Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

My favorite part of the cruise was spending it with my family. The stateroom that NCL called a "family suite with balcony" was hardly big enough for the two people staying in it. The "sofa bed" was little more than a couple of cushion on a platform, not really suitable for sitting on as a break from sitting on the bed.

The balcony was so narrow, if you put the chair against the wall facing the ocean view, you couldn't stretch out your legs. If more than two people tried to sit out there, it would be a crush. The windows were dingy as they they hadn't been washed this century...or maybe even the last century. The bathroom was ridiculously tiny. Definitely the smallest "family suite" I've ever experienced.

The food was not what we expected. The fish was consistently overcooked, no matter where we dined. If you wanted your steak medium you had to order rare. If you ordered medium it came back well done and tough. The ice cream wasn't sweet, which was fine for me because I don't like much sugar, but terrible for the rest of my family. 

Our cabin steward was hit or miss with cleaning our cabin. Here's just one example: we had breakfast in the room and when we returned the dirty dishes were still there. The beds were made but the trash had not been emptied. I put the dirty dishes outside of the door as a hint that they needed to be bussed. When we came back to the room the trash had been emptied and the dirty dishes were back in the room!

Free-style dining is for the birds. We couldn't book reservations in the two main dining rooms for three of the seven nights, so we ate in different places and had to split up the group (there were 12 of us traveling together for Thanksgiving). NOTE: THE ITINERARY OPTIONS ABOVE DID NOT INCLUDE 2016-11-20, WHICH IS THE DATE WE SET SAIL.

The itinerary falsely claimed we were going to Belize, but we really went to NCL's fake island that was part of the Belize archipelago. We called it Be-lies because NCL lied to us. We had the unlimited beverage package which was void on NCL's private island. Food was also not included on the NCL private island. Mainland Belize was just a short boat ride away, but we couldn't go there unless we purchased one of the ship's high-priced excursions, which didn't make sense because it was raining off and on most of the day.

When we booked this cruise we were deciding between NCL Dawn and Royal Caribbean. RC left a day later and went to Guatemala instead of Belize. We say that ship when we docked at Cozumel. I asked them if they'd let us on their ship because we made a big mistake. The gentleman smiled and said he'd look for us next year.

The best thing about NCL Dawn was the spa. Wonderful women there and really good services and reasonable prices. The unlimited drinks package - so I could anesthetize myself and forget about being on that ship. Somnath Singh (we called him Awesome) who took such good care of our family whenever we were poolside, and we were poolside a lot because our cabins were so small.

If this is what we can expect from NCL, this is my last time on them. Next time, Royal Caribbean.

The nightly shows and entertainment on the boat were great, lots of excitement and laughs.  I think I am a very patient person, but important things like excursions and disembarkment procedures should be explained by ship personnel that speak English better without such a language barrier.  I personally do not like free style dinning, I like the set time for dinning, and go to my table with the same waiter every evening.  We dined on Thanksgiving and to have dinner in the venetian room took us 2 hours we missed the 7:00 show.  The buffet was great which we have enjoyed on every cruise we have attended.  Our room steward was fantastic (Robbie).   The excursions were confusing we were not sure on booking, and not a large variety in some ports.  The rooms were small and cramped compared to previous cruises.  The new stop at Harvest Caye was great when it is established it will be very enjoyable.  We did enjoy the cruise but it was not our favorite.

Had a wonderful time. Meet so many people . Loved the free sail experience. The officers were all over the cruise asking if every thing was ok. Our state room steward was the best. His name was Max-room 4610. Filled out at least 10 vacation hero cards on staff that made a difference. Will be back.

We booked through and Leo was very helpful.  The Norwegian Dawn is a great ship and the staff and crew were very professional and friendly.  This was one of our very best family vacations ever and we made memories for a lifetime.  We sailed and snorkeled in Cozumel, zip lined over the rain forest in Roatan Honduras and explored the ancient Mayan pyramid ruins in Costa Maya.  All venues had amazing beaches as well!  We booked our shore excursion tours through ShoreExcursioneer.com and saved a lot of money and the tours were with smaller groups which we preferred much better.  We will definitely be planning our next cruise soon!  

We had an wonderful cruise, the new upgrades are classy. Our food was good and our wait staff took excellent care of us. My granddaughter felt sick one night and the waiter got her some soup (not on the menu). The ports of call were enjoyable; Harvest Key was brand new. My only complaint was our toilet did not work some of the time. I would take this cruise again. Thumbs up and smiles in our whole group.

This will be 3rd trip on the Dawn.. she may not be newer but crew offers a lot can't wait until 4th trip in October. First time in specialty restaurants and can't say enough about them

This was the worst out of 7 NCL cruises.  the price was too high. Usually we go on 10 day cruises and pay less.  port charges were high, especially the fact that there was only one port visited. The service was not as good and food not that good. Daily things to do were boring and the same every day.  we are trying a different cruise line next time and not booking with again, due to price charged.

