Norwegian Sun Bahamas 3 Day, May 2018 -- Dailies Scans included

Soon after the notorious Sun refit, I (male, age 56, frequent NCL cruiser) took my daughter on her first cruise, to the Bahamas. Overall, a very good experience, with the positives outweighing the negatives.

Scans of dailies attached, I'll be including a detailed trip report as comments

Review: Positives

Updated public spaces, like the Atrium and Sports Bar looked very sharp and up to date

Furniture throughout the ship looked great

Loved the new Spinnaker Lounge on Deck 12

Carpet was hit and miss — some areas looked new, others threadbare

Casino was great with new machines

Alex Ortiz, comic, was funny in the "family friendly" show (didn't see the adult one)

Never waited for an elevator

Teppanyaki grill was execellent

Dinners in the MDR were great

All inclusive is a step above having the UBP, including no sales tax in port

Although everyone had unlimited drinks, this definitely wasn't a "Booze Cruise"

Internet "Social Media" package was a huge improvement over what it used to be

Review: Negatives

Cabin bathrooms did not see any improvement in the refit, very old, dated and short on maintenance

With a few exceptions, most staff was unfriendly or indifferent

Did not find my "Cruise Hero" until the last day

Food on Great Stirrup Cay was, as usual, awful

Why can't they figure out how to cook a hamburger on NCL?

Buffet suffers from bad layout, lack of choices and substandard food at all meals

Three day cruise too short — I really missed the sea day(s)

Trip Report: Friday, 11 May 2018, Port Canaveral

My daughter, who turned 27 in early May, 2018, had never been on a cruise. When I commented on this to my wife, and asked if maybe we could bring her along on one of those "3rd guest sails free" things, she wasn't so sure, thinking it would be too crowded in the cabin and instead suggested a "Daddy/Daughter Cruise," in celebration of Kay's 27th birthday. Kay agreed, and was already planning on visiting us over her birthday, so I booked a three day on the Sun.

The Sun is currently doing a four day to Cuba Monday-Friday and a three day to the Bahamas Friday - Monday, and to minimize time off from work, I opted for the shorter cruise. Having been to Cuba on the Sky last October, I'm not sure that she would have enjoyed it all that much, and I'd done pretty much everything I wanted in Cuba, so I think it was a good choice.

We left Daytona about 9AM and pulled into the Port Canaveral garage ($68 for three days) a little after ten. If you're driving from Orlando, the Port is at the eastern end of SR 528, coming from I95 north, it's exit 205B, labelled "Port Canaveral." The reason that I mention that is that the GPS in my car, which is abysmal, had me taking another exit, even though I was pretty sure it was wrong, but there isn't any signage, specific to there being a port on 528 until you're right on top of it, which is a long ways east of the Interstate.

Anyway, NCL currently uses Terminal A, along with (that day) Disney. The line to get into the Disney garage was huge, the NCL one nonexistent. We dropped our bags, looped back and parked the car. I forgot that the garage is a pretty long walk from the terminal entrance, the parking lot east of the garage is way closer, but no big deal.

Security and checkin was reasonably painless, no line at 10:30AM, and we were given Group Six for boarding. Be warned that there are restrooms in the waiting area, but no soda machine, like in other terminals, though Norwegian had a number of large water dispensers with either water or that pink stuff that isn't really lemonade, isn't really fruit punch.

They started boarding shortly after 11AM, and by 11:30, we were aboard. First stop was the "Four Seasons" Main Dining Room, on Deck 5, where they were taking dinner reservations, and scored a table for that night at the Teppanyaki Grill. We figured to get lunch at the Seven Seas MDR, which was in the aft of Deck 5, and we hit the first negative of the Sun (which I didn't remember on the Sky, I guess we didn't get around that much) — there is no way to get from Deck 5, midship, to Deck 5, aft, without going up to Deck 6, wondering around until you find a corridor going back, and then once you're at the back stairs, go down one level. This irritating layout plagued us through the whole cruise.

Once we finally got to the dining room, we found it closed. A couple women sitting outside of it told us that it didn't open until noon, which was still about ten minutes away. They suggested going up to Deck 11 and getting a drink and I didn't have to be told twice. We took the elevator without a wait and I quickly remembered the buffet/sports bar layout and had my Fireball with Angry Orchard in hand within minutes.

