Norwegian Dawn Review

Balcony Warning

Review for Bermuda Cruise on Norwegian Dawn
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D&beach&J
10+ Cruises • Age 60s

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Sail Date: Jul 2011
Cabin: Aft-Facing Balcony

My husband and I cruised to Bermuda in July 2011 on the Norwegian Dawn. This was a 7 day cruise out of Boston. Our cruise experience has been with Royal Caribbean (6), Celebrity (2), Norwegian (2), and Carnival (1). This was our second time on Norwegian Dawn.

The updates to the ship were not all that apparent to us and I would still say that the ship is beautiful, but shows signs of age. There were a lot of children on board since it was summer vacation, but the ship is large and it never seemed crowded.

Embarking (getting on the ship): Very smooth! The sail departure time was 4 p.m., but we arrived at the dock at 10:00 a.m. and were allowed on the ship at 11:00 a.m. Our cabin was ready by 2 p.m.

Cabin Review

Aft-Facing Balcony

Cabin B1

Our cabin was smaller than any we've had on our past cruises. Two twin beds were made into a king-size bed and it was very comfortable. The room was attractive and clean. There were new flat screen televisions in the cabin, but it got very few channels.

We had one major complaint about this cruise and it was our cabin choice. On all previous cruises we have booked mid-ship balconies. On this cruise, we decided to try an aft balcony for the first time and it was the worst cabin decision we ever made. Our cabin, #8176, was above the Spinnaker Lounge. There was very loud music playing there every night until 3 a.m.! All the reviews I had read about this particular cabin, never mentioned how loud things would be there. The music was either a live band or a DJ. It didn't matter because it was horrible and we did not get much sleep. Unless you like to party until the wee hours, I urge you not to book an aft cabin on deck 8 of this ship.

Another thing nobody mentioned about this particular cabin is that when you have an aft balcony, you do not hear the soothing sounds of ocean waves like on a mid-ship balcony. You hear the sounds of a waterfall which is the noise we decided to call the water coming from the propellers on the back of the ship.

The shower in the bathroom was very large and had glass doors which was nice. On the other side of the shower was a sink. The toilet had its own enclosure. Warning to large people: do not torture yourself by booking a cabin on this ship. I do not exaggerate when I say you are a few inches of the wall on all sides of the toilet area.

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