Tampa and The Sun

We just finished our 4th Sun cruise, it being our first out of Tampa. We've done 13 NCL cruises from various ports and I'll tell ya...both the embarkation and debarkation this time was the absolute smoothest (figuratively) we have ever, ever done...and some of the others have been pretty painless.

We stayed the night before at the Hilton Garden Inn Tampa Airport Westshore. What a super place. We had the very reasonably priced cruise package which included 7 days parking in their covered garage, complementary real breakfast in their restaurant, and shuttle to and from the port. Wow...great staff, really nice facility, and excellent food. We had dinner in their restaurant the night before and it was delicious also. The shuttle picked us up at our requested time for an early port arrival time. We like that. Returning, we called the shuttle leaving the ship and it was there quickly.

We were at the port at 10:30, terminal was already open, line very short, processing in was immediate. We sat and people watched until boarding began at 11:30, then our boarding number was called and that was that. On the Sun and the vacation had begun. Debarkation, first colored tags (we were platinum yellow) were called at about 8:30 after the walk off were gone. We were off the ship, luggage recovered, through customs in 10 minutes. Unbelievable.

The Sun. She and the Pearl are our two favorite ships. However...the Sun is not going to be for everybody...not at all. If you are looking for pristine, new looking everything appearance and ship condition, go for the Getaway. The Sun is about 14 years old now. She is showing some wear in some areas that will require a dry dock to fix. There is some frayed carpet in areas, some worn upholstery in areas, occasional base boards needing replacement or repair, some wear appearance issues in our cabin (mini suite...love the Sun's minis). She is showing her age. However......she is spotless clean, she has the world's nicest crew (although I feel that way about every NCL ship we've been on), and for us...she is the absolute perfect size for our comfort and relaxation. Oh...yes... the buffet is small (so is the ship) and because of the small buffet size, the selection of food items is more limited that on the bigger ships. However, we thought it was just fine, with something good always. Oh...the crepes station and those crepes, you might as well head straight to a triple bypass after one of those bad boys. Ummm good.

Everybody has a different reason for cruising. We are not looking for action, excitement, entertainment, or a Vegas type environment. We tried the Getaway.....beautiful ship, so well designed, and sooo much to do...and a super nice crew. Wasn't for us. We were so happy to get back on the Sun.

So there you have it. Don't go Sun cruising and then come back whining that she wasn't shinny and new, or loaded with action, action, and entertainment. But if you want to just enjoy a more vintage boat on which you can so easily get around and just relax, and have a delightful crew surround you, she might be for you.

My fear is that with more and more mega ships being launched by NCL (and all the cruise lines), the Sun may be retired from the fleet in a season or two.... Sure hope not. My opinion.

Thank you for your review! I leave this weekend on the Sun for the second time this year. I was also on the Getaway in May, but the Sun is still my favorite!!

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Thanks very much for the feedback on the Sun. We're very happy to be on her in just under 2 weeks. We upgraded to an Aft Mini Suite after reading so many positive things about them on CC. Glad she is small and we're certainly not looking for much glitz & glam. so as long as she's clean and staff friendly, we'll have a great time.

Any pics of your mini suite? Just asking... I know we don't always take pics either but any would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers... we'll say "hello" to her and ask her to stick around for a while for you too.

Thanks very much for the feedback on the Sun. We're very happy to be on her in just under 2 weeks. We upgraded to an Aft Mini Suite after reading so many positive things about them on CC. Glad she is small and we're certainly not looking for much glitz & glam. so as long as she's clean and staff friendly, we'll have a great time.

 

Any pics of your mini suite? Just asking... I know we don't always take pics either but any would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers... we'll say "hello" to her and ask her to stick around for a while for you too.

Here's some thumb nail size. I don't have them posted on anything that will let them be bigger at the moment.

Well...that didn't work. Don't know why they are sideways.

I was on the Sun mini suite 1010 and it was the BEST ever....you will love your mini suite....walk in closet, entry hall before you get to your room, plenty of storage and the bathroom is huge....you will have brand new carpet because they put it in a few weeks ago while we were there.

NO waiting at dinner any night....

Wow, thanks. Thanks for the pics Roger001 I have no problem turning my device to repo them.

Thank you Rebels82, I have a feeling we'll be very satisfied with our cabin and our cruise. (as usual)

I've ordered a bottle of wine too for sail away, hopefully they'll put some ice in the bucket for us, :D

Cheers

I was on the Sun mini suite 1010 and it was the BEST ever....you will love your mini suite....walk in closet, entry hall before you get to your room, plenty of storage and the bathroom is huge....you will have brand new carpet because they put it in a few weeks ago while we were there.

 

NO waiting at dinner any night....

Oh yea...I might add. We ate in La Cuchina, Le Bistro, and the MDR one night each. Thought they were all just excellent. I especially liked the Italian that night. We also ended up with three different gifts of chocolate covered strawberries. The first was a platinum bennie. Then we had a refridge problem briefly (which actually fixed itself). However, the ship sent us another plate of the strawberries and a note apologizing for our inconvenience (there wasn't any actually). And then...in the MDR, one of the staff officers came by asking how we everything was. We told him it was great. He casually asked what room we were in...and then the next day, another plate of strawberries from his office. I think I'm up about 10 lbs, but afraid to weigh.

