Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I had an excelent time overall. The shows were top notch. There was a good variety of food. Our room was very comfortable. I liked having the opportunity to take my own luggage off the ship. The disembarkment was smooth.

very good

Overall the ship was clean -- with hand sanitizers every 5 feet. The decor was more informal than we had encountered on previous cruise lines. The accomodations were also a lot smaller than on other cruise lines.

The ship looked large, clean and invitating as we enetered it

The Norwegian Dawn is a nice ship and has great activities and entertainment but poor food, poor service, and just inconsistent service made this vacation less than stellar.

The ship is kept absolutely clean at all times. The crew were extremely friendly and helpful. There were plenty of activites to participate in if you chose to. Embarkation and disembarkation was done in a swift, orderly manner.

Norwegian is a nice cruise line with very nice ships, but they charge you for EVERYTHING!! We had a few drinks throughout the week and went on one excursion and our room charge at the end was almost $500.00!! The meals were average at best, and the format of the cruise "Freestyle Cruising" is more like a "Free-for-All" cruise. You didn't get to know the staff very well, becuase you always had a different waiter, unlike other cruiseline formats.

Not really impressed on the "Freestyle Dining" - causes too long waiting lines. Also no real Formal night where dress code is mandory in at least one dinning room.

The service and friendliness of the staff is remarkable. the Dawn is a very clean ship with good sized outside rooms ....inside rooms looked quite small. The major dining room was quite large and the buffet rooms were very impressive. I do think however , that charging for plain lattes was crude as is charging for soda, when tea, coffee, and jiuces are all for the taking. great entertainment although the showroom does not appear to be large enough...it was always hard to find a seat unless you went 15 minutes before time. The pool is also quite small...cannot imagine when it is hot out how it would be able to accomdate all the guests.

The Norwegian Dawn was a beautiful ship that was indeed ship shape. Crew and staff worked extremely hard to keep it that way. Crew was neat in appearance, helpful, cheerful and attentive. It was an excellent vacation! The ship signage was wonderful making getting used to a big ship quite easy. Seems that NCL thought of everything to make it a great cruise experience. The decor of the ship was beautiful and cheerful!

the ship was very clean - they have hand sanitizers in all restaurants and at all entrances and exiits to the ship to prevent any viruses.

Very Clean, in good condition, and polite staff.

This was our fourth cruise with NCL and unfortunately, it will be our last. I understand that everyone has to cut corners, but my husband and I feel that you have cut the quality of the food tremendously. We were not happy with the meals we had in the dining rooms that are included in the price. We also sampled one of your "specialty" restaurants, and felt the same way. As far as the theater shows, we only enjoyed the magician and comedian. The dancers were amateurish at best. Your other entertainers (music in other parts of the ship) were very good, though. We felt we were being nickel and dimed. With 10 restaurants on board and only 3 were included in the price says it all. Even though you pay extra for the others, the quality was no better. As you are, we were celebrating our 40th anniversary and even though our travel agent notified you of this, it was not recognized. Overall, I have to say it was not very enjoyable.

The ship itself was very good. Well decorated and beautiful.

Beautiful ship. Found our way around easily.

All in all, the cruise was enjoyable. Our cabin steward and his assistant did an excellent job, as did the various waiters in the dining room. Apparently, the crew all spoke English. There was evidence of an awareness for cleanliness throughout the ship, with sanitizing stations throughout; including forced disinfection at each embarkation port. This procedure is a good one, as it must help keep the ship's population from getting sick. There were some surprises. We do cruise a lot. First, we noticed signs at the port of embarkation saying "Tipping is Optional". That is absolutely NOT what the luggage attendants understand. If we did not tip, our luggage would not get on the luggage cart! Further, we were surprised to learn that there was a $20.00 per person, per day for the use of the sauna. A similar charge is for the use of the indoor swimming pool. There are a number of specialty restaurants that the guests must pay $20.00 to $30.00 to use. We like to suggest that there be specialty restaurants, a great idea, but as additional choices for all to use as part of the cost of the cruise fare. Most of the time, we used the main dining room, the "Venetian". Whenever we asked the waiter to bring us a slice of gorgonzola cheese, or some other Italian cheese (which they were unfamiliar with), we were served with domestic provolone or some other domestic cheeses. "Free Style Cruising" may have its good points, but we were surprised to find that, more often that not, we had to sign a waiting list and wait to be called to be seated - a waiting process that took from a few minutes to over half-hour. Apparently, the list was very long, but the wait was relatively short, with most guests deciding not to wait and to eat elsewhere on the ship. On deck 12, one of the showers to the hot tubs was not working, since the faucet valve was missing. However, it is clear that it did not matter much to most guests, since they just go into the tub without showering. A small sign by the side of the tub says to shower before entering the tub. Even the attendant serving that area did not know of this sign! For sanitary reasons, this requirement should be strictly enforced. At least, there should be a clear and very large sign at the TOP of the tub stating that the guests MUST shower before entering the tub. Further, we found it convenient on other cruise lines to go to the pool areas and use the provided towels. On the Dawn, we were issued two beach towels that would cost us $25.00 if not returned. Probably this is a good idea to keep costs down for the company with the number of towels used and lost, as compared with using the former method.

We went as far to speak tp a manager of the staff to express our dissatisfaction with our overall experience on the ship. Unfortunately, the Group Consultant who wanted to hear our concerns, named Anna, made us feel like we were merely "another complainer". During our meals in the Main Dining room, we were constantly given incorrect meals and then the plates were switched to another table right before our eyes. Water glasses were filled across the table as the water dripped across our plates and belongings. We had a 30 minute tender ride next to a Dawn Employee who had serious hygeine issues. Our remote control was busted and completely covered in duct tape. We had only one pillow each in the room. The shower head was cracked so bad it was like grabbing a razor blade and it cut our hands. The expensive balcony room we hand picked had a door connecting right to the next room. These neighbors were heavy smokers and screamers who kept us up late and woke us up early. We gagged each night on their smoke which poured under the door into our room. The Dawn refused to make any amends or even show any remorse or apology for our discomfort-and didn't allow us to change rooms, even at our expense. We will never go on this ship again.

The ship was very clean and polished. Even with an inside cabin, there was ample room with wonderful storage. The bathroom was large, I appreciated the roomy shower and shower door. The nightly entertainment was excellent, great family shows. The staff was courteous and helpful. I noticed this especially with people in wheel chairs and special needs. This was my first experience with Norwegian (my 6th cruise) and I would readily sail with them again in the future.

I would not recommend this cruise or Norwegian Cruise Line at any level. My family and I enjoy cruising very much and were extremely disappointed in every feature of this cruise and company. We have visited Bermuda previously on Royal Caribbean and it was far better than Norwegian in all respects. Norwegian is a waste of money!

Run far, run fast. Norwegian Cruise Lines provides a terrible cruising experience and does not care in the least bit.