Norwegian Dawn Review
4.0 / 5.0
tempocontour
6-10 Cruises • Age 60s
Rating by category
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Value for Money
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Additional details
Sail Date: Jun 2016
Cabin: Inside
I've sailed on 5 Carnival cruises so far and my 6th will be this August. This is my 1st with Norwegian and this was the Dawn's 2nd cruise after it's 2016 renovation in May/June. This cruise will be compared to Carnival. In my opinion, I actually liked it a lot. I'm not sure what they changed during the renovations but I do know that our cabin mattresses were not new. I guess they only replaced the bedding and carpet but not the mattresses. Because Norwegian cost more than Carnival, the clientele is "upper class" if you will, and much better behaved.
I liked the Norwegian decoration which is more to the tune of Ikea type furnishings. It wasn't over the top which Carnival ships tend to be, which I don't mind. I liked the shows. They were a bit different to Carnival, but because of that, I enjoyed it. Carnival usually rely on 1 lead male and female singer in their shows. Norwegian had multiple male and female singers. Instead of having comedians, they had people from Second City (people from Who Line is it Anyway and similar to Sat Night Live). They were enjoyable but their "adult" shows were no where near as funny and raunchy as comedians shows can get. The pool deck DJ's were typical and good, so were the live bands. There is no giant size screen up on pool deck that most ships currently have. The 1 single pool is of decent size compared to Carnival, but because it's the only pool, it does get very busy. The pool is actually "deep" from 5 feet to 6 feet compared to Carnivals which is usually around under 5 feet. There were at least 5 jacuzzi on the ship - 4 around the pool, 1 at the front, 1 maybe at the rear for kids. Norwegian's White Hot party was on Wednesday night. That was a great time to dance at night under the stars up on pool deck. But in our case it rained but no one cared and still danced the night away in the warm tropical air.
Compared to Carnival, booze is definitely more expensive on Norwegian and in smaller portions. Lanyard lines are free on Carnival, Norwegian sell them for $5 at the ship's store. Carnival room service is free (but tip is expected), Norwegian charge $7.95 if not staying in a suite.
Cabin Review
Inside
Cabin IC
Cabin is very small with barely any table surface for your knickknacks. We had our 2 beds together but realized that the 1 foot space between the bed and walls on each side were too tight to maneuver around and decided to split the bed up and enjoyed a whole 2 feet of space between the bed. It makes a huge difference. Bathroom is also small. Toilets facing the wall is practically right at your face. The shower is enclosed with glass, not curtains, and I tend to bang my elbows while showering. I am of average size, I don't see how oversize people is able to take their shower. Bed height is good to slide your luggage underneath it. LCD tv is small and very little to watch with a few channels from ship info to movies to CNN. There is a small safe in the closet to place your valuables in. Descent amount of closet and drawers for clothes. We brought a small night light and plugged it in the bathroom outlet for night time bathroom breaks, the room is very dark without it. Toilet didn't work for one night, called to have it fixed, and it was fixed within the hour. Cabin location was very quiet. It was away from the stairs/elevators and not above or below anything that was noisy like Garden Cafe, pool, or the main lounge. Both wife and I slept like babies. But you will notice ship motion, even with ships stabilizer.
Port Reviews
Boston
I live in Boston. I took a cab from my house. Cab dropped me off right at the dock. Norwegian had a bit of computer trouble so the time set for each passenger to get on was off by an hour but other than that, everything went smoothly
6 Helpful Votes
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