Norwegian Dawn Review
Great Cruise as a first experience with Norwegian!
Rating by category
Additional details
We chose this cruise because of the port of call. We had never sailed to the southern Caribbean and 6 of the 8 stops were all new islands for us. We were not disappointed with the quality of the beaches, easy aces to them, shopping etc. We are not your typical tourist who book excursions for every stop. We do our own thing as we get off the ship. Getting cabs to and from the beaches are fairly easy and if you feel for a short 2-3 hour tour you can easily get them on and around the ship as you get off and you pay much less. Sometime they need 2-4 pax to complete the cab ride and you can negotiate them, as we did. As an example, St-Lucia, $25/per for a 2.5 hour tour with the caves which we paid $9 at the gate. I believe it was 2x the amount with the ship excursions.
The food onboard was very good, for those of you, like us, who had never done "freestyle" dinning before, it is actually quite good. The longuest we ever waited in line at the Venetian dinning room or Aqua was less than 5min. A la carte dining, we only did La Cucina (Italian) was delicious and the extra was approx $30/per. The Asian restaurant (complementary) is a must. Reserve in advance as it does get full every night. We had one deception, that is the choice of more exotic foods such as lobsters, crabs, etc...Probably available in the Specialty restaurant for a fee but not in the main dinning rooms (Venetian/Aqua) and buffet Garden Cafe. We are convinced that it is probably due to the the cruise line trying to maintain pricing. Of the food that was available, it was very tasty but regular diner food. But good.
The entertainment was awesome. A few musical, magic, comedian, and the Element finale was truly Vegas like quality. There is typically 2 showing and ample room. The staff is extremely charming, and if you ever sail on this ship and come across "Washy Washy" in the Garden Cafe, you will understand this statement....lollll
Cabin Review
Balcony
excellent!
Port Reviews
San Juan
Very nice island. We arrived a day early and stayed in a cute boutique style hotel in Old San Juan. It gave us a full evening and a full day to visit before boarding. We liked the idea of sailing at 9pm. Gives you more time. We highly recommend arriving a day early in case of incidentals and lost baggage. We boarded around 5pm and had dinner on the ship before sailing.
Aruba
A beautiful Island. We spent the day at Eagle beach. A $25 cab ride back and forth. 420 for chairs and umbrella, and beautiful beach. Nice shops around the port so you can indulge before boarding back
Curacao
This is a gorgeous island. We took a small tour for $30/per for approx 2hours. Worth it. We then walked in the downtown area. It was on a Sun and some shops were closed but none the less very nice. There is a small bridge that separates new and old Curacao and it moves to allow Yatch to cross. Very unique.
Bonaire
Here again we went to a beach called Coco Beach which is supposed to be nice for snorkeling. Although we are not snorkeler the beach was small and not convenient for swimming. So we cab back to another beach called Sorobon! Wow, clear and shallow water for 100's of feet. Well worth it.
Barbados
This island was one of our fav. We spent the day at Paynes Bay beach. A much quieter beach than Carlise Bay where everybody goes. Lot's of shore activities of you want to paddle board, jetski, etc...Around $20 for chair and umbrella as well.
Antigua
Our favorite island of all. The people and the beauty of the beaches are exceptional. We spent the day at a beach which I can't remember the name unfortunately but everyone of them are beautiful. Approx $25 for chairs and umbrella.
St. Maarten
Unfortunately, this island is still recovering from Irma, the French side, (which we didn't visit) is worst hit. We stayed on the beach next to the port, did some shopping, jewelry is the place to buy. It was our 3rd visit to this island so we didn't have much left to visit.
St. Thomas
Megann's Bay! the most beautiful beach on the island and one of the world;s top 10 beaches. It's a 20min cab ride from the port. Its $8/ea one way per person and there is a $5 Park Fee at the beach. Chairs and umbrella are $30 and only accept cash with a $30 deposit which they refund once you return the chairs.
This quiet little bay, is paradise on earth. A must see or stay during your visit. great shopping near and around the port and at the beach little rest and bar for your convenience and they do accept CC.