Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

My husband and I are thinking of booking another cruise for our 1 year anniversary. Yes we are planning it early. For our honeymoon we took a cruise to Bermuda on the Celebrity Cruise Ship Horizon and we had a great time. Now we were thinking of trying the new ship from Norwegian Cruises called 'Norwegian Dawn' the Itinerary is:
Leaves New York and goes to:
Orlando, Florida
Miami, Florida
Nassau, Bahamas
Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas (which is NCL's private Island) This type of cruising is a little different because it's freestyle cruising which means you get to eat at any time you want and in addition to that there are different restaurants you can eat at but which you have to pay for. I would stick to the free dinning restaurants where it's paid for. Has anyone heard anything about this cruise??? Has anyone been on it or know anyone who has I would greatly appreciate some feedback.

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

I did not have a very good experience on the Norweigan Sea.

The Dawn may be very different but the Sea was terrible. As I result, I would not cruise with NCL again. Particularily since Ive had such a great time on Carnival and Royal Carribbean.

I didnt like the freestyle cruising b/c it seemed our food was always cold - overcooked or undercooked. I figured it had soemthing to do with constantly having to heat and reheat all night long instead of having two servings.

The one nice thing about the freestyle is that you can sit at a table by yourselves everynight which is nice.

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

That is the ship we took our honeymoon on! Ask away......

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

Can you tell me all about it Bride? I am thinking of booking it soon.

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

Ok, well please don't make your decision strictly off my experience as it was our first cruise ever and I think because it was our honeymoon we were very picky with all that happened but still made the best of it in the end, because it was our honeymoon....

I don't know if it was because we were unexperienced 'cruisers' or if it had anything to do with the ship being brand new and the maiden voyage out of NYC, but they did not seem all 'together'.

Getting on the boat was a BREEZE. Leaving out of NYC was AWESOME and not having to deal with airports was even BETTER! First impression of our room = it was DIRTY from the people that stayed there on the cruise before, dirty ashtrays, dirty sheets, dirty towels. We had to leave our room and walk around the ship while they cleaned it. Not a very good 1st impression.

So walking around the ship -- it was simply GORGEOUS and so GRAND!!!

We had gotten a mini-suite w/balcony (which we paid ALOT of money for) and figured we would get some extras thrown in here and there -- so NOT true. The only thing we got to do was make dinner reservations more than 1-day in advance through the conceirge (who was NEVER available and who never wound up making the reservation and who happened to be very rude to us when we approached her about this and was not very accomodating at ALL). I guess we should have slipped her that $100 like people suggested we do.

Even though we've never been on other cruises one thing that we did like was that we didnt have to dress up for those formal nights, they were optional. But you did have to get dressed into casual clothing to eat in the main dining areas and bars after 5-6 pm -- but you did have other choices, a smaller cafe where you could get food to go to take back to your room, and the main 'cafe' where there NEVER seemed to be a dress code (you could just IMAGINE how people came dressed, lets just say it made me understand the strict dress code in the restaurants!) There was also the casino where there was no dress code and the pool areas. And speaking of, that was one other thing - we know it wasnt a 'party' cruise but it seemed like the whole ship went to bed between 10-11 pm. They closed the pool and the outside bars and hottubs down before 11pm. One nite we were outside and couldnt even get a drink! AND as for the food - i was not impressed. Many people said thats one of the best parts. The food in the main cafe was just that, cafe food. It reminded me of the cafeteria in HighSchool. The food in the restaurants you had to pay for was good. The french restaurant was actually my FAVORITE. The steakhouse was pretty good, my hubby enjoyed their shrimp cocktail (many times over as you can ask for all you want). The food is plentiful and the drinks are expensive. I would definately suggest bringing on some alcohol of your own as what they serve is $6 a piece and up and watered down. We left the ship with a nice bill of over $1K more than half in alcohol (yes I was feeling GOOD the WHOLE honeymoon )

As for the ports = most people did Disney out of Orlando, we chose the Kennedy Space Center, which was another disaster in itself. At Miami we spend the day at the pool on the boat because we had no desire to see anything there. In the Bahamas we got off and went shopping in the shops/flea markets they had but never got to see Atlantis cause hubby got very sick (dont worry, it was a severe migrane, nothing related to the cruise ) And then at the private island, we got off and that was AWESOME! It was PACKED cause the whole darn boat got off, but it was like a big luau/party on an island. White sand and palm trees and hammocks and water sports and a live band and bar and bbq's going all over the place, there was even a flea market if you forgot anything in the bahamas.

Getting OFF the boat was a JOKE. You had two options, but your luggage out the nite before and then get off at a scheduled time they called...OR walk off in the morning with all your luggage. I think more than HALF the boat decided this was the way to go. Getting on and off the boat, the doors are about in the middle. Well we were on deck 11 and had to get down to deck 5. There were LINES to get into the elevators. Then the line to get off the boat, started at the elevators, which were at the BACK of the boat. Now if you've ever been on a cruise, you know these ships arent SMALL. It took about a good hour of waiting in line to get off the boat....

