Norwegian Dawn Review
There's Good and Bad in Everything I Guess....
Rating by category
Additional details
I booked this trip nearly a year in advance directly thru NCL. The cruise was selected primarily because of the itinerary - specifically Tortola. Had I read some of the Cruise Critic reviews before booking, I may have done something differently, but nonetheless, we sailed.
Our trip began on a Sunday, we left the airport hotel around 11am with a shuttle - I believe it was $20/person, and arrived comfortably at the ship's terminal about 25 mins. later. There was already a line forming outside the doors, so we had our luggage whisked off and we began the snaking of the line thru security, and up to the check-in window. All when relatively quickly, no hitches, and we were on the ship shortly after 12:00pm.
The hallways to all the rooms were sealed off, so we took our overnight bags with us and headed directly to the spa. It's our habit to book the spa pool packages whenever available. We both enjoy the peace and quite; the extra $30/day was worth it to us ($149/person). The passes are limited to 50 male/50 female, so we make sure we've secured a pass. On this particular sailing, I don't think they sold out. There was only one day that we felt a bit of a crowd, and I believe that was our first port day where the spa advertised a $30 port day spa pass. I would say that we never saw more than a dozen people in there at one time after that.
Cabin Review
Aft-Facing Balcony
As for the room it's self - it's exactly the same size (both room and balcony) to any other standard balcony on the ship. This is not a suite size room. I will also say that on the last day, we were one of the last to leave our room (9am was the deadline), and the doors to the other aft-facing rooms were open. We peeked in and I can tell you that they were not much bigger than ours - these are not penthouse rooms by any stretch! Personally, we were very happy with our choice. The bathroom, while tiny per usual, we found to be nice in that the toilet had its own dividing door, and the shower was a walk-in with a sliding door. There was an adequate amount of storage with a shelf below the sink and a built in waste basket. The ventilation was good as well.
The bedroom consisted of a queen bed, sofa and small square table. There was a built-in desk and shelf area, and a second built-in mirrored "make-up" area. The closet and draw space was plenty for us, and of course your bags get stored under the bed.
The balcony consisted of to chairs with reclining backs (not chaise loungers) and a small 1ft square table (just large enough to hold a plate).