Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

see my comments below in each item. 

Wish to have more days in Bermuda

Hope to have newer ships and more destinations from Boston departure.

Like the dance classes and wish to have more. 

Ship had been recently refurbished and new décor was very good.  Food was generally excellent and their was a variety of eating places.  The main dining room, the Venetian, was excellent.  Very smooth trip.  Bermuda beaches are the best and excursions were reasonable.  The configuration of our room, a standard balcony, was excellent.  The bathroom had the best layout and more room than any other ship we had ever been on.  Highly recommend this cruise.

      The staff was wonderful.  They were smiling and always trying to make you feel at home.  However, if you were looking for diversity, this ship has a little.  Other cruise lines we have gone on were way more diverse with their staff.

      There were some funny activities.  We had some good laughs.  I would like to give a shout out to "Shaking Shirley", she really knows how to entertain.  I was disappointed with the fact that a lot of the activities had an "extra charge".           Being that I have all children 18 and over, there were very few places on the ship for 18 and over to be.  The casino was one place, however, none of us are gamblers.  The only other place was what they call the Bliss, but the 18 and over wasn't really enforced.  I know several people that were frustrated with this.  If you are looking for somewhere for just adults to be able to go, this is NOT your ship.

We had a great time on our Norwegian Dawn cruise to Bermuda. The staff was exceptional, our room was exceptional, and the entertainment was really a step above the rest. There were a few items that need to be addressed....but I would sail on this ship again -- no problem. The ship was recently renovated and in our room we had a problem with the air conditioner the first day, an issue with the toilet the last day and an issue with one of our window shades in between. But -- the GREAT staff corrected all issues quickly. The entertainment was exceptional in the main show room. The music in the evening was lacking...it ended early except for the nightclub for the young folks.

My family & I were very much looking forward to a great vacation. Upon arriving 

my son & Dtr in Law had cases of water confiscated. I did read the updated policy. Representatives from Norweign gave us two different reasons. First we needed a Dr note for the Baby Formula. Second Rep we were told we should have received a Confirmation Number from our Travel Agent. 

If we cannot bring cases of water on. Why is is that when we have the unlimited drinking package that bottles of water are not included. 

The Best Restaurant I would highly recommend is the Japanese Rest. One Restaurant that was disappointing was the Brazillian Steak. 

We had great Weather. The Suite was Great. 

The time in Bermuda was short. I feel the Ship could stay Tuesday Evening & Leave Wednesday. 

Staff were very helpful.

Boarding was efficient. Dining options and quality was superior Crew were courteous and attentive.

Cruise ship renovations were very good.  Seemed like a newer ship since my last sailing.  That was refreshing. 

Room Bathroom had problems flushing most of the cruise. 

Room TV kept going out and needed to be unplugged and reset each time this happened which was at least once a day.

Water policy was inconsistent.  One day, you could bring water back on ship that was unopened.  Then the next day, they made us throw all the water away, including unopened waters.  These are not cheap to purchase on the ship.  This cost us over $25.00 of wasted money. 

Food was average at best.  Moderno specialty restaurant and Teppenyaki were very good.  Others were ok at best.

Pool area was clean and nicely remodeled.

Service was decent although we had two rooms (one for us and one for my sons) and were adjoining.  We were forced to have two different cabin stewards which never seemed to make up the rooms at the same time.  We were always waiting on ours to get done where my sons rooms were done hours earlier.

Always had some type of game going on in the activity rooms so if you wanted to go to a show, you were forced to go to the game going on the hour preceding it in order to get a decent seat.  Kind of aggravating...

The free style dining was great! 

The staff service was very good, this's a nice cruise ship. I will take my family and relative to this cruise ship again in the near future.

This was our first time on Norwegian.  The boat was large and very clean.  The upscale restaurants were amazing and the service at them was awesome.  We did dine at the Venetian and were disappointed that the service was poor compared to the upscale venues.  

Very disappointed that there was only one pool, and not a large one at that.  We never went in the pool due to the number of people that were there.  

The shows, though fairly short, were very entertaining.  It did leave us wanting more.  

Finally, I would suggest a session for first time cruisers or first timers on Norwegian.  This would allow newbies to be introduced to the little things that make a difference on the trip.  For example, it took us two days to realize that the dial outside our cabin needed to be rotated for making up the room, turning down the room or for privacy.  Also, explaining how meal and drink plans worked on the ship would have been helpful.  We were told that we wouldn't need money on the cruise, but we were not told to bring the cash to rent chairs, umbrellas, and get taxis as many of these places did not accept credit cards.  

Overall, we enjoyed our time.  There are just some things that would have made the trip more enjoyable and unfortunately, we hesitate to book another cruise in the future.

The entertainment was great they had an excellent show every night the crew members recognized you by name and took interest in our preferences. Was incredible how quickly the splash academy team gain the kids interest I have children in the age 7,9,12 and they just wanted to be in the splash academy which cover for not having a good pool or slide for them.

First thing was the extra service fee of 13.50 a day per person that I thought was included in the price of the cruise and was not.That cost me and extra 378.00 dollars.I thought that was sneaky.If I was informed of that cost and knew while booking the cruise it would not have bothered me but I was not.And no I would not recommend this to anyone.

the food and entertainment on this cruise was excellent, as well as the courtesy of the staff and waiters and other servers.  I am only giving the cruise 3 stars because the few things we did not care for are actually deal breakers for us and we probably will not sail Norwegian again unless we get a fabulous price.

