BACKGROUND:
We booked this cruise rather late (Jan of ’16) but prices were good since this cruise was added to the schedule due to the change in dates for the Dawn’s dry-dock. My wife and I are retired and have cruised Princess, Carnival, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity multiple times. We added a one day hotel stay at each end of the cruise in hopes of seeing some of New Orleans. Our cabin was an aft balcony on Deck 10 just 2 decks below the Garden Café & Fitness Center and 3 decks above the Venetian Restaurant. It was the same cabin we stayed in on a previous Dawn Repo. I decided to give “Hit” or “Miss” grades for each component I reviewed.
ARRIVAL + NEW ORLEANS:
Cabin 10706 – two decks below Lido and 3 above Venetian Dining Room. The cabin was a little tight but there is enough storage space on the closet shelves and in the closet itself BUT the closet doors open toward the bathroom door so you have to maneuver around to get stuff out. The shower had great water pressure and sliding glass doors which were a nice touch but the toilet area was a tad small. We had no noise or cigarette smoke problems and there was no heavy elevator traffic or young kids running in the hallway. The staircase and elevator are about 20 steps away from the room. During drydock NCL supposedly will replace the mattresses, carpeting and artwork on the cabin walls.
We walked around the beach & the area with vendors. We had some overpriced drinks but relaxed in the shade of the restaurant and did some people watching.