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Andrew Lock

Age: 32
Occupation: Artist Management
Number of Cruises: 8
Cruise Line: NCL
Ship: Dawn
Sailing Date: September 7th, 2003
Itinerary: Bahamas

I am thirty-two years old, and I work in the entertainment industry. My wife is younger, and works as a hair stylist. We are frequent cruisers, usually on either Royal Caribbean or NCL, but we particularly like the flexibility of the Freestyle concept developed by NCL. The variety of dining options and times makes for a far more relaxed experience, rather than traditional cruising where you have the time and place for all meals dictated in advance. In addition, the NCL disembarkation process (where you can stay in your stateroom until you are called) is far more civilized than the somewhat chaotic approach of other cruise lines, with passengers strewn all over the ship in every public room and passage.

The Norwegian Dawn is currently NCL’s flagship (launched end of 2002), and it really is a ship of tremendous options and diversity. There are 10 restaurants, numerous bars, a Broadway style theatre, a large show lounge, cinema, library, internet café, health spa and pool, swimming pools, karaoke venue, disco, casino and much more.

Our cruise left New York City on Sunday Sep 7th 2003. We embarked about 12 noon when lines were relatively short. Most people seem to embark between 1 and 2:30pm.

Staterooms
Although our experience was marred (I’ll come on to that in a moment), generally the rooms are much better than average, both in quality of finish and size. We stayed in an outside cabin on deck 8. The rooms are very well designed to make the most of all the available space, with plenty of storage. Fixtures and fittings are high quality, featuring wood paneled draw units and wardrobes, a full length mirror, and a reasonable sized bathroom. The bathroom was divided into three areas – the toilet, the basin, and the shower, with sliding screens for privacy in between.

A good quality chrome finish hairdryer was appreciated, but the 14” color TV was a little too small, and only had a small selection of regular channels, such as CNN and TNT. The majority of the channels were ship oriented and inevitably were trying to sell you something, whether it was a shore excursion, a meal in one of the restaurants with a cover charge, items from the onboard shop, spending time in the casino and so on. The moving map channel is interesting as it enables you to see the details of the route.

If you bring your own electronic items onboard, the rooms have two power outlets, one 110V (USA/Canada) and one 240V with the UK style socket outlet. If you are from other European countries you will need to bring an adaptor to convert to a two pin outlet.

As I needed internet access via my laptop, I was astonished to find that only a small number of staterooms can currently gain internet access directly from the room. The Dawn is one of the newest ships afloat, and many older ships have internet access from every room. There does not seem to be any logic behind which rooms can and can’t get access, but the internet manager on deck 8 can advise you. Fortunately, I had wireless access on my laptop which meant I could still connect to the onboard wireless network for internet access, but I had to be in a specific area, namely the atrium or the pool deck at the top of the ship. Of course, there is an internet café also, with plenty of computers available. Whatever option you go for, be warned that it is not cheap - $100 for 200 minutes of access. On a positive note the connection speed is amongst the best I have experienced onboard a ship, certainly much faster than a 56k modem.

I mentioned that we had a problem with our room, so I will explain. We booked an outside cabin that, according to the brochure, had a restricted view. I’m not sure about other rooms within the same category, but our experience was that the view was virtually completely blocked by lifeboats. The windows consisted of two narrow, vertical slits – through one of them all you could see was a lifeboat, and through the other all you could see was a glimpse of the sea to the side of one of the lifeboats. Apart from some daylight coming into the room, it might as well have been an inside cabin. Having paid for an outside cabin, and expecting to have a reasonable view of the ocean, needless to say we were very disappointed. It should be made much clearer that you will not be able to see the sea!

Service
The service onboard was inconsistent, but generally good. It varied between poor and excellent, mostly in the acceptable to excellent range. We found most restaurant staff attentive and willing to serve, and a few individuals really shone. We made a note of their names and mentioned them in our comment card because they should be rewarded for going the extra mile. We have been told that NCL do read all the comment cards and they reward their staff who have been singled out by passengers for special commendation and promotion.

In the lounges, bars, and on deck, the bar staff tend to be a little too keen, and you can often feel hassled to buy drinks. With incentives given to staff for high bar sales, there seems little hope of a resolution to this perennial problem.

Restaurants
As mentioned earlier there are no fewer than 10 dining options, and most guests will not experience them all during their time on board. Here is our summary of those we visited:

The three main restaurants are The Venetian, Aqua, and Impressions. All three serve the same menu, which changes each night, invariably featuring a theme such as ‘Presidents Dinner’, Italian cuisine, or Caribbean night.

‘The Venetian’ is the largest and in our view, most impressive of all restaurants. Situated at the back of the ship, it has high ceilings, a grand staircase, and borders on opulent.

‘Aqua’ is a much smaller, water themed restaurant with blue décor, subdued lighting, and low ceilings. It has a very peaceful, relaxed atmosphere, and is perhaps the most romantic setting of the three main restaurants. It is also at the rear of the ship.

