Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

small ship without all the bells and whistles.  but they are good at making the most of it.  greetings after port days are nice  - cool wet towels and refreshing drinks.  afternoon pool deck sail away parties/BBQ were great.  Main dining room service was spotty, also - be prepared to wait for dinner every night for about 30 minutes.  desserts were awful, but main dish and appetizer were good with nice variety.  not a luxury trip, but excellent value for the money. since gratuity for beverages/dinner are included automatically,the service was less than expected.  many rude bar staff and dining room servers.  took on average 15 minutes to get a second glass of wine at dinner.  the best aspects of this cruise were:  itinerary, excursions, lots of teens, excellent embark/disembark organization.

Had a great time on a family cruise. Ship was great and prefect weather. Food and drinks were fabulous. Very relaxing and enjoyable. Would certainly cruise with Norwegian cruise line again.

Norwegian is a great cruise.. Didn't know what to expect big first time cruisers. Norwegian Dawn cruise exceeded our expectations. Stateroom was very clean, attendant was very polite and sincere. Entertainment on the ship was indeed great. Travelling with kids was fun altogether on the ship, with so many activities, good food, good shore excursions. The ship crew goes a step forward to make you feel welcomed. Had a great relaxing week. Will look forward for the next cruise when we plan.

Our overall experience on the Dawn was good. The Port of New Orleans was one of the best we have experienced. The destinations were extrodinary. The Dawn was extremely clean and the entertainment was average. We we often left the activities in the Spiniker lounge because it was too crowded. A suggestion for future shows -- if you are hosting a show that is popular, do NOT have it in a room that does NOT accommodate the number of guests who wish to attend. The lounge was SO crowded it would be classified as a fire hazard. People were blocking aisles and 1/4 of the people who were in there couldn't even see what was happening on the floor.

The food was the worst we have ever had on a cruise. If we walked into a resturant and we served the food that was on the ship, we would not return to that resturant. In addition, the hostesses at the complimentary restaurants were extremely rude. I'm not referencing one specific resturant, but all of them. I'm not sure if their patience levels are pushed because it is freestyle dining or if that's just their personalities, but there is no reason to be rude when asking for a wait time or when adding your name to the waiting list. Because of this experience, we will NEVER cruise on a ship that has freestyle dining. 

We would not cruise on this ship again. We gave this ship 3 stars because of our experience at the port, destanitations, and cleanliness of the ship.

This was our fifth cruise and third time to the Caribbean. We chose the Norweigan Dawn to make this a memorable Christmas vacation for all nine of us. We booked 3 mini suites and one penthouse.The ship was older than others we have been on and was dated but clean. I could overlook the ship had the ports been more interesting. We just never saw clean white sandy beaches. It was kind of a let down for the nine of us. However the vibe of all the families celebrating the Christmas holiday on the ship was fun. Was just hoping for more!

Poor attitude of Guest Services Staff--too quick to say no, but have a nice day.  Refurbished ship, Dawn, needs to be retired.  Food in main dining was often cool to barely warm.

This is not what we are used to on NCL past cruises.  What has happened?  NCL is not our first choice for cruises after this experience.  We were not the only ones disappointed.  Lots of complaints were heard by me.

All just fair.  Food quality and service at lower end of scale.  Huge problems on one of the shore excursions booked thru NCL.  Embarkation was awful.  Stood in line for 2 hours.  On board evening entertainment was probably worst I have seen in all of my cruises.  In general, service just fair. 

Mostly was a very nice experience. Getting on the ship was an exercise in patience always makes me wonder why they cant get that process down better. We arrived at our designated time 9 am and were told it would be a long time until they would even start we were crammed into small waiting area with no chairs available. We left our luggage and opted to come back later but we still had a huge line to wait in and by the time we boarded the ship I was feeling very cranky, not a good way to start!The cruise was wonderful though worth the embankment aggravation!

unlimited liquor option was excellent. able to savoir many cocktails and wines.  

there were many indian families who were vegetarians and there were indian food in the afternoon, but not at venetian dining. we were given the same food

left over from afternoon buffet.. there were no vegetarian soup in the buffet.

they could have made veggie pizzas instead of plain cheese pizza.theycould have made pancakes made of rice or wheat dough. veggie choices were few.

we were 11 guests, but seating could not be provided together many times at the same location so that we could told indian chef as to our needs. but the staff were courteous and obliging.

i booked balcony room. the rooms were small to move around. the lounge

chair could have been better for stretching the legs and to relax.the balcony 

was never washed clean.

the entertainment programs were good.

i was looking for Bridge Card Games. there were none.

on the whole i enjoyed the cruise.

