Dawn Trip Review 1/27-2/7

[CozGurl]

The Hub and I are back from an 11 night Caribbean cruise on the Dawn and thought I’d give a review.  I do so much reading here before my cruise I feel like I should try to give back even if I’m not a great writer, storyteller or photographer. I don’t take a bunch of pics so you won’t find that here but I will tell you where we went, what we did, what we spent and our opinion on our experiences. We are 54 and 61 years old, so our age may very well taint or heighten our views and opinions so keep that in mind. I also apologize in advance if I’m long winded but I hope I leave some sort of nugget that someone else finds helpful when planning their cruise.

 

We love to snorkel so when I found this itinerary with Curacao, Bonaire and Tortola, I knew we had to go. And, Barbados is the home of Mount Gay – the Hub’s favorite rum so that was the clincher. There were 8 ports of call on this 11 night cruise. We started in Puerto Rico but we weren’t there long enough to do an excursion or anything. First port was Aruba, then Curacao, Bonaire, Grenada, Barbados, St Lucia, Antigua, St Martin and Tortola. We had excursions planned everywhere except Grenada and Antigua. Frankly those two ports aren’t known for great snorkeling and so we thought we’d take it easy those days and maybe stay on the ship since we don’t have any sea days other than the first.

 

Day 1 - Preflight

We live over an hour away from STL (our closest international airport) so we drove up the night before our flight and stayed at a Drury. You never know what Missouri weather will do so we weren’t taking any chances on flying out the day of departure even though we didn’t sail from Puerto Rico until 9:00 p.m. To bed early for an early flight the next morning. We chose to park at the airport instead of a park and fly hotel because the hub hates waiting on the courtesy van when we get back.

 

Day 2 – Puerto Rico

The government shutdown had ended the day or two before so we had no trouble getting through the airport to our gate. Well, other than I had a can of mousse in my carry on. I didn’t think foam counted as liquid . Thankfully it was a cheap brand so I didn’t mind throwing it in the trash though I certainly would have put it in our checked bag had I realized. BTW, we are over over packers. The same couple that did a 9 night European cruise with 2 days in Rome with only carry-on luggage, took a 49 pound checked bag, two overhead fully loaded suitcases and two under the seat personal items bags that might have weighed more than our suitcases! It is exhausting hauling all of that around! When it came time to pack to come home we vowed to never over pack again!

 

Flight, connecting flight and all went well. Oh, except for some reason we didn’t check the big board when we landed in Houston and went to the gate on our original boarding pass. When we arrived at the gate we were told it had been changed to a different gate at the other end of the airport. That was quite a hike! Boarded again and off to PR. We landed, gathered our huge checked bag and headed for the super long taxi line. Luckily the line moved somewhat quickly. Taxi to our B&B was $22.

 

We arrived at Casa Los Cummins, a charming B&B, early in the afternoon. We paid $200 a night. I don’t know if that is the normal fee or if it was high because of whatever was going on in PR. There is a gate with a key pad for entry and a cute outdoor space when you enter. We were assigned a large room on the end of the building with a private patio and entrance to the house. Unfortunately we weren’t there long enough to enjoy it. The room had a queen bed and a day bed in the sitting are by the TV. We travel quite a bit. We’ve slept in a lot of beds, but this was the hardest mattress we’ve ever had the displeasure of sleeping on. Harder than the notoriously hard mattresses in Mexico. We didn’t sleep well because of this but other than that our stay here was nice.

 

We dropped our bags and freshened up and started walking a couple of blocks toward the beach. On the way we passed a park with live music and lots of people gathered. We were anxious to get to the ocean so we didn’t stop. We got to the ocean and took in a deep breath and eyeful. Beautiful! About that time we realized we were supposed to be in OSJ to meet some folks from our roll call for dinner at Barrachina – the home of the Pina Colada. As it would happen a taxi pulled by us and stopped, waiting for a couple to come down from their hotel. We asked if we could share the cab and they said sure. The ride was to be$17.

 

This is going to be the taxi rant portion of my review. It is no wonder that Uber and Lift are taking over. You don’t have to deal with dishonest people. The price is the price. You know it upfront and they can’t overcharge you. On the other hand, I’ve had more taxi drivers lie and overcharge than I can count. The couple we were sharing with just wanted to be dropped somewhere in OSJ to walk around and as I mentioned we were going to Barrachina. Traffic was awful because of some special event going on so it took a while to reach our destination. The taxi driver pulls the car over and has the couple get out and charges them $17 – they paid him $20. We asked if we should get out here and he said no. He drives two more blocks and points down the street where we can see the Barrachina sign and tells us we owe him $17 also!! *****??? Yep, because we were dropped at 2 different places he was entitled to charge us both full fare. Uh, what about the fact that they would have ridden the 2 extra blocks with us because they didn’t care where they were dropped, or that we would have gotten and out with them and walked two more blocks?? I will never take a taxi again unless Uber is not available. End rant.

