We just returned home from our 7 day cruise on the Dawn and we were a part of the unfortunate group that got the worst weather in Bermuda, due to Tropical Storm Cristobel/hurricane warnings. As a result, we had very little sun, most days were windy/cool and almost the entire time we were in Bermuda - It rained buckets! Having said that, we still had a wonderful time on the Dawn and met many nice people. We traveled with our 3 kids (ages 5, 7 and 9) and my parents ... and we have been on half a dozen cruises in the past (mostly Carnival, Disney and only one other Norwegian cruise on the Gem), hopefully you can find a few useful tips from my review.
Embarkation
Since we drove from Toronto and the cost of staying in Boston was so expensive, we decided to stay about an hour and a half our in West Springfield. In the morning, we drove to the port and parked in the parking garage ($112 for the week) - we aimed to arrive around 10:30 and were on the boat seated for lunch by 11:30. Tip: Pack swimsuits separately as carry on, as we did not get our bags until close to dinner. Most do not think to do this, so pools were clean, not crowded and kids were happy to start their vacation right away. Second tip: One of the main restaurants (Venetian) is open for lunch on the first day! Most people headed straight for the buffet,. which we always find to be chaotic and stressful. Loved the fact we could have a nice sit down lunch and order from a menu. The mandatory safety drill was extremely well organized and they even took attendance. They even had alternate areas if the assigned area could not be accessed. It made me feel that passenger safety was a number one priority on this ship.