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Awesome for a couple of first timers by
Charles F. from Manchester, NH Sailing date: May 2010Pros: They take great care of you Cons: lots of additional things to pay for if you aren't careful This was our first cruise and first trip to Bermuda. We will be doing both again and on ths same ship if possible. If not with NCL at the least. They really were great. The "Freestyle" cruising idea works for us because we didn't want to be tied to certain people / mealtimes. The staff on board is really great. The entertainment was well rounded. The food, once we got away from the caf, was very good. Even the caf was fine, no surprises, just a bit bland so everyone is happy I guess.
The few things we noticed was that there were a lot of fees if you wanted anything other to drink besides tap water which may all be standard, this was our first time. And the Duty Free shop is no bargain. Also the main pool struck me as small but that may be normal. There were plenty of hot tubs!
Bring money if you want to do anything on Bermuda besides sit on the (Gorgeous) beaches. Seriously. Its a beautiful place with no real poverty that we saw but you pay extra for all that. Ship QualityThese are real big ships. Think of a floating hotel but because they are on their side you have to walk the distance you would take an elevator from one end to the other. Get a room toward the center and on a high floor. Deck 7 appears to be the high traffic floor during most hours. Deck 4 is where everyone has to go to disembark while at Bermuda. Dining/FoodThe 2 main dining areas, Aqua and Venetian are great, almost no need for the specialty restaurants for us tho Teppanyaky (sp) is very entertaining. Stateroom Qualitythey cleaned it early and reset if again later. Very nice Ship Staff QualityVery helpful at every corner. Entertainment & Activities
 
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King's Wharf, BermudaBuy a 3 day bus pass, they count for the ferries too. The cruise lines tries to sell you their transportation to the beaches, etc. Didn't need it and saved a few bucks. We did book the 5 hour bus tour the first day via the cruise lines. Very informative and entertaining. Enough so that we were able to do our own thing the rest of the time with some knowledge of how things were laid out.
Don't Miss: Hit Hamilton on Wednesday night for Harbor Nights and Horseshoe Bay 5 out of 6 people found this review helpful.
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  We had a most enjoyable cruise! by
Phyllis D from New York State Sailing date: Apr 2010Pros: The hospitality of the crew and the cleanliness of the ship! Great entertainment! Cons: Can't really think of anything worth mentioning, except bad luck in casino and bingo We sailed with Norwegian a few years ago and were not very happy with the cruise. The food was terrible then and we really thought we would never sail with them again. We decided to give Norwegian another try and we are so happy we did! We had a wonderful time and thoroughly enjoyed the food, the room , the entertainment! We were very impressed with the warmth of the crew. Everyone was respectful and so helpful! Norwegian has been added to our list of favorite cruise lines! Ship Quality
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1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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worst experience ever by
A Traveler from Philadelphia Sailing date: Mar 2010Pros: nothing Cons: food, room Stinky toilet
Only 1 free restaurant, 9 others charge cover charges (5 free and 5 charge on Jewel 3 years ago). Cover changes are $15 - $25 now instead of $10 - $15.
Same menu every day except one new entre in the free restaurant.
No more cilantro or green scallions after first 30 minutes for soup in buffet area. Even Refuse to replenish when asked for.
No buffet from 4:30 5:30 pm (when most people back on ship).
Really bad ice scream.
Annoying promotion/sales announcement all day.
Leaking ceiling in hall way and restaurant. Ship Quality
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Entertainment & ActivitiesNightly show is pretty good. But just 1 hour out of 24. Children's Programs
8 out of 12 people found this review helpful.
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What a Fabulous Time! by
Gary E from Roanoke, VA Sailing date: Jan 2010Pros: Our lovely spacious stateroom, friendly staff, cleanliness of ship, great enterainment, delicious food, attractive ship, multitude of activities, tours available, ease of boarding and deembarking Cons: The amount of time it took to get started on our tours wasted our time in the ports. We did not have enough time to shop or sight see after our scheduled activity. We were on the Norwegian Dawn for a 5-day trip to the Western Carribean. It was my first cruise and I/we were very impressed. Our room had a sitting room and deck which was wonderful; in bed at night I loved looking out at the ocean and hearing the waves. The ship was very attractive, clean and accessible for the number of people on board. The staff was very friendly and helpful. The evening entertainment was excellent although there was not enough time to take in the multitude of daily activities I would have enjoyed, especially with the inviting Oasis pool area. The tours available were varied and extensive. We chose to snorkel with the stingrays and turtle farm in Grand Cayam and enjoyed both immensely. In Cozumel, we went to Tuman which also enjoyed very much. Our tour guides were very knowledgeable and entertaining. We are also impressed with the ease of boarding and deembarking. Our only complaint was not enough time in port. It took so long to leave the ship that 1/3 of the day was over. We would have preferred to leave at 8:00 am and have some some at the end of our tours to shop and sight see. Ship QualityPlease see above Dining/FoodPlease see above Stateroom QualityPlease see above Ship Staff QualityWe had the cutest wait staff, willing to take our picture several times to get it right, and go to another restaurant at lunch to get me cottage cheese which wasn't served there. Entertainment & Activities
7 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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Our 40th wedding anniversary cruise by
rich wilk from sarasota florida Sailing date: Jan 2010Pros: Entertainment, Service, Meals, Facilities, and Crew Cons: Disembarking We haven't been on a cruise in 25 years but the one we went on was our best vacation ever. So, we had high expectations on this cruise going in. We like to say that Norwegian and Norweign Dawn exceeded our expectations in all categories and we are seriously considering on doing another cruise with this line. We felt bad leaving the ship. On this cruise I took my 92 year old mother in law with us. She had a smashing time as we did.
