This was my 8th cruise with NCL and 4th on the Dawn. I chose the re-positioning cruise because I went in April 2015 and enjoyed the length of time and the amount of stops. I have only cruised with NCL so can't compare to any other cruise line. I was happy overall. The staff is excellent, as always, although they use to be more Happy, Happy, Washy, Washy.
I enjoy free-style cruising because I can choose when to eat and how to dress. My first cruise with NCL in June 2000 on the Majesty was not free-style. I am glad they changed to free-style. Most meals were eaten at the Garden Cafe because of our busy schedule, however, the food choices were almost always the same. This had been the case on most of the cruises. We did eat at O'Sheehan's a few times and once at the Venetian. O'Sheehan's makeover/name change was nice, however what they did to the Venetian was horrible. I don't see how lines through pictures can be considered Modern Art. I heard a lot of complaints about the Venetian makeovers.
I enjoy going to the shows but only went to a few this time since most shows are the same shows offered from cruise to cruise. I think a rotation of shows would be good. Second City was good, however only a few changes from previous Second City shows I have seen. I did like the cast of this Second City though. They seemed to work well together and Bruce and CJ was very quick witted and very funny.
The cabin was a good size, especially having three people in the same room for 14 days. We would have like to have gotten the Deluxe Owner's Suite again but unfortunately it was unavailable for this cruise.
We did our own excursion and took a bus to the Rain Forest and saw waterfalls.
We went to a beach about 5 minutes from where we docked. The beach was very rocky and the tide was very strong. I would not recommend this to others
Aruba was beautiful and the snorkeling was great.
We did our own thing. We went to St.Louis Cathedral, very beautiful, Jackson Square, River Walk, The French Quarter, The French Market, Bourbon Street, Superdome and Lafayette Cemetery were just a few of the highlights. New Orleans has a lot of history but can be dangerous in some areas, especially at night. I lived there when I was young and this is the 2nd time returning and will be going back in April 2017.