Live from the Dawn - British Isles Amsterdam-Southampton

[KeithJenner]

7 minutes ago, fabnfortysomething said:

is that Friday 23rd?

I'm working Newcastle so could meet you off ship for a local coffee-is it North Shields ferry terminal whee DFDS has its ferries to Amsterdam?

Assuming it’s the same place as last time it is at Royal Quays. There is an outlet centre there that we could grab a coffee.

 

Yes, it’s the 23rd.

[fabnfortysomething]

7 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Assuming it’s the same place as last time it is at Royal Quays. There is an outlet centre there that we could grab a coffee.

 

Yes, it’s the 23rd.

great Ian and I will meet you about 10am-I know the outlet centre

not sure if can drive into ship docking area-can you make your way to outlet or can pick you up along road 

Edited September 18, 2022 by fabnfortysomething
added info

[KeithJenner]

34 minutes ago, fabnfortysomething said:

great Ian and I will meet you about 10am-I know the outlet centre

not sure if can drive into ship docking area-can you make your way to outlet or can pick you up along road 

Yes, we can walk up there. See you there at 10am.

[www3traveler]

Hi,

Have not seen you posting for a few days.  I pray that all is going well with your cruise.

 

Must be a little strange without Robert.  How old is he now?

 

Just had notes from two NCL Captain's this week about their children.  One has a daughter who just turned 18 and another'daughter is now 20.  Your Restaurant Manager Noel's Granddaughter just turned 5 in the last few days.  Time seems to pass very quickly without our noticing 

[KeithJenner]

40 minutes ago, www3traveler said:

Hi,

Have not seen you posting for a few days.  I pray that all is going well with your cruise.

 

Must be a little strange without Robert.  How old is he now?

 

Just had notes from two NCL Captain's this week about their children.  One has a daughter who just turned 18 and another'daughter is now 20.  Your Restaurant Manager Noel's Granddaughter just turned 5 in the last few days.  Time seems to pass very quickly without our noticing 

Yes, not managed to get online much in the past few days. We are having a day onboard today so I'm catching up with things.

 

Robert is 17. It is certainly strange him not being onboard with us. There are advantages though, like being able to sit at the bar in The Cellars and chat with the staff.

 

He doesn't seem to be missing us much. We spoke to him this morning and all he wanted to know is when we would next be going away. 🙂

[KeithJenner]

Here is the sheet showing the various beverage packages available.

[KeithJenner]

I've got a bit of catching up to do, so I will try to cover a few days here now.

 

Day three was Cobh (for Cork, Ireland). Whilst NCL did a good job of rearranging the cruise, the port times in Ireland were not ideal, and we were in Cobh from 3.30pm to 8pm. This meant that many peoples plans for visiting places like Cork or Blarney Castle were not possible due to the short time in port.

 

We had already decided to stay in Cobh and go into the Titanic Museum followed by finding a pub, but we had to drop the Titanic Museum so just went for a walk around the town and then had a couple of pints in the Rob Roy, which for a while was like an extension of o'Sheehans on land. The beer was very good.

 

Cobh was a nice little town, but if we return we will certainly head elsewhere for the day.

 

Beforehand we had enjoyed the better weather by spending some time walking round the promenade deck, where we saw a couple of dolphins swimming along with the ship for a while, which was a nice treat.

 

We ate breakfast at Moderno again, and also went there for lunch as we didn't have any particular plans in the evening. We ended up going to Bamboo in the evening, which we both really enjoyed.

 

In the evening we spent some time in the Cellars again, which has become our go to place. It is often very quiet there and the wine selection is about as good as it gets on an NCL ship. I have been working my way through the different wines that would be an uncharge if we didn't have the plus beverage package. The staff are excellent in there as well. It really deserves to be busier, but I suppose that the limited menu means that it doesn't appeal to many people.

 

Anyway, here are a few pictures from Cobh.

[mafig]

Can you post pictures of your balcony?

[KeithJenner]

14 minutes ago, mafig said:

Can you post pictures of your balcony?

It’s not as deep as many aft balconies, but plenty big enough.

[KeithJenner]

Sorry, I've just noticed that I got my meals mixed up. On Cobh day we actually went to o'Sheehans for lunch (the Cottage Pie Potato Skins are very good) and Le Bistro for dinner.

 

My wife isn't fussed about Le Bistro, but I like it, so we tend to go there every other cruise. I love the Escargot and the Coq Au Vin was very good too. The service was exceptional, and overall it was a very good meal.

