Writer Rob Lovitt based this independent review on his 7-night Bahamas cruise departing from New York City.

Norwegian Dawn is a feast for the eyes. Visually, she takes her cues from the art world, with impressionist originals on the walls, Warhols in the stairwells, and a festive, color-splashed décor. She’s also a feast for the taste buds: Choose a cuisine (there are many), pick a restaurant (there are 10), and decide what time you want to eat -- it’s that simple. Built in 2002, she’s the newest and largest ship in the Norwegian fleet. The overall ambience is refined yet relaxed, with a varied itinerary that lets guests sample New York, Florida, and the Caribbean.

Why Norwegian Dawn?

• Norwegian dine: Ten restaurants, poolside barbecues, and the ship’s “Freestyle Dining” approach leaves guests with ample options for what, where, and when they eat.
• A touch of class: From Warhol prints to impressionist originals, the ship’s fine-art collection sets a sophisticated tone for a classy casino, a top-notch spa, and fine nightly entertainment.
• An eclectic itinerary: Sample the dizzying thrills of Orlando, the spicy style of Miami, and the mellow flavor of the Bahamas or Southern Caribbean -- all with a convenient New York departure.

Who should go
There are activities and amenities for every age group, but Dawn especially caters to guests who like to mix it up: Those who are inquisitive enough to attend art auctions and daily seminars, yet still willing to participate in silly games and contests. Passengers tend to be middle- to upper-middle class, with many East Coasters and international guests interested in the eclectic, New York–based itinerary. All age groups are present, though the majority of guests are in the 40- to 60-year-old range.

Who shouldn’t go
Cruisers who prefer the camaraderie of same-time, same-tablemate dining may find the “freestyle” approach a bit too free; it also makes it harder for singles to meet and mingle. Likewise, except for the Caribbean Deck Party (see Best experience), guests seeking a nonstop party may be disappointed.

Heard on the deck (from a couple exploring the ship on embarkation day):
Her: “Wanna go check out the spa?”
Him: “No way. Let’s go to the pub; the Yankees game is on.”

Hits and misses

• Don’t miss: Even if you don’t eat at Le Bistro (though you shouldn’t miss having at least one meal here), stop in to see the original paintings by Renoir, Van Gogh, Matisse, and Monet.
• Best part of the ship: The El Dorado Spa offers nicer surroundings, more exotic treatments, and more amenities -- even a lap pool! -- than many land-based spas.
• Best experience: The late-night Caribbean Deck Party leaves many guests shedding their inhibitions (but not their clothes) by following the cruise director right into the pool.
• Best shipboard activities: Enjoy the options! Attend a variety of seminars and demonstrations by day, then try a different restaurant every night.
• Needs improvement: The ship’s “freestyle” approach is occasionally too casual: Activities and events get moved or canceled without much notice.
• Activities to skip: Bypass the “Ship 'n' Males” revue -- unless you find a G-rated parade of male crewmembers in their boxers and briefs alluring.

How to meet the captain
There’s no captain’s table or gala reception, but guests can have their photos taken with him on formal night. He also puts in an appearance at an afternoon reception for returning Norwegian guests and during the onstage crew salute in the Stardust Theater on the last night of the cruise.

With three main dining rooms, five specialty restaurants, a 24-hour fast-food joint, a multi-line buffet, and poolside barbecues, Dawn offers a nonstop smorgasbord with cuisine that spans the globe. Food in the buffet lines and main dining rooms is abundant, if not overly imaginative. But specialty restaurants -- Bamboo, Le Bistro, and Cagney’s -- are well worth their modest cover charges. And it’s all offered under the “Freestyle Dining” concept that lets guests decide where and when they want to eat.

Venetian, Impressions, and Aqua
Venetian, Impressions, and Aqua jointly serve as Dawn’s answer to traditional cruise-ship dining. Each restaurant serves virtually the same four-course menu in an open-seating approach -- no set time and no set tablemates, unless, that is, you prefer it that way (in which case, simply tell the maître d’ and he’ll set you up with like-minded folks). The only real differences are the décor: Venetian is filled with big tables, gold-topped columns, and jacket-clad waiters; Aqua features a more contemporary décor of glass and tile; and Impressions is filled with an array of large-scale impressionist prints. All are open nightly and serve the normal range of cruise ship fare: Appetizers to start, then on to soups and salads, meat-centric entrées, and rich desserts (vegetarian and low-calorie options are also available). No additional dining fees.

Garden Café
Dawn’s buffet restaurant features four main lines serving perfectly adequate breakfast, lunch, and dinner fare, while a pair of secondary buffet lines offers both vegetarian selections and New York deli-style sandwiches. There’s even a separate kids’ section with a small-scale buffet line and pint-sized chairs. Seating can be tight, but the pool deck just outside offers additional tables and chairs. No additional dining fees.

