Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Great trip.   We had a family suite with a balcony on deck 12 forward.  Rooming on deck 12 is nice since you are on the floor with the garden café buffet and the pool.  The library is also on the same floor and makes a nice escape if you want to get away to someplace quiet.  The hallways also seem wider on that floor.  Great room, nice and roomy. It states it can occupy 6 but works better for 4 if all adults since two of the beds are full size Murphy bed and pull out sofa.  Nice bath room with double sinks and a separate tub and shower. 

The added benefit of booking a full suite is that you can have breakfast and lunch at Cagney's  which is on deck 13.  No charge, it's just for people in the suites. Wonderful food and very relaxing, not all the frenzy of the buffet or the wait for the main dining room. 

The coffee maker in the room is a nice added feature,  lavazza with the coffee pods.  The butler keeps everything well stocked daily. Anything you need- ask your butler.

The "Elements" show aboard the ship was well worth watching, sort of a Cirque du Soleil thing going on.

The weather on Bermuda was nice but a bit windy due to previous weather but that's out of anyone's control.   Dockyard is getting more shops and attractions for the ships but still not as nice as docking in Hamilton or St Georges as in previous years.  The ferry gets you to both and is convenient.

Overall, we loved it.  Bermuda is beautiful and has lots of nice interesting places to visit  if you  don't want to just beach it.

While the cruise was a very good experience, I thought that there should have been more wait staff in the Venetian dining room.  We ate 2 dinners in the Venetian room and 3 dinners in the Aqua room and the dining experience in the Aqua room was much faster.  It took 30 minutes longer to complete dinner service in the Venetian room.  We also had a bottle of wine each night and one night the bottle of white wine was delivered to the table and left there unopened.  We had to open it ourselves after 10 minutes and had to ask for a wine bucket to store the unused bottle in.  Is that average service or poor service?, you decide

In addition, don't bother making reservations in the Aqua or Venetian dining rooms as there is no benefit to do so.  I waited in the same line as people who did not have reservations.  There should have been separate lines for people with reservations

We loved it, The shows were fantastic, the people were so nice, the room was always cleaned, the food was fantastic, loved it all...it was awesome!

one note:

      The fact we went to tropical Island, more variety of fresh fruits would of been highly appreciated,

Overall the cruise was great.  The staff and crew were very nice and attentive.  The entertainment was incredible.  Some of the best shows that I have seen so far on cruises.  This one is my 9th.  The food was tasty but disappointing.  Breakfast was the same everyday. No different choices.  Mostly skipped lunch because not much of a choice.  Dinner in both the Venetian and the Aqua was delicious but again not a lot of choices.  The best dinner was the last night.  Lamb Shanks.  Absolutely out of this world.  The chefs did a great job with everything that they provided.  Just would have liked more choices.  The shops were on the "way too expensive" side.  Even with 70% off, the stuff just was not worth it in my opinion.  Great deal on putting deposits on a future cruise.  I took advantage of that but would have loved to come off the ship with a new cruise already booked to avoid the endless searching for the best deal.  I would recommend cruising with Norwegian but the Dawn is just OK.

NCL exceeded our expectations in every facet imaginable.  This was our first cruise, and our honeymoon, and it was better than we ever expected it to be!  Thank you to all the staff, in the front lines and behind the scenes for making this the best vacation of our lives.  Special thanks to our favorite two bartenders, Rexie and Johnida, and our room steward Rey.  We have pictures with each and every one of them.  They made every moment more memorable than we can even write in a review.  We will definitely be back again, and hope to see some of the same people that we did this time around.  All of the activities were entertaining, and the food was excellent.  The service was next to none, and we were overly satisfied with every aspect of this cruise.  

