Just back from the NCL Dawn 1/13/08 through 1/20/08. Warning this review is long and much of it has nothing to do with the cruise.... There were 7 of us total (2 adults 5 young adults aged 20-21) in the Garden Villa suite 14500. This was our fifth cruise on the Dawn so we had a good idea of what to expect. We left NH at 3am on the morning of our cruise and arrived at Logan Airport Boston for our 5:30am flight. May I say here that this was my first experience with American Airlines and it was just awful. Even though we had pre-registered and printed our boarding passes we had to self check our bags (taking precious time) the curbside was not available. You have to pay $2.00 per bag with American, no big deal, but still a pain in the butt when you are using their own computer to check the bags and the computer keeps offering you an upgrade and the printer fails ... we had 14 bags for 7 people, it was stressful but with the help of 3 AA employees the job was done, so much for self check in. Going through TSA, I took the cash ($1,000 in a rubber band) out of my pocket along with my wallet and loose change and put it all in the front zipper section of my backpack, to make it easier to go through metal detectors. Anyway long story short, my backpack had to go through 4 times. When I finally got cleared, got my shoes back on, I walked over to the news-stand to buy bottled water, I reached into the front zipper pouch of my back pack for the cash and it was gone. I panicked, I ran back to TSA and told the attendant, "I had money in my bag and it is missing" she said that luckily her supervisor was right here, he actually overheard my comment. They asked me which line I went through and I pointed out the tall man with red hair as the man who took my back pack and that it had gone through the machine 4 times ... now the fun begins, we take apart my backpack, searching all pockets and together we cannot find the money. My flight begins boarding and will leave in less than 30 minutes, I say forget it, I cannot miss my flight, I have a cruise to catch and my family is waiting.... The supervisor says "No, you cannot leave, you have just accused the federal government of stealing, you need to wait and meet with the state police and file a report" I told him: "no way did I accuse anyone of anything, all I said was my money was missing. I would never accuse anyone..." by this time I am really upset ... I go over to my husband and family dig through my bag and "voila" I find my money in another (unknown) pocket inside a zippered section inside my bag. I run back to TSA, tell them I found it, I am so sorry, I feel terrible about this, I'll write a letter of apology .. whatever, it was in a section even she did not see ... etc. And we board the plane, whew. I guess when they checked my backpack they put the money in this new section, away from my wallet where I had put it, either just to mess with me or just to shove it all together. The plane was awful. Old plane, smelled funky and had ancient box-style tv's in the center aisle. You could buy headphones for $2 but I had my own, but my own did not fit their plug. Free soda but you buy snacks for $3-$5, just a cheap crappy flight. We arrive at Miami Airport 8:40am and proceed to baggage claim, this was a good 30 minute walk, no kidding. We wait and get our bags but the 3 guitars are missing. We file a report. While filling out the forms our guitars arrive and we are out of there by 10:30am. Now we have wasted time but we are so happy to be out of the airport and in the hot Miami sun. Lesson here: Do not fly, but if you must fly do so the day before your cruise, much less stressful. I had hired a driver for 3 hours because our flight was to arrive so early and embarkation was not scheduled to begin until 12noon and I thought it would be fun to blow a couple of hours seeing Miami, cruising South Beach, catch a nice breakfast, see the Art Deco, etc. Because of the airport delay, we quickly cruised South Beach, no time for breakfast but walked around the Bayside Marketplace for a 15 minute stretch and then to the Cruise Port. We arrived at the Cruise Port about noon and the place was packed. We dropped off all the bags (except guitars, this time the kids wanted to carry them) with a porter and tipped him, very easy. Because we had sailed in the Villa before we knew pretty much what to expect, or so we thought.

