Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Good:   1) Ship surprisingly good shape.   2) Clean and well staffed.   3) Love having a balcony! Roomy, and have a nice view, inside & out.   4) Great food! Seriously. No bad meals, the entire trip. Top notch!   4a) And the service staff in the restaurants were really great.   5) Steakhouse was excellent.   6) Motion of ship pretty slight, even in larger swells. Didn't have trouble sleeping, even in choppy seas.   7) Room steward was fabulous!   8) Cool that there's a bow cam. Wish it was clearer. HD upgrade?   9) The nightly shows in the theater were quite high caliber. We thoroughly enjoyed them. That David De Vinci & wife show is great!  

Bad:   1) Sales speech over room intercom that woke everyone @ 9:45 am, on the first day at sea!?!  Seriously!?!  WTF? Someone should be fired over that.   2) Workers cleaning decks above ours drops water, sand and debris on our deck almost daily! Really?! Could they not coordinate a "top-down" cleaning method, so that all deck balconies get cleaned? I know our own room steward had already cleaned ours on at least 2 of those occasions.    3) Pool crowded with rowdy people most of the day.   4) Loud music poolside, obnoxious and sometimes even live - & obnoxious!   5) Bow cam poor image.   6) Maintenance of ship during port calls disturbs guests who have stayed aboard.   7) Balcony glass doors and outside (on deck) glass quite dirty, and outside ones never cleaned on entire cruise. (Balcony door glass cleaned a number of times.)   8) Cabin needed more American style electrical plugs. There was only one. We have 2 cell phones and a tablet.   9) Like that the ship's position and speed and weather are available on a TV channel...but the info was pretty inaccurate...especially the weather. Speed often missing.

Ugly:   1) When tendering, NCL takes all of their own shore excursion people first. Expect a few hours before "your time" to get to shore. Makes it difficult to impossible to use a non NCL tour operator at those ports.   2) The "parade of staff" through the theater, so that everyone can "thank them" by applause was embarrassing, for BOTH the passengers and the staff. Whose idiotic idea was that? I work in a public service position, and I don't work for applause. Sure, a thank you is great. But, I do what I do because I like the work and they pay me to do it!   3) A LOT of sales pitches. I mean, a LOT! The "assistant cruise director" is essentially just a salesman. Did you know that they have over 100 staff members dedicated to the cassino?! Does that tell you how much money they make off of it??   4) Difficult to get reservations for the "specialty" restaurants. Makes it hard to use that dining "credit" !!   5) And, you lose what you don't use. Plus, corrections to your account must be made on board the ship...which means long lines the morning of departure.   6) Apparently, they are counting on you not being willing to wait in line, or just hope you won't notice the discrepancies!

Port Notes:

  Cozumel) Beautiful Island, but not very big or populated. Lots to do, in different excursions. Mayan ruins are small and insignificant historically. Easy to get tours off of the ship, and they are much cheaper than aboard. 6 cruise ships here at same time!

Belize City) Again, beautiful place. Very small and unpopulated country. Most people speak English.  Using the tenders a pain. Be advised that NCL will give all of their own tours priority in getting off the ship. Small tourist area at the port, with loud music. 3 cruise ships here. Tour guides very proud of their country. Don't recommend that you wander alone, as Belize has had violence issues.

Roatan, Honduras) Best port yet! 😄 Absolutely gorgeous scenery. Clean port, dock and pier. Nice shops right there. And lots of tours available for much cheaper than aboard the ship. Glass bottom boat tour was awesome. Took about 500 pictures. Also did the monkey and bird place, and around island tour.

Costa Maya) Unless you are into Mayan ruins, this is totally a "stay aboard the ship" port. But: There's a very small village within walking distance, or a $2 (per person) cab ride away. It has nice beaches and a lot of people who want to sell you trinkets & souvenirs, or drinks & food. It was pleasant to sit under an umbrella and drink soda.

OVERALL:  I DID enjoy the cruise, and will cruise again...maybe even with Norwegian.  But, I did want you to be aware of all those annoying things.

Pros : We had great experience at NCL Dawn. The freestyle cruising was very good, and allowed to enjoy the vacation. The restaurant and the services were great. I will definitely recommend to my friends. 

Cons: My friend booked the ticket from Costco, and he got $200 on-board credit. I contacted NCL and to match the credit, but they did not consider, which was big bummer.

I was hesitant to cruise, as I'm claustrophobic, but the trip turned out great!  We even did an inside room and I did not have any issues!  Our cruise had quite a bit of college spring breakers, but that was not an issue for us at all!  We did hear from the staff that the spring breakers make them crabby.  The service from the bar staff was subpar, with the exception of a few.  I've done all inclusives in the past where service is awesome, I expected a similar experience, so was a bit disappointed in that regard.  The Norwegian Dawn was a nice boat, but I did learn that it is being dry docked very soon and redone - so would be excited to see an updated boat. We traveled with 2 other families and the kids and adults all had a great time.  We loved the freestyle dining options, so that we weren't stuck on some schedule.  I loved that we had 4 ports in a row and then a relaxing day back at sea.  Our favorite port was Roatan.  Our least favorite Belize.  Would recommend this cruise to others.

