South African Cruise

Norwegian Dawn Cruise Review to Other (Asia/Africa/Middle East)

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 16

Overall rating:

3.3 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Dawn

12 Night South Africa: Port Elizabeth Durban & Luderitz (Cape Town Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 01, 2024

Ship: Norwegian Dawn

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 10521

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 3 months ago

Review summary

For me, they did not have enough activities and the food was not good compared to other cruises that I have been on. They need to step up their game. This was my first time sailing on Norwegian and I am hoping that this cruise was not indicative of other Norwegian ships. If so, I will not be cruising Norwegian again.

Embarkation

2 out of 5
It was very chaotic. Not well organized at all. Could be because we weren’t at the main port since there was another cruise line there at the same time.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5
I was expecting great things from the specialty restaurants but the food all over the ship was mediocre. The only place that had halfway decent food was Cagney’s Steak House (except for the Oysters Rockefeller which was NOT good at all!

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5
There weren’t many activities except trivia, bingo, shuffle board, basket ball. If you like those things, then you would love it. I’m not much into it.

Entertainment

3 out of 5
The one I enjoyed the most was Elements. The rest were just ok. The singer Ben Moss was good.

Service and Staff

3 out of 5
Our room steward Joje was EXCELLENT! The waiters at the restaurants were good at times and not so good at others. The service was SUPER slow at the Venetian. One evening our meal took two hours and the dining room wasn’t even full.

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
The ship was always clean and well maintained.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Joje did a great job keeping the cabin clean. The size was decent. Can’t expect much from an inside cabin.

Ship tip

Don’t!

Ports of call

Cape Town, South Africa

4 out of 5

Mossel Bay, South Africa

4 out of 5

Port Elizabeth, South Africa

4 out of 5

Richards Bay, South Africa

4 out of 5

Durban, South Africa

3 out of 5

Luderitz, Namibia Did not visit port

The weather was too bad for us to stop.

Walvis Bay, Namibia

3 out of 5

Disembarkation

3 out of 5
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