Le Bistro
The food alone is worth the modest cover charge, but it’s the décor that makes this 20-table French restaurant a "must stop" on the ship’s culinary tour. After all, where else can you dine on Béarnaise-drizzled filet mignon and salmon in a sorrel cream sauce beneath original paintings by Matisse, Monet, Renoir, and Van Gogh? The chocolate fondue with strawberries, bananas, and pineapple is a masterpiece in its own right. Cover charge: $12.50 per person, $18 for the Fire Star meal (see Best dish, below).

Bamboo
Bamboo is really three restaurants in one: An all-you-can-eat sushi bar with assorted rolls delivered by conveyor belt; a sit-down, pan-Asian restaurant with everything from Thai chicken to tempura shrimp; and a separate teppanyaki room where you can watch a pair of chefs slice, dice, and spice your meal on a sizzling griddle right in front of you. Be forewarned: The teppanyaki room only seats 16 at a time, so reserve your spot early. Cover charge: $10 per person ($15 for the Imperial Feast in the teppanyaki room).

Other dining options

• Cagney’s Steak House: Check out the historic photos of flappers and gangsters, then try the T-bone or filet mignon at this 1930s-style steak house. Cover charge: $18.50 per person ($25 for Surf 'n' Turf).
• Salsa: This family-friendly restaurant above the atrium offers classic Tex-Mex dishes, hot and cold tapas, and seriously spicy fajitas served on a sizzling platter. No additional dining fees.
• La Trattoria: Italian flags, Chianti bottles, and pull-down murals of rural life help transform one section of the Garden Café into a lively Italian restaurant each evening. No additional dining fees.
• Poolside barbecues: The aroma of flame-broiled burgers, smoky chicken, and zesty ribs, cooked poolside on large, Weber-like grills (weather permitting), is all but irresistible. No additional dining fees.
• Room service: The free menu is limited to Continental breakfast, deli sandwiches, and the like, but canapés, caviar, and other premium treats are available for a fee.

Best dining

• Dish: Le Bistro’s Fire Star features several meats or seafood selections that are lightly grilled, then spiked onto a hot, bell-shaped “skewer” and flambéed tableside.
• Dessert: Le Bistro’s fondue is a sensuous blend of warm, sweet chocolate and tart, chilled fruit.
• Restaurant: Even without the Fire Star or fondue, the four impressionist masterpieces in Le Bistro make dining there a singular experience.
• Food seminar: Sushi -- learn the differences between nigiri (fish-topped rice) and maki (fish/rice rolled in seaweed), with free samples, of course.

How to…

• Get a table for two: Freestyle dining means fewer large tables and a lot more flexibility, so just ask the hostess when you walk in.
• Celebrate a birthday/anniversary: Elaborate celebrations should be arranged prior to sailing, but the wait staff is happy to sing over dessert with minimal notice.
• Change seating: Unless you specifically request a certain table, you’re all but guaranteed a new table every night.
• Dress for formal night: Formal dress is officially “optional,” which means that you’ll see some gowns and suits, but also plenty of aloha shirts and leisure wear.
• Dress for casual night: Think Tommy Bahama (which is heavily promoted in the Galleria shopping center) -- really though, anything but jeans, shorts, and tank tops is acceptable.

Tips:

• Set beneath high windows, the tables in the back of the Venetian dining room offer expansive views astern, but are also more prone to vibration.
• Passengers wanting assistance with meeting other couples may want to have the maître d’ set them up with traditional dining. At passengers’ request, he’ll seat guests at the same table, with the same tablemates, at the same time each night.
• Complete sets of the main dining rooms’ menus are available at the purser’s desk -- a great tool for determining which nights to explore other culinary options.
• Certain restaurants fill up quickly due to limited space (Le Bistro and Bamboo’s teppanyaki room) or the lack of a cover charge (Salsa and La Trattoria), so book early to avoid missing out.
• Reservations in the specialty restaurants are highly recommended and can be made up to one day in advance. Small parties and those willing to eat either early or late, however, can often find a spot at the last minute.
• Guests who are seated at Bamboo between 5:30 and 6:30 PM receive 50 percent off the cover charge (à la carte items excluded).

Heard on the deck (from a woman in Bamboo's teppanyaki room): “I don’t feel like I’m on a cruise. I feel like we just went out to a restaurant on a Saturday night.”