Second aggravation, which I should have remembered from the CC forums… no straw, which is necessary for that drink. I asked for one, nope, we don't have any, company policy. Okay, says I, how about a stir stick? Don't have any of those, either, before he hands me an ineffectual piece of something that they use to stab orange or lime slices with. Well, that was the last Fireball I had on the cruise.

Back down to Deck 5 and the MDR was open for lunch. I grabbed a copy of the Day 1 Daily from the Maitre De's stand and we took our seats. Great service, the food was a bit lacking. I asked the server whether to get a meatball sub or pulled pork burger and after demurring for a bit, she suggested the burger. Bad choice — NCL can't seem to figure out how to cook a burger without cooking the crap out of it. When asked, I get mine medium, this was well done, then stuck in a warmer for about five hours until all flavor was leeched out of it. I hate about half. It came with curly fries which weren't all that hot to start with and cooled quickly. Ate about half of them, too. I don't remember what Kay ordered, but she wasn't blown away, either.

We explored the ship for a while, booked excursions and were able to get into the cabin at about 2pm. I decided to spend the hour before Muster at the sports bar, Kay stayed in the cabin. The daily said that restaurants and bars would close at 3PM for Muster, which is typical, I was disappointed to hear the bartender at the sports bar announce that it was closed (not closing, closed) at 2:50. Thus began a series of instances where a number of NCL employees didn't seem to really want to go out of their way for anyone, which was very foreign to me.

Muster was predictably overly long, and once completed, I went up to Deck 12 for sail out, because I knew that SpaceX was going to be conducting a rocket launch at 4:15PM. I can see Cape Canaveral launches from my house in Daytona Beach, was disappointed that the launch the previous day had been scrubbed, but then realized that I might have a far better view from the ship on Friday. Sure enough, just as we are sailing out, the rocket takes off and we had a couple of minutes of interesting viewing (there were probably about 35 people on the sun deck with me.)

After that, I went down and hung out with Kay for a bit until it was time for the Japanese Steakhouse at 5:15, located at the back of Deck 12. Teppanyaki (if you're not familiar, it's Japanese food, cooked on a very hot grill, with the cook making jokes, juggling and otherwise making the meal more interesting than watching someone cook,) is one of Kay's favourite dining experiences, so I was happy to give it to her as a part of her birthday present. We were both kind of taken aback by being the only people in the restaurant — clearly this wasn't a popular choice on the ship. Nonetheless, it was excellent! I had the steak and shrimp and it was cooked perfectly.

Following dinner, Kay decided that she wanted to go to the Library and draw (she's a very talented artist and spends up to eight hours a day drawing!) and I figured I would go check out the casino, after playing my three free bingo cards (not even close to winning, as usual.) Normally on cruises, my wife (a blackjack player) shoes me out of the casino, because I'm pretty terrible at it, so I hang out with a book at O'Sheehan's, instead. Well, no wife and no O'Sheehan's, so I dropped $100 into a video poker machine and after boosting my balance a little, I moved over to the slots, found the "Quick Hit" machines, which I like, and played them for a couple of hours, while keeping my balance over $100.

Bored, I went looking for Kay, found her, checked out the late night buffet, found a couple of things that looked palatable (I'm not a huge fan of buffets, in general, and even less so of NCL buffets,) and we went down to the cabin and hit the hay.

Trip Report: Saturday, 12 May 2018, Nassau

I woke up around 6:30AM and was a bit taken aback by the state of my head — sinuses absolutely stuffed! I haven't been that congested since I moved away from Minnesota, though I have no idea why, and it kept up for the rest of the trip. I looked at my phone and Kay had texted me that I was snoring like crazy and she had a hard time getting to sleep, so please do not wake her up. I checked, and she was, indeed, fast asleep, so I got dressed quietly and went to the MDR for breakfast.

