Norwegian Dawn Review
Rating by category
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We sailed the Dawn Thanksgiving week. We traveled with young children (4, 5, and 8), so my review is specific to family travelers. We really loved the Dawn and plan on returning next year. The Dawn is large enough to have a nice variety of amenities, yet small enough to easily navigate. The main pool area is smaller, but we were always able to find seating. The dinosaur pool was a huge hit with our kids, and provided many hours of entertainment. The only con is that there is very limited adult seating at the dinosaur slide/pool area, and it is far from any bar/drink service. It would have been nice to have the kids pool next to the main pool.
The food was better than Royal Caribbean or Carnival. We really liked the free style dining. The buffet has duplicate sides, so never long buffet lines. There is a kids buffet area also, all with kid-sized serving lines and tables (again a huge hit with our kids). There are two "main" dining rooms, the Venetian and the Aqua. We found the service and atmosphere much better at the Aqua, and ate there most nights. From a management point of view, the Aqua seemed to be much better staffed as compared to the Venetian. There was only one wait staff member performing all duties at the Venetian (perhaps part of the reason for our stressed-out waiter one night). The Aqua had multiple staff members (waiter, drink staff, etc) waiting on our table. We did eat one night at the Le Bistro, which was excellent also.
The Dawn had a nice variety of bars. Drink service was good. I never did wait more than 5 to 10 minutes at most for a drink. The pool bar was the most crowded. I did consistently note however that the right side of the pool bar would have 3 to 4 bar tenders working, while the left side always only had one bar tender working (most of the time an unhappy bar tender). I again think that this could be a management issue of not distributing staff correctly/allowing staff to "clique" in their preferred work area. I did see managers/supervisors consistently around the ship, and appeared to interact professionally and kindly towards the staff. There was quite a bit of entertainment going on throughout the cruise also.
Cabin Review
Balcony
We had two balcony cabins on the tenth floor (10182 & 10186). Both rooms were in good working order and nice/newer-looking carpets, bedding, furniture, etc. These room were closer to the back of the ship, which we specifically chose to be closer to the kids pool, club, buffet. The rooms were very quiet. We had several nights of rough seas, and the "rocking" was not significant. We would choose these rooms again.
Port Reviews
Costa Maya
We really enjoyed Costa Maya. We took the trolley into town and walked along the Melancon. We ended up at the Pez Quadro beach club (at the end of the Melancon on the 4th stop of the trolley). We had a tiki hut, beach beds and drink service all day long (we paid as we went). Good service, drinks and food. The beach was shallow so safe for the kids to play. A very nice, relaxing beach day. It was pretty quiet the day we went (no music, no activities), so we may try another beach club down towards the start/middle of the Melancon as we prefer a bit more lively atmosphere.
Roatan
Meh. Pros-a short boat ride right off of the dock. Multiple amenities (beach, pool, animal sanctuary). Cons-not a nice beach. I found it to be a little dirty. Would not go if I didn't have the kids with me.
Belize City
We just tendered into the port area as most excursions were cancelled due to bad weather. The tendering process in Belize is the worst that I have experienced. The ships have to dock far out (15 to 20 minute tender ride). They use the local boats (=small, loud, bumpy). I am usually adventurous but would not venture out of the Belize port unescourted (did not feel very safe).
Cozumel
We purchased a day pass at the Allegro resort (purchased directly at the reception desk). We chose Allegro as they have a large kids pool with a water park, and they have a nice beach. They do not have drink service (you have to go up to the bars to get drinks), but the drinks were good. Very friendly staff. The resort is small and pretty quiet. A nice place to hang out, and probably not as crowded.