An Interesting Cruise along the west coast of Africa.

Norwegian Dawn Cruise Review

Cruises: 7+ cruises
Reviews: 9
Helpful Votes: 76

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5
Norwegian Dawn

21 Night Africa: Namibia Cape Verde Angola & Ivory Coast (Cape Town To Barcelona)

Sail date: March 20, 2024

Ship: Norwegian Dawn

Cabin type: Suite

Cabin number: 11032

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 8 months ago

Review summary

Vest Africa. Very interesting cruise although disappointing that 4 ports were cancelled/replaced.

Embarkation

2 out of 5
Long queues

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

3 out of 5
Mediocre. Not spectacular but not poor. Restaurants better than the buffet.

Onboard Activities

2 out of 5
Poor. No seminars about ports, no choir, very few dance classes, no films during the day. For a 3 week cruise there was not enough variety. Repetition of old films on the cabin tv and had to pay for new films. Locked library due to spread infection but kept the casino open. Very odd. Coffee shop and juice bar was not included. WiFi extremely poor.

Entertainment

4 out of 5
Shows were good but not every night. Comedian and juggler were the best.

Service and Staff

5 out of 5

Ship Quality

4 out of 5
Nice cabin. Ship very clean although it was noticeable it was an old ship. No laundrette which for a 3 week cruise was a pain.

Cabin / Stateroom

4 out of 5
Pleasant enough. Clean with everything we required such as hair dryer, robes etc. no kettle though.

Ship tip

Take a travel kettle

Ports of call

Sao Tome, Sao Tome And Principe

4 out of 5
Slow getting us off the ship. Husband went scuba diving. I took a walk around the costal area. Felt safe and enjoyed our day.

Dakar, Senegal

4 out of 5
Walked to market. Went to Goree island independently - very interesting.

Abidjan, (Ivory Coast) Cote D'Ivoire

3 out of 5
Problem getting off ship, many didn’t get out. We took an independent drive around the city. Nothing spectacular. Found good free WiFi in Novotel.

Arrecife, Lanzarote, Canary Islands

4 out of 5

Barcelona, Spain

5 out of 5

Motril (Granada), Spain

3 out of 5
Old and new city merged. Nothing much to see here

Banjul, Gambia

1 out of 5
Captain cancelled this port. Said due to bad weather but passengers weren’t convinced.

Luanda, Angola

3 out of 5
Big dirty African city as expected. Took an independent taxi and had a drive around. Went to the assembly building - very nice indeed.

Alicante, Spain

5 out of 5
Lovely smart city!

Santa Cruz De Tenerife, Canary Islands

5 out of 5
Husband went scuba diving. Very nice town. Really enjoyed our day here.

Cape Town, South Africa

5 out of 5
Fantastic city.

Walvis Bay, Namibia

5 out of 5
Wonderful stop. The trip to the dunes was amazing. Booked independently.

Disembarkation

5 out of 5
Easy to get off.
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10 Comments

Gwbigdog     8 months ago

Thanks for sharing

bubbles60     8 months ago

Sounds like a great itinerary. I normally get bored on any cruise with too many sea days, I wonder if that was the case since you traveled so far.

cruising2004     8 months ago

Thanks for the review.

JimOhio     8 months ago

Thanks for sharing. Your ship tip could not be more inappropriate. Kettles are strictly prohibited since they are considered fire hazards.

HeavySeas     8 months ago

Thanks for sharing

earlydawn     8 months ago

Thanks for your comments on the various ports. We are considering this same itinerary.

karlgrgurich     8 months ago

Wow. What an incredible itinerary

Fifer41     8 months ago

I didn't think you were allowed to take electrical kettles on board cruise ships?

javawoody     8 months ago

Thanks for sharing your experience

RoynKaren     8 months ago

Thanks for the review

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