skydiving wedding:

 

Alex and I are in our mid-30s and fell in love with NCL on the Jewel in 2011. It was 7 days, and the husband said that was too short. So, we saved to jump on the Gem two years later for 9 days. Too short again, he said. Alex won a vacation through work, and we had our favorite cruise to date on the Sun for 10 days. I was already looking into this repo at the time and figuring out what year we could save to do it. On December 16, 2014 this cruise was open for booking and I went for it! People thought I was nuts, but it gave me something to look forward to, and we had plenty of notice at work. Our positions at work changed a bit the past two years, but even so, we were able to take this time off together. It seemed like it was taking forever to come, though. Eventually, I bought this clock to remind me that the end would come eventually. Here is when it really became a reality:

 

Fast-Forward to October 27th. Our cruise day was almost here! We live in the Catskills about 4.5 hours from Boston. I know that most people would leave the day before, but I knew that we wouldn't be able to sleep then anyway, so we just decided to wake up at the crack of dawn the next day and drive to Boston. It was a good thing too. This was what that Thursday looked like for us:

 

We booked a snooze and cruise at the Comfort Inn in Boston and arrived around 11:15. I was worried, knowing that the shuttle to the port was scheduled to leave at 11:00. Luckily, it hasn't pulled away yet. In fact, the hotel guests weren't even loaded yet. They seemed upset that they had been waiting since ten for the shuttle. Did the hotel not tell them when it was leaving? Some people also seemed upset that we just walked up and got on, but that was what we paid for. This was our hotel when we returned. Anyway, we arrived to the port and were ready to get this vacattion started...We just had to get through the embarkation first.

[CRAustin]

Can't wait for the review will be my 2nd time on The Dawn this time in The Garden Villa in two weeks!

[nepacruisers]

Looking forward to the rest of your review. Considering the repo for next year, so interested in your thoughts on flying home. I know next year it ends in San Juan instead of New Orleans. Love the Dawn, she was our first NCL ship and always makes me smile!

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Looking forward to getting a good look at the all new Dawn, and some vicarious thrills, too. Thanks in advance for your efforts.

 

Sent from my SM-G930T using Forums mobile app

[AKR2011]

When we arrived at the port, we jumped in line and started getting excited. The lines were moving well, and it was really organized. The staff had a great attitude, and honestly, I thought it was a smooth process. It took about an hour, but that's to be expected. Once on board, I wanted to avoid the buffet, but start off the vacation right. We stopped into Cellars and ordered some wine from Cellars:

 

We had the beverage package, and 4 specialty meals as well. It was nice to not have to worry about our onboard expenses. After toasting the beginning of our vacation, we headed into The Venetian for lunch. I'm not going to post a bunch of food pictures in my review, but I do have one of our first lunch. Fish and chips with a yummy pretzel roll:

 

I also discovered what would be my two favorite things at lunch, hummus and peanut butter cup cheesecake. I would be back to The Venetian for lunch on sea days specifically for these two things. Tip: Order extra pita chips for the hummus, as you only get three. The tomato soup is also good at lunch here, and I do have a photo of that cheesecake:

 

In my opinion, NCL desserts are not the greatest. The cheesecake was probably my favorite offering. However, most of the time I was too full for dessert anyway.

 

After lunch we walked around the ship. I wanted to see it all, top to bottom. BUT, it was a bit rainy. By the time we got to the library on Deck 12, we were soaked. They had some games in there, and we found a cribbage board and decided to play:

[easyboy]

Exciting start. Following.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[tgirl25]

Nice start, following

[1620rock]

On next year's repo was on Dawn two years ago to Bermuda not our favorite ship but since we live in Boston thought we would try her again on repo. Hoping you enjoyed and had smooth sailing....

[GORDONCHICK]

Following since we board the Dawn on 11/20.

[mabones]

We did the Boston to Nola Repo in November 2014. We are now booked for the Oct 27, 2017 with family then we will stay on and continue on the Repo to San Juan, PR. My husband keeps kidding me that I will leave the Ship in Boston and go home to do get laundry done, then go back into Boston.

[JillL]

Following... :)

[James_Elmore]

Following

 

Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk

[300dtc]

Following...

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[CRAustin]

Waiting?

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[davrick]

Following...

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[katiecat]

following

[umpisoccer]

My wife, son (20), and girlfriend (18) are scheduled to go on the Xmas cruise Dec. 23rd out of New Orleans. I am looking forward to seeing some recent photo's of the Dawn. Thank you for posting.

[AKR2011]

Sorry it's taken me so long to get back to posting. I lost the Internet on Sunday (the joy of the mountain life), and it's back to work as well. I will post here now and get back later to post some more...

