Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

I've cruised on 4 other cruise lines for a total of 6 cruises.  This was my first experience with Norwegian.  I have to say that my family and I were very pleased with Norwegian.  Their shows were better than some of the higher end cruise lines (RCCL and Holland Am.), their food was very good and the staff on the ship were way above average.  I really like the free-style crusising (no scheduled dining time) and that you can wear shorts in the dining room.  It makes packing SO much easier!  They also have great little perks like when you reboard the ship in port you are greeted with ice cold towels (in the Caribbean), flavored water and fun music.  I would most definitely recommend Norwegian!

Cruises on this ship twice and loved it both times. I have no complaints! Ship was clean and smelled wonderful. Great activities and amazing food. I would highly recommend this ship and NCL!

our cabin was very nice with lots of storage and a big bathroom.

The meals were great in the main dining room.

We also loved the entertainment . There was always something to do.

All of the crews staff were extremely nice and helpful.

We also noticed all of the activities they had for children.

We hope to travel again with this cruiseline

It was more than I expected.  From the time we boarded the ship till be docked back everything was great.   From the food (way too much)  to accommodations, the shows and the overall experience went very well

The cruise over all was a great time. We were a little disappointed in things Norwegian use to do and no longer do. We missed having lobster on the menu one night, you can buy it but no longer order it on the free menu. We also love the cold fruit soups and they no longer offer that on this ship at least. We also missed having shrimp cocktail which was never offered. Other than that the shows were great the service was good the ship was clean. 

As this was my first cruise I read many reviews and was starting to rethink NCL. Don't believe all the critics out there. From our first moments on the ship we were treated great (please and thank you's go along way with staff) our housekeeper (Beverly) took excellent care of our cabin all the staff we met tried hard to please. Some people just can't be happy. We smoke and contrary to other complaints we could only smoke in designated areas deck 7 the casino the cigar bar and one side of deck 12. I heard many complaints of walking thru deck 12 of the smoking from non smokers, IDEA use the other exits or entrances. The food was great dining can be a little cramped but it was still excellent. I wish some parents had kept a better eye on their teens, we ran into some very foul mouthed teens while walking the deck who directed rude comments at us. I love the curfew makes parents accountable. We had such an excellent time we are already planing our next cruise. Disembarkation was disorganized but that was passenger fault not crew. The captain and crew kept us informed of what was happening every step of the way. We arrived late because of river traffic but the crew did it's best to keep disembarkation  flowing smoothly passengers became aggravated and impatient trying to leave before we were cleared from the port inspection.  Like any vacation you make it what it is and we loved it if you expect perfection then you'll never have a relaxing vacation because every vacation has it's up's and down's.

Think cruise - think quiet spots to read or activities. The Dawn specialized in neither. We could not find a quiet space to drink either coffee or real drinks and just hang out and talk comfortably. The activities were few and far between. Although there was a fun crowd for the daily game shows. Art auctioneer was not as good as others I've seen - not as knowledgeable. 

The rooms were really nice and well kept.

Food had less choices than other cruises we'd been on, and service in the main restaurants was really slow. 

All said, being on a ship (other than the last 20 hours where the turbulence in the Caribbean was worse than we have seen on any other cruise) is going to be relaxing and getting away is always good.

Ship staff was great, wait staff polite!  Machine for juice and tea stayed unusable!  Ice cream machine was down a lot. Same food served over and over each day.

Best excursions of any of our Caribbean cruises, except spending time in Havana

Like many, I was reluctant to take this cruise due to the reviews.  It was a chore but we sailed with open minds.

First of all, stayed at the Omni Riverfront the night before the cruise.  A nice hotel and very clean.  It's right across from the Julia street parking lot and port so we could see when the ship arrived.  Very convenient to walk to Riverfront outlets and have some buttermilk drops while watching the Dawn dock.  Parked at Fulton's garage so it was an easy walk back to the Omni after parking.  Omni was an easy walk to Deanies for mandatory oysters prior to sailing.

