Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

This was my first on NCL but my 9th overall.  I liked this cruise for the people.  The staff was very friendly and helpful.  The ship was beautiful, although I would have liked to see it 'feel' more like christmas.  The food was very good, especially the striploin steaks!  The only real complaint is how uncomfortable the ship is.  I mean, every single surface to sit or lay on is uncomfortable.  The theater seats were horrible and tipped down, the dining room chairs were too heavy to scoot up and tipped back, the beds were hard (even with asking for a pad).  Could not wait to get to a hotel where I could put my feet up.  :)

Stateroom bed broken - had to request replacement; stateroom refrigerator broken - took 2 days to fix; room service was ordered but never showed up twice; turned away from main dining area because one person in our party was wearing dress shorts while others were allowed in wearing tank tops, cargo shorts, and flip flops (selective and inconsistent enforcement of dress code); room was very noisy - hammering and drilling for several hours on 3 days; were told coming through security that corkage fees would not be charged unless we took wine into public areas (restaurants) but discovered charge when reviewing final bill - representative stated that what we were told initially was wrong but wouldn't accept responsibility and I had no recourse.  So I filed an investigation with my bank (improper charge to the card).  Been on 6 cruises (2 with Norwegian), this was the worst, won't use Norwegian again.  Staff on the Dawn were far less engaging and friendly than other ships we've sailed on in the past.  

This ship should be scrapped. It has an old and dirty feel. The balcony stateroom was awful. The safe didn't work; the TV remote had to be replaced; the balcony was covered with crud and was unusable; the bathroom flooded with toilet water; the shower was very weak;  and evening tile replacement above us was annoying. We foolishly bought the "drinking package" only to find that the drinks contained water instead of liquor. Because of these faults we were made to feel like "complainers". When the service was good it was very good but in most cases it was simply substandard. Being "gold" members we were given perks such as priority tender boarding and priority disembarkation. These "perks" meant nothing to the bossy stewards.

The only good things we can take away from this cruise were the relationships we made with other passengers who didn't hesitate to share their similar problems and complaints. Also, props should go to Maximo who ran Cagney's steakhouse extremely well.

The NFL was played on Saturday but was unavailable anywhere on the ship. The sports bar showed "cricket" and the guy who ran the bar seemed delighted make jokes about it.

Overall, the experience was dreadful and Norwegian should be ashamed. They are killing the goose that laid the golden egg.

Being that this cruise was my first Norwegian Cruise, I can say that it was a good experience. The Vessel and state rooms were immaculate and beautiful. The Cruise crew were phenomenal and very pleasant.  The destinations were amazing. I would recommend this cruise to an age demographic of 55 and older. As a cruiser in the 28-42 age range the activities on board this trip was more dedicated to a much more seasoned crowd. Also the food options outside the specialty restaurants was not the greatest. Advice to persons considering this cruise prepay all gratuities, maximize your time at the stops, and be prepared to REST AND RELAX. 

The cabins are the smallest I have been in and this was my 12th cruise.  The food was very disappointing.  The shows and activities were not worth going to.  The staff was great (but I haven't met a bad worker on any ship on any cruise).

The entertainment on the Norwegian Dawn was fantastic.  The cruise director was so funny and all of the staff doing the entertainment was great.   The food was very good and the waiters were so nice.  The room steward really did a good job and told us that if we needed anything to let him know.   Customer Service was very accommodating. The ship did not have a machine to check our onboard charges, but we were told that they were working on this now and soon we would be able to pull this information up on our television in our room.   Also, each person was allowed one bottle of wine on the ship, but we did not know there was a corkage fee of $15.00, so our bottle of wine was held until after the cruise.  Carnival and Royal Caribbean does not charge this fee.   

I have been on several cruises.  I loved the ports of call, the freestyle dining, and entertainment, but the food was awful!!!  This was the first cruise that I didn't gain weight.  The menu needs to be completely changed or fire the chef.  Very little shrimp, no lobster, no complimentary wine.  Five different desserts looked different but tasted the same, like whipped cream, carrot cake had no sugar, and the cheese cake wasn't even good.  Very little fruit and it wasn't very fresh mostly over ripe.   I also always take my kids, this was the oldest average cruise age ever.  Motorized wheelchairs galore.  Most people were friendly but there was a lot of crabby old people that didn't even want to be in an elevator with children much less the theatre.  Overall, my kids had a lot of fun but for me Norwegian is now my least favorite cruise line.

I will never cruise Norwegian again.  The food was terrible and at time uneatable.   The state room was dirty with bugs.  The bed sunk down in the middle of each twin bed.  The commode smelled thru out the room.  The linen on the bed was sub standard something you would buy at Kmart or less store.  We take about three cruises a year and this the first on Norwegian and the worst.  We have cruised on all the other lines.  But yours is sub standard and I would never recommend to any one else.  And I will use all social media to let people know how bad you are.  I did talk with all departments on the ship and no one seemed to care.   

