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TR: Norwegian Dawn & Albany (4/26-5/4) Pt. 1
This is getting crossposted on USENET on a couple different
newsgroups, chiefly because there is some content intended for RRC. I'll put stars around that portion. There will also be an area outlined with the old # symbol that may be of extra importance to readers at Total-MMA.com, who will also get linked to it, but probably never read it. ------------------------------------------ Usually, my TRs are based on day to day activities. Cruise ships are not really conducive to that sort of reporting when there's extended at sea sections and but one real port of call (in this case, Bermuda). The days very much blend together, and seeing as your transportation, accomodations, entertainment venues, casinos, restaurants, and so on are all together in one somewhat compact package, I find it essentially impossible to separate them. Besides, how fun is "eat, sleep, eat, sleep, gamble, gamble, eat, eat, show, sleep," to read? Deviating from that, I'll first review the ship and the ports, then the destination for the cruise (in this case, pseudo-nation state Bermuda), and then Albany. Seems only just. NORWEIGAN DAWN: Itinerary - 7 Day, NYC departure, 2 at sea days, 3 days Bermuda (1 day dock, 2 tendering), 1 day at sea This is the first cruise I've ever been on, and in spite of the total lack of any real expectations, the planning process was arduous. For whatever reason, I was dead set against Royal Caribbean or Carnival. No real logical reason for that, but I wanted to go at least maybe a quarter step up from them. Holland America, Princess, and Celebrity had no departures that really caught our eyes and worked airfare wise, but Norwegian with their run out of Manhattan to Bermuda. As an introduction, I'd get 3 days docked at Dockyard and plenty of at sea. No need to worry about Island hopping, just real easy stuff. That was the intention, and the road to hell is paved with lots of good ones. Not that this was "hell" by any stretch of the imagination, but one thing was: Getting bumped from our spot in Dockyard for two days about a month in advance of the cruise by what turned out to be a Celebrity ship. This led to the evil, evil process of tendering, and I'll get more into that as I review the Bermuda part. ROOM: If you've seen me post on RRC, you know I don't **** around with rooms. I won't settle for a inside cabin unless I absolutely have to, and right now, I don't. We went with a mini-suite w/balcony that was to be put on the 11th floor....until the upsell offer came in. Our room thus became 9002, a penthouse on deck 9 at the front of the ship. The room itself was massive by cruise ship standards, featuring a little sitting area, a 20 in. TV with a internal DVD player, large closet, and a king size bed. The balcony, err, deck, was almost as big as the bedroom itself, measuring something around 200 sq ft. As awesome as that was, this was the Atlantic ocean, and we were at the front. We basically never used the deck at sea because it was simply too windy to do so. Since over half the cruise saw the boat moving, we weren't all that overjoyed. We'll actually settle for a lower ranking cabin next time if we stay with Norwegian, but what was great was the VIP perks we got. The trays of snacks every evening were tasty, we had expedited tendering, exit of the ship (which was great when our concierge Anca grabbed us out of a giant line during disembarkation), a VIP party with free drinks to meet the captain and various high ranking crew members, oh, and of course breakfast and lunch at the upsell restaurant we didn't anticipate visiting that we ate almost every day. CREW: There's 1000 crew members on the boat, or like 1 for every 3.5 people on board. That's pretty nutty. When I worked in amusement parks, a good day was like 1 for every 50. But I digress. The staff was heavily Filipino, and I really, really wanted to chat them up to find out how big Manny Pacquiao is back in their homeland, but alas, found no real opportunity. Our concierge Anca came from Romania and was effectively everywhere we looked ready to help us. Our butler Armando seemingly disappeared after day 3, but was nice enough to bring me a pitcher of milk when I requested it early in the cruise and was generally helpful when we called. FOOD: Norwegian's big gimmick is "freestyle cruising", which means for people like myself and my fiancee who have this odd problem with other people existing, much less existing at our *dining table*, we get to eat alone. We also made sure to eat at every upcharge restaurant (of which there are 4), along with many visits to the free restaurants on board. Somehow, I weighed 4 lbs less the last day of the trip than I did when I started in spite of eating four meals a day. Maybe eating constantly forsaking the elevators for stairs wasn't a bad idea? Also of note, the significant other (my fiancee, Meredith), is a vegetarian. This was not even remotely an issue, as each