On a typical cruise, my wife and I get up "early" and go to the fitness center for an hour (me) and an hour and a half (her) and by the time we're done and showered and ready for breakfast, the MDR is closed and we have to do the buffet. You know, by now, what I think of buffets. So I relished the chance to have a sit down breakfast. I ordered eggs over easy, bacon, toast and peach compote. The peaches (out of a can) were good, eggs cooked properly, bacon burned to a crisp (which was okay, I'd rather have that than half cooked bacon) and the toast was terrible, scarcely toasted. All in all, there wasn't anything on the menu that you couldn't find or approximate off of the buffet, and while I appreciated the leisurely nature of breakfast in the MDR and the prompt service, I guess I won't complain about having to do the buffet for breakfast in the future.

That experience behind me, I went to the room to check on Kay. She had opted for the Catamaran Cruise / Snorkeling tour and we needed to meet them at the dock at 9:15AM. She got up, was ready in a few minutes and we were able to go up to the buffet on 11 so that she could get some food, prior to getting off the ship at 9:15. Right after we found the tour guide, I realized that we'd forgotten a beach towel and after verifying that we did need to bring one, I ran back to the ship, up to the cabin and back to the line on the dock within about 15 minutes.

They walked us down to the end of the pier, through a gate and right onto the boat, no bus ride! It had started to rain as we were walking over there, so Kay and I went down to the lower deck, which was covered. Once we figured out which way the boat drove, we switched seats to be facing forward… as the rain got harder, more and more people from the outside came in and before we were halfway to the snorkel location, the interior was full. On the way out, one of the crew got on the overheads and announced that this house over here was owned by Oprah Winfrey, that one was Michael Jordan's, the CEO of Starbucks owned this one, etc. I guess that probably interested a few people, it didn't me, which was okay, since I was in the middle of the lower deck and couldn't see much anyway.

After about half an hour, we stopped and most everyone got off to snorkel. I took out my Kindle and read for the hour that they were out there — I used to snorkel and really liked it, but developed bad asthma and quickly learned that my snorkeling days are behind me. Kay say that it was the highlight of the trip, she's into fish (has an aquarium at home) and really enjoyed seeing all of the different species out there. On the trip back, the commentary was kept to a minimum and they had beer (Kalik, for $5, no thank you) and rum punch (in plastic cups, no thank you either.) Annoyingly, they didn't bring us back to where we had gotten onboard, they went around the cruise ships and dropped us off in the middle of "downtown" Nassau, meaning that we had to walk through the annoying street and port vendors to get back to the ship. I wonder how much they are paid to do that?

Kay bought some soaps and things for her friend that was watching her dog back in Minnesota and we were quickly through the Bahamas security checkpoint and back aboard the Sun. We went to the cabin, where Kay changed, and then up to the buffet for a late lunch. After that, I went to the fitness center for an hour or so, and Kay napped. When I was done, I went down to the sports bar, hoping to catch some soccer on Sport24, unfortunately, they were showing a golf tournament, so I sat at the bar and attempted to get into watching the sport while simultaneously playing "Golf Clash" on my iPhone (a guy on the stool next to me glanced over and said "You're doing better than they are!" lol)

(An aside here on NCL Internet… once upon a time, on a Carnival cruise, I got a "Social Media" package and loved staying in touch with friends and family over Facebook, and it was great free advertising for Carnival. When you see someone having fun, as they're doing it, you're more likely to want to experience that for yourself, right? Well, they had nothing like that on the first couple of NCL cruises we did, and when they added "Social Media" I was all over it, and was HUGELY disappointed to find out it was "Social Media Messaging" — only stuff like Facebook Messenger, iMessage and WhatsApp. Well, I (and a lot of other people) complained, and I guess they've changed it, because now "Social Media" includes Facebook, Snapchat and other stuff. Weirdly, and I don't know if it's a bug that will be fixed (please don't!) or intentional, but lots of stuff worked — games like Golf Clash, non-standard social sites like Quora, even Google worked just fine. I was even able to get email. If this is intentional, props to NCL, it's a great deal. The only beef I had was having to remember to log out and back in, via "logon.com" once per day, or the Internet just flat out didn't work.)

