Norwegian Dawn New Review

We cruised on the NCL Dawn to Bermuda in August 2016. The ship recently was refurbished with new carpeting and décor.  It looked great.  There were also several new venues added to the ship.  O’Sheehan’s Bar and Grill (open 24 hours) was added in place of Blue Lagoon.  This was a great venue for breakfast, lunch or a quick dinner.  We especially liked the nachos and burgers.

The bar here made the best drinks on the ship.  However the frozen mixed drinks on this ship were very weak.  There was little alcohol and we ended up drinking more wine and beer as a result.   Many of the bars on the ship did a poor job stocking popular items, which was somewhat frustrating.

NCL also added a Mexican themed restaurant to part of the buffet area on the ship.  This venue is well designed and has received great reviews.  However the small and poorly designed buffet area on this ship became even smaller as result.  As a result we avoided the buffet the entire cruise.  Fortunately there were other options.  The main dining room worked good for breakfast, but the service was very slow at times.

Overall, the food in all the specialty restaurants on this ship was much better than the last time we sailed.  However, we found the main dining room menu to be uninspiring.

The pool area was also redone.  However this meant taking out a second small pool (replacing it with steps to the band stand).  The one main pool on this ship is not enough for the amount of people sailing on the ship.   One good thing is that the chairs near the bar on the pool deck were converted to high top tables.  This was a great improvement and helped provide more seating for the buffet.

The entertainment on the ship was very good; however the Bliss lounge is poorly designed with few good seats and was often standing room only.  Even with the issues, we really enjoyed the cruise.  Bermuda was warm but wonderful.

Steve Millay, ACC