First Time Freestyle
Norwegian Dawn Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western
9 Night Western Caribbean (New Orleans Roundtrip)
Sail date: November 11, 2016
Ship: Norwegian Dawn
Cabin type: Balcony
Cabin number: 9036
Traveled as: Couple
Reviewed: 7 years ago
Review summary
Myself and my wife went on this cruise as a 36th wedding anniversary trip. It was a special trip in all ways. I am a big fan of the Freestyle venue. We are not what you would call upscale by no means. We do not enjoy the dress up and go to dinner aspects of fine dining. This cruise fit us like a glove. Dining options were fantastic especially the Specialty Dining Restaurants. Very good food. There were plenty of things to do on the ship to keep you busy while cruising and the crew took an interest in your well being. I have to give a big shout out for our cabin steward. It was like having a personal friend taking care of us. A real credit to the Norwegian brand. After all, your only as good as the people you employ. The ports we visited were great as well. I have to say my favorites were Costa Maya and Roatan. I prefer the smaller crowds and the more quaint atmosphere. If I were to mention areas I would like to see improvement or change. The smoking policy. I do not smoke cigarettes or cigars but I do vape. I gave up tobacco 4 years prior. I did however, have to set with all the tobacco smokers to enjoy my favorite vape. This made me physically ill after a couple of days. Please understand. Cigarette smoke is nothing like vaping. Vaping does not smell unpleasant and your clothes don't wreak afterwards. My only other issue would be tendering at certain ports. If you are not on a Norwegian excursion you have to wait until all the sponsored excursion passengers have tendered before you can get off the ship. This made us 1 1/2 hours late for one of our excursions. I have learned from this. Norwegian need to explain this up front and announce the tendering ports prior to the cruise. All in all we had a great time and would do it again. We did not take advantage of the cruise next option but are already looking into our next adventure. Thanks for a great time Norwegian.
Ship experiences
Food and Dining
Onboard Activities
Entertainment
Service and Staff
Ship Quality
Cabin / Stateroom
Ship tip
When taking shore excursions in tendered ports, understand there will be many passengers that are taking Norwegian sponsored excursions that have priority tendering. Those that have booked excursions outside of Norwegian will have to wait.
Ports of call
Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras