We arrived in Ft. Lauderdale the day before the cruise. Upon reading past reviews, we took the "shared" shuttle van to our hotel in Miami at $21pp plus tip. Much cheaper than taking a taxi. Stayed at the Sofitel hotel. This was a decent priced 4 start hotel. No complaints. Room was great, but only fast food restaurants within walking distance. We ended up eating in the hotel restaurant which was a little pricey, as expected, but food was good. Hotel did not have free shuttle service. Probably because we were closer to the airport than the port. $10pp for the shuttle from the hotel to the port. Got to the port around 11:30. Embarkation was fast and easy. Waited in a large seating area until they allowed us to board. Although I've read that it's better to go eat a "sit down" lunch in the Venetian on the first day, we took our chances at the buffet. It was great. No long lines at the time we got there (about 12:00-12:30)but as we were leaving, the lines appeared to get long. There needed to be more direction from the NCL staff, as everyone was in one line and nobody knew there were several different lines at the other ends. We were told that rooms would be ready about 2:00 and that there would be an announcement. About 1:45 we happened to be near our room so we tried the door and it was ready (not sure why we never heard the announcement). This was our first NCL cruise. We have cruised 3 other times on RCCL. We booked the NCL cruise because we were meeting up with some friends who already had booked this cruise, so we thought we'd give it a try. The mini suite was awesome! Loved the bathroom. Didn't have to panic if I dropped the soap in THIS shower! Loved having the bigger shower. Room was a good size compared to regular cruise cabins. The only complaint we had was a minor one and not a deal breaker... very small t.v.'s. But who watches tv that much on a cruise? Another small problem was it was a little noisy real early in the A.M.(around 6?)I think we were below the pool area and we heard the slamming around the pool chairs. But again... not that big a deal. We are early risers anyway. A big complaint you hear about on the Dawn reviews are the staff/room stewards. We did not see our room stewards the first day at all. On RCCL, we are accustomed to them coming to our rooms and introducing themselves. Reading the previous reviews, I wasn't expecting to see them at all! We saw them in the halls every day, several times a day. Each time they both greeted us with a smile and and knew our names. We didn't ask for much, but when we did, we tipped appropriately. Our room was always clean and they got to know what times of the day we left for breakfast, dinner, etc... We tipped them again at the end of our cruise (on top of the "fee" we paid daily) They worked hard and were very pleasant. We were prepared to be let down about the food on this cruise. My husband and I are optimistic people and were going to give the Dawn the benefit of the doubt. I have to say, the buffet was excellent the first day. It seemed to go downhill after that. We ended up eating breakfast in Aqua every morning. Since balcony and higher cabins are the only ones allowed to eat here for breakfast. This was always good, including the service. The lunch buffets were "ok". There were a couple times that the salad bar didn't have any tomatoes or cucumbers. I found one thing really difficult with the buffet... most of the things in back were very hard to reach. I am not sure why it's like that. Maybe just too much food and not enough room? I agree with other members. The buffet food could be better. We ate dinner in a specialty restaurant every night! NO complaints!Every place we ate was incredible. We ate at Cagney's times and Impressions twice, Teppanyaki once and Le Bistro once. The Lobster ravioli at Impressions was the best! I didn't want to go to Impressions as I am not a big italian (pasta) eater. But I was so "impressed" that we went again. My husband ended up getting the lobster ravioli twice. Cagney's was just as incredible. Well worth the extra money in these restaurants. We celebrated our anniversary in Le Bistro. The waiters sang to us and gave us a small anniversary cake. I thought it was awesome... my hubby was a little embarrassed! As I said in the beginning, I was hoping the bad reviews were just from some picky people. I found them partially right in some areas. But for the most part, we enjoyed our cruise, was well worth the money for the mini suite and we loved the option of dressing up and/or not dressing up. Will we go Norwegian again? Maybe. I loved the mini suite cabins. I think next time we will do a newer Norwegian boat. Eventhough Dawn is beautifully maintained and very clean. Our next cruise in Dec 2009 is back on RCCL. But we are not against going back on Norwegian or even Dawn. PORTS: We did not get off in Samana. There was not an excursion that we were interested in and we heard that you may as well stay on the boat unless you book one. We enjoyed our day on the boat. Hardly anyone laying around the pool area! It was great! St. Thomas: Did not do an excursion, but had a nice day walking around and doing some shopping. It rained off and on, but it was fun. Tortola: Did the Virgin Gorda baths and snorkeling tour. This was a waste of $74pp. The tour was not accurately described in NCL's literature. Everyone on this tour was complaining, not just us. The excursion boat was late picking us up, the water was very rough. When we got to snorkeling site, the guides gave little instruction, gave us snorkeling gear (the snorkels were all in a bucket of water?) and handed out to us. I was afraid to put mine in my mouth after someone spotted mildew/mold on theirs! I thought most snorkels were the disposable kind. Ok, the next time we will bring our own. After everyone got in the water, they realized how rough the water was. No guides came with us. We swam about 300 yds to the beach. Couldn't bring any towels, cameras, water shoes, etc... unless you found a way to carry them. We had all we could do to get to shore. One man couldn't even make it and a young man that was on the excursion with us, pulled him back onto the boat. The young man later told us that he's in very good shape and had a hard time swimming in that water.Forget about putting my mask on and looking for fish! I had all I could do to swim to the beach! We had to carry all our gear climbing through the baths. The rock formations and caves were beautiful, but couldn't enjoy it while trying not to slip in my bare feet and carrying our snorkel gear. We were dying of thirst, but didn't have any cash to buy a drink at the beach stand! Ended up swimming back to the boat where we got one free rum punch. There was a charge for all other drinks. Water, beer, etc... We later learned that the "red flags" that were on the beach meant that the waters were too rough to swim/snorkel in. Our "guides" never mentioned any of that to us. There were kids from ages 7-17 there (in one family). They were all good swimmers, but the parents say they were going to complain. Although we never filed a complaint, half the boat was going to. Lesson learned for us! GS Cay: As you have probably heard...we never made it here. Waters were to rough to tender in. Very understandable. Had you seen the waves crashing onto the rocks, you wouldn't want to. It seems this happens a lot here. I told my husband that if I were NCL, I'd want my money back after purchasing this private island! Disembarkation went smooth. We chose to carry our own bags. This was a breeze. Took a shared shuttle back to Ft. Lauderdale airport for $20pp plus tip. Great vacation! Would recommend the Dawn to others, but still prefer RCCL. We all have our favorites, right?