Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Booked this cruise on a last minute deal that they advertised so cheap I couldn't resist. After all the hidden fees were added it ended up being the same amount as a normal cruise but I was excited about the cruise already so decided to go anyways. On the morning of the last day we were leaving the ship I was shocked to AGAIN be hit with a huge bill of HIDDEN FEES I had already thought I payed for. So it ended up costing me way more than expecting. The food was okay since I think they wanted you to spend more money on one of the 6 restaurants you had to pay extra for. I won't be going on another Norwegian cruse 

when i booked my cruise on the Dawn I was aware of her age and expected the worse. I was so surprised to board a ship that looked BRAND NEW and spotless. The ship is so well maintained it doesnt show its age at all. It was truly the most BEAUTIFUL ship Ive had the pleasure of cruising on. Also I have cruised Holland America, Royal Caribbean & Carnival multiple times. Although I had taken this itinerary in November on Carnival's Dream ship this time Norwegian had different and better ports than Carnival; Isla Roatan we went to Coxen Hole instead of Carniivals Mahogany Bay which was better, Cozumel stop was at the newest pier DOWNTOWN, and Costa Maya was exciting and not even on Carnivals itinerary. If sailing out of NOLA i highly recommend taking Norwegian Dawn over the Carnival Dream. Service was above normal and the food excellent. 

I booked two rooms, oceanview, and received inside cabins. Right off I was not happy with this cruise to be in a room that you did not order to start with. You start with a seven day and seven night and the first one tells you what you are stuck with for seven days. This made a very unhappy trip.

We were pleasantly surprised on this cruise ship since we booked it a few days before sail date at $50 per person per night.  We thought it must have a bunch of negatives, but we found it to be a pleasant experience.  Good food, good entertainment, and good service.

When I booked this cruise I was taking advantage of a $200 spa credit incentive.  After arriving on the cruise and purchasing $185 dollars at the spa,  no one knew anything about this incentive. So I was not given any of the money back. It's infuriating. Do not use . 

Many NCL issues on this trip. At check-in, we found other passengers were assigned to our cabin with wrong benefit code (supposedly corrected). But on boarding, the passenger cards we were given still showed the wrong names. Then had to go to on-ship main counter to get finally corrected. Boarding was not very organized overall. 

Ship not the newest. Our sink was clogged and took three different attempts from three different repairmen to get corrected. The beds were horrible! Both sides of the bed had severe depressions in them and both of us woke up every morning with back aches. Cabin service attendant was very good.

Waiters were not very well trained and constantly put the meals in front of the wrong passenger. However, most employees were friendly and helpful, even if you could not understand exactly what the were saying. Food was generally quite good. 

Paid extra for computer access but was never able to connect and receive emails.

We have been on a number of cruise lines and this one does not compare with our other experiences. We will not go on NCL again.

I had cruised with NCL before and loved it. This time started out wonderful but soon turned terribly wrong. It was my mother's 89th birthday so she my husband and 20 yr old son joined her on a cruise to celebrate. The first few days were wonderful but on the 3rd day my mother and son ate something on the ship and got terribly sick with vomiting and diarrhea. I soon joined them and we were flat on our backs so we could not go on our prepaid shore excursion. We were told we would need a Dr's note to get our refund so went to one on board and we were told it would be $150 each for even a note from him. I spoke to all in charge on board the ship and nothing was done and have tried in vain to get some compensation from the cruise line to no avail. My husband soon joined us in our sick beds and we were flat on our backs for a majority of our cruise. I was writing a customer complaint letter on board and missed a step and sprained my ankle and was asked if I wanted to go to the doctor. I skipped the chance to pay him $150 to tell me what I already knew and went to my own. I will never cruise with your line again not because I got sick but because of how poorly they handled the situation.

This was my 19th cruise but first one to travel alone.  I especially enjoyed the Freestyle dining because I was fortunate to share a table at each meal in the dining rooms.  My Oceanview cabin felt so much larger due to only one person in residence. There was a meeting of " alone" cruisers but I didn't attend. but would suggest it for more reticent travelers. I will cruise with others again but have no worries about cruising alone again.  I would appreciate NCL giving a cost break for alone cabins.