The check-in process in New Orleans was smooth.  It took half an hour total.  We had booked a guarantee balcony and it was a spacious room with a beautiful view.

We were very happy with the food on the ship.  We are not very picky eaters and we loved the variety and quality.  We quite liked the freestyle dining.  We didn't eat at any specialty restaurants.  The Aqua food was good, not great.  The Bamboo was just okay.  The Venetian had good food and we also shared a table with 3 other couples and enjoyed that.  We also enjoyed the Garden Cafe and ate there often, sometimes even for dinner.

The entertainment was great!  Most of it was family-friendly which I appreciated.  We really enjoyed Jocka and Maria and The Second City.  

The customer service of the crew was fantastic.  Every worker was happy, kind, and smiling. I was really impressed with the workers all over the ship.

We didn't use the pool or the hot tubs much.  There were a lot of college students on spring break and they hogged the hot tubs most of the time.  It was also windy most days and so we weren't looking to get wet.

We didn't book any excursions through Norwegian.  At Cozumel, we rented a scooter and rode around the island, stopping at a couple of places to snorkel.  (We brought our own gear).  In Roatan we went snorkeling at West Bay Beach.  We just went in a van with a company that was at the dock.  It cost us $15 round trip per person.  A person from the company stayed with us there the whole time we were there.  The snorkeling at West Bay was amazing!!!  The beach was crowded but we paid $10 each to use the facilities of the resort where they dropped us off (shower, bathroom, pool, wifi, beach chairs).  We did have an excursion booked in Belize through Coral Breeze.  They took us on a 40-minute boat ride to Caye Caulker where we snorkeled at Shark Ray Alley and also out at the reef.  Then we had about an hour on the island before they took us back to the port.  I would recommend that company to anyone looking to do that excursion. I booked it online before we went.  We didn't get to stop in Costa Maya, as it was too windy.

I loved this cruise, the ship, the itinerary.  I would recommend it.

The entertainment was some of the best. All of the staff were very friendly and concerned with our enjoyment. Our steward John was very attentive. The staff in the Venetion took very good care us. We loved our time on the Dawn! 

This was our first cruise.  I've gone back through my paperwork and can't seem to find where I agreed to pay a $13.50 per person per day charge on top of the cruise and all the taxes and fees.  For 4 of us on a 7 day cruise, that was a less than pleasant surprise.  

We had to tender in Belize, which was a nightmare.  We didn't get off the boat until after 10 a.m. and we had already missed our excursion.  We were stuck basically shopping and missed seeing the island.  

Additionally, we weren't able to dock in Costa Maya.  So, we essentially missed half of our trip.  

If you've never been on a cruise, be prepared to be nickeled and  dimed to death.  

We took a cruise on the Western Caribbean, Cozumel, Roatan, Belize and Costa Maya. Everything was excellent and top notch. The rooms were very clean and well serviced. The food and entertainment are the best. I have been on Costa, Royal Caribbean and Norwegian, I have to say that I like Norwegian best because of the people, they are the most friendly and fun. I think the food was also the best.  This was my second cruise with Norwegian and if I go again, I would choose them. 

Good cruise.  Had a few issues.  Had to call Hotel Services 3 times.  Things that could not be helped.  They responded promptly.  Food and service in the Venicia restaurant was a little off.  I told the restaurant manager who took it very seriously.  We moved to the Aqua.  Had great service and better food.  The two restaurants are on opposite sides of the kitchen.  The guys working as "salesmen" in the galleria were rude, even while we were trying to spend money.  They like to talk to you like your stupid.  The shows in the Stardust Theater were GREAT. Even though they seemed identical to the shows in 2014.  We had a very good room stewart.  For the money it was a good cruise.

I went with my boyfriend right before Spring Break came into full effect.  This was my first cruise, so I know I'm not the best judge across brands.  All I can tel you is that the staff onboard is completely dedicated to making sure you have a great time.  They have so many activities planned...and if you're not interested in activities and prefer to soak up the sun, there is plenty of that too.  I loved the freedom to choose when I ate, left the boat, etc.  Freestyle Cruising made me feel like I had a world of freedom.  

This was my 10th cruise but first time on NCL. The ship was older but very,very well taken care of. The care they took of this ship was impressive.The food was good but not outstanding which seems to be the normal for the last few cruises I have taken with other cruise lines as well. If you want premium food it's available for extra charges. The ports of call were nothing special but had enough to do if you wanted to take an excursion. The five stars were for the crew, I cannot say enough good things about them. They were all pleasant and willing to go the extra mile for us. I actually felt they wanted to get to know us and we're guenually interested in their guests. Richard our cruise director is the best of the 10 ships I have been on, what made this ship spectacular was the talent of his team. I felt like we had 4 cruise directors making them capable of running several actives at once. Shows were great and I feel all this rubbed off on is guest and we were all relaxed and having a good time. I booked two deposits for future cruises with NCL hoping their other ships can live up to my expectations that the NCL Dawn set for me. 

