My husband and I just returned from a Christmas cruise on the Dawn and loved it! Great ports, great ship and great cruise staff! I know there have been alot of negative reviews for the Dawn in December but we saw only a couple minor things that others have posted here.
Embark/Debark - there was a long line when we got to the pier about 12:30pm on the 23rd but it moved very quickly and we were on board within about a half hour or so. We immediately booked Cagney's and La Cucina using credits we got from the online travel agent as we wanted to make sure we got Cagney's for Christmas Eve. We'd already booked Moderno and Le Bistro online before we left.
Room - we had a midship mini-suite on Deck 11. The room was decent size with a great balcony. Our steward, Gilbert, was great. Very attentive and made sure we had all that we needed. Our room was very clean, bed comfortable and no issues at all with the balcony.
Great balcony. A bit of noise from Garden Cafe in the mornings but we were up for our excursions anyway so no big deal!