This was my first time on the Dawn, second on Norwegian. We had cruised on the Escape in February so I wasn’t sure I would be very impressed with the older ship. The interior was beautiful and tastefully done. Our suite was fantastic. The only minor disappointment with the suite was that the middle windows were permanently discolored, so the view was partially obstructed and these windows had an air leak in the seal that whistled when we were cruising or if it was windy. The crew was amazingly friendly and attentive.

The biggest disappointment was the food. On the Escape, we were all very happy eating at the buffet in the Cafe. On the Dawn, the food was terrible and unappetizing. Burgers looked as if they were hockey pucks, roasts sat under heat lamps and dried them out so they looked like shoe leather, and choices were quite limited. Cagney’s did not have ribeye steak during the entire cruise. La Cucina gave us reservations for 7:15 and when we arrived we were told there were no tables inside for us “because they had a large party of 9” so they could only seat us in the outside area that was smoky from the nearby cigar lounge and impossible to hold a conversation because of music being played at Gadsby’s bar. It is not the best environment for an up charge restaurant.

The wait staff at the restaurants are well-trained and every server we had was pleasant and attentive. The servers in Moderno and Cagney’s were our favorites. Beverage servers in O’Sheehans and Gadsby’s knew our names and remembered our favorite drinks. The crew seems genuinely happy for the most part and that helped make our trip a good one. Read more