Norwegian Dawn Review

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Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Dawn
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Lady Patriot
2-5 Cruises • Age 50s

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Sail Date: Jan 2017
Cabin: Oceanview Picture Window

My dh received a nice Christmas bonus, so we decided to "drive down to New Orleans and hop on a cruise ship." I was delighted to do so since we hadn't cruised since 2007, and our situation since then hadn't permitted it. The Norwegian Dawn is the only ship that sails out of NOLA, and it's about a 10-hour drive from St Louis where we now live.

We stayed in #5027, an ocean view on Deck 5. Personally for me, it was a huge mistake. I grew up fishing and boating, but was not accustomed to being so close to the action, especially when we were in crazy rough season on Monday--gale force winds, 16' swells and 1 rogue wave that caused the ship to list about 11 degrees. I kept the curtains closed for the rest of the trip because it was just too scary for me. I requested my dh that next time it be either a balcony or an interior.

The rough seas lasted 18 hours. Many of the passengers were scared or angry, mostly because they had no idea when the wind and the waves would die down. I think the captain would have done the passengers a great service by telling us when the storm might let up. This information was not available on the Navigation Channel. It might be an hour earlier or an hour later from the time he would give, but at least we would have an idea how much longer we would be hanging onto railing and keeping the sickness bags within arm's reach.

Cabin Review

Oceanview Picture Window

Cabin OA

dh and I had the beds pushed together into a queen bed. Cabin was always clean and colorful with throw pillows and plenty of space on the window sill, but it was cramped on either side with very little head room next to the fold-down bunk beds.

Port Reviews

New Orleans

Everyone from the parking lot attendant to those who were in charge of security were really great. The wait to clear security would have been a good hour, and I was using a cane due to my bad back, but one NCL rep walked up to me and dh and brought us to the front of the line.

Cozumel

As usual, the shopping is great if you don't mind every single shop owner hounding you to come in and buy. Like the other Western Caribbean excursions we took this time around, Cozumel has become way too commercial. There was a Hooters and a Starbucks in the first "mall".

The currency exchange at the time was 21 pesos to the US dollar, double what it usually is. We bought tee shirts, wind chimes, a beach bag, and of course, tanzanite at Diamonds International.

Costa Maya

There were no excursions that interested us, so instead we went shopping for about an hour. Again, touristy. We went back to the ship two hours later.

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