Norwegian Dawn Review
4.0 / 5.0
Brdlvscruises
6-10 Cruises • Age 50s
Rating by category
Cabin
Value for Money
Embarkation
Dining
Public Rooms
Entertainment
Service
Additional details
Sail Date: Feb 2016
Cabin: Family Suite
We've sailed 6 times between Carnival and Royal. We thought we would try Norwegian after reading the reviews of the Dawn and wanted to try something new. We upgraded to a Penthouse suite a couple of weeks before sailing and were super excited to have a nice room since we've only had interior and oceanview rooms before. We drove from Ohio to Meridian and stayed overnight in a Drury Inn which was a very nice hotel. Left Sunday morning for New Orleans.
We parked at the Fulton Street Garage which we purchased on the way down which was an easy process with a shuttle to the port. The appearance of the ship was nice, the penthouse room was beautiful. We spent a lot of time just watching the ocean from our room which partially leads to the low review of the cruise. The entertainment was boring, we found ourselves a lot of nights just going back to our room since the bars closed early by the pools and the entertainment was lacking. There were a lot of piano/singing areas, which is okay in moderation, but not at every turn. The Bimini Bar, one of the outside bars and highest on the ship, closed at 6pm, whether there were 2 people or 20 people around. This isn't so bad, we can just go to the Topsider Bar, which is outside & poolside.
The problem is that this bar shut down anywhere between 830-930, at which point your options are all inside. I AM IN THE CARRIBEAN, escaping frigid temps in the Northern US - I WANT TO BE OUTSIDE! At this point, we would make a last round around the ship, take in some of the gameshows before we headed back to the room. The entertainment was there, but there just wasn't a lot of variety. We spent our two sea days on bow, and have to say service was sketchy - at one point it was over an hour before we saw a waiter/server, so we made many a trip to the Bimini Bar. Service at the bars was great, but it seemed like the bars were understaffed, so getting service was harder than I expected. On a higher point we thought the food was excellent whether it was in the Aqua, Venetian, Cagneys, La Cucina and even the buffet.
Cabin Review
Family Suite
Cabin SJ
We had a family suite. The room was very accommodating, spacious and comfortable. Our butler was Gary was great and helped with every request we ask. Would love to spoiled like this on cruises in the future but usually out of price range. I'm sure we were offered the upgrade because the ship wasn't sold out, but glad we were.
Port Reviews
Belize City
Highly recommend them, it was a great day. Beautiful views, great snorkeling and all the guides were very nice and accommodating. Caye Caulker is a beautiful untouched island. Will definitely take this excursion again is we come back!
Costa Maya
Our last stop was Costa Maya, having gone there a few years ago we knew that there wasn't much to do so we scheduled a Catamaran ride with snorkeling. I woke up sick that morning so we decided not to take the tour. To our surprise we were reimbursed by the ship for not being able to go. We really appreciated that, Carnival and Royal probably would never of done that. We just walked around in port looking through the shops, we forgot the port has a swimming pool and wished we would of brought our suits to hang out there for a few. The water is beautiful there as well. We did purchase a couple of pictures from a artist who paints with spray paint. We watched him make a few pictures and how he makes them is amazing. His prices are reasonable and we felt like we were actually helping a person locally rather than buying trinkets which are mass produced in all the stores in port. The pictures made it home safe and are already framed and hung up. We look forward to telling people in the future where we got them from. Julian Mendoza is his name, he does have You Tube videos that others have posted and he does ship his pictures. If you get a chance, you should check him out.
Roatan
We booked Tabayan Beach and Snorkeling through the ship. The bus ride to the beach was a nice ride with some beautiful views. The beach was very crowded with 4 cruise ships in port but the guide took us on an awesome snorkeling tour of the reef which was beautiful. The tour included lunch but we didn't eat. There were a lot of beach vendors which we were told to ignore and there was a nice gentleman who was the part of the security team who watched over everyone's items. Even with the idea of security on a beach, we never felt uncomfortable or uneasy. It was a great time.
Cozumel
In Cozumel which we have been to multiple times on the other cruise ships, we took advantage of walking around the town to take in the historic sites and shop the vendors. It was overcast that day with a few sprinkles.
New Orleans
Only drove into the port, we had heard from other people that the city itself was dirty and still getting back to normal from Mardi Gras
6 Helpful Votes
Find a Norwegian Dawn Cruise from $749
Get special cruise deals, expert advice, insider tips and more.By proceeding, you agree to our Privacy Policy and Terms of Use.