We're a long-time-married and nearly-retired couple from Texas, and our cruise on Dawn was our 26th, our 9th with NCL. We originally chose this cruise due to the itinerary, though Mother Nature had other plans. After learning of the updated itinerary, we decided to proceed, as the new itinerary pleased us more than the original.

Overall I found nothing to complain about, though we're of the opinion that your experience is what you make of it, regardless of the circumstances. Should one look hard enough, negatives are certainly to be found, but again, we prefer to accentuate the positives. Food was, though hearty and satisfying, mostly average. Buffet was sometimes less than "hot", though adequately warm. The lunch grill, much the same. French fries were awesome! Dining room fare was, again, average, but mostly well presented and served to order. We didn't avail ourselves of any of the specialty restaurants onboard, though we heard many good things. Cabin service was, for the most part, excellent, though sometimes the make-up service in the morning ran somewhat late, but it was always done efficiently.

We did some shore excursions through NCL, some we booked on our own through independent tour operators. The one we counted on most, in Aruba, we missed due to the changed itinerary, putting us in Aruba a day late, and despite emailing our tour guides and requesting a day's postponement, we were unable to connect. No worries, we did some great snorkeling in Curacao, as well as Dunns River Falls in Jamaica, something we'd never done despite having been to Jamaica 3 times previously. Read more