Norwegian Dawn
Norwegian Cruise Line®
Overall Rating 
Based on 24 reviews
Submit your review Cruise reviews reflect the opinions of travel editors and cruisers/ readers and may not represent those of our company.
Mediterranean Cruise
April
Pros: Staff, food, entertainment
Cons: Nothing negative to add
Recommended: Yes
We had a great time and enjoyed everything the cruise line offered.
British Island and others
August
Pros: On board crew and entertainment
Cons: Food
Recommended: No
This was our fifth cruise with Norwegian and second on the Dawn, we were very disappointed with the lack of variety, taste and amount of choices
Cruising with Friends
July
Pros: Staff was phenomenal
Cons: The ships app was woefully lacking. You could only view daily activities and events 24 hours prior, if you were lucky.
Recommended: Yes
Main dining room food and service were very good. Staff was very attentive and pleasant. We received exceptional service from our server, Raymond Ramirez and his assistant, Lackson.
We were pleasantly surprised with the Garden Cafe Buffet. Food was delicious and presentation made everything taste as good as it looked.
It was nice the staff took the time to get to know us and our names. Assistant Maitre d Ketut checked o us often and made our experience enjoyable.
Cruise excursion desk hours were very limited and staff needs more training. Their general knowledge of the areas we traveled to needs much improvement.
Our cruise director, I don't even remember her name, left much to be desired. We hardly saw her. However, Rob, the Assistant Cruise Director, was fantastic! His team really showed how much they enjoyed and cared about the guests. Chelsea is a standout member!
Public bathrooms need to be attended to more diligently.
The ships app should be made more user friendly and include information for the entire cruise, not just 24 in advance.
Our Cruising Experience
July
Pros: The wait staff was superb in The Venetian. Yvette, the yoga instructor, was very helpful in all areas.
Cons: I felt that the port connections to the city could have been much better organized. Some missed their excursions and were hurt in waiting to disembark. There were moth holes in our curtains in the room.
Recommended: Yes
Overall, our experience was good! We loves seeing so many countries in the amount of time we had. The shows were great entertainment on board.
Perfect for what we wanted
May
Pros: Excellent staff, excellent entertainment, casual atmosphere
Cons:
Recommended: Yes
This cruise ship was perfect for the type of cruise we took which was ports of call every day. The little more relaxed atmosphere is nice. It doesn’t have all the extras like water slides and rock walls or things like that but our whole group really liked that it was more quiet on the pool deck. You could find more upbeat areas if you wanted like in the bliss lounge with lots of group games etc.
Some people wanted the more dress up feel at night but the10 of us that booked all loved that we didn’t have to work around and worry about dinner reservations or getting super dressed up after being out all day. We still got a little cleaned up for sure but it was less pressure in that area.
Some food we didn’t love but that’s to be expected I’m sure. You could always find something you could enjoy. The staff in those areas was always great.
Our room was basic but always very clean. The whole ship was very clean. We overall has a great experience!
Norwegian Dawn Cruise Review
May
Pros: Great food and crew was very nice and helpful. Very clean and well maintained.
Cons: Not well organized. However it was their first cruise after Covid.
Recommended: Yes
Overall a good experience. The food was great and all the staff was nice but it just seemed like there wasn’t great communication and organization.
Review of Norwegian Dawn
January
Pros: The Staff, the Staff and the Staff
Cons: None
Recommended: Yes
we enjoy the specialty dining as well as dining in the Venetian. the Staff takes care of the guests so wonderfully. We also enjoyed the nightly shows in the Stardust theater and especially enjoyed the comedian. The dancers and vocalist were amazing.WE also enjoy the Thermal suites for the quiet.
I appreciate the cleanliness of the ship and I also feel safe.
I enjoy seeing the beauty of the food as well.
