NORWEGIAN DAWN - A Ship for All Seasons!

Embarkation in New York was quite interesting. With the increased security, about 500 people were to go through the security checkpoint before arriving at the NCL check-in desk. I highly recommend arriving at the Passenger Ship terminal as early as possible. Embarkation for our particular sailing started at about Noontime. After passing through the security check, the NCL check-in was quick and painless.

 Once on board the ship, you are greeted by bright blue colored floral rugs and luxurious wood simulated wall coverings. The ship décor is a mixture of Hawaiian and European influence. The Norwegian Dawn is kept extremely clean and well maintained.

Our cabin was well appointed. We stayed in a balcony mini-suite on deck 11. The room had a king size bed and a futon which folded into a queen bed, a refrigerator, coffee pot, hair dryer and television. The bathroom had a full tub, which my wife really enjoyed. The shower had a thermostat to regulate the water temperature. No ship bathroom would be complete without the vacuum toilets. Storage was ample with a large closet, a dresser and storage room for the empty luggage under the bed. Because we were traveling in off-season and there were four passengers in the same room, the rate was quite reasonable at about $ 675 per person.

 Since we were sailing in November, we were somewhat concerned about the weather. We really lucked out. On our day of departure the temperature was in the mid 70’s and partly cloudy. The remainder of the week was in the 80’s and 90’s. The last day (Saturday) we encounter some rough seas but the ship performed quite well in the turbulent seas. It should also be noted that NCL has a winter weather guarantee. If the ship is delayed more than a set amount of time due to the weather, NCL will provide a $100 per cabin on board credit.

 The ship has all of the luxuries of a floating hotel and then some – restaurants, internet Café, Game Room, Library, Show Lounges, photo studio, Theatre, spa (with a beautiful pool), disco, teen disco and bars to name a few.

The ship has a very family friendly atmosphere and itinerary. Monday at sea, both my 8 and 5 year olds found the T-Rex Kids Center very enjoyable. This kids area located on one of the top most, aft decks, has two 10-foot dinosaurs, 2 twisty slides, two kid’s pools and a hot tub (which most of the adults commandeered). The kids had a blast shriveling from being in the water so much!

On the top deck center is located the large pool, a netted golf driving cage (which the kids enjoyed too), the basket ball court, soccer field, large chess set and jogging track. My eighth year old had a great time shooting baskets and teamed-up with some other kids and teens on-board to play a game of wild soccer.

 Tuesday we arrived in Cape Canaveral, Florida. NCL runs multiple excursions to the theme parks, the beach and the Kennedy Space Center. We opted to go to Disney for the day. The ship docked at about 9:00 AM but due some glitches in debarkation we did not get ashore until about 10:15 AM. The coaches to Disney were comfortable and air-conditioned. The trip is about 1 hour each way. The bus driver told us to keep our eyes open for the wild pigs that run across the road as we sped toward the theme park. Arriving at about 11:15 we had about 6 hours in Disney before we had to re-board the buses at 5:30 PM. If this is your first visit to Disney, there is not enough time to see an entire park. You basically have to choose one park and see as much as you can. We chose to go to the Magic Kingdom. Since most kids were in school, the lines in Disney were manageable and we leveraged the Disney’s Fast Pass to avoid waiting on long lines. I highly recommend getting a Disney map well in advance of your trip to Florida. This will allow you to plan your day in advance. The kids had a great time despite the 90+-degree day. The time in port seemed adequate for a Disney refresher. The bus to Disney was about $28/pp and admission to the park was $212 for a family of four. Upon return to Cape Canaveral, we witnessed fireworks to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the port.

 Wednesday, we arrived in Miami. We stayed on board mainly because the kids were pooped from the previous day’s activities. Again the T-Rex Pool was very popular and the kids played in the water until they were shriveled. For those who ventured ashore, there was a tour of the trendy South Beach area, an afternoon at the beach, or a visit to the museums and much, much more. The departure from Miami was spectacular. Although the Miami skyline is not extremely impressive during the day, at night the skyline changes dramatically with vivid and colorful illumination of the structures

Thursday marked our arrival in Nassau in the Bahamas. At Nassau, there are a number of things to do including visiting the straw market, take a historical tour of the island, swim with the dolphins or venture over to the casino to try your luck. In the Bahamas, we rented a room at the Comfort Suite Hotel on Paradise Island. Comfort Suites has access to all of the facilities of the Atlantis Resort at a fraction of the cost. The facilities at Atlantis include the Mayan Water Slide, numerous pools, including the kid’s pool, and my favorite the Lazy River Ride where you float around in an inner tube though a circular pool. Atlantis also has massive tanks filled with all types of fish and a tank that you can walkthrough and see sharks and swordfish swimming all around you. We even fed the stingrays!

Adults at Atlantis can enjoy the Casino, high end shopping, and dining at numerous restaurants. The grounds are fun to walk round as well.

