4/1/07 Dawn First Timer Review

[danixbanani]

Hello all! As stated above I was a first timer for NCL and the Dawn and I have to say that...I've fallen in love. NCL is by far the best cruise line I've been on and I'm recommending it to all my family and friends. My review is kind of short because I don't want to bore everyone but I thought some of you might find my experience as an NCL newbie interesting ;)

 

Here goes:

EMBARKATION

Embarkation was smooth. We were on the "Friends of New York" list so we got on (and off) the boat real quick and smooth. Can't make many comments about that then :)

 

ROOM

We had an oceanview room on the fifth floor (5138 to be exact) for three young ladies aged 21-22. Now, we were really nervous about the arrangements of our room because we're sorority sisters and we have a lot of clothes :X haha. But it actually worked out really well! There were plenty of drawers/closet space for all our clothing and shoes! The room was actually a very doable great size room for three. I wouldn't recommend four to a room that size. The only place that ever got really cluttered was our vanity table with our many hair care appliances, products, makeup, perfumes, etc. etc. haha. We did the three beds across the floor option instead of the pull down bed and it was quite comfy and nice. We enjoyed that alot.

 

THE SHIP

My first time on the Dawn and she is just as beautiful as everyone said she was. I really really enjoyed the pretty paintings on the outside deck on seven and the art and the atrium and everything! One of the nicest ships I've ever been on (Crown Princess was pretty nice too :X hehe). The room was really nice, however, we had two issues. First, we had a leak from the ceiling. I woke up one morning and the bottom of my bed was DRENCHED in water dripping from the ceiling. They had to come and take the ceiling down to fix it. Later that day, we discovered the air conditioner to be non functioning. Again, they took down the ceiling. After that everything was fine the minor inconvienences of having to get out of the room were worth it. Other problem, the room smelled horribly of mold. We had brought febreeze and air freshener which we just continously sprayed throughout the cruise since we didn't see any visible signs of mold. Near the end of the cruise, the last sea day before we got back to NY, I was looking for my rings which I lost (tear, very upset about that) and I moved one of the beds away from the wall. This was the bed all the way to the left of the room without the trundle underneath. When I moved it I discovered spots of white mold and very wet carpeting. We informed the front desk and they said they'd file a report to have it cleaned. Other than that, great boat!

 

SERVICE/FOOD

I commented in another thread about this. Our experiences in the dining rooms were not very good. The service was poor and it took forever to just get a glass of water. We only ate in the dining rooms (Venetian and Aqua) three nights.

The rest were dedicated to Cagneys, Bamboo, Teppenyaki, and Salsa. Don't even waste your time at La Tratorria...it was awful (the food and service). Bamboo was our favorite and the staff/service was impeccable! As was the food! You MUST try the chicken lettuce wraps for appetizer and the Banana Spring rolls for dessert! DELICIOUS!!!!! The spring roll appetizer from Salsa was also quite yummy. Had Il Popo one night and wasn't really impressed. It was good though and I did eat it haha. Cagneys and Teppenyaki were also quite delish.

Our cabin stewards were pretty good but kind of innaproppriate. As I stated, we were three young ladies and sometimes we got comments that weren't necessary. They also never seemed to vacuum as there was always sand on our floor. Oh well. They were very helpful when it came to more ice/towels/etc.

The reception desk service (especially a young woman named Kit Kat hehe) were very very helpful. I went to them at least once a day, especially about my lost rings, and they/she were extremely helpful and understanding. They helped me file a report and everything. I'm still sad I lost those rings though :( The only bad part about my vacation.

 

PORTS OF CALL

1. San Juan: I've been to PR before but in the more "suburban" areas where more beach front hotels are and I enjoyed it so I thought I'd enjoy Old San Juan. Uhm..not so much. I know alot of people on these boards wrote about how this stop isn't worth going to and I'd have to agree. Myself and my two friends got off and took a cab to the outlets. We shopped around, took some nice pictures of the Spanish style buildings and after about 2 hrs decided to head back to the boat. At the pier we sat down for a few minutes to take pictures of the boat and as we were boarding a man came up to us speaking in spanish. None of us understand Spanish except for when he asked if we speak english or spanish. We told him english and then he proceeded to very angrily go off on something in spanish and then SPIT on us. SPIT! We just looked at eachother and had no idea what just happened. We decided to board the boat immediately. I really will not miss San Juan at all :\

 

2. Antigua: No complaints. Don't really remember to beach we went to but it was nice. Small, not too crowded. Bar, bathroom, chairs and such. It wasn't Long Bay because everyone else at the taxi stand was going there so the woman handling the taxis recommended this beach. I will have to check with my friend what it was called. It was really far from the pier though, about an hour. Only an $8 cab ride though!

