Norwegian Dawn Review
NCL Dawn horrible service, horrible food, boring activities
Rating by category
Additional details
I've been on 6 other cruises in the past including ones with Royal Caribbean, Holland America & Carnival. My review will focus solely on the on ship experience because it rained entire time & due to a hurricane our on island time was cut short a day. Understandably this was in no one’s control other than Mother Nature.
We had two rooms – one Aft facing penthouse suite on floor 9 (room 9236)and the next door balcony room. The penthouse suite was very nice and had a table for 4, couch seating area, large bed, dressing room area and full bathroom w/tub, large balcony. It came with Butler service which was nice for room service, getting DVDs to watch (as it rained entire time), etc. Our butler was very nice (Marc) but our room steward was the highlight of the cruise (Rodrigo Ortega). The downside to the room was we were constantly going out to cigarette butts on our balcony and lounge chairs from the room upstairs. Nasty! They also apparently cleaned decks above w/buckets of water w/out warning you…..be VERY careful or you’ll end up w/a head full of water after spending an hour getting ready for dinner. Not fun. They should warn you when they will be cleaning so you can avoid going out on balcony during those times. The room came equipped w/blow dryer, complimentary espresso machine (saves you a ton on coffee/espresso at the Java bar on the ship), DVDs, robes/slippers, room service, lots of free snacks/chocolates/treats delivered daily, we received free flowers and champagne on our first day, etc. The next door balcony room was nothing special (room 9238). It was small w/just a bed, 1 seat, small bathroom w/shower only and a small balcony. Nothing to write home about….though certainly better than in interior room.
The food- barely edible. This was the worst food I’ve ever had and honestly, I was shocked! I’ve always had such great experiences with past cruises that I could not believe it was so bad. It was often stale, barely warm, tasted off/funny, etc. Service was just as bad. Staff seemed unengaged and unhappy. The ONLY time we got good food and “ok” service was when we paid extra for Cagney’s Steakhouse ($30 per person). The Venetian, Aqua, Garden Café, Grills at pool were horrible. I came home 4 lbs less than I started. Who is supposed to lose weight on a cruise?!?!?
Cabin Review
We had two rooms – one Aft facing penthouse suite on floor 9 (room 9236)and the next door balcony room. The penthouse suite was very nice and had a table for 4, couch seating area, large bed, dressing room area and full bathroom w/tub, large balcony. It came with Butler service which was nice for room service, getting DVDs to watch (as it rained entire time), etc. Our butler was very nice (Marc) but our room steward was the highlight of the cruise (Rodrigo Ortega). The downside to the room was we were constantly going out to cigarette butts on our balcony and lounge chairs from the room upstairs. Nasty! They also apparently cleaned decks above w/buckets of water w/out warning you…..be VERY careful or you’ll end up w/a head full of water after spending an hour getting ready for dinner. Not fun. They should warn you when they will be cleaning so you can avoid going out on balcony during those times. The room came equipped w/blow dryer, complimentary espresso machine (saves you a ton on coffee/espresso at the Java bar on the ship), DVDs, robes/slippers, room service, lots of free snacks/chocolates/treats delivered daily, we received free flowers and champagne on our first day, etc. The next door balcony room was nothing special (room 9238). It was small w/just a bed, 1 seat, small bathroom w/shower only and a small balcony. Nothing to write home about….though certainly better than in interior room.