Just back - Norwegian Dawn - May 17th to May 25th - Ask me questions!

[Milaandra]

Hi,

 

Casual dress is still allowed in the Garden Cafe.

 

The Garden Cafe did have a chilled fruit soup the one night I went. (Lazy day and didn't feel like dressing) They might have them every night, I'm not sure.

 

We got up bright and early to disembark. We were at the taxi stand by 8:45-8:50. The biggest problem is disorganization. People were cutting in line and there were two gangways but I think most people were lined up for just the one. I wish Norwegian would allow people with their luggage to get a number in the Atrium and then they could just call groups of numbers...like they do for embarking, but without the elitism. (pet peeve...through mismanagement more than planning, we were the first people in line the morning we left, but we were certainly not the first people aboard! Important tip...don't bother showing up early, you'll just get irritated.)

[pinstripes4887]

Does anyone from this cruise know if the photo frenzy package was still being offered?

[rsspurple]

which to me seemed like an underhanded way of getting you to pay for the specialty restaurants

 

 

What do they charge for the restaurants?

[Dolphins]

First, I was merely expressing our opinions of the new menu. I'm free to not like the new menu, and you're free to like it. Having seen probably less than a dozen opinions expressed here, neither one of us are in a position to know how the majority of NCL passengers will view it....or as you say "the case over all".

 

As to being able to plan your specialty restaurant usage...you could always do that. If you asked for them, the week's MDR menus were always available. We almost never ate in the specialty restaurants, but now we just might have to do so on one or two nights...so I view this as NCL increasing the cost of my cruise without raising the base fare.

 

There's clearly a loss of variety on the new menus...cold soups and vegetarian dishes are among the more obvious ones. The same dining room lunch menu every day is another. Fewer dishes being offered translates into lower costs for the cruise line in a couple of ways...possible kitchen staff reductions, and less waste, because there will be less guessing about how much to buy of ingedients for less popular dishes. If you took this a step or two further and reduced the available dinner entrees to three...sirloin steak, salmon and chicken breast, the cruise line would almost never have any waste because of the great statistical certainty of how much of each would be consumed.

 

So, I see two things benefitting NCL...increased revenue in the specialty restaurants, and lower costs in staff and provisioning. I see two things negatively affecting me...increased cost to eat in the specialty restaurants and less variety in in MDR choices.

 

We've cruised for many, many years on a variety of cruise lines, and the reduction in dining variety without the passenger incurring additional cost has been painfully obvious...not just on NCL.

 

Please explain to me how offering lobster, rack of lamb, sea scallops, prime rib of beef, shrimp and escargot every night in a no extra charge main dining room translates into lower costs for the cruise line? When did those items suddenly become available at bargain prices? Not in my supermarkets?

[ma_t_gus]

yay!!!!! Surf and Turf on almost every night. No need for me to go to the specialty restaurants. I hope they don't change the menu on my 6/21 cruise.

[njhorseman]

Please explain to me how offering lobster, rack of lamb, sea scallops, prime rib of beef, shrimp and escargot every night in a no extra charge main dining room translates into lower costs for the cruise line? When did those items suddenly become available at bargain prices? Not in my supermarkets?

 

Read my answer in post #70 on this thread.

 

None of these offerings are new...they are already on the menu on some night, lobster is already offered on two nights and steak is already on the menu every night. The savings come from less waste and probably the need for fewer skilled chefs who preapre fancier dishes...they can now be replaced by line cooks with fewer skills because of the of how many of these dishes are prepared.

[peg013]

yay!!!!! Surf and Turf on almost every night. No need for me to go to the specialty restaurants. I hope they don't change the menu on my 6/21 cruise.

 

Since we bought the Anniversary Package this makes our choice of what night to go to LeBistro so much easier. We don't have to worry about missing the Lobster or Prime Rib in the MDR's now.

[A.S.]

Please explain to me how offering lobster, rack of lamb, sea scallops, prime rib of beef, shrimp and escargot every night in a no extra charge main dining room translates into lower costs for the cruise line? When did those items suddenly become available at bargain prices? Not in my supermarkets?

 

Have to agree! This is a very nice menu. Hope it sticks!

[CastawayCruiser]

To me, knowing what they have each night is going to make decisions and planning much easier and the menus I've seen look great. So, I am likely to go to fewer specialty restaurants on my upcoming cruise because I won't be booking them in case I don't like whatever menu pops up in the MDR.

 

I agree with you. On our last cruise we ate in Speciality Restaurants every night but this time I will be visiting the Main Dining rooms on a few nights because I like the options and I can get them whever it is convenient for me!! Freestyle at it's best in my opinion...

[c breeze]

Maybe it was a cost-cutting measure, but the way I see it, in the past some people tried to go to the MDRs on lobster night, some wanted to go for prime rib, some waited for the rack of lamb or beef tenderloin, Now you can have any of that whatever night you want. Aside from the chilled soup lovers, the people who have reason to be unhappy are the vegetarians, since their options for free entrees are reduced significantly. I think in general it works well for a 7 day cruise, but they should offer an vegetarian chef special each night. (I am not a vegetarian).

 

Let's keep this in perspective. We are the ones who are still able and lucky enough to cruise, and can do so for even less right now.

[jkloni]

I LOVE the new menus. I was generally disappointed in the old NCL menus (especially seafood/fish choices) but always found something to eat. It looks like these new menus took the most popular ordered items and combined them into one 'master' menu to offer the entire cruise.

 

My DH loves the cold soups, oh well. He'll get over it.

 

We're sailing the 14 night repo Nov 1. I'm hoping these menus stay.

