Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

The staff was wonderful and the ship was nice.  However we felt we spent too much money getting to the beaches only to find out the beaches were not that nice.  Cozumel was overly expensive, Belize was a total disappointment, and Costa Maya was just OK.  Honduras was the best beach experience but we would not recommend this particular cruise to anyone.  The shows were nice as well and the specialty dining rooms were worth the extra money. I hope this helps someone.

Larry

I thought the ship was very clean and had a great variety of food.

The entertainment was exceptional especially the Elements show.

The were rather pushy about buying pull tab tickets (chance to win up to 2 grand) to increase revenue I guess. They came no were near paying back what they took in on bingo either.

The only issue I had was when the shut off my free drinks because the were trying to put a hold on my credit card for 400 hundred over my bill. The problem with this was I had a free drink package which had nothing to do with the other,,

We just returned from a cruise aboard the Norwegian Dawn and must say it was one of the best cruises we have been on. It was our first time on NCL. Our balcony cabin was comfortable, quiet and almost identical to the ones we have had on other cruise lines. Service was excellent. We did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants and found the food in the Venetian to be just what we wanted. Our package included the Ultimate Beverage deal which was a great savings. The shows were excellent! Our favorite port was Cozumel, the others were fine but not places we will go out of our way to visit again. We really enjoyed relaxing at the Bimini Bar and meeting new people. Julia Street Terminal is located within walking distance of many New Orleans hotels including the Omni Riverfront which I highly recommend.

We have taken this cruise three times now and find NCL Dawn very nice, relaxing, clean and most enjoyable. The Crew and Staff are great and fill your every wish. Thank you.

If you like worm and pleasant weather and good entertainment this is the trip for you.

The ship's crew were the most friendly and seem to be proud of their employment.

I was impressed about the safety and cleanliness of the entire cruise.

The entertainment was spectacular and better than then found on other cruises I have experienced.

George Allan

We really enjoyed our cruise with you despite some of our disappointments which were not any fault of NCL.

Our luggage was delayed by United Airlines and was not located until we returned back to New Orleans.

Meanwhile the Guest Services staff was extremely helpful by providing us with two complementary phone calls to United Airlines, complimentary laundry service after the first couple of days on board, and a surprise of the lovely bottle of wine with delicious chocolate dipped strawberries in our stateroom one evening.

The entertainment and activities on board were varied, interesting and enjoyable, and the food was delicious and varied both in the buffets and specialty restaurants.

We have had only one previous cruise which was on Holland America to Alaska and back which we also enjoyed. 

The only big difference between them was the fact that on the HA cruise we were allowed to purchase liquor in the gift shop and take it to our room to have the occasional quiet drink there.  If there was any complaint about the NCL it was that we could not do that on board the Dawn.  Being retired, on pensions and  a budget, we did find it very expensive to imbibe at the cost of the drinks on board.

We found that all the staff we came in contact with were accommodating and friendly and we will definitely be back for future cruises with NCL.

The highlight of this trip are the ports. We went snorkeling in Cozumel (but got stung by jelly fish, and frankly there are much better places to snorkel like Hawaii), cave tubing in Belize which was very fun and began with a $5 coconut full of rum, ziplining in Roatan which was an incredibly beautiful place, and Mayan ruins tour in Costa Maya.  I am glad we did a tour at the last stop, because I would have gone bananas if I were trapped in the overpriced little cruise terminal shopping area.  There is no place walking distance from the cruise terminal, so do yourself a favor and take a tour.

The cruise offered very good entertainment, my favorite being the incredibly talented magician and the aerialist acrobats.  Our room attendant did a great job.  Only complaint would be the service and food quality in the main dining rooms.  I have been on several of the other big cruise lines, and they are all far superior in service and food quality.  I did not go to the specialty restaurants- I hope they were better.

We enjoyed this cruise very much. The food was out of this world and we always received excellent service. This is our 3rd trip on NCL on this route, we enjoy seeing the changes from cruise to cruise. Can't wait until our next cruise.