 

Barrachina’s was packed. We met our new CC friends and headed to the bar for Pina Coladas. They were DELICIOUS and the margaritas were awesome too! We were having fun drinking and talking so I don't remember how long we waited for a table but we were finally seated. In Barrachina’s defense we were a large group (20 or so?) and it was a super busy night in OSJ. What I didn’t understand was why most everyone’s food was cold when they were bringing it out a plate at a time. It isn’t like they waited until everything was done and brought it all at once. Personally, my food was good. I ordered an appetizer of coconut fish chunks or something and they were yummy. I had something else (maybe fried plantains?) that was good but can’t remember exactly what it was. Hub ordered Puerto Rico’s famous Mofongo or whatever and it was…uh…OK. Perhaps if it had been warm or hot it would have been better but as it was, he was not impressed and neither was I. Probably 80% of our group was served cold food. We walked a couple of minutes after dinner but we were so tired from being up since 3 or 4:00 a.m. that we ordered an Uber and went back to the B&B. Uber cost $7 or $8.

[CozGurl]

Day 3 – Finally on the Dawn!

Even though we’d gone to bed early again we didn’t feel wonderfully rested after sleeping on that hard mattress. We had forgotten to break some $100 bills the day before so we took off to CVS to replace my mousse and get some change.

 

About money - we weren’t sure if we could get change on the ship, but found out later in the week that we could. Money is another thing we over pack. You just don’t need much cash on a cruise. You spend none on the ship and some of our excursions were paid for online and the rest we had an envelope with the amount we owed plus extra for tips. When we shop or eat or whatever at ports, most everything goes on our credit card except tipping and taxis. Using the card accumulates our points and ensures we get the best exchange rate. We vow every time to not take so much cash, but we always do.

 

Back to our morning stroll. They were fixing breakfast when we left the B&B but we weren’t hungry at that point. By the time we walked up to the main strip we were so we stumbled in Pannes. We realized it was highly rated on Trip Advisor so we were excited. We didn’t like anything about it. We were seated across from the restrooms and by what I’d call al hostess stand. Constant traffic all around us and it was loud. We just wanted to relax. We got bacon, eggs, hash browns, toast and pancakes. Hash browns were a patty and my bacon was raw. I never send food back but I love bacon and couldn’t eat it. The toast was actually like French bread, different but tasty. The pancake was thin and dry. I guess we should have ordered the French toast for which they are supposed to be known but we always choose pancakes over it.

 

Off to CVS for supplies and change. We both bought odds and ends and broke a couple of $100 bills. We walked back to the B&B where we still had a couple of hours to wait. One of our CC friends noticed a sign at the port that boarding had been delayed until 1:00. Our B&B was gracious enough to let us hang around until time to leave. Just before 1:00 we ordered an Uber which took about 30 seconds to arrive. I think it was $7 or $8 back to the port.

 

Finally at port!!! No issues with checking in or boarding. Lines moved really quickly and we were on board by 1:15. We headed for the atrium for the hub to order us cocktails while I took care of some specialty dining changes. There is a dining reservation desk next to guest services but they had us go to Bamboo where they had 2 or 3 reps set up with computers to help guests. We like eating early and when I reserved online there was no early seating available. I have to say that we have such great Italian and Mexican food in our home town that we didn’t want to eat at those two. We’ve done a hibachi grill thing and don’t care much for French food so we were using the reservations at Cagney’s and Moderno. Having never had specialty dining we weren’t really sure when and how to schedule. Now that we’ve done it I would give more thought to the nights to choose. I got all four nights changed to 5:30 or so seatings and went back to the atrium for my first of what seemed like 10,000 Bahama Mamas. Atrium bar made the best Bahama Mamas on the ship.

