NCL is cutting back.

Norwegian Dawn Cruise Review to Caribbean

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Review: 1
Helpful Votes: 51

Overall rating:

3.6 out of 5
Verified Review
Norwegian Dawn

11 Night Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)

Sail date: February 07, 2018

Ship: Norwegian Dawn

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 11036

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

We anticipated this cruise for almost a year and it was quite disappointing. We have cruised with NCL many times and have noticed the cut-backs over the last few years. The people working on the ship are always wonderful but they must be frustrated. It seems that they are hiring fewer people who have to work a lot harder during their contract. We are hoping that NCL listens to their customers and improves their quality of food and service. We realize they are pumping a lot of money into their new ships, but at the cost of their loyal customer base.

Embarkation

2 out of 5
First time out of Tampa, showed up at the designated time and the line was LONG. Took over 1-1/2 hours.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
NCL is cutting back on the quality of the food in the main dining rooms. We had the drink package, which is good, but they started running out of certain beers on day 8.

Teppanyaki

2 out of 5

Limited menu, not a very good presentation, not worth it.

Cagney's Steakhouse

3 out of 5

Steak was very good but we had to ask for sour cream, etc. for our baked potato. The hostess, helping the wait staff, pulled out a giant tub of sour cream in view of guests, and plopped some in a container. Two waiters fought in front of guests about food in the window. Glass of wine didn't arrive until the meal was half finished. Very disappointing as we have had good service in the past on other ships.

Impressions Italian Restaurant

5 out of 5

Not Impressions on this ship, actually La Cuchina, which was excellent. The service and food were top quality.

Onboard Activities

4 out of 5
The casino was a lot of fun.

Entertainment

4 out of 5

Service and Staff

4 out of 5
Staff is always friendly and great to deal with. The room steward was wonderful. Cut-backs show when it comes to drink service at the pool, having to stand in line at a bar for 20 minutes to get a drink.

Ship Quality

3 out of 5
Ship layout is not friendly as you have to go down to go over to go up, etc.

Cabin / Stateroom

2 out of 5
Needs updating, carpets not clean. The shelves in the closet are hard to access.

Ship tip

Don't expect an experience from larger, newer ships in the NCL line.

Ports of call

Key West, Florida

5 out of 5
Had a great walking tour of Key West. Fun.

Willemstad, Curacao

4 out of 5
Lovely town but unfortunately on Sunday most things are closed. It rained like cats and dogs, but the little restaurant/bar near the water was very good.

Oranjestad, Aruba

5 out of 5
We did an all-inclusive one day pass to the Riu and it was very nice.

Santa Marta, Colombia Did not visit port

The captain changed the itinerary because of high seas. Bonaire instead, which we love.

Ocho Rios, Jamaica

4 out of 5
Spent a little time at Margaritaville , which was very pleasant.

George Town, Grand Cayman Did not visit port

Just didn't want to do the tenders.

Disembarkation

2 out of 5
About 1-1/2 hours to disembark. It seemed very chaotic and disorganized.
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1 Comment

Gwbigdog    1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise.

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