Just back from the NCL Dawn 2/23/06 through 3/5/06. There were 7 of us total (2 adults 5 young adults aged 18-20) in the Garden Villa suite 14500. This was our fourth cruise on the Dawn and our second time in a Villa so we had a good idea of what to expect.

We drove from NH very late the evening prior to the cruise and stayed at a cheap Red Roof off Route 95 in Southern CT. Because there were 7 of us and we only wanted to bring one vehicle we brought along our cargo trailer for our 16 plus pieces of luggage (including guitars and amplifiers).

The port was very easy to find, but this time we took the wrong exit and got lost for about a half hour in Harlem (whoops) no harm done. We arrived at about noon and the place was packed. We dropped off all the bags with a porter (long shore man) very easy. My husband parked the truck and trailer on the rooftop and we walked in. We were going to take a seat but saw an NCL worker walking along with a sign for Villa and Penthouse Guests so we flagged her (Jan) down and followed her through the immigration door, metal detectors and met our concierge Alex. This sounds a bit surreal but it is a kick. The first time in the Villa this special treatment embarrassed me a bit, this time it is just the coolest thing ever. So Alex escorted up to deck 14 and the Garden Villa. This was not the same Villa we had last year the only difference is this one Garden (14500) had a bar where the Horizon (14000) had a kitchen. The bar worked out much better for us, the kids love to mix drinks and I naturally stay as far away from the kitchen as possible. Read more