We would definitely choose NCL again. The variety of ports was very good and the time in ports was just right (all day). The only drawback with leaving from Boston was the 3 days down and 3 days back with no sea days in between ports. Understandable given the distance and length of cruise so not a deal-breaker. Getting on and off the ship was a breeze both in Boston and at ports of call. We had friends in Boston who dropped us off and picked us up. It was not a difficult port to get to or through from that standpoint. Roughly 85% of the cruisers were from Boston and most had been on the Dawn many times. We were told it is the friendliest NCL ship of the line and our experience would confirm that. Guest services was very helpful, everyone acted like they were enjoying their jobs, the entertainment was very good and the food was excellent. We did four specialty restaurants on a dining package: Le Bistro, Cagney's Steak, Tappenyaki, Moderno. All were very good but I think we were most impressed with Moderno. Given the size limitations who would have expected a great Brazilian steakhouse on a ship? Not us! But it was just excellent. I also liked the fact that the food service staff was very sensitive to people with food allergies and could accommodate or make menu suggestions for my GF issue. I could always find something to eat and did not get sick at all. Overall, I would recommend NCL cruises and in particular the Norwegian Dawn. It's not a huge ship but definitely a good one! Read Less

There were only two instances keeping this from being the perfect cruise. First was the extremely hard sell after my massage. It made me so tense that the wonderful massage I got was null. My husband experienced the same with his massage, plus his therapist tried to do upsell in the middle of his massage. It made it to where he couldn’t relax after that. When getting a massage a person does not want to think about money. I feel that the therapists realize that the client is in a vulnerable position and tries to take advantage of that. Second, was with a CruiseNext staff member. As a Platinum Plus Latitudes member, I have cruised with NCL many times. Usually more than once a year. I was not invited to the Dinner with The Officers, Behind the Scenes Tour, or The Private Cocktail Party. Since this was my first time on the Dawn, I was looking forward to these events. When I went to inquire at the CruiseNext office, the assistant there was quite condescending to me. When I said it was not making me feel like a very welcome guest, she continued to berate and tell me all that I was doing wrong. I did share this with Tony, the Hotel Director, and he seemed to take this very seriously and I am happy with his response. Pedro Sera, our Cruise Director, was one of the best, if not the best we’ve had. He made the whole cruise go seamlessly smooth. We were amazed at the amount of participation that Pedro had during the events. Bravo!! Thank you, Pedro & Tony. We have never had any complaints about the food on NCL, but this cruise consistently was above and beyond expectations. Many compliments to the chef and his staff. Awesome job!! Read Less

Took this cruise to celebrate our anniversary. Wanted to catch the eastern fall colours We have done several cruises (mainly with NCL) but we get the feeling that their shipboard experience has deteriorated considerably. It seems that everywhere you turn, they are charging extra for things that used to be complimentary. Maybe we are getting more critical after having been on several cruises, but this had definitely gone downhill in our opinion. We felt that the food in the dining rooms had dropped in quality and selection. Mediocre at best. Dress code now seems non-existent in dining areas. It seems like they are constantly trying to promote or sell something - raffle tickets, etc. The ship design seems to be disorganised. The layout is not as user friendly as other ships that we have been on. On the plus side, our cabin steward was great. One of the best we have had. We like NCL because of their itineraries and freestyle dining options. We have placed a deposit for a future NCL cruise, but will definitely also be looking at other cruise lines for future cruises. Read Less

Wanted to see fall colors. Loved Quebec City. Go see Montmorrecy Falls and Basilica St. Anne. Breathtaking and enjoyed fall colors. Sydney was nice but no big deal. Peggy’s Cove was breathtaking and gorgeous. Bar Harbour was soooo beautiful and lots of fall colors. Weather is a huge factor for this cruise. We were prepared with our coats, hats, scarves and gloves. But had St. John cancelled and had to stay on the ship due to gale force winds. This time of year is huge with wind, chances of rain and we even had some snow flurries one day. So be prepared for alittle disappointment due to weather not the cruise lines fault. The ship was nice and clean, staff great but entertainment was the worst I’ve seen on five Norwegian cruises. Only saving grace was Jose and Patty. Food was good. I believe they’ve shifted the great food to the specialty restaurants so main dining is good but not great. But we aren’t picky at all. Read Less

