I was on the Dawn in Jan 09 and found it to be very satisfactory. While I do not like the configuration as well as the Jewel Class ships there was nothing to keep us from having a great time. Enjoy!!
Thanks...at least I know someone survived without such negativity
I "survived" as well. 7 times on the Dawn and number 8 booked for August. Not sure about what reviews you are reading but many passengers are voting with their $$$. The Dawn has the highest repeat cruisers of any NCL ship. They must be doing something right.
Having cruised on every NCL except the Star the Dawn remains my favorite. There are things I like better about the newest ships there are more things I like better about the Dawn. In general the interior space of the Dawn is better then the newer ships and the external space better on the latter.
If you have specific questions I would be glad to give you my opinion and opinion is all one person can provide on a board or in a review.
I will second what Shoreguy is saying about the repeat business. You can find negatives on anything if you look for them. Where have you read only negatives?
Thank you all...you have saved me from those awful "gripers" We are now looking forward to our cruise. We are sailing on July 12th to Bermuda. Anyone else on that sailing?
Well if you want to only hear the good things thats fine. I post the good and the bad. We where on the pearl last month and that was the best cruise we have ever been on. I do have to add we stayed in a penthouse on the pearl and an inside room on the dawn. So maybe we where looking for the ships to be the same.
How can anyone expect to compare the experience of an inside cabin to a penthouse....even if you were on the Queen Mary, an inside is an inside..I don't mind hearing both sides, but the first dozen things I read were all negative and that's not what you want to hear about once you've given your money and committed.
We have been of 5 cruises, and although we are not experts, we do have some frame of reference for cruising. However there is never any excuse for poor service. Afterall service is what you pay for on a cruise .
We did the penthouse when its just the two of us, but when we take all the kids we do a cheap room. They dont enjoy the little extras we come to love. The shows on the ship where great. What we didnt like was the food in the main food hall and the service was poor... We had two rooms and both had service issues. We over look alot but this ship does not come near the others we have been on. We are going again in October and will do the pearl. Will never book the Dawn again I dont care how cheap it is..
Don't blame you for not taking the kids into the penthouse....How old are they? How often do you vacation and do you always cruise? You have apparently been on many more cruises than we have so I will respect your opinion. Since I have none yet regarding this ship I can only hope for the best.
We did the penthouse when its just the two of us, but when we take all the kids we do a cheap room. They dont enjoy the little extras we come to love. The shows on the ship where great. What we didnt like was the food in the main food hall and the service was poor... We had two rooms and both had service issues. We over look alot but this ship does not come near the others we have been on. We are going again in October and will do the pearl. Will never book the Dawn again I dont care how cheap it is..
Well the menus have changed. Not sure how you better then Lobster, Prime rib, steak, more, plus a chefs special every night in the main dining rooms.
when we took the kids this time there was my 5 kids and 1 boyfriend. We cruise every year. This year with my work slow we did 2 so far and one more in October. We felt the food in the main hall was not very good. They had lobster but it was just small chunks mixed with other stuff. The prime rib was ok but you can get the same cut in the garden cafe. We did like the pay chinese and the french was a great meal. We have been on NCL and Carnival. We are going to try royal this time.
we have sailed on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity and Princess. Our favorite was always Royal Caribbean. However we have never sailed "Freestyle Dining" before so we are expecting better food in the restaurants that charge the additional fees. But we are not fools either so we will probably eat in the dining rooms as well. Is there are charge only for dinners? Are they open for other meals? What about the grill by the pool? Do they charge?
Sailing NCL to Bermuda on the 12th of July.
Thanks for all the info
The two main dining rooms never charge. The buffet, outdoor grills, and Blue Laggon no charge either. One or both of the main dining rooms are open for breakfast and lunch as well.
You are in luck. They just started new menus for the main dining rooms. Each of the 2 will have its own different menu. They stay the same with the addition of a chefs special each night like a restaurant on land. The good news you get the option of a couple of Lobster dishes every night, prime rib, well take a look for yourself
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