my experience on the Norwegian 7 day cruise on January 3rd to January 10th. First and foremost the marketing for the company false advertises on ALL websites stating you receive a free drink package for your cruise but once you check out it's no longer offered. This cruise as been by far the worse cruise/vacation in all my life not to mention this was my honeymoon. Everything is hidden on this cruise as far as the daily fee per person per day. I brought a iron and was told it was ok but the homeland security confiscated it and told me it would be returned to my room at 3pm. That never happened. I was told by guest services I would get it back at the end of the cruise and to call housekeeping for a iron. My husband and I called housekeeping 6 times to get a iron on ONE occasion. The iron they brung leaked brown water causing ruin to his brand new clothes. After I cool off from that we arrive in Honduras we waited in the gangway for an hour the crew kept informing us there was technical difficulties and they couldn't tell us exactly what was going on and denied an extension of stay on the island. What a total inconvenience; you wake up early to be the first off only to have technical difficulties and not be compensated in time. Thirdly my husband and I visit bamboo restaurant we were informed by the host there was no wait and service would be quick. My husband and I waited 30 minutes to get water, 10 minutes to get menus, 20 minutes to get our appetizers and 45 minutes to get our entree. By far the worse experience ever. I know the boat is filled with people, I have been extremely patient as other restaurants have a bit of a wait as well but the wait at Bamboo was completely ridiculous and no apologies were made. My husband gathers up some things to make me feel better and can you believe the refrigerator went out. We called guest services over and over and nothing was done. I'm so disappointed with this cruise line. My husband and I cruise with Royal Caribbean all the time so we thought we would try Norwegian. Biggest mistake of our life. The activities was the most boring activities in all America. I cried my 2nd night to my husband and told him I wanted to go home. I even searched for plane tickets so I wouldn't have to continue the cruise. If I had to chose to fight in World War 3 or cruise with Norwegian again I would suit up for war. This cruise is a complete rip off from start to finish. They freeze your account if you have the smallest balance until you pay it. You have to prepay for everything as with other cruise lines you pay at the end or in the middle. I refuse to pay for 3 nights of the daily fee because I got sick off of their food and no longer ate on the boat and requested that housekeeping no longer cleaned our room but was yet still charged. This is a money hungry establishment and I'll be sure to let the world know. This trip was a complete waste of money. I was miserable the entire time until time to get off the boat. Never Again 

The standard room was very small, lacking a couch and table and second set of drawers in dresser as we had in RC.  No drawers in nightstands either.  There are 4 free dining venues.  Only the 2 main dining rooms were good.  The Asian was terrible and we didn't try the bar style venue.  The food on RC is better and includes a lobster night.  The excursions were all great!, no issues there.  The shows were excellent; magician, Second City, Aerial act by couple from France, and the singers and dancers were great!

Room steward was poor; Shower Gel , handsoap and Shampoo were all empty upon our arrival.  The hand soap dispenser had a leak and emptied all over.  Room was not made up on one of the days.  Gym was good, but needs more room for weight area.

Being our first cruise, I don't have much to compare to, but the Norwegian Dawn far exceeded our expectations.  Our cruise was 7 nights in the Western Caribbean.  Freestyle dining suited us very well, matching our daily lifestyle.  The dining options were plentiful, we favored and frequented the Venetian restaurant.  Onboard entertainment was top notch, the quality easily exceeding shows we've attended at theme parks such as Disney or Six Flags.  The magic show was Vegas quality, the comedy topped SNL, the singing and dancing was incredible.  We chose this as our first cruise lacking bias, primarily basing our choice on price and calendar dates.  We will look first to Norwegian when we plan another cruise.

This is the first cruise my wife and I went on. We are very impressed. It turned out to be perhaps the best vacation we ever had. The ship was clean and modern. The staff were very helpful and friendly. We enjoyed the professional entertainment on the ship as well as all the tour excursions. We had a fantastic time. Will want to do it again on the Norwegian and want to recommend to our friends.

We had a great time. The service is amazing. We had great customer service anywhere we would go, and the staff is very knowledgable and friendly. 

The food was delicious and the servers were top notch.

Thanks for the great time!!!!

Out trip was great. We enjoyed the itinerary itself and New Orleans is a great place to cruise from. The Norwegian entertainment was outstanding (certainly above our expectations) and our stateroom was excellent (even though the Dawn feels a bit old - didn't bother us much).  Food was good - we've seen better on other Norwegian (Breakaway) and Holland America cruises, but it was as we expected given the the great pricing. Tendering was not great - we had to wait 4 hours. 

Quite a discovery indeed and very happy to have experienced it.

To us, we were quite vigilent on our spending. The 4 meal  package deal was an excellent idea and with the exception of the Blue Lagoon restaurant, all the other restaurants were quite satisfying. The organised visits were not our cup of tea and abusively expensive but we mananged quite well to organise ourselfs our on shore visits for a fraction of the cost proposed. The music nights were for every tastes, the pool is defintively much too small, and the individual internet utilisation incredibly expensive. I found myself often looking for a calm silent area to relax and read which ended up in failiure. The personnel is marvelously friendly and generous of their smiles and informations. The organisation of embarkation and desimbarkation is very efficient and well documented. The standard 13.50$ per person per day seems reasonable as long as you do not feel obliged to add to it.  The afternoon movies were essentially for kids which was deceiving for us.

All in all, very happy to have experienced this cruise.