Our embarkation time was 11:30 so we returned to Fulton's garage for our sailing luggage (left it in the trunk when I parked) and took the shuttle to the Julia street terminal.  They dropped up beside the Julia street parking lot and took our luggage from there.  While the shuttle got us there before 11:30, I forgot my sunglasses and had to go back to the car for them and ride the shuttle back again.  That put us in line (no priority boarding)  to get our stateroom keys at 12:00 or so.  There were a lot of people in line but we were on-board the Dawn by 12:35.  No complaints about the Julia street terminal process or people.  They processed a lot of people efficiently.  We did not have the horrible experience others have commented about.

Once on-board, we headed to the Venetian for lunch.  This was our 4th cruise (2X Carnival and 1X Holland America) so we knew the buffet would be madness.  We were seated quickly and received good service.  The food itself wasn't horrible nor was it excellent.  It was just ok.  That is a big part of the reason for the 4 star rating.    Overall, it was a great start to a cruise.  I'll address the sections separately below but want to give an overall option now.

I've read reviews from a lot of members that really made me reconsider cruising on not only the Dawn, but Norwegian in general.  My experience is that like most anything else, it is what you make of it.  We had a great experience and will defiantly sail with Norwegian again.  Sure there were minor quirks and the food wasn't gourmet 24/7, but it was horrible either.  Service was consistently good with minor exceptions, entertainment was great, and the ship was clean and serviceable.  We got what we paid for and had no expectations otherwise.

The staff here really goes the extra mile to keep the ship clean at all times. The entertainment was outstanding and exceeded our expectations; we tried to attend all of the shows! The excursions were pricey but well-worth the experience. The free-style dining was the best! Only complaint is that there were not many deck activities to do such as rock-climbing or water slides. But overall, we had an amazing time on NCL Dawn. 

I enjoyed having a kiddie pool, the food was really good some days and others were just ok. The room was bigger than expected. Friendly staff. Took too long to embark long lines.

This was to be the first cruise for my 83 year old mother and my husband's 69 year old sister.  Unfortunately, my mother was not allowed to board because some of her paperwork was not in order and I stayed behind with her.  This was certainly disappointing but the cruise staff really did try everything they could to avoid the circumstance.  My husband and his sister did go on the cruise and they had a wonderful time.  The ship was lovely, the activities entertaining, the shows fabulous, and the staff were exceptionally friendly and helpful and so hard working.  We are going to try to get my mother's papers in order and maybe get her on her first cruise next year.

Our first/ and probably last cruise experience:

Day 1: discover that the bow of the ship is blocked by a "crew only" pool, thus dashing my hopes of getting the obligatory "king of the world" picture.

Day 2: woken by some weirdo pounding on our door. Look through the peep hole to see him turn my "do not disturb" dial to "welcome." He persists with pounding so Andrew opens the door to a stammering buffoon who simply states "they told me the wrong room." Smooth, girl he was probably harassing at the bar. Smooth.

Day 3: Cozumel, Mexico

Tulum Mayan ruins, looks pretty cool, Google it. I personally cannot tell you because our excursion was canceled due to "weather." However, not before subjecting 100+ people on a ferry to rough sea waters, causing roughly a quarter of the passengers to become sea sick. There is nothing like seeing, hearing, and smelling vomit for a solid 2 hours while being man handled by Poseidon himself. To the excursion crew: do they have the weather channel in Cozumel? Do you do this daily for a living? Is this something that couldn't be foreseen? Why did 2 ferries get to unload and proceed as planned, but we did not (one of those ferries arrived 30 minutes after we did but still go to dock ahead of us)?? After all this, I did use the experience for a rather catchy trivia team name that afternoon: Mayan Ruined My Day™

