DAWN w/kids vs. DCL

[kaykels]

DCL is the only line I've ever sailed. I love it and so do the kids (4, 10 and 12) but the prices have gotten up so high that I might as well sail the QE2.

 

How is the Dawn for the kids and does anybody know how it compares to DCL? My older kids could care less about the characters anyway. And I would love to drive instead of fly.

 

Does anybody have any pictures? How is the pool? How often do they change the water? Is is salt water or fresh?

[WaldosPepper]

Rachel, of all the ships in NCL's fleet, the Dawn is probably the one most-discussed here. :D I would recommend spending some time here reading the various posts relative to that ship, and formulating opinions based on the wide range of commentary available here.

 

With regard to the pools, they are salt water, as is the case on many cruise lines.

 

Kids Club is a really active topic on these boards lately, so you should be able to glean a ton of information from those posts, and relative to the ages of all three of your kids! ;)

 

Pictures of the Dawn are available in the signatures of many members who post here. Check for links in signatures, and have a ball seeing photos of the staterooms, public areas, balconies, pools, dining rooms, menues and Dailies, and on and on!

 

Enjoy!

[kruisekathy]

Just so you know the childrens pool (t-rex) is fresh water. We had a small problem at the main pool. They drained a considerable amount of water from it and it was not very deep. I guess they got a lot of complaints and after 2 days it was up to the normal level. I did not complain but I heard people talking and the crew had no answer as to why they drained it. We were at port and had been in calm seas. Go figure

[lah]

I have been on the Disney Magic twice and on the Dawn once. The two kids clubs offer different types of experiences.

 

Generally Disney ships have a lot more kids aboard than the Dawn will. On Disney your child will be in a group of 30 or more kids (2 or 3 counselors) doing a structured organized activity, ie: sit in a circle, be still, listen to the activity presenter - sort of a school classroom type structure. The activites are very cool: dance with Snow White, Goof's PJ party, etc., you will not get the Disney themeing on the Dawn.

 

On the Dawn the groups are much smaller last October the largest my daughter's age group was around 12 kids when it was most crowded (2 counselors). Group activities were done on the Dawn, but they were not as "rigid" and school like structured as the Magic. The Dawn also had much more free play time; there was a ball pit and soft climbing structures. Also, there was much more child/counselor interaction on the Dawn.

 

My daughter (now 6) preferred the Dawn. She likes to interact with conselors and get to know them a bit. It makes her feel more comfortable to have a sort of personal connection as opposed to being one of many in a group. She also like being able to just play and talk with the other girls as opposed to being in a structured setting at all times.

 

I did love the nursery on the Magic (Flounder's Reef). It is for kids under 3. There are age appropriate toys and it is a good place to go with little ones (even if you stay and watch) so they can decompress from the cruise and act their age (crawling on the floor, playing with lots of toys as opposed to being good and still during the adult/older child centered cruise activities).

 

One other thing is the pools. Disney magic - crowded nightmare with unsupervised kids running, jumping everywhere, practically trampling smaller kids. There is one slide for bigger kids. I have heard Dawn can get crazy too, but I did not see that. There are just not as many kids on board so it is not as bad. I believe there are 2 toddler sized slides and definitely 2 larger slides.

 

Also, consider your experience. I loved the Magic, but found the Dawn just to be a calmer classier experience.

 

Lisa

[carol louise]

My sister took lots of photos on our spring 2004 cruise on the Dawn. There are several albums here--the one that starts with a photo of lower Manhattan taken from her plane especially focuses on the ship itself.

http://community.webshots.com/user/nansmiley/1

By the way, the indoor lap pool in the spa was fresh water, but it is for adults only, however.

We found the Dawn a lovely ship, kept spotlessly clean, with gracious service.

Hope you have a great cruise.