Brenda Joan Williams

I have only been on one other cruise and it was a different cruise line.  The other ship was a bit nicer and the staff were a bit more friendly.  The staff on this cruise were nice and of course we grew to enjoy some staff more than others.  I would do this cruise again.  My husband, the other couples we went with and I did have a great time. 

Did not really care for this ship, it felt very claustrophobic.  What once had been a multistory atrium has now been closed in to add restaurants, internet café, shops, etc.  Very few open deck areas.  Service in the dining rooms was not great, average eating time was 1 1/2 hrs.  In the garden café they were constantly out of silverware.  Would not go on this ship again.

Room - 8656 was fine.. spacious.. liked large window.  Room steward provided most personal inter play of all ship staff.     Food was not as well laid out as other lines.  Seemed to be "cafeteria" style  set-up whereas both RCL & Carn had sep. islands for desserts & salads.  also I really missed the usual formal night LOBSTER tail.   The NCL substitution  of pasta w. lobster was not well- received.  The last nite's prawns Thermidor.. a dish usually made with lobster  added to my disappointment.  the shows were really a highlight of the cruise.  Saw 3 & all were above average. Speaking of islands.. with RCL we got a private island stop w. food but for NCL it was a supplementary charge to go from Roaton to private island.

The Dawn is one of the "older" ships in the fleet (if you consider a 2002 ship old that is ;-) ), but she does the job beautifully. The ports of call over plenty of activities, and even on the days at sea you won't be bored. 

Overall, this is a great cruise!

We enjoyed our time in New Orleans prior to departure....be sure to have a beignet and go to Luke's to try the crispy brussel sprouts with some crab bisque! Yummmm. Leaving out of New Orleans is the best reason to take this cruise.

The cruise itself was really just ok. The ship is fine, clean and has everything necessary but the service we found to be less than what we've experienced in previous cruises, both on Norwegian and other carriers. The general theme seemed to be under-staffing....in the dining room and with the room stewards. They got us what we needed eventually and it didn't ruin our trip by any means, but they all seemed to be frantically trying to keep up. We frequently heard comments like "I apologize, I just haven't been able to get to that yet". Again, not terrible...but not the level of service you would normally see. It was so consistent across the ship services that it made me wonder if Norwegian is reducing staff to minimal levels to be more profitable during slower season?

Enjoyed the cruise very much. My favorite entertainment was "TWICE AS NICE".  They are definitely an asset to have.  They were great!

All entertainment was good!

Food was good!

Relaxation was good!

Had one bad day due to illness of one of our team but it was handled well.  Spent the day on Tuesday in Belize hospital.  They were wonderful and the B.E.R.T crew that ambulanced her to the hospital was good. Tender to shore was stressful. The captain came by at the time this was happening and he was most helpful in aiding her to the medical dept. Much appreciated!

This is our 5th cruise, 1st time on Norwegian. Definitely suited for those older customers who only want a couple options of entertainment. By that, it's either you gamble, watch variety show, or there's a few bars to sit and listen to live music (love songs, piano, guitar)....and that's it. Of course there's bingo and the newlywed game on all the ships. The guitar guy "Pedro" was absolutely FANTASTIC! WOW! We saw him every chance we could. He made it fun for us, cuz he's so darn talented. That guy needs someone to find him and make him famous. The stage shows were very good on this boat! No complaints about them at all. Good performers and singing. The magician David Da Vinci was excellent! Really great! If you get a chance to see him anywhere then do it! =) wow! As for the food. ....it seems as though anytime you eat in the dining room, its barely warm or just plain cold by the time it's put in front of you. ( not just this cruise, the last few) For me, I'm happier eating hot food at the buffets. I'd prefer to be served; but tired of cold food. We did 2 specialty restaurants. Cagneys Steakhouse ( Fantastic! )....spend the money to eat here! You will love it! Teppanyaki ( didn't like)....plain & bland , everything gets same flavor of garlic butter, and everyone gets same 2 dip sauces. When we've done this style before, each meat/seafood had it's own seasoning flavors and own dip sauces. ...and the flavors were amazing! So this place on the boat was a waste of our money. So if you've never had it before, you'll probably like it. If you've had it before. ..don't go to this one on the boat. The staff was very nice. There was always someone cleaning. We had a nice time. Our room was always attended to, no complaints. We are 42, and so far. ...Princess is our favorite. Carnival was fun , 1 out of 2 was good. 2nd one sucked service and everything; everyone complained whole trip. Celebrity was okay, but adult pool was awesome. This ship was just okay. 1 pool. The one on the back of the boat you had to pay for ; it was in the spa. Everyone keeps telling us to try Royal Caribbean. So that's what we'll sail next time. =)

Upon boarding the Norwegian Dawn in New Orleans, I was happy with the embarkation process. We were on board in less than 30 minutes from taxi, to stateroom. The luggage arrived in about an hour to our room. The balcony stateroom we had #10110 was pretty tight to get around. Other cruiselines that we've cruised with had better layout than this. There was literally only two places in the entire room that my wife and I could get past one another. Royal Caribbean, and Carnival were both easier to navigate in the room. 