This review is very late but I just wanted to say that for my husband and I’s first cruise ever this ship, cruise line and trip to Bermuda left a great impression on us. We love Norwegian a lot. Friendly staff great food and the room was wonderful. We went back to Bermuda out of New York and have a Cruise in February of 2019 on the Gem. Can’t wait. Xoxoxo

The ports on this cruise were amazing...gorgeous landscape and a great time of year to go to see the change in colof or the leaves. 

We had a number of problems with our shower leaking all over the bathroom and our toilet leaking, problems that took 9 days of the 14 day cruise to fix.  We kept getting different stories from everyone as to the cause of the problems and the "fix" was to give us extra towels to sop up the water.  Front desk was sympathetic but not helpful and our "compensation" was another bottle of champagne which we don't drink and strawberries which we don't eat. 

We've cruised on Norwegian many many times and have always enjoyed the itineraries.  This last experience was a disappointment. 

the most amazing ship I have went aboard! I’m going on the Bliss in January 2019 and I’m excited! I’m going off topic, sorry! The Dawn is an amazing ship it’s small but it’s a community, you get to know a lot of people and we meet this nice family in 2013 and we still go on cruises together and we are really close friends. Overall the Dawn is the best Norwegian ship ever! 🛳🏝⚓️

We went on the ship because it was the only one to give the option of disembarking in Quebec. We wanted to spend an extra week in Quebec and it was amazing. Like I said, I want to retire there.

don't waste your money. the bathroom was filthy. feces was on the toilet, was never cleaned when I got in the room. I ate the food because I was hungry. I couldn't wait to get off. I will never sail Norwegian ever again. TRUST ME!!!

Overall we had a great time.  My husband and I were in a group of 12 family members including our 4 kids who range in age from 20 to 29.  Each of them described the pool area as too much like spring break, and didn't want to hang out by the pool.  Norwegian spent the whole trip treating the pool area like it was spring break, and it became obnoxious.  We saw 3 fights in the bliss lounge that security had to become a part of.  My daughter was accosted by a drunk teenager, who then wanted to fight my sons.  It was ridiculous.  

  My husband and I sailed on the Dawn about 12 years ago and loved it.  There is an indoor pool that we wanted to use, however, it is no longer free, but $149 per person to use.  When the main pool is filled with drunk idiots, it would have been  nice to have a quieter space to enjoy, but Norwegian wants to squeeze every dime they can from their passengers, so this was not an option that I was going to pay for.  

My family and I had a great time we can't wait for the next Cruise. We loved the music, food, shows and hospitality. Every time we return back to the ship we were greeted with friendly smiles and celebrations.

Bring straws no straws on the ship anymore as of two months ago. I wish I knew so thought I'd share. We got straws in Bermuda but they where paper could only use then once so if you can bring straws bring them.

overall loved the updates to the ship.  the dining was noticeably improved, particularly in Aqua.  Bliss and Los Lobo Cantina were fantastic.  the service level overall was better and consistent with NCL's push to improve quality of the product.  this mostly Boston crowd knows how to have fun and is a plus.  Getting some red sox games on the TV would help.  seriously...how hard is that to do?

we had a great time.  

I have cruised with a few different cruise lines including Disney and Celebrity.  I had expectations that this cruise would be in semi competition with Celebrity in customer service and quality.  I just can't say that they came close to those expectations.  It seemed like overall the staff's customer service was just bland.  I have to believe that this has something to do with tipping the staff up front and not tipping as the cruise went on.  Normally I tip an okay amount on cruises but when I'm spending $13.50 per person per day up front I guess I had a certain expectation that certain needs would be met and met well.  For example, we were missing washcloths from our room the first night.  Little things like that kept happening and they added up.  The food was just not good at all.  PHO that smelled like wet dog with egg spiral noodles in it?  Duck soup that had hot dogs cut up in it?  Really?  Just a huge disappointment with the food as I would consider myself a novice foodie.  As for the Garden Grill/buffet area.  There was a constant battle of trying to figure out whether or not we could get food or not based on the all important blue rope/line that is set up to defer customers.  At 5:30am they had listed to have an Early Riser breakfast.  So we got up early so we could get off the boat in Bermuda early and take in a full day on the island.  We find out that the Early Riser breakfast consists of your choice of two different pastries.  That's it.  Nothing else to eat...  no fruit, no protein, nothing...  it couldn't even be considered continental.  And then they didn't even have access open beyond the horrible blue line to get coffee!  I had to complain and say at least they could give us coffee.  It was horrible.  The food was just not good.  Not even some other reviewers saying that Bamboo was good... no, it was not good.  The fried rice was fried perhaps a week ago and it seemed to just be heated in a microwave.  The noodles in the dishes were not sauteed but instead boiled and brought out in broth in dishes when that should not be done.  I'm sorry - but call me a food snob but I think perhaps Disney and Celebrity have outright spoiled me.  I had better food in my mess hall in the military for basic training.  Period.  Also they were CONSTANTLY painting or shutting down areas on the main decks so it limited our ability to enjoy being outside on a cruise ship (isn't that part of the reason you go on a cruise?).  And the SMOKING!!  everyone was smoking wherever the heck they wanted to without anyone saying anything to them.  They were just to smoke on the port side of the boat.   By the end of the cruise we couldn't turn a corner without having cigarette smoke being blown into our faces.  Ugh...  just so incredibly disappointed. 