My spouse and I previously cruised on Princess and Royal Caribbean before so I had high hopes for Norwegian Cruise Lines until AFTER I read their reviews AFTER I paid off our cruise and found this website. Needless to say, we will NEVER cruise on this cruise line ever again. After reading the negative reviews on this site, I really did want to give Norwegian a fair shot and form my own opinion because to be honest I don't need 5 star. However, with Norwegian, no better than 2 star and overpriced. Prior to beginning our cruise, we traveled to Quebec City 2 days beforehand because we wanted to explore the city and its surrounding area. Let me tell you Quebec City is so charming!!! If you are considering a vacation, I highly recommend you travel to Quebec because the area is just wonderful. On the day of our cruise, we were advised by our hotel we could either walk to the pier or take a cab. The day was nice so we opted to walk, BIG MISTAKE. Others like us experienced the same mistake as well. In Quebec, there are two (2) areas the ship can dock at. The first area is easily accessible but the other is located on the opposite side of the railroad tracks that is to be quite honest dangerous to walk to because there is no side walk that wraps around all the way to the boat so you are forced to walk on the street. VERY DANGEROUS. We seen families with small children walking in the street to and from the boat prior to us leaving on our cruise. When we arrived finally to the boat to check in for our cruise, it was complete mayhem with no signage anywhere. There were several open areas of the large tent to enter but some were for security, passengers leaving the prior cruise, and new passengers coming in for the new cruise. Again, complete mayhem! We walked to this gentleman at one section of the tent to ask him where do we go to check in when he screamed at us "GO AWAY"!!!! I was furious and tried to explain to him all we need to know is where do we go to check in at which time he screamed at the top of his lungs again "GO AWAY, GO AWAY, JUST GO AWAY". I was so furious at him I literally gave him a mouth full and walked away eventually finding the check in spot. When we found the check in spot, I immediately informed a Norwegian rep how we were treated and essentially ignored so I posted on Twitter 3 tweets of my experience with Norwegian, including Norwegian Cruise Lines, and my room #. Of course not one person from Norwegian has yet to contact me. Now mind you I paid about $3,500 to Norwegian for our cruise and 3 excursions so I did not appreciate being ignored or being contacted by Norwegian one bit. After we checked in, we proceeded to the boat and everything else fell into place. Below are my comments regarding everything else: Mid-Ship Balcony Room: Small but very nice. The Steward kept it clean daily and ensured we had ice filled daily. The TV in the room, however, was terrible. Hardly any channels to watch for free. We had about 5 or 6 dedicated Norwegian channels (i.e. camera of ship cruising the ocean, dedicated Cariloha sheet channel, programs of on board activities, etc...). The remaining channels were news, sports, and 2 movie channels that played the same movies all 7 days long. If you wanted to watch a pay per view, that was going to cost you $10.00 a movie! Buffet: OMG, please dear god do not eat at the buffet. The food was the worst. On Royal Caribbean you have several food stations to go to such as salad bar, Asian, desert, etc...On Norwegian, you have the same food EVERYDAY in all locations. The food was dry and looked horrible as if they save it from prior cruises. When I poured ranch dressing on my salad it flowed out just like water and tasted like it! O'Sheas Restaurant: Actually, very good. Burgers were great and the sandwiches were terrific. Fine Dining Areas: Not bad but nothing special. Food was restaurant quality at best. Pay Restaurants: We did not do because we figured we paid them enough. Cleanliness: Average. Everyday, we would see old drink glasses and wine bottles either on the stairs or outside that were not picked up for days. Literally! Shows: Average at best. Julie Bar the comedian was the best. Elements show was HORRIBLE. You walked out of that showing asking yourself "what was it about"? Port Stops: Sydney, Nova Scotia (Loved it); St. Johns Bay, Nova Scotia (We did not stop due to bad weather); Hallifax, Nova Scotia (Loved it, including Peggy's Cove); Bar Harbor, Maine (Loved it!!!). Tours: We took a tour while in Quebec, Peggy's Cove from Hallifax, and Bar Harbor and all were terrific. Each tour had primarily senior citizens who were severely challenged in walking so at times it seemed it took longer just getting on the bus than the actual tour itself. Disembarkation: Surprisingly, went very well. Take this review for what it is worth. It's honest feedback. If you have a chose between Norwegian and another cruise line, pick Princess or Royal Caribbean. Read Less

