Dawn Review, 09/06 through 09/13

[CTGirl74]

This was only my second cruise ever so I am, by no means, an experienced cruiser. I'll split this review up by category.

 

Embarkation: Staff were extremely helpful and nice. I forgot my passport at home (3 hours away) and they allowed me to have my friend fax over my birth certificate. That saved the day! Embarkation was very easy and fast.

 

Food: Food in the main dining rooms was very good and I like being able to have soup AND salad or two desserts. Portions are smaller, but that was actually a good thing. We got to sample more foods when we wanted to and didn't feel overly stuffed. The one complaint I have is that service can often be slow. Be prepared to wait for that refill on your beverage. The Blue Lagoon had good food, but they were VERY slow. As a result, we didn't go back. The wait was awful. Restaurants were really good. We ate at Teppanyaki, Moderno, and Cagney's. Cagney's was my favorite, by far. Buffet was so-so. It was decent, but I was expecting a little better. And it was a zoo at breakfast if you got there any later than 8 am. The one thing I will mention that was annoying was that we had the most awful time with salt shakers. I have no idea why, but every single one we picked up, without exception, was either empty or clogged. I don't think they put rice in the shakers to prevent moisture.

 

Cabins: I liked the cabin, but the tables really should be replaced. The ones in our cabin showed a lot wear. The bathroom was small, or course, but the toilet area was absolutely TINY! I had to go through the door sideways because my shoulders are a little broad. However, the shower had plenty of room and I liked that a lot. The water coming from the sink faucet often wasn't cold. I could deal with cool or room temp, but it was actually HOT when I was brushing my teeth. We had three people in our room so we had to use the pullout sofa. When it was opened, there was barely any walking room so we put our two tables out on the balcony all week just so the early risers could go on the balcony in the morning without running an obstacle course. And the pullout sofa was the hardest thing I have ever slept on. I put the comforter under me, folded another comforter into fours and put that under me, and my hips were still killing me in the morning. It really was like sleeping on a table. I liked the bedding and the beds were comfortable enough.

 

Crew: Everyone was very friendly and we were always greeted when we came across a crew member in the hall.

 

Entertainment: We saw Second City, which was good. Although some of their skits were a little hit or miss. Bollywood was good. We went to bingo. I thought it was very expensive. Smallest package was 39.00 for three cards and they only play three games. We caught the tail end of The Perfect Couple and that was pretty funny.

 

Pool: Small and crowded, same as most ships. Chair hogs were in full swing like usual too.

 

That's about it. It was a great ship and we enjoyed ourselves, but NCL needs to work on the comfort level in their cabins.

[alny5810]

Glad your enjoyed yourself. Going on Dawn in December and can't wait.

[Barb Nahoumi]

You could ask the cabin steward for an "egg crate," matress cover. It would have improved your comfort level.

 

Try asking for one the next time you book.

[jdvmd]

Thanks for your comments!

[CTGirl74]

You could ask the cabin steward for an "egg crate," matress cover. It would have improved your comfort level.

 

Try asking for one the next time you book.

 

Thanks, I'll keep that in mind. When we asked the cabin steward several times for extra pillows and comforters we specifically told him that it was to make the sofa bearable. I would think he could have offered the egg crate, especially after telling us the extra bed linens wouldn't help. Hate to say it, but our cabin steward wasn't the best. He usually didn't remove dirty dishes or glasses, got towel animals only twice (wasn't expecting them anyway and not sure if it's supposed to be everyday so no big deal), and the daily cabin make-up was never consistent. Sometimes he put the sofa bed all the way up so we could use it as a sofa and other times he just removed the bottom cushion and pushed in the shelf to make it a half bed. There was one day that the room next door was being inspected by his boss because the occupants had complained the room was dirty.