Edited September 21, 2022 by KeithJenner

[KeithJenner]

Next day was Belfast, which involved sailing North past Dublin and returning the next day. I assume that this was to avoid being in the UK on Monday, but it did have a significant impact the next day.

 

Our plans had long been to go to Giants Causeway when in Belfast. Usually we would have booked a car, but the NCL excursion worked out considerably cheaper so we booked that instead. It hadn't been clear over the previous few days whether this would be rearranged or cancelled, and we only got final confirmation the previous day. I had looked into alternatives, but in the end we decided to stay in Belfast instead.

 

We docked at 11am, and there was a free shuttle into town (I had heard conflicting rumours as to whether it was chargeable beforehand). However, the shuttle didn't start running until 11.30 by which time there was a long queue for it, so we decided to walk instead. It is about 2.5 miles to the Titanic Museum from the port so we headed there first.

 

We hadn't and specific plans what we were going to do, but when we got there we decided to go into the Titanic Museum, which was excellent and well worth the £21 entrance fee. We spent a couple of hours there before heading into the city centre. We spent some time there before heading back to the shuttle bus (which drops off near the City Hall).

 

Overall, the cancellation of our tour meant that our time in Belfast wasn't as good as it could have been. We never really worked our alternative plans, so just had to make do. It's a nice little city and we will certainly be back. My wife still wants to get to Giants Causeway, and I can see us visiting again soon, whether on a cruise or a long weekend.

 

We went to Venitian for dinner. We haven't eaten in the MDR all that much lately, as our son tended to prefer the buffet or o'Sheehans when not eating at one of the speciality restaurants, but will do so more in the future. I was impressed by the quality, but the service wasn't quite as good as we are used to in the speciality restaurants.

 

The next day I found that we had been charged for the bottle of wine that should have been covered by the Premium Plus package. A quick visit to guest services got that sorted, but it shows it is always worth checking your bill.

 

I didn't take many pictures in Belfast, but here are a small selection.

[www3traveler]

Robert is 17????  ON MY GOODNESS  Does not seem possible!!!

I wish him well and the two of you.

[mafig]

3 hours ago, KeithJenner said:

It’s not as deep as many aft balconies, but plenty big enough.

 

 

Twp chairs and a table.  Could you fit a lounger (sideways)?

 

 

[KeithJenner]

12 hours ago, mafig said:

 

 

Twp chairs and a table.  Could you fit a lounger (sideways)?

 

 

I’m sure you could, but there wouldn’t be much room to move around.

[ziggyuk]

Hi Keith,

Hope you are having a great time, I noticed you said you were incorrectly charged for Champaign in another thread.
We have upgraded to the FAS+ so will get the plus drinks for the first time on our next cruise, we thought we would try is and see how we like it before our longer New Zealand cruise.
 

How are you finding it, is Champaign readily available by the bottle in restaurant and the MDR or do they have to get them? There appears to be different Champaign's available by ship, what are you getting on this sailing?

 

Thanks Keith, have a fab time 🤩

[KeithJenner]

4 hours ago, ziggyuk said:

Hi Keith,

Hope you are having a great time, I noticed you said you were incorrectly charged for Champaign in another thread.
We have upgraded to the FAS+ so will get the plus drinks for the first time on our next cruise, we thought we would try is and see how we like it before our longer New Zealand cruise.
 

How are you finding it, is Champaign readily available by the bottle in restaurant and the MDR or do they have to get them? There appears to be different Champaign's available by ship, what are you getting on this sailing?

 

Thanks Keith, have a fab time 🤩

By the glass you get Veuve Yellow Label, and by the bottle is Moët. We have generally been drinking at cellars where they have a stock that is pretty well just for us and another couple who have the package. We have generally stuck to ordering it by the glass at meals and it has arrived quickly everywhere. The only problem we have had was at Aqua where they brought a glass of Prosecco. We didn’t say anything.

 

Whilst Veuve is only available by the glass with the package, if you have it with a meal then you tend to have a bottle to yourself anyway. Yesterday in La Cucina they just let us take the bottle with us afterwards, which was handy as we then had it in the cabin.

 

Overall the package has worked better on this cruise than on the Jade at Easter where it was sometimes a struggle to get champagne rather than Prosecco. We have tried anything silly like asking for it in o’Sheehans or the pool bar though.

