Norwegian Dawn

Norwegian Cruise Line®

Ship Reviews

Overall Rating

Based on 23 reviews

Submit your review Cruise reviews reflect the opinions of travel editors and cruisers/ readers and may not represent those of our company.

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

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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.

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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.

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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!

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Norwegian Dawn  |  Cruises

12-night Africa-South Africa Cruise11/26/2024from $622

11-night Mediterranean Cruise03/30/2025from $1,076

10-night Europe Cruise07/08/2025from $2,223

9-night Europe: France, Spain, England & Portugal Cruise10/12/2025from $1,694

12-night Africa Cruise02/19/2026CALL

7-night Mediterranean: Spain & Portugal Cruise05/24/2026from $1,304

7-night Mediterranean: Spain & Portugal Cruise07/26/2026from $1,430

7-night Mediterranean: Spain & Portugal Cruise09/27/2026from $1,254

View all 68 Norwegian Dawn Cruise Offers...