Overall we weren't too happy on the Dawn. I had only been on one previous Princess cruise but I found it much superior. The staff on the Dawn were the biggest difference; they seemed unhappy to be there, weren't overly friendly and never went out of their way to make our trip special. We're a pretty easy-going couple in our late 20s but there were a number of occasions where both junior staff and management were rude. On one occasion a manager asked every table around us how their dinner was and blatantly passed ours. We were nicely dressed and the only thing we could think of was that the staff assumed we didn't have as much money to spend because of our age. We were 5 years younger on Princess and we were never made to feel like this. It's also unfortunate for NCL as we had money to spend but then purposely spent as little on the ship as possible and more at the ports.

The average age on our re-positioning cruise was 66 and this also impacted the fun at evening parties as most people went to bed by 10pm. We definitely had a few couples come up to us on excursions excited that there were other younger people on the ship and they shared the same experiences above about the staff not being too friendly. I know NCL can't control who books certain cruises but we would have preferred a younger or more balanced demographic.

Overall we found the ship very old and worn. Windows were smeared and dirty and it didn't seem as clean as it could be. A number of public bathrooms were disgusting (both men and women) and we ended up going back to our room whenever needed. The food was generally great but the food at the buffet was a bit dicey and we got sick once or twice and then never went back. Would avoid buffet at all costs even if it's difficult due to the lack of options at lunch. Read more