Norwegian Dawn Review

4.0 / 5.0
3,035 reviews

Bermuda 6/7/2013-6/14/13

Review for Bermuda Cruise on Norwegian Dawn
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DistrictFive
2-5 Cruises • Age 30s

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Sail Date: Jul 2013
Cabin: Mid-Ship Inside

I departed from Boston on 6/7/2013 to Bermuda with my parents and three brothers. Everybody was over the age of 18. The cruise did not start out on a good note. The Boston Bruins were playing the Pittsburgh Penguins in game four of the Semi Finals and many Bruins fans were onboard (the cruise did depart from Boston). The first thing the family did was head to the sports bar to ask if they would be playing the game. We were greeted with a "what do you want?" by the bartender. I asked if the game would be playing and he said no but we could pay for the internet to watch it. The internet was $100 for 250 minutes. That is a terrible deal. I assume he was annoyed by us as we were not the first or last group to ask him this question so we left. We headed to the front desk to ask what was up. They said they couldn't play the game because they didn't have the rights. I asked if they could at least broadcast the free radio transmission of the game (provided at no charge by the NHL) but they said no and suggested again that I pay for the internet. This bummed me out. Also, the sports bar was doing Karaoke during the NBA finals game. I understand that this isn't a huge deal to a lot of people, but I promise many guests were surprised that the Bruins game wasn't being shown. On the intercom, the Cruise Director apologized and said they would try and broadcast game 1 of the finals against Chicago. This also did not happen. My room steward was spot on. I don't remember his name but he made some awesome towel animals and kept our room clean. The room itself was tiny and the bathroom smelled like low tide. The toilet seat was also broken and wouldn't stay up. This made it hard to aim while sailing through that tropical storm. I had an inside cabin room with no window. I wouldn't normally complain about how small the room was but this cruise cost me more money than any I had ever been on, including The Queen Mary 2. We saved $80 dollars a person by not using the Shore Excursion desk on the ship for our golf day. I know it's not a huge surprise to most, but I would suggest never using the ship to book excursions. That is not specific to Norwegian. The dining was fair. Some days were better than others. The family at at Moderno and it was very good. Comparable to even some of the Brazillian steak houses in Vegas. And at $20/person it was a nice change from the bland dining room food. The salmon tartare was delicious though. I got it everyday along with another appetizer, always as a backup. It was the most consistently delicious dish I had eaten on the ship. The pizza was laughably bad and it blew my mind that they charged $5 for it to be delivered but a burger was free. The most inconsistent part of the cruise was the alcohol. For the prices you had to pay, every mixed drink should have been a home run. If you ask for scotch, you'll get a glass of Dewar's White Label. I'm pretty sure you could buy a whole bottle of that stuff for how much one glass cost. I know, I sound silly for complaining about prices on a cruise, but it's more about quality. This is not my first cruise, I am used to paying outrageous prices, but the quality usually makes me feel better about it. Not in this case. I got back to back long island ice teas. One was delicious, one was disgusting. As far as the entertainment went, I found it enjoyable. The Second City was great, especially their smaller improv show in the Spinnaker Lounge. The comedian wasn't terrible, but I feel like he had more in him. I was pulled onstage during his show for a bit that was about 20 minutes too long. Something about the Wizard of Oz and I was a flying monkey. It was pretty lame and took forever. Band on the Run was very entertaining. There was a dude up there dancing like nobody I've ever seen. Like if he stopped dancing they would throw him overboard. I was impressed. So overall, I felt the service was lacking except for our steward. The state room was outrageously small given the price. The food was not very good outside of the specialty dining and the entertainment was pretty great. I personally would not cruise with Norwegian again based on my experience. I understand people have different expectations, but my family and I did not have ours met.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Inside

Cabin IB

Very small cabin that did not smell great. Also, the hallway smelled like cigarettes. The steward was awesome. This was the worst value for a room compared to any other cruise I have been on.

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