Dawn review 1/20-1/27 from a first time NCL cruiser (long)

[librarygal]

This was our fifth cruise and our first on NCL. We went on the Grand Princes less than a year ago so I will be doing some comparisons with that cruise in this review.

 

We flew non-stop to Miami on American Airlines. Upon arrival we picked up our rental car at Thrifty and checked into our hotel, the Holiday Inn Airport West Doral area. The room was fine and we got a great price on Hotwire but the front desk staff left much to be desired. We asked for a different room because they first one they gave us was not the right room type. When my DH asked for a key card jacket with the new room number on it the guy at the front desk did not know what he was talking about! We then drove to Coconut Grove and had dinner.

 

Embarkation – We woke up to a cool drizzly day. After returning the car to Thrifty at about 11:00am we took their free shuttle to the port. It was very convenient as they leave frequently. We dropped off our bags and breezed through security. This was such a contrast from our cruise out of Galveston last year on Princess which took two hours for check in! NCL really know how to keep people moving. Check in only took ten minutes but they staggered the entry into the ship to avoid congestion. We were told cabins would not be ready until 2pm so we had something to eat and checked out the ship with our carry on in tow.

 

Cabin – We had an inside cabin on deck nine. We had some problems with the cabin upon arrival. There was a terrible sewage smell in the bathroom, the mini bar was warm and the TV remote was dead. These issues were quickly fixed by our cabin steward except for the remote. I just replaced the batteries myself. The cabin was the smallest we have ever had but we soon adjusted. I can’t imagine having four people in that cabin! The location was great as the deck is between the sun/buffet deck and the theatre and restaurant decks. There was plenty of storage for two people. The shower was nice and large and there was good water pressure. The beds were better than Princess but not luxurious pillow tops. The TV only had CNN and some movie and sports channels. My big complaint is that if there was any motion at all the walls creaked and ticked. One night we had ten foot seas and with all the creaking it was hard to sleep.

 

The ship – The ship was clean and in good shape. It had more sway than any other ship I have been on. Maybe they forgot to use the stabilizers. On our last cruise I could not even tell we were moving at times. The biggest negative about the ship is that it has only one pool at which there was constantly loud music playing. The Grand Princess had three adult pools including a fantastic indoor pool that was nice and quiet. The gym was nice and large but I am ashamed to admit I never used it. The atrium was just OK and did not have enough seating for people watching. We liked the fact we could walk all the way around the promenade deck. Some of the areas of the ship were frigid at night so bring a wrap or sweater. As a librarian I must mention the library. The library seemed fairly well stocked but had limited hours. They need to put Mylar dust jackets and genre labels on the books and barcode them for faster checkout. You fellow librarians will know what I am talking about. NCL, if you are reading this I would be happy to do the work in exchange for a free cruise. ;)

 

Fellow passengers - I would say most people on the ship were between fifty and seventy. At forty-six I felt young! Passengers included a fair amount of Canadians and some Europeans but very few racial minorities. There were maybe one hundred kids on board and very few tweens, teens or twenty-somethings. I guess it is the time of year when few college students and families travel.

 

Dining – The food was average to good. I can’t think of any meal that really stood out. We ate all breakfasts and lunches in the Garden Café. Breakfast was fine but I thought the selection at lunch was a little weak. Not enough meat choices and strange side dishes. I liked the NY Deli. I get tired of eating dinner type lunches every day. We ate at every free restaurant except for Blue Lagoon. We liked the Freestyle concept. We have no interest in eating with the same strangers seven nights in a row. We tend to eat early and never had a problem getting in without a reservation until the end of the cruise when we wanted to go back to Impressions but the reservation desk said there were no seatings available before 8pm for the next two days.

 

Entertainment – The production shows with the Jean Ann Ryan Company were good and some of the dancers were amazing. Sit in the front and observe the featured dancer’s feet. Makes you tired just watching. The comedian Ted Holum was just average. The magician Bart Rockett is talented but his first show was marred by poor sound quality. We could barely hear a word he said. The Second City troup’s improvisation skills were impressive but I just did not find them funny. We enjoyed the game shows like The Not So Newlywed Game and liked that they were not too late. We did not go to any late night entertainment as we were in bed by 10:30pm. We went to trivia the first day and the crew member running it had such a strong accent we could not understand him. We won a NCL luggage tag. Wahoo!

 

Service – Service at the buffet was friendly and efficient. Our cabin steward kept our small digs clean but there was no card in the cabin with his name or how to contact him. The cabin stewards were in the hallways as late as 10pm making noise. It seems like they had too many rooms to service. I would have been happy with just fresh ice. I don’t need towel animals or turndown. Service at the restaurants was good except for the Venetian which tended to be a little slow. We rarely heard from the cruise director Pedro and never saw him around the ship.

