Dawn Review January 28-Feb 8 The Great, Good, Bad and downright Ugly

[Cruiser1862]

 

 

First, this is MY review. Others might have a different opinion.

 

I love reading reviews but never write them. This time I decided I should. I’m not sure it would’ve made a difference once I booked the cruise, but it might have prior while deciding to book this cruise.

 

We’ve been on 10 cruises. Mostly Princess and a few RCI. This was our first NCL. We’ve been on mostly small ships with the exception of one Royal cruise on their very large ship with all the bells and whistles.

 

Let me start with embarkation. We had an arrival time of 9-9:30.  There was no place to drop a passenger off with the luggage while the other parked. It was chaotic and disorganized. We were put on a long line by one of the attendants and came to realize after 20 minutes it was a line for buses to go to the airport. They didn’t have a line started yet for embarking. Finally they did and informed us until all passengers were off ship we couldn’t go inside. It was really cold out too. Finally after an hour they let us in and from there it was very organized and quick to get onboard. Advice:  Don’t go before 11am. Our friends who had an 11am arrival time got right on.

 

Rooms:  They were the smallest we’ve ever been in. We had a balcony. Bathroom though was good. Shower was a nice size and another perk was a magnifying mirror right on the bathroom mirror. Also, hair dryers were very good, not the small cheap hotel ones. But, closet shelves were very hard to get to. Balcony had the worlds smallest table on it and was downright filthy. Rusty, dirty, ugh. Time for the ship to repaint. Windows all over the ship were disgusting. Never saw anyone cleaning them either.

 

Entertainment:  We saw an absolutely amazing pianist/comedian named Tom Franek. He performed 2 nights with 2 different routines. Best entertainment ever on a cruise. There was also another comedian named Anthony LeDonne that was so awful it was painful to listen to him. Worst ever and people were leaving left and right. Rest of entertainment was unremarkable. There was a good singer in the lounge and the atrium had music but overall with the exception of Tom Franek entertainment was lacking.

 

Food:  We really enjoyed Tepanyaki. Bamboo was  good. Venetian ok. O’Sheehans was  good as well. We went to Los Lobos for guacamole and excellent Margaritas. Garden Grill, what can I say. If you like buffets I guess it was good.  Missed the smoked salmon but didn’t want to go to the dining room just for that. The free style dining needs some work. Everyone wants to go same time and there’s a long wait. 45 minutes to a hour. Once you know this you plan accordingly. Bamboo only has a certain amount of tables so once they fill up at 5:30 you get a beeper until first group starts to leave  Go early and wait. As night  goes on it’s over an hour wait. Same with Venetian. Speaking of Venetian the wait staff took about 10-15 minutes the few times we went to even come over to our table They never introduced themselves and were literally “cold fish”. Very odd for cruise staff. Food was meh. Bruschetta appetizer and Caesar Salad good. That’s it. Main dishes were just ok. Nothing special.

 

WiFi:  we each had the free 150 minutes. It was very easy to get on and connected. I called home for a few minutes almost everyday and didn’t come close to using up minutes. Very easy. Also, I have an I-phone. Connected to NCL WiFi, turned on airplane mode and turned off cellular data. I could text others with an I-phone on ship or back home. Sometimes the phones go off the ships WiFi and you have to routinely check that you’re connected.

 

Staff in general were very pleasant. It’s obvious they’ve cut back. Sitting on pool deck waiting for someone to take a drink order took a long time.

 

We spoke to a lot of guests who both sailed many times with NCL and newbies like us. Almost all felt like we did and will be trying other lines in the future.

 

One thing that truly frustrated us. On RCL last year we used our Starbucks gift cards. I checked a couple of time with NCL directly and they assured me we can use gift cards at the Starbucks onboard. Well, you can’t. They are independently licensed. Annoyed me because we enjoy cappuccinos and family members gifted us cards to use on our trip. Yes, we bought some anyway, but it’s the principle that I called 2x to ask.

 

Another thing that frustrated many cruisers, including us. We were told we were getting six 1 liter containers of water. Then, that disappeared and NCL lied and said it was a promotion. It was not. I wish I saved the information but didn’t think I had to. My TA was even frustrated by this and she said she gave all of her clients a gift of the six bottles.

