I first sailed on the Norwegian Dawn on her inaugural voyage from New York almost a year ago to the day from my most recent cruise on-board.

I am happy to report that whilst the ship is just as clean and pristine looking as she was on the original voyage.  NCL has really polished the product in so many ways.  One should never expect to see the final product on an inaugural cruise, often menu’s are specially designed for a shorter sailing, crew are still learning the ropes and so many systems on board are still undergoing their final adjustment.  So I suppose it should have been no real surprise that when I re-met the “Dawn” she was now a polished and sophisticated lady.

Itinerary: The New York Itinerary is unusual and designed to cater to clients from the North East. My arrival in New York followed an overnight blizzard and heavy snow, so I was able to appreciate why the ship was nearly full for a voyage to the sunny south.  Departing NY in the freezing cold with a fair wind and following sea made for an unusual but pleasant first day at sea as we headed south along the Carolina coast bound for our first port of call - Port Canaveral, Florida. 

From here we moved further south to Miami with the temperature steadily rising and passengers starting to appear around the pool.  Our next stop was to be Great Stirrup Key, NCL’s private island, but an unusually brisk westerly wind was kicking up an awkward sea which made disembarking into the tenders a problem so the ship continued on to Nassau with the intention of returning to the private island the next day.  The cruise rounded out with the return run north, back into the wintery cold to finally disembark in NY.

The Ship: The Norwegian Dawn accommodates 2,240 passengers with a crew of 1,100. Of particular importance, in addition to the 372 standard staterooms with balconies, is an entire deck of 107 mini-suites with balconies.   As with the Star, the Dawn offers two Garden Villa suites, these suites are ideal for top corporate VIPs and for client entertaining.        

The Dawn's decor is whimsically cosmopolitan.  Colors throughout the ships are fresh and bold but do not over power the extensive use of rich gleaming cherry wood.  On the cosmopolitan side is the most expensive art collect to ever go to sea, featuring original paintings by Van Gogh, Matisse, Monet, Renoir, Warhol and a host of contemporary artists and Pop Art.  The three deck level Stardust Theater seats 1,150, almost without obstructions, with a European Opera House feeling.   On the whimsical side you will find video jukeboxes in several locations that let you program the music along with accompanying videos.    When entering the casino the hologram art work of kings and queens seem to follow your every move.

Freestyle Dining is totally different than on most ships.  The Dawn was custom built around the concept and features a total of 10 different restaurants and 11 unique menus every night.   Restaurants range in size from 72 to 472 seats.  The selection is amazing for a cruise ship and maybe a review by a food critic might be in order, but let me try to point out all of the options.

* Venetian is a 16th Century Grand Italian Villa style main dining room offering a traditional cruise dining

   experience.

* Aqua is the second main dining room with a hip modern decor offering a lighter contemporary menu.

* Impressions is a 1900 style Grand French Bistro

* Bamboo is a Thai/Japanese/Chinese complex and also features a sushi and sashimi bar as well as a  Teppanyaki room.  Additional charge applies.

* Le Bistro an upscale French restaurant offering an ala carte menu of nouvelle and classic French cuisine.  Additional charge applies.

* Cagney's Steak House is a traditional American Steakhouse in the 1930's style.  Additional charge applies.

* Salsa is a unique restaurant located around the atrium mid ship featuring an eclectic southwestern style menu along with Spanish Tapas.

* La Trattoria is a casual Italian restaurant featuring, what else, pasta and pizza.

* Garden Cafe is the buffet style restaurant offering numerous "food action stations" with extensive and varied selections.

* Blue Lagoon is the 24-hour diner outlet featuring a diverse menu ranging from burgers, wok dishes to fish and chips.

Also available is the pool grill, and a coffee shop with sweet goodies and an ice cream bar.

During my cruise I had the opportunity to dine at a number of the restaurants.  Without exception the menus where innovative, had a great selection and the food was excellent.  It was totally unique to be able to dine at a different restaurant every night, a different ambience, different styles of food, even wait staff in different style uniforms to fit the restaurant.  A floating dine around! All accompanied by an excellent wine cellar.

Accommodations: I was indeed fortunate to be upgraded to one of the two Garden Villa Suites.  Words cannot describe the experience, its reminiscent of a luxurious modern condo.  The Suites come with 24 hr butler and concierge service. One access’s the private floor by sliding your key-card into a slot in the elevator floor selector and then pressing button 14, almost without fail if there is someone else in the elevator, they want to know why, how and so forth. 