 

Note here about our beverage package. We used the crap out of it! We didn’t have a BP on our last Royal Cruise so now that we’ve done it both ways, we’ll always pay for it. Lots of people we talked with said they didn’t get the BP because our cruise was so port intensive and we wouldn’t be onboard a lot. That’s true but we were always back to the ship by 4:00 at the latest and were usually back by 2:00. Plenty of time to use the BP for us and I’m not even a big day drinker. A little rant about NCL’s bars – NO LEMONADE!!!!!!!!???????? And this is a Caribbean cruise! I asked a couple of bartenders if they could make lemonade with some simple syrup and lemon juice but they just looked at me like I had 2 heads. So, I will never leave home again without Crystal Lite so at the very least I can get vodka with water and add some flavoring. Please note that this hiccup did NOT prevent me from getting my money’s worth from the DP J

 

While I was making dining changes they announced cabins were open at 1:30. Score! We got to go cups and back up cocktails and off to our cabin to relax and unpack. We sat on the balcony, listened to music and enjoyed our cocktails. We unpacked and organized then slipped into our suits and took off to explore the ship and check out the thermal suite area since we’d also purchased that package for just over $200 per person. The pool was not full on that first day but the rest of the week the amenities were available from 8:00 a.m. to 11:00 p.m. IIRC. We didn’t get in at that point because we still wanted to explore. Stopped at many bars for many celebratory cocktails and headed back to cabin for a minute before muster. Checked bag was at door by 4:00. After muster (we were in the Venetian) we cleaned up for dinner. Moderno tonight.

 

Moderno – we weren’t huge fans. The small salad bar was delightful. The variety of meat was good but the taste wasn’t quite there for us. I think our favorite meats that night were chicken wrapped in bacon, pork loin and sirloin steak which was better than the filet wrapped in bacon. Those yummy little cheesy biscuit puff things made me very happy and the grilled pineapple did it for the hub. I think he wanted them to just leave the entire pineapple on his plate but didn’t ask. We decided after that we’d try to change our other Moderno night to a 3^rd Cagney’s but there was no early seating for Cagney’s left so we stayed with a 2^nd night at Moderno’s later. We thought about doing another restaurant but decided maybe it was just that it was the first night on the ship. Sad to report that our second night wasn’t any better. Would definitely skip this restaurant next time.

 

We went back to our cabin and changed into our suits again and headed up for the hot tub at the front of the ship where no one hardly hangs out – supposedly. As the days passed more and more people were in that tub and in less than a week it was actually fuller than the tubs by the pool. Nevertheless, we spent a lovely few hours there talking with different folks and watching the view as we pulled out of San Juan. Lovely.

 

Back to the cabin later to sit on the balcony and journal about the day. This became a nightly routine that I loved.

[jjlen11]

We are sailing on the Dawn in April...…..glad you wrote about some of your experiences! After sailing on the Bliss, all bright eyed and bushy tailed coming back and booking another cruise within 10 hours of coming home, the agent advised I did everything right but may be in for a let down since I just got of the Bliss and was booking the Dawn......so Im especially interested in all feedback!

[CozGurl]

I hope you find some useful nuggets jjlen11. We really did enjoy ourselves on this cruise.

 

Day 4 – Only Day at Sea

The water was pretty rough last night and I have motion sickness issues. Luckily I had started taking Dramamine a couple of days before at bedtime. The first couple of days on the ship I took it morning and night because I didn’t want to take any chances with all of that rough water. We were slow moving as I always hate leaving my balcony in the morning but we made it to the Meet and Greet at 11:00 in Le Bistro.

 

After M&G we headed to the Venetian for lunch. We had popcorn shrimp, Caesar salad, Philly cheese steak, fish and chips and peanut butter cup cheesecake. All quite good. We order several things and then share. This is as good a time as any to mention our drink cups. We take 22 oz. insulated metal cups with us and have them filled with ice water to drink all day and at night in our cabin when the cocktail day has ended. I don’t drink soda so I drink a lot of water on vacation because no one ever has Diet Citrus Green Tea which is my drink of choice at home. With full bellies and cups off we went to the Thermal Suite.

 

Thermal Suite - It was sort of an overcast gloomy day and the boat was rocking so the hot tubs and heated loungers were really welcoming. The pool was quite warm, almost too warm as it wasn’t very refreshing after being in the hot tubs. Some days the hot tub was so hot I couldn’t get in it. The other square hot tub thing with the lounger in it didn’t fit me well. I’m too short and couldn’t hang on lol. If we cruise NCL again I’ll not purchase the package for myself but will for the hub. He enjoyed it every single day, but then again he goes to our gym several times a week and swims, steams, saunas and hot tubs. He just loves it way more than me. Though having said that I enjoyed the adult’s only area on the RCI Jewel cruise from last fall so I’m not sure why I didn’t enjoy this. Too enclosed? No bar? Too hot in the entire room? It would have been welcoming if it were cold outside but not when it was hot outside. Maybe that was it.

 

Back to the cabin balcony to enjoy the sun who’d finally made an appearance. I took a short nap and then showered for dinner. We stopped at Gatsby’s for a pre-dinner drink. Dennis was there playing music and we loved him. He played our style music and it was fun to listen to him and sing along. Off to dinner at Aqua. There was a 10 minute wait. Service was sooooo slooooow but the food was pretty good. Smoked mozzarella ravioli, spring rolls, clam chowder, crusted beef, BBQ bacon chicken, Boston crème pie and apple strudel. Everything was good except the strudel. It was cold and not a lot of flavor. Didn’t order it again.