My husband went over to an NCL worker and told her we were in the Villa, she just said get in line. No problem, we get in line. We go through Customs/ Immigration at the door and once inside we see a sign for "Owners Suites, Villas and Penthouses" we wait outside this room while the passenger line keeps going. Eventually someone from NCL escorts some of the people out of the room and we are allowed in, but it is too crowded for all of us, so I sit down and wait my turn while the kids stand outside the door with Dad. There are only 2 desks and 2 harried NCL workers … this process takes another 30 minutes but we finally get our key cards and then we wait another 10 minutes for an attendant to escort us aboard. Let me say here, I do not mind waiting, waiting is a major part of cruising but because we pay so much more for the Villa it comes with certain perks, and not having to wait is one of them. We walk, single file, along side the line of fellow passengers, and we miss the opportunity for a group photo because that would mean getting in line with all the other guests, thus voiding the express embarkation. This is the first time in about 18 cruises that I do not have the "welcome aboard" photo and I am disappointed. Other express embarkation provided us a quick stop for the group photo. Anyway we quickly meet our concierge "Yahira" who hardly looked at us; she nods and smiles and quietly says "welcome aboard". We just do not look like what you would think people in the Villa might look like. So I cannot blame her for summing us up in appearance, but one should never judge a book by its cover. A quick note here: I have always been contacted by the concierge via email about a week prior to the cruise. Just a standard form letter introducing him or herself and giving me there contact numbers. But this did not happen this time. Our escort hands us off to a butler Anoop who is friendly and welcoming. Anoop is not our butler, our butler we meet later is named Ravi. Ravi turned out to be a fabulous compliment to our cruise. This was the same Villa we had in 2006 Garden (14500) The Villa is still lovely and I feel relaxed and at home. We grab a quick bite at the Garden Cafe and take a nap. The Villa is all that they say it is and more. A lovely floral arrangement was on the Piano and a platter of fresh fruit awaited us. The living room is smaller than I remembered (most likely because the living room on the Jewel Villa is much bigger) 3 bedrooms, and the best part is the Garden with the hot tub and sauna and it is huge. The kids enjoyed the hot tub and sauna every day. Another perk of the Villa is that we never hear announcements. Unless I had one of the TV's on Channel 14 to check the time or sea conditions, I did not get one sales pitch for Bingo, Art Auctions, Etc. There are no Freestyle 2 upgrades in the Villa. In truth there should be no need to upgrade the Villa. But in fact they took some amenities away, rather than added some. Some noticeable differences: The champagne is now a tiny little bottle, not a full magnum. There is no longer a mounted telescope but a pair of binoculars sitting atop the TV. No hammock in the Garden. No espresso machine (I do not know if there was ever one on the Dawn but we had one on the Jewel last year) there is just a tiny coffee maker. The toiletries are cheaper. It is something only I noticed, I'm sure. But I love the other brand and scents… And most surprisingly: nobody was there to show us how to use anything. Sure we had been there 2 years ago but hey, the remotes are complex, the blinds and lighting, the hot tub buttons, sauna, phone system etc. Also, we got way too much mail. Everyday we got tons of envelopes, some were good: Invitations for the Captain's Party, Latitude's Party, VIP Tender Tickets but most were crap: Art Auction (same old-same old), Spa Specials, plus we got 7 of everything, just too much mail. We met our butler Ravi within 2 hours and set up our bar, had a standing order for breakfast every morning (fruit tray, cereals, juices, coffee, danish tray, french toast and bacon) and a midnight snack every night (sandwiches, pizza, cheese and veggie tray, chips and desserts) Ravi was awesome. He actually anticipated our needs and when we returned from going ashore we found sandwiches and treats waiting for us. He kept us full of soda, bottled water, juices and the cooler full of ice cold Guinness, plus a huge cooler full of ice. He also went above and beyond with the kids, trying Guitar Hero on the Wii, teaching them some Hindi words, and just treating them with natural respect. They all loved Ravi. Francis was our room steward. On past Dawn cruises we had 2 room stewards. Francis was very capable and I am sorry to say he had to come back many times throughout the day to clean the rooms because the kids would be up till 5am and sleeping during the day... I feel like Francis is overworked but he did not complain. We tried not to be so messy. Francis was an excellent room steward