Day 4: roatan island, Honduras

Boy was I looking forward to a beach day after the disaster Cozumel was. Rental car rented, had a flat tire, 5 minutes to fix turns into 20 with no car in sight. Get refund, purchase round trip shuttle to "the best beach on the island." Ride for 30 minutes in incredibly crowed van, get to beach and we are told by some shady looking gatekeeper that the beach is closed. No further explanation. We are then shuttled to the most crowed beach I've ever seen and harassed by locals trying to give me massages or braid my hair. I said "no thank you" every 30 seconds, and this is absolutely not an exaggeration. Growing tired of this beach quickly, we are ready to leave. Problem is, the driver has disappeared. Long story short, after 30 minutes worrying that we are not going to get back to the ship, he reemerges. We quickly book an excursion for the next day to a private island...

Day 5: Belize city, Belize

Wake up at the crack of dawn to hear our excursion has been cancelled due to "weather." It's the rainy season here I've been told, so why do you offer excursions that can't be handled with a pop up rain shower or two? And why do excursions say "rain or shine?" So we go to Belize City and shop among thousands that would make any Black Friday shopping seem like child's play. Happy Thanksgiving!

Day 6: Costa Maya, Mexico

Well played Norwegian. Leave the best port for last so that is what will be freshly in my mind. Fat chance. This port was a cute little shopping area and wait for it...wait for it... WE ACTUALLY GOT TO TAKE AN EXCURSION AND SAW SOME MAYAN RUINS!!! Such a wonderful day, if only our 3 other ports had gone even remotely like this. Our trip would have been an entirely different story. At least I got a couple of pictures for our travel gallery wall. However, why did we leave the best port of our cruise at 2:30 p.m. but left all other ports at 5:30 or later?

Day 7: At sea

I wouldn't expect this day to be any different than what it was: a rainy day confined to the stateroom. I at least finished by book and got packing done early, which was therapeutic because it meant I'd be off the ship in a matter of hours...

So, power to all you folks that love cruisin', but Andrew and I agree it is not for us. I hate the fact that you have one small window of time to see the things you banked on seeing, and if something beyond your doing or control prevents that, oh well. Tough luck. Maybe the next port (ha!)

However, there were a few silver linings: multiple performances by The Second City cast (I've been a fan for many years), people watching at its finest, waking up in the middle of the night and seeing a full moon reflecting on a seemingly endless ocean from my balcony, spending time with my aunt/uncle/cousin, and some legit French toast for breakfast every morning for a week. But, alas, I think my mode of travel will be by air and land. I bid thee farewell Norwegian Dawn.

I really enjoyed the cruise. Our restaurant servicers went above and beyond the call of duty to make sure my son had gluten free food. I was given this cruise as a gift. And had cash to tip my own staff personally. When i went to remove the gratuities from my acct i was told no due to a new policy. I believe tips should be earned not mandatory.  Due to this policy i will never cruise with norwegian again. 

we booked this cruise with family for thanksgiving week because it was the week that everyone could get away. We received the Speciality Dining as part of our package. /and were NEVER able to book the restaurants we  wanted - cagneys steak house. Norwegian oversold this particular option and all the restaurants were completely booked when we boarded the ship. We have gold status (only need 10 more for highest level) and didn't realize the significance of having to know what you want for dinner 8 months out. Cagneys was wait listed with over 140 names. We never were able to access. We had done this cruise on the pearl about 6 years ago. This one was a total failure in making us feel valued and "pampered". Two of the ports now have guards with machine guns in the departure area. ONe port (Honduras)  has a sign posted that says they don't recommend going off on your own. Really? why is NOrwegain still going there? We have pictures we took with the soldiers in Belize. 

. Our balcony room steward, Mr. Roy, was perfect. Always smiling and knew your name the very first night.  The beds were quite comfortable. Tendering was a nightmare. Our status should have allowed us priority tendering but none of the staff knew what we were asking for...even printed on our room cards. Service in the Venetian dining room was quick and accurate. The experience in the Aqua was quite the opposite...it took over 2 hours to complete a dinner service. I can not define what the failure was, exactly, but we make the best of it enjoying our family time. I honestly feel it was the itinerary.  WE have done 19 cruises and this was by far, not only the worst but the worst one on Norwegian.    

