We are a married couple from the mid-west in our mid-thirties/early 40s. We are frequent travelers with experiences ranging from econo-lodge road-tripping to four-star hotels in downtown cities, to beach resorts. After cruising once for our honeymoon 10 years ago, DH and I have been frequent guests across the Caribbean and Mexico at all-inclusive style resorts. We decided to change things up and try cruising again. This cruise was an amazing experience, and has converted us back to cruising for our annual vacations! We absolutely LOVED this vacation and admitted to each other that we felt like we were on our own private ship at times (and hoped the other 2100 people felt the same way!).

Accommodations: We looked at what we had been spending for a week at Sandal's / RIU / Beaches-type resorts and decided to spend about the same amount. That put us in the Penthouse Suite category. We had suite 9732. Among the "suite categories" on the Dawn, I deemed it "the cheapest house in the nicest neighborhood" because it was the most inexpensive suite, but we got all the suite perks...Butler and Concierge service, breakfast and lunch in Cagney's, welcome aboard bottle of champagne, canapes every afternoon in our suite, 24 hour room service, the option for dinner in our suite from any (including specialty) restaurant, a refilled fruit bowl, pool towels delivered to our rooms, and the ability to make our dining reservations for the whole week on the first day. Our concierge was Ryan and he did a great job setting up all our dinner reservations and changing them when we decided to eat with others / at other restaurants, he even escorted us one night to reserved seats in the Theater for Bollywood. Anoop was our butler, and he was one of the people who made our trip memorable...nothing seemed to phase him, we enjoyed visiting with him, he was always prompt, and he really went out of his way to ensure we had the best experience.

The suite had what seemed like an oversized queen size bed which was extremely comfortable, a huge double-sided closet, a vanity / makeup area with drawers / cubbies and a stool, and a bath room that had a standard size tub (not a Jacuzzi). The towels and linens on our bed as well as the bath amenities were of very good quality. Our balcony was what made the suite so special for us. We were on the aft (rear) of the ship and on the very corner so no one was to the right of us. The balconies are divided completely from those next door, so we rarely heard the couple on the left of us and it wasn't even possible to see them. The balcony had two full size lounge chairs (no worries over "chair hogs" at the pool for us!) and a small table. We spent quite a bit of time napping, reading, sunning and visiting out there every day. When we looked out, we really couldn't see anyone else, let alone much of the ship...just her wake. Amazing!! Read more