Decorated in bright primary colors and cherry wood-veneered furnishings, Dawn’s cabins pack a lot of style into relatively small spaces. The coffeemakers and mini-fridges are nice touches, although shelf and drawer space is a bit tight for longer cruises. Most bathrooms feature three compartments -- toilet, sink, and shower -- all separated by sliding-glass doors. Fortunately, more than half of the cabins have view-enhancing balconies, each measuring 37–54 square feet (64–254 square feet for penthouse balconies). Honeymooners will like the Romance Suites, which offer a separate bedroom and bathroom with jetted bathtub, while the rest of us can only dream about the ship’s two 5,802-square-foot villas with rooftop terraces, private gardens, and indoor and outdoor jetted tubs.

Cabins for guests with disabilities
Dawn features 24 cabins designed for guests with disabilities in mind. They’re well-designed with good turnaround space, fully accessible bathrooms, and solid ramps that lead out to balconies that are just a tad narrow (okay for manual chairs, iffy for motorized ones). Bathrooms in the public areas all have power-assist doors and tiltable mirrors.

Tips:

• Each cabin comes with a coffeemaker, but be forewarned: The only accompanying java is instant.
• Light sleepers may want to avoid cabins 6500-6508, which are set between the Dawn Club Casino and Stardust Theater.
• Cabins on Deck 4 (and some on Deck 5) have only portholes, not full windows.
• Leave the iron at home: Free laundry facilities are located on several decks, complete with irons, ironing boards, and laundry soap for sale.

Heard on the deck: “We went for an inside cabin. It’s like a tomb; you can sleep as late as you want.”

From the splashes of color in the carpets to the Warhol prints in the stairwells, Dawn’s style is clever yet classy. The décor varies -- art deco at Gatsby’s, speakeasy suave at Cagney’s -- but the layout is so decentralized that nothing ever clashes. Most of the action is split among Decks 6 and 7, where you’ll find the casino, shops, and “Restaurant Row;” and Deck 12, home to the pool, spa, and fitness center. And with so much going on, crowds are dispersed before they can even develop.

Bars, lounges, and casino
Walk the hallways and there appears to be a bar around every corner (in actuality, there are a whopping 13 onboard). Each has its own personality and most feature live music at different times throughout the day and evening. Sample the martini menu in the Star Bar, get down disco-style in the Spinnaker, or sing your karaoke heart out in Dazzles. More often than not, the ambience is more restrained than rowdy. The same is true for the well-designed Dawn Club Casino, featuring 20 tables and 200-plus slots but, refreshingly, few flashing lights or clanging bells.

Swimming pools
They call it The Oasis, but with two pools, four hot tubs, two bars, and a bandstand, it’s not exactly a quiet refuge. Still, with only the occasional organized activity, it’s a delightful spot to read a book, sip a drink, or snooze in the sun. By early morning, poolside deck chairs are hard to come by (although there are plenty more on an upper wraparound deck). Come afternoon, the reggae band and barbecue crew have people tapping their toes and licking their fingers, respectively. Other pool options include the spa’s lap pool (open to all passengers, not just spa patrons) and the T-Rex kids’ pool (featuring wading pools, waterslides, and mini lounge chairs).

Shows
With seating for more than 1,000 guests -- and not a bad sightline in the place -- the Stardust Theater fills up once (or twice) a night for comedy acts, variety shows, and Broadway-style music revues. Among the best is “Bollywood,” a swirling “Cirque du Soleil-meets-India” extravaganza, complete with glittering costumes, hip hop moves, and aerialists who soar out over the crowd. The comedians are usually hit or miss, but the guest talent show is often filled with first-rate talent.

Shore excursions
Dawn offers the usual trips and tours -- Orlando theme parks, Everglades airboat rides, island snorkel tours -- but it’s the guest-friendly services that make them special. You can pre-order up to 14 days before sailing, and a sheet at the excursion desk keeps a running account of what’s still available. There are even onboard waiting lists for sold-out activities. Sign up, and if someone else cancels, excursion staff will slip your tickets under your door.

Weddings and vow renewals
All weddings and vow renewals should be arranged through Norwegian prior to sailing. Once onboard, guests can opt for an intimate service in a 25-seat chapel, or a larger affair in the Spinnaker Bar or Dazzles Lounge -- all with cake, champagne, and keepsake photographs. On-deck weddings are allowed, but the tropical itineraries tend to be a bit warm for gowns and tuxes. All ceremonies are conducted by local officiants while the ship is in port.

