Norwegian Dawn Review
Rating by category
Additional details
Pre-embarkation: Having booked a suite with butler and concierge services, I was anticipating good service both pre-boarding and on board. However, when provided (by US mail) with an email address to provide pre-embarkation requests, I at least thought that my email would be acknowledged (and, it would follow, that the requests would be arranged). However, the email seemed to have gone into a black hole and I received no response, either in email or in action. This was a fail all around on NCL’s part.
Embarkation was smooth; I rolled a large bag (30 x 22 x 13) onboard with no problem. I put the dimensions of the luggage here because I couldn’t find a straight answer on the NCL web site (unlike on Carnival’s site, which provides dimensions). I arrived into the 2-bedroom, 2-bath stateroom to find it clean, mostly prepared, at about 12:30 PM. However, unlike my past suite cruises on NCL (and on HAL), I was neither acknowledged by nor greeted by the butler shortly after arriving. A simple introduction would have been nice. The flower arrangement was missing from the stateroom (an empty vase was left on living room table, and we had to ask, “Where are the flowers that belong here?”).
When the butler, finally arrived after about 530 pm, he seemed less than happy to be there, distracted. We told him that we were dining in the room with selections from Cagney’s Steakhouse, and he couldn’t have seemed less interested in making the arrangements. He went through the motions but, unlike past butlers who were smiling and making conversation and opened up to us, he would give us one-word answers. When we told him about the incredible routing we ended up having to take (4 stops, because of snow/ice in DFW), he did say that he had just arrived from the Philippines the night before.
Cabin Review
Family Penthouse with Large Balcony
The best review for this suite is a youtube video - search on youtube for "G7zh_muN2_w" (with a title of "Norwegian Dawn 2 bedroom family suite Category SC"). It is spacious (two-bedroom, two bath), with plenty of closet space, dining area for 4, jacuzzi-type bathtub, shower with full-length window, two sinks in the master suite. There are a total of 4 TVs in the suite (one in living room area, one in each of the bedrooms, and a 4th in the master bath suite). The living room TV has a DVD player; it has other HDMI inputs, as well, if you bring your cables with you. It has the standard Lavazzo coffee maker (with coffee pods). The only complaint would be the size of the balcony... with the size of the chaise lounges, you can't really recline to 180 degrees unless you place them parallel to the railing. With more than 2 people in the suite, it might be crowded out there. LOCATION: I chose this location because (a) it's below the family suites on deck 12 WITHOUT balconies, so there isn't a 3-4 extension of the roof over the deck 11 balcony (which is the case with rooms starting after about 11020 and aft); also, I chose 11010 because it doesn't open into the elevator/stair area -- it's in a hallway that leads to the bridge, so foot traffic is very light.