restaurant has at least one veggie entree each night, with the two main dining rooms featuring both a permanent and a rotating one every night. -Main Dining Rooms ("Venetian" and "Aqua"): We actually liked these best. Besides having the permanent menu, the food there wasn't of significantly lesser quality than the upcharge locations, the wine list obviously was no different, and the ambience argurably as good or better. Same level of service, and no annoying upsell on bottled water (the ice water on the boat is actually better than most bottled waters, no lie). -Bamboo: This is the Asian upcharge on the boat. The food was okay, but nothing to write home about, and not significantly better, if at all, over the local thai hole in the wall you probably have wherever the hell you, the reader, reside. I believe its an additional $15 to your bill. Not particularly suggested. Some decent veggie choices, though my fiancee isn't big on eastern cuisine (she found her's "too spicy" for her liking). -Impressions: Okay Italian, but again, nothing that so blows away what's downstairs on Deck 6 that you think you've spent a quality $15. You do get to hear someone doing a lounge act every night though. -Le Bistro: This is, I think, a $15 a person upcharge. It also features a big two person Chateaubriand at $10 or $20 a person which we obviously skipped on. My chicken stuffed with foie gras was nothing blow away, but my girlfriend did like her's. Again, you're basically paying for the opportunity to pay more on an item that's not available elsewhere. -Cagney's Steakhouse: My girlfriend didn't want to come, what with it being a steakhouse and having a carpet designed to have a cowhide look to it. Then they told us we got free breakfast there every morning, and it was on. I assume this was what was in Venetian in the morning, but I honestly have no clue if it was or not because when it came to breakfast, this is where we almost always went. Steak and eggs preceeded with coffee, orange juice, water, and a croissant, then chased with a waffle? Now that is how one starts a morning. -Salsa: A spanish/tapas sorta thing that was free and located on deck 9 in the atrium area. Really quite good. Again, odd to me that Bamboo is extra and this is free. My only guess is that its so they can bilk the asian tourists (of which, probably 20% of the boat consisted of them). -Blue Lagoon: The 24 restaurant featuring "comfort food", which is a fine way of saying "Continental US favorites featuring tons of fat". The Mozz sticks were good though, and it was always fun to go in there and request nothing but 6 orders of them split onto just two plates (hey, one portion was merely 3. 3! What am I, 5?). And then, you leave, and you don't have to pay anyone anything after eating them. Damn, I've been missing out. Its a good thing I didn't take a transatlantic like this, because I probably would have worked my way into obesity/type 2 diabetes. -Whatever the buffet is called: It wasn't that bad opening day. The live stations were pretty decent, particularly the pasta one (even if the alfredo is way, way watered down). Then it was never the same. Our one day away from the breakfast at Cagney's led us to try eating here, and after noting that the food was at best lukewarm, we decided experimentation was unnecessary. Only dessert was generally worth eating. Essentially skippable unless you are shaped/sized like a dirigible. DA GAMING: Arcade: Kinda crappy. Small. The cabinets looked pretty old, and I think a pair of games in it were older than the boat. There was a DDR machine (I don't play it, so I don't know what mix/edition) and a couple larger performance type machines. No ticket redemption. Casino: First time I've ever seen a coin pusher game utilized for the function of casino gambling in my entire life: there were stacks of bills inside along with dice keychains and poker chips redeemable for sparkling wine. Being masters of the damned things, we'd play for an hour and a half on $20 and were able to get one such stack to fall out (the $10 bill covering it came along with two singles) and a keychain. Pretty decent selection of slots, small video poker area, lots of table games. The blackjack was done with 6 decks in a good ol' strip style shuffler, but I actually did alright and was able to play for about 5 hours with $80 on a $5 table and take home $80 in profit, with a high point at about $230. No one played dice almost the entire time, which was a shame. There was also 5 card Texas Hold 'Em casino poker, Wheel Of Fortune, roulette, and dumb **** like that for guidos who want to lose money. No baccarat. ----------------------------------------- Anyhow, I have to cut it off here so that Google Groups doesn't think I'm spamming. On to Part 2! |
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TR: Norwegian Dawn & Albany (4/26-5/4) Pt. 1
In article
