Great Cruise, but Freestyle Dining is a Fiasco

Norwegian Dawn Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

Cruises: 4-6 cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 7

Overall rating:

4 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Dawn

7 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)

Sail date: March 29, 2015

Ship: Norwegian Dawn

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 12009

Traveled as: Family (young children)

Reviewed: 9 years ago

Review summary

The ship was great, shore excursions were really great, the entertainment was excellent, the buffet was great, the cabin steward was outstanding. The Dining Room experiences were terrible. I guess freestyle dining, where you have to wait in line every night for dinner with a different waiter each night, is not for us. We much prefer a standard seating time (e.g., 6:00) with a few other guests at the same table every night. The waiters were all very good, but the wait each night was absurd - even at 8:00. Moreover, the dining rooms ("Aqua" and "Venitian") never seemed to be open for lunch  when we wanted to eat-  closed for an art show or only open for 1 and a half hours. We would probably consider Norwegian again, but other passengers seemed to agree that something needs to be done about the Freestyle dining.

 

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Food and Staff great ; Freestyle dining - absurd

Onboard Activities

5 out of 5

Entertainment

5 out of 5

Children's Programs

5 out of 5

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

5 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

5 out of 5

Ship tip

Great staff on the ship.

Ports of call

New Orleans, Louisiana

5 out of 5
Outstanding guide on this tour on the last day of the Cruise.

Cozumel, Mexico

5 out of 5
Wonderful snorkeling off the pirate ship (3 reef tour) - Great guides.

Belize City, Belize

5 out of 5
Great Zip Lining and Cave Tubing

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

5 out of 5
Fantastic diving at Anthony's Key resort

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

5 out of 5
World's Best Beach Party on the Jaguar tour (red bus), plus we go to ride tandem bicycles.
Was this review helpful? 7

2 Comments

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

glomarrone    9 years ago

How strange that NCL that started the freestyle concept cannot seem to get those lines eliminated. 

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