Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

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.

Cruising on the Dawn /NCL has taken a step backwards. Here we go: Made appointment to process on board at 12.30pm. Looked like everybody had the same time to board. Mass of people. Handicap passengers had 60 to 90 minute wait for wheelchair help. Cabin were small. With beds together you had about 6 inches to get past the desk to get left side of bed. No chair to even sit on. Had a small round stool. They cut the TV channels way back. Don't even carry ESPN anymore. Freestyle dining a mess. Had to wait 20 to 30 minutes with a pager, in order to eat at night. All the specialty were booked from 6 to 8pm. People with the specialty restaurant package, were having a hard time getting reservations. You were not allowed to bring soda or bottled water onboard thus forcing you to buy soda and bottled water on board at exorbitant prices plus the 18% service charge. Food was very good as was the service once you got a table.

Great cruise. Food was above average. I was disappointed not to have lobster offered in the regular dinning room. Entertainment was excellent the first 4 nights but fell off after that.  They should have more music from the 60's and 70's in the Bliss lounge. Way too much of the 20 + music. When the overall age was much older. 

This was our 13th cruise with NCL and the 2nd on the Dawn.  The beds are comfortable,with a cute towel animals on them every night.  We do miss the chocolates that use to be left along with the Freestyle Daily. They have taken away some of the extras that we enjoyed.  Lobster is no longer served in the Le Bistro  which we always enjoyed.   The entertainment is always top notch and very enjoyable.   

We had sailed on the Dawn a year ago, prior to it being refurbished. We did notice new carpeting in the public areas. Not a lot of other obvious changes except for some new dining options. O'Sheehan's was a great new 24 hr. dining option which we enjoyed several times. We felt the food choices and quality in Aqua and Venetian had gone down a bit from the previous year. It wasn't bad, just not as good as before.

Friendly and efficient staff in dining rooms, buffet, room steward, pool. Bartenders behind the bar were overworked and wait time was sometimes an issue. One did better to have one of the waiters bring a drink then to try and get one yourself. Customer service at the desk was so-so.

It took us 24 hours to get hot water in our room even after reporting it several times to several different departments.

Harvest Caye in Belize is nice and we enjoyed the day. It would be nice to be able to do a private shore excursion from here, and not be locked into NCL excursions. We kind of felt like we were being held captive. We would just like some other options.

All in all we had a good cruise and enjoyed the unlimited beverage package.

This cruise was great!  The ship is not the largest in the fleet but don't let that stop you!  The dining was fantastic - not a bad meal anywhere, whether we were in the main dining rooms or dining a one of the specialty restaurants. The Spa is nice (love those Thermal chairs!.) The people are great!

If you have the opportunity, sail her!

The price was fantastic, particularly when you add in the free ultimate beverage package, which we used A LOT!!  Cabin steward was fantastic, as were the shows, the dining facilities, and the cruise director Gio.

Norwegian is a great cruise line.  The entire staff is helpful and friendly at all times.  The Dawn is a beautiful ship and the activities on board were great fun.  The food was always good - breakfast, lunch or dinner.  The island in Belize was the best, we really enjoyed it - except the prices - way too high.

We sailed out of New Orleans Feb 19, 2017. We had a family window for the 4 of us (2 adults, 2 children ages 9 and 10). The room (5018) was perfectly a good size for the four of us. Our youngest slept on the pull down bed and every night our room steward would put a third bed between the two other beds. I actually slept really well on the additional bed. My kids loved the staff of the kids club. They were basically in the kids club anytime they were open, except when we were on our excursions. We had dinner at the Brazilian Steakhouse, Los Lobos and Cagneys. All were delicious! The Venetian and Aqua were great for breakfast, lunch and dinner options. We even enjoyed O'sheenahan's for a late night snack! Harvest Caye is beautiful but pricey in terms of drinks and food. 

Our cruise with 20 family members was OFF THE CHARTS.  Fun, served well, excellent, and beyond expectations.  Thank you to all who made this happen and a trouble free cruise.

Snorkeling in Cozumel with Izzy and the beach and activities in Belize were a=our favorites in addition to the meals in the Venetian which were excellent for breakfast and dinner.

Norwegian gets passing grade but there is room for improvement

Food - Good

Ship - Clean

Music - Ok some better than others

Ship layout a bit different than others I have been on - but it works

Things to improve

Time in port - limited and several times left port right after lunch!!!

Safe in closet with no lights???

Very picky with water - not allowed to take on ship at all (even new bottles)

Cruise was great including the weather and especially the ports. The worst thing about this cruise is the New Orleans port. A train came by right as people were disembarking and caused a log jam. People could not cross over the tracks, busses and shuttles could not move. We were all locked down for about 45 minutes as the train crawled at a snails pace by the waiting passengers both trying to get off and the passengers trying to get on. I will never go out of this port again. The Best port I have gone out of is the CLOSED Houston port. Parking is across the street and access and digress is outstanding. The facility is awesome. Why this port was vacated I will never understand. My only recourse will be to use the Galveston port and use the cruise lines that utilize it.

Favorites: excellent food, our assigned waiter-Bonifacious (spelling?) who

went by "Boni" was the best waiter we've had on any cruise we've been on...

we miss him dearly. Liked the ports, except for Harvest Cay NWC island..would 

rather have been at Belize City. It was like getting off the ship, and then going to the ship on land. Didn't experience the Belize "culture".

Dislikes: Language barrier with room stewards. Luggage handling on 

embarkation..The paper tags are vulnerable to be torn off during handling'

which happened to my wife..took forever for her to convince NWC it was hers

The ports of call are all different and great.  Casa Maya in Mexico and Belize are truly worth while.  The stop in Cozumel, Mexico go to beach or resort and in Honduras a quick shopping trip away from the port area for the best buys.  A enjoyable cruise I would even do again.

Food prep and delivery in the optional dinning rooms took too long.  For example, in Le Bistro, we waited for one solid hour before receiving our boullibase and the restaurant was not to capacity or even close!

Also, we feel Norwegian may consider enforcing a smart casual dress code in the upscale optional dinning rooms. We observed many guests wearing baseball style caps, flip flops and shorts and other inappropriate clothing at dinner time. 

Your concept of "freestyle" dinning was too often taken to extremes by some.  

The Norwegian Dawn is a nice smaller ship and was the perfect size.  There was always a chair open on the multi layered deck by the pool or in the front of the ship.  Food was excellent in the main dining rooms and in the buffet.  Not thrilled with the specialty dining rooms.  I enjoyed the food and service better in the main dining rooms, don't waste your money on the other dining.  Service was top notch!  Entertainment was phenomenal!  The magician was absolutely spectacular and Second City had us all belly laughing out loud.  If I had one complaint it would be the wait for the elevators.  I think that was due to people holding it for others on the upper floors.  I took the stairs at times, it wasn't that bad.  Beautifully remodeled ship.  Highly recommend this one!