The ship was in good condition, and was always clean. There is a little wear on this ship, but that's to be expected on a ship that's this old. The food in the Garden Cafe (buffet) was always fresh, and tasty. The buffet is a little segmented. We would walk all the way around to see what was available, and the walk was worth it.

We went to three of the specialty resturants on this ship. The Italian one, La Cucina, was reasonably priced, and delicious too. The Steak House, Cagney's, was the most expensive at $30.00. I had the Bone in Rib Eye with mushrooms. It was cooked to perfection, and very tender. The best specialty resturaunt on the ship is the Brazilian Churrascaria, Moderno. This is a must for anyone who likes an amazing salad bar, and meat of all kinds. The fried bananas were delicious!  I highly recommend Moderno!

The itinerary for this cruise was great. Two sea days, with four ports of call. Cozumel was first. Shopping, and then a trip to the beach. Great fun. Then came Belize. This is a tendering port. This is my one real complaint. We booked the river tubing excursion through the cruises only website. We were told to get tender tickets on board, so we got to the Spinnaker lounge early and got ticket numbers 007, and 008. We were told that we would be on the first tender going ashore. That was a lie. Once the tender boats started going ashore, we were told that ALL the people with excursions purchased on the ship would have priority. Even though our excursion was leaving earlier. By the time they let us get on a boat, we were 45 minutes late for our tour. We went to the perser's office like it said to on our tickets from cruises only, and they told me that my excursion was too early, and we would have to wait for all the Norwegian excursion holder to go first. Thanks to Ecotours for waiting for us to finally get there before they left. After Belize came Roatan Island, Honduras. This island is beautiful. We went to the private island across the harbor from the ship. It was very nice. It started to rain after we had been there for a couple of hours, and it rained for probably an hour, then I went snorkeling again and had a great time. After Roatan was Costa Maya Mexico. There we went to Senor Frogs all inclusive beach party. A good time was had by all at senor frogs.

Only one more minor complaint. It seemed to everyone in our party that the crew on the ship was always struggling to keep up with whatever they were doing. Whether it was bringing more drinks at dinner, or something to our cabin, they all seemed like they didn't really have time to do anything above and beyond just the basics. It seemed like the cruise ship might have needed more crew. On the other cruises that we've been on, the crew was always on top of anything we needed. And it seemed like the other cruises were very good at antisipating what we needed, and getting it done before we ever asked. Ok... enough about that.

Then another sea day back to NOLA.

All in all, I would recommend this cruise. 

Where should I start..... The main dining room staff was awesome! The daily questions were fun! And some of the shows in the startdust theatre was great! Outside of that our cabin wasn't midship as we were told it waa I was sick daily. The best food on the menu was Steak and Salmon which we had to order daily of go stand in the long lines at the buffet. The wait for dinner every night was 30-45 mins. There wasn't much to do we found this cruise very boring on the sea days. We were charged multiple times for the same item then told we did purchase that many which was a LIE! The reserve amount that was supposed to be placed on my credit card was done on the last day of the cruise instead of the first day as told. And right now today 12/4/2014 I still have money reserved on my account even tho the recording say it should be released in 3 business days after the trip. This was the WORST cruise EVER!

We loved our cruise on Norwegian Cruise Line! All of the staff go out of their way to make it so enjoyable, they are all so pleasant & friendly- always smiling! This was only our second cruise, we loved our first on a different cruise line, but NCL took things a step further, the staff was better, the food tasted better & everything overall was more fun. We were happy we booked our shore excursions through Cruises Only instead of the cruise line, because we were in much smaller groups. The shore excursions were great!

We have been on many cruises on at least a half dozen cruise lines in the past and I always enjoyed them very much and looked forward to future cruises. We have been on 6 NCL cruises since 2001 and always had a wonderful time.

This cruise on the NCL Dawn from Boston to Bermuda was certainly unexpected. It was the first cruise I have been on where I looked forward to getting off the ship at the end of the cruise.