This was my wife and I first cruise and it was a great choice to go on the dawn.  They had an amazing crew and the time spent on and off the ship was great.  Definitely doing it again

Good times great places, enjoyed our time,and had fun on the excursions.  The entertainment was first class.  Our room steward Zaim was great.  My grandaughter said she thought that he was the nicest person she had ever met.  the food at the Blue Lagoon was the best.

The itinerary is awesome. Level of service in all areas on the Dawn has deteriorated each time (cruised this ship 3 times now). Staff is complacent when present and often not available when needed. Main and specialty dining, bar areas, room service, stateroom service - across the board it was the same. Don't know if this played a part but NCL offers a "prepaid service charges" option so you can handle gratuities in advance.  If you don't choose this option, you get billed at the end and the rate is higher. I'm guessing if staff knows the tip is already guaranteed then why try? Because of the decline in service I'll probably go with some other cruise line else next time... 

Everything went very well, we had great time. The food was great and the  staff were very friendly. The kids and us had very good time. The entertainment was ok could have been better.

Everyone was super nice and very polite, they keep the entire ship clean at all the times. Amazing shows every days. Love it ! We travel with my two boys (five and twelve) and they just love it to. Also we travel with a friends that have 2 children's as well ( 1 yr and 5 yrs) and they had the same experience as us. First time crusing good experience and planing to book an other one for this coming 2016

Had a great time. Easy parking and on off process. Great snorkeling in belize. Would love to do the trip again. Thanks to the staff on the cruise. Unorganized tender process though. Good food, nice staff too.

this was worst ship line I have been on.The  ship had problem at port and their was a long wait and they did not said a word until a few nights later when we talk to one of the person in charge. he said he was sorry but at that time it was too late.For the  food you could look at any night and see the same food offed.Last time on the  Norwegian

Our boat had great employees and staff but the boat itself is outdated and needs a face lift for sure.  Our cabin steward was great and always made us feel welcome.

The ship was very enjoyable. The shows were very good. Was disappointed with the food. The meals were good in the café, though there wasn't much variety from day to day. That was even more pronounced in the main dining room. Only one or two items were changed each night. Ended up only eating two different dishes the whole cruise. Housekeeping was outstanding. Our cabin attendant, Jan, was the best. Was very disappointed in the boarding on December 6th. Apparently, the ship was late by two hours. It took over an hour to park and we were put in an outdoor lot with no wheelchair access, which I was supposed to have. We were fortunate to find a good porter. Then it took an hour and a half to board the ship, again with no wheelchair assistance. Was very disappointed with the port and Norwegian. Disembarkation was better.

beware of their monetary practices! they take money from your account beside the bill that you acquired on the ship. we have been battling them since getting off the boat for deducting 6 separate charges beside the balance deduction owed them from our trip. it caused 4 overdrafts from our bank and even though they claimed that it would fall off of our account after 3 business days it is still there and we have been home 4 days now. when i called them to ask what it was about they claimed that they have no record of the withdrawals or holds in their systems, also before getting on the ship at the terminal upon checking in when being issued our sail and sign cards we had our sons card deactivated for on board purchases and then to our utter amazement and sheer horror he was able to run up $87.00 in charges because he didn't know that it was costing him money. the solid reason why we had his card deactivated in the first place, when we went to the customer service desk and asked them to remove the charges from his card and explained we had deactivated his card upon its granting at the terminal they claimed that they had no record of us doing it.and said all we could d was pay the charges, deactivate it again then and gave us a card with a 866 number to their customer relations department after we get off to have it investigated and then removed if the investigation resulted in our favor. Omg! this was a total bad taste in our mouths! they also force the customer to take 13.xx per person per day out of their account to go towards the gratuity for the staff. my son is 9 why should he be forced to pay gratuity!!! his father and I were fully capable of paying for the earned gratuity and did not feel great about it being forced down our throats and being charged for our minor child staying in the same room.We have traveled 3 times prior to this cruise on Carnival cruise lines and had such an enormously better expirance. We will never use this lines services again and are left with a very bad taste in our mouths for them.  

Best cruise of the 3 I have done. The staff was friendly and very visual in all areas. Catered to families as well as single adults.The entertainment was top quality. Loved the free style dining and tip being deducted from bank.