Norwegian dawn

[baileydanae]

I'm booked for my first ncl cruise on the dawn! What can I look forward to!?

[JPV072900]

Well, it's one of those cruises where you have to make your own fun!! We are booked in the Dawn for July, but we also booked the Breakaway because we didn't have much to do on the Dawn. We live in southern NH, and it's obviously easier to drive to Boston, but I think a 4 hour bus ride to NYC is worth it to be on a better ship. The Dawn has ONE main pool, and there's not many activities onboard. I'm not trying to be negative, just telling you my experience. The free dining rooms were barely okay. We ate at Le Bistro and the Brazillian restaurant on the last two nights...worth every penny. We had had enough with the service and food so we went to the pay restaurants!

 

 

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[Pikaia]

I'm not interested in the mega-ships, and I really like the Dawn- and Gem-class ship layouts. They're easy to navigate, with very friendly staff, and I don't feel crowded. We're very active in port, so on the ship we tend to take it easy, but I've never had trouble finding something to do. Plus I can cruise more often on the Dawn or Gem. The Breakaway costs significantly more per day in the categories we book on comparable itineraries.

 

Regarding the pool, the Dawn has an aft kids pool area, so there are usually fewer kids (and very few small children) at the main pool.

 

Still, every once in a while I get tempted to book Breakaway. Then I read the recent reviews here and on Yelp, and I decide to stick with the Dawn- and Gem-class ships. ;)

[rvsullivan]

Nonsense, the Dawn is a fine ship with plenty to do. Food is good to great and activities run from morning to night. It is not a mega ship with ropes courses and climbing walls. Look around for some of the posts that include dailies for the Dawn. Crew, food and entertainment are all great. If you want a mega ship with 4,000 plus people, you can sail out of New York and get that. We would take the Dawn anytime and have two more cruises booked on her now.

[fishin' musician]

I've done both and while the Breakaway certainly offers all the latest and greatest ammenities, I certainly did not find the Dawn lacking. It offers all the typical NCL stuff. I actually much prefer this size ship regardless of brand. In addition it sails out of the most fun and interesting port in the USA, New Orleans.

[PCLMassachusetts]

Nonsense, the Dawn is a fine ship with plenty to do. Food is good to great and activities run from morning to night. It is not a mega ship with ropes courses and climbing walls. Look around for some of the posts that include dailies for the Dawn. Crew, food and entertainment are all great. If you want a mega ship with 4,000 plus people, you can sail out of New York and get that. We would take the Dawn anytime and have two more cruises booked on her now.

 

I could not agree more. True, there are no ropes course or planks to walk, but if I want an amusement park I will go to one. The Dawn is a great ship with a great crew and we were never bored. My kids had a blast, never used the kids club and never once complained of nothing to do. We liked the Dawn so much that we booked another cruise on her the week after getting home.

 

Our cruise was not perfect, but no vacation ever is. Go with an open mind and you will have a great time.

[AEckhardt]

I've done both the Dawn and the Breakaway. I loved the hustle of the BA and had an amazing time, BUT I also had a ton of fun on the Dawn! When on the Dawn, I was able to participate in more of the games and saw more shows and didn't feel rushed! On the BA, there was so much to do, I missed out on a lot, and hustled to get from one activity to another.

 

We recently booked another Dawn sailing. My reasonings? Although I love the BA, Boston is very close, I could roll out of bed late morning and be eating lunch on the ship before noon. Parking is less than half the price. I could afford a MUCH larger suite. And I really want this trip to be more focused on fun, romance and relaxation than a rat race, trying to cram in as much as possible in a week. Could you relax on the BA? Sure, it's freestyle and you can do as much or as little as you want, but the other reasons made my choice easy.

 

We will do the megaships again, for sure! But right now, the Dawn is calling my name... [emoji4]

[ALS1214]

There is plenty to do on the dawn- karaoke, shows, pub crawl, spa , always music somewhere, trivia contests or just relax at the main pool with drinks . It was my first cruise and i rebooked for this July. Any cruise is what you make of it. The breakaway is great with more bars and restaurants but with that comes more crowds. But I do want to experience the breakaway too.

