Norwegian Dawn Review
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My husband and I have done the Boston to Bermuda cruise on the Dawn a few times. We decided to splurge and get an aft penthouse suite this time. Along with the suite came all the special promotions - unlimited dining, unlimited beverage, 250 internet minutes, and $75 shore excursion credit. We live in the Boston area so getting to the Black Falcon Pier was easy. When we got to the terminal, the porters were right there to take our bags. We checked three bags and a case of water. If you don't have luggage tags, they will print them for you. We asked about priority boarding (also a perk of having a suite) and were told to go right through. We checked in and then asked about the special area for suite guests. If we hadn't asked, they wouldn't have offered that information. We were directed to an area that was curtained off, given special room cards, offered coffee, juice, water, and snacks. We were then escorted on to the ship by one of the butlers who took us directly to our room and explained everything we passed as we went. We then went to Cagney's for lunch (another perk of having a suite). I had the best turkey burger and my husband had a swordfish sandwich.
Our butler was Henry and our concierge was Karabi. We didn't really use either of them much and didn't even see Henry for the last two days of the cruise. He would bring snacks in the afternoon but never really asked what we liked. Karabi did change a dinner reservation for me. I had made all the reservations weeks before we left. We got to Bermuda early but never got a call or message from Karabi saying we were supposed to meet for priority disembarkation so we didn't get that perk. That was a little disappointing.
The ship is not one of the huge mega ships and that is fine with me. It's easy to get around but still a lot of walking. The pool area is very congested on sea days. People get up very early to "reserve" their chairs around the pool and on the deck above it. There were no chairs to be found by 10 a.m. A lot of people had the unlimited beverage plan so getting a drink at the bar was almost always an ordeal. We waited at least 5-10 minutes to be served. The bartenders were working as fast as they could, there were just too many people ordering. I think they should have added more bartenders to make it easier on them and less frustrating for the cruisers. On past cruises, there were usually servers walking around the pool areas and you can order drinks from them but they were few and far between on this cruise.
Cabin Review
Aft-Facing Penthouse with Large Balcony
Our room was huge compared to our balcony room last year. There was a king size bed, a desk and chair, a table with 4 chairs, a pull-out love seat, a small table with another chair, a separate dressing area, and the bathroom. The bathroom had a toilet, sink, and tub with shower. There was a big closet with more than enough hangers, two safes, and many drawers, shelves and cubbies to store anything you have. I was amazed at how much storage there was. We also had a big balcony with two lounge chairs and a little table. The bakery is in the aft part of the ship so when you open the sliding doors to go onto the balcony, you can smell the bread/rolls baking! There is also a Lavazza coffee maker with coffee and tea pods, cups and saucers, spoons, sugar, creamers, and napkins.
We met our cabin steward, Jay who was amazing! We never had to do a thing to the room. He came in twice a day, replaced the towels and cleaned up for us. At night he would leave our towel animals, chocolates, and dailies for the next day along with any messages from the concierge.