NCL Dawn Western Caribbean Review

Hi all,

This is my very first post! My fiance and I just got back from a 7 day Norwegian Dawn cruise to the Western Caribbean. I was wondering if anyone would like me to post a full review of our experiences here that way it would be easier to read and answer questions rather than post in the review section?

Let me know! Thanks.:cool:

Post away! We did the same cruise about a month ago, but I'd love to hear your thoughts. I keep debating choosing the same cruise itinerary or trying something new for our next cruise.

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Yes please! Sailing in a month and would love to hear your impressions of the ship, current personnel, tips, hidden gems and dining experiences. Thank you in advance.

Would love to read it. Sailing Western Caribbean on the Dawn next February.

Okay let me know if I leave anything out you guys would like to know.

Drinks: WAY CHEAPER TO DRINK OFF SHIP THAN ON THE SHIP! It's very tempting to buy drinks on the ship. Workers walk around taking orders for drinks and ask you if you would like to order one. Seems like every older person on the ship had one. Not very strong except a Long Island, which is meant to be strong. Specials are offered every day for 7.95. But with the tax it comes to about 10.95 a drink. NOT worth it to me. Cozumel has VERY good tequila for cheap. We got a 40 proof bottle of pure agave tequila for $20. How can you beat that? Roatan has plenty of places to get alcohol and mixed drinks. Along the beaches they have bars offering 2 for $5 drinks!

Food: FUTURE WARNING, THE GARDEN CAFE (BUFFET) SEEMS TO NEVER USE SALT OR PEPPER. For breakfast, we ate at the buffet every day. Fiance and I both love a variety for breakfast. The very 2-3 days, breakfast was great! Later though, it seems like the scambled eggs seemed to get a little runny/watery. The biscuits for the biscuits and gravy were kind of dry and crumbly, although the gravy was good. The grits were pretty good. Fruit variety consists of canteloupe, honey dew melon, watermelon, pears, apples, bananas, and oranges. Different small boxes of cereal were provided as well. There were some strange items like salmon mousse and a bunch of foreign foods as well. They have an omelet, crepe, and bagel/toast station. Plenty of pastries. The muffins were amazing!! I had one every day.We came to the conclusion around the 4th day that they never use salt or pepper during breakfast, lunch, or dinner. Maybe to appeal to those who need low sodium? They basically give you the option to add it yourself. Meats were found to be very dry. Especially the baked chicken and fish. Yuck. The macaroni was pretty good the first few days then later turned to cheesy mush. Desserts are provided all day. The drink selections are coffee, different tea bags are near by to go with the hot water, sugar free strawberry flavored water, mango flavored water, lemonade, cranberry cocktail. I had the cranberry cocktail every day for breakfast. They are open until around 10 for late night snacks. Such as nachos, chips and salsa (very good but how can you mess up chips and salsa?), hotdogs, fruits, different sweets such as cakes and cookies. The vanilla pound cake was so good I had it every day. The ice cream was also great. So much was not appealing though that hat I honestly don't want to sit here and type all of it. Long story short : BUFFET FOR BREAKFAST AND LATE NIGHT SNACKS ONLY!

We did NOT like O'Sheehans. They are the only place open 24/7. Hungry at night? Go to Garden Cafe. We gave them multiple tries and it just wasnt good. We tried the fish and chips, chicken and steak fajitas, prime rib, nachos, chicken wings, and burgers. DO NOT ORDER THE NACHOS! Late at night it seems like all of the food is left over from earlier in the day. Every time we ordered at night the food was cold. They offer specials every night that you can only order at night. Don't even think about ordering dessert.

The Venetian and Aqua both have the same menu from what we were told. Want to dress up but still enjoy free food rather than specialty dining? Go to the Venetian. A little more casual? Try Aqua. Very busy during the first few days. Both offer small servings but the food is awesome. We ate at the venetian twice. The menu changes up some every day. I had linguine with prawns in lobster cream sauce and the lasagna. Fiance had lamb with truffle and garlic mashed potatoes and steak and fries. We also tried the mozzarella sticks and I had a garden salad. Tried the snickerdoodle pound cake with ice cream and chocolate lava cake. They also have ice cream and gelato. Everything was excellent. Plenty of wine selections. Breakfast there is until 9:30. Dinner is 5:00 or 5:30 (can't remember) until 9:30. Aqua closes at 10.

Topsiders grill on the deck near the pool offers fruit, ribs, cakes, burgers, hot dogs, bbq chicken, potato salad, fries, etc. Ribs were pretty good. Burgers were never hot. I think it was because they were left out in the wind? Even though they were on a hot plate.

SHIP DECOR/LAYOUT:

The ship did get refurbished recently. I found no problems with the decor or lay out. Very up to date, flat screens in hallways with different slides letting you know which restaurants are open/have waits, events going on, announcements, etc. Clean carpet and walls. Pretty modern but casual chandeliers. Nice, clean elevators! Very wide stairways. Plenty of doors to get out on the sides of the ship and look out onto the water. More than enough beach chairs and couches to go around! 2 hot tubs have shade over them, the other 2 you are exposed to the sun. There is a "secret" hot tub on the upper deck towards the back of the ship. The pool is sort of small.. During port days, you can find the older crowd lounging around the deck, especially in the pool. During afternoons/night though it's plenty of kids. At times it was very annoying with the kids running around the pool area, throwing water, doing diving tricks, and just being loud. I was always looking for the parents which of course were no where to be found.

Excellent info! Do you know the name of the current cruise director by chance?

Excellent info! Do you know the name of the current cruise director by chance?

His name is Gio. He is hilarious and a great host!

As far as entertainment goes, it definitely is an older crowd. I am 19 my fiance is 22. Any party held such as the New Orleans party, Norwegians night out, White night, or any kind of event in Bliss you were definitely amongst older crowds.. who have kind of had too much to drink and are dancing all over. The music selection was definitely not current, so don't be on the look out for any songs that are newer than around 2013. A lot of line dancing music, old bruno mars, miley cyrus. They have live shows on the deck often which aren't too bad. It's nice to have live music while eating, swimming, tanning, etc.