We enjoyed our cruise in spite of cool, cloudy weather. The ship is well designed with a good theater and good dining venues. Food quality and service  was the best we have experienced in our 12-13 cruises. Show quality was very, very good. The ship handles docking, embarkation, and dis-embarkation very well. Our balcony stateroom on deck 11 was more spacious than we have found on our other cruises and had a full bath with tub shower. The balcony was large enough to sit out and put our feet up and relax in the balmy air. We used our balcony more on these cruise than we have on any previous cruise. Our cabin steward was courteous and responsive- a very likeable woman. The crew, especially in food service, has a high percentage of Filipinos; who were very outgoing and warm; a great group. We like the freestyle cruise format a lot. Other cruise lines should embrace this approach. We always thought the pseudo-formality imposed by other lines as inappropriate for a relaxed vacation.

The food was not that good. The entertainment was good but NOT APPROPRIATE for young children due to the fact that the young ladies butts hanging out and very provocative movements and dress.

no complaints--would book another cruise as soon as my busy schedule allows me the time---departing from NOLA was most convenient for me and for my friends.  All services furnished were excellent and the entertainment was superb  

Overall the Cruise was good.  The food was excellent even the buffets. This particular sailing was not at max capacity so there were no lines for anything.  The shows were very good and the service was excellent.  Good crew staff except in the main dining rooms.  Except for one night, the servers appeared to be doing a job they didn't seem to enjoy.  We were in a mini suite that was extremely small so we would have been better off paying for an oceanview.   We had fun!!

Had a balcony suite, mattresses need to be replaced.  Room huge, bathroom biggest on any ship I have sailed on.  Not too sure I liked open dining as the food was not up to other cruise ships.  Younger crowd which was nice.  Entertainment good. 

Perfect coordination of booking, checking in at port, embarking, dining and shows, excursions and arriving back.

Cozumel horseback riding trail with some Mayan ruins and stopped for lunch at beautiful Ecolounge beach

Belize stop for strolling

Roatan, Honduras stop at West Bay, Tabayana Beach for awesome snorkeling

Costa Maya for beachside lounging near Senor Frogs and watched dolphins right there at resort on shore

The cruise was good except for the quality of food at normal dining was not near as good as when I took same cruise a couple years ago.  The pay extra restaurants was still great. I guess the new game is to lower quality of food at normal dining to get customers to pay for the nicer restaurants more. The staff were good at all restaurants.

Room was  offer carpet dirty couch stained bathroom stunk after 5 days they cleaned bathroom good shampoo carpet and clean couch keeping our cousin until day 6 food was cool same meat on menus every night  only good meal on boat was Cagneys for a additional 30.00 each

We had a lovely time. It was our first cruise. The ship had everything you needed though I did get the impression it was an older boat. The shore excursions we loved were cooking in Cozumel and Catamaran Snorkelling in Roatan. Jaguar Truck in Costa Maya was ok but we had horrible weather. We did not have the best time cave tubing in Belieze as we thought we would. We also did not see the value in buying the drinks or dinner packages and we just paid for what we consumed and saved a LOT of money.

This was our first experience with both Norwegian and cruising in general, and let me tell you, we will be returning to both! We purchased the interior stateroom for two reason, first, we didn't want to be woken up by sunlight and second, it was much more affordable. I have read other reviews saying how cramped the quarters are, but for two people who only really used the room for changing and sleeping - it was perfectly fine! The whole point of our cruise was to have fun, meet new people, and get lots of sun. We don't need to sit in our room for any of those reasons - the Norwegian Dawn has plenty of social and secluded areas for guests to get out of their stateroom.

Our cruise was also made especially special thanks to the Norwegian Dawn's Cruise Director, Dingo Dave. His upbeat personality and presence on the ship was unmistakeable and really helped to make our cruise a fun experience. He was excellent at keeping everyone informed and entertained. The rest of the staff was also fantastic and customer focused, I never felt like I was put out or in need of finding assistance.

small ship. friendly staff. very few options for vegetarian food, especially in the restaurants. suite with balcony excellent. spacious. very good quality of mattress. 

The staff and service were extremely kind and friendly.  They seemed happy to be working and serving all of the guests.  That attitude is a good representation of the company. There was plenty of activities and the ship it self was very well cared for. It was a great experience for all of our family who's ages ranged from 12yrs old to 62