NCL Dawn - My Review

[Popsy_cruises]

1 hour ago, Panhandle Couple said:

The kids pool on the aft deck?

Seems like a wasted space, not big enough and too far away from main pool, so parents have to make a decision on which one to sit at, with very limited seating adult seating.

We didn’t go here at all as we don’t have kids and make the choice to stay away from kids only areas. No idea if this was renovated or not. We could see the dinosaurs when on shore which seem to match online photos of the area but I can’t say more than that. 

[MedCruise_2022]

Thanks for sharing! This is informative.

We will also be on the "Dawn" from October 17 to 27, 2024 from Venice-Trieste to Athens.

[Popsy_cruises]

Entertainment 

 

I’ve only ever cruised on the Epic and loved the two main shows: Priscilla Queen of the Desert and Burn the Floor but I didn’t know what to expect on the Dawn. 
 

All of the live music we saw in the various bars and lounges were really good, we especially liked Rhythm Jive who were often singing at the pool in the afternoon. One of the bands also sang a few Johnny Cash songs one night at the atrium/O’Sheehans and we enjoyed that. 
 

We saw 4 shows in the theatre:

 

Nathan James - we loved this show. Some absolute classic songs here, he’s a great vocalist and we loved singing and clapping along. 
 

Soul Rocking Nights - this was opening night when we were onboard and we enjoyed this show. It wasn’t quite what we were expecting but we really liked it. The vocalists are amazingly talented and we enjoyed listening to them and watching the dancers. 
 

The Illusionists - we really liked this show. I know a bit about illusion and tricks so I knew how the majority of the illusions were done but that didn’t take away from my enjoyment. My husband knows nothing about illusions and tricks and he loved it. 
 

Elements - this is amazing! Again, it was the opening night during our cruise but you wouldn’t know it. I was gutted when I heard that NCL were getting rid of the broadway shows but if they replace them all with something like this I’ll have no complaints. There were dancers, acrobats and magicians and honestly this show was faultless. We didn’t know where to look during the finale, it was incredible. I recommend this to everyone! 
 

We are not people who consider Deal or No Deal or Wheel of Fortune entertainment being honest but we saw a few minutes of each and it did look fun, we just chose not to participate. We did join a couple of trivia sessions though which were fun and whenever we were on board for them we joined in with the dance lessons in Bliss. We really enjoyed the dance lessons and found them to be a great way to spend 30mins. My advice is to not take them seriously, just go with the flow and enjoy yourself. 
 

The biggest surprise by far was the Cabaret show that was on for one night only in the Bliss Lounge. This absolutely should be in the theatre as a main show because it was great. It involved the entertainment crew singers and some brilliant musical and broadway hits and honestly, these people are so talented I’ll be amazed if anyone can fault this show. Their voices are incredible and we loved singing along with them. Again, it was the first time they’d done the show during our cruise and I’m hoping they add a few more songs and turn it into a theatre show.

 

We had an unexpected sea day during this cruise and the weather was awful so no one was relaxing upstairs by the pool. The ship felt a little crowded but we always found something to do and somewhere to go. We aren’t the sort of people who fill our days to the max when we holiday in the Mediterranean and often we found ourselves just sat by a window with a drink chatting away and relaxing.

 

There was even more going on during our cruise, we just couldn’t get round anything. I think everyone will find something to their taste on board and I absolutely think everyone needs to see Elements. An insane amount of work has gone into that show and it’s really paid off. 

[N-8]

Great to read. We are on the Dawn in a couple of months and while the entertainment on ships isn't a big deal to me, my wife really enjoys them and glad to see it was fun. 

[DCGuy64]

Great review, I'm enjoying reading it. I would say, however, that since vegetarians seem to be in the minority, it's to be expected that they'll find fewer options. My wife is vegetarian and does usually have to repeat a lot of the same options over and over. It's not that there isn't anything for her, but the more particular you are about your diet, the harder it'll be to find lots of variety onboard a cruise ship that has to feed 1,000s of people every day. Don't hesitate to ask the staff to prepare something special just for you. I'm preaching to the choir here, I know, but most savvy cruise passengers are aware that cruise ship kitchens make massive amounts of food that caters to the general public. This is not like a private charter where the chef can customize everything according to the passengers' preferences.

[Popsy_cruises]

4 hours ago, N-8 said:

Great to read. We are on the Dawn in a couple of months and while the entertainment on ships isn't a big deal to me, my wife really enjoys them and glad to see it was fun. 

I think she’ll definitely be able to find something she will enjoy onboard 😊

[Popsy_cruises]

4 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

Great review, I'm enjoying reading it. I would say, however, that since vegetarians seem to be in the minority, it's to be expected that they'll find fewer options. My wife is vegetarian and does usually have to repeat a lot of the same options over and over. It's not that there isn't anything for her, but the more particular you are about your diet, the harder it'll be to find lots of variety onboard a cruise ship that has to feed 1,000s of people every day. Don't hesitate to ask the staff to prepare something special just for you. I'm preaching to the choir here, I know, but most savvy cruise passengers are aware that cruise ship kitchens make massive amounts of food that caters to the general public. This is not like a private charter where the chef can customize everything according to the passengers' preferences.

My biggest issue was that there was far less variety than there was on my last cruise where I didn’t have any issues finding a variety of food to eat. A couple of the chefs were very helpful though and whenever we went for breakfast at O’Sheehans they always just made me whatever I asked for and let me go off menu so that was nice. 

[DCGuy64]

54 minutes ago, Popsy_cruises said:

My biggest issue was that there was far less variety than there was on my last cruise where I didn’t have any issues finding a variety of food to eat. A couple of the chefs were very helpful though and whenever we went for breakfast at O’Sheehans they always just made me whatever I asked for and let me go off menu so that was nice. 

My wife does something similar. Whenever we get breakfast, she'll ask for something vegetarian and they can always make it. Same thing at the MDR and the specialty restaurants. We love the included Asian places, too, because they're always able to make veggie-friendly plates for her. Since I eat everything, I really can't comment on the variety, for me there's always a tremendous amount of stuff to choose from.

[Popsy_cruises]

2 hours ago, DCGuy64 said:

My wife does something similar. Whenever we get breakfast, she'll ask for something vegetarian and they can always make it. Same thing at the MDR and the specialty restaurants. We love the included Asian places, too, because they're always able to make veggie-friendly plates for her. Since I eat everything, I really can't comment on the variety, for me there's always a tremendous amount of stuff to choose from.

I agree on the Asian food, it’s so easy to make that vegetarian and because it’s so quick most people will happily cook something off menu. My husband is like you, he will eat anything and he said there was an excellent variety on the ship. He was particularly happy to see grilled mahi mahi in the buffet and he said that was really tasty. 

[Arch2000]

On 5/8/2024 at 12:15 PM, Popsy_cruises said:

We had an unexpected sea day during this cruise and the weather was awful so no one was relaxing upstairs by the pool.

 

Was one of the ports cancelled?  Which one, and what was the reason passengers were given?

[Popsy_cruises]

3 hours ago, Arch2000 said:

 

Was one of the ports cancelled?  Which one, and what was the reason passengers were given?

We had to miss Saint Tropez because the weather was too bad to launch tender boats. We’d guessed the night before that this would happen because the weather got worse as the night went on and the ship was really rocking overnight. We were disappointed but didn’t mind too much, it’s one of the risks with any cruise because the weather can be unpredictable.