For dinner, we went to the Four Seasons Main Dining Room and had a decent meal, although the service was awful — the waiter went beyond merely not smiling, he was curt and surly the whole meal. I have no idea what his deal was, but he was clearly not having a good day. He brought a basket of bread to every other table, for some reason, and we weren't one of the lucky ones. I got a steak with roasted potatoes that was pretty good, along with skewered chicken and a beef slider appetizer. The slider is a long favourite of mine, and did not disappoint.

After dinner, we decided to play "Deal or No Deal," which I had never done before. It's $25 a card, and the way it works is you get a card, and one random cardholder is called up on stage to play Deal or No Deal, pretty much the way it is on television (vastly lower amounts, of course, top prize in the cases is $500) and everyone with a card opens the same case as the contestant, and if the value revealed matches the value in the case on stage, it's "A Match". Every match you get lands you a bigger prize, though this night no one got more than four matches ($50). In the second game (they play two games, you re-use the card,) I matched two times and got a free "Instant Win Pull Tab" at the following nights' bingo game.

Kay wanted to go back to the library for some drawing time, so I spent a little time in the casino (won $50 on one pull, closed out the night with about $70 on my voucher) and then went to the 9:30PM show by comedian Alex Ortiz in the theatre. He was pretty funny and closed out his show by saying that if you filled out one of those "Vacation Hero" cards and posted it on his Facebook page, he'd let you into a show for free if he ever came to your hometown, or something like that. I usually fill out a card, sometimes more than one, but to be honest, I hadn't met anyone I would call my Vacation Hero, so let it go.

After the show, which ran about 45 minutes, I went up to the buffet to see if anything held my interest before bed and came away with a chili dog from the Outdoor Garden area. Ducked my head into the sports bar, ordered some chicken wings from a table after being told you couldn't order them from the bar (and they're the same as the ones you get in O'Sheehan's, where you can order them from the bar,) and, after downing them, with nothing else going on, went down to the cabin, where Kay was already asleep and did the same.

Trip Report: Sunday, 13 May 2018, Great Stirrup Cay

Slept in a little bit today, since we didn't need to be ashore for our excursion until 11AM. After getting ready, we headed up to the buffet and had a leisurely breakfast. I am not the world's biggest fan of Norwegian's private island, Great Stirrup Cay and would have just as soon stayed on the ship, like I normally do, but Kay wanted to do an "Eco-marine tour" so we were aboard the tender by about 10:30. It was a short, but very choppy, journey over to the island.

We stopped at the Tour Information Desk, as the tickets indicated, signed in and were directed to "wait behind the building." Eventually a guy showed up, announced that he was the guide, and led our group of about twenty across the island to a dock that had a bunch of jet skis and a couple of regular boats. We boarded his, and on the way out of the harbour, were introduced to him ("Burry, unless I'm in New York, then I'm Barry",) the guy who would be in the water once we got where we were going, Marley, and a third guy who was presented as something of an extra, Mikey.

Along the ten minute ride out to the area we would be exploring, Burry explained all about life in the Berry Islands, which included Great Stirrup Cay. They have "winter visitors, snowbirds" that come down half the year, otherwise there's not a lot going on. I've heard the story (well, something similar,) before, but I was glad that he was able to personalize the place.

At the stopping point, Marley donned snorkel gear, jumped overboard and started hauling stuff up from the ocean floor — sea biscuits (both live and dead,) conch, sea urchins, a sea cucumber, a couple giant starfish (over a foot across) and some other stuff I don't remember. They were passed around through the boat and everyone who wanted to held them and/or got a picture with them. I noted that the things they could keep off of the ocean floor that were worth any money (like the dead sea biscuits and the conches) were not returned to the sea. That says a lot, to me.

(Aside here… on our boat was a family from a foreign country, India, I would guess. Grandpa, Grandma, couple of kids, their spouses and a handful of grandchildren. "Grandpa" was the most obnoxious d-bag that I've ever had the misfortune to be on a tour with. He would grab stuff out of peoples' hands and pose for pictures with it (a couple of times indicating that the person he just swiped the sea critter from should take his picture.) He took pictures of everyone on the boat, for no apparent reason. He would shove stuff at his wife, who was clearly mortified by it all and yell at her if she wouldn't hold it for a picture. He literally shoved Burry off of the Captain's chair so that he (Grandpa) could sit down and pose for pictures. It became as amusing as it was aggravating, and no one said a thing, apart from me, who loudly said, after seeing him shove Burry off his chair, "What a dick!" very clearly and very loudly and very much ignored by Grandpa.)

