Back from DAWN 1/2/06 - 1/12/06

[Mrmacman]

Just returned from 10 days on the Dawn. Will try and give you some basic information on my experience along with some insights. I sailed the Dawn a year ago, so I will compare when possible.

 

Embarkation - Wonderful. But only because I am a Lattitudes member and was booked in a penthouse suite. If you fall in to one of these categories pay attention.... get to the pier BEFORE they start boarding the ship!!!! I can't stress this enough. There is a waiting area on the second floor that is marked for Lattitudes and Penthouse suites (sorry, not mini-suites). Get there and wait. They start boarding the ship in the 12 - 12:30 range. we arrived at 11:40. At 12:15 they lined up suite and lattitudes and we marched down the aisle to the head of the line. Checked in and met Claudion (the conceirge). We were on the ship within 10 mins. Friends who arrived at 12:40 had missed the parade taking the group to the head of the line. They had to wait 2 hours to board. So get there EARLY.

 

Cabin - Lovely AE suite. Tons of storage, very comfortable. Cabin stewards were ok, not great. Towel animals only one night (which is FINE with me, but some of you care about that). The fridge was not stocked as a mini-bar, which is also fine with me. Claudio was our concierge and he was very nice. Assisted when asked, but otherwise never saw him. Denny was our butler and I thought he was ok, but sloppy. Made several errors with our breakfast order and made no effort to correct it. Again, I am not complaining since it is more than I have in my daily life. I had heard about receiving daily snacks. We got things about 1/2 the time. Breakfast dishes were frequently left until the evening turn down. Common sense says that they should have cleared them before that time. Not a huge problem, and I could have called to ask for them cleared. Small things that were sloppy. Had to request that the fruit bowl get filled, and Denny forgot for a day and a half. Had it been a big deal to me, again I could have called.

 

Food - very subjective, so I won't elaborate much. Quality was same as a year ago. Good, not very good, and not bad (except the buffet). Loved Teppanyaki. Bistro was very good. You have to wonder what some of the chefs are thinking with their unusual cold soups. The oddest was cold strawberry soup. Loved the sushi. Menu is same in 3 main rooms, but I love Impression the most.

 

Entertainment and Cruise Director - Same shows as a year ago. Enjoyable, nothing bad. But I wish they would update the shows and the deck party themes. I don't need to see the 4 guys pulled out of the crowd and made up in drag again. Linda Minniken is the cruise director. AWFUL! I really appreciate Paul Baya from last year. Linda is lovely woman, but a terrible cruise director. Where Paul seemed to be everywhere and hosting everything, Linda left it up to her assistants. She is not funny, or engaging or interesting. A CD is sort of the host of the ship. They can set the tone. Where as last year it felt like parties and events were well organized and had an energy, this year they felt thrown together.

 

Passengers - A real mix. Last year the stand out "group" was the Russians from Brighton Beach....this year it was the 18 - 23 year old crowd. I do not recall any contingent of young people on the ship last year. This year they were a force to be reconned with. I heard there were some late night problems with drunken and rowdy kids, but I did not see it. They were all there to have fun and certainly did.

 

Ports - loved St. Martin again. They cancelled GSC and we did Nassau. That was nice. There was one bit of drama. About 4 hours after leaving San Juan, the Captain announced that there was a sick passenger and we were heading back towards PR. We met up with a Coast Guard helicoptor that made 4 attempts to land on the ship to airlift the person off. We then turned back and headed on towards the Bahamas.

 

Overall I loved the cruise. I feel it was a bit better last year mostly due to a much better Cruise Director. I really enjoyed the suite and what it offered (and I paid for). I would endorse the Dawn for anyone. It was a nice 10 days away.

[truckracr23]

How was the water leaving NY?

 

Thinking of sailing from NY next year.

[BNYADR]

I had an Aft balcony cabin and was able to watch the copter land. Pretty wild stuff, and it took the pilot an easy 10 minutes to land in relatively calm waters....

 

I concure about the food. The taste was good but the quality is being marginalized....The forces of inflation I guess. One thing I noticed this year is the omlette station was located in the buffet line as opposed to in the floor. It created a line build up frequently in the morning. Another thing that I noticed this year from last is the purposeful clustering of people in the garden cafe.....Interesting labor saving feature. Get people stacked and crowded to the point of aggrevation then open the next buffet line and repeat. I had the farm animal herding feeling quite frequently.

 

This was my second time on NCL as I did the same cruise last year but I doubt I will be returning to them. While the staff was very professional, I got the feeling that management wanted a more intimate relationship with my wallet than I feel is necessary. The shows were so, so. The seminars were all about shopping and future cruises. Pretty pushy stuff IMO.

 

I also understand that there will be some competion out of the NYC port next winter.

[BNYADR]

a little rocky for a day or two .

[AndrewM]

They cancelled GSC and we did Nassau. That was nice.

 

Thanks for the tips on early embarkation for Latitudes members. Why did they cancel GSC? We're scheduled to be there March 14th.

 

andrew.

[Mrmacman]

Thanks for the tips on early embarkation for Latitudes members. Why did they cancel GSC? We're scheduled to be there March 14th.

