May 4th Dawn Cruise To Bermuda

[annie m]

We just returned from our 7 night trip aboard the Dawn to Bermuda and it was wonderful. A little background – this trip was originally just my husband and myself, we booked the trip in late February and booked the Owners suite outright through a TA because the price could not be beat.

 

 

We are no strangers to the Dawn, having sailed on her 5 times before – some great cruises and some well.....just OK. On Friday April 25 I got a call from our TA saying she had received an e-mail from Norwegian offering us an upsell to the Garden Villa 14500. The price was unbelievable but I really wasn't sure about it as there was just two of us and what did we need all that space for. I called DH who asked me if I had lost my mind and said take it.

 

 

We then proceeded to add his DD as she was done with classes for the semester and we had all this room and the one thing NCL does very well is offer 3rd 4th and so on passenger rates at a very low cost. Well the excitement really took off then as this was truly going to be a once in a life time experience.

 

 

With the new 2.0 you are given a glass of Champagne or mimosa when you board and many of the staff is there to greet you as you enter the ship. The Dawn still looks as beautiful as she did when we first sailed her in 2003.

 

 

The cruise critic meet and greet was well attended and there was ship's staff there, Cruise Director, Hotel Director etc. were there to answer questions. Thanks again Maria for setting this up.

 

I'll get right to 2.0 being that is what most people want to know about. The Robes in the staterooms are new and and improvement over the older models. The bedding will be replaced in the next few weeks.

 

 

The food is definitely better than it had been when we sailed on the Spirit a year ago, and I'm referring to the main dining room. There was Lobster served twice. On Monday the first sea day there was Lobster Tail and on Friday night they had a sea food medley that had a lobster tail included over linguine. There is a charge now for Impressions of 10.00 but the menu is improved. Cagney's is 20.00 but if you want surf and turf or upgraded cuts of meat there is an additional charge of 10.00 – so it would be 30.00. There was a NO charge for Salsa. And I really can't remember what Le Bistro's charge was. Tappenakyi 's charge was 25.00.

 

 

Suite guests (AE and above)can have breakfast and lunch in Cagney's, we took advantage of the breakfast daily and it was very good. I saw some mention about a charge for Cagney's – this is only for “Fresh Squeezed Juice” and nothing else. The regular juice they had was fine and the service was excellent. Also changes for suite guests is that you choose the fruit you want and it is replaced when it is eaten, also the snacks that are brought each afternoon are picked from a menu – you pick them and tell the butler when you want them delivered. And yes the liquor for AA/A1 has been discontinued. This was not something that was going to impact our cruise. Yes it would have been nice but there were three of us and 6 bottles would have gone to waste.

 

 

In the casino during the hours of 10-2 and 6-1 am there is free drinks with your casino at sea card.

 

 

There was no typical Caribbean Deck Party but in it's place there were different themed deck parties. There was Dancing under the stars and some Oktoberfest Western night. There was also a Monte Carlo night in the Casino as well as the White Hot Party in Spinnakers. Both were fun.

 

 

There were BBQ's on deck during Sea days. The last Sea day was canceled because of weather.

 

 

The weather in Bermuda was perfect although still a little cool. We tendered into Hamilton and spent a few hours there – shopping and looking around. The other two days in Kings Wharf we spent shopping and we went to the Snorkel Park – although the water was too cool for swimming there were some brave souls that went in. I stuck my feet in and that was it.

 

 

I need to give special thanks to Ancka our concierge, Anoop our butler, room stewards Cesar and Elizabeth for outstanding service. Also the Hotel Director Hugo was all over this ship. There is nowhere we went that he wasn't present.

 

 

Any questions – ask away.

[musicgirl63]

Thanks for the review. I know you were in the Suite and I'm sure the beds were great, did you hear anyone mention new bedding overall?

[annie m]

Thanks for the review. I know you were in the Suite and I'm sure the beds were great, did you hear anyone mention new bedding overall?

 

 

Yes - The Hotel Director told us that there would be new bedding in the next few weeks.

[salty dingo]

We saw your ship at King's Wharf last week. Dawn is a beautiful ship to see. Glad it was a good cruise for you, too.