November Panama Canal Cruise Norwegian Dawn
November
Pros: Multiple ports, good food, activities, entertainment, ship size
Cons: None to speak of
Recommended: Yes
This was a 15 day repositioning cruise from New York City to Tampa, stopping at 9 ports (8 countries). Enjoyed entire experience. Staff was great. We had an inside cabin on deck 5 and had no problems w/noise or motion. Cabin was near a crew transit way, but they kept noise to a minimum. Lots of free dining options, food excellent and varied. Ate at one a la carte restaurant and food outstanding. Entertainment was varied. Ship's main singers and dance company, house band and dance band excellent. Also liked musicians who sang at different venues throughout ship. Plenty of ship board activities for days at sea. Casual cruise, not overly rigid w/dress codes and meals. Good size ship, 2,000+ guests. Took Norwegian shore excursions, which ran smoothly and were as advertised. Any delays or issues w/shore excursions were because of crew or staff. We ran late several times and ship waited for us. Overall, would recommend.
January San Jaun Cruise
January
Pros: Good food, good entertainment, great itinerary, good excursions
Cons: Cabin (balcony) was small, mini-sites are better, cabins could be updated some, TV entertainment was limited unlike other NCL ships we have been on
Recommended: No
Would recommend but get a mini-suite or larger if possible.
Best Cruise Ever
November
Pros: Ship, crew, food, entertainment, ports, excursions, easy on and off
Cons: We didn’t get double NCL points when booking.
Recommended: Yes
We’ve been on several NCL cruises and this was the best. (11 day southern Caribbean). San Juan is a great starting point and we stayed at a B&B for two nights. Ship is in fine shape and crew was outstanding. Entertainment was top notch, food was great, service was first rate. Much more personal attention and fun than a mega ship. Excursions were very good with two caveats: 1) if you scuba dive, book your own dives through local shops. We used VIP diving in Bonaire and it was fantastic. 2) Do not go on the horseback riding at the beach excursion in St. Maarten—NCL should drop this one.
We will definitely do this cruise again!
Boston cruise
September
Pros: The crew was extremely courteous, and the shows at night were really good
Cons: The cabin's were clean but the window we had was so dirty we could hardly see through it
Recommended: No
Again, it was sad that we paid for the window cabin and it was gross , couldn't hardly see through it. We asked for it to be washed and they washed it on the inside but all the dirt was on the outside, maybe between the panes . The last port , la Baie, wasn't much there and the hop on hop off tour was poor, couldn't understand the guide and getting on and off was confusing. We spent extra time in Boston and it was well worth it although the rooms were expensive and not very nice. We spent extra time in Quebec, the rooms were reasonable and extremely nice. All in all, we had a good time.
We travel to gamble
February
Pros: Great room service real great butler and conclierge was every place we whent
Cons: Half crew was new not good for gambling
Recommended: Yes
Never leave out of Tampa / Pri0rity disembarkation very poor /priority embarkation very poor I think most of the problem was the port not the ship.
Great Trip
January
Pros: Service was great staff extremely friendly and helpful
Cons: Not enough restrooms
Recommended: Yes
Had an amazing time would recommend to my friends
and i will be causing again
NORWEGIIAN DAWN REVIEW
March
Pros: THE BEST PART WAS THE STAFF AND THE ENTERTAINMENT GIO AS A VERY GOOD CRUSE DIRECTOR
Cons: THE WORST PORT WAS GETTING HOME.THE TERMINAL WAS SO HOT INSIDE
Recommended: Yes
NCL Dawn
March
Pros: Nice mini suite, good food in main dining rooms and Cagney's steakhouse
Cons: no nightly comedy acts, mediocre entertainment, tender at one port
Recommended: Yes
Tender process extremely slow (over two hours) - shortened our excursion time to the point that it was almost not worth getting off ship. No one seemed to care that it was taking so long......
Not sure I like Freestyle Dining - missed having that relationship with wait staff when you have assigned seating at dinner - didn't get to know any of them!!
