NCL Dawn questions!!!!

[Mandy Lee]

Hello everyone!! My cruise is rapidly approaching and I still have a few questions and since I don't know anyone who has taken this cruise before I figured my best place to ask would be here!! My boyfriend and I are taking the 7 day Eastern Carribean cruise on the Dawn leaving Dec 4th. Now my questions are as follows:

1. Dinner attire, I know there are specialty restaurants where a sepcific dress code is required, but do a lot of people dress up? How fancy do some people get? Are there any specific places to eat if I am looking to getting all dolled up? We are going to be there on my birthday and I would love to dress up for that!

2. One thing I have always wanted to do is the Dolphin interaction for the excursions. But there are 2 different dolphin excursions listed. The dolphin encounter for $119 and the dolphin swim for $159. Does anyoen know which is better? And what the difference is exactly?

3. And my last question is what time do most thngs on the ship close? The club for instacne or the bars? Restauraunts? Etc.??

Thank you for your time and hopefully someone can answer my questions!!

[penny3333]

Congratulations on your upcoming cruise, and Happy Birthday! What a fantastic way to celebrate!

1. People dress nicely for dinner, but I didn't see any tuxedos, some suits, and some nice cocktail dresses, though. If you want to dress up, go for it. There are photographers on board that will do nice potraits, too.

2. Do the dolphin swim and not the encounter. You actually get to swim with the dolphins in the swim, not in the encounter. It is awesome! We did ours in Chankanaab Park in Cozumel. It is definitely one of the most awesome experiences of my live. I bought the video, so when I'm down, I pop it in and it brings back such wonderful memories. Then I can make it until my next cruise
3. Things start quieting down around 1 am, but I don't think the bars close until 2, maybe later-I've never made it that late. You can get 24 hour room service if you're hungry after the midnight buffet.
My friend went on the Dawn last spring and had a fantastic time, hope you do too!

[billybuzzy]

Mandy Lee-I am presently aboard the NCL Dawn in Bermuda at the time of this reply. Dinner attire is defined as "Resort Casual" at dinnertime in the main dining venues. The Garden Buffet and the Blue Lagoon are "casual". There is an optinal formal evening but you can dress up any time and be perfectly at home. At dinnertime Jeans,shorts and T-shirts will not be allowed into the prime dining venues and passengers will be/are turned away!

There is something going on at almost all hours but the entertainment seems to be shutting down around 2 AM on this cruise. I have seen it go much later!

I am unable to advise on the Dolphin expereince/encounter!

Bon Voyage,

BillyBuzzy

P.S Happiest of Birthdays- You will love the Dawn-She is a great ship with a fantastic crew and a great ambiance!

[penny3333]

Billybuzzy, it's great to hear from you! I do hope your cruise is fantastic and the weather is cooperating. By now, the land moss should be all gone We'll see you soon!

[Berick1234]

Dress up as fancy as you choose.....If you have a shimmering gown wear it:-)...Just have a Smashing Good Cruise...Happy Birthday...

Bob E

[Paul & Darryl]

Mandy Lee –

What a great way to celebrate your birthday! I’m doing the same on Pearl even though I’ll be 5 months early we decided getting out of the snow would be a great way to celebrate my 50th instead of doing it in my actual birth month (July – hurricanes and TOO MUCH heat)

Anyway, to your questions…

1. My suggestion is save your finest and fanciest for Le Bistro! We were seated next to Monet…you can’t get much fancier in my humble opinion. Also, the china under liners were Versace! Funny story about that…young couple that we became acquainted with onboard, we wound up seated next to them. She looked at the china and said ‘oh my, can this really be?’…then she said…’I don’t care if it is impertinent’ and promptly picked it up and flipped it over…Versace it was and VERY beautiful too! We all had a good laugh and really didn’t care what anyone thought…we were on vacation! Because of that lovely evening it is now a tradition for us to do Le Bistro on every cruise. Incidentally, Le Bistro on Spirit did not disappoint in the least! Other than Le Bistro we did resort casual all the way. I like dressing up but [also] love not schlepping a lot of luggage!

2. Wish I had info on the Dolphin encounter, we’re still weighing our options on whether we want to spend the $$ on that on the upcoming cruise.

3. Closing time? I remember it was always me that closed down before the entertainment! Same on Spirit! I will say that one night I woke in the middle of the night (about 4 AM) when we were in the Atlantic and decided to take a stroll on deck. It was pretty quiet then ?.

Dawn was our first NCL ship. She is something special and will always hold a special place for us! It was Paul’s first cruise and our first together. I remember when we first walked on board and he gasped at the [size of the] atrium - I said “remember, you are actually on something that MOVES!”

She is a beauty!

Have a marvelous time and the Happiest of Birthdays from both of us!

Enjoy and Bon Voyage!