 

Pool lounge hogging is very much alive. We saw a group of people come early, place towels down and not come back for hours!  Not enough attendants to take care of this. There are sofa/deep seats along perimeter of pool area in shade. People would hog these laying across a 3 person seat and nap or read.  I once nicely asked a woman stretched out reading over 3 seats if she’d mind if I sat down. She sat up of course but I can tell she was annoyed.

 

Would I go back on NCL?  Maybe in the distant future when things hopefully improve fleet wide. But right now, absolutely not. Sorry NCL, I tried you and can honestly say it was our least favorite cruise to date.

 

Overly rating: C/C+

[sunkey1]

My only comment would be to not judge by that one cruise. We cruised in 2021/22 on Carnival on the Magic and on the Mardi Gras. Two totally different experiences. Magic was old, run down and lacking in a lot of areas. Mardi Gras was so good that we rebooked on her and had a second, great experience. The Dawn is an OLD ship and none of the lines (from what I've heard) are putting as much effort into the old ships as they are into the new ones.

[Lionkingrichard]

Small rooms? Long lines? Chair hogs?

 

Sounds like every cruise ship review ever!

[njkate]

Thanks for your review. Sadly of late I've read many not so glowing reviews and not just this ship.

 

I was looking at a British Isle cruise next summer on the Dawn for 4 people needing two cabins, before I book and commit to plunking down $14K for 2 balcony cabins I will wait until I complete my March 19th sailing on Dawn. Also looking at Alaska on Jewel in Sept and have a trans Atlantic for April 2024 on Getaway already booked.

 it seems costs have gone up from the base fares to DSC with many services cut or eliminated.

After I complete I'll have to weigh it out on all of the above.

[julig22]

For future reference - generally speaking, the ship has has little, if anything, to do with embarkation issues.  Each port handles embarkation differently and the staff directing traffic, etc. work for the port, not NCL. 

So it might have been helpful to note what port, since the Dawn sails worldwide. I sailed from Stockholm last summer, no issues as I recall, other than people coming ahead of their scheduled time.

As to boarding - the time you selected is not your boarding time, it's your arrival/check in time.  Most ships I've been on list boarding time as noon (check your edocs), although not unusual to begin boarding somewhat earlier. So check in usually starts long before anyone is allowed to board. No ship can allow passengers to board before the ship is completely cleared from the prior cruise.

[Jerseygich]

Agree with @julig22. What port?

was on the Dawn end of December and arrived at port at 10:25 and was on the ship at 11:15. 
Did not experience anything like the OP did. We would go down for chairs at the pool at 7 and there were towels already there, but plenty of chairs if people came around 8 and did see attendant removing towels from chairs that no one was in.

Ship was in good shape and as far as dinner, if researched NCL would have realized you can make reservations for dinner at the MDR’s if not willing to wait.

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, julig22 said:

For future reference - generally speaking, the ship has has little, if anything, to do with embarkation issues.  Each port handles embarkation differently and the staff directing traffic, etc. work for the port, not NCL. 

So it might have been helpful to note what port, since the Dawn sails worldwide. I sailed from Stockholm last summer, no issues as I recall, other than people coming ahead of their scheduled time.

As to boarding - the time you selected is not your boarding time, it's your arrival/check in time.  Most ships I've been on list boarding time as noon (check your edocs), although not unusual to begin boarding somewhat earlier. So check in usually starts long before anyone is allowed to board. No ship can allow passengers to board before the ship is completely cleared from the prior cruise.

The Dawn is sailing out of Tampa,Florida for this Winter Season

Edited February 13, 2023 by www3traveler
changed wording

[Cruiser1862]

Dawn was out of Tampa. 

Never, ever saw an attendant remove towels. 
 

The entertainer was so bad there’s actually a Facebook page discussing it. One of his “jokes” was so awful he got booed. And the amount of people walking out…

 

This was my take on the cruise. I had a great time. But, it wasn’t the best cruise for reasons cited. 
 

I do agree that it could have been the old, small ship vs a newer larger ship. I went on 3 cruises in the past 9 months, so we do have recent cruises to compare it to. 
 

Happy cruising to all….

[tgloersen]

22 hours ago, Cruiser1862 said:

 

 

First, this is MY review. Others might have a different opinion.

 

I love reading reviews but never write them. This time I decided I should. I’m not sure it would’ve made a difference once I booked the cruise, but it might have prior while deciding to book this cruise.