The staff on this ship was absolutely incredible.  Everyone was extremely nice and seemed to love the job they did. The food was very good but certainly not great by any means.  Freestyle dining is wonderful and had minimal wait time.  There was one drawback...the beds were very hard and worn out.  You could actually see cupping in the center of the mattresses.  They were very responsive and came quickly and put a foam topper on the bed.  It helped a lot but it was a miserable week of sleep.  We had sailed with Norwegian before to  Alaska and the bedding was great.  There were only 4 hot tubs for 2200 people which made them a bit overcrowded.  But all in all we had a wonderful time...

What an amazing opportunity to unplug from the world as we knew it and plug into other worlds to be explored. Dalton, our trip planner, was amazing at answering all questions all along the way and we wouldn't  have done this without his encouragement. We are grateful for all the ways we were blessed by the NCL crew and staff. The entertainment was great (except maybe the magician - a little too much showmanship and not enough "magic").

Only disappoint we had the whole trip was dealing with Shore Excursions - IHG's contracted group for excursions before, during and after the cruise. Our experience with that organization was abominable! We were tendered to Roatan, Honduras from the ship with strict instructions not to miss the last tender. Our paperwork said "Go to booth 6," which we did. The folks in booth 6 would not give us eye contact and when we tried to engage them saying we needed a ride to the spa, they told us that was not their job and were sent outside the gates to the streets to see if someone there had a sign. No one did. A woman there indicated that she does transport folks, but not from Coxen Hole the port we were at and she said, booth 6. She even called them and told them it was their job. We walked back to booth 6 to be told they were NOT transporting us. Went back to the lady and she reluctantly agreed to take us. Then we walked for a mile to the car to be transported - no joke! The spa was amazing and undid some of the stress created by the transportation issue getting there, but then the fun started. After the spa treatment we were told go the gift shop and wait and within 15-20 minutes we would be picked up. Over an hour later we were picked up and by that time we were concerned about getting back before the last tender. Needless to say all the good done at the spa had worn off by then.

Once in New Orleans we had a problem again, when I took ill the day we were supposed to go to the plantations. The girl said no problem and moved us to the next day, however, about 3 hours later she called to say that the upstairs of one of the plantations was going to be under repair so we way would not get to go. I asked if we could cancel and she said yes. I then called Shore Excursions to confirm we could get our money back and they said, "No, you must cancel 14 days in advance." Linda then said I should go on the excursion and just miss that part and they would make a partial payment back. I did not want to do that and after lengthy conversation I was allowed to cancel not knowing if I would get refunded. I told her if I did not I would dispute. She called the next day to say we would receive a refund, but it was a lot of hassle for something that Cajun Excursions was willing to do because of the change. I do NOT recommend booking through Shore Excursions!!!

Over All the cruise was great. The ports where very well established with excursions. The staff was more then hospitable. The food at the four star restaurants was good. The activities on the boat where great especially because they threw a great New Years Eve Party top side at the pool. It was nice to see the officers and staff celebrating with sparkling apple juice while brining in the new year. This told us they care about their employees at Norwegian Cruse line. The Penthouse suits are worth the cost for sure, plenty of room and floor to ceiling windows. Our only caveat is to not to exercise the luggage assistance when exiting the boat, our luggage was lost as we exited the boat. There is no system in place to track your luggage from the boat to the harbor/dock. The luggage is placed in a holding area before you hit customs where anyone can walk away with your luggage. Customs does not check the name on the bag with the person walking out with the bag. There is nothing in place, very poorly managed. Norwegian cruise line was no where to be found and the harbor security was no help besides filling out a wrong form for damaged luggage and not lost luggage.

Great service, entertainment, and quality.  Had a great time! Loved the accommodations and excursions.  Staff was top notch. Alvin and Constancio took great care of us and the cabin, and the chocolate covered strawberries left for my daughter each night was a wonderful and warm added touch.

The highlight of our ship board experience was our group dinners at Teppanyaki and Le Bistro.  The service in both of these specialty restaurants was amazing. and the food was phenomenal.  Everyone in our party was raving about them.  We also received great service in Aqua, one of the complimentary dining rooms.

This ship is one of the smaller in the fleet and so you can feel the motion of the ocean most of the time.  If you are prone to sea sickness make sure to pack your psi bands or remedies so that you can enjoy yourself. The stateroom we had was lovely and our steward was fantastic!  The shipboard entertainment was good as well.  The excursions we took through NCL were well organized and had fantastic guides.  The spa is open until 10 pm, so you will be able to enjoy it after your excursions if you are thinking of purchasing a thermal suite pass. There is no dance club on this ship, they use the Spinnaker lounge as a multipurpose room.  It works for entertainment but it doesn't really have a club feel.  Because they dedicate so much space to specialty restaurants there are only 3 late night indoor bars so this is not really the ship to take if you are looking to stay up all night.  My group being who they are, we still had a costume night and did formal night on our own, as you can see from the picture above. 

I was a little disappointed with the communication from Norwegian.  We were looking forward to their white/glow party and formal nights.  Because of freestyle dining they never did really announce either and it turns out they canceled the white party with no notification.