Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

Cruise was great,very good service,only complaint I called my travel agent Maria christmas twice before we left on the cruise with question never received a call back was told we would get $125.00 on board spending only got $50.00 on board spending was suppose to get 2 cakes one for birthday one for anniversary from Carlos bakery on board did not get any.

Food all the restaurants was great and tasty.- The cabin even though was an inside cabin was roomy, always clean the service was good. The ports of call were ok. The sailing was very smooth.

Cruise was great - enjoyed the many ports.  Quebec City is a great "walking" city, had old world charm.  Liked visiting the different cultures from American, Scottish, French.

Having only booked 5 days before sailing, and not having cruised before we were unsure about what to expect, and had little time to acquaint ourselves with either on board activities or excursions. We thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience. Great balcony cabin amidship - didn't matter that it was on the seaward side of the ship. Still always something to see and loved waking up to the dawn. Freestyle Dining was fantastic  - didn't need to plan ahead and could eat where and when we wanted to. Always chose to share and met lots of interesting people. Wine was well priced and good quality. Garden buffet had a huge amount of variety and any individual needs were catered for. Main dining rooms also had excellent menus and service. Wonderful, friendly and helpful crew. Fantastic shows and entertainment. Ports were interesting and unexpected. Processes foe embarkation and disembarkation were well organised and worked smoothly. We would happily sail with Norwegian again.

Accommodations were misrepresented by "Cruises Only". We were sold a family suite which was represented as two bedrooms with a common living area. Technically correct but we were not advised that the second bedroom was little more than the size of a closet with a very hard sofa bed. We found our problem when we occupied the suite. Not at all satisfactory for two adult couples. We tried to find an upgrade but the ship was full.

Ship other than living accommodations was clean and comfortable. Food was very good, both the complimentary dining and the specialty restaurants. Entertainment was good. Service was good.

Destinations were pretty bland other than the final - Quebec City - which was beautiful.

Once we dealt with the living accommodations, the food, drink, and entertainment were fine.

Costs were good.

I can recommend Norwegian Cruise Lines generally, I will be very careful in the future if I am dealing with Cruises Only. I cannot heartily recommend the interim destinations of this particular cruise and would not repeat.

Our third cruise and first NCL, others HAL  in Europe and Alaska.  The embarcation and disembarcation were very smooth and fast, the latter particularly if a dock porter handles your bags and flags down a taxi sans the long taxi que.

The room was a very large handicapped one, comfortable, and with a very pleasant and consciousness steward.  Everything in good working order, and very quiet (9719).

We ate 30 times I'm the Venetian main dining room.  All breakfasts, all but one dinner and several lunches.  Service was good on the whole.  We were glad we took advantage of the ability to book this restaurant prior to embarcation and got our early seating that worked well with the first show, table for two, and window views most times.  The food at dinner was not of HAL standards ,  particularly the buffet which we tried twice for lunch and found only good fruit, salad makings, sandwiches ,ice cream and my husband states hamburgers, that we would eat.  The main dining room was much better and breakfast was good and a lovely way to start the day.

Excursions were a NCL excursions were a reasonable price and you really needed to book something in the tiny ports.  Time in port was good and we had some wonderful lobster, PEI mussels in white wine, blueberry pie, and of course great food in Quebec City and Boston.

Entertainment was hit and miss.  Except for The Elements show and the Illusion/magician,  the regular troops, including second city were very Motown loud and not very funny, BUT their smaller performers:  Jose and Patti, Harry O Donohue ,a very funny Irish singer/musician( both of who did the large show room too)  we're absolutely the best afloat.  The Celtic musicians and piano bar were talented.

We are Hilton Honors gold members and used the Hilton Logan for a night in Boston before and after and it worked well.  Beautiful views of the city, complementary upgrades to lounge,buffet breakfast, very  late check outs and early check in, prompt courtesy van service including to the blue and silver lines and water taxi, and and a very short taxi ride to and from the cruise port.

Overall, the cruise itself was nice in terms of the ports up the Northeast coast and into Nova Scotia and Canada. The ship is nice...I've been on it before...but nothing really out of the ordinary. Food was very good. Service was just OK. Staff were just OK in terms of friendliness (inconsistent). Theatre shows were decent...not great. Art Auction/staff were great.  Room was clean and tidy. Room steward much too noisy outside of our cabin every morning...really early! Need more/better bar/lounge areas. Need more/better activities inside the ship when the weather outside is too cold to be on the deck. Shops and merchandise were not very good on the ship and way too pricey. Front desk staff rarely smiled.  I've sailed on Royal Caribbean and it was a much better overall quality experience.

