Norwegian Dawn Cruise Reviews - Reviews

We have been on 3 other cruise line ships for a total of 10 cruise. The was our first time on Norwegian. It was "THE BEST". Freestyle Cruising is relaxing, met alot of nice people including staff. Will definitely recommend NCL to our friends and we will be returning.

I travelled alone with my 7 year old daughter. The childrens program was great. My daughter cried several times having to leave the activities with her new friends. The pool hours for the children's pool closed too early. The excursion prices were overboard but not set by the cruise line. Room service was quick. Shower hose was broken and they replaced it within 1/2 hour. Lots of activities to choose from on the ship.

This was my 2nd cruise and my boyfriend's 1st time cruising and we had a wonderful time! In fact we we'll probably do the "freestyle cruising"some time in near future. The Norwegian Dawn was a beautiful ship and had lots to offer. It was spring break week and we didn't know what to expect w/all the college kids, but I think they made it all the more fun! The Bollywood show was great and the Teppanyaki and Cagney Restaurants were fantastic.

Stinky toilet Only 1 free restaurant, 9 others charge cover charges (5 free and 5 charge on Jewel 3 years ago). Cover changes are $15 - $25 now instead of $10 - $15. Same menu every day except one new entre in the free restaurant. No more cilantro or green scallions after first 30 minutes for soup in buffet area. Even Refuse to replenish when asked for. No buffet from 4:30 5:30 pm (when most people back on ship). Really bad ice scream. Annoying promotion/sales announcement all day. Leaking ceiling in hall way and restaurant.

this was our 2nd time on the dawn..noticed updates and impressed with overall maintenance..staff very accommodating...great entertainment..wonderful restaurants..will definitely go again

The ship is still in great condition and the layout works.

The Dawn is a lovely mid-size ship with classic features, reasonable deck and poolside (one medium, extended water complex for adults), and wonderful lounge and main theatre entertainment. This itineray is a great one, with interesting islands, and lots of time at sea (if you like that). The economy or at least cost-saving has effected the Norweigan experience. Breakfast and lunch buffets are standard and somewhat boring, but certainly very adequate. Not enough outside dining space in the non-smoking area of the deck, but just barely adequate. The main dining rooms have a standard dinner menu on the left side that never changes, and a right side daily page with only a few changes to the main, repetitive choices on the left. If you know about things like a shrimp cocktail (three small-medium shrimp) they will bring it to you, but it was never on the menu the whole time. Lots of complaints about poor overall variety of dinner entrees by others, not just ourselves. The dining staff are very attentive, even though you rarely have the same team twice. Deck staff are often 'indifferent' about clutter on the deck areas and likewise in room hallways. Trays and food dishes can sit in the hallways for hours, with staff just walking by them. Housekeeping did well with the rooms. The main theatre and lounge performers were first rate. The comedian played too much on his obesity and was fair. Gymnist/creative dance duo from Russia a highlight, along with the juggler. Looked like a great kids program, especially for under 10 years of age, with a T-Rex pool and play area in the back of the ships. Lot's of 'nickle and dime' payments for things which bothered many guests. The free pizza in the buffet was the best we have ever had on any ship and beats most pizza shops, too. We had a great time, mostly because of the wonderful weather, nice overall ship, and putting up with a few issues, as noted above.

Without any hesitation, the Dawn and her crew are to be commended for the highest display of professionalism making the entire cruise not only enjoyable, but it can be rated as an outstanding 9 days of relaxation, education and fun! We prefer cruising with Norwegian because we are assured of the highest standards of management to ensure comfort and care of passengers. We resevered 2 more sruises because of this.

This was my second time cruising with Norwegian and it was another amazing experience. The ship was so well kept and clean - I especially enjoyed taking a morning stroll along on the promenade deck. The two dining rooms (Aqua and Venetian) were very nice and the staff was very attentive. The food was very good. We did not go to any of the specialty restaurants - we were very content with the quality and service at the two dining rooms. The ship has alot of areas for sunning - and a great "quiet zone" if you just want to relax and read. The cabins were very nice and the room staff were extremely attentive. Every staff member we met had a smile on their face and went out of their way to make you feel special. It was a wonderful experience and can't wait to book the next cruise with NCL.

Ship was clean.comfortable,and the crew was great!

We were on the Norwegian Dawn for a 5-day trip to the Western Carribean. It was my first cruise and I/we were very impressed. Our room had a sitting room and deck which was wonderful; in bed at night I loved looking out at the ocean and hearing the waves. The ship was very attractive, clean and accessible for the number of people on board. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The evening entertainment was excellent although there was not enough time to take in the multitude of daily activities I would have enjoyed, especially with the inviting Oasis pool area. The tours available were varied and extensive. We chose to snorkel with the stingrays and turtle farm in Grand Cayam and enjoyed both immensely. In Cozumel, we went to Tuman which also enjoyed very much. Our tour guides were very knowledgeable and entertaining. We are also impressed with the ease of boarding and deembarking. Our only complaint was not enough time in port. It took so long to leave the ship that 1/3 of the day was over. We would have preferred to leave at 8:00 am and have some some at the end of our tours to shop and sight see.