SHOWS AND ENTERTAINMENT ON THIS CRUISE WERE EXCELLENT.  THE BIGGEST REASON FOR THE DOWNGRADE TO "GOOD" IS THE WAY THE BUFFET WAS SET UP IN 3 SECTIONS. ONLY ONLY ONE SIDE AT A TIME WAS OPEN AND  YOU HAD TO GO THRU ALL THREE SECTIONS TO GET ALL YOUR FOOD.  SALAD FIXINGS WERE AT THE START SO THE LINE BACKED UP RIGHT FROM THE BEGINNING AND CREATED A LINE TO EVEN GET STARTED. THE LETTUCE WAS AT THE END OF THE SALAD MAKINGS SO YOU HAD TO GET THAT FIRST THEN BACK UP TO GET WHATEVER ELSE YOU WANTED ON YOUR SALAD BEFORE YOU COULD  MOVE FORWARD. IF SOMEONE SKIPPED AHEAD BECAUSE THEY DIDN'T WANT A SALAD IT CREATED BAD FEELINGS AND GRUMBLING  WITH SOME OF THOSE IN LINE WHO OBJECTED TO THEIR "CUTTING IN" BECAUSE THEY HAD HAD TO WAIT IN LINE THEMSELVES AND NOW THEY WERE AHEAD OF THEM.  A SIMILAR WAITING SITUATION WAS ALSO CREATED WITH MEAT THAT NEEDED CARVING OR EGGS THAT WERE COOKED ON THE SPOT. THESE WERE ALWAYS LOCATED IN THE CENTER OF A LINE CAUSING THOSE BEHIND THEM TO WAIT FOR SOMETHING THEY MAY NOT WANT BEFORE MOVING AHEAD TO SOMETHING THEY DO WANT.  A BETTER SOLUTION WOULD BE TO LOCATE THEM AT THE END OF THE LINE SO THOSE WHO WANTED TO COULD MOVE ON TO THE NEXT SECTION. ALSO, SIMILAR FOODS WERE IN EACH OF THE THREE LINES SO YOU JUST ABOUT HAD TO GO THRU ALL THREE.  OFTEN AFTER I HAD CHOSEN A VEGGIE OR MEAT FROM MY CHOICES  IN ONE SECTION, I FOUND ANOTHER  CHOICE I WOULD RATHER HAVE HAD IN ANOTHER SECTION I BUT MY PLATE WAS FULL.  I WOULD LOVE TO HAVE HAD ALL MY CHOICES FOR ONE TYPE OF FOOD IN THE SAME SECTION.  I HAVE BEEN ON OTHER MANY OTHER CRUISES, NCL INCLUDED, AND HAVE NEVER FELT THIS FRUSTRATION BEFORE.  I THINK ON OTHER SHIPS BOTH SIDES WERE OPEN DURING THE BUSIEST MEAL TIMES, OR AT LEAST USED AS SEPARATE STATIONS FOR THINGS THAT TOOK TIME TO SERVE. I DON'T REMEMBER  THE LINES EVER BEING AS LONG AND SLOW AS THEY WERE ON THIS TRIP WITH ONLY ONE SIDE OPEN AT A TIME. ON THIS CRUISE THERE WERE NO GAPS IN THE LINES WHERE YOU COULD STEP IN AND GRAB ONE THING WITHOUT PHYSICALLY REACHING BETWEEN TWO PEOPLE.  I COULD TELL BY THE ATTITUDE OF THOSE IN LINE WAITING TO MOVE FORWARD THAT I WASN'T THE ONLY ONE WHO NOTICED HOW INEFFICIENT AND FRUSTRATING THIS SET US WAS.

AS I SAID, THE REST OF THE CRUISE WAS RATED EXCELLENT.  HAVING 3 DAYS IN THE SAME PORT IN BERMUDA WAS NEW FOR ME AND A GREAT EXPERIENCE.  WITH NO FEAR OF HAVING TO RETURN TO THE SHIP BEFORE IT SAILED AWAY, I WAS ABLE TO USE THE ISLAND BUSES AND FERRIES AS MUCH AS I WANTED.  THEY WERE CONVENIENT, INEXPENSIVE, INFORMATIVE,  AND I FELT THAT I TRULY GOT TO SEE ALL THE DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE ISLAND IN THE ISLAND WAY.  AND YES, I WOULD DO THIS CRUISE AGAIN BECAUSE EVEN IF THE BUFFET FOOD SERVICE WAS LACKING, THE VARIETY AND QUALITY OF IT WAS VERY GOOD.