 

There was no announcement about rooms, but we thought we would see if they were ready. Sure enough, they were, and our luggage was there as well. I booked an Obstructed Oceanview (8586), and normally we just have an Inside. When we booked, you needed that level or higher for the beverage package. Sure enough, life boats blocked our view, but it didn't bother us. The size was the bigger issue. It was right on a corner and the smallest room we had ever been in. I would hit my side on the table getting into bed every day. The pluming was also an issue, but I'll write about that later. The best part of getting into our room was receiving our first Freestyle:

 

I'm sorry these are so poor quality. I don't have a scanner :(

 

We also received information on all of the entertainment offerings from the week:

 

Soon it was time for the boat drill, and then we had some drinks at Gatsby's. We headed to the opening show at the Stardust, and although we have seen some of the song numbers before, it was still a great show. Dinner was at Cagney's, and yes, they still had that Tomahawk Steak on the menu that people have been asking about. We went for rib eyes, but Alex had teh pork belly and tomato salad as starters, and I went for the lobster bisque and crab cake. By the time the steaks came, I could only eat half. Side note: That lobster bisque was the only lobster we found all week with an upcharge. Honestly though, there was plenty of other seafood. We walked a couple leaps around Deck 7 after dinner and retired for the night. I love this little balcony that overlooks the atrium below:

[Suenelsen]

Love the report. We were on in August and had a fabulous time ... Can't wait for more of your report

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[pathubia]

I love the DAWN, I am cruising on my first repo next November.

[mabones]

We will be cruising as well! Maybe we will bump into each other!

[AKR2011]

Thanks to everyone for sticking with me! It's never easy to go back to work after such a fabulous vacation, but it's nice to be able to review the cruise this way.

 

When we came back to our room after dinner, we had the next day's Freestyle:

 

Again, I wish I had a scanner for you all. Many of the activities were the same day-to-day. I had a great routine that actually started this morning. 8:00 was Walk-a-Mile with the staff, 8:30 was Zumba, and 9:00 was Trivia. I was the only one to show up to walk, so I got Sonny all to myself. He has a great sense of humor, and we enjoyed walking and getting to know each other. Zumba was next, and once again, great staff! Ralph was superb, and we had a blast. Much better turn-out for this program as well. When I went to Trivia, I met another couple, and we hit it off quickly. We made plans to be on a team for Progressive Trivia later in the day with another couple that they knew. These two couples ended up being incredible friends by the end of the cruise, and I am so thankful to have spent time with them. Alex isn't much into trivia, but he started looking forward to it because of our team. Such a great time.

 

After Trivia, I was both a sweaty mess and starving. I grabbed a small plate of food from the Garden Cafe and then went back to the room to see if Alex was still there. He was not. Unfortunately, I got another surprise instead. The toilet had overflowed, and we now had a flood in the bathroom. There was about half-an-inch of water there, and it smelled like sewage. Not cool. I called the front desk, and soon I heard it flush down on it's own. A knock on the door came next, and it was the plumber and my room steward, Muzleena. This was actually our first meeting, and an awkward one at that. The plumber explained that our room was on the end of the pipe, so anyone within 20 rooms that flushed the wrong thing would clog up my toilet. I nodded and was very understanding, but really, that smell was rough to manage. I also needed a shower. In the end, I decided to just throw on my suit and plan to sunbathe while the bathroom was cleaned. Muzleena was really sweet and felt horrible that this was our first meeting. She asked if there was anything else that she could do, and I just said that I like towel animals. She laughed and promised one that evening. Really, it wasn't her fault. I was just hoping that people would be more mindful of their toilets after the first day and that this would be the end of our issues....If only that were the case...

 

I found the husband in the library after changing, and we decided to grab some drinks and take our minds off the bathroom with our favorite past-time:

 

Yup, you're never too old for Monopoly. On the pool deck, the drinks kept flowing, and eventually we grabbed a few snacks from the Garden Cafe. We had a Chocolate and Wine Pairing Class at 1:00, and I thought we should be able to act classy. Alex had signed us up for it as a chocoholic, and it sounded fun. We had three different kinds of wine to taste with white, milk, and dark chocolate:

 

The Bar Manager at Cellars is A-M-A-Z-I-N-G!! We learned so much about how chocolate can enhance a wine's flavor, or even make the wine taste worse. We also received these great books:

 

As we were tasting, we also learned that wine can taste different depending on the glass. The next day was a Reidel Glass Tasting where you would learn about different shaped glasses and their impact on the wine's flavor. I was intrigued, so we signed up for this one as well. They gave a 20% discount to those of us with the Beverage Package. It was under $40 for Alex and me to attend each class, and I definitely recommend these.

[AKR2011]

After the wine class, I was thinking of getting some of that sun, or maybe just finally get a shower. Instead, we decided to play Deal or No Deal. We were the last ones to get tickets and quickly took our seats. If you have never played before, this is basically how it works: You buy a card with the cases on it for $19.95. There is a serial number on the bottom, and they call one of those numbers to bring someone up to the stage. If you don't get called, you open your cases with the person who plays and try to match your amounts with the ones on the screen. More matches = better prizes. Two games are played, and we enjoy it. You spend twice that amount just to play the basic level of Bingo, and IMO this is much more fun.