[nursegrrl8]

I was on this cruise as well. I was in a balcony cabin and did not receive a robe in my room. I didn't need one so I didn't ask for it.

 

We received fresh out of the box pillows. I don't know if they were upgraded or just replacements though.

 

The dinner buffet menu was a major disappointment IMO. They had a caesar salad, pasta station, scalloped potatoes, rice every night and just changed out the meats. Since I don't like rushing to dress on port days, this was a bigger deal to me than it would be for anyone else. When I ate in the dining room - the food selection/taste was very good!!

Impressions was excellent!

 

I did take advantage of the free drinks in the casino but did tip the waitress more because of it.

 

I kept the freestyle dailies and would be happy to scan them if there is an interest here. Also, if it is ok with the cruiselines and cruisecritic that I do that!!!

[annie m]

The buffet was the one place that I never really went to. At lunch I ran in to get some fruit. DD had gone there and came back with Cesar Salad.

 

Stopped by to grab a cup of coffee but that was about it.

[peg013]

I kept the freestyle dailies and would be happy to scan them if there is an interest here. Also, if it is ok with the cruiselines and cruisecritic that I do that!!!

 

I am interested in the dailies! Please scan them and post. It's been 4 years since we have been on the Dawn.

[zany]

thanks so much for posting - a couple questions:

 

was there a fee for the italian restaurant (Forgot it's name)

was there a time of day or day of the week with half-price restaurant fees?

[nursegrrl8]

thanks so much for posting - a couple questions:

 

was there a fee for the italian restaurant (Forgot it's name)

was there a time of day or day of the week with half-price restaurant fees?

Impressions is the Italian. It is $10.00 pp

Not that I know of.

[cpcanuck]

Ann - Thanks for the review! I am curious if you noticed any changes in the suite room service menu - is it the same as it was prior to 2.0? I know that the regular room service menu has improved.

[Diamondlil]

Hi

We are going on the Dawn on 5/18- Garden Villa= please tell me all about it! The butler service, was it all you would think? Did you dine in more often than out? Can you call on the butler at anytime? How was the library of music? So, no bottles at all? What a bummer!

Thanks for any information- we are sooo excited!

Cathy

[Diamondlil]

Hi

We are going on the Dawn on 5/18- Garden Villa= please tell me all about it! The butler service, was it all you would think? Did you dine in more often than out? Can you call on the butler at anytime? How was the library of music? So, no bottles at all? What a bummer!

Thanks for any information- we are sooo excited!

Cathy

[annie m]

Ann - Thanks for the review! I am curious if you noticed any changes in the suite room service menu - is it the same as it was prior to 2.0? I know that the regular room service menu has improved.

 

The room service menu was updated and looked to be larger than the last time we were in a suite which was last May on the Spirit. You can order from any of the restaurants for dinner. We only had one meal in the room and that was Dinner on Friday from Impressions the Italian restaurant.

[Leafpeeper]

If you order room service from the restaurants, do you pay the same fee? What about dinner from the dining room or Aqua?

[annie m]

Hi

We are going on the Dawn on 5/18- Garden Villa= please tell me all about it! The butler service, was it all you would think? Did you dine in more often than out? Can you call on the butler at anytime? How was the library of music? So, no bottles at all? What a bummer!

Thanks for any information- we are sooo excited!

Cathy

 

We have stayed in suites before so we knew what to expect from the Butler. You can call him anytime but we really didn't use him all that much. We dined out all but one night. There was a fairly large library of music but we really didn't use it. If we weren't off the ship in port we were up on the sun deck. You will love the Villa and truly be spoiled. They really can't do enough for you.

[annie m]

If you order room service from the restaurants, do you pay the same fee? What about dinner from the dining room or Aqua?

 

That's a good question. I remember when we stayed in other suites if we ordered from the Specialty restaurants we paid a fee. This time I think because it was the Villa we ordered Italian and did not. There is no fee for food ordered from the main dining room

[mortysmama]

We'll be going on the Dawn to Bermuda on May 25th. I would love to see the Freestyle Dallies if it isn't too much trouble to scan and post them. Thanks in advance. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Can you tell us something about the entertainment? I don't usually go to the shows but I'd still be interested in hearing about them.

