Our May cruise on the Dawn had a very interesting start.  In the middle of dinner on our first night a announcement was made that there was a man over board and the ship was going to assist the coast guard on a search and rescue. We were all very sorry to hear the tragic events for one of our fellow passengers. After several hours of searching with no results our ship continued its journey to Bermuda. Its hard to complain about the cruise when you think about the poor lady who lost her life but these are things you need to know to make your cruise great.

This was our first time "free style cruising" and it was great. Eat when you want and the lines were not bad at all. The longest wait for a table in the main dining room was 15-20 minutes.Definately book reservation for the mexican restaurant Salsa. It books up quick and the food is good and its part of the dining program so no need to pay more. We didn't try any of the pay restaurants because the choices for the included restaurants were good. Looking at the crowds no many people went to them either. The mini suites were great. Well worth the money and a good thing because we spent the first 3 days at sea in the room as the seas were so rough. Due to the tragic accident we could not out run a storm and found ourselves right in the middle of it. 20+ foot swells knocked the ship around. Barf bags were all over the ship as people were losing it. A few elderly folks took some bad falls as the ship went side to side. The pool was not open for the first 3 days at sea as the seas were so rough. Great wings at the Blue lagoon I must have had about 100 of them. The soda program is a waste! Sounds good in theory but its so hard to get a soda that you just give up. Its almost impossible to get the staff to get you a soda during dinner. Takes them forever. When you order a soda they ask you "soda program?" when you say yes they give this look like oh crap. In short save yourselves the $50 and don't get the soda card. The buffet was good. They were very quick to keep items fresh. Our room was on deck 11 so it was easy to run up for a bite any time. Activities didn't feel like they were well announced as we missed quite a few. Problem no clocks in the room. Bring your own travel alarm clock. Bermuda get the 2 day bus and ferry pass no need to get the 3 day pass. First day hit Hamilton, second day St George third day stay local at Kings Wharf.

Ship- Nice Food-Good Free style- Great Family Friendly- Excellent They have a kiddie buffet Soda program- Stinks Bermuda- Expensive