We really enjoyed our cruise on the Dawn. This is our 3rd NCL cruise, 3 with Carnival, and 1 Royal Caribbean. I am a "young" 46 year old female. No cruise is perfect but this one was close! Here is our experience:
PROS: Matt Baker is a great cruise director - think Austin Powers! Musical entertainment is wonderful, especially Fire and Ice, Next Stage, and pool band. Try the Pub Crawl, Beer and Martini tasting. They make it really fun, you meet people, and you get a lot of alcohol for your money! Dance lessons in Spinnaker were fun, we learned the Cha Cha and some country line dances (and I don't really like country music). Loved that all rooms but casino were smoke free. Wish there was nonsmoking area outside also. Bermuda is beautiful and the scooter is a great inexpensive way to explore on your own. Embarkation/Disembarkation went rather smoothly. NCL is a great value for your money.
CONS: Food in regular dining room is just average but appreciated the vegetarian selections for me. Free style doesn't work so well, some larger parties waited 40 minutes for a table. Didn't like that you would have to pay $99 to use sauna/steam/lap pool in back - should be free! Pools small for the number of passengers on board. Inside stateroom closet too small, especially if there were 3 or 4 persons in room. NCL does try to get your money, but we've learned to "just say no"!
Cabin is small, closet space inadequate, bathroom nice except for placement of toilet.