Ready for more information on the beautiful Norwegian Dawn? I thought you might be! This beautiful ship from Norwegian Cruise Line is an amazing ship with great amenities. In part I of this tour, we covered cabins and some of the public spaces. Are you ready for more?
Pools: We arrived on the ship just after 11 am and quickly scattered so we could see as much of the ship as we could in the short amount of time we had. At 11:45 am we saw that the pool deck was covered in pallets and even a large storage container. We couldn’t make out what was inside the container or on the pallets or in the boxes, but there were about eight men working hard to get their job done. It seemed like organized chaos, but I have to admit that I was concerned with passengers boarding at the same time we were getting on board as to whether or not they would be finished on time.
As you can see from this picture taken a mere 2 1/2 hours later, the pool deck looks like no one had ever been there doing all that work. Amazing! The Oasis Pool, which can accommodate 456 people, is surrounded by hot tubs, lots of modern, new lounge chairs as well as Topsiders Poolside Bar and Sprinkles Ice Cream Bar. The new lounge chairs are the kind that have a piece of material stretched out over the length of the chair vs. the old kind with the tubular plastic pieces that dig into your, well… you know where. I liked the abundance of chairs available and the roominess of the pool deck. The first picture above shows the leveled area with chairs just beneath the Bimini Grill. If you feel like having a bite, walk up there and grab something and head back to your seat or walk down to the pool area.
There’s no shortage of hot tubs on board with a total of six conveniently located throughout the ship. You can choose to sit out on the pool deck in a hot tub or maybe try one in the fitness center. If you’re looking for more of an adult retreat to take a few laps while on board, why not try out the lap pool? Norwegian Dawn‘s lap pool is the longest indoor pool on a cruise ship! We almost missed it entirely when we were touring the El Dorado Spa & Fitness Center. As we started to climb back up the steps on our way out, I happened to peer through the steps and that’s when I saw the pool. What a great little hidden location! You can work out in the gym and then go for a few laps or vice versa. Or how about going for a swim and then for a massage or facial afterwards? There are so many possibilities and hopefully, enough time to do it all.
Don’t forget to visit the FaceBook page where I promise to post all of the pictures from the ship inspection, including pictures of the spa and fitness center, the T-Rex Kid’s pool, and much, much more within in the next few days.
Dining Options: With 14 delicious dining options, needless to say — you won’t go hungry on the Norwegian Dawn. From the main dining room, Aqua, to the newest venue, Moderno Churrascaria, and to everything in between like the ever popular Garden Café buffet, you can’t go for a cruise on the ship and not find something to eat. Don’t feel like leaving your cabin for a bite? Order something from 24-hour room service. Sushi? Yes — that’s on board. Teppanyaki? That’s there, too. French food? Le Bistro French Restaurant would love to wait on you. The picture above is from inside the Le Bistro. Italian? La Cucina Restaurant is there, too. Seriously, you can’t go hungry on board this ship!
This picture is of the kid area inside the Garden Café and I am so excited to tell you about this. It’s hard to tell in this picture because adults are sitting here, but this area is a step down area within the restaurant and was designed for children. The tables and chairs are smaller and lower to the ground. But the best part is that there is a buffet line for the kids at kid height so kids can get in on the fun and get their own food. If you’re traveling with your children and they are at that age where they have to do it themselves, this is a great option for them and will make your life that much easier.
Come back for the last installment of the Norwegian Dawn cruise tour where I’ll discuss some of the menus onboard and you’ll finally get to see pictures of food. Yum!
How do you take a tour of a ship while it is in port?
Good question! Often you can get special permission to board the ship, but that has to be arranged in advance. If you are a potential cruise customer, the cruise lines won’t allow you to board to simply tour the ship because of security concerns. However, if you had the opportunity to take a 1- or 2-night cruise, you could get a shortened version of the cruise and the opportunity to tour the ship. In the meantime, I’ll keep touring ships for the blog and posting pictures for everyone. Hope that answers your question!