Your key-card opens the outer door and you step into what I estimate to be about 2200 sq. ft of living space.  One is immediately struck by the fact that there are no outer walls to any of the rooms. Armored glass windows stretch from floor to ceiling all around the suite including bedrooms and bathrooms.  The view from your living room is out and across the pool area and from the bedrooms the view is straight out to the horizon.

Motorized wooden venetian blinds protect ones privacy although during the day the windows are one way, however, once night comes and light go on inside the suite that is not the case.

Basically, the Garden suite can be divided into 3 private en-suite bedrooms and/or, additionally subdivided into a two-bedroom/living room suite and a one bedroom garden suite.  The format is ideal for a family or an executive traveling with staff. An access passage run outside of the suite from the entrance to the dining area with three access doors into the different area of the suite for use by your butler and cleaning staff to ensure your privacy.

Whilst the price of this luxury does not come cheap, never the less it is a bargain in many ways as there are so many “inclusions” which one would normally be paying for that come as part of the suite package.  I used the suite to entertain business colleagues and found that the format worked very well.  For larger groups who have a top executive traveling with them, this arrangement would work really well.

The garden area is delightful with a large 4/5 man Jacuzzi pool strategically located, a dining table for eight and a small 4 person breakfast table enable one to really enjoy the Florida sun.  A cabana with a shower, steam room etc. is also located in the garden as are chaise lounges and a hammock, there is piped music to round out the experience.

The balcony suites & cabins on the Dawn are very pleasant.  The light and bright decor is appealing and is a good contrast to the cherry wood accents.  The cabins all have several nice pictures, as do all the deck hallways.  The bathrooms consist of three compartments: a shower with full length sliding glass door, the center sink compartment and the separate toilet compartment.  Everyone thought that this was a long over due sensible arrangement, particularly the sliding glass shower doors.  Another feature greatly appreciated was the coffee/tea machine in each cabin.

Entertainment is not hard to find on the Dawn.  The ship offers a total of 13 bars and lounges.  In difference to her sistership the Norwegian Star, this ship also offers a full casino.  The Spinnaker Lounge is the late nightspot and features a South Beach Style Late night party one night on each cruise.   The Jean Ann Ryan Shows where contemporary and very "With It", there was something for everyone over the course of the week.

While not new, the Internet Cafe does offer a first.  NCL's Dawn and several of their other ships now offer Wireless Internet access also known as Wi Fi.  Guests have 24-hours access wherever the ship is located. Now guests can surf the net or check their emails by the pools, in a lounge or in one of the meeting rooms.  A limited number of laptops are available for rent

Conducting Business at Sea: The meeting and private function spaces on the Dawn are quite good.  There are 4 interconnected meeting rooms, a boardroom and a purpose built cinema/auditorium all located adjacent to one another and all fully equipt with audio-visual capabilities.  The Stardust Lounge seats over 1000 and is a perfect location for large group meetings and presentations.  Thankfully there are several smaller lounges that are also good for private cocktail parties and other functions.  There seems to be a room size that will fit most any size group and in many cases you will have several choices.

Dining: If you are not familiar with Freestyle Cruising let me explain.  The biggest difference is obviously the number of restaurants you have to choose from.  Equally important is that fact that YOU decide when and where to dine between 5:30 pm and being seated no later than 10 pm.  For groups you have the opportunity to do a private dinner in many cases.  There are some restrictions for groups but at the very least you finally have some options besides second seating!  Reservations in the alternative restaurants are highly recommended as they do fill up quickly.

I would highly recommend considering the Dawn for any of your winter programs.  The ship is as close to a floating resort that has ever been made so far.  Without question there are bigger ships but none offer the dining options that the Dawn and several other of NCL's newer ships do.   None offer you the real freedom of choice when it comes to dining.   The atmosphere is relaxed and fun.  The crew ratio is similar to a fine resort 1 crew for each stateroom/room and the service levels show it.  You'll need seven days to explore and appreciate this ship.

Prepared by James Castle – December, 2003.  This revue is entirely subjective and reflects solely the opinion of the author and does not necessarily reflect thos of WWTCA.