Would not cruise NCL again regardless of destination - disappointed on many levels even thou expectations were reasonable and I'm not a normal complainer type, but a appreciative and glass half full person

Item: Norwegian Dawn
Rating: 2.8
Author: jgoedde

Norwegian Dawn Cruise Review to Bermuda

jgoedde

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 42

Overall rating:

2.8 out of 5

7 Night Bermuda (Boston Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 07, 2018

Ship: Norwegian Dawn

Cabin type: Inside

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

This was my first experience with NCL and I left very disappointed on many levels regardless of the change of destination and will most likely not be recommending NCL to friends or family going forward

Embarkation

3 out of 5

Boston terminal was clean, process was easy to navigate and onboarding went quickly and smoothly.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

2 out of 5

Steakhouse and Sushi were great and worth the extra spend. Main dining in Venetian and Aqua (preferred Aqua as Venetian staff were incredibly slow and rude) food choices were so overly salty that many dishes were unpalatable.

Bamboo Asian Restaurant

5 out of 5

Waitstaff and food options were amazing! The various Chinese dishes are included and sushi was extra but truly reasonable and worth it!

Topsiders Bar and Grill

2 out of 5

Food was decent - pizza, burgers, salad. Bar service would of been good if anyone smiled and didn't just take your card. Didn't help the top Bimini Bar was closed entire trip and thus line for drinks was 30+ minutes - at one point we went downstairs to O'Sheehans to get our drinks and bring them back up to the pool. Staff around pool were available only a few days out of the 6... music at the pool was a 3 - very disappointing.

Gatsby's Champagne Bar

3 out of 5

Nice comfortable atmosphere to hang out and drink amazing espresso martinis with friends. Easy to pull up chairs for whole group and live music was varied and enjoyable.

Cagney's Steakhouse

4 out of 5

Worth the spend - waitstaff and food amazing. Steak perfect and yellow-fin Tuna cooked excellent.

Aqua Main Dining Room

3 out of 5

Wait staff was good and attentive, food as in other venues overly salty and changes to menu each night were minimal. Both menus in Aqua and Venetian are the same, but staff was much MUCH better in Aqua.

Onboard Activities

3 out of 5

We visited the spa daily which was worth it and very nice - not extraordinary, but good. Poolside beverage service was horrible with waitstaff virtually non existent and thus waited in lines for drinks for 30 min + almost daily. Bimini top bar only was open on day of embarkation so everyone had to use Topsiders for food & drink the entire cruise. Poolside and various lounge acts and music were weak on all counts and compounded by the sad and unfriendly faces of the staff throughout the ship made me wish we had chosen another line

Lap Pool And Jacuzzi

4 out of 5

Thermal spa was really nice with heated stone seats looking out back of the ship. Mineral spa was large as well as hot tub. Pool was clean and just the right temp. Sauna and steam rooms were small but worked efficiently.

Entertainment

5 out of 5

The main shows in the Stardust Theatre were surprisingly really good!, including a great comedian, magic act, staff show and Elements - definitely would recommend but wish the theater had drink holders as others do...

Children's Programs

Service and Staff

1 out of 5

Having cruised on RC and Princess previously, this staff was hands down the worse I have ever encountered cruising. – inattentive, unfriendly faces, slow service, confrontational and lack of any eagerness to please abounded in every environment from dining rooms, to lounges to poolside service. They gave the impression they were miserable indentured servants just doing the absolute min. necessary before they were able to get off the ship

Ship Quality

3 out of 5

Typical, a tad difficult to reach one end to the other due to barriers and weird lounge walk thru's but nothing terrible and easy enough to navigate. Cabin steward was fantastic!

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5

Cabin was clean with comfortable bed, typical space worked for what it was. Decent shower and light up closet was helpful. No exterior noises above or below and no severe rocking motion.

Ship tip

Our ship was intended to go to Bermuda but due to Hurricane Florence we went North to Canada and Maine. I have taken the Boston to Bermuda cruise on RC previously and would choose that line hands down vs NCL.

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Boston, Massachusetts

3 out of 5

Boston is a beautiful fun and exciting city - but everyone on this cruise was from there (MA, ME, NH, CT, RI, VT) so prepare for accents and f-bombs but really super nice and fun cruisers!

Thumbs Up 3

Royal Naval Dockyard, West End, Bermuda Did not visit port

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

4 out of 5

12 Comments

Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

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stepet 6 years ago

The staff are indentured servants

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dwright323 6 years ago

I sort of have this feeling and I understand it that not going to Bermuda as promised put a damper on both the staff and the paying guests. I know that the staff were not happy about not going to Bermuda as they knew they would have many a pissed off guest and to be honest rightly so. However imagine them taking you down there through an amazing hurricane that has been the worst to hit for two decades that was headed directly for Bermuda? What would you do?

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hw5877 6 years ago

Is it possible that a shipload of disappointed cruisers might have had an impact on the crew? We were on the cruise just before yours and no one could have been nicer or gone further to make our trip the vacation of a lifetime. I suppose they might have been just as disappointed at the change of venue at you were!

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ColoradoKen 6 years ago

Anything to keep the cost down for the rest of us in the future.

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gampy 6 years ago

Nice

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frankie0303 6 years ago

Should have sailed on a newer ship

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Tjones1073 6 years ago

I was on the dawn in February and feel the same on all points. However, based on reviews, some people love the ship, to each his own, I guess.

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dreniere 6 years ago

I have been on 16 cruises, 10 on the Dawn and never have experienced what the OP describes. Have had many great conversations with staff, and meals at all the restaurants. Looking forward to being on her for Oct 26th 14 day cruise.

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Shh813 6 years ago

Unless you've been on all their ships, how can an you say that? You didn't tell us what was wrong????

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mmcb081818 6 years ago

I’m going on NCL for the first time in October

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dwright323 6 years ago

What were the issues other than the destination change?

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Other reviews of this sailing

Worst Vacation of my life. Booked for Bermuda not Canada,will never go again.

Nice cruise, disappointing Itinerary change

Very disappointed