Norwegian
Dawn
7 Day Bahamas

Janice

Not thrilled with this cruise. Traveled with 19 family members, 11 adults and 8 teenagers. I will get into more detail later but the biggest complaint was that the ship experienced engine failure and we were notified after returning from the private island, Great Stirrup Cay, that we would not be going to the Bahamas. We had to head straight back to New York since it would take longer with one engine down. The Bahamas was the reason we went on this cruise. We have friends of the family who live in the Bahamas that we had planned on meeting with. This was going to be the first time my whole family would be there together with our friends. In addition, that is where we planned on doing our shopping for souvenirs, gifts, jewelry and liquor. They said they were aware in Miami of the problem and had a specialist fly in to Miami to get on board to try to fix the problem. If they would have let us know this before going to Great Stirrup Cay we could have at least done some shopping at the straw market there. The only compensation the cruise ship gave was a $100 per person on board credit (with a max of $200 per room, so if there are more than 2 in a room-which we had-they have to split the credit), very cheap reparation considering we lost out on the highlight of the whole trip.

Some members of my family and I experienced a lot of problems getting the room charges assigned to the proper credit cards. We had to go numerous times during the week to the courtesy desk to straighten out the charges. Each time we thought it was done correct and the next day there would be a note on our door to go back, only to find on the last day when we received our bills that they still hadn't straightened it out.

This was my first cruise. I had heard from numerous seasoned cruisers that the service on cruise ships is usually fantastic, that you are treated like royalty and the food is great and the shows fabulous. Well the food was ok, Some restaurants require an additional charge. I did not think it was worth the extra money at Bamboo. Didn't bother with the other restaurants that required additional costs.

Because the tips are already built in the staff doesn't have to work for their tips so the service was nothing to rave about. Almost every morning at 6am I was woken up by a lot of noise in the hallway. People talking loud, doors slamming, things dropping. I thought at first it was rude guests but realized after a couple of days that it was the room stewards making all that noise. No consideration for guests. They were not consistent with making towel characters when they turned down the beds in the evening. Out of 7 nights only 4 nights did I have my towel made into an animal. May not be a big deal but just something you come to expect on a cruise.

The shows were not that great. I would have had a better time in the Spinnaker lounge. Even though children were not supposed to be in the first couple of rows it was not enforced. Children also ran amuck not only through out the cruise ship but also in the lounges at night. Kids took over the pool and hot tubs, couldn't go in the pool with out being jumped on and splashed by kids. Didn't do any good to talk to the staff or the parents. No one cared. Too many rude people. All in all it was a little too “freestyle” for me.