I sailed on the Dawn for the 4th time this past August and as usual had a wonderful time. I did read many of the bad reviews and as I used to be a cruise agent I feel a lot of the negative reviews stem from the passengers maybe not having the right expectations. Booking with an agent is the best way to ensure you know what you are getting.
That being said, my group had a wonderful time on the Dawn. From embarkation that was a breeze to the sail away party - what can be nicer, sipping a cold drink while you sail out of NY on your way to beautiful Bermuda.
We knew our trip was made when we went to Gatby's and found out to our happy surprise the Bernie Martini, our favorite from our last cruise was singing on the Dawn again. Oh happy days - we spent many a night this cruise in Gatsbys.
Cabin was my only complaint. We had a balcony and there were 3 of us in the room, when the beds are out you cannot get access to the balcony. The outside cabins were bigger as the balcony takes away room space.