[snorklinbarb]

On 9/14/2022 at 9:10 PM, BikerAl said:

Have a wonderful cruise.  We board her Dec 11th for an 11 day Southern Caribbean cruise, so anything you report will be welcome.  Last time we sailed her was 10/10/10, so there are new restaurants, no Spinnaker lounge, and whatever,

Dawn is a sentimental favorite all the way back to 2003 first voyage from Miami to NYC to introduce year round cruising from NYC!

 

But another memorable cruise was 10/10/10!

 

Alain Magnier was GM when I last sailed Dawn pre-pandemic.

Keith, so enjoying your review and photos!  Your regular posts are always informative and fun to read so thanks for contributing so much to this form!

 

Is Alain still on?  I couldn't identify from the photo chart, sorry.

 

Did you have a Meet & Greet?  What Latitudes events are being offered?  

Have a fabulous time!

[ziggyuk]

1 hour ago, KeithJenner said:

By the glass you get Veuve Yellow Label, and by the bottle is Moët. We have generally been drinking at cellars where they have a stock that is pretty well just for us and another couple who have the package. We have generally stuck to ordering it by the glass at meals and it has arrived quickly everywhere. The only problem we have had was at Aqua where they brought a glass of Prosecco. We didn’t say anything.

 

Whilst Veuve is only available by the glass with the package, if you have it with a meal then you tend to have a bottle to yourself anyway. Yesterday in La Cucina they just let us take the bottle with us afterwards, which was handy as we then had it in the cabin.

 

Overall the package has worked better on this cruise than on the Jade at Easter where it was sometimes a struggle to get champagne rather than Prosecco. We have tried anything silly like asking for it in o’Sheehans or the pool bar though.

 

Thanks Keith, really useful information, I can't wait. They also have Monkey 47 Gin (hope they have good stocks 😁) which will be my go to on my next cruise.
https://www.waitrosecellar.com/spirit-offers/monkey-47-gin-50cl-452258

[MeHeartCruising]

@KeithJenner I was on the Dawn sailing just before yours.  Yes, we arrived an Amsterdam a day earlier than originally planned due to changes needed to get through the canal locks when assigned.  We found out about 1/2 way through our cruise about the change.  This meant that our stop in Zee Brugge needed to be skipped entirely.  We also ended up missing our stop in Edinburgh due to the Queen's services in town that day.  So we had 2 sea days to end our cruise.  We crawled across the North Sea from Invergordon to Amsterdam, which fortunately was relatively calm.  Your changes were much more significant.  That's a lot of reworking to plans.  Glad you're still seeming to be having a good time.  I enjoyed the Dawn quite a bit.  I did pick up Covid on the cruise, however.  I could hear both cabins on either side of me coughing on the last couple days of the cruise.  My symptoms arose on the flight back to the US.  I hope you stay clear of it.

[KeithJenner]

1 hour ago, snorklinbarb said:

Dawn is a sentimental favorite all the way back to 2003 first voyage from Miami to NYC to introduce year round cruising from NYC!

 

But another memorable cruise was 10/10/10!

 

Alain Magnier was GM when I last sailed Dawn pre-pandemic.

Keith, so enjoying your review and photos!  Your regular posts are always informative and fun to read so thanks for contributing so much to this form!

 

Is Alain still on?  I couldn't identify from the photo chart, sorry.

 

Did you have a Meet & Greet?  What Latitudes events are being offered?  

Have a fabulous time!

Yes, Alain is the GM.

 

There was a meet and greet, but I missed it due to the change in itinerary. I ended up forgetting it when it happened.

 

Latitudes, there was the party on the first day and we also did the Wines Around The World tasting on Monday. The CruiseNext rep is keeps trying to talk me into the Mixology tasting, but I don't think that I could face that.

 

No behind the scenes tour though, or dinner with officers. Also no OBC offered.

[KeithJenner]

3 minutes ago, MeHeartCruising said:

@KeithJenner I was on the Dawn sailing just before yours.  Yes, we arrived an Amsterdam a day earlier than originally planned due to changes needed to get through the canal locks when assigned.  We found out about 1/2 way through our cruise about the change.  This meant that our stop in Zee Brugge needed to be skipped entirely.  We also ended up missing our stop in Edinburgh due to the Queen's services in town that day.  So we had 2 sea days to end our cruise.  We crawled across the North Sea from Invergordon to Amsterdam, which fortunately was relatively calm.  Your changes were much more significant.  That's a lot of reworking to plans.  Glad you're still seeming to be having a good time.  I enjoyed the Dawn quite a bit.  I did pick up Covid on the cruise, however.  I could hear both cabins on either side of me coughing on the last couple days of the cruise.  My symptoms arose on the flight back to the US.  I hope you stay clear of it.

