I loved my time on the Dawn! This was my first ever cruise and I was a bit skeptical about it before I went because I was reading these reviews, so I went in with low expectations. We went with another couple, all of us in our late 20's. The other couple had cruised with NCL before.

Getting into the cruise terminal was pretty easy, the only thing that complicated it was all the Mardi Gras floats, no big deal for an extra 25 minute wait. There were many people directing traffic and telling us where to park our vehicle. The people at the parking lot were friendly and helpful, they even offered to help us carry our bags. We walked across the parking lot and there were porters right there to check our bags. It was so easy. We walked right into the cruise terminal, had to wait about 20 minutes to get through security. Everyone was guiding us to where we check in. We checked in quickly and started to board the ship. The entire thing from start to finish was about 35-40 minutes, which is amazing in my books. I couldn't believe how easy it was and I'm not sure what other people were complaining about in other reviews about it being such a disaster to board the ship.

Aboard the ship - Overall I was really impressed with how clean it was all the time. It is an older ship but it looks pretty modern with the upgrades they did. Public bathrooms were all in great shape, there was the odd malfunctioning toilet but nothing is perfect. There were so many of them too. You never had to walk far to get to one. Our bags were delivered in good time, our friend was missing hers because the tag fell off. Due to their policy you cannot claim missing bags until 8pm. She got it back right at 8pm. Our steward was great too. Read more