Thanks very much for the feedback on the Sun. We're very happy to be on her in just under 2 weeks. We upgraded to an Aft Mini Suite after reading so many positive things about them on CC. Glad she is small and we're certainly not looking for much glitz & glam. so as long as she's clean and staff friendly, we'll have a great time.

 

Any pics of your mini suite? Just asking... I know we don't always take pics either but any would be greatly appreciated.

 

Cheers... we'll say "hello" to her and ask her to stick around for a while for you too.

Here's another thumbnail of the Sun, aft, and her next to the Epic.

Funny you say that about the La Cucina, it's one of our favourite restaurants. We've only been on 3 cruises so far but every one of them has been unique, our first was on the Star from Tampa, our 2nd, on the Epic, and our 3rd on the Pearl. We've come to the conclusion that we love the older, smaller ships. They seem to have so much character but also, for us, we seem to meet so many more friendly people.

Our upcoming cruise on the Sun, will be very laid back and since we now are in the aft mini suite, we'll be very happy all by our selves... for a while anyway.

I decided to go with the UDP this cruise. Not sure if it'll be worth it but we always seem to dine in a specialty at least 4 of 7 nights so I have an idea it'll be just fine.

Thanks for the pics and info I know we'll be just fine.

Cheers.

Here's another thumbnail of the Sun, aft, and her next to the Epic.

Quite a comparison. :p

Thanks

Cheers,

Connie

Thank you for your review. I liked the Sun and I agree, it is easy to get from one place to another.

Thank you so much for taking the time for your review. Sounds like you enjoyed your time on the SUN. She is to date my favorite ship. Can hardly wait for January for own turn. :D

Thanks very much, Roger. We'll be on the Sun for the 2d time in Jan. We love the smaller ships also, but have an Epic/Barcelona 10-day booked for next year, so I also enjoyed the side by side photo. Congrats on the choc.-strawberry racket !

P.S. We'll also be staying at the HGI Airport, so we appreciate your input from it as well.

Excellent review. I have been on every ship in the NCL fleet except the POA and the Sun remains my favorite for exactly the reasons you pointed out. I will be back onboard Sunday for the 6th time. The Sun is not for everybody but if you just love to cruise it is perfect.

Thanks for the review! Will be sailing her in February in a Mini!

Any chance of posting larger photos or a link for them? I'd like to borrow them for friends of hours

Funny you say that about the La Cucina, it's one of our favourite restaurants. We've only been on 3 cruises so far but every one of them has been unique, our first was on the Star from Tampa, our 2nd, on the Epic, and our 3rd on the Pearl. We've come to the conclusion that we love the older, smaller ships. They seem to have so much character but also, for us, we seem to meet so many more friendly people.

 

Our upcoming cruise on the Sun, will be very laid back and since we now are in the aft mini suite, we'll be very happy all by our selves... for a while anyway.

 

I decided to go with the UDP this cruise. Not sure if it'll be worth it but we always seem to dine in a specialty at least 4 of 7 nights so I have an idea it'll be just fine.

 

Thanks for the pics and info I know we'll be just fine.

 

Cheers.

guess you missed the plan to crash your cabin after the meet n greet....:D

Thanks for the review! Will be sailing her in February in a Mini!

 

Any chance of posting larger photos or a link for them? I'd like to borrow them for friends of hours

Here you go. The cabin shots were just taken quickly with a cell phone. I tossed on a few food pics also.

http://s241.photobucket.com/user/roganderson60/media/Sun%20Mini%20Suite/IMG_2055_zps6013f929.jpg.html?sort=2&o=0

Here you go. The cabin shots were just taken quickly with a cell phone. I tossed on a few food pics also.

 

http://s241.photobucket.com/user/roganderson60/media/Sun%20Mini%20Suite/IMG_2055_zps6013f929.jpg.html?sort=2&o=0

Thanks:)

guess you missed the plan to crash your cabin after the meet n greet....:D

Sheesh... stop reading my mind, there's barely enough room in my head for me :eek:

Was just thinking about making up a list of goodies for everyone to bring, we'd enjoy the company.. :p

Smaller & older ships always offer you a better deal for your money. Go Sun.

We were on the Epic last week, and as we walked deck 7 with eyes on the Sun, we recalled so many fond memories from our very first cruise which was on the Sun. It actually made me want to take another cruise with her.

When you board in tampa, mdr is open for lunch, and only on the lunch menu is chocolate/peanut butter cheesecake .. ( real good ) also i had a cheeseburger and it had a spoonful of pulled pork on it and was real good ...

The Sun is our favorite ship to date. We, like you are not into all that action packed constant activity. We like relaxing and visiting with others, getting to know the crew etc.

I would sail on her anyday

Roger I noticed that you parked your car in Tampa while cruising. Can u give me some information on that. We will be driving in and have every had to park our car. Thanks