OVERALL, as for the boat, it was BEAUTIFUL!!!! As for the staff/service, it was mediocre. There WERE a few people on the boat there were fantastic and went above and beyond, but there were more that DIDNT than did. We were very disappointed in our cruise and we werent alone. We actually went with another couple (friends of ours) that also got married the same time. They had been on cruises before and even agreed that our points were valid and that it wasnt the best cruise they had ever been on. And to back THAT up, we even met another couple on board that said it was 'eh'. They said by FAR the best cruise they ever took was the one out of NY to Bermuda, which of course is our next cruise because we wont rule it out with only one bad cruise.

I could go on for days here, so if you have any specific questions, please FM me!

GOOD LUCK

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

I was on the Norweign Sea and it was AWFUL! In fact Fh and I have nicknamed it The Norweign NIGHTMARE!!!
I was on The Norweign Dawn in February in the Western Carribbean, it was its 5 th sailing and they did have to iron out some things. They said I registered for a shore excursion I would NEVER do, and I had an argument with them and finally they took it off my on board credit, then in a port in Mexico, I went to a shop and used my credit card, the shop was recommeneded by the boat, and my credit card was FRAUDED!!! It was a whole to do to stop the card, etc, and the staff that was supposed to be helping me out was too busy booking further trips to help me when they said that they would. I made it up almost up to the captain about this, and it was starightened out. The boat was beautiful, the alternative dining was good, we especially liked the French restaurant and the steak house, if you get Ceasar salad in the franch restuarant be warned there is a big anchovy in it..... I was not impressed when there were kids riding the elevators and leaving dirty plates of food in it, and it was hard to get a chair by the pool. We did like the hidden adults only hot tub and pool, that was very nice, and the boat was gorgeous. We are done with Norweign for awhile............... If you have any questions FM mail me. I am usually a lurker on the newlywed board because I am not a newlywed yet, but I saw this and had to post.

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

Thanks for all of your replies. We are going to take a chance and book Norwegian. I guess when it all comes down to it everyone has a different experience. As great a cruise our honeymoon was on the celebrity horizon ship i'm sure that there are some people that had some not so good experiences. Everyone has their own opinions but I do appreciate all of your feedback and for taking the time to reply to my post. Actually the Norwegian Cruise trip would cost less than our honeymoon. I found some deals online and the agent said that if i show her a printout she can match the prices. She is very nice about that. We always have time to change our minds. Like if we see something better from now till lets say march or april we can make changes....

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

Just my two cents, but you don't want to be stuck on a cruise line that got such horrible comments. Why not take the 21/2 hour flight and go to the carribean. The Bahamas are gross. When we went there, we had people following us around as soon as we got off the cruise ship trying to sell us pot and plenty of other things. Royal Carribean is a great cruise line. You can get awesome deals online.

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

MY parents went on this a few weeks ago and were not thrilled either. Their room was dirty, the pool was small and not enough chairs, and it seemed to be more of a family cruise than a couple type cruise.

We were going to book it too, but after hearing my Dad complain about it (he NEVER complains), we decided against it.

ETA- They did say the boat was beautiful and the restaurants were wonderful.

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

Princess: I wish I could have warned you before you went. You are my Norweigan hater sister

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

Bride-
My co-worker also went on the Dawn's Maiden Voyage. She said Kim Catrall was on the ship with her sister.

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

SonicStef: That was funny- we have to stick together! the 2 Norweign Cruise line hate sisters!!!!
I am going on The Tahitian Princess for my honeymoon, I hope it is better then the Norweign Nightmare!!!!

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

Im going on on old ship that Celebrity has next summer (someones wedding is being held on it so we didnt pick it nor can we change it)...and im really hoping its better than the Sea. oh, the horror!

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

I hear your pain sonicstef! I hope it is not as bad as the Norweign Nightmare! That had to be the worst ship I was ever on, I almost never went on another cruise again becuase of that horror! They supposedly redid it, G-d help anyone who steps foot on it.

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

bumping to see if there are more 'hopefully' positive opinions about the Norwegian DAWN (not the SEA). It seems to be the only ship leaving out of NYC in December

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

I've been on the NCL Dawn and it's gorgeous!

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

FH and I are going on the Dawn for our HM (7 months) I hope that its not as horrible as all the girls on here say. I have heard really good things about the cruise from other people and now I am feeling a little scared after reading all these posts.

Re: Norwegian Dawn Cruise Ship Question.....

I just think everyone has their own opinions and experiences. we went on the Celebrity-Horizon cruise to Bermuda and loved it and some people will say that they did not like that ship at all.

I will keep my fingers crossed and try this one.

Thanks for your advice Ladies.