This was our 4th cruise overall and our 2nd on NCL (One other cruise on Celebrity and one on Royal Caribbean). We had not been on NCL for 13 years and a lot has changed. We really enjoyed the concept of Freestyle Cruising but we felt that it had it's drawbacks too. I was truly disappointed in the service we received on board. I felt that the waiters / waitresses at all of the restaurants (both of the main dining rooms and at the two specialty restaurants we went to) were very cold and impersonal since we essentially had a different one every meal. We did receive excellent, friendly service from one server in particular and we requested her everytime we went back to the Venetian. In addition,our Cabin Steward was not very friendly and barely said two words to us the entire 9 days. Our previous cruise was on Royal Caribbean and the service was excellent. Our cabin steward was addressing us by name on the first day and greeting us daily in the hallways when we would see him. The wait staff on Royal was also much more personal and friendly...not only in the dining rooms where they got to know you because of the assigned tables, but even at the buffet dining area and all of the bars. On both NCL and Royal Caribbean, we purchased a "soda sticker" for our fountain drinks and never had a problem getting the drinks we ordered poolside on Royal Caribbean. However, on the NCL Dawn, there were several instances when we would order a soda, show our card with the sticker, and the waiter would never bring us our drink so we had to either order again with someone else or go up to the bar to get it ourselves. It felt as if since we were not ordering a drink that they were going to get more profit and a tip from, they could care less about bringing it to us. We also had an unfortunate incident with the guest service desk when we called to inquire about a room service menu that our cabin did not have. The employee spoke to my husband like he was an idiot..."all of the cabins have them...you have to look in the binder". When my husband told him we had only a hard cover book and not a binder, he was told "Well it's in there you just have to look". When I physically went to the guest service desk, another employee gave me the menu and confirmed that several cabins were missing the binder and that they did not have extras to give to us at this time. The first associate could have simply sent a copy of the menu down to our cabin instead of assuming we just couldn't find ours.

On a more positive note, the Youth Program Staff was great. They were very attentive and my daughter enjoyed going there almost everyday. I enjoyed the itinerary and the shore excursions we purchased. The only drawback to the itinerary was that 5 ports in 5 days was a bit exhausting. I wish there was at least one day at sea in between to help break up the hustle a bit. NCL also did a good job of correcting a problem with our luggage. On the day we arrived at the ship, there were on and off rain showers. Even though it wasn't raining when we turned over our luggage at the port, later that evening when our luggage was delivered and we began to unpack, the outer 2-3 layers of clothing in each suitcase was soaked. When we went to guest services, they were quick to offer us complimentary express laundry service (apparently the same thing happended to a lot of people). We also enjoyed the entertainment on board and the fitness center was well equipped.

Overall, we enjoyed ourselves but I don't think I'll be using NCL again for our future cruises when there are so many other options out there.