Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We enjoyed our time aboard the NCL Dawn, although the ship looked a little tired, it was still beautiful.  Our room was very comfortable with our cabin steward being very attentive to our needs.  Dining was exceptional!!  I love the any time dining on NCL and the food was very good as were all waiters.  The entertainment was very good also, amazing that these shows are live with the ship's movement, we were not disappointed!!  We had  good times on our excursions and the weather was wonderful, so good to be in  the sun after a long winter!!  We would consider NCL again when we can go on another cruise.

We had some problems which were resolved by Norwegian but they should have never happened in the first place. We booked the cruise with a promotion where we selected a free Ultimate Dining Package that included 4 nights in specialty restaurants. The first night on ship we were told we did not have the Dining Package and would have to pay a la carte prices. This got straightened out the next day. I also had a problem with the billing of a service I booked on the ship. I had an agreed to price prior to the service and after receiving the service I was billed a higher price. Again, this did get corrected, but these things should not have happened. I will definitely consider other cruise lines for future cruises.

This is my 4th cruise and the 2nd on Norwegian.  This cruise met all my expectations.  The first thing I loved the most was it was not over crowded.  We never had a problem finding a spot to sit in the hot tub, pool chairs, dining room. The shows were excellent.  every night was a quality show, which we love.  The food was delicious! The wasn't many small kids, which is a plus for me.  There were all age groups. some teens, middle aged and older. Drinking didn't seem to be the theme of the week. It was more like happy couples. Our room steward wasn't the best and at one event which was a movie night started an hour before the schedule read. that was the only 2 small things in the negative.  i will book with this ship again next year.  i rate this ship excellent.  Thank you Norwegian for another wonderful lifetime memory.

Wonderful trip!  Very friendly crew and great entertainment!  Our room was a bit noisy but didn't bother us too much.  The food overall was great. Cagney's steakhouse was wonderful.  The fillet was the best I've ever had.

We had a great time.  This was the smallest group we have travelled with in a long time.

Everyone loved the Freestyle dining.   Both the unlimited drink package and the 4 specialty restaurant meal package were included in our fare.  We were able to easily make reservations and all of the meals were wonderful.

We plan on taking more cruises on Norwegian in the future.

This was our first cruise. We purchased the Ulitmate Beverage Package which leads you to believe that all of your beverages (not including bottles of wine of course) would be complimentary. However upon check out we discovered that if you order "coffee with cream and sugar" at the Lavazza Coffee Bar, they give you and americano (shot of espresso with hot water added to it) with cream and sugar and you get charged $2.05 for every "coffee". A.) we should have been told that this was not coffee. B.) we should have been told it was not part of our Ultimate Beverage Package. C.) All beverages should be included in the "Ultimate Beverage" package. Also our supposed cabin boy never checked the soap in the shower dispenser so we were out of soap for the last 2 days. Other than that, the cruise was fun and all staff were vary courteous.

The Norwegian Dawn is your average ship, lovely main dining room with large full length windows at the back of the ship, nice bars and lounges, normal size rooms, etc.  The food lacked creativity and was fairly simple.  What set this cruise apart from all the others I have taken was the high quality of the entertainment. The nightly main shows were the type you would pay $100 per seat in a large city.  It was extremely impressive.  We also attended a murder mystery luncheon put on by a troupe from Second City.  Hilarious.  The quality of the bands, individuals, and musical groups were fantastic.  In short, if the entertainment is more important than the quality of the food, this is the cruise for you.

The "Dawn" is very very dated. We had cigarette burn marks in our cabin.The whole ship was tattered and shabby looking.Freestyle isn't free. You have to pay "gratuities" on all sorts of things. If you wanted an extra towel at the pool you had to sign it out with a hefty 25.00 per towel payment if you didn't return it before returning to your room. My 83/86 yr old parents toilet overflowed into their room 3 times in 7 days. They only offered a free dinner. They jammed strip tickets down your throat at every opportunity.  So so disappointed. I could go on and on.

It was a very pleasant trip. Thanks to Irish Bacon for helping to make the preparation as easy as 123. This was our first trip and the everything went smoothly. We plan to use her to make our next reservation.

