The greatest issue was being charged $277+ for gratuities on the "Ultimate Beverage Pakage" that NCL "gifted" us with NO prior knowledge and no refund! Will not sail NCL again!

Item: Norwegian Dawn
Rating: 2.7
Author: sharonsanderson

Norwegian Dawn Cruise Review to Caribbean - Western

sharonsanderson

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 4-6 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 53

Overall rating:

2.7 out of 5

Verified Review

7 Night Western Caribbean (Tampa Roundtrip)

Sail date: December 22, 2019

Ship: Norwegian Dawn

Cabin type: Oceanview

Cabin number: 8108

Traveled as: Singles/Friends

Reviewed: 4 years ago

Review summary

Neither nor NCL informed us of the Ultimate Beverage Package "gift" that resulted in $277+ charges in gratuities. We had no knowledge of that "gift", and when we inquired about the unauthorized charges, the personnel blamed NCL as a new "practice", and NCL accused C.O. of not informing us. I have used C.O. several times over the years and have never had an issue. This is an unacceptable way to handle business. We have not received a total refund. NCL reimbursed us $105 designated for steward gratuities from our bill - which was the improper way to handle this. Never again with NCL.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

Totally inefficient, poorest embarkation ever!

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5

The TWO dining rooms and options were nice with food and service. These were the only two choices out of 10 total restaurants.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5

Few options for activities.

Entertainment

3 out of 5

Service and Staff

3 out of 5

Good to excellent service from room stewards, waiters; ship personnel were not helpful nor accommodating.

Ship Quality

2 out of 5

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Fair

Ship tip

Don't

Thumbs up

Ports of call

Tampa, Florida

4 out of 5

Convenient but inefficient embarkation.

Thumbs Up 0

Costa Maya (Mahahual), Mexico

2 out of 5

Poor - not a real place! Just a shopping stop! disappointing!

Thumbs Up 0

Harvest Caye, Belize

2 out of 5

Another shopping stop!

Thumbs Up 0

Coxen Hole, Roatan, Bay Islands, Honduras

2 out of 5

Another shopping stop!

Thumbs Up 0

Cozumel, Mexico

2 out of 5

Another shopping stop!

Thumbs Up 0

Disembarkation

5 out of 5

It surpassed embarkation by 1000%

10 Comments

Gwbigdog 1 year ago

Thanks for sharing your cruise with us.

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luckylori 4 years ago

We went to these same ports 2 years ago and had a blast. We went on an excursion at each port. That’s the fun part of a cruise to us.

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samanthafierro 4 years ago

You literally have a contract that tells you that the Free at Sea program still charges gratuities. It is not NCL's fault that you failed to read and understand it. Also, did you venture out at all past the tourist shopping traps to actually SEE the islands???

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mflaherty1992 4 years ago

It's printed right in your cruise contract that beverage packages carry a $19 per day per person gratuity charge that you're responsible for. Try reading next time

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mattchristine 4 years ago

These reviews are ridiculous. I dont believe any of these people that have no cruise history, no pictures, and nothing else on their profile. They must be fake.

Thumbs Up 1

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Jenniewesthoff 4 years ago

So if you’re given a 100$ gift certificate for dinner and you get the bill you don’t feel the need to tip your server??? You sound like a cheap inconsiderate POS 🤷‍♀️

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CureDream 4 years ago

Beverage packages come with gratituties that you have to pay. Unless you’re a first time cruiser then this is common knowledge. Whenever I purchase a beverage package, I expect to pay gratituties for the service. And seeing you complained about every stop on what looks likes a wonderful itinerary, cruises are definitely not for you.

Thumbs Up 2

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15mustang 4 years ago

All beverage packages come with a fee for gratuity. You have to pay that portion. All ships charge a daily gratuity for room stewards, waiters etc. When you take this off your bill, you take money away from these deserving people.

Thumbs Up 3

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CruzeFan 4 years ago

It definitely sounds like cruising is not for you, or at least you need to read all of the details of an offer when you agree to it. The details are always in the fine print of the contracts, but very few people read them and then say they were ripped off and want a refund, all because they failed to read and understand what they were getting.

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tonigross9 4 years ago

What is CO

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