Dawn & Bermuda Aug 24-31/08

[lukes]

CRUISE: NCL Dawn 7 day to Bermuda August 24-31/08

HISTORY: 4th cruise all with NCL, 2nd on Dawn. Traveling 4 myself 48, wife 50, daughter 21, daughter 19 all in 1 inside cabin deck 10.

NYC: We live just outside of Niagara Falls ON just over the Canada/US border. We traveled by Amtrak from Niagara Falls NY to Penn station the day prior to cruise. Stayed mid town Times Square Marriott, one of the nicest hotels we have ever stayed at. Took short cab ride 7 minutes to the pier, fare was $ 6.50. Once again enjoyed our time in NYC, the city offers so much, and we have available so little time.

EMBARKATION: The quickest, easiest embarkation we have ever experienced. Arrived at the pier at approx 11:15 and were on board prior to noon. It was a nice touch to receive that day’s Freestyle daily in the cruise terminal prior to boarding. We were warmly greeted with a waiting glass of champagne ( O.J. is also available) Explored the ship a little, tried to get into Venetian for lunch however it was closed due to some function - there was a double wedding ceremony taking place in Spinnakers so assume that is why Venetian was not available Settled for lunch in the Garden café, by this time tables were impossible to find but we did find a table out at the pool deck. Rooms were available approx at 1:45. Through the roll call for this cruise we had all agreed to wear Mardi gras beads to help identify one another. This did work as we met a few from the roll call. Many staff asked us about the beads as they stated seeing many boarding passengers with them.

SHIP/CABIN: Having sailed 3 times previous we have learned 2 things. To pack a little less and how to arrange the cabin to make it work for 4 adults. We must have done something right because the cabin felt like it had more moving around room. Our room stewards never formally introduced themselves to us, something they went out of the way to do on our previous GEM cruise. But we did see them many times in the hallway and they were pleasant but quiet. They kept the room relatively clean (it could have used more vacuuming) was always well stocked with towels and was always prepared for either the day or night.

The ship in itself is very clean, they were always vacuuming stairs, polishing hand railings, cleaning the public bathrooms etc. The ship is a little tricky to move around in, there are a few dead ends, but there are maps and signs everywhere and if you read them you have no problems.

STAFF: The staff was pleasant enough and for the most part efficient however to me they appeared a little tired. I believe this was due to two things. This cruise was the last one of the season to Bermuda, and I think they were looking forward to a change of scenery and it was also the last cruise of the summer season. There were over 700 children onboard. The children for the most part were well behaved but they did cause extra work, many times there were spills in the Garden café, in the elevators, etc. that the staff was constantly having to clean up.

The CD was Pedro who we met at the Meet & Greet. He was very engaging and recognized us throughout the cruise and often engaged us in conversation. We saw him at every function however he was at his funniest and most relaxed at the Liars Club show. Between himself and the Comedian Dave Heehan they almost turned the Liars Club into a Just for Laughs festival and we laughed harder here than at any other event.

FOOD/RESTAURANTS: Food is always the most subjective of areas. We have fairly neutral tastes, generally liking anything we don’t have to prepare, cook or clean up after ward. We ate 1 dinner at a specialty restaurant. We feel we can cruise more often if we keep our onboard expenses relatively low. Therefore since we have already basically paid for meals why pay more. That being said Impressions was very good, the food excellent and service very good. However we don’t think we will do this in the future. We ate the rest of dinners in either Venetian or Aqua and the food was always very good. Selection excellent. Twice they served Lobster tails. Now the tails are not very big and I asked for and received a second tail both nights. Service was better, more efficient and quicker in the Aqua then in the Venetian. Sometimes it was painfully slow in the Venetian. We generally ate prior to 6:30 and had little trouble getting a table. One evening after attending the Latitudes reception which did not get out until after 6:30 we found ourselves in the middle of the rush for seating. Both the Venetian and Aqua were backed up considerably and we reluctantly opted for the Garden café. The food was OK, a table was easy to find, but this was not our first choice for dinner. We ate most of our lunches in the Venetian and the selection was very good and the service generally quicker. The Garden café was the choice each morning for breakfast. The food again was very good with a wide variety of choices. The omelet station and waffle station sometimes had long lines but the staff manning them were very efficient and the line moved quite quickly. We sometimes had to look hard but we always found a table for the four of us. Blue Lagoon has some of the best wings I have ever had, and that is saying something as we live a stones throw from the wing capital - Buffalo and have enjoyed many a sampling in the area. Serve was very quick at Blue Lagoon. Drink prices were comparable to back home, and cheaper than many tourist areas and attractions we have experienced. Drinks did include an automatic 15% tip added on.

ENTERTAINMENT: My only complaint is I wasn’t able to clone myself to take in all of the entrainment they had going on during this cruise. The musical entertain was second to none on this cruise. Most evenings we enjoyed the FANTASTIC DUO of Jose & Patti in Dazzles Lounge. If you remotely like Neil Diamond do not miss their tribute show. One evening this duo decided to perform 1 song from each of the 1930’s, 40’s 50’s 60’s 70’s 80’s 90’s and 2000’s. How many music acts do you know that have that kind of range. Sounds Bytes were also very good in Spinnakers as was Angel Magaso in the Pearly King’s Pub. Dave Heenan we found was funnier this time than on a previous cruise. The Magic of Greg Gleason was the same as previously seen on a another cruise and wasn’t much better the second time around. The troupe from Second City had some funny moments but was generally weaker than other Second City troupes we have seen. We did not catch any of the Jean Ryan Dance group as we had seem the shows previously. We did enjoy morning trivia, dance lessons and the games shows. With the introduction of Freestyle 2.0 there is some entertainment changes: there is no long the New Years eve party this has been replaced with White Hot Nights. This appeared to be a hit with the younger crowd, even thought I did stick my head in for a while. One thing I found strange was that they scheduled the deck party for the same night NCL sponsored a street party in Bermuda. Because of this the deck party was very poorly attended as was a western theme night the next night. There were no pool games or activities at all, perhaps a victim of freestyle 2.0.

