Norwegian Dawn Review
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We chose this cruise because of the length and locations it was going too. We had never been to the Western Caribbean. Since we had a Family Suite with a balcony we received the privilages that come with this. Once we arrived at the pier we looked for the location where people in Suites checked in. They first tried having us go in line with everyone else but I knew better so I looked around and sure enough I found the sign and walked right up and checked in. Once checked in we were escorted to a Suite Lounge area to wait and board the ship. While waiting we had a long table of foods available for us to select from and various drinks (no liquer). We met some of the Conceriges who were there to help you with anything you might need help with such as making sure any specialty restaurant you wanted reservations in were made. Once the ship was ready for passengers we were the first to be escorted onto the ship. The next 12 days for us were glorious, and relaxing. When we got to our cabin we met our Butler, Romel who was terrific the whole cruise. Later we met our concerige who was Roel along with our Room Steward Felix. Each of them were terrific. Our dining reservations all met our expectations with the exception of the Lu Cinca which we addressed immediately. We took advantage eating in the Moderno most mornings which is for Suite guests only, loved the petite filet mignon and eggs. We didn't go to the buffet at all. We had the Butler bring lunch to us in the cabin on several occasions. Entertainment was generally very good with the exception of one night they had a Cabera Show, not good. We had 2 excursions on this cruise they both were okay. Love it when in Cartegena we got off the ship and didn't have an excursion but went into the gift shop and right behind it was like a small wildlife santuary with monkeys running around and beautiful birds. This didn't cost anything and was a highlight of the cruise along with Pusser's Outpost in Tortola. Overall we had a great time. If you didn't have a good time you have no one to blame but yourself. I read one review where the person did nothing but complain my advice to them would be stay home, all cruises are subjective when it comes to reviews, the people work hard and with so many different folks it is very hard to please everyone!
Cabin Review
Family Suite with Balcony
This cabin was excellent in size for just the two of us. I only had two issues why I wouldn't rebook this specific cabin, one was the balcony was smaller than the other cabins in this level and two they put the deck chairs out at 6:30 in the morning and put them away around 6:00 at night and you could hear them setting them down. We got used to it and we were up by that time but if you had kids you wanted to sleep in it might not have worked. We also would recommend having a piece of carpet to cover those lines in the floor where the sliding door comes out, they would catch me off guard with bare feet and not comfortable to walk on. Another thing that some folks may not like is on the balcony you have nothing over you so those folks being nosy on the 13th deck can look down and see a part of you while you are on your balcony. Most of the time they leave but every now and again you might get a gawker.
Port Reviews
New Orleans
Arrived a day ahead of the cruise and stayed at the Hampton Inn (best bed I ever slept on) just down the street from the pier. Walked up the road to Mulate's for an awesome dinner. The next day the hotel had a shuttle but with two ships in port there were alot of folks looking to get on the shuttle and I didn't feel like being packed into a van so we decided to take a taxi, it was well worth the money to us. We were brought right to where they were collecting the luggage for the ship.
Cartagena (Colombia)
Even with no excursion we went on shore and right at the pier we went into the gift shop and then outside in back where there were wild monkeys, and beautiful birds. The hollering monkey was interesting, we took great pictures and some film footage of them monkeys.
San Juan
Took a taxi into Old San Juan, looked for the Sheraton where we will be staying in October when we go on another cruise. We also found a great coffee shop close by and purchased some coffee. It was pricey but very good. Look forward to getting some more to purchase in October.
Tortola
I thought this island was quaint and not as built up as many of the cruise ports are. We walked into town and enjoyed going to a spice shop and down the road to Pusser's Outpost which had the "painkiller" drink. Very good drink! Had lunch then returned to the ship. Loved sailing out from here to see all the small islands including Jost Van Dyke.