We cruised Thanksgiving week with two young children.  The Dawn is a lovely ship and just the right size for us.  We had two connecting balcony rooms on the 10th floor.  Our room steward was fabulous!  The Dawn has really nice kids amenities including a fabulous kids club!   We enjoyed breakfast and lunch daily at the buffet, and the kids liked the children's buffet area with small tables.  The dinosaur pool in the back of the ship was also a big hit and provided hours of entertainment.  The dinosaur pool however is not near any drink/bar service, and no adult seating.  We preferred the Aqua dining room over the Venetian as we found the staff to be friendlier with a more intimate atmosphere.  The food was very good, both in the buffets and dining rooms.  We had the unlimited drink package.  Most bar service was fine except for the pool bar which was hit or miss.  We really enjoyed our week and are booked again on the Dawn for next Thanksgiving.

Staff was great. Most of the shows were good, except magician you could see how he did is tricks nothing interesting there. I was over whelmed by the constant selling. On the 3rd day a smell started on the 5th floor, and got progressively worse every day. When we asked or complained we were told the would look into it, translation: smoother it in air freshener leaving a horrible mix between the two. By the 5th day you could not walk down the hallway without pugging or covering nose. The food was cold every meal. All the specialty restaurants were book solid. By the 4th day we were on a salad and cereal diet.     But we made it thru our 1st cruise hopefully the next will be better but probably not Norwegian again. 

Ok we did this cruise as a last minute quick getaway with a few friends and to try out Norwegian. Well the day we boarded we were in the ship before noon. We were able to grab a bite to eat and wait to meet up with friends. It was only a weekend cruise but we all had a blast. The water was very rough considering we were only in the gulf. Drinks were good but I am a Diet Coke drinker and it was rough having to drink Diet Pepsi. Food was good and the entertainment was fine as well. Maybe it was being with a group of friends but overall was a great time

Fantastic cruise. The crew were wonderful. They were attentive, friendly and always smiling and cheerful. Our room steward was wonderful. Always looked after the small details. He was always easy to be found when we needed to speak to him but never intrusive. The food was excellent. We had lunch in the buffet most days but went to Bamboo for 1 lunch and 2 dinners. We only dined at 2 speciality restaurants, Le Bistro and Moderno and the food at each was great. The only negative I had for these two venues was that Le Bistro was much too cramped and crowded. All other dining venues allotted the diner much more space. The food was great though. The main dining rooms were great. The food was well prepared, and there was a good variety. Any steaks or beef I ordered was cooked to order. If I requested medium rare it always arrived piping hot and cooked to perfection. Never under done and never over done. The service was prompt and attentive and the servers were always polite and smiling. On the first and last night of the cruise we arrived at Aqua shortly after 7 and it was very busy and we were told there would be a 20 minute wait for seating. We were given a buzzer to carry and sent over to Gatsby’s Champagne Bar for a complimentary sparkling wine while we had to wait. On both occasions we were paged within 5 minutes, just after getting our wine. Very nice touch.

 The ports were wonderful. We enjoyed them all with each one having it's own charm to offer and things to see. The weather was great with rain on only 1 morning and the seas were calm and smooth on all but one day and that was moderate. The entertainment was wonderful. Elements was quite the show and Jose and Patti in the atrium on most nights had the atrium and Blue Lagoon and the internet cafe packed with an appreciative audience. 

Our only unpleasantness was on the first 2 days we encountered cigarette smoke (and other smoke) in our hallway outside our cabin. A quick call to the services people and this was looked after promptly and we did not have a repeat performance.

All in all this was an absolutely perfect cruise. I loved the fact that it was 14 days.