Norwegian Dawn
View Ship Itineraries

91,000 tons
2,240 passengers
crew of  1,100
971 feet long
107 feet at beam
Cruising Speed 25 knots
11 decks
Bahamas registry
Entered Service: Dec. 21,2002

The 2,240-passenger Norwegian Dawn was the first ship to sail year-round from New York in 50 years. She was one of the first NCL ships purpose built for “Freestyle Cruising”, attracting passengers who want the ultimate freedom and flexibility in dining and dress.  There are 10 distinctive restaurants, and you can dine in any of them whenever you like.  Equally impressive is the number and variety of public rooms onboard, ranging from quiet card rooms to a massive show lounge featuring high-energy productions.
 
Norwegian Dawn’s pluses are the varied collection of public rooms, a choice of ten restaurants afloat, the attractive décor and extensive facilities for families and active passengers.  Her minuses: cabins are smaller than standard staterooms on other ships and cuisine is getting a much-needed upgrade.

Public Rooms
Starting at deck 13, an intimate, low-key Martini bar overlooks the pool area, one deck below. Further aft is Cagney's, a 1930's style American steak house. Below on deck 12, the airy, forward-facing Spinnaker Lounge, function as an observation lounge during the day and a secondary showroom at night. Deck 12 aft is home to the Barong Fitness Center and the Garden
Cafe buffet-style eatery.

Other public rooms are spread out over three decks. Around one level of the atrium is the Salsa Restaurant and Bar, offering views below to the Java Café. Here, various musicians play throughout the evening, causing passengers to congregate and listen on the lower levels as the music wafts upward. Just aft of the atrium on the port side is the English-style tavern where fish and chips with malt vinegar are available during the evening and a guitarist leads convivial passengers in songs after dinner.

The Dawn Club Casino is found on deck 6, forward, featuring Blackjack, Mini Baccarat, Roulette, 3 Card Poker and Caribbean Stud Poker. Gatsby's Champagne Bar is an elegant, faux Art Deco lounge, dramatic with its two-story-high ceiling.  Serving as a pre-dinner venue for Le Bistro, it is an inviting place to sit and quietly listen to a piano player. Just off Gatsby's is the Havana Cigar Club, seating in leather chairs. This ship also has an Internet cafe, conference rooms, additional bars and extensive teen and children facilities, including a large outdoor kids playground and pool.
 
Service
NCL has had to add up to 100 more crew to accommodate the new dining arrangements. Service is usually friendly, but in the main restaurants, it can be rushed, often lacking the finesse and attention to detail you would find on ship with conventional dining.  Both in the limited room service menu and in the dining room, items were forgotten or the tables were not cleared properly during the course of the meal. However, the service gaffes were almost always minor and passengers either didn't notice or were content to overlook this lack of polish without complaining.  

Cuisine
While the restaurants you pay for, Le Bistro and Cagney’s, have better than average cuisine, I found food served in the Lido buffet and main dining room to be over cooked and under seasoned.  In January, 2008, NCL announced a fleet-wide $53 million program to upgrade the food as well as cabin staterooms. 
 
Restaurants
The ships' 10 restaurants and the freedom to dine whenever you want during the vastly expanded dining hours are the most outstanding features. Norwegian Dawn's three main restaurants are the Venetian, Aqua and Impressions with only slight menu variations. Aqua claims to offer a lighter and more modern interpretation. The Venetian, with its dramatic staircase entrance, huge wall of windows overlooking the wake, and ornate decor, is far more popular than Aqua, which seems almost bland in comparison despite its open galley displaying the preparation of desserts.

The extra-tariff restaurants are all worth trying. Seating only 66, Le Bistro is the most elegant restaurant and serves probably the best food on this ship in an intimate surrounding. Not to be missed is the Asian restaurant, Bamboo with a sushi bar, sake bar, and separate Teppanyaki room in addition to a larger section offering Thai-Japanese-Chinese specialties. With many of its chefs and serving staff (dressed in ethnic Asian outfits) coming from Asia, the Bamboo Restaurant is an authentic Asian experience. Cagney's Steakhouse is a 1930s-style American steak house with a menu of steaks, filet mignon, prime rib, lamb, fresh seafood and grilled chicken dishes.