[rpf1]

I was on this cruise as well. I was in a balcony cabin and did not receive a robe in my room. I didn't need one so I didn't ask for it.

 

We received fresh out of the box pillows. I don't know if they were upgraded or just replacements though.

 

The dinner buffet menu was a major disappointment IMO. They had a caesar salad, pasta station, scalloped potatoes, rice every night and just changed out the meats. Since I don't like rushing to dress on port days, this was a bigger deal to me than it would be for anyone else. When I ate in the dining room - the food selection/taste was very good!!

Impressions was excellent!

 

I did take advantage of the free drinks in the casino but did tip the waitress more because of it.

 

I kept the freestyle dailies and would be happy to scan them if there is an interest here. Also, if it is ok with the cruiselines and cruisecritic that I do that!!!

 

 

If you could scan and post your dailies (and menus if you have them) I would really appreciate it. If it's easier for you to email them, my address is rforapprentice@yahoo.com

 

About the casino drinks -- were they free because you were a member of the casino at sea or free to anyone who was in the casino at that time. Also, I understand that you can join this group when you are on board -- is this correct?

 

Thanks so much and I'm glad to hear that you had a good vacation.

[cpcanuck]

If you could scan and post your dailies (and menus if you have them) I would really appreciate it. If it's easier for you to email them, my address is rforapprentice@yahoo.com

 

About the casino drinks -- were they free because you were a member of the casino at sea or free to anyone who was in the casino at that time. Also, I understand that you can join this group when you are on board -- is this correct?

 

Thanks so much and I'm glad to hear that you had a good vacation.

 

I'm sure many of us would be interested in the dailies/menus - prefer not to give out email this way, is it difficult to scan and post here? Thanks if you are able!

[nursegrrl8]

 

About the casino drinks -- were they free because you were a member of the casino at sea or free to anyone who was in the casino at that time. Also, I understand that you can join this group when you are on board -- is this correct?

 

Thanks so much and I'm glad to hear that you had a good vacation.

yes, you have to join casino at sea which is easy. Free drinks are only at certain times but 6pm-1am covered me!

[travelling fools]

I enjoy the slots.Do they serve drinks on all slots and tables ?

 

Also does anyone know if Dawn have the fridges in the inside cabins?

 

How rough were the seas on your cruise?

 

Looking forward to seeing the dailies.

Thanks

[jeannep]

Also does anyone know if Dawn have the fridges in the inside cabins?

 

 

Thanks

 

 

All cabins on the Dawn have fridges. From what I have read, since we were on her last, they stock the fridges with soda and things. You can have your cabin stewart remove the things from inside it.

 

Jeanne:)

[nursegrrl8]

I enjoy the slots.Do they serve drinks on all slots and tables ?

 

Also does anyone know if Dawn have the fridges in the inside cabins?

 

How rough were the seas on your cruise?

 

Looking forward to seeing the dailies.

Thanks

 

It was only coming home that it was rough. 55mph winds and 16.5 ft waves...

[AFT_LOVER]

Salsa - FREE

 

Bamboo, Le Bistro $15

 

Cagney's $20

 

Tepanyaki $25

 

Get the Casino Rewards & BOGO meal at Bamboo for one night. Never saw any other deals.

 

thanks so much for posting - a couple questions:

 

was there a fee for the italian restaurant (Forgot it's name)

was there a time of day or day of the week with half-price restaurant fees?

[Cruisegal403]

Hi

We are going on the Dawn on 5/18- Garden Villa= please tell me all about it! The butler service, was it all you would think? Did you dine in more often than out? Can you call on the butler at anytime? How was the library of music? So, no bottles at all? What a bummer!

Thanks for any information- we are sooo excited!

Cathy

Hi Cathy,

 

Just saw your post and saw that you were also on the Dawn 5/18. We have a roll call already started and we also have a Meet & Greet scheduled and would love for you to attend. We have about 27 people that are coming to it so far, and definitely don't mind some more. The more, the merrier!!

Happy Cruising!:)