Antiguans are pretty funny people let me tell you. We get to the beach and as we're trying to rent chairs, the man (renting us chairs) goes to myself "I like your size". Now I'm a very curvy, volumptious woman (haha for lack of better terms) and I was just like "What?" Because I'm not very used to hearing that in America lol. He then explained that he liked my figure and that "heaven was missing an angel". Haha. I felt like a beauty queen. We had several instances with the men working at the beach like this one (one even dropped the chairs he was carrying as I walked by! :eek: yikes!) and we couldn't help but laugh and blush at all the attention we were getting. It made for good memories. At little expensive here though for chair/umbrella rental.

 

3. Barbados: What a lovely place!!! We LOVED Barbados. We were a little sad that the rum factories were closed (as it was Good Friday) but we had fun at the beach instead. We went to the Boatyard and even though it was crowded we had a great time. It's definately a place for those in the "younger/family crowd" but it is also a really beautiful part of the beach. The service, facilities, and prices (for renting and such) were all great and affordable. $15 got you a chair, a free drink, and use of the facilities. We paid $2 (only once) to rent a nice big umbrella. Definately well worth it. Alot of the cruise staff was there and we even saw Jimmy the CD use the swinging rope to dive into the ocean! Hah!

 

4. Dominica: Got off the boat then got right back on. One of my friends did the rainforest aerial tram by herself (and paid the taxi driver extra to see the falls and other sights) and had a blast. My other friend and myself aren't really nature/woodsy types so we were just going to go to a beach. We wanted to see Champagne beach but the taxi driver convinced us not to. After sitting in a cab, in the sweltering heat might I add, and not going anywhere (as we were waiting for more people to go to the beach) we realized that Dominica wasn't really a beach place. We decided to get back on the boat and enjoy the emptyness of the pool.

 

5. St. Thomas: Very nice. Went to Emerald beach at the Best Western. Not much else to say. I expected more from St. Thomas and was kind of disappointed. I'd rather spend spend Easter Sunday here than in cold icky New York though The stores were open until about 1pm-ish so we did some shopping as well. Really great place to shop. Would visit again.

 

6. Tortola: Now, I hear there isn't much to do in Tortola itself so we took an excursion to Virgin Gorda. Let me tell you...this place was AMAZING. SO BEAUTIFUL! The flowers and rocks and the beautiful crystal clear blue water where little angel fish were swimming right up to our fingertips! I really wish NCL would switch Puerto Rico with this stop, making Tortola first. I would've loved more time at Virgin Gorda (we were only in port from 7am to 12pm so our shore excursion was quite short) and wouldn't have been upset with less time in Puerto Rico. As these two stops are close together I say switch 'em! I might make that suggestion to NCL ;) Great place. Definately see Virigin Gorda. However, the trail down to the beach can be tough. One of my friends had a torn ligament and air cast on so I had to hold on to her and my other friend is legally blind so I was leading the two of them down the whole thing and it could've been bad. Very uneven and you can sweat about 10 pounds off climbing up it in the heat. Still a great place though.

 

WEATHER

Weather was pretty great the whole trip except for the first night at sea. We hit an unexpected storm and the boat was quite rocky. My friends and I were woken in the middle of the night by a wave smashing against our window! We woke up and were like "Uhmmm...that's cool. Lets pretend it didn't happen" lol. It happened twice throughout the night. Yikes. But we survived it. haha

 

And thats that! Had a great time (as I said throughout). Sorry this was longer than I expected! Ps. Shoutout to the Foolish Pirates!! I saw you guys everywhere! hehe

[flyingpirate]

Danielle!

 

Back at yah!

 

Sounds like you had a great time, hope to see you on another NCL cruise, perhaps you'll be back with the Fools again....you should have joined us, the more the merrier, especially three sorority sisters!

 

Did you have a chance to meet my son. Alexander, at all? He was very visible, tall blonde 23, pretty! Dancing every night at Dazzles and Spinnaker?

 

Thanks for the excellent, succinct review.

[whatawonderfulworld]

Hello Dani. I was a first timer last October and we fell in love with the Dawn as well. For me, there is nothing to compare to sailing out of NY Harbor.

 

I enjoyed reading your review - we never made it to the Italian restaurant. What specifically didn't you like about it? Coming from the NY area we are blessed with some of the best italian food this side of Italy (yes I am EXTREMELY biased when it comes to NY!)...so not getting in was no disappointment. But I would be interested to hear a bit more regarding your experience.

 

Thanks again for posting.

 

Ciao,

W A W W

[danixbanani]

Flyingpirate - hah I really wanted to go up to you guys and say hey! You may have seen me at the quest...I was the one who ran up without my shirt on for team number 53 :X My friend's bra was the one that Jimmy pointed out when the guy had to go up with two on his head. We were laughing like crazy! We, unfortunately, did not see your son. Wish I had ;) haha.