We live in southern NH and nothing beats the convenience of leaving out of Boston, MA for this Bermuda cruise.  The staff are respectful and extremely accommodating.  This is our third time to Bermuda and we find new fun things to do on the island each trip.  The NCL Dawn is a great boat with great entertainment, and delicious cuisine.  Highly recommend this trip!!

We thoroughly enjoyed this cruise, even though we had the next door neighbors from Hell.  The crew was top notch.  Always a smile and a hello from whichever crew member you would encounter throughout the ship.  A few "heroes" were Eugene - our room steward.  Always a smile and remembered our names from the very first day.  Kept our room in perfect condition.  Irene - poolside drink server.  Remembered our names, our preferred drinks and was always there when we wanted a drink, but, not overbearing.  Shirley - cruise director's staff.  Funny, funny, funny.  You've got to see her in the Losers Lounge during Dancing with the Dawn Stars.

The ship was fine.  Our room comfortable and in good shape.  The entertainment was great. Especially, Jose and Patty, the singers and dancers and the production shows were top notch, especially Elements.  Second City was same old stuff, though.  They should think about replacing them with a funny comedian.

Food was good.  We dined in the main dining rooms, Venetian or Aqua all but one night.  Choices were good, service was great!  One night asked for a special preparation of a meal choice (no cheese on chicken parm) and had a bit of a wait.  Otherwise no problems.  On the last night of the cruise went to the Garden Café for Prime rib.  It was the best piece of Prime Rib we have had in a long time.  Delicious and tender.

This is the fourth time we have done this cruise and we are always extremely satisfied.  As for our problematic neighbors - they were newlyweds who fought the first four nights of the cruise.  We didn't complain - our own fault - but we lost lots of sleep.  On the fifth night, they were taken to the brig.  Finally Peace!  They were quiet from then on, thankfully.  God bless them in their marriage.

I have gone on this cruise now 4 times and always have a great experience.  Bermuda is an awesome place to visit and Norwegian Cruise Line knows how to treat their guests.  There are lots of activities for every person and I do like the restaurant options as well - though I do hope they never do away with the complimentary dining rooms.  The food was excellent as always but missed out on the "midnight buffet". I do think once a week maybe at 10p-12a they should at least do it once.   I love the photograph packages they now offer and the prices are very reasonable.  Unfortunately, the ship itself is starting to show some minor wear in public area bathrooms but otherwise in good shape. Only other complaint is the chocolates at "turn down service" are now only for certain levels on the latitude program...come on really?   I will definitely be taking this cruise again.

great trip....  very relaxing... great entertainment in Atrium  will try to follow Jose & Patti in future

disappointed that some entertainment on Stage were identical to last year.

for those of us who might go every year we need all new shows.

I felt that the food and service in dining areas was extremely slow,, food was subpar, and often served cold or overcooked. nothing like my previous norwegian cruises

French Restaurant just OK,

Buffet was always cold 

Shows were outstanding,

Cabin steward was excellent !!!!!!  Vikktor

I had a great time with my fiancé and friends. We went from Boston to bermuda and stayed for 3 days then came back. They had a lot going on during the nights at and it was fun tonrelax and eat five pounds of food back on!

The only thing I would say I would like to see was perhaps more things for the younger crowd to do. A lot of concerts or events seemed aimed at seniors rather than twenty to thirty year olds.

Not a big fan of the "Freestyle Cruising"! I felt the staff didn't need to make a connection with you like they would on Carnival. I never met my cabin steward and because you did not have assigned seating you had different wait staff every night. With different wait staff you never really get to know them so they don't feel they have to go above and beyond for you. The food was just ok  so we booked the Italian restaurant at $15 more PP. That was also just ok So we booked the Steak house at $30 more PP. That was GREAT! but it cost a lot when you consider you already paid for food and then you have to shell out another $60 a couple. I loved the fact that the Ship docked in Bermuda and stayed there for two nights. You actually got to see the Islands night life which I loved. But the Dawn is a smaller ship and kind of run down a bit. We also had a problem with our room safe that kept us held hostage to our room for over three hours! I did not go on a cruise to wait for a repair man, I can do that at home for free!!!! It wasn't the fact that we had a problem with the safe, that will happen. It is the way they chose to deal with it that was the problem, and that goes back to the staff not needing to make a connection. I had had a problem with my Shower on another cruise, it was dealt with immediately and with no inconvenience to me. On that one I had met my cabin steward on the first day, we made a connection, and he bent over backwards to get my problem taken care of. THAT DID NOT HAPPEN WITH NORWEGIAN!  ALL said I like the Itinerary of the cruise, the entertainment was great, I just didn't feel like I was important to the staff I dealt with. I felt like just another customer. I can get that type of service at any restaurant in my area, I expect more on  a cruise.