 

We headed back to Gatsby’s since we’d enjoyed it so much but Dennis was gone and Nathaniel was there on the piano. I’m sure Nathaniel was fine but as we chatted with folks at the bar and listened to him we just didn’t enjoy him at all. As the cruise went on we noticed that it was hard to get a set at a table when Dennis played but not many full tables when Nathaniel was playing.

 

We were exhausted once again (a nightly theme for this cruise) and headed to our cabin to get our beach bag packed for Aruba the next day. We have a huge beach bag. We carry the 2 floats, 2 towels, water bottle, small first aid kit and some wipes and baby powder (for getting rid of sand). We also keep sunscreen, glasses, Chap Stick, eye drops, ear plugs and money in the bag. I’m a mom and grandma. What can I say? I’m always prepared!

 

Day 5 – Aruba

We were in Aruba from 8-8 so we didn’t have to get up early so I booked an afternoon excursion. We grabbed our beach bag and went to O’Sheehan’s for breakfast, which we ended up doing a lot. Their Express breakfast with scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns and toast is basically what I order for breakfast anywhere I am. Hub had pastries the first day but they were somewhat dry and tasteless so it was toast for him from then on. We got a water bottle filled and off we went.

 

As I mentioned in the beginning we love to snorkel. We know that Aruba isn’t really known for great snorkeling so at first I’d planned no excursion for this port. Then I came across a catamaran snorkel sail on Viator for $45 pp with Aruba Water Sports. We own a boat and love being out on the water so since this was relatively inexpensive I booked it so that at least we could go boating and use our floats in the water while others snorkeled.

 

Straight out of the cruise port and across the street to the right is the Arubus terminal. $10 each took us to Palm Beach where our tour started and then back to the ship later. It was about a 30 minutes ride with all of the stops. We checked in at Aruba Water Sport but were quite early so we left our stuff behind their counter and grabbed our floats to hit the water – chilly water! If you search for “spring floats” on Amazon you’ll find what I’m talking about. They fold to a small circle that fit nicely into the front pocket of our checked bag. It takes about 5 puffs to blow them up because only the outer ring hold air. We don’t travel anywhere with water without them and people always ask us where to get them.

 

When it was time to go a little rubber boat took us out to the catamaran. The crew was so super nice and entertaining. They of course had a steady supply of rum punch which I don’t drink before snorkeling but since we weren’t snorkeling I indulged. It’s so funny how you never really know what you’re going to get when you order rum punch lol. They also served tuna salad roll ups, pineapple, and cantaloupe.

 

The water was rough at the first stop so we didn’t even get off the boat. One lady was struggling and one of the crew jumped right in and helped her. People got back on pretty quickly and we were off to our second stop which had calmer water. They told us we’d have an hour or two to snorkel, swim whatever so we broke out our floats, grabbed some punch and jumped in. They had a rope with a life preserver behind the boat so we hooked our feet on that and kicked back to enjoy the sun, rum and music. One of the guys would bring us another drink or pull us in on the rope for another. What a lovely way to start our vacation!!!

 

Back to land and off to get back on the bus. Hub needed the restroom and as we were passing the hotel spa there were outdoor restrooms the maid said we could use. The bus came moments after we got to the street and dropped us right back by the pier.

 

Side note - OMG we so loved the wet, cool rags they gave us when we got back to the ship every day!

 

Once back on board we started what became pretty much daily routine of the hub going to the thermal suite and me on the balcony writing about our excursion. We were starving when hub got back to the cabin so we got ready for dinner. We had talked to some folks who loved Bamboo so we headed there with no reservations which was not a problem since it was early.

 

Bamboo – They had orange beef but I asked them to substitute chicken and it was no problem. Hub had some sort of spicy shrimp stuff and we also had pot stickers, spring rolls and calamari. It was just OK. We never went back there though we kept talking to folks that really enjoyed it.

 

We stopped at OSheehan’s for some apple pie because Bamboo’s desserts weren’t interesting to us. They also make the 2^nd best Bahama Mama on the ship. Wonta? Or something like that was the hub’s favorite bartender. Then we headed to Bliss for the 55 to Stay Alive game. I of course signed up the hub and his name was drawn hahaha. He had to do the pencil catching challenge which I could have never done with my tiny little pigmy hands. He won his round but didn’t win the finals. Drinks in the Bliss were awful. The Bahama Mama tasted like Tang. I think maybe their pineapple juice was bad because I tried something else and it was awful.