I have written 3 reviews from my other Dawn cruises, so as not to bore you I will cut and paste and pass on the obvious stuff…First impression the ship is lovely, huge and very bright… All of our other Dawn cruises were out of New York and I love cruising out of New York with the lights of the city at dusk/twilight. So Miami passed by in a blur, I was just too tired to notice. Ship: The ship is beautiful and the elevators are large. There was plenty of public seating including ocean window seats. Upkeep - The Dawn is aging gracefully, she looks as bright and clean as ever on the outside and indoor there is some wear. One of the Atrium Elevators has cracked glass which has been covered with frosted adhesive but people pick at it and it peeling and looks gross and if you lean on it your hair sticks to it a bit. The area in the behind the atrium, near the bathroom always smelled septic. Some kind of plumbing problem I'm sure and the carpet was always wet there. Gross. Little things like buttons or knobs missing. Or hand written signs… all of these show some lack of care, but certainly not on a major scale. The Dawn is beautiful and a beloved ship by many…including me. Staff - Because of the Villa we expected excellent service. But our Concierge Yahira did not call on us until rather late on day 2. This was strange, in the past we had been spoiled with Alex, Ruth and Gary each were different types but excellent at their job. They all met us on day one with clipboard in hand taking notes, making appointments for dinners, spa treatments, etc. And telling us about the various perks associated with the Villa. But Yahira was more laid back. I called her when I needed reservations and she made them, no problem but she never sat down with us and explained her function or actively solicited us. I know from past experience that we have reserved seating in the Stardust Theater, but I still called to ask her if this was still the case, she said "oh, yes Mum" and for the chocolate buffet we had always been escorted down through a side door on even through the kitchen and when I mentioned this she said "meet me on deck 10 aft at 1:10 and I will take you in with the Latitude group" Fine, whatever, again I just did not want to wait in line. So we all show up at deck 10 and wait for Yahira who then waits for her group, calling rooms and when all people are collected I quickly realize no way can we all fit into the elevator, I tell her we will walk down to deck 6 and meet her there and we do. And we get in a few minutes early which is always nice. On past Dawn Villa cruises we had Parties, big Mardi Gras Party or Red Sox Victory Party. These were hugely successful parties where Captain and Cruise Director showed up and partied with us and about 100-150 fellow Red Sox fans. Both parties required menu planning, décor, staffing, bar service, outdoor PA etc. We thought since the Sox had done it again (World Series 2007!) we would throw another party. But to be honest I did not trust Yahira enough to take the time or see to the details so I said forget it. We hung our banner off the balcony and left it at that. The kids (young adults) had an impromptu toga party on night 6. They wore toga sheets through the disco and said anyone that wanted to party, must wear a sheet. This resulted in dozens of young adults (and some not-so-young) rushing to their cabins and tearing off the bed sheets… While Dad and I played hold'em in the Casino then went to sleep, the Toga party ended around 5am. Now my husband is a true romantic. He explained to Yahira that he wanted flowers delivered to the suite from every port we stopped at. Native floriculture. Upon arrival at the Dominican Republic around 7am we got a small floral arrangement … this was a joke. No way could these flowers be from the Dominican, we had not yet begun to tender off the ship! Flowers from Saint Thomas USVI were not much better, it looked like FTD. Which is nice, don't get me wrong, but NOT what we had received on previous cruises. I think Yahira got the clue (my husband halved her tip that day) and by the third and final stop of Tortolla the floral arrangement was gorgeous. Again on past Villa Cruises we were offered a free dinner in one of the specialty restaurants … but I had to ask Yahira if this was still the case. She said "Oh yes, Mum" So we went to Teppanyaki and it was great. But it is wrong that I had to "ask" at all. What if we had never cruised in the Villa previously? Would we know about VIP Tender Tickets, Express Line for the Chocolate Buffet, Free Specialty Restaurant Meal and Reserved Show Seating? No, we would not. We were also offered free bottle of wine previously, which was not the case for this cruise. I was amazed when Yahira told me she worked as Claudio's assistant for 2 years. I asked her if she had her own assistant and surprisingly she said yes. Maybe she will get better…. I hope so, she is likeable and capable. In her defense I will say she never said "no" when I called last minute for reservations at Aqua or Venetian we were seated promptly. She just did not do the extra … which is what Claudio and Alex were famous for. Photography: This was good and accounted for about 1/5 of our onboard expenses. I wished that NCL offered the video diary of the