Adveture of the Seas vs. Norwegian Dawn

Looking to book a December cruise. Both itineraries are very similar so it comes down to the ship. Would love to hear comments if anyone has been on both? Both are older ships. We do enjoy good entertainment. Need some help deciding. Travelling with one senior and one younger adult.thanks

We have not been on either yet but are booked on the NCL Dawn for Dec 3. Just thought I'd let you know that NCL put out a notice today that they will be notifying us within 2 weeks of the itinerary changes so you may want to wait until then if the ports would make a difference to you. I'm sure St Thomas and St Maarten have been cancelled but the news of Hurricane Maria today is not good since all the others on this itinerary- Puerto Rico, St Lucia, Martinique, and St Kitts- are bracing for that Category 3 or 4 to hit within 48 hours.

I've been on both of those ships multiple times. My preference would be Adventure. Adventure is a much bigger ship. Bigger theater = bigger / better shows. I also love the Royal Promenade and the pool deck. Main dining room is beautiful - three decks high. Great bars, great specialty restaurants. We enjoyed the Dawn as well but would choose Adventure over it every time.

I can't speak about RCCL, but we had a guest entertainer on our week aboard the Dawn 9/1. ...Jeri Sager, a long time Broadway lead in Cats and Les Mis. She was amazing!!

We have not been on either of those ships exactly yet...BUT...We have been on ships very similar to the Adventure in RCCL's fleet and have loved them. So much to do entertainment wise, the promenade is great, love the layout of the ship. plus I hear they added waterslides to the Adventure now as well. As for the Dawn, nowhere near as many bells and whistles on that ship, but it was recently refurbished and photos of it look beautiful. We were on the NCL Sun years ago, which is quite similar, and enjoyed it, but the ship is not close to the RCCL ship.

That said, if you look at my upcoming cruises, we are booked on the Dawn for this December and not the Adventure. We thought that we will be in 9 ports in 10 days sailing out of San Juan, so the ship is a lot less important. Plus, having a smaller ship means it can get into some ports that the Adventure may not be able to dock in due to size.

Last point...with the devastation of Irma and now Maria, who knows what ports we will actually end up seeing in December. Itineraries are being changed now all around, so if you book now expecting certain ports, you will likely be disappointed when hearing the changes. We just pray that San Juan weathers Maria well. We love that island and were looking forward to taking our children there to see it for the first time (hopefully looking like it did when we last visited it).

I am assuming the guest entertainer was only for your week? Did you enjoy the Dawn on your cruise. I noticed the Dawn has many more specialty dining options than the Adventure.

We haven't been on Adventure but have cruised many times on RCCL's Voyager class ships which are smaller versions.

Adventure is better designed but the Dawn has much better dining options and dining hours. On RCCL ships, you're hard pressed to get anything decent to eat after 9:00 pm. Being able to get a meal when you're hungry, regardless of the time, works very well for us when we're cruising. We also prefer NCL's freestyle dining over RCCL's my time dining.

With similar itineraries, we'll always choose NCL.

We haven't been on Adventure but have cruised many times on RCCL's Voyager class ships which are smaller versions.

 

Adventure is better designed but the Dawn has much better dining options and dining hours. On RCCL ships, you're hard pressed to get anything decent to eat after 9:00 pm. Being able to get a meal when you're hungry, regardless of the time, works very well for us when we're cruising. We also prefer NCL's freestyle dining over RCCL's my time dining.

 

With similar itineraries, we'll always choose NCL.

I agree with this about dining. When we sail with our kids, we do Royal Caribbean because of the better pools and, in my kids' opinion, a better kids club.

Without the kids we do Norwegian for the better night life and dining options.

However something this port intensive I would probably choose itinerary over ship. As others have mentioned, itineraries on both ships may change depending on damages from Irma & Maria.