Norwegian Dawn Review
4.0 / 5.0
Norwegian does a decent job; would cruise NCL Dawn again.
Review for the Western Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Dawn
CruiseWoods
10+ Cruises • Age 30s
Rating by category
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Value for Money
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Additional details
Sail Date: Nov 2016
Cabin: Mini-Suite with Balcony
SHIP: The ship was recently very heavily renovated. It looks good - much nicer than the NCL boat I took previously. The ship never really feels crowded. It is a nice size. We do not enjoy the mega-ships of today. The Dawn is a very comfortable size.
Norwegian has seriously improved. Ten years ago I took a very long cruise on the Norwegian Dream. It was boring, bland, and worn out. It took me ten years to come back to NCL and we would say it was a pretty decent time.
We cruised the week after Thanksgiving so there were very few children on the boat (woohoo!). We are in our early thirties and enjoyed the crowd on the Dawn. It was a nice mix of ages. Generally couples by themselves or couples in large groups. A singles cruise this was not, which we are fine with.
Cabin Review
Mini-Suite with Balcony
Cabin MB
Cabin was very nice. We enjoyed the extra space. The balcony is very spacious. This is the last room on this side of the ship. So you can look left down the overhang. Makes for a very nice view.
Bathroom has a water closet and tub with sliding shower door. One of the larger cruise ship bathrooms we have had by far.
Right near the stairs to go up one flight and enter the buffet then pool area. We liked being close to everything.
Two bad things: right above you is part of the gym where the ship's dancers practice by themselves. They started at 11:30 PM one night. Walked upstairs and kindly ask they stop; they did and I ended up getting a good nights sleep.
Port Reviews
New Orleans
Traffic nightmare! The lines to park went on for a dozen city blocks.
Once we were in the terminal embarkation was relatively painless thanks to staggered check-in times.
Harvest Caye
The beach is just not pretty here. The water is murky like a lake. Why did NCL buy this island? It wasn't for the water at the beaches.
Your beverage package does not work on Harvest Caye and there if no free food on the island. Norwegian should just go to the mainland and let people visit beach clubs. Harvest Caye is not an extension of your trip, it's a NCL money trap. Take a different itinerary and skip Harvest Caye.
The pool is very massive and we spent much of our day here. Once all the trees grow up and landscaping fills in, Harvest Caye will be a very beautiful place. It is nice now, but it looks brand new (because it is).
This island is designed for much larger ships than the NCL Dawn. But it only takes one ship at a time. The place may seem crowded if we were on the massive NCL Getaway (would never go on a boat that big..too many people). But with only 2,000 people from the NCL Dawn it was nice.
1 Helpful Vote
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