Norwegian Dawn Review
Dawn Eastern Caribbean - A Solo Thumbs Up From Me!
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Additional details
A little about me...I travelled solo on this cruise. This was my second cruise, and first with NCL. I am in my mid 40's and have travelled solo most of my adult life; I am unable to comment on family activities or programming as a result. I booked my cruise through NCL, including air, hotel and transfers. I had the privilege of being in an AE Penthouse Cabin on deck 9 and enjoyed the many perks that came with this cabin type.
I loved the Dawn! It is a beautiful ship, clean, well-maintained, and a delight to be on. I can see now why people speak so highly of her! I found the staff to be outstanding. They were professional, friendly, and eager to make our cruise experience a positive one. I did not find one single crew or staff person to be lacking. There was a few wait staff that you could tell they were relatively new in terms of how they served at the tables (just a bit of inexperience and lack of confidence from time to time - nothing serious by any means!) but they certainly were willing and eager to do their best.
Pre-Cruise Stuff: When I arrived in Miami on Friday afternoon there was an NCL rep waiting at the baggage area. I found my luggage and was back at the rep waiting for the other passengers that would be travelling with me to the hotel in a few short minutes. The rep led us to the bus and within 20 minutes we were at our hotel. A letter of welcome was waiting for each of us on check-in giving us instructions about the transportation arrangements for the next day. The next morning, porter staff were helping all of us with our luggage and making sure we were in the right location to meet up with our bus to go to the port. There were several cruise lines using the hotel which made for a great deal of people, luggage and activity in the lobby! But to their testament, they were well organized!
Cabin Review
Aft-Facing Penthouse with Large Balcony
My first look at my cabin on deck 9 - an AE. WOW is all I can say! What a nice cabin. Spacious, well laid out with a queen size bed, small sofa and chair in the corner and a table with four chairs. There was a fairly good size flat screen TV with a desk just below, a fancy coffee maker (with those small coffee capsules that you put in the machine to make a fresh cup of coffee) and a corner cupboard with ice bucket, glassware and a mini fridge right below. Then you go down a short hallway to a dressing area/vanity with a closet. In that hall is the door to the bathroom that has a small tub and shower, sink and then a separate cubicle for a toilet. The balcony had two lounger chairs and small table between. The balcony is narrow but certainly lots of room to stretch out and enjoy the world going by.
There was a small bottle of champagne and water on the counter. There was a nice flower arrangement on the small table by the couch, and various elemis products in the bathroom besides the dispensers - shampoo, conditioner, body wash and lotion, a shower cap, q-tips, a couple of soap bars, and Epson salts in a container as well. There was a nice terry cloth bathrobe in the closet, and a pillow menu on the night table if I had wanted different pillows. I was glad to see the white bedding - much nicer than the photos on the NCL website that show rather loud colour schemes (the bed skirts are still the old ones and give you an idea of how bright the bed spreads must have been! Yikes!). A letter was on the table welcoming me from the Concierge giving his contact information and my Butler's phone #. I had met the Concierge briefly in the VIP lounge but he was going back and forth with different guests and had another staff person helping with the escort onto the ship. I didn't get to see him until later in the evening. There was also an invitation on the table to the Captains Cocktail party for the next night at Spinnakers Lounge. Later that evening I met my Butler and he was able to take my daily canape order - there was a selection of about six or seven items to choose from, and they were delivered everyday at about 4:30 pm - a nice perk!
Because this was an aft cabin there was no noise in the hallways. I occasionally heard scraping of chairs on the balcony above me, and a couple of times smelled cigar or cigarette smoke when I was on the balcony - but nothing of significance to prevent me from enjoying the balcony.