bugspost

Here are a few pics from the ship: our balcony cabin, Brazilian steakhouse, the pool, White hot party & waiters singing last night on cruise.

Thanks for the info about Dazzles. Will check it out for sure! Did you ever see any deals for Specialty restaurants. I have heard that on some 7 day cruises they had a $79 deal that allow you to go to six of the pay restaurants for that one fee.

did not see any deals like that.........only 5 on Sun....plus sushi one which is $15....if you pay for each one...would be $80.....$95 including sushi one......before we cruised..........they offered pre package for all...........but it really only saved a few bucks........decided not to commit to going to all of them............we only did the Brazilian steakhouse...well, worth the money but did hear the french Le Bistro & italian II Idagio restaurants were excellent.

Also, the Teppanyaki was the MOST popular one.......constantly busy. Cook at table like Benihani's.......AFlying shrimp. Onion volcanoes. Twirling knives. The sizzles and surprises never cease at our authentic Japanese Hibachi restaurant. Sit around a lively shared table as a skillful chef slices, chops and grills steak, seafood and chicken on a large steel grill right before your eyes. Our chilled, sake-infused Wasabi Cocktail will have you flipping too.

Thanks for the review! We will be on her soon! Any experience with the $49/day drink package? Wondering if it includes champagne (mimosas), pool side service, casino service, etc...

Did not do the drink package as happy hour in sports bar met our needs PLUS I earned free drink card in casino...........so was able to get drinks in casino to take to shows, pool, etc.

What did you think of the pool band Titanium? I love a good pool band! Another poster on here gave it a poor review! Last year on the Star we had a wonderful one!! We go in Jan. so if they aren't any good, sure hope there is a new one by then

I thought Titanium was pretty good actually.........but the band in Dazzles was amazing...........she had an awesome voice.

Thanks Bugspost for the nice review! We will be going on the same cruise in January. Wondering about how far the ship is docked from town (Charlotte Amalie) on St. Thomas and if there are shuttles, etc.

 

Also, what kinds of things did you do on the other islands when you didn't do the ship's tours? Thanks again. Carol D.

St. Thomas..........they did have open cabs......to go into town...I think it was $4 each way. We just stayed there at port shops & restaurants.....many that went downtown......said it was VERY crowded & more expensive then the shops in port. Talked to a shop owner in port (he had two shops in port & two in town) Anyhow,,,,,you can find everything in port there.

On St. Maarten, you have to take water taxi from port...we just strolled down the beach there & ended up getting two lounge chairs, umbrella & bucket of beer & spent day there..........very relaxing. Dominica, we walked around at stalls & shops & again had a few local beers. Many did take waterfall & rainforest tours..........not from ship........some liked it....others did not...a lot of walking I guess.

Thanks for your review. We were on the Sun in 2008 and loved it. It is smaller than some others, but it was probably our favorite. I want to do the itinerary you did soon!

It was perfect itinerary since 1st 2 days at sea........5 days hitting an island & last 2 days at sea........loved it!!

This was our first time on NCL......only our 3rd cruise ever. Let me start by saying that I truly believe the worst day on a cruise is always better than the best day at home...HA HA

We did enjoy our cruise though. Starting w/the ease of embarking the ship...very organized. When we got onboard, our cabin wasn't ready but our steward let us store our carryons under the bed & off we went to explore the ship.

The staff on the ship were exceptionally friendly & helpful. Cruise director Jamie was very good. Beantown Brian, although a goof ball was entertaining. The only area we found lacking was the Seven Seas dining room. We only ate breakfast & lunch in there but staff rarely smiled & seemed lacking in organization. Perhaps they were better at dinner. We ate in Four Seasons for dinner & staff was excellent there. Lobster dinner was the first night on our voyage. Lobsters were small but just ask for three as I did...HA HA!

Food on the ship was alright.......desserts were lacking but food definitely better in MDR than the buffet. Buffet not terrible but not as good. Casino had nice little buffet from 11pm-1am & poolside BBQ was good also. Room service menu is lacking w/not much to choose from but did enjoy the BLT. We also had fruit, croissants (chocolate ones yummy) every morning on our balcony w/coffee & tea. There is a coffee maker in your cabin.BUT the sports bar was great...wings, fish & chips, salads, burgers, etc. Also, happy hour from 4-6pm was great deal. For you beer drinkers, you could buy bucket,,6 beers for price of 5 & get 6 free........so for the price of 5 beers,,,you got 12.

We only tried the Brazilian steakhouse for specialty dining & it was exceptional. So much food. The salad bar alone was a meal. You better like meat if you go there. Chicken, sausage, beef ribs, pork ribs, lamb chops, filet mignon, sirloin fixed 3 ways, & glazed pineapple all brought to table on spits.

I really liked the cabin.......we were in balcony cabin. Lots of room & storage. The shower was a lot better than Princess. Didn't rub up against the walls or the shower curtain.

Our room steward seemed a bit rushed & frazzled. He did have 19 cabins to clean every day and many days forgot our towels but we just grabbed some off the cart so no biggie. He was friendly though.