 

Back to Gatsby’s to hear Dennis and have cocktails. We hung out at Gatsby’s a lot to listen to him. He and Nathaniel rotated each night one with the early shift and one with the late. We’d just find other stuff to do when Nathaniel was playing.

 

When we finally wrapped up the night we went back to the cabin to pack the beach bag and sit on the balcony writing. We tried to watch TV here and there but my God they have the worst TV offerings ever. I don’t remember Carnival or Royal being that bad but maybe they were. At any rate, it was a wonderful day!

 

[maja651]

Loving your review! One request though. - it is very hard to read.  Can you please type the rest in a non-cursive font?

[CozGurl]

Absolutely Maja. I didn't realize it was showing up in cursive. I chose one of the fonts from the drop down box. I'll choose something else next time. 

[maja651]

7 minutes ago, CozGurl said:

Absolutely Maja. I didn't realize it was showing up in cursive. I chose one of the fonts from the drop down box. I'll choose something else next time. 

THANKS! 

[don't-use-real-name]

Impressive report - thorough and detailed - waiting for the Paul Harvey the rest of the story !

 

5 time cruiser on the DAWN - I see and relate to everything that you report - I love the DAWN !

[CozGurl]

Day 6 – Curacao

Curacao was one of the reasons we booked this cruise. I’d read/heard that they had wonderful snorkeling. I really wanted to be with a good tour company as this stop was important to us. I read and studied and ended up booking with Bounty Adventures. Let me just say that this was hands down the WORST catamaran and snorkeling trip we’ve ever taken ANYWHERE. And the two things that bother me the most are that they have good reviews on TA and that some of the people were on their first snorkel trip and may never snorkel again because of this company. 

 

Cost of this trip was $168 which included $9 each for transportation to and from the ship. It was about a 30 minute bus ride to the pier where the cat left. The snorkeling was nice. It wasn’t amazing. The tug boat has probably been over toured and not in great shape.

 

But here are my biggest problems with this tour –When it came time to get out at the first spot they passed out masks and snorkels and the captain announced “we have vests for the lazy floaters.” *****? Shaming people into not using a flotation device? I raised my hand and said I was a lazy floater and would be happy to have one. Then when the hub asked for fins he was told that he had big feet and didn’t need them. WFT again? You do most of your swimming with your feet when snorkeling. If you don’t have fins and you have to use your arms then you get tired. What happens when you get tired and these asses didn’t give you a snorkel vest??

 

They didn’t help fit masks, get in the water and even worse didn’t help them get out of the water. I take that back, worst was that not one of the crew got in the water to help people. There were people really struggling and other people trying to help them. Folks trying to climb in the boat with fins because no one explained to them or helped them to take the fins off before climbing out.

 

I could go on and on but I’ll save that for the TA and port of call review I do on these people, but I’ll say one last thing – I heard the captain tell one of the passengers to please not throw cigarette butts in the water. OK, two things – why let people smoke on the cat at all? And the guy barbecuing had a girlfriend with him throwing her butts in the water. At one point the boyfriend had given her a cup. She used it once and threw it away. After that she dropped them over the side of the boat like no one would notice. Well *I* noticed.

 

Bus dropped us back at port. We walked down by the bridge and it was open. We were pooped and went back to the ship through the fort. Wow that was some expensive window shopping.

 

We were hungry and stopped by O’Sheehan’s for a burger and dog. Dog was better than the burger. They have really good fries too and the 2^nd best Bahama Mama on the ship. I went to the thermal suite with hub today. He stayed longer than I did. I was back to the balcony to write and vent about our day. When he got back to the cabin we headed to the buffet for him to snack on something. I was still pretty content from my hot dog.

 

Buffet – dinner that night had the worst selection of any buffet I’ve ever seen. Things we did taste were bland. Very small selection. There wasn’t even enough on the salad bar to make a decent salad. Dessert selection was pitiful. We went to the buffet for breakfast one morning when O’Sheehan’s was busy and it was OK. We passed through one other night and again found nothing to eat.

 

Edited February 13, 2019 by CozGurl

[TrinaLC]

Wow, you went to a lot of trouble but cannot read the cursive. Too bad. 

[CozGurl]

I don't understand the cursive. It looks as normal to me as your font. 

[don't-use-real-name]

2 hours ago, TrinaLC said:

Wow, you went to a lot of trouble but cannot read the cursive. Too bad. 