cruise. Entertainment: We enjoyed live music on the deck and in the Spinnaker lounge. I forget the name of the band but they were a seemingly tireless cover band. And the Atrium band was phenomenal, no kidding, we could hear them upstairs and the guitar solos from Hotel California were enough to make the kids rush down to 7 flights to rage with the band. Shows: Same shows are past years, so why bother? I did not go to any shows but the kids went to Bollywood and NCL Crew Show is not to be missed. In my opinion Bingo is too expensive and the jackpots are not worth it so no Bingo. We enjoyed the Casino. We played a lot of Texas Hold'em. There is a 1-2 no limit cash table. I made a little, my husband did not. Karaoke at Dazzles was just too serious. I love bad, funny Karaoke. My kids did very bad karaoke only one night. They had their guitars so we had live music in the Villa often. One of my crew is the proud runner up in the Miss Norwegian Dawn contest. Very funny show. Deck Party was fun with the band The Radiators - awesome. I missed the 70's party with the Passenger People (akin to the Village People only funnier) it is my favorite party but I was busy elsewhere … I saw it on TV. My kids enjoyed the Radiators almost every night and met some friends and danced a lot. FYI… Internet access is frustratingly slow. Do not bother bringing your laptop to get work done, it will not happen. There is a laptop in the Villa, but you still pay for internet service. TV: In a word: Sucked. Why bother having 16 TV stations if 10 of them are NCL sales pitches or nonstop videos showing you how to wash your hands. Note to NCL: Nobody can rinse their hands for 30 seconds if the water in the washroom is scalding hot - jeesh. Food: I always loved the food on the Dawn, so no real complaints from me. But I will say that after day 3, everything tasted the same. And they no longer have the best dinner rolls on the high seas. I really missed the crispy rolls with a shiny hard shell. My favorite was Teppanyaki, this was fun, entertaining and delicious. I also liked the Tex Mex at Tappas. This was quick too! We did not go to Cagney's or Le Bistro this time, it just takes too long with such a large group and we are not fussy eaters. Because we had a concierge we could get reservations pretty much anywhere anytime. More often than not however we picked up food at the Blue Lagoon, Garden Cafe or outdoor BBQ and brought it up to the Villa. The Itinerary: Samama, Dominican Republic: You have to tender off the Dawn and I had been there before and I did not like it, so I passed on Samana. Perhaps the reason Yahira did not particularly cater to our needs is that I mentioned I thought Samana was a wasted port. Most passengers agreed, while it is a beautiful place, it is not what we are accustom to. Yahira is from the Dominican Republic… oops, foot in mouth. My husband thought that maybe NCL is "off-shoring" getting rid of the higher priced Concierges: Ruth (from Germany) Alex (from UK) and Gary (from USA) because Yahira might do the job for less pay. I hope this is not the case. I believe you get what you pay for. If I pay more, I expect more, if I pay less, I expect less. And the only advantage NCL has over the other cruise lines is the level service. If they cut back on service, we will look elsewhere. The kids went with Dad and got a Presidente Beer… had a bit of an adventure hiring a driver who spoke perfect English at the dock but somehow forgot it on the tour and then doubled the price. This is a sleazy port in my opinion. Just watch your wallet. This time my husband said they were hustling shoe shines and sea shells. A quote from my last review of Samana" Be careful in Samana… they hustle and work the crowd. You could not get back on the tender without someone putting a grass hat on your head or handing jumping beans to you. Just keep your hands in your pockets, shake your head no and walk away. I will not intentionally go there again." St. Thomas: We had been before but still got off and hired a driver (Christopher) to take us all around the island, some photo ops and cheap souvenir shopping. We love Saint Thomas and we always stop for lunch and exotic drinks at the Duffy's Love Shack, a crappy little bar in the middle of a parking lot! No kidding, no scenery, no beach, just great food and good music and a nice vibe. There is a lot of traffic in Saint Thomas, more than I ever remember. Leave plenty of time to get back to the ship. Tortolla: Again we hired a driver (Smitty) who took us to Pooeys (little private place at the end of the beach) where we ordered lunch, drinks and the kids swam in the ocean and we got to walk the beach. Then a quick stop at Bomba Shack for yet another drink. Note: If you travel in a group of six or more it is much better to hire a local driver than purchase an excursion from NCL. If for example you are only taking the shuttle to the beach or the shopping area, you pay $25-$30 and have to cram into a shuttle with 23 other passengers. It is just as cheap to hire the driver and have the entire van to yourself and go anywhere you want. Great Stirrup Cay: The kids got