Norwegian Dawn Review
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Hey. Just to warn you this is going to be a long review, but i promise it to be informative. First let me tell a little about myself. Ive been on 7 cruises in the last 7 years. 2 on Disney, 3 on Carnival and 1 prior NCL. Ive been to almost every Eastern Caribbean port of Call. I read every post on this website prior to going on my vacation, which i will comment on later and I do research about the ports on my own before i depart.
Disembarkation: I live on Long Island, so this cruise was very convenient for me. A simple train ride to Penn Station then a taxi. Less than an hour and a half of travel time. As soon as i reached the pier, my luggage was taken by the porter and within 20 or 30 minutes I was on the ship. Very smooth, I must compliment them for this. A secret, I must tell you about is that the Venetian restaurant is open as soon as your on the ship and has no crowds. Unlike the Garden Cafe, which was very crowded so avoid this.
Food/Restaurants: I must say that after being on several cruises, I was revealed to be away from the schedule and having to be at dinner at a specific time. The Dawn has 9 restaurants, so there is plenty to choose from. The Garden Cafe or Buffet, was what you would expect. People complain about buffets, but they're meant to serve hundreds of people at a time. I hardly ever went to the Garden Cafe except for drinks. There are two free restaurants on board the Dawn. The larger of the two in the aft of the ship is the Venetian and the other near mid-ship is the Aqua. I perfered the Venetian because the Aqua had tables much closer together, but they both have the same menu. The left sides of these free restaurants stay the same throughout the whole cruise and the right changes each night. I didn't mind this at all. Other restaurants on board are Le Bistro(French), Impressions(Italian), Cagneys Steak House, Tapenyaki(Japanese Cooked at your Table), Salsa(Mexican), Bamboo(Asian) and a Sushi Bar. All of these require a surcharge, but its definitely worth it. Me and my girlfriend went to Cagneys, Le Bistros and Impressions. Impressions was ok, while Cagneys and Le Bistros was amazing.