"We're Off the Grid" - Caribbean Cruise on the Norwegian Dawn - March 11, 2011

We had so much fun on our Bahamas cruise last year, we decided to take another one this year. We looked over the itineraries and decided on the 9-day Norwegian Dawn. We figured out that we could budget for a balcony cabin. The ports of call on this cruise were Samana - Dominican Republic, Tortola, Barbados, St. Kitts, and Antigua.

Our intinerary

The Norwegian Dawn

A few days before we left, Deb received a phone call from Norwegian asking if we would be interested in upgrading to a Penthouse suite for $500 (total not apiece!). Deb said yes real fast!! Jessica, the upsell fairy, said that we would have a penthouse suite at the front of the ship, large private deck, butler and concierge, and several other perks that come with the penthouse. Deb had been monitoring the price drops of our cruise ever since she booked it, and called Norwegian every time to get a price reduction. She got our price down by $700 overall, so the additional $500 for the penthouse was still a savings.

We saved and saved all year!

Our cabin, after the call from the "upsell fairy"!

Days 1 & 2 - We flew to Fort Lauderdale the day before the cruise in case of any bad weather. We stayed at the Hyatt Place North again for the night before the cruise. We used the free hotel shuttle from the airport. We stocked up on supplies needed for the cruise, mainly our wine. Norwegian Cruise Line will allow you to bring wine onboard at a charge of $15 a bottle. We explored the area around the hotel and had lunch at a 5 Guys and dinner at Chuck's Steakhouse.

The next morning a private shuttle service picked us up at the hotel to bring us to the Port of Miami. The Dawn sure looked huge at the port. After going through Security, we noticed a room to the side that said for Suite Check-ins. Deb told Chris that was for us. They looked at our paperwork, took our pictures, gave us our room keys, and told us to have a seat until our conceriege arrived to escort us to our cabin. They had a table filled with snacks and beverages that we could help ourselves to. We were surprised that we bypassed all the long lines at check-in, which was a great perk and a great beginning to the "suite" life!! Our concierge (who turned out not to be the one assigned to us) arrived, and we were escorted up to Cagney's Steakhouse, where we were told that we could have breakfast and lunch each day at no charge, which was another great perk!!

After a relaxing lunch, we heard the announcement that our cabins were ready. We took the elevator down to the 9th deck and headed for our cabin.

Our cabin door and doorbell!

Wow....the cabin was so much larger than we could imagine. It had a huge teak deck with padded lounge chairs. There was also so much storage and a bathtub!! We had a dining area as well as a living area, and even an espresso maker. There was also a bottle of champagne chilling in the ice bucket! Another great perk of the "suite" life.

There was a bottle of champagne on ice waiting for us.

We heard a noise...and wondered what that was. It was our doorbell. Henry, our butler, came in and introduced himself and told us that if we needed anything at all to call him. He gave Deb a fresh flower arrangement and a plate of chocolate covered strawberries! Yes...another "suite" life perk! Henry left, and the doorbell rang again...who could this be? It was Anoop, our real concierge. He introduced himself and told us that anything we needed outside the cabin was his responsibility, such as dinner reservations, entrance to the shows, early tender tickets, etc.! Anoop left, and we explored the cabin and deck.

This will work!

Our Living Room

Our butler, Henry, stopped by with some goodies for us!

Our Levazza espresso/cappuccino machine!

NCL even provided us these nice terry robes!

We tried to ignore this!

After the muster drill, we wandered around the ship to figure out where places were until sailaway. We decided to stay on our deck at sailaway, but the ship moved so smoothly, Deb did not even realize that we were already underway!

We both really relaxed on this trip and did not spend a lot of time taking notes. We did, however, take lots of pictures. The weather was fantastic - mostly sunny and in the 80's everyday!

Our Deck

View of Miami from our deck

Chris just chillin'!

This anchor must be the backup!

Deb checking out the pool

The pool was pretty nice

We purchased a bucket of beers one afternoon to cool off!

Henry stopped by one afternoon with more treats - great cheese and wine!

One of our nightly towel animals (created by our cabin steward, David) to remind us of the time change that night!

The Ports of Call on this trip and what we did:

Day 3 - Saturday was a warm and sunny sea day. We spent a lot of time on our deck catching some sun and reading. Deb was reading "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo" by Stieg Larrson on her Kindle and Chris was reading "The Gate House" by Nelson DeMille.

Day 4 - Sunday we tendered in Samana, Dominican Republic. We had signed up for an NCL sponsored excursion to the Cayo Levantado Island for a beach day. It was another warm and sunny day. Good thing we brought plenty of sunscreen and aloe. We went over to the island on a tender and got situated in our lounge chairs. Deb was first in the water, but Chris was not too far behind. We got a couple of island drinks and decided around 2pm to head back to the ship for some lunch.

Beach at Cayo Levantado, Dominican Republic

Chris offering to share a drink!

Our feet enjoying the sun!

Deb on the tender back to the Dawn

Chris on the tender back to the Dawn

Day 5 - Monday we docked in Tortola, British Virgin Islands. Again, we signed up for an NCL sponsored excursion to the Baths in Virgin Gorda. We took the Speedy ferry over to Virgin Gorda and then got on an open air bus to the Baths. We had seen Samantha Brown's show on the Travel Channel of the Baths and was really looking forward to it. Unfortunately, it was so crowded going through all the rocks that we really couldn't enjoy what we saw. There was Devil's Beach at the end of the path, which was really quite lovely. We decided we had had enough sun and headed back to the lot to meet the bus.

Wow...we had to climb through these rocks!

But the Devil's Beach at the end of the trail was sure worth the hike!

Is this going to be lunch?