This was a great trip, the ports visited were awesome.  The ship however needs a makeover or retirement.  Specialty dining was awesome.  Buffet is good for breakfast only. Room service in our balcony room for breakfast was outstanding. the 24 hour dining needs help. Avoid the Blue Lagoon, food is horrible and wait staff is miserable. The ship needs to have a limited 24 hour buffet like RC. There is only one small pool aboard and they need to enforce the rules with children.  All four hot tubs were over run by children 8-12 years old.  Very irresponsible parents. The signs say no children however when I approached staff they did nothing.  2 of the 4 hot tubs were not working they were cold. Staff was alerted but nothing done.  Entertainment and the cruise director are 5 stars.  All and all an enjoyable cruise.

First time on Norwegian. Have been in others. Ship was great with amenities, entertainment and activities! Food was superb even in buffet! Never at a loss for things to do or to just relax! Staff were fantastic very attentive and kind! Signed up for another!!!!

We are a family of four with 2 boys. The splash academy was a hit and the kids couldn't wait to go back. We enjoyed the food and entertainment. The cruise director was so enthusiastic and really made sure we had a great time. The ship was really nice. I've been on the breakaway and I actually enjoyed the dawn a bit better because it was smaller and felt more personal. The staff was very nice and accommodating.  My only complaint would be the size of the room. It was extremely small although it didn't affect what a nice time we had. I would recommend it for families. My kids loved the pool area and made lots of friends on the ship. The pool area would get a bit crowded at peak times but still manageable and we had a good time. The entertainment at the pool area was always fun and the live music was excellent. 

Overall... The cruse was amazing. The people were wonderful. There were many different activities. The ship was nice. I would definitely do it again.                       

I would gladly recommend Norwegian Cruise Line and the Dawn as a ship for anyone especially if its your first cruise.  I would also recommend the Discovery Scuba in Costa Maya, Mexico small group and great staff.

We thoroughly enjoyed our recent cruise of the western Caribbean.  The food was very good-especially enjoyed the fried calamari, broccoli soup, turkey lasagna, and any dessert.  Our cabin was OK for an inside, the service was impeccable (please give our regards to our steward, Beverly.  She is so sweet.)  and the entertainment was first rate.  We particularly enjoyed the French couple's arial performance and "Elements" was as good as any Cirque de Sole we have seen anywhere.  We loved singing with a live band during karaoke night in Spinnaker Lounge (Fly Me to the Moon)Thanks for the wonderful memories celebrating Valentine's Day and my (Charles')birthday.  

Best to all, 

Charles and Eunice Noderer

The cruise was great, the food marvelous, and the accommodations were on point. Loved the window view. It was my husband's first cruise, but my 5th. We enjoyed our excursions, just wished we had booked them prior to our cruise.  The food was excellent wherever we dined, it was great. 

It was our first time cruising. I was completely under the spell of the magic of the tour.

The quality of service was perfect. The crew is simply amazing.

The ship was incredibly clean.

The entertainment out of this world.

The food... oh well. I refused to step on my scale. The choices seemed infinite and every dish as delicious as the next. A special kudos to the food and beverage team!

A special thank you to Richard, our cruise director.

When do all these people sleep? How can they work so much, so efficiently and yet be so pleasant at all times?

Thank you for the time of my life,

Francoise McHugh

Very nice cruise. The ship was just the right size for us, 2200 passengers. Not too big and not too small. The ship is not the newest in the fleet and shows a little wear. Staff is very accommodating and friendly. Food is very good, especially the specialty restaurants. The steakhouse was the best of them, in my opinion. Entertainment options are your typical cruise ship variety with the exception of Second City, which was a nice change from the typical comedian. The week that we went, the schools were out in Louisiana, so the crowd was at least 75% local.

Our last cruise with Carnival Sunshine in Feb 2014 was a disappointment with their entertainment.  One night they only used fellow passengers in a variety show, and one night there was no show at all, and on another night, the show was way too loud and the performance too raucas.  

Had cruised with NCL Feb 2010 and enjoyed 7 nights of great entertainment, so, booked with NCL this time rather than Carnival.  We were not disappointed with NCL entertainment, each night was wonderful. Therefore, will always stay faithful to NCL because of their quality entertainment. 

We had a really great trip, the food and  ports were wonderful, only had one day with light rain and overcast.  The food was good and the staff really nice and helpful. Everything was going great until I started to pack  and   realized that one of my husbands dress shoes was missing.  Since nobody just takes one shoe from a locked room, the only thing we could assume happened was that the shoe was picked up by mistake in the dirty towels or linens. NCL tells that they will NOT doing anything about it.  Spent over 1 1/2 ours on hold yesterday trying to contact them, only to be sorry there was nothing they were going to !! Put a damper on the whole trip!