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NCL Dawn needs some work, and the NOLA port a lot more ... very poor parking, and worse baggage handling at the Port ... Once on Ship, everything was very good, we missed One Port of Call "Costa Maya" poor weather, but did get refunded our money for Off Shore trip.  I think they (NCL) are little cheap on booze in there drinks, we did not like the Bottle Water Price (not included in Drink Package). Overall did a Great Job, booking and answering our questions.

My family of four had a great time on our cruise! The crew did a good job of keeping our room and the rest of the ship neat and clean. The food was exceptional sometimes and still good at worst. The flexibility of freestyle dining was nice, and we appreciated being able to make reservations when we wanted. (Be prepared to wait if you want to pick one of the nicer restaurants and you don't have reservations!) The only thing we were really upset about was the tender boat process at certain ports. This could easily be solved by some better communication by the crew. We were told two different things by different crew members about how to get a tender boat ticket and ended up costing us about an hour of time at port. My advice is to stick together as a family even if they tell you to send one person to get your tender tickets! That way when the instructions change at the last minute you don't have to scramble to relay the message. Overall, the trip was a good value for what we paid. We would go again. 

Clean comfortable room, excellent professional entertainment, fun activities including multiple trivia sessions and games, great food, great service, friendly staff - what's not to like? The ship provided plenty of areas to relax, even on 'at sea' days when everyone was on board. The staff was constantly cleaning so everything was clean, including public rest rooms

The restaurants were fancy and the food was delicious. Not having to dress up was a definite bonus. We often chose the buffet and were never disappointed.

We did not take the shore excursions (we've done this cruise in the past so previously visited all the countries) but we heard good excursion reviews from our new cruise friends. 

Yes, boarding is a bit tedious with long lines but exiting the ship at the end of the cruise was very efficient. If you can handle your own luggage and aren't with a group I would suggest this easy-off method. 

Thanks NCL, we'll be back.

Our cruise on the Norwegian Dawn was wonderful!!!!  The room was great.  We had gotten a balcony room for the first time and it was well worth the extra money for the privacy and also to enjoy sunsets and sunrises from our room.  The ship was beautiful and clean, very well maintained.  The staff was so kind and friendly.  We ate every Evening in the main Dining Room, the Aqua at Section 18 and our 2 Waiters were FABULOUS!!!!  The shows were amazing, especially the magic act and the acrobatic part.  We've cruised a good bit and I must say their food was the best we have ever had.  It was really good, top of the line food.  We will definitely cruise Norwegian again.  "Thanks" to all the staff and coordinators who make this possible!  Cyndie and Paul, Vidalia, LA 

Most of the staff were very friendly.  However, a lot of the males (especially in the dining room) seemed cold.  The last night we felt that we were bothering the waiter just ordering and that night we did not get or drinks re-filled.  Food not bad but not as good as previous cruises.  This was the first cruise of 11 that we have taken that did not have a stand up comedian, we missed that a lot.  There was an improv group that was on the main stage that did limited skits in the smaller back room.  Did not have beach towels or floor mats until mentioning then did not get beach towels after mentioning to the customer service at least twice.  Then found our separate room with a separate steward was receiving them even though I stated the room that was missing them each time.   No big deal but mints and towel animals were in the room 2-3 times out of 7 nights.  Cruise Director Richard M. always had a joke or two after any event, that was nice.  NCL having welcome back tents on ports is nice.

The ships layout is a little confusing but the food was great, the service was exceptional, everyone had a smile and we couldn't have sailed on smoother waters.  

Our only complaint was the NCL Glass Bottom Boat excursion in Roatan... don't do it!!  They take you to the dead part of the reef and its full of trash.. not worth it at all.  But the Talum ruins and Lamanai River/Ruins tour were both excellent,

We'd sail this cruise again. 

First of all the mattress was not straight (it was lumpy and sunken in the center)

We ask practically every day for regular coffee and creamers.We purchased

a beverage package but we were charged for the water and a couple of drinks

from the mini bar.Also we were charged without notified for cruise staff Gaming

Totally dissapointed from the hidden charges. I do not think hat I will take another 

cruise with Norwegian

George Tzouflas

this was our first experience with NCL. We have cruises with the other cruise lines, which were all better than NCL. This ship is old and has very little to do. There's only one pool, no slide or water park, no theater, no rock climbing wall, no putt putt. There's a fee for room service. We did not like freestyle dining. We missed the relationship that we formed with our waiters on other cruises. Also no lobster our filet mignon unless you pay for it. The Venetian dining room was a nightmare, loud, busy, and very slow service. Some of the entertainment was good. We enjoyed the evening shows. The crew were friendly, but no extra personal touches. We only saw our stateroom attendant four times during our seven night cruise. We're use to be spoiled by other cruise lines. We didn't get that with NCL. We did like the itinerary. We had a great time at all of the ports.

This was a very good cruise.  It was relaxing.  The ship was comfortable and clean.  The price was right.  Great itinerary.  Cruising out of New Orleans was GREAT.  You could see a lot of the Lower Mississippi River. (104 miles to the Gulf of Mexico)

Good helpful staff  Good service   Good cleans rooms  Good entertainment  Good food. Good room service  Good shopping Liquor should match with duty free shops.