Cruise Ship: Norwegian Dawn
Cruise Destination: Eastern Caribbean
Cruise Date: December 9 – 16, 2007
Guest Contributor: Mary and Vincent Finelli
The Norwegian Dawn is a colorful ship with a hull decorated with streamers and leaping dolphins, which has been in service five years, yet it doesn't show its age. This was our fifth Norwegian cruise and our first on the Dawn. We had a wonderful much needed rest and made several new friends.
Captain Hakan Svedung runs a tight ship, with high priority on safety. Monday, the first full day at sea, he announced a change in course in order to avoid Tropical Storm Olga --- we no longer headed for Samana, Dominican Republic, a pity since there are usually whale sightings in the bay. Instead, we were off to Tortola, BVI in relatively high seas. We also met Hotel Director Jacques Le Tallec, who proved to be every bit as charming as his name. He aims to please and to that end he keeps his attention on the needs and wishes of the passengers. He visited us in our mini suite and asked how we were getting along and if we needed anything. Vincent mentioned that there were no upholstered chairs and "Presto" two comfortable armchairs appeared in just a few minutes. We also met the Concierge Yahira Suazo and she was not only beautiful, but very helpful and accommodating.
EMBARKATION
Floridians have the distinct advantage over others when it comes to cruising --- we don't have to take a plane to start our vacations, But, we still have to brave I-95 and its propensity for traffic jams and time delaying accidents. On Sunday mornings all this is much easier. From our home in Boca Raton, it is a mere forty-five minute drive to the Port of Miami; on Dec. 9th we arrived at the pier at 12:45 and had a rather slow but thorough check-in.
We were in a special check-in line for wheelchair passengers. There were mixed signals from the Pier personnel and the Norwegian personnel. The ship's workers were attempting to streamline the process, while the Pier personnel were slower and less organized: i. e., "Wait here!" "Come forward!" "Wait there!" And finally, "Come forward!" Our photos were taken, and we went all the way to the end of the pier to collect the photo boarding pass. Then we had to return all the way back to board. The logistics for this process should be improved. The on ramps were very steep, so if you are in a wheelchair put on your safety belt. They were even more necessary during debarkation. We took thirty-five minutes for check-in and one hour total to board.
We wanted to check on reservations for the Venetian Dining Room, but were told that there were none, just come early to request a table near the entrance. Freestyle Cruising is a plus for cruisers since they are not held to specific times or places for dinner, rather each evening can be a special dinner unique from all others on board.
THE NORWEGIAN DAWN
The Norwegian Dawn was built in Pappenburg, Germany and entered service December 2002. She is 965 feet long and 105 feet in the beam. With a tonnage of 92,250, her draft is only 27 feet and her top speed is 25 knots. The Dawn has 15 passenger decks, 12 elevators, 1,112 cabins, a guest capacity of 2224 and a crew of 1,126 (a good guest to crew ratio).
The ships newspaper, "FREESTYLE DAILY" lists all twenty-two dining venues and their hours. Like the personality of this ship (easy going), there are a whole range of dining venues from the very formal Venetian Dining Room to the very casual Blue Lagoon --- We did our utmost to try them all and were amazed by the changing ambiance from one site to another.
Midship is the airy atrium with its many crystal sculptures. This cruise the Christmas decorations added to the ship's beauty. Like all Norwegian ships the decor is simple, with beautiful woods included. We especially enjoyed the Venetian with its aft wall of windows each decorated with a huge lit wreath.
CABIN
Mini suite 11616 on Deck 11 is huge and sparingly furnished, which is perfect for this wheelchair accessible cabin. However, the entrance is situated in a narrow corridor which makes it difficult to enter and exit in a wheelchair. This cabin could have been positioned several feet either to the left or the right and thus avoided this problem, since the corridor widens out in either direction, except for this one bottle neck.
When entering on the right there is a exceedingly large bathroom with safety rails all around. There is a huge shower with a seat and rails --- very handy --- a single sink and two shelves for toiletries. Next there is a king size bed with the ubiquitous heavy white quilt. We had this last item replaced with a top sheet and light weight blanket. The bed is flanked by two night tables each with two shelves, but no drawers. There are nice reading lamps on the wall.
When entering on the left there are shelves and a triple armoire with hanger sections and more shelves. Next there is a vanity/desk with coffee/tea maker plus amenities. There is a long and rather firm couch in green; then a TV console with three drawers, a safe, a small refrigerator and then a kitchenette set of a table and two chairs. Of course, there were also the two armchairs which H.D. Mr. Le Tallec provided. There are a wall of windows to the balcony, which is twice the size of a regular one. On it were two recliners, two chairs, and a table. How nice!
The room had lots of warm cherry wood and blue carpeting with a starfish motif. Our stewards were Henriques and Marlon, both of who were very helpful and cordial. They aimed to please and did so very well.
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