Cruise 01: Setting Sail from Doha

Wednesday, February 12, 2025

Today was departure day for my cruise! My check-in time for the cruise wasn’t until 14:30, so I didn’t have to get up early or rush about this morning. I had a lazy day at the hotel, packing up my bags and downloading as many TV shows as possible on my phone. I hadn’t paid for the expensive Internet package for the cruise, so I wouldn’t have WiFi access during the next two weeks – I needed to download as much as I could to help keep myself entertained.

After having lunch at the hotel, I got ready to head to the cruise terminal. While waiting for my Uber to pick me up, I met another couple in the hotel lobby who were going on the same cruise. They had done several cruises before, so I asked them about their experiences so I could get a better understanding of what to expect – this was to be my very first cruise! Another couple arrived at the hotel as we were talking and they had just arrived on our cruise ship, so we began to question them about their cruise. They had done the opposite route to the one we were taking, so they knew what we would be seeing and doing over the course of the voyage. They had nothing but negative things to say about the ship and the crew. I discounted much of what they were complaining about because it was over trivial things – they seemed like a high-maintenance couple.

My Uber driver arrived and I was happy to exit the conversation with the complaining couple. The cruise terminal was about 20-minutes away from the hotel, so the ride didn’t last too long. The terminal itself is a massive modern building, but I wasn’t able to go inside to see much of the place. When I arrived there was already a very long queue of passengers waiting for check-in, stretching the entire length of the terminal building! I was a bit caught off guard because I expected the process to run quicker and smoother – I began to worry that this would be the standard for when we entered and left ports during the cruise!

I joined the queue which moved at a slow, but steady, pace. Looking around at my fellow passengers in the line I was a bit taken aback at the demographics: I was younger than the vast majority of them by at least 20+ years! So many of them were senior citizens, older than my parents, and a lot of them had mobility issues (with wheelchairs, canes, etc). Many people behind me in line were loudly complaining about the long wait and at the apparent lack of luggage trolleys for them to use for their bags. I had my backpack and a small carry-on sized back, but most people had brought two large check-in sized bags with them. I was baffled by the amount of stuff that people were bringing for a two-week cruise!

After an hour of waiting, I finally reached the first check-in table, after which I made my way into the terminal building. Inside, I went to another counter where I was given the key to my cabin and I handed over my carry-on bag for them to deliver to my room. It was now – finally – time to board the ship! It was smaller than I had expected (though still huge). The ship was called the Norwegian Dawn and it wasn’t nearly as big as the gigantic cruise ships, which ended up being a good thing because it meant there were fewer people to crowd the public spaces.

Upon boarding the ship, I tried to get my bearings and locate my room, which proved slightly more difficult than anticipated. I managed to find a central staircase and I climbed up several flights of stairs to reach deck eight, where my room was located. The elevators were all packed with other passengers, so taking the stairs was by far the most expedient way of reaching my room.

The stateroom turned out to be larger than expected (though by no means huge). The bed was very comfortable, there was a small desk, closet, and a minifridge. The bathroom was decent, though the shower was tiny. Overall, I was happy with the stateroom. I had booked an interior solo-traveler room as it was the cheapest option available. I would have preferred a room with a view and/or a balcony, but those rooms were far too expensive for my budget.

Part of the boarding process required passengers to locate their emergency meeting points on the ship, so that was my next priority. My ship card listed my meeting point on it and it was relatively easy to find it on the lower promenade (on deck eight). With that completed, I set off to explore more of the ship where I would be staying for the next couple of weeks.

Deck eight was one of the main entertainment decks, complete with the ship theatre, various shops, the concierge desk, and a small lounge. I was delighted to see that Starbucks coffee was served at the café bar – I knew that I would be able to have good quality coffee throughout the voyage if other dining places didn’t have anything better on offer. I then climbed up to Deck 12, which was the other place where common areas were located. The outdoor pool and lounge area was in the center of the deck, with an outdoor bar located at the rear of the pool area. The main buffet dining room was also on this deck. They were serving food when I arrived, so I decided to pop in to check it out. The buffet was quite large, with several sections offering different food options. It turned out that the buffet provides snacks in the afternoons between lunch and dinner. I grabbed a plate and selected a variety of snacks, which were standard buffet quality food.

Returning to my room, I spent the rest of the afternoon relaxing before dinner. I went back to the buffet for dinner and was a bit disappointed in the options for dinner. The main section had a variety of foods, but nothing looked appealing (or appetizing). There was a section of Asian-theme foods, which had food more to my taste. There was also a pizza station which served basic quality pizza. The dessert area had soft-serve ice cream, along with a variety of cakes. The beverage selection was rather limited: water, various juices, tea and coffee. One could book an all-you-can-drink package of sodas or alcohol (or even Starbucks coffee), but each package was prohibitively expensive and not worth the cost whatsoever. I could of course purchase a Coke or a beer at any time, which was still expensive, but the inclusive packages cost hundreds of dollars. I did the math for the soda package alone: I would need to drink three or four sodas per day to make the package worthwhile – totally ridiculous!

After dinner I went out to the pool deck and sat in the bar area for a while. In the distance was a fireworks show in the city, though I wasn't able to figure out the reason for the fireworks. The sun had long since set and soon we would be departing from Doha. I was excited when the ship horn sounded and we pushed back from the dock – the cruise was officially beginning! I stayed up on deck for a while longer, reading my Kindle and watching the lights of Doha slowly fade away in the distance.

Around 23:00 I returned to my cabin and settled in for the night.