We were out for about an hour and headed back to the docks. On the way off the boat, we were reminded that tips were not expected, but greatly appreciated. "Grandpa" and family tipped… zero. I threw in a twenty and the other people in the back of the boat helped to at least line the bottom of the crews' tip jar. As we walked up the dock, I saw "Grandma," uncomfortably perched on a docked and unattended jet ski, with Grandpa snapping pictures. That earned them one last eye roll on my part.

Back on the island, we checked out the BBQ buffet. I had a hamburger (typically awful, although, to be honest, it was the best one I'd had over the weekend, because it was slightly under overcooked, so it had a modicum of flavour left in it,) and piece of jerk chicken (not great, but also edible.) Kay had a dessert and after amusing ourselves watching the 3,000 seagulls attack unwary passengers and their unattended plates, we headed down to the beach. As neither of us is a huge fan of the sun, we headed back to the ship, after a brief visit to the few shops.

My main complaint with tendered ports is that, when you decide to get off the ship, or go back to it, you're hostage to what the tender is doing. If the ship is docked, you just go to the gang plank and you're either on or off. In the case of GSC, you go to the tender and sit there, and if you sit too long (like twenty minutes,) you start resenting the time you could be doing something else. In our case, we sat about fifteen minutes before heading out to sea. Once again, a pretty choppy ride, but mercifully short.

Once back aboard, Kay headed for the library, while I went up to the sports bar to see whether we had Sunday soccer. And, we did not, it was back to the golf tournament. I went to the bar outside of the Great Outdoors Cafe and, spying a menu, I looked it over and ordered a "Cruising Mojito," listed as a "Cuban Libation." The fellow who made it, Victor, from Brazil, seemed like a nice fellow, and I told him I was going to grab a snack and would be back for my drink. The snack turned out to be another chili dog, and I collected my drink from the bar and sat down at a table, having acquired a vague sense over the past couple of days that food wasn't welcome at the bar (and, it is not — I saw a couple of people get yelled at for having food at the bar today.)

Chili dog downed, I returned to the bar and quickly realized that I had found my "Vacation Hero" in this fellow from Brazil. He not only paid attention to me and offered a new drink when the previous one had disappeared, but he had an established repertoire with a number of people, whom he greeted by name and/or knew their favourite drinks and asked if they wanted one when they appeared at his bar.

That's what I appreciate in a bartender.

I asked Victor over, snapped a picture of his name badge, and worked my way down to the Guest Relations desk on Deck 5. I requested the card and, a few minutes later, had my "Vacation Hero" on file.

If you don't do that, please do. It's both a source of pride for crew, and part of what gets factored into their evaluations — if someone stands out as a great crew member during your trip, please take five minutes, go to Guest Services, and fill out a card.

So, about then it was time for dinner, so I hunted up Kay and we went to the Seven Seas Dining Room. Another good, if not great, dinner (I got the Sliders appetizer, of course, and went for the stand-by Beef Lasagna entree, which is my go to when nothing on the menu appeals.)

And then… bingo. My arch nemesis. I've only won playing bingo once in my life. Seriously. Probably played 500 times, only won once, and it was a church "Bonus round" that netted me a dusty "Animated Easter Bunny" that probably sat in someone's attic for 20 years before it was donated to said church. I've kept it, over the years, because it's the only time I ever won anything.

So, needless to say, no high hopes.

Bingo, on NCL, is not cheap. We picked up my free "Instant Win Pull Tab," a result of the previous night's Deal or No Deal, and looked over the various bingo packages. They ranged from "Cheap and worthless" to "I'm not sure my cabin cost that much!" I opted for a $50 package that included six cards for each of the three games, along with some raffle tickets and a couple Instant Win strips.

First game, I handed the six cards off to Kay. Didn't win.

Second game, I played. Didn't win.

Between second and third game, they were selling a special "3 games for third game, plus more raffle tickets and more Instant Wins" for $20. I bit.