I loved my cruise ! The staff was excellent . Very accommodating and would remember you name from the first time you meet them .With as many people they would meet , i loved them and will miss them until next time which i am hoping will be very soon !  I give a special  thanks to Irene , Nennette who would bring our drinks. Ricky who cleaned our rooms . They will never be forgotten . Also to everyone else who made our trip memorable.

This was our second cruise on the Dawn and our seventh with NCL. The boys (both 17) had a wonderful time on the ship and we enjoyed Gasby's and the martini's!!  The staff were all pleasant and accommodating, making it a pleasant experience.  Bermuda is by far our most favorite port!

We had a very enjoyable trip to Bermuda.  The accommodations were fine, and the food was excellent as always.  One of the highlights for us was the Neil Diamond tribute show on Thursday evening.  We had sailed on NCL previously, and will most likely do so again in the future.

Loved my cruise. Bermuda is spectacular. The cruise was a blast. The only thing I would say is that The Dawn is an older ship and is showing her age.  I have been on other lines and ships and all were in better condition.  It was not bad, it is just time to refurbish the ship particularly the public areas and bathrooms.

Norwegian Dawn provided average services in all aspects, and tried hard to save the costs. Entertainment was the best, but only 45 minutes; the state room was clean, but the supplies was basic, got shampoo, no conditioner; the food is plenty, but the food quality and taste was not their concerns, even in the formal dinning hall.  I ordered an entree "sweet and sour pork" which tough as leather, my fork could not penetrate it, definitely not my teeth. The crews performed their basic duties, but were barely smiles. 

This was my fifth cruise and second time with Norwegian, not a very good experiences. Celebrity is much better.

We live just a couple hours from Bosron, so getting to and from the port was a breeze. Embarkation was fairly quick and well-organized, but I think Boston needs to spruce up its departure area (the arrival section was much nicer when we disembarked).  Our balcony cabin was small, but the bathroom quite roomy with big shower.  The cabin was dusty...when I moved magazines, trays, etc to organize, there was dust everywhere!!  Other than that, it was clean.  The ship itself was disappointing. We are older and like to find a quiet daytime lounge with a sea view for reading, talking.....there was none.  Perhaps there was one on deck 14, but that deck was now exclusively for penthouse suite cruisers with special card access.   Re food, the buffet was not good.  Not only was the food mediocre, but it was terribly organized with ONE long line for everything.  No stations for salads, pasta dishes, etc which would make lines shorter.  We most often ate in the main dining rooms, where the food much better.  The service was slow, but that's not unusual on a cruise.  I must admit we were amazed at how casually some peopl dressed for the dining room. We did not eat in any of the 7 specialty restaurants.   Entertainment was just okay.  We went to a show first evening, but never went back because it was so loud.....even for my husband who has some hearing loss. So we just listened to music in the lounges.  This cruise, the last of the season, had 2.5 days in Bermuda, which I gather is more than most Boston cruises.  The weather was perfect, mid 70s.....though maybe beach goers would like it a little warmer.  We only did one NCL excursions...the boat trip around Hamilton harbor and

smaller islands.....we hoped it would give us a glimpse of where we stayed on honeymoon.

it didn't, but it was a very enjoyable narrated boat trip of two hours.  Other than that, we used the public buses and ferries to get around the island from one end to the other, very convenient and inexpensive.

All in all, I would have to say this is the last 7 day cruise we plan to do.   We usually do longer cruises which tend to attract older, quieter people like us.  The 20 -50 crowd is much livelier than us old fuddy-duds!!

Our trip on the Norwegian Dawn was excellent.  The room was very nice and we thoroughly enjoyed the balcony; either just relaxing, reading or watching the sun set.  The room steward kept the room in immaculate condition and was always smiling and very pleasant.  The wait staff couldn't have been nicer or more efficient.  That also goes for all the personnel that worked in the dining room.  The food was very good and plentiful.  Bermuda was absolutely beautiful and sunny the entire time we were there.  We purchased  two day bus pass and traveled from one end of the island to the other on ferries and buses.

