Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

this was our second time on the Norwegian Dawn, I thought you could never have a great time like the first, but I was wrong. It was great, staff is great, food is perfect and plentiful. Heard some complaints from people who didn't like the fact that some of the restaurants charged a fee, but for us it was worth it. Can't wait to go again.

The ship was very clean. The staff were very friendly and helpful. Our room was good, it was an inside stateroom and we had 4 adults in there. There was enough storage for all. The bathroom and shower were on the larger size for the room we had. The shows were excellent and the entertainments in the lounges and the bars were good. The food was good and we liked the freestyle dining. There was a cover charge to go to the nicer restraunts, which I thought was a little pricy. To get reservations you need to call early in the morning 2 days ahead and you still may not get the time that you want. Overall it was a great time.

Overall, the cruise was AWESOME. Express debarkation was wonderful too. Although we had to carry our luggage out ourselves, we woke up on our final day, had room service breakfast, and walked off the ship. Just like that. We waited in a small line doing this. Maybe about 15 minutes. Not a big deal. The stories we've heard about getting off were awful - but NCL has a great way of going about it. The excursion (Pearl Island Treasure Hunt) was awsome too. We snorkled, found 4 conk shells (a total of 6 people were in our group). One of us even found a pearl! Worth $200. It was awesome. The kids got to swim with stingrays and pet them. It was just wonderful! Laying on the beach was nice too and snorkling there.

This was our second cruise as a family and probably our last. NCL free style cruising in theory sounds good, but it wasn't all that it was marketed to be. The difficulty in getting reservations along with additional charges to use, made the dining experience hectic when it shouldn't be. Departing from New York had its advantages, but being at sea for the majority of the 7 days along with the large crowds didn't feel like a vacation. Getting off this ship in ports of call was difficult due to NCL photo staff holding everyone up trying to take photos even if you didn't want them. It bordered on absurd!

Great staff. Beautiful ship. Dining experience was poor.

The room was a perfect size for my 2 children and myself. We enjoyed the free style dining, but we also enjoyed "getting dressed-up" for dinner on a couple of occasions. The staff was friendly, but sometimes didn't understand the English language too well. NCL changed the itinerary, so we were unable to spend any quality time in Nassau. It would have been nice if we could have spent more time @ the Great Stirrup Cay or in Bermuda - instead of stopping in Nassau.

very boring. you pay alot of money and they don't have many things to do.

this cruise line should be more like carnival.

carnival is better.

better activities and shows the ship was boring.

I thought the ship was very pretty and the restaurants also were decorated nicely. I enjoyed the Venetian Dining room over the Aqua. I felt the Aqua was very small and not that nice appointed. The common areas were very clean.

Food in the main dining room was near awful. We went to some "Specialty" restaurants, where they charge you extra, but the food was excellent. Especially the steaks in Cagnie's Steak House. I'm get the impression the "free" food was lousy on purpose to make you pay the extra fees in the specialty restaurants. Their next move will probably be to charge all passengers, all the time. After all, they are the cruise line that started that nonsense about your not being allowed to bring your own liquor on board. Imagine, an adult is not allowed to bring a bottle of liquor or wine into his/her own room, but they are always pushing you to buy drinks. I also believe larger ships are an ill-conceived idea. Our rooms were at the very front of the ship. Dining rooms in the rear. Forget something, like your glasses, and it's a long walk back to the room. Smaller ships also give you a better chance to meet the other passengers. Big ships are like being in a big city. You don't get to meet your neighbors. "Freestyle" dining no extra. Every cruiseline has open dining if you don't care to go to your specified dining time. I personally miss sitting with the same waitstaff and fellow travelers at dinner. Waitstaff usually give you tips about the islands and extend pleasantries.

Ship was wonderful. I highly recommend the Norweign Dawn and would like to take another trip on it.

This cruise was outstanding. The best part was the ability to decide where to dine and with whom. The food was excellent at all the restaurants we dined at. The shows and entertainment were top-notch. We enjoyed this cruise very much.

good food ok no free soda

Bermuda and the private Bahamian island Stirrups Cay were great destinations. Nassau was not the most attractive place. The kids had a very good time ages 7-15.

This is my second time sailing on the Norwegian Dawn and I really enjoyed both cruises.

I felt the ships layout was great and well thought out. The fact that the ship includes all gratuities in the purchase makes many of the staff members not seem to care. The ship really tries to nickle and dime you the entire time, and this gets very annoying. I feel that most people should be able to decide for themselves how much they want to tip someone for opening a bottle for you, especially if it takes forever to do so. The only other problem I ran into was that the ship didn't give you very much information about the islands. For example in Bermuda they only give you a map of the dock and the city of Hamilton. This gets to be a problem if you want to go anywhere besides the dock by either walking or using a moped, this was also a problem in Nassau.

The overall idea of "Free Style Cruising" is a good one, but the execution was lacking. I think that with a more experienced and perhaps better trained crew, it could be done very well. The ship itself was modern, very clean and one of the smoothest ships we've ever been on. We loved the itinerary, just the right combination of port calls and sea days. Overall the cruise was enjoyable and relaxing, but nothing that would make us choose NCL over other cruise lines we've sailed on.

My husband and I cruised once before, on a much smaller ship in the Royal Carribean fleet. Although that ship was lovely, this was a vastly improved experience offering more restaurants, a refrigerator and coffee maker in our cabin and a balcony - only way to go!! We cruised this time with our 2 children and their spouses and there was somethng for everyone. We loved the freestyle cruising, yet chose to dress up on two separate evenings forformal pictures. The staff was excellent and the food was, by and large, plentiful and tasty. We took advantage of room service this time on two occasions and it was swift and accommodating. The ship's movement was minimal - actually nice with just a very gentle sway to sleep to! The bathroom was small - we hope they're working on that for future shipbuilding! Had a wonderful week on all accounts except the excursion which was misrepresented and contained stairs and dark, dank areas below ground level that caused breathing problems in asthmatic visitors (including myself) and difficulty for young couples who were forced to continually lift up their strollers with their children in them, which was particularly taxing for women traveling with just their chldren. Otherwise, a truly fulfilling vacation in every way!