 

Samana - We took the Safari Tour. I am going to do a full review of the tour for the Dominican Republic board. Never saw the town. The scenery is lush and mountainous but the people were very poor. We felt the tour was overpriced but since there are no private operators we did not have much choice. We waited over an hour in the theatre for our tour tender to leave. They indicated that the seas were rough so that was slowing things down but it did not seem bad to me.

 

St. Thomas – We spent the morning looking at the mall near the dock then went on the Best of St. Thomas tour. Lots of nice scenery. The traffic getting out of town and back to the ship was terrible. We did not want to risk missing the boat so we never went downtown.

 

Tortola – Tortola is a smaller version of St. Thomas. We took the North Shore and Pussers Landing tour. This was our favorite tour and half the cost of the Samana tour. They drove us all around the west end of the island making stops at viewpoints and Cane Garden Bay Beach.

 

Nassau - At dinner time during our second sea day the Captain came on the PA system and said there was a cold front moving in and the seas would be too high to tender safely in Great Stirrup Cay and that we would be going to Nassau instead. I was happy as I had no interest in sitting on a chilly beach all day and had not been there before. We booked the Discover Atlantis tour with NCL. We probably could have done it cheaper on our own but the Internet was too expensive to check for alternatives. We looked around downtown Nassau and then went back to the dock for out tour. They took us to a boat which ferried us over to Paradise Island where we were met by a tour guide from Atlantis. We toured the Aquarium areas which were nice but not worth the $32 they charge. Our wrist bands gave us full access to the resort except for the pools. Without a wrist band or room key you will not even get near the pools and aquariums. Atlantis was spectacular but it would cost a pretty penny since the food is so expensive. A small drink was $3.45 and a six slice pizza was $28 at the snack bar.

 

A strange event – As we were leaving Tortola the captain came on the PA system and said that there had been a boat nearby but we “Did not hit the boat”. He came on an hour later and said the same thing. I guess we got very near a small boat and turned at the last minute. People must have seen it and came to the reception desk with concerns. He indicated that the boat was empty??? and that the authorities had been notified. The next day he came on again and I believe he said the boat was not empty. It became the joke of the cruise and was used in a Second City skit.

 

Disembarkation – We signed up for the Express walk off even though our flight did not leave until after 4pm. They started calling people about 7:30am. We had breakfast and were off the boat by 8:30. No lines at customs. When we walked out of the terminal we were amazed to find the Alamo shuttle there. They took us to the airport to pick up the car. When we got to the Miami airport the place was chaos. There were at least five hundred people waiting to check in for fights on American including fifty people in the first class line. We went outside to curbside check in which was also chaotic and had no defined lines. We waited almost a half hour before we got someone to help us. The airport is old, crowded and depressing. Of course, our flight was delayed a half hour so it was hurry up and wait. The flight was totally full but otherwise uneventful.

 

We enjoyed the cruise but will not be on NCL in the near future since we want to go to the Greek Islands next. NCL does not have a seven day Greek Islands cruise.

 

If you have any questions I would be happy to answer them.

[Sani]

Thanks for your review. I'm glad to see someone else had an inside cabin - I was starting to think everyone on this board got balconies. :)

 

When you say the boat had more sway, is that something you could feel from your cabin? My only concern with not having a porthole is that I might be more prone to seasickness without being able to orient myself to the horizon easily.

 

I won't ask you your cabin number, but were you closer to the stern or near the bow? You mentioned the sewage smell - did you see any leaks or anything? I'm a little wary of the possibility of mold. You said the mini-bar was warm - was it a pre-stocked mini-bar, or just a refrigerator? I'd like to bring on my own soda and keep it in the fridge rather than pay out the nose for my caffeine habit.

[Mekamax]

I had a balcony - don't sue me! haha But I can ad a little - our room had a sewage smell a few times that would come and go. Two times it had a strong chemical smell - I thought maybe came from teh spa above us. But we would open the balcony or leave the cabin and it would be gone when we got back... There was more movement than I expected too ont eh ship but the seas were rough with a cold front leaving and a cold front coming back. We were most of the way back to the aft...

 

It was a prepacked minibar which our cabin steward emptied for us on our request - any even came by to ask if he could steal from us for another cabin that was demanding more... :) Debbie

[dtiger]

Thanks for the review.

[librarygal]

The sewage smell was very pronounced the first day and there was a little water leakage. Supposedly our cabin steward had the plumber look at it and after day one the sewage smell was much less noticeable. There was no mold. The minibar is stocked, that is how I knew it was warm. We went to Wal-Mart in Miami the day we arrived and bought some Coke and water. I put the drinks in a tote bag and put a luggage tag on it and left it with the baggage handlers at the pier. Easy as pie.

 

We were in cabin 9101 which was midship. I felt the bed move most nights but second night at sea was bad with ten foot seas. My DH and I felt queasy. The swaying is bad but the creaking of the walls is worse. Bring sleeping pills.

[kruzingtogether]

We were on the same cruise, in an oceanview cabin on deck 4 and did not notice any movement, other than on the first evening right after we left Miami.