Bottom line, someone else won the third game, and a woman two places behind me in line, buying more raffle tickets, had one of those late additions win the free cruise for two, while I picked up a grand total of $2 in my seven Instant Wins. Typical.

Following bingo, I went up to the casino, cashed in my sizable $2 winnings, wandered over to the slot machines, slid in my voucher and proceeded to lose it all (save $1.11) in about 30 minutes. Typical.

(Aside here… there is a drink on other NCL cruises, called "Mr Worldwide", but apparently it's not generally available on the Sun — it's not on any drink menu. On my second day, I happened to ask for it in the casino bar, and the bartender said "Oh, Mr Worldwide, let's ask Filip" and one of the other bartenders (from Serbia, I think) knew how to make it and did, a couple of times that night and the following night. I suppose that Filip should have been a Vacation Hero for knowing how to make a drink that no one else did, but I didn't turn in a card, sorry.)

Once my money was gone, I rode up to 12, stopped in at the Karaoke going on at the Spinnaker Lounge, and after a couple of vocalists made an attempt, I headed back to the cabin, where Kay was already asleep. Didn't take much for me to join her in slumber.

Trip Report: Monday, 14 May 2018, Port Canaveral

I woke up about 7AM, quickly got ready and packed my suitcase. Kay had mostly packed the night before, so when I woke her up at 7:30, she was fairly well ready. The cabin steward knocked on the door and asked how long until we were out, which I thought was a little rude, but I said 15-20 minutes and we were, indeed, on our way off the ship by then. I left him a $10 tip, not because I thought he really deserved it, but I feel like a crumb when I don't tip.

Getting off the ship took no time at all — there was a short line at the elevators and we all fit in the first one that was going down to Deck 6. They had doors open both fore and aft (unlike most previous ships, which just had one exit) and we were into Customs before we knew it, and out of Customs in record time (basically, the guy looked at our passports and said "Welcome back.") Twenty minutes after exiting the cabin, we were back on SR 528, heading for I-95 and home. We were, in fact, home by about 9AM, just in time for me to get to work.

Another successful holiday, in the books! Talking with her later, Kay said that she'd like to take another cruise, but would prefer a longer one and she couldn't do more than one a year. Which, for a 27 year old, should be expected!

Thank you for all of the info and the dailies - exactly what I was looking for! We will be on the Sun at the end of the month. Can't wait!

Thank you for the review and for posting the Dailies! They look amazing - I can hardly wait.

Thank you for your review. Very thorough and balanced.

This cruise sounds...boring. I’ve only been on RC Oasis Class ships so I’m spoiled and I knew taking this cruise would be a “step down” but the whole thing just sounds uneventful. And the food...hamburgers and meatball subs in the MDR? Is low quality food like that typical for NCL?

My plan was to stay on the ship in Nassau as I have no desire to see that port again but it sounds like there’s nothing to do on this ship.

Question - what was the demographic of the folks on the cruise? Senior citizens, young or a mix of everything?

I’ve yet to make final payment and my TA has the reservation on hold. I’m reconsidering this one. Really it’s only appeal is it’s $300pp and has free booze.

Thanks again!

And the food...hamburgers and meatball subs in the MDR? Is low quality food like that typical for NCL?

No, it isn't. That was on the lunch menu on embarkation day, and there were other options (my daughter had salmon,) I just don't really lean towards fancy stuff. Hence, the later fascination with chili dogs :)

My plan was to stay on the ship in Nassau as I have no desire to see that port again but it sounds like there’s nothing to do on this ship.

Question - what was the demographic of the folks on the cruise? Senior citizens, young or a mix of everything?

Thanks so much for your review - which was much more entertaining than it sounds like the ship was! I'm on it in June, and like CruisingNole, have no plans to get off the ship in Nassau. I am looking forward to GSC because I took the plunge and rented a small cabana...hopefully the weather cooperates. Like you, taking my 27 year old (artist) daughter! And her bf..but those kids like to party.