AMENITIES: The pool is small and usually very crowded though one late afternoon in Bermuda when most people were ashore we did get into the pool. The Dawn does offer extra pool side seating with its tiered seating area, and we could usually find a seat in this area, however NCL does need to do a better job of enforcing its policy of not hogging lounge chairs. Traveling with 3 women in 1 cabin sharing 1 bathroom they treat me to a week at the spa. This way I can shower etc there and free up the cabin bathroom for them. Little do they know this is quite the treat for me. Each day at around 4:00 or 4:30 I would go to the spa for approx 1 ½ hours. At this time it was never very crowded, sometimes there was only myself and 2 or 3 others there. Each day I would do some laps in the pool and at the end of the week I had my time down to where I could challenge Michael Phelps. That’s of course if he gave me a 5 lap head start in a 6 lap race. I also enjoyed the hot tub and thermo pool each day, and completed my stay with a nice shower and my own private, enormous change room. The gym was well equipped and was never over crowded.

BERMUDA: Perhaps the most beautiful, friendliest Island we have ever been to. Living on the Great Lakes it saddens me to see what water should really look like. Bermand has the most pristine, cleanest water I have ever seem. My 19 year old and I enjoyed an amazing snorkel excursion to a reef and ship wreck. It was unbelievable. The bus /ferry system cost $12 for a day pass, $20 for 2 days & $ 28 for 3 days and is easy to use My only complaint about Bermuda is that being docked at King’s Wharf/ The Dockyard everything is a minimum of 1 hour away. This does add considerably to your travel time to and from. St. Catharines beach was very nice and had some very good snorkeling.

THINGS I WOULD CHANGE IF I WAS THE CEO OF NCL:

Change the Jean Ryan dance group into either new shows or a different type of entertainment. Do not have the Latitudes reception at 5:30. NCL wants people to attend as this is generally a sales presentation but by the time you get out you’re smack in the middle of the dinner rush, schedule this for 3 or 4 o’clock. Have the deck party on the night prior to arriving in Bermuda as to not conflict with Island activities. Have every room attendant introduce themselves or at least leave a card with names and contact information.

CONCLUSION: Of course the experiences above are ours alone, there were over 2500 passengers on this cruise and each had a different experience. The changes I mention above were minor and did not effective the overall enjoyment of the cruise. We had a fantastic time on our 4th NCL cruise. The saddest day of a cruise is disembarkation day (which we choose express and were off by 8:00 a.m. – only because of transportation arrangements). The next day is little brighter as we begin to look forward to cruise #5 : December 27 on the Gem.

[lalapodip]

lukes - great review, thanks! We sail to Bermuda on the Dawn in less than five weeks now. I especially appreciated your review of the entertainment and the restaurants. Thanks for taking the time to give us the details of your experience! :D

[AFAMILY]

Great review, thank for posting it! It brought back alot of pleasant memories from our cruise this past May.

 

Happy Cruising!

[*Luv2Cruz*]

Thanks for your review! Sounds like you had a great time. We can't wait until our CC Group cruise back to Bermuda. It will be our fourth cruise to Bermuda and our first on the Dawn!:cool:

[Dolphins]

We will be boarding the Dawn for the 5th time in October and I probably agree with everything you said. Time to replace "Bollywood," it's been on the Dawn for 5 years now. Bermuda remains our favorite island port and we try to sail there every October, already booked for 2009.

 

If some of the staff seemed a bit tired, it is understandable with hundreds of kids on board every week for the summer. I suspect they are suffering from battle fatigue. I am sure they are looking forward to September and a more mature passenger clientele.

[40+wantstocruise]

Dolphins: we were on the Crown to Bermuda 3 years ago with you. Thinking of going in October too. What is your sailing date?

 

Bermuda is wonderful...Deciding whether to go out of NYC or Boston.

[*Wink*]

Thanks for your review.. I enjoyed reading it very much.

 

A.

[bigfoot88]

THANKS......

 

DW and I will be on the Dawn for the 2nd time in Oct ( 8th NCL Cruise) We are looking forward to seeing Pedro. We was the CD on 4 of the 5 Majesty trip.

[lukes]

I enjoyed writing the review almost as much as I enjoyed the cruise. Ok not even close but both were fun.

 

Dolphins you are right battle fatigue is a good expression. I am sure for many of the staff it is a battle to deal with 700+ kids week in and week out. I am sure they were looking for a change. However this was not the case with all. I was talking to one fellow who was running some of the sports activities: basketball, volleyball and he knew he would have little participation the following week. He stated it would be an easy week for him, but not as much fun. What is the weather like in October? How has the cruise to and from been?

 

I would love to try October some time.

 

Again thanks, for all your kind words.

[goodml]

Great review! Thanks for taking the time to post it.:)