For our first trip sailing to Bermuda, the balcony was the way to go!  Whales, dolphins, fish, ocean air....it was spectacular.  The singing by Entertainers was wonderful, it was every night and it was Country, 60's etc.  Husband and wife duo!!!  The food was great, plenty of it all the time.  You could eat in the buffet upstairs by the pool or the 2 main restaurants that are all included, you could eat in the Bimini grill or out by the pool.  Delicious meals

My only flaw in the trip was the show we saw. in the theater  I don't even recall the name but it wasn't very good at all. 

This cruise is a big step down in our experience from the Royal Caribbean Bermuda cruise out of NJ. We were disappointed in a few areas:

Food. The emphasis is heavily on eating and most restaurants are Premium cost. We tried three of the restaurants and had very mediocre dinners. The food in the main dining rooms was just as good as the "pay for" restaurants. As a matter of fact, we had a meal in the Bistro and it was by far the worst meal we've ever had in a restaurant at sea or ashore. We had one great meal at Cagney's but the second time was poor.

Seating areas. Most of the outdoor seating on the ship is lounge chairs. My disabled brother had difficulty finding a regular chair to sit in as there were very few to be had. No chairs on the Promenade deck. We found this lack of chairs odd and difficult for elderly or disabled.

Convenience. If you live in Boston, this is a good option for a quick 7 day cruise to a warm climate. The cruise was okay, but very lackluster. Nothing stood out except a few employees.

Staterooms. We've been on five different cruise lines and this room was by far the smallest of any. We were tripping over each other. However, the bathrooms were great and the rooms were very soundproof. The decorating is a little worn and our cabin wasn't the cleanest on embarkation, but that was taken care of by the staff.

My husband and I had a great time on the Norwegian Dawn to Bermuda in early September.

We have been to Bermuda a number of times, so the purpose of this trip was to enjoy some well needed R&R, which we did, as we enjoyed tropical drinks by the pool, under sunny blue skies.

It was our third cruise on Norwegian cruise lines, and the service and convenience of sailing from Boston couldn't be beat, as we live 30 miles outside of the city.  We were in our stateroom by noon, without any check-in hassle. We are looking forward to taking the same trip in the near future, as we loved our cruise and always love sailing to Bermuda!

We had a great time on both the ship and the island it was a great experience. The food,service and entertainment  were the best. There's a very relaxed atmosphere and you have the option to dress up for a meal whenever you desire, freestyle cruising is definitely the way to go. I realize casinos come side by side with smoking, but I wasn't happy with the cigarette smoke in the hallways, I believe a glass door at the entrance of this area could benefit everyone.  There's also smoking on the decks but at least it's outside so the smoke doesn't accumulate.  The pool area was great also, I thought the pool was on the small side. Overall a great trip!!!!

I planned this trip one week before I left and it turned out to be one of my best vacations.  I will definately take this cruise again - hopefully next summer.  Service was good, ship was clean, food was good and people were friendly.  There was only one problem that I experienced consistently and that was the poolside bar service.  The service was extremely slow.  I shouldn't have to wait 20 minutes for someone to even look my way or to take my order; not even an acknowledgement that I'm standing there waiting.  Not enough bartenders for all the people that were poolside.  Mid week I decided to go up a few levels (Poolside) to the Bimini Bar and the service was way better.  So next year it will be the Bimini :)

Loved my cabin Steward Tofon - he was awesome.  My cruise wouldn't have been this good if it wasn't for Tofon and his friendly face every time I walked out of my room.  Incredible!  He was always right there asking if we need anything.

Very pleasant vacation!

A Happy Cruiser :)

Catherine

The staff was top notched. The service was impeccable! If I were to compare it to hotel ratings, I could give no less than a 5 star rating. My husband and I enjoyed ourselves so much that we're already planning our next cruise to Europe! Can't wait!!!!