My husband and I have been on multiple cruises in the past and have never experienced the rudeness of the staff that we did on the Norwegian Dawn this past week.  We paid extra to have the beverage package, but since there were no servers walking around the pool area,  you had to wait at the bar for 20 minutes or more for a drink.  And then when you did get waited on, they acted like you were bothering them.  This was at every bar you went to - not just the pool area.  We only ate dinner in the dining room twice because the service was so slow.  Both times we were there for 2 hours.  We heard at the end of the cruise they were understaffed by over 100 people so you can't really blame the staff for being so stressed out!  Norwegian shouldn't have charged us full price for a cruise that they couldn't adequately staff.  

I was very happy with the Norwegian Dawn, departing out of Boston going to Bermuda....UNTIL last week. Everything and I mean everything except a couple of the waitstaff and the smooth waters was HORRIBLE. After a month of dry dock, our cruise was a Guinea Pig! Big, big problems. SANITATION was a huge issue. Good luck to the next people boarding. Toilets, phones and tv's not working, short staffed and unable to make dinner reservations. Casino machines we not working and the few that were, didn't print out the vouchers for cash, I had to settle for a slot play. GOOD LUCK! This is not intended to bash the Cruise Line but to make others aware of their long awaited vacation that is nothing short of miserable and non relaxing time.  We work to long and hard to spend our money on something so misleading.  The varnish seeped through the vents, giving us days of nausea and headaches.  They should be ashamed of themselves.  We were just happy to get our mother on a working machine.  A round-a-bout of 12 machines and only 2 working.  

Last year I was planning to write a review about my bad experience with Norwegian Sun during my cruise to Alaska but later decided not to do it. This year I took another cruise with NCL on Norwegian Dawn to the western Caribbean.  It was the last trip of Norwegian Dawn before the multimillion dollar renovation and it came as no surprise that the ship was outdated and stained. But my review isn’t going to be about that, just let me mention that we did not use the pool and jacuzzis because they were old and dirty. Hopefully these problems will be fixed during the renovation, so there is no need to mention them.

But the renovation project by itself brought up another completely different problem normally not encountered on other ships. NCL decided to save time and money and start renovation during the cruise by performing some work at sea. It was very inconvenient and annoying having piles of plywood stocked on decks, workers removing old paint and repainting, and so on. Some of the passengers reported workers entering their cabins to perform work on their balconies.

Lesson learned: do not book a trip on a ship right before it is scheduled for dry dock.

Now on to things that can’t be fixed by renovation. First of all, I could not stop comparing this ship to a Norwegian Sun. Even though the Norwegian Sun is smaller than the Norwegian Dawn (78,309 GT vs 92,250 GT) inside, the ocean view and balcony cabins on the Sun are bigger than on the Dawn. Our tiny oceanview cabin was entirely occupied by the bed, leaving us no room for any movement other than going in and out.

The cabin service was almost nonexistent. On the sixth day of our cruise we ran out of soap - both hard soap and body wash. We discovered this only when we returned from the offshore excursion, and it took three phone calls to the Help desk and a lot of waiting to get the supplies.

The entertainment was boring even compared to the Sun and the TV on board the ship was running same the movies all 10 days.

We all know Latitudes Rewards Program is not the best in the industry. For example, as a silver member on Cunard I receive one free hour of Internet, and I do not have to buy any of their Internet packages. As a silver member on NCL I receive only 30 minutes free and only if I buy the 250 minute Internet package. But when I bought the 250 minute Internet package on Norwegian Dawn I did not receive my Latitudes rewards. I tried to talk to several people: the Internet manager, Help desk, and the Hotel manager without any results. The Internet manager I talked to first was very rude and did not listen to my complaint at all.

To be objective I should mention a few good things about this cruise. First and foremost the food was not bad at all. We loved the Le Bistro and Modesto restaurants and the food in the main dining restaurant and buffet was OK.

Of course buffet could have had more variety, and some improvements could be made, like advising the waiters not to grab plates without asking permission.

The ports of calls we visited during this cruise were also good. In my opinion it was a very good combination of exciting destinations to reach in one cruise. But this brings me to another matter often discussed on various forums by fellow passengers: not enough time in port. Even when our ship was scheduled to be in most ports from 8 AM until 5 PM the real timeframe for the passengers to be offshore was from 8:30 AM until 4:30 PM. In most ports sometimes even less. This is definitely not long enough to enjoy time offshore in a new port. Sometimes the distance to the next destination dictates a short time period that the ship can stay in port. Not in our case. Four of our ports of calls where in very close proximity to each other, sometimes less than 200 miles

(the distance from Costa Maya to Cozumel) but we still did not stay in port long enough.

I wish Cruise companies will reconsider their position on this matter.