Other restaurants requiring reservations but having no surcharge include La Trattoria transforms from part of the Lido into a more romantic Italian restaurant every night. The Salsa Restaurant and Bar is the Tex Mex and Tapas style restaurant aboard Dawn in the middle of the Atrium.  Open 24 hours per day is the ship’s Lido buffet, the Garden Café. The Blue Lagoon is a 24-hour eatery that resembles a cross between a cheap diner and children's playground, with very basic food like hamburgers and tomato soup as well as a few Asian dishes. There is also an outdoor grill and BBQ most days, as well as a limited ice cream bar and the Java Cafe, featuring premium coffees and dessert at an extra charge.

Entertainment
This is a large ship and the activities are numerous, spread throughout the ship and spread throughout the day and night. Repeated announcements from the Cruise Director keep you informed of all the activities, ranging from Bingo to "Who Wants to be a Millionaire".

The ship does have a proper cinema and evening brings a variety of entertainment options.
There are two Las Vegas-style reviews performed each night and the casino stays open until the wee hours.  On this ship is fun just to wander from one music venue to another. 

Cabins
The cabins are essentially average for today's modern mega-ships--perfectly adequate and comfortable, but standard inside and outside staterooms are smaller than is found aboard the ships of other cruise lines.  Inside cabins areapproximately 142 sq. feet, outside, approximately 158 sq. feet and balcony cabins, approximately 166 sq. feet. Balcony cabins and higher categories com with a very small couch that constitutes a sitting area, and mini-suites have slightly more room.

The Owners and Penthouse suites were substantially larger, with separate sitting rooms. This ship boasts probably the two largest suites at sea, the Garden Villa which occupy two entire decks, perched above the pool area. In addition to an expansive sitting room with a piano and bar, each suite has three bedrooms with accompanying gigantic bathrooms, complete with floor to ceiling windows onto the ocean. Aft, there is an amazing deck area with a garden, babbling brooks, a covered whirlpool and a covered patio. One deck above is a vast open deck space that seems to be more room than can possibly be used.  For the ultimate experience, both Garden Villa suites can be combined to form one truly expansive, 10,000+ square foot suite.

Fitness/Spa
Norwegian Dawn has what is said to be the largest indoor pool at sea. Located in the lower
level of the Barong Spa on deck 11, this lap pool is a welcome addition, especially if the weather turns cloudy, and makes for an attractive spa area that overlooks the stern and features a Jacuzzi. Hot and cold plunge baths a also available. Mandara Spa runs the modern and well-equipped spa, with the usual selection of wraps and hydrotherapy baths, and special waiting rooms overlooking the wake for those with treatments.

Upstairs, the Barong Fitness Center has all the pulling and pushing machines.  The facility has an adequate number of exercise bikes, treadmills, and Cybex weight machines. A juice bar is inside the fitness center.Happily, chairs and tables are on the ship's Promenade Deck, and passengers flock here to play shuffleboard, read, or simply walk round and round. This is one of the most used and active promenade decks on any new ship, and it is a delight to see passengers rediscovering the joys of its social aspects.

Attire
Passengers can wear pretty much whatever they want at night, except for T-Shirts and bathing suits. While a few passengers dressed up, the majority dressed merely comfortably and neatly (although some pushed the boundaries of what would be acceptable at similar restaurants on shore). Those who prefer to have everyone dressed up at the same time, or who might be unhappy with fellow passengers dressing sloppily, should think twice before booking this
Vessel.

Tipping
NCL automatically adds a fixed service charge to your shipboard account which covers all service personnel. The amount is $10 per person per day for passengers age 13 and over; $5.00 per day for children age 3 - 12 and no charge for children under the age of three.

Copyright Anne Campbell, 2008.  All rights reserved.