This was our 4th cruise and the first with NCL. Previously we'd been with Princess and Festival (RIP). We chose this cruise because of the destinations and the price. I was a bit wary after reading some of the reviews on the forum but, hey, it's a holiday and what's not to enjoy?

Embarkation was super easy and we were on board in under an hour. The Dawn was lovely, clean and no sign of wear. I did find it somewhat confusing (even after a few days) with dead ends etc.

We had a balcony room on Deck 9 and I was very impressed with the size - plenty of room for 2 and a good size bathroom. The bathroom did tend to smell a bit as the day wore on but this wasn't a big deal. The shower was fine and we always had hot water (although some people didn't). The Elemis products were a nice touch. The bed was really comfy and we slept like logs. We did have an issue with one of the pillows, which my SO said smelled like the previous owner had died on it. But the steward replaced it immediately so all was fine. Unfortunately our coffee maker didn't work and there was no replacement (although I don't think the ship was full, so why they didn't just take one out of an empty cabin...) which was kind of a pain as it would have been nice to be able to make coffee in the morning and enjoy it on our balcony. We did learn to live without it though! We found the staff to be very friendly. My SO is a bit of a chatterbox and like to try out his bits of foreign phrases on people so we had quite a laugh with the steward and the bar/waiting staff. Our cabin staff were wonderful and we had towel animals every night! Read more