Loved our cruise aboard the Dawn!  Good balance of time spent sailing and time spent on shore.  Loved the food, the casual laid back atmosphere, the staff, the entertainment.  Just a wonderful all around experience.  Ready for our next one!

The cruise was o.k but had a couple horrible staff members.  Our room attendant was AWESOME! she had our room spotless and my water on ice every time I came back. she was always interested in how our day went, The food was good the restaurants were hurried and loud but there were many people as well as many others waiting. My disappointment was on shore, from what I heard from others that have taken the same cruise to Bermuda there were parades as well as many activity's. So It was very disappointing that everything in Hamilton was closed.  We docked in a port that did not have much to do. I know they had just had a major hurricane the week before. In that case the ship should have gone to a different port. I was also kind of put out with the games of Bingo and Deal or no Deal. Bingo was very very expensive with many people playing 80 dollar hands, however the pay out was 100 per game with only two games and the cover all being 300 (which we won) but it was a very large money maker for the company.  Pay out  could of been at least 50/50. I am thinking about taking another cruise with Norwegian next Sept if it is the same I think I will check out a few other cruise lines.I am hooked on cruising that is one great thing that came out of my cruise, I plan on taking many more!!

Kelly J Frenette room 9521.

We enjoyed every minute of the cruise. The balcony room was perfect. The entire staff could not have been more polite or helpful. We thoroughly enjoyed the shows. Our tour of Bermuda was excellent and we enjoyed the shops and mini-golf course at Heritage Wharf. We always had plenty of good food and we thoroughly enjoyed Cagney's .Steakhouse.

This cruise was our fourth Norwegian journey to Bermuda from Boston, and it met all of our expectations, especially the weather which cooperated fully. The Norwegian Dawn is an older cruise ship among the Norwegian fleet, but well maintained and comfortably sized. We found the Norwegian Epic last February too big, poorly laid out and the staff lacking the attention to detail that is characteristic of the smaller Norwegian ships. While the number of complementary dining options is more limited than on the larger cruise ships, the quality of the food in the main dining rooms was excellent. The buffet breakfasts and lunches were great, but the dinner options were sub-par. Entertainment, again more limited than on the larger Epic, was "entertaining" and well worth the investment of time.

Our balcony cabin was well laid out, especially compared to the Epic's cabin layout. On a trip to Bermuda, with three days and nights in port, a balcony cabin is essential for late afternoon cocktails and snacks overlooking the pristine Bermudian waters. Our cabin steward was relatively conscientious and did a good job with the daily cleaning. He did fail to adequately address a slow draining sink, but this was a minor inconvenience.

Bermuda is a terrific cruise destination for travelers who wish to have time to explore these beautiful islands, but don't want to spend a fortune on hotels and meals on land. There are more than enough activities and sights to see to keep guests fully engaged over the three days in port, and then there is always the ship to which to retreat when it's time to just lay back and relax.

Access to the ship, and disembarkation from the ship was very convenient, especially for guests who are privileged enough to park in the nearby garage which costs only $112 for an whole week.

Overall, the Norwegian experience to Bermuda from Boston is a high value opportunity, and worth repeating time and time again.

Thanks to Karen, eight couples enjoyed a fantastic time together on the Boston to Bermuda cruise!

The weather was perfect, the food good, and the ship's personnel very pleasant. 

Cruise was good, service in dining room was the same as your home town eatery.  Every meal something was left out, either coffee, milk, ect., and if you asked for something extra the look told the story. I think its their tip is always there no need to go out of their way. I guess you get what you pay for, price was low and so was the service.

Great deal for the $ This is I think the six time I have taken this cruise out of Boston. I live in Worcester where it's only 40 miles away so I have no plane to ketch. I wouldn't change anything great people and staff well trained to take care of the customer. Great food great acts,shows ect. Will be doing it again soon. Also great golf if your a fan.