Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We were not impressed with the housekeeping, I accidentally left a drawer full of clothes, as of yet they have not been turned in to Lost and found, so that tells me no one did a thorough cleaning  so will not

be looking to cruise with them soon if ever👎

Norwegian's private island (Harvest Caye) was the worst port of call we have ever had. Everything on this island costs extra money.  The selection of excursions did NOT include any snorkeling options even though there is great snorkeling in Belize. Overall on the cruise the food selections were average at best.  All beef options come with brown sauce.   An unexpected surprise was the freestyle dining, it worked very well.

I have not cruise on NCL in 15 years and was disappointed in a few items 

We were told the ship featured a indoor lap pool and hot tubs.  I went to use them and was kindly told that if I wanted to use those amenities it would cost me $159 for the week.  Absolutely crazy stupid!!!   I paid a huge fare for our family and don't feel it should be expected to pay even more for a pool.  I mean really, the ship features 1 pool and 4 hot tubs plus a small kids zone.  The indoor pool area should not be an up charge.  

Our cabin steward was a bit slack. He did not leave us sheets each night for our 3rd and 4th beds and took up our wet pool towels and did not replace them. As you know NCL charges $25 per towel.  So each night I had to track him down to get fresh towels so we would not be charged for the ones that were removed.

Elements was phenomenal and the entertainment was very good

Harvest Caye was beautiful except the water was closed due to dangerous jellyfish that if stung would result in a high fever and mandatory hospital stay.  Hope they clear out for future cruisers

The cruiseship was very nice,the rooms were very clean and staff was very professional. The food was Excellent! 😁 I traveled with a group of 12,we  but were very disappointed when we found out you can only see Belize mainland by purchasing  an shore excursion. Yes, NCL Island was nice but that's not what we paid for.

The Belize destination was wonderful!  Relaxing and everything you need within reach.  The weather couldn't have been any better and there were plenty of areas to relax.  There were shops available and lots of bars/restaurants. The pool was beautiful. Loved the areas to sit on benches in the pool.  Music was an added perk.  The activities on the ship were a lot of fun.

Loved Bliss night club.  DJ Trapp is fabulous!  White out party was very fun as well.  All in all it was a great vacation!!

Great trip, wonderful crew.  Everything was great,  food, service.  This is my second trip on the Dawn.  I would do another.  The only negative for me was the lousy wi fi system.  Let's have a wifi system that is easy to use and easy to get. 

The Dawn was nice, the port times are a bit too short. The Tender in Honduras was embarrassing. Some passengers gave up and stayed on ship. We left ship almost noon from 8am waiting to be tendered. Not enough time to see island. NCL White Party was nice but it ended at 11pm, then followed by the boring Bliss/Disco lounge. NCL should continue White Party until 2am on Pool deck, as everyone was present. NCL seems to shutdown the bars way too early even when full to capacity. I was told its to control the UBP deal, I hope not. NCL seems to always want to send us inside ship even on when we are enjoying the amenities outside .

The family suite was spacious and newly refurbished with very good service. Cozumel and Roatan were ok but Harvest Caye and Costa Maya were excellent stops. The shore excursions were a bit expensive but well organized and worth it, especially for first-time visits. 

The fitness room and walking/jogging track were nice but the rest of the activities on the ship were very limited with only one small pool.

The biggest disappointment was the food. Most of the food tasted bland and about the same. We had a speciality restaurant package but visited only one speciality restaurant (Le Bistro). The food there was so uninspiring that we opted to forgo the remaining package.

We were very excited seeing the decor on the Dawn. The refurbish sparked new life into the Dawn. This is our third or fourth sailing on the Dawn. We have always loved the size but realized she was beginning to show her age. What a surprise. The theater was remarkable, lounges, dinning rooms and specialty dinning areas were lovely and comfortable. The crew and staff were very friendly helpful and hardworking. Great food, entertainment throughout the ship kept everything fun and lighthearted. Love the new wine bar, a great addition. Many of us had the ultimate beverage package and the bartenders were professional and very well prepared to serve their thirsty customers. The new look on the cabins brought us up to the new millennium. The clean fresh look of the bedding and furnishings was very inviting. Good job, Norwegian. Great cruise.

Food service was horrible. Almost every night we had long wait times and servers rarely revisited, one even went on his hour long lunch break after serving our drinks. Additionally, we were made to feel as though we were bothering them when we asked for something while dining.

2nd sailing on Dawn.  Overall, very pleased with cruise...especially balcomy room and our room steward.  Splash academy was wonderful for 6 year old granddaughter.  Food was average.  Service in main dining rooms seemed a bit off, with one taking order, another serving, wrong orders at times, no refills of beverages offered. 

The favorite part of the cruise was being able to spend time with my adult children.  Low marks for the surprises on when taxes are going to be charged and when not.  The web site is too vague on this topic.  Also, the overall service has gone down since the institution of mandatory tips.  Let a note for the hotel manager and he did not respond while we were on the cruise and has yet to respond as of today, March 22, 2017.

