Norwegian Dawn Review

4.0 / 5.0
3,027 reviews

Southern Caribbean on the Dawn

Review for the Southern Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Dawn
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Tennessee Travelers
First Time Cruiser • Age 70s

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Sail Date: Mar 2010
Cabin: Family Balcony

We sailed to the Southern Caribbean on the Dawn in mid March. Weather was fantastic. My overall impression of the trip was good. As always what you put into any venture effects what you get out of it. These are my impressions. Embarkation: To this end NCL reigns supreme. I have never had a bad experience and again this was true. We arrived at 11:15 am and was setting in the Venetian enjoying lunch before noon. The ship: The Dawn is a beautiful ship and well maintained. Getting around can be a little confusing but as time passes, it's a breeze. I especially like that the Casino of situated where you need to make an effort to get there. Many other ships put it in a path that forces you to go through it but not so on the Dawn. Post: The itinerary was excellent, I even enjoyed Samana, which I did have some reservations on. I don't like to Tender but the Dawn crew made it an efficient process. All the other ports were docked and no problem getting around. Dining: Well this is an area which I did have some disappointments. We ate in the Venetion all but one night. For the most part service was excellent. We did however have one unpleasant evening where we had dirty plates in front of us for over 20 minutes. I would excuse this if they were busy, but this was not the case, it was more of a lack of attention. But like I said this was only 1 of 9. As for the food, I think NCL may need to work a little on the menu, It was not as good as we have experienced on other NCL cruises. I think the problem for me lies more in selection than quality. What I tried was good, but the variety that I expected was not there. Specialty restaurants were available but we did not use them. We will have to explore this more on future cruises. I almost forgot the Buffets, they were excellent and we never had a problem finding something we liked. Cabin Staff: Excellent, never a problem, room was kept clean and serviced through out the cruise. Definite, hats off to the cabin staff. Entertainment was so-so. To be honest I have bragged on previous cruises but on this I would call it adequate only, although the crew skit was the high point. Maintenance: I realize that there is a concerted need for continuous maintenance on any ship. We had the unfortunate luck to have a major task going on just outside our cabin for most of the cruise. Although an effort was made to keep disruption at a minimum it was an inconvenience, one of which we forgive due to the need. Disembarkation: Best ever of any cruise. From the time we met in the Bamboo lounge until we were leaving in our rental car for Orlando...under an hour. absolutely fantastic. Hands off to NCL, Miami Cabs, and Budget for making my most dreaded part of the trip, the best ever. All and all, we had a positive experience. A high point was our meet and greet for cruise critics member. We had two gatherings and NCL supported us very professionally. We had over 50 members attend. It was great putting faces on otherwise names and nicknames. I'm glad that NCL supports Cruise Critics and hope they continue in the future. We plan to do the 5 day cruise to Cozumel and Grand Cayman next spring and see that the Dawn is scheduled for that itinerary. We will be looking forward to seeing a great ship again.

Cabin Review

Family Balcony

Cabin B3

The cabin location was excellent for getting around the ship. It was close to the elevators for moving around the ship with just a short walk to the rear entrance to the Internet lounges back door. The room for the most part was quite and very little motion from the ship was felt. Storage was more than adequate. I would request this cabin if I cruise the Dawn again.

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