This was our second cruise with Norwegian and we will go again. The ship was immaculate, service was excellent. Embarkation and disembarkation could not be any smoother. On return, we went from the ships deck to the airline ticket counter at Miami airport in just over an hour.

Overall, this was a nice vacation. We had a few bumps like our excursion being cancellede and didn't find out until the morning of. They did put a notice by our door, but it was inside another piece of paper. Some of the things going on on board were put directly on our bed so we would make sure and see them. They should have done that with the cancellation of our excursion. Irons are hard to come by. The shows were very good. The food was okay. Wait staff was not as attentive as other cruises we have gone on.

THE ENTERTAINMENT WAS OUTSTANDING. HAVE BEEN MULTIPLE CRUISES AND THIS WAS THE BEST, CREW WAS OUTSTANDING. THEY WERE THERE FOR YOUR EVERY NEED. (EVEN BEFORE YOU KNEW THERE WAS ONE.)

The Norweign Dawn was a great ship...beautifully decorated, colorful and cheery...the food was surprisingly good (and I am a fussy eater) and that was in all the dining rooms and buffet...no need to even pay extra for the specialty restaurants if you do not want to. The staff and services is to be commended...everyone works so hard to make sure you ahve a good time. I would definately recommend this cruise line and ship...and let me also thank the folks at who made the planning and arrangements so easy!!

The 5 night cruise to Cayman Islands and Cozumel was a great cruise for 1st time cruisers like us. Not too short and not too long. Lots of shore excursions to choose from. NCL's Freestyle dining is great. They have a cafeteria that is open about 16 hours/day, plus the have 2 large dining rooms that operate restaurant style. We'd ask for a table for 2 or 4, we'd be seated, handed a menu, and waited on. The Dawn also has other restaurants that for a $10 - $25 per person fee you can get tex-mex, asian, italina, french, of steakhouse food. The caliber of the entertainment was outstanding. Great carribean music at the pool for 4 hours every day and at night 1 lounge act, 2 piano bars, and a 7:30 - 9:30 theater show.

We haven't been on a cruise in 25 years but the one we went on was our best vacation ever. So, we had high expectations on this cruise going in. We like to say that Norwegian and Norweign Dawn exceeded our expectations in all categories and we are seriously considering on doing another cruise with this line. We felt bad leaving the ship. On this cruise I took my 92 year old mother in law with us. She had a smashing time as we did. The cruise director and all of his staff are some of the finest and most talented people we ever met and we have been around a long time. Hats off to them and the crew!!!!!!!!!!

This was my first cruise and I had somewhat high expectations from friends who had gone on other crises, unfortunatly I won't be going on another cruise because of this trip. Getting on the ship was like finding your way through a maze and there were staff standing around not willing to help. Most of the staff spoke broken english at best and were not friendly. The weather was horrible, which is not the ships fault, but there were not enough fun things to do inside if the weather is bad, unless you like to gamble which I don't. The ship advertised a dance room for all night, but it was geared towards teens and the music they played was horrible. Drinks were very expensive, food was hospital quality at best. The sushi was horrible, and you would think being in the middle of the ocean you would have good fish. The best meals we had were at the Cagneys Steak house and you had to pay an extra $35 a person to eat there, and you can't eat all you want like other places, so not worth it because portions are very small. The inside stateroom was fine, but we had problems getting our room made up and towels replaced. Also the two days we were at port there was not enough time to really explore the islands, I found that other ships were docked a lot longer than ours was and limited time really makes it stressful to get back on ship on time and you can't enjoy the place.

I am 92 years old and this is my first cruise since 1982. I was able to get around the cruise ship well with my family and I had a great time. I would highly recommend this cruise and I hope to go on another one in the future.

We recently returned from a 9 day Caribbean cruise on the Norwegian Dawn. Overall, we really enjoyed ourselves. I appreciated the smoke-free public areas very much. We ate almost all of our meals in the two main (no additional cost) dining rooms. The menus were the same every day for lunch and at dinner, a separate menu page was added each day with a few extra items. The food was quite good, but we wished we had more variety. We are not willing to pay extra for specialty restaurants. We thought the food at the other two no cost restaurants, the Garden Cafe and the Blue Lagoon was very good. We used the Internet Cafe which was the largest and most user-friendly we have seen on any ship so far. The entertainment was also the best we have experienced on any ship. Really, our only complaint was with the inconsistent service in the two main dining rooms, Venetian and Aqua. Some of the wait staff was excellent, professional and personable. Others were surly and rude. The problem was that we never knew which we were going to get. We crossed our fingers for good service every time we went to the dining room. Our balcony cabin was small but had everything we needed, we loved sitting out on the balcony. Another thing we really enjoyed was the cinema. We saw many almost first-run movies there. The Spinnaker Lounge was spectacularly beautiful and we spent a lot of time there. In summary, a very good cruise.