This was our second Norwegian cruise and our first "cold-water" cruise. It was also our first experience cruising in a suite. To start, as others have pointed out, the ship was wonderfully refurbished although the layout remains quirky. That said, by day 2 it was easy to figure out where everything was and the best way to get their. Next the staff, start to finish, outstanding. El, Nathaniel, Layla at Gatsby's simply made our cruise with their tremendous service and warm greetings. Also, the guitar player, Rob Ondras as a consumate performer who had a wide range of songs. We ate at all of the specialty restaurants and had good to great food. We ate at two of the main dining rooms, Aqua and Venetian and enjoyed both meals. Venetian is very large so we preferred Aqua for a more intimate experience. Now for the "suite-life". This completely changes the dynamics of cruising. We were in cabin 12030 what included a balcony and floor to ceiling windows. We had a couch and two chairs so if we wanted to read, relax, and watch the water go by, we had a great view at all times. Next our concierge, Roel, was great. At check-in, he whisked us onto the ship and brought us to Cagney's for lunch. As the Dawn does not have a Haven, suite passengers have Cagney's or Moderno's for lunch and breakfast. These amenities and priority boarding and disembarking, plus the little treats left every night, makes for an elevated experience. Finally , we enjoyed each port and each port was unique. Quebec is a charming, old world city with plenty to see and do. Sydney was a quite little stop with a great Irish pub and a charming local tour. Halifax has Peggy's Cover which is not to be missed, and Bar Harbour included a great local lunch and then a gentle hike around Acadia National Park. In summary, bundle up, get in the spirit, and you will love this ship and ports. Read Less

We enjoyed the ship but didn’t like the casual. Dining. People were still wearing the same clothes they put on in the morning.we had a drinks package but it didn’t include coffee. This was very petty. We enjoyed the amount of restaurants that were available with any extra cost. Disembarking was a disaster. This was the 1st time we had opted to tcarrying our own cases off. Our cabin was on 5 but we hasp to carry our heavy suit cases up to 7 just to join the Queue. The ship was not what I expected. The piano bar was the best place on the ship. We had a day an extra day at sea due to rough sea, we had no communication from anyone about any on board credit being added to our account. We have alway gone with Celebrity and we will continue to go with this company Read Less

We had a tough year, so we were mainly there to rest, recharge (we all slept 12 hours the first night) and see the leaves change. it was so nice being greeted by roal who had been our concierge before on another ship. our butler had been cabin-mates with our past butler. the cruise director always made a point to stop and chat with us. our cabin (we stayed in the emerald penthouse) was beautiful; the woodwork in it was gorgeous. i had my first pedicure ever, and a relaxing swedish massage and facial (never had one of those before either). everything could not have been nicer. i think the thing i liked the best was all of the little things; there were almost too many to list. my only regret was that i had overeaten a lot of comfort food one afternoon, so when we later went to cagney's there was no room for even the tiniest bit of food. i also wish that we had caught more shows, but the three that we did catch were awesome. the singers and dancers rocked! Read Less

We have sailed with Norwegian seven times before this cruise to New England and Canada. We have done this cruise from New York but did not get to experience Prince Edward Island. Sadly we didn't get there this time either. Weather cancelled our successfully entry into this port. Thankfully, the crew was very skillful in navigating through the storm with its 85 mph winds and 20 foot seas. The colors we were able to see showed us God's palette of many hues and shades. It was simply marvelous. From the ship's captain, to his crew, to all those who served us, the experience couldn't have been better. Who knew when we sailed from Boston a storm was brewing in the St. Lawrence Seaway. All in all the three of us had a wonderful time. We even found out how ware tight the bathrooms are when you are trying to take a shower in 20-foot seas. Read Less

We chose the cruise hoping to see fall foliage in New England and Quebec. While the foliage was nice, the highlights of the trip involved the fall weather and the "stern and rockbound coast". Two of the ports of call were Halifax and Sydney, NS, the starting points for the WWI and WWII convoys to Europe. Both waterfronts have memorials commemorating the Battle of the North Atlantic. The next two days were spent working northward to the Gulf of St. Lawrence in a full gale (61 mph sustained winds, 101 mph highest gust, 21 ft seas). The ship and crew handled the situation wonderfully, the view of the sea was spectacular, and we ended up with a much deeper appreciation for those mariners, both naval and merchant, who fought the Battle of the Atlantic. That wasn't in our plans, but the cruise was much more memorable because of the storm. The Saguenay fiord is also drop dead gorgeous! We arrived in a snowstorm which just emphasized the sheer scale of the water, cliffs, and mountains. This whole experience was unique and different from what it would have been in the summer time. Captain Borg and his crew are an amazing team. Read Less