Western Carribean Gulf of Mexico
January
Pros: Excellent excursions, varied entertainment, good food
Cons: Service staff seemed unhappy, no covered pool or spa
Recommended: Yes
Seemed like the staff was tired and unhappy. Found out they work non-stop without a day off.
WESTERN CARIBBEAN CRUISE
May
Pros:
Cons:
Recommended: No
THE SHIP WAS BEAUTIFULLY DECORATED AND EASY TO FIND THE SPECIFIC AREAS. TOWARDS THE END OF THE 10 DAY CRUISE THEY SEEMED TO FORGET TO CLEAN THE POOL WHICH WAS VERY SLICK. WE FOUND OUT IT WAS GOING INTO BERMUDA TO BE COMPLETELY REFURBISHED. THE ROOM WAS LARGE, BUT THE PATIO WAS VERY SMALL. NO TABLE BUT 2 LOUNGE CHAIRS THAT TOOK UP ALL THE ROOM. THE RESTAURANT SERVICE WAS GOOD ONE DAY BUT HORRIBLE THE NEXT. THE FIRST NIGHT THE WAITER ACTED LIKE HE DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO DO. THE NEXT NIGHT IN AQUA IT WAS MUCH BETTER. OUR ROOM STEWART GEORGE WAS VERY GOOD.
Great trip all around
March
Pros: Comfortable clean room, delicious/plentiful food selections, variety of enjoyable entertainment, great service
Cons: Bottled water was pricey!
Recommended: Yes
First time Norwegian cruisers and we thoroughly enjoyed the trip. Didn't understand their term "freestyling" until we experienced it, but it's perfect for us! No specific time for dinner and nice casual dress acceptable so no need to dress up unless you want to. Will cruise with Norweigan again!
Norwegian Dawn by the Waltons
October
Pros: Excellent cabin service and overall staff were friendly and efficient , showed the Patriots game
Cons: Long waits for elevators, food just ok, smokey casino, cabins smaller than Holland America
Recommended: No
Not sure if we would take another cruise
Trip To Bermuda
May
Pros: Intertainment was great!
Cons: Food can be better, closing buffet line to quick, no snacks after midnight
Recommended: No
need to keep the maintenance up. Elevators not working, Ladies room always overflowing on deck 6. Coffee makers not working on buffet line.
Canadian Maritimes Cruise
September
Pros: Great itinerary, great room service, good food, beautiful ship
Cons: Unresponsive cruise consultant, confusing meal reservation system, few/no cultural talks about ports, late starting shore excursions/tender boat confusion, lackluster cruise director
Recommended: Yes
Overall this was a good cruise. Norwegian, however, seems to be all about the ship and its amenities and not about the various ports' geography, history, and culture. This is the real reason we cruise. We recommend this trip, but with the concerns mentioned above.
Boston to Bermuda
July
Pros: The size of the ship...and our cabin!
Cons: Mexican food day and too many smoking areas
Recommended: Yes
We had a fantastic time! The entertainment was spectacular and our cabin attendant was the best! For the most part, the food was great. ..they should really do away with the Mexican food day. ..that was terrible! The ship was always clean and very pretty. We will sail NC again.
NCL Dawn
April
Pros: Overall good
Cons: Needs to handle food lines and disembarkation at ports more efficiently.
Recommended: Yes
Good overall
Tampa to Western Carribean
March
Pros: Freestyle cruising concept; very interesting shore excursions.
Cons: They are constantly selling products/services everywhere on the ship and on shore - We had to constantly defer/resist and we think it is contrary to the Freestyle "laid-back" concept.
Recommended: Yes
It was Spring Break and there were hundreds of college students on the ship; they were mainly well-behaved and since we retired each evening around 10 before the late-night partying, we co-existed with them quite well. However, seeing some of the pigsty staterooms as we passed by in the corridors, we felt great sympathy for the cabin staff members who had to clean it up each day.
Norwegian Dawn | Cruises
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