Yes, I assumed you had missed Edinburgh, and also Zebrugge when we saw the ship in port on Wednesday. An unfortunate end to the cruise, as they are two highlights. I guess that your Ireland experience was probably better than ours though.

 

Sorry to hear about the Covid. No signs of it on here at the moment. To be honest, I'm not too worried if we were to catch it anyway. Had it earlier this year and symptoms were very mild.

[MeHeartCruising]

15 minutes ago, KeithJenner said:

Yes, I assumed you had missed Edinburgh, and also Zebrugge when we saw the ship in port on Wednesday. An unfortunate end to the cruise, as they are two highlights. I guess that your Ireland experience was probably better than ours though.

 

Sorry to hear about the Covid. No signs of it on here at the moment. To be honest, I'm not too worried if we were to catch it anyway. Had it earlier this year and symptoms were very mild.

 

Yes, our Ireland stops were great with the exception of rain in Cobh.  However, I still got out and enjoyed it.  And it didn't rain all day.  Just heavy now and then.  In fact, all our other stops were great.  Good weather and good sightseeing.  

 

My Covid symptoms are also quite mild and I seem to almost be over them entirely now.  Enjoy the rest of your cruise.

[KeithJenner]

Back to the review.

 

Next day was Dublin. This was probably the port most affected by the itinerary change, as we were only there from 7am-2pm. Being a tender port this caused considerable issues as they took all the shore excursion people off first.

 

Being in a suite, we had priority tendering, but the concierge was struggling to get independant people on the tenders with the excursions. It was almost 8pm when we got ashore and tempers were fraying onboard as we left. We spoke to a couple later in the day who said that despite having an early tender ticket they still didn't get ashore until nearly 9am.

 

We got the train to Tara Street station (just a few Euros return and an easy journey). We had booked the Guiness Storehouse on the original itinerary and were able to change the time online, so didn't lose anything. However, it was all fairly rushed as we needed to be there for 10am and once we had finished we had to head back to the train station.

 

We have been to Dublin before, so it wasn't a great problem that we didn't have time to see the city better, but I'm sure there were a lot of disappointed people.

 

The Guinness Storehouse is worth going to. It is interesting and you get a pint of Guinness at the end (it was a bit early, but apparently its never too early for a Guinness).

 

Once back to the port we joined the very long queue for tenders back to the ship.

 

After sailaway we did the latitudes Wine Tasting. There are 4 stations set up around the bar (it was held at Cellars), each representing a country (France, Italy, US and Argentina/Chile). At each station there was a red and a white wine to try. We quite enjoyed it, although I suspect we will only do it occasionally in the future.

 

After that it was Cagneys, which was very good. I know that Cagneys can get bad reports from some people, but we generally find it to be good. I had the Prime Rib, which was excellent. Another couple had recommended we try the Chateuneuf de Pape (included with the plus beverage package) and it was good.

 

Then back to the Cellars again for the evening.

 

I took a few pictures in Dublin, but they aren't uploading at the moment. You aren't really missing much.

[KeithJenner]

Next day was Kirkwall, which is a really underrated cruise stop.

 

When we were there previously we hired a car for the day and saw much of the main Island (called Mainland). However, as with Belfast we found that an NCL tour was considerably cheaper than hiring a car, so we went with the "Ancient Treasures of Orkney" excursion, which visits Scara Brae, one of my favourite places.

 

First stop was a couple of henges of standing stones (Ring of Brodgar and Stones of Stromness). These are older than Stonehenge, but not as complete. We didn't stop there last time, so this was nice to see. I'll see if I can get any pictures to post:

[KeithJenner]

Then, on to Scara Brae, which is a 5,000 year old Neolithic village, which was discovered in the 19th century after being uncovered by a storm.

 

One of the huts is still covered by a roof, but most are open to the elements. There is also a reconstructed hut that you can go into. It is only a small site, but is incredible to see. I would recommend it to anyone who visits Orkney.

 

We then returned to the ship via a different route, along Scapa Flow. Overall a very good tour.

 

If you are touring independently then there is a free shuttle into Kirkwall. It is not a long distance anyway, and last time we walked in rather than queue.

 

In the evening we went into Aqua, which I didn't think was as good as Venetian. Still not a bad meal though. As I mentioned earlier they brought my wife Prosecco rather than Champagne. By this point in the cruise we were after a quiet night, so stayed in the cabin rather than spend the night in Cellars.