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Ray Mesaris

Age: 69
Occupation: Retired
Number of Cruises: 15
Cruise Line: Norwegian
Ship: Dawn
Sailing Date: December 14th, 2003
Itinerary: Bahamas

Our day started out bad. We left home on Dec. 14th in a raging snow storm, not knowing if we would ever get to the Norwegian Dawn or not -- but we made it somehow. Our drive to the pier, which normally takes less than an hour, took over two hours this time. Because we left home early to avoid some of the storm, however, we arrived at the pier just after 12 noon and were pleasantly surprised to be moved directly to the check-in area. Although there were a few glitches, the boarding process went very well and we found ourselves onboard the Dawn and in our stateroom by 1:20 pm.

Our room was a balcony stateroom on deck 10. The room was very clean with a king size bed, a small settee, a small desk, table and chairs. It was very cozy although somewhat small. There was very little closet space and the bathroom was incredibly small. I managed to wedge myself into the toilet area, but had to either back in or walk in, depending upon my purpose for being there. There was no room to turn around once inside. The shower was somewhat more accommodating, although not overly spacious and with very little water pressure.

The Norwegian Dawn itself is a beautiful ship, and Norwegian has introduced the greatest idea in cruising to ever come along - Freestyle cruising. We never did like the way dining room seating and dining times were handled, but we learned to live with it. On most other cruise lines you must opt for either early or late dining. You cannot have early breakfast and late dinner, or visa-versa. It’s either early, late or skip. The freestyle dining concept is fantastic. I like the idea of being able to dine when I want, where I want and with whom I want. I can have breakfast at seven and dinner at 10 if I want, and I am not locked in to the same stuffed-shirt tablemates that sometimes come with traditional dining.

On this cruise we dined most often in the Venetian main dining room for dinner, but we did visit Cagney’s Steak House, a specialty restaurant, for an out of the ordinary dinner on my birthday, our last day at sea. The food, service and ambiance at Cagney’s is superb. There is a cover charge, but it is well worth it.

I cannot say as much for the Venetian dining room or the other restaurants we visited. In the Venetian the food was terrible. For four evenings in a row I had my entrée served in an indescribable brown sauce which tasted burned. I had Prime rib in this burned sauce, steak in the same sauce and even Beef Wellington in the same unpalatable sauce. Finally I switched to rack of lamb -- you guessed it, the same sauce. I do have to admit that the service in the dining room was excellent, but the food -- not good. I managed to avoid that brown semi-liquid paste on the last two nights in the dining room by ordering Duck ala Orange (excellent) and an Italian dish which was very good.

Another restaurant we visited was the New York Deli. Definitely not a New York Deli! I had to explain to the server how to make a Reuben sandwich, and when it arrived it was two pieces of rye bread separated by a couple of thin slices of pastrami covered by a miniscule splotch of sauerkraut. No dressing of any type. Definitely not a New York Deli Reuben. How dare they claim to be a New York Deli.

We also visited the Blue Lagoon Café several times. The Blue Lagoon is a nice little 24-hour fast food style place only without the fast food service. The food, although limited and plain, is good. I had an excellent tomato soup a couple of times, and the Shepherd’s Pie is also very good. But if you are looking for fast, forget it.

We didn’t even attempt breakfast after the first morning, opting instead for a continental type breakfast in our stateroom each morning. Oh, and forget about room service. We tried once, and after an hour and a half wait, called up and cancelled.

Except for the food, we had a very pleasant cruise. The ship’s staff is very friendly and helpful. Our cabin steward was constantly on the job. We did meet a lot of very nice people on this cruise. One of our favorites was a waitress, Corduta, in Pearly King’s Bar, a sports type bar on deck 7. She was one of the most pleasant people I have ever met. We stopped just about every evening to chat with her and have a martini before dinner. The bar prices, by the way, are very reasonable on this ship.

All in all we had a pretty fair cruise, but, would I go back to Norwegian? I doubt it. Since excellent food is always one of the highlights of every cruise, we were very disappointed with this one. I didn’t even gain weight. We really enjoy cruising and can’t wait for our next Celebrity cruise in May. More than ever, now, I am convinced that Celebrity is the only way to go.

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