The original 3 posts were in the best I could tell the Comic Sands MS type font -

while not cursive (scroll handwriting) it was smaller finer print than the CC default

This last post uses the normal (default) CC font so the report/review now reads just like all the rest of the CC post

Edited February 14, 2019 by don't-use-real-name

[bluehawks47]

I can read this perfectly fine.  It looks like Time New Roman to me... No problem.  It might have something to do with others reading it on an Ipad??

I am enjoy your review.  We will be on the Dawn in 5 weeks :) 

We are also from Missouri... St. Louis.  We are so ready to get out of this snow, ice, cold and crazy weather.  What stateroom were you in?  We are in a balcony on the 9th floor towards the aft. 

[Mrs.C05]

Yes I have read that some people the font comes up in cursive if they're reading it on their phones or iPads. I know on my phone, when I'm reading the reviews, and the OP uses a special font (not sure if it's a specific one or any font than the default) that it comes up in cursive. I can read cursive but does sometimes blend close together, lol! 

Can't wait to read the rest @CozGurl

[CozGurl]

Thanks for the explanations. I guess because I'm writing in Word then c/p to CC it gives me warning that I'm in rich text and can't post. I did chose Comic first time but after that generic. Sorry to those having trouble.

 

Hi BlueHawk, we're in Columbia. We were in cabin 9212. I just love starting and ending my day on a balcony, especially when it is freezing cold and snowing/icing at home! We missed the "polar vortex."

 

Hopefully I'll finish my "novel" this weekend. Glad you're enjoying!

[sassyshar]

CozGurl, DH and I were also on this sailing.   I have to say that I'm in total agreement regarding the buffet.   Was on the Dawn 13 months ago, and the buffet was below average at best and this trip it was just plain terrible, in taste and selection.   Loving your review and reliving our experience.   

[CozGurl]

Sorry it has taken so long to get back to this. 

 

Day 7 – Bonaire

Up early for the easy walk to meet the folks of the Woodwind snorkel company. In stark contrast to Bounty Adventures in Curacao, Woodwind in Bonaire is the best snorkel company we’ve ever been with. Dee started with a nice talk before we ever boarded the catamaran. She spoke to us as if we were all beginners so that no one felt out of place. She had vests, noodles, corrective vision masks – you name it. They brought around masks and made sure they fit properly before moving to the next person. There were less than 20 of us (about half of what were on the trip on Curacao) and they broke us into three groups. We all had a guide while in the water. They had drinks and delicious food. Class act all the way! Snorkeling in Bonaire was amazing! This cruise would have been worth it if this was the only port we would have had. So many fish and beautiful coral. You can tell Bonaire has deep respect for their marine life and protect it well.

 

Back on the ship the hub went to his thermal suite happy place and I went to the Bimini bar to meet up with some CC friends. Had some fries and a couple of cocktails before heading back to get ready for Cagney’s.

 

Cagney’s – Delicious! Weird though, they didn’t have ribeye. They told the hub that the ribeye they were supposed to get in PR was not up to their quality standards so we’d have none for this sailing. Not sure if that was the real story or not. Didn’t matter, he had a yummy porterhouse and me a filet. And that crab cake was one of the best I’d ever had! The second time we went I had the fisherman’s platter or something and the crab cake was much smaller but it didn’t matter because I’d had one for an appetizer too J We wished all 4 of our dining stops had been there instead of the 2 we’d had at Moderno. We know better for next time.

 

We went to Gatsby’s after dinner. Some CC friends were going to the comedian show and we tagged along. We didn’t find Vince Acevedo particularly funny. We found the seats in the theater really small and packed. My 6’2” hub had trouble keeping his legs bent so much especially since his knees are great. We didn’t go back to any other shows.

 

Back to Gatsby’s after the show for what would be the last time we listened to Dennis. Good times except for the female bartender (Leila I believe) having a hissy fit about something. She proceeded to stomp around and slam bottles and glasses for a while. I finally asked her if she was angry with us at the bar. It sort of snapped her back into where she was and what she was doing and was OK after that. We closed the bar down that night. Other than her, good times.

 

[CozGurl]

Day 8 – Grenada

Honestly, Grenada didn’t look that interesting to us so we had no excursions planned. We’d had 3 busy days before that so we decided we’d spend most of the day on the ship. We did need a couple of things from a grocery store so after sleeping late and a dog at O’Sheehan’s we took off to find a store. Super easy – walk through the “mall” and take a left when you get out to the street. Walk about 3 blocks and there is a big grocery store on the left at the corner.

 

After we grabbed out band aids and 50 SPF sunscreen, we headed back out into the heat, humidity, traffic and what seemed like an overwhelming amount of people. We were going to walk up to the straw market but it was so loud and congested and the sidewalks not great that we went straight back to the ship. I went to the thermal suite for an hour or so then headed up to the deck to find a shady spot and relax, after I got some ice cream.