, wrote: I was dead set against Royal Caribbean or Carnival. No real logical reason for that, but I wanted to go at least maybe a quarter step up from them. Interesting that you think that. After 28 cruises I rate Royal Caribbean is a whole step up from NCL and I think Carnival is either at the same level as NCL or a half step up from NCL. The food on Carnival is way better than the food on NCL. NCL is a about as low as you can go for cruises out of US ports. -- Charles |
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TR: Norwegian Dawn & Albany (4/26-5/4) Pt. 1
On May 5, 7:36*pm, Charles wrote:
In article , wrote: I was dead set against Royal Caribbean or Carnival. No real logical reason for that, but I wanted to go at least maybe a quarter step up from them. Interesting that you think that. After 28 cruises I rate Royal Caribbean is a whole step up from NCL and I think Carnival is either at the same level as NCL or a half step up from NCL. The food on Carnival is way better than the food on NCL. NCL is a about as low as you can go for cruises out of US ports. I went off of what internet research I did and it seemed to indicate that Carnival was kinda in the Motel 6 class whereas NCL was perhaps at least at Days Inn level. In retrospect given what I encountered, I don't imagine them to be at all significantly better and would likely be okay with a Carnival/Royal Caribbean ship, assuming I didn't have to deal with kids. I love amusement parks, hate vacationing around children. Its the ultimate paradox, I know. In any case, when I got home earlier today, I immediately started looking at the smaller, more exclusive lines out there. For larger lines, like I said, I'd probably be A-OK with one of Royal Caribbean's immense floating cities just as I enjoyed myself on the NCL liner, but I'd be much more likely to end up taking a suite on a Holland America, depending on the ship. |
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TR: Norwegian Dawn & Albany (4/26-5/4) Pt. 1
In article
, GodsOnSafari wrote: I love amusement parks, hate vacationing around children. Its the ultimate paradox, I know. There are several strategies to avoiding sailings with a lot of children onboard. For sure, don't cruise when school is not in session. Summer Caribbean or Bermuda sailings will have loads of children. Ditto school holiday weeks like Easter week and spring break times. So cruise when school is in session. Also ten day or more cruises usually have a lot fewer children. I think I only saw four kids on one eleven day sailing I took on Celebrity in May when school was in session. Then there are cruise lines with no children's program or area, Azamara and Oceania. So they don't draw many children. For larger lines, like I said, I'd probably be A-OK with one of Royal Caribbean's immense floating cities Since you love amusement parks you might like the Voyager and Freedom class ships of Royal Caribbean. They have amusement park type qualities. -- Charles |
#5
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TR: Norwegian Dawn & Albany (4/26-5/4) Pt. 1
There are several strategies to avoiding sailings with a lot of
children onboard. For sure, don't cruise when school is not in session. Summer Caribbean or Bermuda sailings will have loads of children. Ditto school holiday weeks like Easter week and spring break times. So cruise when school is in session. *Also ten day or more *cruises usually have a lot fewer children. I think I only saw four kids on one eleven day sailing I took on Celebrity in May when school was in session. Then there are cruise lines with no children's program or area, Azamara and Oceania. So they don't draw many children. Yeah, Azamara or Oceania may be in our future. *For larger lines, like I said, I'd probably be A-OK with one of Royal Caribbean's immense floating cities Since you love amusement parks you might like the Voyager and Freedom class ships of Royal Caribbean. They have amusement park type qualities. Ehhh....I like to separate the two, and so does my fiancee (who is writing her own report to post on Cruise Critic as I speak). I like fine dining and I like arcades, but I'd really prefer to not read about how Joel Robuchon is installing pinball machines in the lobbies of his restaurants, even if he's bought up all the Funhouse and Earthquake machines on the market. |
#6
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TR: Norwegian Dawn & Albany (4/26-5/4) Pt. 1
"Charles" wrote in message d... Interesting that you think that. After 28 cruises I rate Royal Caribbean a whole step up from NCL and I think Carnival is either at the same level as NCL or a half step up from NCL. I've done Carnival, Princess and Royal Caribbean. RC has by far been my favorite, and the only one I've gone back to (multiple times). I have no interest in their megaships, however, just give me a nice normal sized one...no idea why anyone would want to get on a boat with 6000 people! Great TR series, BTW, Alan!! Thanks for the write up on Albany as well, bagging that this year (I still ride kiddie coasters, when they'll let me!!). |
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