 

whatawonderfulworld - the food in la trattoria was just icky. The variety sucked. I got the cold antipasto for appetizer and it was gross. I only ate the provolone cheese and mushrooms. For entree I had some kinda of chicken on the bone that resembled chicken parm but just was not tasty. I can't really put my finger on why it was terrible but I know that neither my friends nor myself cared for it. We too are spoiled as we were all from NY. Especially me...I'm from Brooklyn ;) Fahgedaboutit!

[DaytonGirl]

Ps. Shoutout to the Foolish Pirates!! I saw you guys everywhere! hehe

 

I wish you would have come met us! You could have been part of this:

 

[mimi'sgirl]

Hi Danielle,

We were on the Dawn on 4/1 also and are newbies. Had a great time and can't wait to go on NCL again. I agree with your review espec. with the food. We were underwhelmed with the Venetian especially the service. Unfortunately we missed the Pirate Party and Quest since my son(3) was sick:( . Hopefully next time. Also, I hope you hear something about your rings.

[judyf]

Hi Danielle,

 

Nice review thanks for taking the time to post.

 

I know how you feel about your rings. I lost 3 earrings. One I never even wore on the cruise not sure how I lost that one.

 

he proceeded to very angrily go off on something in spanish and then SPIT on us. SPIT! We just looked at eachother and had no idea what just happened. We decided to board the boat immediately.

 

Gross, that's awful. I think I would have gottn back on the ship also. Some people.

 

Too bad we didn't get to meet. Next time!

[Cruisinbunnies]

...I was the one who ran up without my shirt on for team number 53 :X

 

Now how did I miss that one????;) :D

 

Thanks for your review. We agree with your take on Bamboo - great food and service!

 

There were a few water leaks on the Dawn this trip. Some wet carpet spots as well. Hopefully they can get those problems resolved!

 

We went to Saphire Beach in St Thomas. Next time you go to St Thomas, go there. Nice beach, cold drinks and a great time. Also had some of the best bikinis on the trip!!! (IMHO):D

 

Maybe we will see you on a future cruise!!!!

[MrLee]

=danixbanani;9791856 San Juan: I've been to PR before but in the more "suburban" areas where more beach front hotels are and I enjoyed it so I thought I'd enjoy Old San Juan. Uhm..not so much. I know alot of people on these boards wrote about how this stop isn't worth going to and I'd have to agree. Myself and my two friends got off and took a cab to the outlets. We shopped around, took some nice pictures of the Spanish style buildings and after about 2 hrs decided to head back to the boat. At the pier we sat down for a few minutes to take pictures of the boat and as we were boarding a man came up to us speaking in spanish. None of us understand Spanish except for when he asked if we speak english or spanish. We told him english and then he proceeded to very angrily go off on something in spanish and then SPIT on us. SPIT! We just looked at eachother and had no idea what just happened. We decided to board the boat immediately. I really will not miss San Juan at all

 

 

 

My DW and I were in San Juan a couple of years ago and sitting in the pier area enjoying the sun prior to boarding our ship when a guy came up asking for money. He went off on some religious tangent which I couldn't follow but kept asking for money. Finally I told him it was against my religion to support other regligions and he looked at me and yelled "BUM" and walked away. We still laugh at that. :)

[danixbanani]

Now how did I miss that one????;) :D

 

Maybe we will see you on a future cruise!!!!

 

haha! I'm kinda glad u missed that lol. Because I was drinking one to many "woo woo's" which are the most delish drink EVER and when i got back to my seat my shirt was inside out and backwards and it just wasn't on at all haha. My sorority sister was trying to cover me but we were just laughing too hard lol.

 

he looked at me and yelled "BUM" and walked away. We still laugh at that. :)

 

haha! thats crazy. I think that PR is nicer in the more "suburban" areas.

 

Foolish pirates - I'll have to plan another cruise with u guys and we can party together! haha! :D

[danixbanani]

as for my rings I haven't heard anything :( So sad. They were really special to me. I did file a claim with my travel insurance so I'm waiting to see what happens. Thanks for all your nice comments about my review! You guys are great!

[meadowvalers]

haha! I'm kinda glad u missed that lol. Because I was drinking one to many "woo woo's" which are the most delish drink EVER and when i got back to my seat my shirt was inside out and backwards and it just wasn't on at all haha. My sorority sister was trying to cover me but we were just laughing too hard lol.

 

 

 

haha! thats crazy. I think that PR is nicer in the more "suburban" areas.

 

Foolish pirates - I'll have to plan another cruise with u guys and we can party together! haha! :D

 

FYI....we are booked on the Pearl 14 night April 4, 2008 from Miami.:D