Dawn review 7/29-8/05 BA 10th floor

[L'eau]

Hello to all, tought I’d try to give a little back to the site…

 

Background: First cruise, Canadian couple in their mid 30’s with 2 yo boy. After many beautiful but tiring land siteseeing we decided to do something more relaxing this year and after thinking about a cottage on a lake for a while I saw a deal on this cruise and although never considered this before, thought this may be a good compromise, and indeed it was…

 

Useful Tips I got from this site : asking for things: bathrobes, feather pillow(I had brought mine as it took little space compressed, but my wife didn’t and thought the standard ones are terrible and asked for one)…took about a day until they took care of everyone upstairs… bringing boxed wine;) (a good one is Arista french Syrah sold at the grocery store if your from Canada… reserving at restaurants first day… using the bow Jacuzzi did that every late afternoon before dinner and early saturday with NYC at a distance… getting room service for breakfast on the balcony(this was great with little one who would play around after he was done while we took our time. had I not read about this I don’t think I would have known as it is not written anywhere that this is free unlike hotels and there were no door tags in the room, I had to ask for them…they did say that there should have been some in the room, but…). Taking the filet in the Bistro (no need to go to Cagneys)… Seasickness is mostly mental, I felt bad the minute I got on the ship and it disappeared when I occupied my mind walking around.

 

What I found out there: Take time to place yourself for a nice embarkation photo after check in, ours was very nice except I had a big water bottle and papers in hands which looks akward… you could actually see some others with things like files in their hands when they expose the photos the next day In the hallway, I guess they had the same thought that it sort of ruins it…. Get to the dock later, we got there at 2:00 pm and check in was a breeze, next day at the CC party people were complaining that the process was long and most had got there early. If your Canadian they take away your passports…I think no one should be allowed to do this by law, but I complained in vain. Don’t bring a portable crib, the sofa makes a safe child bed that extends from the main bed to the patio door and the steward folds it back it the morning and turns it down for the night during dinner…we just put pillows to separate us from little one and voilà. The art auction guy was funny and interesting but they slap 15% + 35$ shipping on art sold, you can’t get it from the ship and they only ship it from Florida to wherever you are and are not responsible for duties so who knows how this will cost in the end. So if he says its 80$ well its actually 120+$ and if your in Canada who knows what duty they will charge….. They can boost the beer tab by playing with the beer categories, so you buy a Mexican, they charge a Heineken….not a big deal but happened twice. Tepenyaki room is a great option if you have a young kid, he will sit tight for an hour while watching the show, that never happened to us in a restaurant before.

 

And that I remembered too late I had read: the ribs in salsas are indeed really bad… Don’t bring a stroller on the bus in Bermuda, they will give you hell for a long time…. The sun at great stirrup can be punishing, overuse sunscreen…

 

And for a quick review

 

. Beautiful ship, Very well maintained, nice high quality European furnishings in the room. , nice balcony to hang around. Fortunately beautiful weather. Mostly very good food everywhere. Lobster night the stuff is good but very small but they will serve you more if you ask. Good coffee. Wine selection is pretty good, prices restaurant standard maybe a little more, by the glass is expensive, champagne ok. The Venetian is beautiful and do at least a nice long daylight meal by the large windows at the back, it is an uncomparable….you feel privileged…most crews very friendly, helpful and talkeable, they love children and its sad to know some left theirs home for months, their eyes turning bright when they were able to talk and play with ours. Child care is busy and very loud, the staff tries but maybe missing some experienced mothers.. We did use it a few times but for a very short period as we felt bad. It was quieter one night and a US girl did a good job taking care of our young one that night, she was from Texas I think. That’s the only time he came out smilling from there. My suggestion if you have 2 or 3 year olds is go the first time when its quieter and try to find a soft talking crew to break them in slowly.

 

Lots of activities, though remember this is our first cruise so I’m compairing to resorts…Lots of expert talks to keep me occupied during little guy naps even a Senator giving an interesting speech on US intelligence in light of recent world events. If you don’t see some of the evening games, they repeat it on ship TV the next day which makes for a few laugh before going to dinner…. The last night crew staunt called fountains was pretty funny. There is a talk by the captain that gives a photo tour of the ship that tells yo everything you want to know about the ship's operation and navigation, its highly interesting specially for the technically inclined and you can ask him any qestions you want at the end....

 

Bermuda is very nice but the time there is short, we did Hamilton by ferry(ate at a deli-type by the park forgot the name expensive as everything there but excellent indian plates, then Horseshoe bay by bus(nice but very very crowded, I would suggest trying the beaches just before as they looked much quieter and as nice. Then back to the ship by bus, made it at the last minute :eek: so allow at least an hour prior to boarding time from horseshoe bay by bus.

 

Great stirrup Cay makes a nice beach day with a very good barbecue, loud music at the main beach and the snorkeling is poor and not better at the empty beach a little further out. Though a crew caught a large sand shark while I was walking the rocks going to that beach so that was interesting.

 

Nassau: went to Atlantis early in the morning, and its true there is no guards early morning before 8:00 so you can tour the digs and grounds freely, and the kiddy pool playground is really something… so it was a short but fun stop for the family… note of you are a occasional Cuban cigar taster like me, the shop in front of the Scotia bank dowtown besides the Diamond store sells fakes and at a premium price with that. :eek: The one right next to the bank (same side of the street as the bank had real stuff (at least Montecristo #3’s)…

 

Well hope this is useful and have a good trip if you are going soon.

[judyf]

Nice review thanks for taking the time to post.