‘Impressions’, mid ship on one side, is similar in size to Aqua, with slightly brighter lighting, and features some wonderful paintings on every wall.

Reservations are not normally required for these three restaurants, but you may reserve a table if you wish. The busiest times are between 6pm and 8pm. We chose to eat after 8pm on most days and we found the atmosphere far more relaxed as a result.

An Italian restaurant ‘La Trattoria’, and ‘Salsa’, a Tex-Mex themed restaurant were other alternatives although we did not try them.

Other more relaxed dining options are the Garden café on deck 12, which is a large buffet style restaurant with good food and good variety. Also, ‘Blue Lagoon’ on deck 7 mid ship is a 24 hour fast food style restaurant with table service. Typical fare included stir fry, fish and chips, burgers, chicken wings, and so on. The food was piping hot, excellent quality, and we chose this option for lunch on several days.

The other restaurants all had cover charges, which varied from $10 to $17.50. This seemed puzzling to us as the concept of cruising is supposed to be that the cost of the vacation includes all food, and a number of passengers clearly felt cheated that they were required to pay extra in order to experience some of the restaurants. In our opinion a better way of doing this would be to have an optional charge at the time of booking, say $30 for 3 meals in these restaurants.

‘Cagneys Steakhouse’. This had the most expensive cover charge of $17.50 but the food and service were exceptional. The focus was on steaks, but there were a number of seafood options such as lobster. Cagneys is located at the top of the ship on deck 13.

‘Bamboo/Tepanyaki/Sushi Bar’. These three restaurants are all located in the same area and feature Asian cuisine. We visited Bamboo, which had a very tasty and well presented meal, although the service was the poorest of all restaurants in our experience.

‘Le Bistro’ has French cuisine and although we did not try it, it seemed to be popular amongst guests.

Again, the issue of the cover charge for many of the restaurants was clearly a matter of concern to many passengers who were quite vocal in their disapproval of this arrangement. Having paid for the cruise, it did not seem right to ask passengers for an additional fee to eat at many onboard restaurants. Although we did sample some of the restaurants that had cover charges, with the exception of Cagneys Steak House, the food was just as good in the main restaurants, and although the service was a little more personalised and less rushed, we did not feel that the charge was warranted.

Entertainment
The ubiquitous Jean Ann Ryan company has the stranglehold over most of the onboard shows, and whilst two of the three shows were very good, they were not the best we have seen on a cruise ship. The first show was a South Beach (Miami) themed song and dance performance which quickly became monotonous. Perhaps because of not wanting to pay the royalties of well known songs, the show consisted mainly of poorly composed tunes which were merely okay, never outstanding. When the audience heard the familiar sound of a Gloria Estefan number however, they perked up, and it was obvious they appreciated hearing a familiar song.

Sadly, the choreography in this show was repetitive, the dancers were not well synchronised, and of average ability. Only the Russian Adagio couple shone.

The second show, Music of the Night, was by far the best offering in our opinion. A deal with Andrew Lloyd Webber and Cameron Mackintosh has meant that the Jean Ann Ryan company can bring the songs of Andrew Lloyd Webbers most famous musicals to their cruise ships. It appeared that the cast had been chosen for their abilities in this show rather than the other two, as they appeared more comfortable and more suited to the performance. Having said that, the singers were still only of average ability, lacking the power and conviction that the songs required, even singing flat on a number of occasions. At times, they appeared to be going through the motions, probably thinking about their next time off in port, rather than the emotions of the songs.

The last show was ‘Bollywood’, an Indian themed variety show which featured the same cast of singers and dancers. Apart from the Asian influence, there did not seem to be a logical development, with scenes being played as independent, at times disjointed sections of the show. At times, there seemed to be close similarities to a ‘Cirque du Soleil’ style show, with aerial acrobatics and similar music, but cruise ships are limiting in how far you can take this sort of performance, and it’s my opinion that it’s better not to copy, but rather innovate and offer something new. The Jean Ann Ryan company also jumped on the bandwagon of the popular Moulin Rouge movie, taking songs and styles from it and using them in all three shows. Again, we would have preferred to see an original interpretation of well known songs.

Although some of the audience gave standing ovations, we felt this was undeserved. Perhaps being from a theatrical background made us more demanding, but when you know what can be done (yes, even on a cruise ship), it does tend to make you look at shows in a different way.

On a positive note, the staging, sets, lighting, and sound were all excellent, as were the resident orchestra/band. The theatre generally has very good sightlines, apart from the top tier side seats, which were located behind glass panels and which seemed unnecessary. Air conditioning vents in the back of each seat were appreciated, although there were no drinks holders which was a minor inconvenience.

A variety of other shows were featured during the week – there was an excellent comedian, and a concert pianist who nobody had heard of, but who appealed to the older generation. We would have liked to have seen a good magician.

Other entertainment venues around the ship offered alternatives, and the small groups, and jazz bands were all excellent.