 

We’ve been on 10 cruises. Mostly Princess and a few RCI. This was our first NCL. We’ve been on mostly small ships with the exception of one Royal cruise on their very large ship with all the bells and whistles.

 

Let me start with embarkation. We had an arrival time of 9-9:30.  There was no place to drop a passenger off with the luggage while the other parked. It was chaotic and disorganized. We were put on a long line by one of the attendants and came to realize after 20 minutes it was a line for buses to go to the airport. They didn’t have a line started yet for embarking. Finally they did and informed us until all passengers were off ship we couldn’t go inside. It was really cold out too. Finally after an hour they let us in and from there it was very organized and quick to get onboard. Advice:  Don’t go before 11am. Our friends who had an 11am arrival time got right on.

 

Rooms:  They were the smallest we’ve ever been in. We had a balcony. Bathroom though was good. Shower was a nice size and another perk was a magnifying mirror right on the bathroom mirror. Also, hair dryers were very good, not the small cheap hotel ones. But, closet shelves were very hard to get to. Balcony had the worlds smallest table on it and was downright filthy. Rusty, dirty, ugh. Time for the ship to repaint. Windows all over the ship were disgusting. Never saw anyone cleaning them either.

 

Entertainment:  We saw an absolutely amazing pianist/comedian named Tom Franek. He performed 2 nights with 2 different routines. Best entertainment ever on a cruise. There was also another comedian named Anthony LeDonne that was so awful it was painful to listen to him. Worst ever and people were leaving left and right. Rest of entertainment was unremarkable. There was a good singer in the lounge and the atrium had music but overall with the exception of Tom Franek entertainment was lacking.

 

Food:  We really enjoyed Tepanyaki. Bamboo was  good. Venetian ok. O’Sheehans was  good as well. We went to Los Lobos for guacamole and excellent Margaritas. Garden Grill, what can I say. If you like buffets I guess it was good.  Missed the smoked salmon but didn’t want to go to the dining room just for that. The free style dining needs some work. Everyone wants to go same time and there’s a long wait. 45 minutes to a hour. Once you know this you plan accordingly. Bamboo only has a certain amount of tables so once they fill up at 5:30 you get a beeper until first group starts to leave  Go early and wait. As night  goes on it’s over an hour wait. Same with Venetian. Speaking of Venetian the wait staff took about 10-15 minutes the few times we went to even come over to our table They never introduced themselves and were literally “cold fish”. Very odd for cruise staff. Food was meh. Bruschetta appetizer and Caesar Salad good. That’s it. Main dishes were just ok. Nothing special.

 

WiFi:  we each had the free 150 minutes. It was very easy to get on and connected. I called home for a few minutes almost everyday and didn’t come close to using up minutes. Very easy. Also, I have an I-phone. Connected to NCL WiFi, turned on airplane mode and turned off cellular data. I could text others with an I-phone on ship or back home. Sometimes the phones go off the ships WiFi and you have to routinely check that you’re connected.

 

Staff in general were very pleasant. It’s obvious they’ve cut back. Sitting on pool deck waiting for someone to take a drink order took a long time.

 

We spoke to a lot of guests who both sailed many times with NCL and newbies like us. Almost all felt like we did and will be trying other lines in the future.

 

One thing that truly frustrated us. On RCL last year we used our Starbucks gift cards. I checked a couple of time with NCL directly and they assured me we can use gift cards at the Starbucks onboard. Well, you can’t. They are independently licensed. Annoyed me because we enjoy cappuccinos and family members gifted us cards to use on our trip. Yes, we bought some anyway, but it’s the principle that I called 2x to ask.

 

Another thing that frustrated many cruisers, including us. We were told we were getting six 1 liter containers of water. Then, that disappeared and NCL lied and said it was a promotion. It was not. I wish I saved the information but didn’t think I had to. My TA was even frustrated by this and she said she gave all of her clients a gift of the six bottles.

 

Pool lounge hogging is very much alive. We saw a group of people come early, place towels down and not come back for hours!  Not enough attendants to take care of this. There are sofa/deep seats along perimeter of pool area in shade. People would hog these laying across a 3 person seat and nap or read.  I once nicely asked a woman stretched out reading over 3 seats if she’d mind if I sat down. She sat up of course but I can tell she was annoyed.

