10 things that surprised us on NCL Dawn
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- Опубликовано: 22 июл 2024
- So we recently went on a cruise to South Africa and Namibia on the NCL Dawn. We loved the itinerary but ten things suprised us about the NCL Dawn
1 Worst managed ship we’ve been on.
Communications poor from captain and not kept up to date with what’s going on. Chaos on embarkation day no signs directing us to NCL area. Ship not ready when guest arriving and they had been in port for two days already. Passport checks poorly handled when leaving and arriving in ports. Complaints not followed up. Delayed arrival at Port Elizabeth handled badly obvious we were not going on our excursion but only one alternative offered. Excision team not keep people up to date and actively managing situation.
2 Ship design - No wow factor it’s a boring ship - no aft area for dreamy sail aways, no bar at front of ship. Everything all squashed in a core in the middle. Not enough searing areas. Smoking inflirrated main theatre and Gatsby’s bar from casino which allows smoking. Smoking at Biminis outside ruins what would be a great bar. Around ship promanade on deck 7 except it’s often partially closed for maintenance. Never made it into Bliss lounge as either used for Art auctions or private functions or then in general use past our bed time.
3 Cabin as usual we were inside but unusually midship as we got a minor deal when we booked. The cabin is a poor design. Very badly placed lights above bed make it difficult to sit up. Shelves in wardrobe very difficult to access. A table which means you cannot get down one side of the bed - we had it removed immediately. General shortage of space. Bathroom suprisingly big with excellent shower and door not curtain. Cannot get washing dry
4 Entertainment - two nights of the cruise we had a film showing in main theatre - not really the highlight of the evening. There were some great acts - comedian, violinist, singer. The acts pool side were good and sometimes really good. Rock set. Some of the other music around the ship was a bit background at times with a district lack of sophistication. Super Bowl not a special event on board??
5 Food - main dinning room veg is under cooked and in short supply. Not enough veg is served even when you ask for a side of veg. We needed up always ordering a side of chips in MDR to bulk up the carbs! Potatoes often undercooked or raw in Buffett at breakfast. Beans cold. Omlettes were amazing from the omlette station. Fellow travellers said O’Sheehans and Venetian were good for breakfast. That all said we did have some great meals as well as some average meals.
6 Cagneys, Los Lobas and Bamboo excelled although service was a little odd in all 3.
7 Ran out of all beers apart from Bud Lite. No Shiraz at one point. No South African wine for the whole cruise.
8 There is a coffee shop on deck 7 atrium which serves Starbucks coffe. I have never tasted Starbucks like this - not very good and no better than Buffett coffee
9 Cellars wine bar Fabaroony with digital menu
10 One central pool area which does work well. 4 hot tubs and what I’ve called roasting rack for those wanting to get sunburnt. Very runny ice cream served next to bar. Topsiders grill rarely open for some reason which is a pain
Hot tub at front of ship is often quiet but windy. Good place for sail aways.
Inferior experience to being on NCL Jade last year
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We were on the Dawn from the 9th to the 20th of March. I think you were being very kind to the management. We joined the Dawn to see the world and what did we see............ we saw the sea.
We always try to be positive as we are glass half full type people but management was very poor and reading some of the FB reports of your cruise it got worse!
We are booked on the Dawn for an African cruise in early 2025 and have heard some of these complaints about the Dawn. I really hope they fix some of these issues, expecially the Managment problems. FYI..... We also have cruised on the Jade and agree it is very nice ship.
I cannot believe NCL will not fix the problems. I do notice they have added other ships onto the SA itinaries now.
Good video!
I have sailed 4 times with NCL and Dawn was one of the ships.
We have embarked in Miami, Vancouver, Tampa, and New York. Worst embarkation in all cities except New York but that's bc we decided to arrive late. No sense in rushing to wait in the heat.
I am a smoker. Sorry Mama Jane's Husband. But I found the smoking area to be awful.
I slept most of the time bc I didn't enjoy the ship. I didn't enjoy the layout. I spoke with multiple people with mobility issues and they really struggled with the layout of the ship as well and I don't have mobility issues.
Glad you liked the video. We had a great experience on Jade last year. Do hope NCL get their act together we have got more cruises booked with them.
Didn't you research the layout of the ship before you booked it?
RUclips has lots of videos showing it!
Oh gosh. We are booked on this ship on the 5th November from Barcelona to Cape Town I hope they get their act together as we are on the ship for 22 days 😱😱
Apparently it’s getting refurbished in April or May when it gets to Barcelona. Hopefully they will refresh management when it comes out of dry dock. We are on sister shop Star in May and it will be interesting to see how they compare - watch out for the video !
Thank you x let’s hope so it’s our first time on NCL we usually go on Royal Caribbean, P&O and Marella x
Second time on NCL for us - last year on Jade was great - we’ve done P&O a lot - NCL is a lot different from P&O
Hoping my cruise in Lisbon is better if not doubt I’ll book another NCl cruise
So our time on Star recently was better than on Dawn. Still ratting issues though. We have one more crusie booked with NCL and I doubt if we will book another unless there’s an amazing deal.
Booked our bucket list cruise months ago for our 11 day British Isles trip in August 2024 on NCL Dawn. Already booked excursions we’re looking forward to. We upgraded our room as well thinking our only overseas cruise for awhile anyway since was already expensive. I’m blunt/straight forward & expect excellence for what we spent. Hopefully your issues should be because of S Africa port, etc including food/drink issues. Management in Southhampton port shouldn’t be a problem. (Fingers crossed). I’ll be sure to order extra fully cooked veggies. Expectations for food/drink is over the top and better be 1st class.
We are on NCL Star out of Southampton in May going around Ireland so watch out for the videos. NCL did have a problem with UK customs last year when they flouted tax laws while in port. It resulted in a full security check when passengers disembarked and caused delays of hours. I think NcL subsequently learned their lesson.
After hearing this avalanche of negativity, I have booked a cruise on the Dawn! Toodlepip!
Hope all goes well
I sailed NCL Dawn … it was HORRIBLE … Management was inept … food was HORRIBLE … do not Sail on this boat!!!!
We are on the NCL Star soon and hope it is better than Dawn