 

Kathy

[Smellytoes]

I just showed my DH the Menu's and HE LIKES THEM.....!!! :)

 

We only dine in the Main Restaurants, and he thinks he will be VERY HAPPY.....!!! Escargot, Shrimp, Lobster, Filet Mignon, Strip Steak, Prime Rib, Ice Cream, Sherbet.......

 

SJ, I agree with Thomas:) I wish they were using these menus on the Spirit. It would be much easier to figure out where I wanted to eat each night.

[cruiznagainandagain]

Do the specialty restaurants charge a cover charge or per item charge? On Princess, it's like $25.00 per person for cover and in the steak house it's like $9.00 extra for the bigger lobster.:rolleyes:

[c breeze]

Do the specialty restaurants charge a cover charge or per item charge? On Princess, it's like $25.00 per person for cover and in the steak house it's like $9.00 extra for the bigger lobster.:rolleyes:

 

Cover charge (varies) and there is ALSO a extra charge for some items at Cagney's. I don' THINK the other specialty restaurants have an extra charge for some items, but things could have changed since I cruised last fall... :D

[snorklinbarb]

Cover charge (varies) and there is ALSO a extra charge for some items at Cagney's. I don' THINK the other specialty restaurants have an extra charge for some items, but things could have changed since I cruised last fall... :D

 

There is an extra charge for the Szechuan lobster in the Asian restaurant, a couple of items in Le Bistro, too. That's on top of the regular charge.

[Studebaker59]

Does anyone from this cruise know if the photo frenzy package was still being offered?

 

 

They did not publicize it, so I don't think it was offered. On disembarkation morning there was an announcement made for photos at a 10% discount.

[Studebaker59]

As mentioned, there may have been cold soups in the Garden Cafe. I don't remember.

 

Jeans seemed to be ok in the two MDR. I didn't see anyone turned away because of them. I even saw a man in shorts at dinner in the Venetian one night. It seems that the cruise was very "freestyle" last week.

 

By the way, I want to mention that Shona was a terrific, vivacious, hard-working CD, and Sinan was a great assistant CD. Shona was leaving the Dawn when we got off on May 24th.

[Mooder]

Read my answer in post #70 on this thread.

 

None of these offerings are new...they are already on the menu on some night, lobster is already offered on two nights and steak is already on the menu every night. The savings come from less waste and probably the need for fewer skilled chefs who preapre fancier dishes...they can now be replaced by line cooks with fewer skills because of the of how many of these dishes are prepared.

 

Have to agree! This is a very nice menu. Hope it sticks!

 

I have to love a company that finds a way to save money by offering a nice menu. I prefer that to a nice menu that causes them to raise prices. :rolleyes:

[Mooder]

I agree with you. On our last cruise we ate in Speciality Restaurants every night but this time I will be visiting the Main Dining rooms on a few nights because I like the options and I can get them whever it is convenient for me!! Freestyle at it's best in my opinion...

 

Excellent point - no reservation needed. :)

[Teesa1021]

I'm leaving on the Dawn from NY to Bermuda in August. I have a few questions maybe you could help me with?

- What does the Latitutde Members Party intail and when was it held?

- Can you bring bottled juices/soda on board?

- Do the lunch menus in the dining rooms stay the same as well?

-For events at night do you know if they Dawn did the Quest game and or the Family Fued Game that I have seen on other NCl boats?

[Timber]

Let's keep this in perspective. We are the ones who are still able and lucky enough to cruise, and can do so for even less right now.

I'll second that...I couldn't agree more. I missed the part where having steak & lobster more than once in a week is nowadays considered a problem?!?! :rolleyes:

[njhorseman]

I'll second that...I couldn't agree more. I missed the part where having steak & lobster more than once in a week is nowadays considered a problem?!?! :rolleyes:

 

 

No one said having steak and lobster more than once a week is a problem...steak was already on the menu every day and lobster was already available twice a week. It is the loss of items previously offered that provided variety that some of us view negatively.

[Studebaker59]

The steak served in the Venetian was like a filet mignon. It was tender and delicious. The accompanying lobster tail was marvelous. We asked for two lobster tails with the steak. We had this four nights. It was outstanding! In Aqua, we had the Seafood Extravaganza which included a lobster tail, and one night we had rack of lamb. All of this would have been so expensive in a restaurant at home, and may not have been as good.

 

Of course, there were other choices. This is what appealed to us. It was such a treat!

 

The Venetian lunch menu remained the same all week, with a different chef's special each day. Again, there were plenty of other venues such as the Blue Lagoon, Garden Cafe, Bimini Grill, pool BBQ, and room service.

 

In Bamboo, each of us did order a main noodle-type dish, as well as a main dish so we weren't limited to one choice. We also had several appetizers.

 

We never had more than a two or three minute wait for the MDR. We usually went at 6:00 P.M. and told the server we wanted to see the 7:30 P.M. show. No problem!

 

We enjoy the evening productions, music, and game shows so eating at 6 P.M. works well for us. A salad lunch satisfies us.

[julescruisin]

Wow, I think the new menus look awesome, we were on the Dawn for the Easter cruise out of Miami to the Eastern Carib. and we never even had lobster, these new menus look soooo gooood thanks for posting them. We are on our fave. ship Aug. 9 to Bermuda and I cant wait to show my DH and 2 DDs they all love lobster!!!! Yahoooo!!! I just have to get rid of those huge stinging jellyfish before we hit Horseshoe Bay!!! Maybe now we will actually eat at the Venetion or Aqua.:p

[YeaYeaYea]

I sailed on the Dawn in the fall I loved the Food anyone that didn't is just ..........well to pickey