 

Would I go back on NCL?  Maybe in the distant future when things hopefully improve fleet wide. But right now, absolutely not. Sorry NCL, I tried you and can honestly say it was our least favorite cruise to date.

 

Overly rating: C/C+

In My opinion NCL is lacking as a whole.  We have taken many cruises on NCL, our most recent on the Escape in January.  To many issues to list, but allot of your comments match what we been seeing.  We where very loyal to NCL over the years but the simple fac tis i'm not married to them and the last cruise where i had first timers come along was an embarressement.  NCL has allot of work to do.  I have one more crusie with them in July, and if they dont cleanup there act.  It will be time for a divorce!.

 

[itsnotjustme]

We sailed on the Dawn last fall.  We truly enjoyed it.  The ship was at about 65% capacity which always helps.  No crowds, good service, reasonable entertainment.  Best we had a suite with plenty of space and at a reasonable price (I think below $250/person/day).  The location was fantastic just off the pool deck.  An easy run to the non-crowded hot tubs, poolside bar to grab Irish creme for our hot chocolates, or to bring breakfast back to the room.

 

I will admit our windows were quite dirty.... the dirt was due to leakage in between the inner and outer panes, so no amount of window washing would help.

 

 

[montecarloss]

We were on this cruise and had a great time. I noticed some of the issues you stated, however was one of our best ever cruises.  Great port stops.  Would be glad to go on the Dawn next year.

[cruisinmeme]

Regarding the Starbucks gift cards. Recently on Breakaway I ask if I could use gift cards.  Actually I ask wring question but he said as long as they were applied to the Starbucks app. That is what I do anyway so I was good to go. I get gift cards for rewards from visa and put on the app. So that may of been the case and they didn’t go into detail for you.

[BikerAl]

Sailed the Dawn in December, and this review does not reflect the ship I was on.  True staterooms have not been upgraded yet, but furniture change out is being done each cruise.  Didn't see a severe crew shortage, but did not hang out at the pool, so can't speak to that.  We loved everything about the Dawn, and the crew.

[farjar]

On 2/12/2023 at 8:11 AM, Cruiser1862 said:

Entertainment:  We saw an absolutely amazing pianist/comedian named Tom Franek. He performed 2 nights with 2 different routines. Best entertainment ever on a cruise.

We were on the same cruise and agreed with most of your assessments especially about Tom Franek.  We are platinum on NCL and thought he was the best solo entertainer we've seen on any of our cruises.    

[barric]

DW and I seniors had a family suite on this cruise.  No balcony but floor to ceiling, full room windows.  Excellent.  Overall, suite perks and features were as expected and quite good. 

 

In general, we see many things not up to expectations and not as good as before.   After our March curise on Getaway, I will know better if we will decrease our interest in NCL.

 

Here are some of our observations:

 

Main dining was OK.  Appies were excellent, but main course selections not as good as our previous NCL experiences.  Just not much quality beef or lamb  selections.  One night I had a strip steak with not one tender bite.  Roast beef was chewy.  A definite downturn in our opinion.  Service was good.

 

On day 1, the Daily showed prime rib at O Sheehans.  NOT.  They did have it  in the buffet, but there was only one station and it had a huge line.  Come on NCL.  That was ridiculous and cheap.

 

Lounge entertainment:  good performers but not satisfactory venues.  Prior to dinner, there would be only 2 lounges, Gatsby's and the Atrium.  Gatsbys does not have enough seating and was always jam packed.  Why did they not have some entertainment in the Bliss lounge, which is big.  Later at night, Bliss had karaoke.  The disappointing early evening entertainment matched our experiences on our Oct Breakaway cruise. 

 

Dawn:  We liked this smaller ship.  Everything about it was satisfactory for us. The ship was clean and attractive all over.  Service and staffing excellent.

 

Cagneys:  1 dinner.  Excellent 

Le Bistro night 1:   Only ok.  A steak tartare never came.  A veal chop was so so.  Menu showed upcharge for filet.  Mushroom soup (i don't care for mushrooms in general) was Fabulous.

Night 2 for Dinner with Officers:  As good as it gets.  Everything generous...the best of what was in the kitchen.

La Cucina twice:  Osso Bucco great.  Filet (no upcharge) only ok.  Other items very good.  We like this restaurant and can often get in at time we prefer.