5/9/04 Sun to Alaska Review

It was absolutely the best vacation we have ever had!

My husband and I, and my sister and her husband (all 40s) had side-by-side category AEs. First let me say, that is one awesome mini-suite. Upon arrival at Canada Place, after waiting in the first line, we were escorted (la de da) to a special VIP room for suites and Latitude members. I tell ya, we were floating on cloud nine by then. It was just great!

So we were the first passengers on the ship and rushed to our cabin. On our previous cruise (the Carnival Conquest), we had a balcony cabin, but it certainly did not prepare us for this. Upon entering, we were greeted by soft music, fresh cut flowers, a fruit tray and champagne on ice!!! I thought it couldn't get any better, but then I opened the door to the bathroom. Walk-in, huge closet with two sets of shelves, lots of drawers, turn right, dressing area with make-up table, mirror and chair. On the other side, sink, mirror, lots of more storage, open th next door...GIGANTIC tub with shower and toilet. Okay, okay, enough about the cabin (GREAT CABIN!)

Now the bad news. The two main restaurants (the only place we dined other than room service ... room service rocked!) left something to be desired. Having only cruised Carnival before, we assumed the food would surpass Carnival just like the ship did (the Sun was elegant, understated and really beautiful). We were very wrong. It was occasionally very good, often just okay, and sometimes lacking. And there wasn't nearly as many options to choose from like we had with Carnival (even the Holiday ~~ their oldest ship). We are not food critics or hard to please. It was always pretty though.

The entertainment...the Broadway-type shows surpassed Carnival's. I'm not really into that kind of show, but even I could see that the performers (Jean Ann Rynd?) were very polished and talented. The first comedian of the trip, Rex Havens, was absolutely hysterical. We bought his CD and are still laughing. The other comedian/juggler, Steve Patient, was okay, fun to watch, but not memorable. I didn't much care for the CD, Linda Minnikin. She seemed contrived and not really into what she was doing.

The ports/excursions...we did the lumberjack show in Ketchikan, figured it would be cheesy, but it was a lot of fun. Also, GREAT souvenir shopping. Juneau was great, we did the wildlife quest thing, saw lots of humpbacks (so much smaller than I had thought), seals, bald eagles, it was spectacular. Skagway, did the train (I think everybody does). It was worth it, just gorgeous scenery. Wrangell, why did we stop in Wrangell? Absolutely nothing to do.

Wildlife...lots of eagles (one even flew right outside my balcony). ORCAS swimming alongside the ship for about 5 minutes (that was soooooooooooo cool).

Sawyer Glacier, so absolutely beautiful! That entire afternoon, we kept bundling up more and more cause we were NOT leaving the balcony when every minute, you could see something new and fabulous!

I can't wait to go again, but will probably do a one-way next time so we can see more of that unique beautiful land.

Thanks for listening.

Cindy

02/03 ~~ Carnival Holiday

07/03 ~~ Carnival Conquest

05/04 ~~ Norwegian Sun

Thank you so much for your post, we leave on the Sun on Sunday and I am SOOOOOO excited. Your post made me even more excited. We are booked in an AD suite and can not wait to go.

 NCL Sun...Alaska

 Halloween...Explorer of the Seas

 Disney Magic Repositioning...Ca-FL

RCCL Enchantment of the Seas 2003; Carnival Spirit 2003; RCCL Brilliance of the Seas 2002; RCCL Voyager of the Seas 2002; Disney Wonder May & Dec 2001; Disney Magic 2001; RCCL Sovereign of the Seas 2000; Disney Magic 1999; Disney Wonder 1999; Carnival Ecstasy 1999; NCL Norway 1998; Carnival Fantasy 1998; NCL Leeward 1997; Commodore Caribe I 1986

Ahhhh, you'll love it. I'd love to go back this summer but know I would lose my job (heh heh). Check out the New York steak sandwiches from room service (24 hrs a day). We fell in love with them.

Soemthing else if you're interested. For some reason, you cannot get juices from the buffet after the breakfast time. Only tea. But from room service, it is free 24/7. Fruit punch, orange, apple and cranberry juice, etc. Twice they tried to charge us when it arrived and we told them it had previously been free, they made a call, and it was free again. Of course, we always tipped.

Have a great time. Our entire week was sunny, and had highs into the high 60s and low 70s, except for that afternoon going into Sawyer. People at every stop told us how unusual it was to have so many sunny days. You will LOVE it!

Cindy

02/03 ~~ Carnival Holiday

07/03 ~~ Carnival Conquest

05/04 ~~ Norwegian Sun