As usual, the Dawn had wonderful entertainment, great dining and dedicated staff. I made the mistake of going during Spring break, over half of the passengers were under 21 and a lot more were just a little over 21. Drinking was the only thing many were interested in and so their behavior was horrible. loud vulgar language and even some fighting. My mistake, I will check the calendar more carefully before going on any cruise from now on.

Overall it was a good cruise.  First time we cruised with open dining & I'd have to say our experience was positive.  One port used tenders & probably could have been smoother.  The staff we interfaced with were extremely friendly & helpful.  Our cabin steward (Charlie) was excellent in the performance of his duties & his attitude.  Entertainment was better than expected.

MY HUSBAND SUFFERS FROM A DISABLING CONDITION TO HIS LEFT KNEE FOLLOWING 2 REPLACEMENT SURGERIES, A MANIPULATION UNDER ANTHESIA AND 11 MONTHS OF REHAB THE PAST YEAR. THE OPINION OF TWO ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEONS IS THAT HIS CONDITION IS PERMANENT AND HE WILL NEED TO ADJUST HIS LIFESTYLE TO HIS CONDITION.HOWEVER AFTER RECEIVING A MASSAGE FROM THE SPA THE STAFF MEMBER WHO PROVIDED THE SERVICE AGGRESSIVELY SOLICITED MY HUSBAND TO PURCHASE EXPENSIVE SKIN PRODUCTS SHE CLAIMED WOULD ALLEVATE MY HUSBAND'S CONDITION AND RESTORE THE KNEE TO ITS FULLY FUNCTIONAL CAPACITY. AFTER MY HUSBAND DECLINED HER OFFER NUMEROUS TIMES SHE SOUGHT ME OUT AND APPLIED THE SAME PRESSURE TO ME TO PURCHASE THESE PRODUCTS. SINCE WHEN DOES A MASSAGE THERPAIST KNOW MORE ABOUT THE MEDICAL CONDITION OF MY HUSBAND THAN 2 ORTHOPAEDIC SURGEONS WITH LEGITIMATE MEDICAL TRAINING.

the best part was the staff.  They were the greatest asset of the whole organization.

activities were not scheduled well.

poor stabilizers on this ship, so rough seas were not compensated for.  This made for two bad days at sea.

We've been on maybe 15 cruises and love cruising.  Even though this ship was updated, it was short of expectations.  It rocked noticeably most of the time. We were told it didn't have the stablizers the new ones have.  Also we heard creeks on most levels. Food was just ok; not much difference in menu selections. I paid $250 for photo pkg and then another $20 for digital.  I did it on line so I received 30 pics + add'l 5.  There were 4 couples of us and I didn't read the description well enough.  Either myself or my husband had to be in EVERY pic for it to be in the pkg.  And the digital ones were the same 35 pic already selected.  Again - my fault but is was very disappointing.

This cruise was so much fun. Roatan, even with the tender, was by far my favorite port. Harvest Caye was beautiful, almost like a beach Disneyland. Cozumel is wonderful and we had so much fun in Costa Maya. We went with a group of friends and are already planning to go again. 

This is the second time we've used Cheap Cruises to book a cruise. They are wonderful! We've saved us so much money!! 

The buffers rarely changed and most of the food was not good.  The fish are every meal at the buffet or dining rooms tasted like it was frozen. The 24 hours restaurant offers burgers hot dogs and things like Sheppard pir917@yahoo.com that u don't want to snack on at 2 am. For the price I was very disappointed.  Also all restaurants are closed while in port so u must eat buffet.  Food service did not start till almost 4 day of departure.  The parties did not offer novelty items drinks specials or any food. DON'T BOOK THIS

We were very disappointed in this cruise.  The cruise line changed their main dining room menus the week we were on this ship.  They were very bland and unappetizing. There was never a shrimp cocktail or lobster or any special dishes offered.  The so called volcano type dessert offered was baked and turned out in the plate and by the time you got it was very dry.  We ate in the specialty restaurants 2 times and were very unimpressed with the dishes.  We had a scallop and a shrimp dish (both listed as jumbo) and both times the seafood in the dish was small and tough and had to be cut with a knife.  The only dish we had that was good was a T-bone one night. They do not have any elegant dress night.  When we asked about it at the Guest Desk, we were told you dress as you like. Many of the men even wore Docker type shorts and t-shirts in the main dining room. It was surprising to us, as one night when in line for one of the specialty restaurants we ran into a gentleman we met on deck with the captain and 2 other officers also waiting for the restaurant to open, and all four of the gentlemen and lady officer commented on our dress and how it looked so nice like it use to be.  Which seemed to do them harm also as not many of the photographers were taking elegant pictures to sell.  I asked the desk for my past cruiser pin and was told that was another program they stopped. 

We were also very disappointed in their ports, (partially our fault when booking) as 2 of our 4 ports were either private islands or new private ports with really no shopping and no tours to take.   There was nothing unless you were beach people, as we are not.  We are shoppers and like historic tours.  The employees were all very friendly and helpful as they could be in all areas. The entertainment was ok, but not totally wonderful.  We were very disappointed in NCL as we paid more for this cruise with them than we could have paid for the same ports with Carnival, to try them again after 10 years as we very much enjoyed our last cruise with them.  We will not be going on NCL ever again or at least for another 10 years.