This was my second cruise with NCL, having sailed previously on the Gem in February 2008. I traveled with my husband and three daughters (ages 21 months, 6, and 7). We booked the cruise based on great destination, price, convenience, and kids' activities. My birthday also fell during the week of the cruise. We are a pretty low-maintenance kind of family, other than some basic needs for the kids. Our feelings about our cruise on the Dawn were mixed. I'll let you read on and decide for yourself.

EMBARKATION: We drove from Queens to Manhattan and parked in the long term lot where we paid the $200+ fee in advance. Check in was very smooth, and after a short wait we boarded the ship. It was a madhouse inside. We had a great deal of trouble navigating with a stroller, carry on bags, and two other small children. We headed to the buffet which was jammed. I had to go from table to table begging other passengers for their unused utensils because there were few to be found. Got into a minor verbal altercation with an aggressive man who tried to take chairs away from my table when my husband and kids went up to the buffet for some dessert. He threatened to get a staff member to take the chairs from me, as if I were making up some imaginary family who actually needed to sit down when they returned with their food. (I was particularly offended by this because I am the type of person who hates to save seats for people and I usually never do it because I believe that if you want a good seat you should show up early and put your butt in it.) The whole buffet area was quite an ugly scene. I will be sure to head to Venetian instead of the buffet if we ever sail on the Dawn again.

CABIN: By 2:00 we were allowed to go into our cabins. We had two inside staterooms on Deck 11 AFT. As I entered my cabin it was decorated with birthday balloons and streamers, and a birthday cake sat on the vanity. My husband had arranged it. Only problem was, this was Sunday and my birthday wasn't until Wednesday, and the birthday greeting had my daughter's name on it instead of mine! (This was NCL's fault, not my husband's. I'll mention more about this later.) The cabin layout was the same as the one I had on the Gem, although the condition of the room was much worse. I immediately noticed that the carpet was stained and worn. Upon heading into the bathroom I saw thick dust on the toiletry shelf and on the mirror. Toothpaste splatters were visible all over the shower door. Small patches of rust and mold could be found round the bottom of the door and along the clothesline that spans across the shower stall. When we unpacked and put our suitcases under the beds, we also found more dust and crumbs from prior guests. The quality of the housekeeping was not great throughout the trip. It seems like the cabin stewards have too many cabins to maintain and that they are quite rushed to turn over the ship quickly as the old passengers disembark and new ones board. This could account for a lack of attention to detail which eventually leads to the overall deterioration of the staterooms. I also found it hard to contact the stewards when we had a problem or request. On the Gem our cabin stewards left little calling cards, to introduce themselves and to provide a direct number, should we need them. That made me feel much more comfortable asking for what I needed, rather than having to go through a third party. Read more