Sailed on the Norwegian Dawn December 20-27 with my husband and teen age daughter and was overall quite disappointed. This was our tenth cruise and previously we have primarily sailed with Holland American but also with Costa Cruise line in Mediterranean and last year in Cuba. Boarding the ship was quite chaotic and disorganized. Our balcony cabin was the smallest we have ever had - With the sofa made into a bed, it was impossible for the person sleeping on the bed next to the sofa to get into bed without climbing in and out from the opposite side. On a positive note the bathroom was a nice size and the cabin staff were very attentive. Our cabin was spotless although the balcony was quite rusted. Could also smell a lot of smoke from adjacent cabins which was unpleasant.

Food service was appalling and most of the staff were quite indifferent. Not nearly the quality of Holland American. The first two days we had breakfast in the dining room and it took 45 minutes to receive our food so after that we ate breakfast in the buffet for fear of missing our excursions. We took all our evening meals in the dining room and had to ask for wine service - it was never offered which we found quite surprising. On two occasions the wine arrived mid way through our meal. On two of the seven days on board we had to ask for coffee with our meal. It was not offered and the staff seemed to have to go elsewhere to find it - very odd. By the third day at sea, service improved somewhat and senior staff seemed to be in the dining room clearing tables and generally trying to help out. At times there seemed to be too few staff and at other times staff were standing around and looked like they were not sure what to do. AT one point the Cruise Director mentioned that "Free Style" cruising means you wait a bit longer for food. While I can understand that might be necessary, it seemed like a weak excuse for consistently poor service. and poorly trained staff.

I was surprised to find that we could not have coffee from the coffee shop using our beverage cards. It was possible to have a $10.00 Irish Coffee with abundant liquor but not a $2.99 cappuccino - again not our experience from other ships. The liquor was poured very liberally - usually at least 2 oz if not more per drink. Read more