 

andrew.

 

The first two sea days this year were REALLY rough. we had rain and heavy wind on day one, and hurricane force winds on day two (from what I heard). The first night was the roughest by my standards. It woke me from sleep at about 2am. The Captain was on the bridge that entire night (hence they postponed the Lattitudes and VIP parties until day 3). I don't get sea sick, but many people were. However, last year was calm. As with any cruise, the weather and seas are a crap shoot.

 

They cancelled GSC because of the strong winds. You have to tender at GSC and it would not have been safe. I believe this happens frequently.

 

As far as breakfast - never did the buffet for that. I hear it is a zoo, and I avoided it. You really should get to breakfast in the Venetian. It is really lovely and very tasty. Having a suite was great because we could get full, hot breakfasts in the room, which we did frequently.

 

Oh...by the way...I am sure it was already on the boards, but the two new ships will be Opal and Gem (or Jem).

[BarbCT605]

a little rocky for a day or two .

A little rocky??:eek:

 

I was on this cruise and I guess I'm not as hearty! We had gale force winds. At the Lattitudes party, the Captain mentioned that we had hurricane force winds for a few minutes that nite.

 

Wow -- my DH & I were in an AD Penthouse, aft, and the closet door kept flinging open and the desk drawers kept opening. It was awful. Just walking around the cabin was a challenge.

 

We noticed it was very quiet on the ship the next morning -- not a lot of pax walking around the ship.

 

The weather was great, though, for the remainder of the cruise.

[SRUTKO1226]

Sailing from NYC in winter is sort of a guarentee for rocky seas. Last Feb our bar setup set itself up on the floor. Nothing broke:D

 

I was afraid the first couple of cruises when we encountered rough seas. Now I accept that it is a part of life aboard a ship. And the Dawn does a remarkable job compared to the older smaller ships where you got stuck in your cabin sick as a dog.

 

I find the transition from cold and rocky to warm and smooth like a mini change in seasons and all in one voyage. I love to sail out of NYC standing freezing and looking at that incredible sky line and two days later....sitting outside needing sunscreen....and then the trip home that slowly but surely brings you back to your home in the northeast and reality.

[BNYADR]

A little rocky??:eek:

 

I was on this cruise and I guess I'm not as hearty! We had gale force winds. At the Lattitudes party, the Captain mentioned that we had hurricane force winds for a few minutes that nite.

 

Wow -- my DH & I were in an AD Penthouse, aft, and the closet door kept flinging open and the desk drawers kept opening. It was awful. Just walking around the cabin was a challenge.

 

We noticed it was very quiet on the ship the next morning -- not a lot of pax walking around the ship.

 

The weather was great, though, for the remainder of the cruise.

 

I love rough weather so this 10-15 foot sea's are a little rocky to me! LOL

 

The heavier the weather the more interesting the ride,,,,,And besides, let the captain earn his pay!

 

I did 30 foot seas on the RCL Empress to BDA in '01 and since then anything is calm. LOL

[Dolphins]

Appreciate your prompt review. Agree with you about Paul Baya and the old shows needing updating. I suspect the reason you had many active 18 to 23 olds on board is that many colleges are still on holiday recess when you sailed.

Regarding priority boarding, there was supposed to be something like that available for Silver Latitude members (6 or more cruises on NCL) regardless of their cabin? Any information on that?

[Smellytoes]

Did you notice if the menus in the main restaurants were much different from last year? I know it's hard to remember what was available last year, but I do remember that I liked the selection.

[Mrmacman]

Appreciate your prompt review. Agree with you about Paul Baya and the old shows needing updating. I suspect the reason you had many active 18 to 23 olds on board is that many colleges are still on holiday recess when you sailed.

Regarding priority boarding, there was supposed to be something like that available for Silver Latitude members (6 or more cruises on NCL) regardless of their cabin? Any information on that?

 

There is one waiting area for any Latitude or suite patron. Once boarding starts, they took the suite people first and latitudes next. BUT, as I mentioned, make sure you are there BEFORE they start to board. Friends who are Latitudes had to wait in the general line because they were 10 minutes late. Some NCL staffer told them that Latitudes had to be there at 9:30am, which is utter nonsense.

[Mrmacman]

Did you notice if the menus in the main restaurants were much different from last year? I know it's hard to remember what was available last year, but I do remember that I liked the selection.

 

Menus were very similar to last year. The theme nights I remember were Carribean, French, Italian, and American. They no longer have the US presidents dinner. I ate about 1/2 the time in specialty rests.

[shoreguy]

How was the water leaving NY?

 

Thinking of sailing from NY next year.

 

How is this for rocky - today the current first sea day:D

[theduffys]

Mrmacman--Hi!!! Wish we could have been with you again and glad you enjoyed your holiday.

[SailAways]

A little rocky??:eek:

 

Wow -- my DH & I were in an AD Penthouse, aft, and the closet door kept flinging open and the desk drawers kept opening. It was awful.

 

OK, now I know for sure that duct tape is not just folklore- it truly would have been handy to keep those doors and drawers closed!!:)

I'll never leave home without it again!!

 

SailAways

[SailAways]

Double post - sorry!