 

Sunscreen – 30 SPF does not cut it. Someone on the ship said “it’s like spreading butter on yourself” and that’s about right. After we got the 50 we were fine.

 

We headed to the Venetian at 5:30 for dinner. We were seated with some nice folks from MN and the next thing you know it is 2 hours later! We stopped at the atrium bar but didn’t care for the couple singing. Swung by Gatsby’s and Nathaniel was playing so we took off for our cabin. We sat on the balcony a while and packed our beach bag for the next day. Ended up in bed watching Ocean’s 8 and going to sleep early.

[CozGurl]

Day 8 – Barbados

Barbados is the home of hub’s favorite rum – Mount Gay. He didn’t care what we did this day as long as he got to tour the rum factory. I found a 3 hour snorkel tour on Viator that would time our day just right to get to be on and in the water and go see the rum factory.

 

The pier/dock area in Barbados is in a very industrial working shipyard sort of place. You have to take the free shuttle bus from the ship to the outer area where you can meet your tour or catch a cab. The line was quite long at 9:00 or so when we went down.

 

The catamaran tour was with Action Charters. They have two cats I think, the Stiletto and Supercats. Our first stop was to swim with turtles. There were so many boats and people that the water was stirred up with poor visibility. There were several turtles and some rays.  There was a 2^nd snorkel stop that hub participated in. He said it was OK. There were about 20-25 people so we had lots of room and a good time. I’m not sure it was worth $70 pp, but we really did enjoy being on the water for a few hours. They dropped us off and the driver dropped us at Mt. Gay.

 

I am certain that this tour is not worth $20 pp but I did it anyway. It was about an hour long and included a short movie about the history and a cute tour guide – Shawn I believe. After the tour and film we made it to the tasting room. There were 6 or so bottles of rum on the bar but we only got to taste 4. We were given a shot of each but I took only a small sip of each and gave it to the hub. By the time we were done he’d basically had 8 shots of rum lol. Then we went to the bar where you get a coupon for a discounted drink. We each ordered something and again I didn’t like mine so the hub drank both. As you can imagine he was lit up by the time we left there!

 

We stopped in O’Sheehans to get some food in him. Back to the room by 3:30 and realized we had a 5:45 reservation at Moderno. Luckily they changed it to the next night for us. We wouldn’t have been hungry and I’m not sure the hub would have sobered up by then. The food had helped sober him up so off to the TS he went leaving me on my balcony.

 

Barbados was the first port in which we had to be back on the ship at 5:00 instead of 6:00. Let’s just say that I don’t think everyone realized that because people were still running to the ship at 4:50 and at 5:00 the shuttle dropped the final 4 passengers. Tons of us were at our balconies cheering and clapping for them as they arrived. It was great fun!

 

We grabbed a lite late bite (say that 3 times real fast) at Aqua and back to bed early. Long day and a long tour ahead of us in the morning.

[Barb Nahoumi]

I am enjoying your review so much.  The Dawn is one of our favorite ships, since it was homeported in Boston for so many years.  

[newmexicoNita]

2 hours ago, Barb Nahoumi said:

I am enjoying your review so much.  The Dawn is one of our favorite ships, since it was homeported in Boston for so many years.  

I wish she would have stayed in Boston. I hate sailing out of NYC and I too love the ship. How could anyone not like a ship with such a friendly crew, Gatsby's and Jose and patti?  Vosgayeve

[CozGurl]

Don't get me wrong, the cruise, crew and ship were lovely, we just felt it lacked entertainment overall. Particularly live music which we enjoy a lot. Yes I know they had live music, just not much selection. Same people night after night. 

 

Day 9 – St Lucia

I am not a fan of all day tours. I just don’t like to be “trapped” on a boat or in a van/bus for hours with no way to end it when *I’m* ready. But, we booked one in St Lucia with Cosol Tours. If you read their website and see all that you get, it really is a great deal @ $70 pp. It was quite a day of awesome mixed with TAKE ME HOME! Really for me, it was just too much packed into one day. We had breakfast/brunch. Went to a banana plantation which was nothing more than a stop to buy some crap at a roadside stand. Just driving by looking at the banana trees would have been fine. Stopped at a hilltop bar for beautiful views, pricey banana bread and a $1 restroom. Would have been nice to know that in 15 minutes we would be back to the “breakfast” spot for another feeding of warm bread and a perfectly fine FREE restroom. Beach for a few minutes, mud bath and waterfall.

 

Anyway, cool things were seen and done but my motion sickness and the hilly, curvy ride up and down the mountain was miserable. Glad I was in the front seat as to not puke all over the bus, but I almost peed my pants a few times when I thought we were going to die in a head on collision or kill a person on the side of the road. I was so glad to be off of that tour!

