ANNIHIILATED A 42 ANNIVERSARY
Norwegian Dawn Cruise Review to Caribbean
Contributor Level:
Purser
Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 51
11 Night Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)
Sail date: February 07, 2018
Ship: Norwegian Dawn
Cabin type: Inside
Cabin number: 5635
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 6 years ago
Review summary
ANNIHILATED A 42nd ANNIVERSARY...read the review comments and just set reasonable expections...dont look at the pictures in the Venetian(think GRAFFITTI artist gone wild)...the execs should get up and take a cruise and/or hire someone to just LISTEN to the conversations all around where ever they sit...secret shoppers would be nice...and with all the technology and just in time delivery, one would think NCL would use both, to do a DEMOGRAPHIC study of their incoming passengers...a head chef from India was a major clue that the menu would be trying...and it was...Embarkation
REALLY NEED TO HAVE THEIR EXECUTIVES see what happens...get up of their tails...when arriving at Tampa location, there is no way to go up...and there is only ONE bathroom for each sex...one stall...line was over 6 deep...then, the CHOKE points when we were allowed up, were to first check tickets/passport...then ONE line for TSA with VIP being in the same lines as peons...then, check in went smoothly...then, the fun began...the PA system was SOOOOO bad, that no employee or passenger could understand what was being said...led to a MASSIVE RUSH to the next choke point...the ELECTRONIC ID station...of which there were 4...but with one staffer telling people to go back, and totally ignored...finally made it but this was just the beginning...
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
What a DISASTER...the VENETIAN had a beautiful make over, only to be destroyed by the AVANT GUARD paintings...being all but vandalized...some EXECUTIVE needs to see what someone authorized...made for the first comments across the first meals...
Seems the HEAD CHEF from INDIA, working with all his LINE CHEFS, had a massive problem understanding how to cook...an INDIAN dish on each dinner menu...food came out with the weirdest gravy ...who puts BROWN GRAVY FOR ROAST BEEF ON PRIME RIB...that IS clearly a CULTURAL issue...both the Indian and Filipino cooks have no idea what an AU JUS is...too many other stories...these will be chronicled in a detailed letter to follow
Thank GOD for AQUA and the Maitre D (IULIA VLAD) and staffer GRACE GONZALEZ...worked so hard to get us back from deep in the negative, to neutral...took all of the last 8 days to get us there
Onboard Activities
The listed daily activities were primarily selling events...did the goofy golf...and AFTER that, I learned that there is actually a CARD that gets STAMPED, and can be returned for some gifts at the end of the tour...NO ONE EVEN MENTIONED THIS FACT!!!
Entertainment
How many times can we be expected to see the same juggler comedian...let me count the ways...FOUR!!!...moved the WHITE HOT PARTY INSIDE due to the nasty weather risk...into BLISS...the size difference between outside by the pool and the BLISS lounge, led us to NOT EVEN TRY to go...
Children's Programs
no kids...
Service and Staff
Grace Gonzalez...1000%
Iulia VLAD...1000%
Every one else...Deep negative...starting with the first dinner floor supervisor, who, after recieving an answer to his question, about how my dinner was(the one with a rotten baked potato, then given a RAW potato, then not even wanting to try again since my wife had ALREADY gone 2/3 thru her dinner...the server ran to get a duplicate of my wifes dish, THEN the floor supervisor asked his question and I answered honestly..."LOUSY"...to which he basically told me to be nice and calm down since this was the first day of the trip...by the way, the third meal, was inedible...too salty(this WAS a repeated offense for many other diners based on chats with the servers later)...THEN, as we were leaving, I asked to speak to the Manager on Duty...to which the greeter represented herself to be that person, to which I told my story, THEN, stunningly, she THEN stated she would get someone...WE JUST LEFT...
Ship Quality
If someone in the INSURANCE LOSS CONTROL department looked at the bathroom mounts between the commode and the sink, the would have seen sharp edges at the bottom of the mounts...and by the way, what was with the PAINTING OF THE LOWER PART OF THE BATHROOM DOORS while we are on board...ever think about folks having clothing get paint on them?
Cabin / Stateroom
ANNIHILATED THE ANNIVERSARY CRUISE ...NO SLEEP FOR FOUR NIGHTS IN A ROW...see documentation on CASE # 231477 from GUEST SERVICES...finally, was able to move on the fifth day...but not after having an attempt to make up some sleet during the day, destroyed by moving items BELOW US...where as the GALLEY was ABOVE US...ever hear of SOUNDPROOFING THE FLOOR OR CEILING...I was even willing to pay for someone to get the materials from HOME DEPOT while we were in KEY WEST...that was how bad it was, and only got worse...to the point, where medical events did occur for both of us and can be seen on our invoice...
Ship tip
Will defer on this
Thumbs up
0
Ports of call
No sleep from first night made this almost a useless stop...and yes, we sat on a trolley tour...too tired to try...did it TWICE that is how bad we were...unknowingly, the first day of many more
TOO TIRED TO TRY...after running down to Curacao, at 25 knots, facing a 40 knot wind(about 76 MPH converted)...that made the trip...like being in a mini hurricane...but we were confined for days 2+3 with these conditions and decks were CLOSED for safety reasons...all understandable...but, NO SLEEP, for days 2 and 3...creating a PROXIMATE CAUSE condition(an old insurance term)
Out of sequence due to Capt cancelling Santa Marta...this was okay but it came later...too tired to try much more than sitting...could not even enjoy...fell asleep on the bus...
Captain Cancelled this portion, gave us BONAIR...the SHORE EXCURSION group really had no direct personal experience on the island tour...else, how could they, suggest a tour that stops at a 'museum(old run down house, with some left over pottery) that charges FIFTY CENTS to use the bathroom????...geeze NCL, are you really that hard up for profit you cant pay for this?
took a NON SHORE EXCURSION tour...just right...sadly, at the last stop(a bar/restaurant), with breathtaking vistas, and under Mick Jaggers home, there was a local rolling two fingered sized bong for a passenger...
Non SHORE EXCURSION tour, booked ourselves...just delightful...professional and we had our batteries that were negative, all the way back to ZERO by this stop
Disembarkation
EZ...since we wanted off ASAP, we carried our own luggage...had a quick breakfast...ship decided to START EARLY and not tell anyone until the first announcement, totall ignoring planning folks may have done based on what was posted...all in all, once we got to the main deck, we never stopped moving until we were OUTSIDE the terminal...
14 Comments
cruiselover64 6 years ago
Jhollosy,
I will send you cheese for your whine...seriously? What did you expect from a mainstream line? Regent? BTW, NCL owns. I enjoy Norwegian and your experience is so unusual, it had to at least be some attitude from you. Even Carnival isn’t that bad, not even close. Stay at home and travel virtually next time...
JusMe 6 years ago
Thank you for a detailed review of why this was not a good cruise. I hope you know that this is an independent web site and not part of NCL. I would send a letter to NCL (I doubt it will do anything for you post cruise)
If you cruise in the future, ship cabins are like real estate, Location, Location, Location. I always have a ship deck plan open on on my computer when I book so I can see what is above, below and to both sides of me. I also do not like cabins with doors to the next door cabin. Always try and be surrounded by other cabins for quiet sleep time. Never get a cabin under a club, dining room, kitchen or crew passage way. I would not just blame the chef on this ship IMHO NCL has the worst food of all the major lines I have cruised.