This is 3 pages from the best cruise out of 27 taken by us. So enjoy the read: Up at 3AM to pack dress & get to airport for 6AM flight. Continental was very welcoming, took luggage as computer stated & gave us coupons for a FREE cocktail. Plane was a sell out to Newark, no one on Dawn's cruise that we talked to. Arrived in Newark at 7:20AM, got out luggage which arrived quickly & proceeded to get a call to Super Shuttle that we are there for pickup. 8 minutes til a man with our name on a sign arrived. So we got in with another couple that he picked up at their home in NJ. To the terminal we go & porters take luggage & we go inside. Delightful ladies welcome us, ask if we are on Dawn to Bermuda which we said Yes! Then they tell us to have seats next to the other couple & we are the first 2 boarding in 3 hours. So the 4 of us sit, get jokes from the gals who learn the 4 of us are Latitude members but the point to the coffee & coffeecake coming out or us to enjoy that the upstairs area has none & we board before them. So OJ, coffee, hot water for tea & date nut or vanilla coffeecake, which was quite good. Then more people arrive and have a seat after being told that the seats are in order for boarding, so do not leave or you lose your place. Then we see a group of folks joining us from a transfer from JFK. The room is filling with 1000 seats there.
Time to board after the suites & top Latitude members board, which we counted about 30. Then up & inside we go with our tickets, credit card & passports and instant purple cards are given to us. We are told to go right with the suite folks for lunch. That got us into an elevator, we saw no champagne being passed out, no escort at 11AM but we are headed to 6 as we pushed for Venetian. The doors are closed as they open at NOON, so we go for a walk up the stairs there & see The Galleria (general store that is tax/duty free), Bamboo, photo gallery, and the Stardust Theater so back we go to the open door & a lovely gal greeting us. We get a table for 2 at the windows AFT and what a lovely restaurant that feels like Venice Italy. The paintings, the lighting fixtures which resemble cactus seen in Bermuda, the gold mirror tiles on the ceiling and the mirrors that are gold tone on the walls. Green chairs with white tablecloths make for a great wake up for the colored carpet with a blue background. We had shrimp stir fry, brandy creme brulee & cappuccino. We never found a free machine anywhere on Dawn & we told we can buy it at Java Cafe. But it is free in the dining rooms for lunch & dinner & it is the best I have ever had. After lunch we got in the elevator & went to 11 & the big door was open so we went to the 5th door next to a suite (with 2 numbers atop the doorbell). Big bed with white duvet, white pillow cases & white sheet. Balcony had 2 loungers that were missing the leg area & a small table. Then the counter with safe at the top, 14" TV to the right, the fridge which Jerry & his partner who we barely saw came in with a fruit bowl with 1 banana, 1 apple, 1 orange for the 2 of us. We heard that we are to get a FRUIT BASKET. So Jerry doubled it with green apples not red. He cleared out the fridge & top of cabinet & gave us a bottle of water for FREE. Our liter of Finlandia Vodka was there with the ice bucket & glasses on a mirror tray. That was atop a 2 seater table that one of will not fit into unless we can move the coffee table. But we never used it so no problem, as it was good for storage of everything for the day.
So luggage showed about 4, so we were unpacked & ready for dinner at 5:30PM at Venetian. Very tiny shrimp cocktail, an excellent blueberry soup with whipped cream in the center, excellent salad of 5 lettuces, cabbage, carrots, cucumbers, and a very thick blue cheese dressing. Then the roast pork that melted in your mouth with double stuffed potatoes. We saw the Executive Chef making the rounds to know everything was very good. We were impressed. Then cappuccino for me Latte for Jerry & ice cream that was very creamy & a cookie pushed in it.