 

Oddly this was super bowl Sunday. I guess we hadn’t thought much about it since the Chiefs weren’t playing and we hadn’t been around constant advertising for a week. We had an early dinner at Moderno (couldn’t get in at Cagney’s instead) and then went to Bliss to watch on the big screen. Really, it was just that Bliss was the only place with open seats. I was super disappointed that while we were standing for the national anthem only about 10 or 15 of us stood. Were there that few Americans in here? I’m not into football even when the Chiefs are playing so I left at 1^st quarter to head for my lovely balcony.

[CozGurl]

Day 10 – Antigua

Another port where nothing seemed to interesting. I’d read about the cheap public bus so we hopped on the $3 #17 and headed to Nelson’s Boatyard. It probably took 30 minutes to get there and sometimes there were so many people on the bus we couldn’t help but giggle to ourselves. We love local things like this. There were two women sitting behind us just talking (LOUD) and gossiping. We LOL when they got off the bus. Wish I would have known the people they were talking about!

 

We were the last two people on the bus and suddenly, last minute we decided we’d rather go to a beach. We asked the driver and he said he could get us close but there would be a bit of a walk. Bless his heart he ended up just dropping us at a parking lot at the beach. Holy cow the hub would have killed me if we would have had to walk that far!!! Beautiful beach and water. We walked down the beach a bit and saw a cute place called Catherine’s Café. We needed refreshments after that bus ride! It was expensive but just the snack we needed and we were back on the beach. We got out our trusty floats and lounged in the water a long while. When we were done we walked out to the road and a taxi soon came along. I was expensive to get back, $40 maybe? It didn’t matter at that point because I think the hub would have paid anything not to walk anywhere or get back on a bus lol.

 

We stopped by the atrium when we got back to check our bill and get a couple of Bahama Mamas. Seems they make one at a time better than 2 at a time??? After that to our normal afternoon routine with plans to hit the Venetian around 6:00. Sat with some more lovely Canadians for dinner. BTW, food was unmemorable again. We headed to O’Sheehans for more cocktails and to watch the end of a show. An early night again though as we had another adventure tomorrow!

 

 

 

 

[CozGurl]

Day 11 – St Maarten

Off the boat around 9:00 again for another 9:30 tour. I found a 3 ½ hour tour for only $45 pp. I couldn’t pass it up and I’m so glad I didn’t! We arrived at the resort where Aqua Mania resides. When we walked in the gal at the counter seemed confused or surprised to see us. We were surprised that no one else was there waiting. She came outside where we were waiting in a few minutes and said the captain would be a few minutes late. It seems that they forgot about us I think lol. Didn’t matter because they took us on the tour anyway!! What nice nice people. I can’t remember her name but the gal in the office was so super friendly and so was the captain.

 

Our first stop had a sunken helicopter and sub. Someone threw some bread in the water and fish came out of nowhere. I’m not a fan of fish feeding but I wasn’t in charge. He took us for quite a ride pointing out billion dollar yachts and a famous tennis players home, I can’t think of his name right now. Anyway, we can around a rock and entered the most beautiful cove – breathtaking. Long Bay was the beach area and the beach and water were amazing. He dropped anchor and we jumped in with our floats and relaxed for the longest time. We swam up to the beach to touch the sand. Another couple in an inflatable boat pulled up and talked a bit. When we were finished we got back on the boat where we had some more bread, cheese and fruit he had provided.

 

Just one more taxi rant – when we got off the ship to the taxi stand we were told it would be $12 for the two of us. Then two more couples joined and they charged us all $5 a head instead. Ummm, shouldn’t it have been $15 or maybe $18 for the whole car if it were only $12 for 2 of us?? BTW we all went to the same place. End rant.

 

Back on the ship we snacked at O’Sheehan’s (terrible service today). Went back to the cabin to do some packing because we didn’t want to have to do it all tomorrow. Man do we over pack. So much so that I threw a couple of things in the trash instead of bringing them back and we vowed then and there to do better next time. I know, ha ha.

 

Hub went to TS until 4:00 when we met some CC friends at Bimini. Wonder why they quit serving dogs and fries after the first couple of days of the cruise? They close around 6:00 so the party broke up. We weren’t super hungry but stopped by the buffet to try to find something to pick on. Back to the cabin early for resting, enjoying the balcony and getting ready for our last port day.

 

[kitty-sail]

Enjoyed your commentary. Going on the Dawn in a few weeks which will be the first time, in a long time, cruising on a small ship, less than 4/m people. Hope we like the smaller ship.