Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

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!

NCL wise to refurbish Dawn.  Western Carribean itinerary outstanding.  Food was great in both dining rooms and buffet.  Even std room is effectively designed to maximize storage and function. Interior design is mis-match and result is chopped up design.   2600 passengers always lost due to poor signage sadly funny to watch.  2nd City entertainment great.  Overall good cruise for value.  Hopefully May refurb will improve ship shortcomings.  

We had a wonderful time.  Loved the cruise and would for sure plan another trip. Had something planned and entertainment every day and the food was great. 

I've been on six cruises, various lines.  This one was the best.  All of the staff were hard working and friendly, the shows were very good and the food was also very good.  We probably gained ten pounds each.  Free style cruising is the way to go for us.  Enjoyed the ports, we were impressed with Costa Maya.  Snorkeling in Belize was fantastic, the best coral and fish population we have ever seen. Honduras is a poor country and they depend heavily on tourism so keep an open mind while there.  Make sure you get a chance to go to Café du Monde in New Orleans, that was a treat.  Our only complaint was not associated with the cruise; the airport in New Orleans was very unpleasant.  The Delta agent and TSA were very rude, and after reading reviews, we were not alone in our feelings about our service there.

We were a group of nine, ages 12 through 50+. Primary reason for cruise: 4 high school seniors celebrating pre-graduation. Included were 4 parents & a kid brother. We were thrilled at having FOUR ports of call. First time we'd been on Norwegian; first time cruise EVER for 5 of us. Disappointed in lack of attractions for kids/preteens/teens; Carnival Cruise lines had this Norwegian ship beat. Rooms were lovely, crew (all except one snobby rude hostess at main dining room) were great, food was good (best breakfast buffet ever had). Shows were spectacular!

This was our first cruise (husband and myself).  It was totally enjoyable.  The room was nice.  We had a wonderful steward on the 4th floor (Rick).  Everyone was friendly.  The food and entertainment were great.  Would go again!!

We enjoy cruising.  This is the 3rd time we have cruised with Norwegian to the West Caribbean out of New Orleans.

The good:  Norwegian is always good to us.  This time we were able to get an inside room very inexpensive and got the free drink package also.  How can you go wrong with that!  Although the ship is getting a little older and is going to dock soon to be refurbished, it still looks good.  If you are looking for all the newest and glitziest, you will be disappointed, but everything was in good shape and clean.  Staff, as always, was very friendly.  Food was good at both dining rooms and the buffet.  You could tell that they weren't offering some of the top of the line that you used to get, but still it was all very tasty.

The bad:  Really only 2 things that we were very unhappy with.  One of our party was playing cards in the casino.  All of a sudden the pit boss came and told him that the dealer had given him $10 too much 2 hands before....and he needed to give it back.  That $10 cost the casino alot of money!  All 6 of us walked out of the casino and never went back in all week.  The second thing was that our last port of call was Costa Maya and according to ship time we docked at 7am until 2pm.    You really couldn't do anything much until 9am and then had to be back so early.  The next day we were at sea heading back to New Orleans and they weren't pushing it very hard, it would have been a lot nicer to be in Port at least until 4pm..  

Fathers, Mothers,Sons,Daughters,  Grandchildren,Sisters, Brothers, PawPaws, NaNas, Mawmaws,Cousins, InLaws and close Friends, yep we had all of those and it made for a fantastic fun time! I love my Family and Friends! Celebrated Mardi Gras on the Dawn and in Cozumel!  Thanks for a great time we will remember forever!

no pre arranged time made it hard for dining with 7 people and the childrens things the kids wouldn't go. Hated it. 9 and 4 yrs.

The 4 year old was in tears.

The staff in the buffet WERE FABULOUS!

Entertainment was very good!

The Dawn has a lot of things to do and great entertainment shows. Everyone was so nice. It makes for a great vacation. The food is very good and they have a lot of different choices.

We had a great week on our cruise! The staff was friendly, the ship was clean and very nice in appearance. The ports were all fun, and I would highly recommend booking shore excursions through NCL. Thanks for a great week making memories with my best friend!

I longed for the cruise for a long time and it is really an unforgetable experience. My four year old son made four friends in the kids pool and hot tub.He is already a part of fish! On the last day of the roundtrip, he said I don't want to go and I want to stay here to be a captain! Even back home, he played the magic that he enjoyed in the theater.  My wife and I also appreciate the job the crew did very much! 

We stayed in as suite so how incredible is that in itself! Round the clock assistance from our concierge, our butler and our room steward. Food at Cagneys was unbelievable. However, both the Italian Restaurant and French Bistro leave much to be desired. We are Italian and found the Italian food to be quite unpalatable. The French food was far too salty. The Brazilian Steakhouse, Moderna, was good, but needs to be in a room not in a common passway. However, being a veteran cruiser, we found the Garden Cafe' other wise referred to as the "Lido" to be an excellent alternative with exciting food choices, beautiful presentations and delicious.

The cruise itself was like most, with very friendly, accommodating staff. I found that the shows were limited on most nights to one show, which did not enable us to go, as we had chosen a 7 or 8 p.m. dining time. This was disappointing. On the up side, the reception from staff when coming back on ship was very nice, organized and little perks like fresh ice water, cool face clothes, and towel exchange were terrific.

All in all I would recommend this cruise, nice ports, Cozumel, Roatan, and Costa Maya. We did not get off the ship in Belize having been there before and finding it less than enticing. Norwegian did a great job, and did a great job making arrangements.

The ports of call were great. Zip lining in Roatan with South Shore Excursions was the best. The beach they brought us to after was picture perfect. And the tour of Chacchoben Ruins with Enrique of Native Choice Group was phenomenal. The ship however was meh. So many extra charges and ok food. Norwegian did not have a captain's dinner nor a dessert gala. They had many restaurants for an extra charge that I didn't even dine at. They did have a decent kids program that my boys, 10 and 7, enjoyed going to but not many other activities on board. I will not sail with Norwegian again but I will revisit the ports of call. 

Fabulous trip.  The staff with Norwegian were wonderful.  The cruise director was superb. Entertainment was great.  Lots of variety.  I want to go again!

The worst service I have ever received on a cruise ship, I have been on 30+ cruises. It took more than 15 min to get a cup of coffee at dinner and when it arrived it was warm at best. Entertainment was great but bar service was slow to none.

We certainly enjoyed our cruise on the Norwegian Dawn. A few pros and cons:

Pros:

Amazing, friendly service from everyone

Extremely clean and focused on germs

Great Value

Plenty of pool chairs and seating at dinner and entertainment venues

Cons:

Food was only so-so

Entertainment is geared towards 60-70 year old's (music from the 70's in all their on-board productions)