Looking for…

• Quietest spot: The library is lovely, but gets lots of lookers. A separate room across the hall has writing desks, ocean views, and far less traffic.
• Liveliest spot: The Spinnaker Bar attracts a rotating crowd for daily bingo, goofy game shows, and a different themed party each night.
• Most popular activity: Many guests simply enjoy lounging by the pool by day and hitting the slots and tables by night. Bingo and karaoke are also big draws.
• Best view: The Bimini Bar & Grill offers a bird’s eye view of both the pool and the ocean, and is best enjoyed with a grilled burger and helmet of beer (see Best drink below).
• Best show: “Bollywood” -- a high-energy blend of Indian-inspired dance and Cirque du Soleil-style acrobatics.
• Best drink: The most popular drink is the helmet of beer -- six bottles of suds for the price of five served in, yes, a helmet, with a chin strap serving as the handle.

Tips:

• Reserving deck chairs by the pool is supposedly prohibited, but seldom enforced. If you want to be close to the action, get there early.
• If the main hot tubs are crowded, head forward: Another (under-utilized) tub overlooks the bow on Deck 13.
• Check with the shore excursion desk on embarkation day as new trips and tours are often added after the pre-cruise brochures are printed and the order forms are sent out.
• Attend the Casinos at Sea Launch Party and you can sip free rum punch while learning about the point-based rewards available to Players Club members.
• If you’re heading to the cinema, swing by the Pearly King’s Pub first and pick up a bag of free popcorn.

Heard on the deck (from two women discussing the previous night’s party):
First woman: “Did you catch the ‘70s disco party last night?”
Friend’s response: “Not me. I’m more of a ‘50s girl.”

Spa and salon
From salon services to in-room massages, the El Dorado offers more than many land-based spas. The first surprise is the lap pool, a 35-foot-long indoor pool that’s ideal for doing low-intensity laps and is open to all guests, not just spa patrons. Beside it, a small hot tub, a large hydrotherapy tank (with vibrating plastic pipes), and a number of padded lounge chairs provide a quiet alternative to the more popular Pool Deck. Then there are the actual treatments -- reserve a massage or body wrap, and choose from an eclectic menu of Asian, European, and Hawaiian therapies. Be creative, or stick with a traditional experience. Either way, you won’t go wrong.

Fitness areas
Just above the spa, a good-sized fitness center -- with 40 machines and separate studios for aerobics and spin classes -- sits underused by Dawn’s leisure-oriented passengers. The outdoor golf cages, basketball court, and jogging track are rarely crowded either, although the easier, lower-impact fitness classes do tend to fill up quickly.

Tips:

• Guests who participate in six fitness classes and the Walk-A-Mile program earn a free “In Motion on the Ocean” T-shirt.
• Most fitness classes are free, but a $5 fee is charged for yoga and spinning sessions.
• If your itinerary includes a stop at Norwegian’s private island, Grand Stirrup Cay, treat yourself to a 25-minute al fresco massage overlooking the ocean.
• A 15 percent gratuity is automatically added to all spa and salon services.

Guests will find the usual duty-free goods in the Galleria shopping center. On many days, however, tables are also set up in the atrium with sale prices on select items (look for last-day blowout prices on watches, T-shirts, and souvenir glasses). For that someone special, the Ports O’ Call gift shop sells hand-crafted Italian handbags, Swedish glassware, and Israeli jewelry. One quibble: You shouldn’t have to line up to pick up your liquor on the last night of the cruise.

Tip: Curious about a store in port? An onboard port and cruise consultant keeps regular hours in an office just off the atrium and is happy to answer any questions.

The children’s center offers organized activities for kids ages 2-5, 6-12, and 13-18, with group sitting available 10 PM–1 AM and during the day on port days, for a fee. Just outside, the family-friendly T-Rex pool area features a brightly colored collection of wading pools, cartoon-dinosaur waterslides, and pint-sized lounge chairs. Almost as cute, the Garden Café restaurant has a special children’s area with a small-scale buffet line and tiny chairs.

Based in New York City, Dawn is currently sailing 10- and 11-night cruises to the Southern Caribbean, making stops at the Virgin Islands, Antigua, Barbados, Grenada, and the Dominican Republic. In March 2005, she’ll begin sailing 7-night New York/Florida/Bahamas itineraries, returning to her longer Southern Caribbean sailings that fall.

Tip: When disembarking, most passengers congregate around the atrium, creating long lines of impatient people. Head instead to the forward gangway and you can often walk right off.

Heard on the deck (from a man lounging poolside): “I don’t care where the ship goes, as long as I don’t have to go to work. It could sail around the Statue of Liberty for seven days and I’d be happy.”

• Type of cruise - Resort-Casual
• Total cabins - 1112
• Private balcony cabins - 497
• Decks - 11
• Total crew - 1300
• Ship size - Large
• Passenger capacity - 2224
• Tonnage - 91,000
• Officers nationality - Scandinavian/International
• Registry - Bahamas
• Year entered service - 2002
• Ship length - 965