[swoosh2005]

I suspect the reason you had many active 18 to 23 olds on board is that many colleges are still on holiday recess when you sailed.

 

My 22 year old son and his friend were with us on this cruise. Nick has always traveled with us and he said, from his point of view, that this was the BEST socializing cruise he had ever been on. It even topped last year's New Years Eve. They met alot of kids their ages and had a blast. They closed Dazzles every night and had a great time in Karaoke.

There were some girls crying the last night because the cruise was over and they were having such a good time.

I did worry one of the first nights until I talked to him and made sure they were only staying in the inside areas of the ship.

We heard there was a terrible incident on a Costa ship (we had heard it was Carnival) where a young girl was lost overboard--there was some conversation that it was alcohol related.

[swoosh2005]

NCL M/S Dawn

1/02/06-1/12/06

NYC-NYC

 

Two adults and 2 twenty-something young men (son & friend)

Embarkation was pretty easy. After a one hour drive from CT we arrived at the pier and left the boys and the bags curbside with instructions to find a porter. I parked the car-$180. for 10 days up on the roof of the garage and headed back down to meet everyone. As we had a penthouse AB, I found an NCL rep and they guided us to the head of the line. We went through security and proceeded to give our credit cards and receive our boat cards at a line for penthouse guests. After that we were met by Claudio, our concierge for the cruise, and directed onto the ship. I told him that we knew where we were going so we didn’t have to be escorted.

As we had sailed in this suite before I knew what to expect. I love this cabin because of the space, the 2nd bedroom and the bathroom shower setup. Our bottle of Absolut which was preordered from NCL was there waiting for us. I brought tonic and limes along. Our TA had sent 2 bottles of Merlot and there was a bottle of Champagne chilling in the ice bucket. We did receive little goodies almost every evening either from Latitudes, the Hotel Manager or the Concierge.

Our butler, Ron, came by to introduce himself. He is a new butler and really tried hard to give very good service during our cruise. He did a very nice job. We didn’t ask for too much, however. We enjoyed breakfast in our cabin most mornings and the occasional room service.

We met our room stewards. They were quite unobtrusive, as usual, during our stay. I did have to ask for some towel animals. I guess this is something that NCL has dropped out of the program (no biggie). Our cabin was always clean and had fresh towels twice a day.

After a lunch in Venetian, we made a reservation for Cagney’s for our first dinner-took a tour around the ship and prepared to depart.

It was unfortunately raining when we left. So under the cover of Deck 13 we watched as we sailed by Lady Liberty and under the Verrazano Bridge. On previous cruises they had played “I’m Proud To Be An American” while we passed by the Statue-they didn’t this time-maybe the rain?

I’m glad we got dinner in early; it was quite good, because it turned into be a very rough night, wave wise. Our son’s friend got queasy and I gave him my Relief Band. I used it for a while too but never got sick. We went to make our donation to the Casino and went to bed pretty early looking forward to 10 days of relaxation.

More to follow-I'm still rocking!

Denise

[BarbCT605]

How is this for rocky - today the current first sea day:D

Yeah, sure... NOW it's calm!:rolleyes:

[swoosh2005]

Yeah, sure... NOW it's calm!:rolleyes:

 

 

but thank goodness for our last sea day!

I went out on deck with long pants and long sleeves and happlily went back into the cabin for my bathing suit-It was hot & sunny until the clouds came at @2:30-it was a great last day.......

[BarbCT605]

but thank goodness for our last sea day!

I went out on deck with long pants and long sleeves and happlily went back into the cabin for my bathing suit-It was hot & sunny until the clouds came at @2:30-it was a great last day.......

Yes, it was gorgeous!

 

I'm still rockin' too. It's odd to just be sitting down and feel the sway of the ship. It's nature's little reminder of a great cruise!

[ts01854]

Yes, it was gorgeous!

 

I'm still rockin' too. It's odd to just be sitting down and feel the sway of the ship. It's nature's little reminder of a great cruise!

 

Or your body telling you it's happy hour :D

[travelteam]

Seas rocked the ship. We were jolted out of bed at 4:30 ther first nite. The ship was listing..............we opened the veranda door and heard the wind howling. Quite a ride. Neither of us were sick. Heard many folks including staff were sick for two days.

 

The college crowd on board were respectful and fun to watch. They added to the excitment in the lounges. Never saw anything out of order.

 

DH uses a scooter, everyone was more than helpful and respectful of our situation. Had no problems with the elevators or getting into or out of lounges. Once I stop rocking I will write a review of our trip.

 

Would I do it again, in a heatbeat.

 

The food. Yes it was problematic. Not enough choices. Got very boring after a few days. Fish, chicken and beef always available. What was missing was creative menus. But, I didn't cook so we somet6imes ordered a pasta main for a starter, had a steak, or a fish. Desserts were to die for. Only gained 2 pounds entire 10 days.:D

[swoosh2005]

hi Dee

sorry I didn't see you when we left!

I'm actually COOKING dinner right now-YIKES!!!

Back to work for me today.

I'm so happy we met!

Denise

I have photos to send you so I need your email address.(Tortola and the Hidden Beach)

Denise