Friday at 7:00 AM we anchored off of Great Stirrup Cay in the Bahamas. This is NCL’s Private Island. Passengers were ferried from the ship to shore via large tenders. Once on shore the beach was packed with sunbathers and people enjoying the beach and beautiful day. Once we were able to find a somewhat quiet spot, we rented a family float and leisurely floated in the beautify bay. We actually saw stingrays and fish swimming near by. There was a buffet set-up on the island but we opted to go back to the ship. This unique island, allows visitors to lounge around, explore the rocky coast, enjoy the barbeque on the beach, snorkel, or enjoy a multitude of other activities. (For a full write up on Little Stirrup Cay, please see the article under the “Port Shorts” section on www.nycruiseinfo.com). At 2:00 PM, we departed the island on our way back to New York.

Saturday was a day spent at sea. The weather was overcast but it was the perfect day for relaxing, eating, enjoying the sea air or taking part in ship-board activities.

 On Sunday, we arrived in New York at about 10:00 AM. The morning was cool and crisp. We passed Coney Island and saw the ferris wheel from the water. The approach to the Veranzarro Bridge was very impressive and the skyline was beautiful on this extremely clear day. The ship proceeded slowly up the Hudson River, passing containerships, ferries, the Statue of Liberty and the impressive skyline in the early morning sun. The Norwegian Dawn slowly inched along-side pier 90 at the New York Passenger Ship Terminal

The ship has 10 different restaurants and open seating for dinner staring at 5:30 PM lasting until 10:00 PM. There are 3 main dining rooms, the Aqua, Venetian and Impressions - all with excellent service and good quality food. The Venetian, which is located at the stern of the ship, was quite popular due to the view through the big picture windows facing aft. It should be noted that when turbulent seas are encountered, choose a restaurant other than the Venetian – this far aft, the ship’s movement seems more noticeable. There are a number of specialty restaurants – including The Tratoria (Italian) and Salsa (Mexican). The Garden Café is where the buffet is located which servers breakfast, lunch and dinner. The lunch buffet has a wide variety of foods but also has a New York Style Deli and Vegetarian buffet. Burgers, hot dogs, fries and salads are served poolside at lunch. In addition, there is the Blue Lagoon Restaurant which serves burgers, fries and the like 24 hours a day. Both Cagney’s Steakhouse and Sushi’s specialty restaurants demand an added charge of $10 to $ 18 per person. Those who went to these specialty restaurants raved about the food and service.

 Freestyle dining provides a level of flexibility not found on most ships. The kids really enjoyed the NCL Kids Program “Kids Crew”. There were activities planned every night starting at about 7:00 PM. The kids never wanted to be late, so we would either eat dinner as a family and then I would take the kids to the Kid’s Crew. I would then return for a peaceful dessert and coffee with my wife or on a few occasions, we let the kids eat at the kids buffet and then we would have a quiet dinner in the dining room after, they were dropped off. This flexibility provided the adults with quality alone time. Overall Freestyle Dining was a big hit with us.

The Kid’s Crew program provided many activities and the children always looked forward to going. Activities for the younger kids included, face painting, princess and prince dress up, pirate dress-up, painting, customizing your own T-shirts and gaggle ball. For the teens, they had teen socials, movies, game room, teen disco, etc.

Entertainment on board was good. Entertainment included a magician, comedian, singers and a show with a combination of singers, acrobats and gymnasts. There was an evening with name entertainment including Jimmy J.J. Walker, in a unique first; NCL actually charged a premium for his show of $10/per person. This was the first time I had encountered an entertainment surcharge.

The positives far outweighed the negatives of the vacation. On the negative side, there were times where the ship seemed crowded and sometimes a wait was encountered for the restaurant of choice. NCL has since installed television screens so you can roam the ship and see the availability/wait in any of the restaurants. The drinks on board were quite pricey. I purchased 2 large Pina Colada’s (in a keepsake plastic glass) for $ 7.99/ea. They were quite good though.

 On the positive, because of the itinerary and ports visited, this cruise is ideal for families. The ship was immaculate. The staff worked continuously cleaning, painting and polishing. As part of the Freestyle cruising, NCL automatically adds the tip to your on-board account. I was concerned about the level of service that would be provided since the tip was already put on the tab. I was quite surprised by the consistent, exceptional service I received and the politeness of the crew. The servers and bus boys in the restaurants provided exceptional service. The room steward kept our cabin immaculate and the kids enjoyed the animals he made every evening from towels. The quality of the food and desserts were very good and the NCL’s signature Chocoholic Buffet was exceptional (for those unfamiliar with this. It is a buffet consisting of all things made of chocolate). Finally I will make note of NCL’s committed to safety. The lifeboat drill was done so in a very professional and serious manner. NCL exemplified professionalism, assuring order and control during the drill. NCL is to be commended for their high regard for quality and safety.

 In the words of my eight year old - “Our first stop on the cruise was Cape Canaveral. We went to the Magic Kingdom. The next day we went to Atlantis in Nassau (Paradise Island). We saw sharks, lobsters, stingrays, Seahorses, jelly fish, star fish, a sea turtle and a sword fish. My mom fed a stingray. The next day we went to the beach at Great Stirrup Cay. We saw a stingray in the wild. I put on my goggles and looked at a pike and some other colorful fish under water. I went down both slides on the ship at the kid’s pool. I had a great vacation.” Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Dawn, Norwegian Dawn