off to parasail, but it was cancelled due to high winds. They snorkeled instead, caught too much sun but really loved it. Dad and I stayed onboard and held a small poker tournament in the Villa. I love the ocean but I hate the beach. The new Cruise Director Pedro was invisible to me. Just the opposite of Ricky, the Cruise Director we have sailed with twice and who seemed to be everywhere doing everything with intense high energy. I met Pedro briefly at the Captains party and he was cordial and soft spoken and that is fine and other passengers seemed to like him, so that is good. The cruise itself was relatively quiet. No drama, calm seas for the most part. We met some nice people at the Rads shows and lot's of friendly Canadians. We hosted 2 small poker tournaments in the Villa and Ravi came through again with extra sandwiches, sodas and treats. Overall: This was a very nice cruise, I would give it a solid 9 out of 10. But we cruise in the Villa primarily for the level of service, which though fine by other cruise line standards, was lacking this time. Butler was excellent, Room Steward was excellent, Staff on board were all friendly and gracious. Concierge was just lacking. I chose the Dawn over one of the newer ships because I thought with so many Courtyard Villas, Owners Suites and Penthouses on newer ships, that the concierge service is stretched too thin. (And plus I love the Dawn) Disembarkation: I was stressed pre-cruise that we would not get off the ship in time for our 10:05am flight out of Miami. I expressed this to Yahira almost daily. She told me to do Express Disembarkation and carry off all of our own luggage. Yeah right. 14 bags including 4 guitars, plus carry-on's, with everyone holding onto their cabin key card, passport or photo ID with birth certificate and US customs declaration. No way. I asked could I just hire 1 or 2 people with a cart to help us. And to her credit Yahira made it happen. We waited in the Villa, she called at 7:15am, the ship had cleared Customs and she came up to get us with 2 NCL workers and a cart. We fit 8 pieces of luggage and carried the rest. It was difficult and tricky (with handing off from NCL workers to Porters) meeting at various elevators, etc, but we all exited the cruise port to find a stretch limo for us and a van for the luggage and we arrived at Miami Airport 8:20am. Well done Yahira, very well done indeed, thank you. Our American Airline flight home was worse than the trip down. We checked 14 bags curbside at $2 each, I handed the AA worker named Mohammed a $50 bill and thought that a $22 tip would be enough but apparently not. He lifted one bag and said "too heavy" I said "Ok, how much more?" (Even though the same bag coming down here was not overweight) he said it should be $50 but whatever I want to give him is ok" …huh? So, I handed him an extra $20, he thanked me and said we were ok to go. (He must have seen us getting out of the limo.) This was an even older plane, 7 seats across and packed. Not even a nozzle for fresh air above your head.. and the box style tv's that I complained about on the way down? They were not working on this flight. Once the engines revved up in earnest I could smell the fumes which mercifully put me to sleep. This time the guitars never made it Boston, we waited another 45 minutes, all the while the AA worker kept saying "they will come out Carousel A or under the American flag located next to her desk. So I stood at the flag while the rest of the family stood at Carousel A and after another 20 minutes said…"still no guitars back there?" she said "Now it is time to make a claim" and she pulled out her pen for the paperwork, looked up our flight and sure enough there was a note on our baggage claim "delayed by TSA" So the guitars would show up in another 90 minutes. We could not wait 2 hours… 90 minutes in AA time = 2 hours real time) so we came home and 2 of the guitars were delivered overnight, no word on the third one yet …. My question, why didn't this stupid woman look up our bags 45 minutes earlier? Do they enjoy making people late? Do they just not give a crap? Is there no pride in your job or responsibility? It would have taken her less than a minute and saved me over an hour. But we made it home in time see most of the Pats game and they are heading back to the Super Bowl, so overall it was a very good day. Slept 12 hours, still ocean in my head. After re-reading this review, I realize it sounds negative. No no, that is not the case, it was a 9 out of 10, that is great! I had crappy flights, not due to the NCL or the cruise in anyway. I had an inexperienced concierge, oh poor me, how bad can my life possibly be "I had a concierge!" The food tastes the same: Well it all tasted good, so the same it still good, right? The shows are not new, well, hey if it ain't broke…. there are many new cruisers who have never seen these shows and I am sure they were thoroughly entertained! I think the best part was the view, just looking out at all that ocean. I am stuck here in the frozen Northeast Kingdom with all this snow just suffering from cruise withdrawal. Till next time, Juried