Entertainment was okay. Did not enjoy the Rock On show but the ventriloquist comedian, Duo that did acrobatics & the comedian were very good. Also, the crew talent show was a blast. The White HOT party was a lot of fun. Dazzles was a great place to go for great talent.......The singer was from georgia w/her hubby on keyboards.........she had an amazing voice & her tribute to Divas was awesome.

We visited 5 islands, St. Thomas,Dominica,St. Lucia,Barbados & St. Maarten. We only did two excursions thru NCL. On St. Lucia, we took catamarran to Pitons & enjoyed it alot. On Barbados, we went to Copacabana Beach which was wonderful. The other islands, we did our own thing, shopping & beaches.

Overall, we had a wonderful time & will cruise w/NCL again. We took advantage of the $100 OBC & put down $250 deposit for future cruise. You have 4 years to use it. :) We will try another NCL ship though just to compare it to the Sun. Although Sun is older, we liked the size of it very much.

Disembarking was a breeze. Really like that you can take your own bags off ship instead of having to put them out night before although those that did said it was easy finding their bags.

If you want a free coffee mug,,,,,,,,,,wait till you get on board to purchase the coffee card........the price is the same but we pre purchased........& did not get the mug......they said it was only when u purchase onboard........so we had to go turn in the prepaid one for a refund......then go purchase a new card to get the mug.....kinda silly if u ask me.

Also, you get unlimited brewed coffee & tea.............but save your last specialty coffee punch because they were taking them from passengers when they punched the last punch.......therefore eliminating them from getting the brewed coffee....again,,,made no sense......(this was on the Coral 15 day panama canal cruise)

I can't remember how much the specialty coffees were.......but yes, you are saving money by purchasing the card.

I also purchased the soda package for hubby.......he got the soda cup w/no problems. Our friends got the deluxe soda so they could have smoothies, etc.

as far as the internet minutes..........well, they run specials onboard which are just as good as the prepurchase ones...........even when you prepurchase.......you have to go to internet cafe to set it up............we had to go online...purchase again..........and then they had to credit our account..........again made no sense.

I've been tracking the Entertainer of the Year contest. Going on my 19th cruise soon with Princess I'm surprised that I've never seen any of these entertainers onboard. Do they all tend to entertain within the Caribbean? My upcoming cruise is Jan 27 on the Caribbean Princess. Will any of the nominees be on this cruise?

I saw 2 out of the three on our panama canal last year....on Coral Princess.

As intrusive and unnecessary as it sometimes feels, I too would hope they go back to the gathering near the lifeboats and full drill with life jackets. Royal to me always seem to do the best job at this.

agree w/that Royal does the best it seems!

I have only been on 2 cruises..........RCI & Princess........I found the RCI muster drill made more sense....we did have to go to our stations but we did not have to wear our life jackets and they did a roll call .......On Princess, we met in a lounge.......& had to put on jackets in lounge but there was no roll call........I would have been more comfortable actually meeting at muster stations....and think all should do this. There were many on Princess that just stayed in their cabins & didn't do the muster drill........they just hide in the bathrooms...crazy...but they have been on so many cruises...they don't feel they need to do the drill. A roll call would have eliminated this.......

I don't know how NCL does the drill........will find out in Nov. Going on the sun!

woohoo!!:)

Also,,,RCI did it prior to our sailing while Princess didn't do it till 30 minutes into our sailing.

I have only been on 2 cruises..........RCI & Princess........I found the RCI muster drill made more sense....we did have to go to our stations but we did not have to wear our life jackets and they did a roll call .......On Princess, we met in a lounge.......& had to put on jackets in lounge but there was no roll call........I would have been more comfortable actually meeting at muster stations....and think all should do this. There were many on Princess that just stayed in their cabins & didn't do the muster drill........they just hide in the bathrooms...crazy...but they have been on so many cruises...they don't feel they need to do the drill. A roll call would have eliminated this.......

I don't know how NCL does the drill........will find out in Nov. Going on the sun!

woohoo!!:)

My wife is a big fan of their Reuben and Cuban sandwiches and some of their desserts are very good. Many guests do not find the Seaview Cafe until midway through the cruise, so if you want to avoid the crowds try going there early on.:)

Loved those sandwiches.....enjoyed the Seaview...many times got it to go & enjoyed in our cabin!!

I am just off the coral, I did not go to the Sanctuary, but on our Panama canal cruise there was only 1 child on board, maybe the age of 5. So if your reasoning is to get away from the children, there wasnt any

we only had 3 on our cruise....18 month....5yr old & 8yr old..(think I saw them maybe twice in 15 days)..I do believe because the cruise is sooo long & of course, w/school going on....you won't find many children on these Panama canal cruises(not to mention the cost):)

Just off the Crown TA 17 day. On each blackjack table there was a little sign (sorry I didn't take a photo of it) saying that cash could be obtained with your cruise card with no fee! In other words, everybody is right!!! I was reasoning from year-old data.

going on Coral tomorrow.....when I called Princess a few weeks ago...they told me there was a 3% charge for chips.............will see if that is true. I did buy onboard casino credits just in case...