Itinerary
For us the attraction of the cruise was the ship rather than the ports of call. With two and a half days at sea, we new we would have time to enjoy the facilities on board. Having said that, sailing from New York City was a highlight for us. With stunning views of Manhattan and the Statue of Liberty that you could only otherwise obtain from a helicopter, it was a perfect start to the vacation.

After a full day at sea on Monday, the first port of call was Cape Canaveral in Florida. This port is ideal for a visit to Kennedy Space Center, just a few minutes drive away and definitely recommended. Otherwise, another popular option is to take one of the shore excursion buses to Universal Studios or the Disney theme parks in Orlando, about an hours drive away.

The next day brought us to Miami, where a number of shore excursions are available. We opted to explore south beach and the Bayfront shops on our own.

NCL’s private island Great Stirrup Cay is in the Bahamas, and we had a full day there, docked away from the island, with a tender service to and from the boat. Although the island was a taste of paradise, it was overcrowded, and the music from the band was far too loud (and I like music loud!) The barbecue lunch on the beach was excellent.

Nassau, as most frequent cruisers will know is a tourist trap, and we only went ashore to get some items from the pharmacy. Sure, it’s worth a browse around the shops, and you might get a good deal on jewelry or alcohol, but we feel it is over hyped as an interesting destination, and we were pleased to leave.

Finally, a couple of other minor niggles. Firstly, there were two many announcements on board. Most of them were promoting an event and since everyone had access to the daily cruise guide, they were unnecessary and irritating. Apart from the frequency, the announcements were also far too loud. They might need to be that loud on Holland America, but not on NCL where the average age is far lower and where most passengers hearing is still intact.

Although the ship is generally pristine, already signs of wear are showing in some areas. For example, outside the Pearly King and Queens pub, the entrance sign had many pearls missing from it, and it looked shabby. I doubt whether they were real pearls anyway, and sadly, I suspect that passengers were to blame for removing them. Regardless of the reason however, the sign should have been repaired or replaced before it got to that state.

Passengers are encouraged to have their photos taken against a variety of backdrops during the cruise, and for some passengers this is an ideal opportunity to have a formal portrait. We found the photographers to be helpful in setting up a suitable pose, and as we were a family group, we selected six photographs that we wished to purchase. To our amazement, when we went to buy these, we found that whilst a discount is given for four photos, after four, the price goes up! There is absolutely no incentive for buying more than four photos! Whoever made up that rule doesn’t understand the concept of how to satisfy customers, and as a result we just bought 4 photos, the remainder got thrown away!

The debarkation process off the shipwas smooth. The problems came when we were waiting on the pier, which I suspect is the fault of the New York authorities that manage the pier. We debarked approximately half way through the process, and because there is no room on the pier, it was absolute chaos. The sidewalks were completely blocked with passengers coming off the ship, which meant that passengers arriving to check-in could not get through. The sheer volume of people waiting to get taxis meant that we were waiting well over an hour on the sidewalk with all our luggage. Vouchers were issued by the taxi controller, and we had about 60 numbers in front of us! Many people gave up and paid exorbitant prices charged by the illegally operating car services at the terminal. There has to be a better way of structuring this process, and it left us irritable and frustrated, spoiling what should have been an enjoyable last day in New York.

Finally, there is the controversial matter of tipping. Coming from the UK, we find the cruise ships concept of tipping a little hard to come to terms with. A tip, by our understanding is a reward for exceptional service. If someone goes out of their way to do something special for you, it is customary to tip. However, what we find difficult to understand is that tips are expected on cruise ships for virtually all members of staff who serve you. Tips are automatically added to the check when you order a drink, yet the waiter was just doing his or her job. Perhaps we are being cynical, but it struck us that the tipping policy is a clever way of enabling cruise lines to get away with not paying their staff as much in wages.

On NCL, $10 each day is charged to your onboard statement per person, to cover tips for waiters and room stewards etc. This is hardly a tip - surely it is an extra charge? Let me emphasize that we are not against tipping; we think that it is proper to recognise service that goes the extra mile, but the concept seems to have gone a little too far in some areas so that tips are expected whether or not you have received good service. On NCL, if you have received poor service in some areas, you will still have paid your $70 in tips per person for the week, regardless. In some cases, it seems to have taken away the incentive for staff to provide exceptional service - they know they will be getting the tips anyway!

Our puzzlement of the tipping matter extended to taxi rides in New York. All taxi drivers that we rode with were talking on their cellphones for the duration of the ride. They did not drive considerately, in fact they drove aggressively and dangerously, and they were abrupt, yet they all expected a tip. We gave them a tip as it is customary, but we couldn’t help thinking that the original reasoning behind tipping seems to have been lost.

Overall, we rated the Dawn very highly compared to other cruise experiences. The freestyle concept definitely gets an enthusiastic thumbs up from us. We know that in any vacation there will be good points and bad points and on balance we were very happy with our cruise experience. NCL have a good understanding of what cruise passengers want these days, and the cruise more than met our expectations.

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