Chris enjoying some snorkeling

And some more chillin'!

On the way, we stopped at a few shops and the restaurant for a "Painkiller" cocktail. It was pretty good!!

Deb vegging out and enjoying the view of Tortola

Tortola at dusk

Day 6 - Tuesday we docked in Antigua. We both loved this island. Deb had read about a day pass at an island hotel that sounded pretty interesting. We found a cab driver who said he would drive us to Hawksbill Beach. He tried to talk us in to going to another beach, but Deb held firm and said no, we want Hawksbill Beach Resort. The word "resort" was the key. Our driver, Birdie, then smiled and said that we would like it there. When we arrived, we could not believe how beautiful it was (http://www.rexresorts.com/antigua/hotel-antigua-hawksbill-by-rex-resorts.html). Birdie said he would come back at 2:30pm to pick us up. We went into the reception office where we purchased the day pass for $40 each. It included beach loungers, tiki hut, free drinks, lunch, afternoon tea, and use of all non motorized water toys! We were the only cruiser guests there that day. Even with the hotel guests, it was very quiet! We would love to come back here and spend more than one day.

Shipwrecked boat in the Antigua Harbor

Port in Antigua

View of Hawksbill Beach Resort from the office terrace.

Cottages at Hawksbill Beach Resort

It took us a while, but we realized that the resort got its name from this rock formation....does look like a Hawksbill!

Chris is enjoying a swim!

Deb enjoyed her swim too!

Chris not wanting to leave the beach to meet Birdie, our taxi driver

Day 7 - Wednesday we docked in Barbados. We had read about a beach called "Lobster Alive" that was supposed to be fun. We took a taxi from the port there for about $4. It was pretty crowded by the time we got there, but we were able to get a beach umbrella, two lounge chairs, and 3 drinks for $15. Chris had been to the beach next door, The Boatyard, many years ago. He could not believe how much it had changed and how the area had gotten so popular. Again, we jumped into the lovely blue Caribbean waters as soon as we could! When we were packing up, a guy came up and asked if we needed a taxi back to the ship, which was very convenient, as that is where we were headed. Before getting back on the ship, we went through some gift and jewelry shops. Of course, Deb had to buy some gifts for family and friends as well as herself! Yes...she got some small diamond earrings. Deb was happy to hear that they could be traded in at any time if she decides to go for a larger stone. Of course, we all know how that will end!

Deb performing her daily duty of opening the sea hatch door!

Chris enjoying the shade at Lobster Alive Beach.

Deb is in the water...what a fish she is!

Mr. Snorkel

We made a few toasts in Barbados!

Gorgeous sunset in Barbados

Moon in Barbados

Day 8 - Thursday we docked in St. Kitts. Deb had read about a guy from St. Kitts that offered some interesting tours. She contacted him several months ago about us going on a "Capital and Beach Splash" tour for $25 each. We met Thenford Grey (http://www.thenfordgrey.com/The_Tour.html) as soon as we got off the ship, and along with one other couple got into his nicely air conditioned bus. Thenford took us all over St. Kitts, including a tour of the main city Basseterre, Brimstone Hill Fortress, Romney Manor, and South Frigate Bay Beach. We had realized that this was not the tour we had booked (this one was $48), but we enjoyed it! At the end, Thenford apologized and said "no charge", but we paid him the original amount plus a tip!

View of the ocean from Brimstone Hill Fortress

Chris would have liked to fire one off!

View of the volcano from Brimstone Hill Fortress

Interesting Liquor Tree - Thenford told us he could give us some seeds to grow one at home!

The Happy Couple at Romney Manor

Chris and Thenford Grey at Romney Manor

Timothy Hill - View of Atlantic Ocean (left) and the Caribbean (right) on the way to Frigate Bay Beach

On the way to Frigate Bay Beach

Mr. Snorkel

Deb actually got her hair wet here!

Days 9 & 10 - Friday and Saturday were relaxing sea days! We went to some shows, including a hypnotist, and even went to a Chocoholics buffet! We also caught some interesting karaoke. We got invited to the Captain's Cocktail Party, where we spent quite a bit of time talking to the second in command, Nicholas who was from Sweden!!

Our last night onboard!

Day 11 - Sunday - we were back in Miami. We got our shuttle bus to take us to the hotel in Fort Lauderdale for a two-night stay before heading back to Connecticut. We went to Fort Lauderdale Beach, had dinner at an Irish pub near our hotel, and did some shopping at the Sawgrass Outlet Mall. We used public buses to get to the Mall and met some of the locals, which was an experience in itself--some things are best forgotten, but we had a great time!!

Deb enjoying a bloody mary!

Chris got one too while we waited for lunch!

Fort Lauderdale beach!

Some of the food pics:

The Happy Couple at Breakfast

One of Deb's favorites: Banana pancakes

French toast

Chris enjoying filet mignon and eggs for St. Patrick's Day

Chris being good and ordering a salad!

Deb ordered a "Grand-tini" made with Grand Marnier!

Chris gave it a sip!

The shrimp in the Shrimp Cocktail were huge!

Very tasty sliders

Crab Cakes

The Happy Couple at Le Bistro

One of our favorites at Le Bistro - escargot

Deb orders the tenderloin every time at Le Bistro

Lobster tail and red snapper in the Venetian Main Dining Room

Deb loved this baked chicken from the Venetian Main Dining Room

Shrimp fritters

Strawberry cheesecake and vanilla ice cream

We enjoyed this cruise so much, we booked one again for March, 2012. Norwegian has added another port, St. Maarten, so it will be a 10-night cruise. We also booked a cruise from Venice, Italy to Greece in August, 2012. We like cruisin'!!