Nice cruise on a newly renovated Dawn

This is our 2nd cruise on the Dawn.  We liked the exterior upgrades and new carpeting throughout the ship.  The gym was nicely appointed.  Although the adult pool was made smaller, we did like the stadium seating that replaced it.  This ensured a good amount of seating and no fighting over lounge chairs.  We were disappointed to see the removal of the aft outdoor cafe. This area is now a kiddie pool which appeared to get little usage--probably because it separated the child/adult from other guest.  Getting on and off the ship were easy and hassle free.

A new feature to NCL was the iConcierge.  Use of this app costs $10/person. Listed below are pros and areas of improvement:

Pros:  the app was excellent for booking restaurants and excursions.  It made it easy to communicate with other members of your traveling party.

Areas for improvement:  Since this app offers convenience to the cruiseline, it should be complementary to certain Latitude members and/or offer the individuals who pay $10/person should receive certain premiums.  The app should also list the daily menus of all the restaurants.  It should also list the daily activities.  Frankly, this is an exciting service that needs to be more fully developed by people much more familiar with digital technology than me.

With regard to dining, the Dawn now offers--in addition to Cagnie's, LeBisro, Moderna, main dining halls, etc.--several new dining experiences including Mexican food, Asian fusion, and updated Italian.  We particularly enjoyed the upscale menu at the Italian restaurant.  As usuals, the buffets in the Garden Cafe were chaotic.  After our first day on the ship, we chose to eat breakfast in Venetian room.  We like and enjoyed the wine/champaign bar.  Interesting idea.

Please note that the specialty restaurants are no longer fixed priced, but ala carte.  If you don't have a specialty restaurant package, eating in these restaurants can become pricey.

Entertainment:  The excursions were a little expensive and quite short-typically 3-4 hours.  We suspect these were kept short to accommodate the long distant the ship sailed between ports. In almost all cases, the ship sail by 4PM.  The new port in Belize, Harvest Key, was nice and new.  Note that this not necessarily equivalent to NCL private island since the island is entirely managed by Belize.  However, to maintain the quality of the area/experience, the island would benefits from better signage and more trash containers.  We noted trash blowing around, likely because it was difficult to find trash containers.  

In terms of nightly entertainment, we have seen the "Band on the Run" three times.  Its OK, but it may be time to renovate this show.  The Second City program was mediocre.  The on-board comedian was funny, but could be offensive to some people.  Noteworthy, however, were the shows entitled "Elements" and "Ineffable Two."  These shows were fantastic and should not be missed.  Show-up early to the 2nd show because many of the people who attended the 1st show come back for the 2nd show.  We also enjoyed the crew talent show.  The ship had two excellent bands--"Flavors" and "Mus'k Nation"  Flavors focused on Reggae while Mus'k Nation had an incredibly broad repertoire.

Although this last comment may reflect our expectations, it seemed that many of the crew seemed to be less friendly.  The "welcomes" and "good morning" and "have a great evening" seemed to be vocalized much less than other NCL cruises that we have been on.  Its this something unique to the Dawn or is this a broader NCL phenomenon?  Don't know.

Recommendations for improvement:  

Since smoking is allowed in the casino, we suggest that the cigar lounge be move into this space.  Keep all the smokers together

We note that many children ran wild at the adult pool.  Parents need to pay more attention to these activities and they should be enforced by a "pool life guard."

We think the "quiet/meditation" rooms should have a daily option instead of a weekly option.