 

The first person did not win much, and then we got a big surprise when Alex's card was called up to the stage!! Since we were married on 11/11/11, that Case #11 had to be lucky, right? He put it aside and started opening cases. All of the amounts were pretty low, so the first offer was a little over $100. Not bad, I thought. The last guy had a similar offer and blew it by opening up too many cases. Alex wanted to go another round. Once again, he didn't open anything too high, but I was freaking out a little.

 

The offer on this second round was $175, and I was thinking that would cover our wine classes and couple photos. Alex didn't want to walk away with nothing, so he took the deal - SWEET!! Wouldn't you know that the $1,000 was in his case??? Man, we could have put a down-payment on another cruise :(

 

Honestly, I was just thrilled that Alex won anything. I also had three matches on my card and won a free photo. We grabbed our embarkation one. We also bought this adorable towel animal frame:

 

I wasn't kidding when I said that I love towel animals. I'm a pretty big kid at heart. I hope to see more towel frames on future cruises to join Marley the Elephant (yes, it came with a name).

 

After Deal of No Deal, I finally got my shower, and we headed to Movie Theme Song Trivia. This was followed by our first Progressive Trivia. Like I said before, we had a great team and really enjoyed ourselves.

 

For dinner, we headed to O'Sheehan's for their Fisherman's Basket special and a few drinks. It was yummy fried seafood. We also tried their cheesecake brownies, but honestly, I was not impressed. Kind of dry IMO.

 

Tonight's show was Harry O'Donoghue, an Irish singer and storyteller. He had some great jokes and good music, but I would have liked more music. Still, he was a good entertainer that we really enjoyed. Then it was time for more drinks at Gatsby's before heading to bed. When we got to the cabin, sure enough, Muzleena has left us our first towel animal:

[/color][/b][/color]

Edited November 15, 2016 by AKR2011

[AKR2011]

Time for Day 3:

 

After being famished yesterday, I woke up and had breakfast before walking the mile and doing Zumba. I mean, how can anyone be hungry on a cruise? There is no excuse. I grabbed some eggs, bacon, and a croissant, and hung out by the pool to eat and read a little before the walk. I'm an early riser. Alex is not. But that's always fine. At the walk, more people showed up, and we would have the same group from this point on. An awesome little club we had. I really enjoyed chatting with our group each morning as we walked. Then more Zumba and Trivia before I grabbed a quick shower. No flood - Yes! :D

 

I was going to check out the craft that morning, but there were Cruise Critic people there, and they reminded me that we had our Meet and Greet at 11:00. I didn't want to miss that, so I headed there instead. We had a great turnout, and lots of officers showed up to answer questions. I have to say that although he talks a lot, Richard Matic is my absolute favorite Cruise Director. We had him on The Sun and were ecstatic when he heard that he was on The Dawn. He always has a story for you and provides a great program. The Hotel Director was also great and made a great presence around the ship. The NCL Crew is really why we continue to cruise with them. We always have a great connection.

 

After the Meet-and-Greet, I found the husband, who had just finished breakfast. Well, I was ready for lunch at this point. Go figure. To the Venetian I went for more of that yummy hummus, tomato soup, and peanut butter cup cheesecake. I'm predictable, but I know what I like.

 

At 1:00, we had our Riedel Glass Tasting. Once again, we learned SO MUCH. I need to invest in some new glasses and try out my favorite wines at home. They sell these glasses as a set on the ship for I believe $149.99, but that's beyond what I am willing to pay.

 

I guess we didn't have enough to drink, so we went to Gatsby's next. Another cruiser got me hooked on Limoncello Vodka Martinis. So good! We had those with some nuts and hung out until the 3:00 Bean Bag Toss. As cheesy as the games are on the ship, we love them. It's fun to watch everyone, and and once again, we love the crew. For all of the Cruise Staff events, you earned signatures for the events that you attended. I was collected a bunch from the walking, Zumba, Trivia, contests like these, etc.

 

After the Bean Bag Toss was General Knowledge Trivia and Progressive Trivia. We were in 3rd place in Progressive at this point and feeling good. There were a lot of teams. Our team was just in it for fun. As long as we had 50% correct in any of the games on the ship, we were happy. Other teams were a bit more competitive. I was thankful for ours.

 

Tonight's show was Band on the Run with the Dawn Production Cast. I swear that I've seen this before, but it was still enjoyable. The head vocalist, Kaitlyn, is especially good. I always enjoyed her numbers.

 

After the show we tried our Aqua for dinner. They had a yummy sweet potato soup. I ordered the pesto pasta with shrimp and was confused. It was a runny basil sauce. So much oil and not like the pesto I had in the past. Good thing that soup was so good.

 

We walked around the ship a little after dinner, did a couple laps around Deck 7, and checked out Joze and Patti. They have quite the following on this ship. Maybe it's our age, but we just didn't get the hype. They were alright, but definitely not our thing. We like the musician in Gatsby's a bit better, but that's okay. We are always thankful for the variety of music on NCL ships. Back at the room we got a new friend:

[AKR2011]

Can't wait for the review will be my 2nd time on The Dawn this time in The Garden Villa in two weeks!

 

You'll have a blast! Thanks for following.