The Dawn is a smaller ship with about 2500 passengers, however there is only 1 pool located forward on the ship with Stadium seating for multi levels surrounding it.  On hot days, which everyone was, the entire ship it seemed was concentrated in this one area.  Too many people in one place, the pool was extremely overcrowded and with kids jumping and splashing around as kids will do, it was not the place to be.  In addition due to the number of people in the pool at any given time it was not clean, hair and paper and food were always present.  Due to the numbers it did not appear to be a safe environment. 

the other issue was our balcony stateroom bathroom.  It had separate stalls for the shower and the toilet, Husband is tall and large frame, he had little or no room in the toilet area and for him this was a huge issue.

We enjoy cruising and have done so many times and will do so again, however we probably will not consider Norweigian again due to these issues, they do not appear to be something that can be corrected.  Our other cruise line preference offers similar itineraries at similar pricing and the two things mentioned above are fine on those ships so that is probably where we will look again.

We chose this trip for the destination and to give Norwegian a try, food, service, and entertainment were great and compared well with other cruises we have been on but the things we perceived as the negatives will remain in our memories and will more than likely give us pause before we consider a Norweigian again.

The pool was small and crowded. The ship was difficult to navigate, hard to figure where places were. Staff was great except the supervisors.  Food better outside of Specialty Dining.  Specialty Dining not worth money.  

It is very hard to chose the favorite part of this cruise but the fact is that 8 adults and 8 kids were never bored, always busy, always felt safe, laughed a lot, ate a lot, able to see a lot especially when in beautiful Bermuda. The cleanliness of the ship would get a five out of five stars. Our cabin stewardess( Milagros Fabrique) could not do enough for us and always with a smile. My husband and I have been on many NCL cruises and the staff over all were the friendliest. We never had the occasion to use splash academy  before this vacation. There were 5 children from our family ages 3to11 who used the academy. They always wanted to go, did not want to come out when it closed for meal times. The councilors were caring and talented. We never worried about the safety of the children while they were in the academy.

The cruise consultant, Elise Mahaney from ,was extremely helpful when first setting up this family cruise. With her knowledge and help the cabin configuration work very well. Elise knew how NCL was able to handle a large group and applied that knowledge to our needs. She also was very accessible, always returned  my calls and answered my many questions .

Over all,my first time sailors (most of my family) were asking when we could do another cruise with both NCL and ! We can't wait!

Ship floated too many days. Foods on the ships is nothing to write home about. Good food you have to pay for it. They could have given us one more day in Bermuda. Cruise director and entertainment staffs and shows were very good. My room was connected to the family room so no need to say any more how noisy it was, not happy about this one. For somebody like us who has no family to worry about, don't go in summer. It's full of kids and very crowded. Bermuda is very expensive, couldn't buy any gifts. Drinks on the cruise are also expensive. This is our six times on the cruise and now, they wanted you to pay everything instead of all included like it supposed to be. Over all, enjoyed my vacation. I wish they cleaned the publics bath room more often plus have a bigger basket for throw away used paper towels. 

Pros - entertainment was excellent, staterooms well kept by housekeeping, speciality dining package a must - speciality dining choices excellent and food was delicious, all inclusive beverage package an excellent choice

Cons - complimentary dining at buffet was lacking taste and redundant for 7 days, one excursion we chose was not worth the money - Horseshoe Bay Transfer.  We spent $39/person and then another $40 for umbrella and two chairs total of almost $120 for only three hours at the beach. We even asked if there was other transportation and was told no - that was not true we could have taken a taxi round trip for a total of $28 and stayed as long as we wanted at the beach.  We went to excursions and customer service, but essentially was told they could do nothing as prices are arranged at corporate. We asked for a partial refund and got 5 truffles!

My favorite part of the cruise was how friendly and genuine the cruise staff is. They go above and beyond to make sure you have a memorable vacation! The itinerary, and being able to stay docked in Bermuda for 3 days is wonderful. It breaks up all the at sea travel.

One thing I would like to see changed is something with regards to the "night life". There should be one club that is dedication to the 21 and over crowd. Sometimes I found it uncomfortable drinking and dancing aside 18 year olds. Especially when I come from the states and our legal drinking age is 21. 

Other then that, wonderful trip! 

Especially liked meeting with Mr Q from the dining room to order special diet he was great not happy i wasnt able to use cruise next money to pay service charge not told this in advance and caused confusion in my  bill also had problem with final bill desk staff came up with different amounts was told this was human error not acceptable  as a reason for inconsistent amount left ship really upset if not for previous experiences i would not travel ncl again

We loved the trip. Ship was almost perfect. Food excellent. Nice shows at night. 

The drawbacks: first, it took half the trip for the ship to acknowledge a credit that we had (USD75), after we requested.

Second: when Scott () sold us the trip we were offered a package of "full beverage" (we chose this package). Scottt told me that the only restriction I would find would be special mineral water. The rest would be "free". Not true. We found a list of restrictions (always being surprised): soda in cans had to be paid; coffees from bars have to be paid; drinks in glasses that were listed for more than USD15 have to be pad ((maybe the difference?). 

So, why the salesman doesn't tell the true when selling the trip? That was very frustrating.

this is my 6th year in a row going, by far the BEST one yet!!!  the staff was amazing, helpful and so involved.  The improvements they made to the Dawn,  were magnificent.  I cant wait to book again and as a matte of fact, so many people we met wanna book with us so since we had so much on the cruise and truthfully we were the life of the party...thanks again NORWEIGAN xoxo