The cruise director and all of his staff are some of the finest and most talented people we ever met and we have been around a long time. Hats off to them and the crew!!!!!!!!!! Ship Quality
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4 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
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take a different cruise line! by
A Traveler from Kalamazoo, MI Sailing date: Jan 2010Pros: not having to work Cons: the activities, the food( you had to pay extra for better food and even then it wasn't anything wonderful), the staff was not helpful or friendly, it was completely disorganized, there weren't any fun activities to do for adults besides gambling, the hot tubs were not hot! This was my first cruise and I had somewhat high expectations from friends who had gone on other crises, unfortunatly I won't be going on another cruise because of this trip. Getting on the ship was like finding your way through a maze and there were staff standing around not willing to help. Most of the staff spoke broken english at best and were not friendly. The weather was horrible, which is not the ships fault, but there were not enough fun things to do inside if the weather is bad, unless you like to gamble which I don't. The ship advertised a dance room for all night, but it was geared towards teens and the music they played was horrible. Drinks were very expensive, food was hospital quality at best. The sushi was horrible, and you would think being in the middle of the ocean you would have good fish. The best meals we had were at the Cagneys Steak house and you had to pay an extra $35 a person to eat there, and you can't eat all you want like other places, so not worth it because portions are very small. The inside stateroom was fine, but we had problems getting our room made up and towels replaced. Also the two days we were at port there was not enough time to really explore the islands, I found that other ships were docked a lot longer than ours was and limited time really makes it stressful to get back on ship on time and you can't enjoy the place. Ship Quality
Dining/FoodI did like that you didn't need reservations and could eat at any time. Stateroom Qualitywe were at the very front of the ship and it was a very long walk to get to anything else on the ship. Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & ActivitiesLAME 3 out of 9 people found this review helpful.
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5 night western Carribean cruise by
Chris & Gaby P. from Washington DC Sailing date: Jan 2010Pros: Ship activities and hospitality Cons: time at ports of call too short The 5 night cruise to Cayman Islands and Cozumel was a great cruise for 1st time cruisers like us. Not too short and not too long. Lots of shore excursions to choose from. NCL's Freestyle dining is great. They have a cafeteria that is open about 16 hours/day, plus the have 2 large dining rooms that operate restaurant style. We'd ask for a table for 2 or 4, we'd be seated, handed a menu, and waited on. The Dawn also has other restaurants that for a $10 - $25 per person fee you can get tex-mex, asian, italina, french, of steakhouse food.
The caliber of the entertainment was outstanding. Great carribean music at the pool for 4 hours every day and at night 1 lounge act, 2 piano bars, and a 7:30 - 9:30 theater show. Ship Quality
Dining/FoodFood was good but not exceptional. This was not important to us. We just wanted basic meal and not to gain too much weight. The breakfast buffet was as good as a Sunday brunch. Lunches and dinners had a lot of variety including fast food, a pasta station, and entries. NCLs Freestyle dining meant we coulkd show up at the cafeteria or restaurants anytime we wanted which was great. Stateroom QualityWe had a balcony room which was excellent. Ship Staff QualityThe staff was friendly and excellent. Entertainment & ActivitiesThere were lots of entertainment activities and options. The cruise director staff works very hard and made entertaining the ship seem easy. 1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Carribian Cruise by
A Traveler from Spartanburt, SC Sailing date: Jan 2010Pros: Great food and entertainment I am 92 years old and this is my first cruise since 1982. I was able to get around the cruise ship well with my family and I had a great time. I would highly recommend this cruise and I hope to go on another one in the future. Ship Qualityeasy to get aroung Dining/Foodvery good food Stateroom Qualityvery comfortablet inside cabin Ship Staff Quality
Entertainment & Activitiesvery good entertainment 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Great times! by
Cindy K. from Florida Sailing date: Dec 2009Pros: Freestyle Cruising Cons: nothing My husband and I thoroughly enjoyed our five night cruise which we booked to celebrate our 20th anniversary. The two ports of call were a lot of fun (Grand Cayman and Cozumel). The shopping director was excellent and so helpful with information about where to shop, coupons, references, and freebies, and where to find specific items. The entertainment on the ship was outstanding. (comedian, Second City, magician, show band, bands, shows, acrobats) We also enjoyed the magician's talk about memory skills. We attended art auctions for the first time and purchased a couple of starter pieces. We used the gym and attended two yoga classes. Ship QualityNicely maintained. Dining/FoodThe quality of the food was very good. We ate at the Venetian and the Aqua main dining rooms as well as at the Garden Cafe. We really like the flexibility in the dining options.
We did not go to a specialty restaurant this time. We did try, but too late, to book a meal at the French place but they were full. Stateroom QualityThis was the first time we have booked a balcony cabin and it was great. I highly recommend the balcony. Our cabin was well maintained. Ship Staff QualityEveryone was very friendly and helpful. One person did give me incorrect info about the disembarkation process but it was no big deal. Entertainment & ActivitiesExcellent. The only disappointment was that our glass bottom boat excursion was canceled due to some problem with the boat. 2 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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Wonderful Team by
Michele B from San Francisco Sailing date: Dec 2009Pros: The staff Cons: The pool was too small therefore crowded This was our second time cruising on the Dawn and for the most part enjoyed it very much. The pool deck and the actual pool itself is very small and doesn't lend itself to too many sun bathers. The crew on this boat and the entertainment was stellar! We cruised on this boat in 2008 as well and found the variety of food and the quality to be better last year. We would recommnend this ship for first time cruisers! Ship Quality
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1 out of 2 people found this review helpful.
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