We paid a premium for a guaranteed ocean-view room on Deck 8 (We had been on Deck 8 on the NCL Jewel on our last two cruises and the cabins were very good). When we arrived at our cabin on this cruise we were very disappointed.  This cabin had an odd layout which we have never before seen. There was only enough room for one person to move about in the room at a time. The closet was at the end of a narrow passage and was completely dark, as the room lighting barely got in there. Also, the safe for valuables was hidden in a corner of the closet which was totally in the dark.

I had a small pocket flashlight which was needed to see the keyboard on the safe. When we programmed a code into the safe and locked the door, it would not open. It gave an ERR code back continuously. On the second day of the cruise someone came and got the door open. We programmed it and it worked OK, for two days, then stopped working again. A day later someone came, (I had to stay in the cabin and wait for awhile for him). Then he showed us that there was a fluorescent lamp hidden out of sight on the very back wall of the closet which could be switched on.

This helped somewhat, but with clothes hanging in the closet most of the light was blocked. The bathroom in this cabin was so small as to almost be unusable. With the door closed there was barely enough room to stand at the sink. Because the were glass partitions separating this small bathroom  into three distinct areas, it was uncomfortable to use the commode. We used outside restrooms as much as possible. When showering one had to leave the bathroom  to towel dry because there was no room.  Also, on all of our numerous cruises, this was the first cruise on which I never met or saw our cabin steward!

In the past, one of the best parts of a cruise has been the dining experience. Not so on the Dawn! When we tried to go to the main dining room on the very first night, we were met by a hallway full of other passengers also trying to get into the dining room. After waiting about 20-25 minutes we got to the check in desk where we were handed a beeper (ala Olive Garden) and told that there would be at least a 45 minute wait for a table. After 45 minutes, we kindly returned the beeper and went to the passenger service desk to ask what was going on with the dining room. After some discussion. the head maître de was called and came and talked with us. He had no reasonable resolution for the overcrowding but said that for future nights during the rest of the cruise we had the option of making

a reservation, at a fixed time and table, in the dining room. This we did, thinking that the problem was over for the rest of the cruise. This was OK for the next two nights although each night there was a problem getting to the dining room hostess to get to our table. On the third night, when we got in we found others sitting at our 'reserved' table. Each night after that got worse until the final night of the cruise, we again could not gain access to the dining room due to overcrowding at the entrance. We then called the maître de and complained. By this time I was upset and not able to eat anyway. He offered to let us dine in the Itaian specialty restaurant for no charge, but it was time to go to the theater for the highlight show, which had been promoted all weeklong as a must see show. I  left the specialty restaurant after a couple sips of soup an went to the show, which was vey, very good.

Before I leave the dining experience, I would like to mention several other things, There is a second smaller dining room on the ship, but every time we went near it it either had a line of people waiting to get in or they were handing out beepers with and estimated 1 hour waiting time to get in. We never got in.

Also, there is a 24 hour café located just outside our room on deck 8 which, because of the other dining accomodations, we tried to eat at. The first time we were there we were seated at a table and then waited fifteen or more minutes with no one taking our order. We left. The second and last time we were seated at a table and again waited fifteen minutes with no one taking our order. My wife then picked up an empty water glass and went over to where the waiters? were getting water pitchers filled with ice water and asked if she could please get  glass of ice water. The waiter?, with a pitcher of ice water in his hand, then said "Go back to your table. We will bring it to you."  We left.

The other activities on board the ship, particularly the game shows, seemed to be very disorganized, poorly run. When arriving at the venue location, often there was another ongoing activity still in progress. This led to more crowds of people outside waiting to get in. Having been on a multitude of previous cruises, I know that these game shows have been put on hundreds, if not thousands, of times. They should be pretty routine by now! We have always looked forward to them in the past.

The photographers  seemed very good and we took home several nice pictures.

As usual, and one of the reasons I have enjoyed NCL in the past, is the enterainers/entertainment/shows have always been very, very good. I was not disappointed on this cruise. All of the shows in the main theater, as well as the other artists onboard, were excellent.

Our three days on Bermuda were very nice. We got to see a lot of the island and the weather was beautiful.

Crew gave excellent service! Bermuda was beautiful; I wish we had a little more time to enjoy the island. We didn't partake in any excursions, we wanted to explore the island ourselves and make the most out of our time there. We purchased a 2 day busy and ferry pass for $25 each. That allowed us to hop on and off all day, and schedule was accommodating.   Most of the nightly shows were fun, and the adult game shows at night were comical. Dingo Dave, our cruise director, was very entertaining all week. We went to Aqua most nights, and food and service was excellent. Venetian was good as well, but it was much noisier and hectic in the main dining room. Freestyle cruise is convenient and only a couple nights we waited about 20 minutes to sit.  Overall we had a great time!