 

 

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Edited February 15, 2015 by ALS1214

[AEckhardt]

There is plenty to do on the dawn- karaoke, shows, pub crawl, spa , always music somewhere, trivia contests or just relax at the main pool with drinks . It was my first cruise and i rebooked for this July. Any cruise is what you make of it. The breakaway is great with more bars and restaurants but with that comes more crowds. But I do want to experience the breakaway too.

 

 

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Actually, because there are so many bar options on the Breakaway, the crowds are really dispersed. Besides the small pool area and when shows are released, it never seemed insanely overrun with people. The Dawn's bars ( although there are still quite a few!) can get pretty full. Pearly Kings was almost standing room only some nights during karaoke.

 

You can't go wrong between the two ships. You just need to have realistic expectations of both.

[ALS1214]

True the pearly king does get packed. I heard chips ahoy has left the dawn😪 I hope he's back in July . He was a fun bartender!

 

 

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Edited February 15, 2015 by ALS1214

[Loucat]

We have sailed on Dawn twice when she was sailing out of Tampa. We really liked the ship!

There are lots of things to do. The MDR is fine; we also did Teppanyaki and other specialty restaurants.

Every cruise is what you make it; you can do nothing or you can get involved in all of the activities.

I wish Dawn was back in Florida!

[garycarla]

I'm booked for my first ncl cruise on the dawn! What can I look forward to!?

 

 

A great cruise.

 

Not sure what the question is though.

[lolavix]

Look around for some of the posts that include dailies for the Dawn.

 

I have a very long trip report from last August of the Dawn, and at the start of each day, I posted the dailies. You'll have to go to each individual day to read them, but they are there.

[Rou-Dyliq]

True the pearly king does get packed. I heard chips ahoy has left the dawn I hope he's back in July . He was a fun bartender!

 

 

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Oh no! He was our favorite bartender and my husband still talks about him. We were looking forward to seeing him again in October!

Edited February 16, 2015 by Rou-Dyliq

[pathubia]

We love Chips Ahoy!! We cruised the Dawn in May and he was our favorite bartender!! When we cruised in October he was on vacation, but not coming back!! I was told that he is on either the Breakaway or the Getaway...So sad!!

 

We cruised the Dawn again in January (can you tell we love the DAWN?) and he still isnt back, and wont be coming back anytime soon.

 

The shows are fun. The illusionist just left for a couple of months off, David DiVinchy, he will be back in May. The Cruise Director in January, Bobby, is new to the Dawn, he is also very good. Not sure if he will be there a while or if he is covering a vacation....

 

Pearly Kings is a great bar for Karaoke. There is also a great duo that play in the atrium, Jose and Patti, they werent on our last cruise, but they will be back in the spring.

 

You will have a great time!!

[zqvol]

Well, it's one of those cruises where you have to make your own fun!! We are booked in the Dawn for July, but we also booked the Breakaway because we didn't have much to do on the Dawn. We live in southern NH, and it's obviously easier to drive to Boston, but I think a 4 hour bus ride to NYC is worth it to be on a better ship. The Dawn has ONE main pool, and there's not many activities onboard. I'm not trying to be negative, just telling you my experience. The free dining rooms were barely okay. We ate at Le Bistro and the Brazillian restaurant on the last two nights...worth every penny. We had had enough with the service and food so we went to the pay restaurants!

 

 

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Dawn is one of the best ships in the fleet. Plenty to do, but small enough that you don't think you are in a floating Disney resort. I can't imagine anything that is missing on the Dawn.

[JPV072900]

I would say the Dawn is missing an additional pool. One main pool for 2,000 guests just isn't enough. PLUS, it is ridiculously loud at the pool once they change the music to hip-hop at around 10:00am!

 

 

 

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[Cruzn Bills Fan]

Dawn is by far our favorite ship. What we like most about her is the pool deck with what I like to call "stadium seating".