All I can say is, thank goodness for the open bar!! :)

No, it isn't. That was on the lunch menu on embarkation day, and there were other options (my daughter had salmon,) I just don't really lean towards fancy stuff. Hence, the later fascination with chili dogs :)

 

I don't know that I would say that there is nothing to do on the ship (check the dailies for onboard activities on those port days, and there's always "hanging out by the pool",) but it is a smaller ship, and the activities and resources reflect that (there is, for example, a pool, but no water slides; plenty of hot tubs, but no rock climbing wall; etc.)

 

I would say that it skewed towards younger people. Atypical of previous NCL cruises I've been on, there were very few non-Americans and very few seniors. Based on the answers given during the games I attended and a few that I talked to on the excursions, most people were from Florida.

Thanks so much for all the info! Were the pools and hot tubs overcrowded or was it comfortable? Any issues with finding deck chairs?

We're very much "beach people" so I was looking forward to GSC, will be a bummer if tender doesn't work out.

We're a younger couple (30s) from Florida and no offense to the seniors out there, but I was hoping for folks closer to my age on the ship. So I'm glad to hear it skews younger. I kind of figured it would as it's a short weekend cruise.

Thanks again!

Were the pools and hot tubs overcrowded or was it comfortable? Any issues with finding deck chairs?

No, the pool deck was never crowded that I saw, but, it was rainy on Saturday and Sunday, which probably factored in. The hot tubs are covered, pool is not, and it never rained all that hard, but, aside from passing through to get from one end of the ship to the other, I didn't spend any time out there. There are two decks of chairs around the pool, along with a separate deck on 12 forward.

We're very much "beach people" so I was looking forward to GSC, will be a bummer if tender doesn't work out.

Can you drop your luggage in the parking lot across from the terminal and then park? Just looks confusing on google earth to drop luggage and then drive back to the parking area.

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Can you drop your luggage in the parking lot across from the terminal and then park? Just looks confusing on google earth to drop luggage and then drive back to the parking area.

Yep. When you get to the garage entrance (which is gated) you have the option to continue left past the garage, go that way, it loops around and you are directed to pull into a diagonal parking space. Unload your bags, hand them off to a luggage guy, then drive back to where you went left, turn left and you're into the garage.

And, again, be advised that if you park in the garage, you're going to walk about 1/2 a mile to the entrance. If the parking lot to the east isn't full (and you don't care about parking under cover,) I would park there.

Do they have a luggage drop off area inside the open parking area?

We always use Park Port Canaveral when sailing out of PC. Significantly cheaper than on-site.

Do they have a luggage drop off area inside the open parking area?

No, it's across the street. If you didn't mind schlepping them yourself and get a good spot in the lot, it wouldn't be too bad. Only thing is that you don't know if you'll get a good spot until you're already in there, so I'd probably always drop them off and then go park.

We always use Park Port Canaveral when sailing out of PC. Significantly cheaper than on-site.

In October 2016, we used them, when going out on the NCL Epic. We were there about 10:30AM, parked (well, dropped the car off) and were shoed into a fairly long line to get on the shuttle. In that line, we waited and waited and waited. When we asked what was going on, after an hour of barely moving, they said that there was an accident at the port and traffic was backed up. A while later, we asked someone else, they claimed that they were short drivers. By 1:30, it was pretty clear that these guys weren't going to get us on the ship on time, so, along with two other passengers, we left, ordered an Uber and were at the port within about twenty minutes. I later ran into some people who were next to us in line and they said they didn't get to the ship until 2:30pm (for a 4pm sail away -- apparently NCL was informed of the problem and waived the two hour window.)

I will never subject myself to that again. For a seven day cruise or less, I'll pay to park at the terminal, anything longer, I will get two one way car rentals to get us to and from the port and Daytona.

In October 2016, we used them, when going out on the NCL Epic. We were there about 10:30AM, parked (well, dropped the car off) and were shoed into a fairly long line to get on the shuttle. In that line, we waited and waited and waited. When we asked what was going on, after an hour of barely moving, they said that there was an accident at the port and traffic was backed up. A while later, we asked someone else, they claimed that they were short drivers. By 1:30, it was pretty clear that these guys weren't going to get us on the ship on time, so, along with two other passengers, we left, ordered an Uber and were at the port within about twenty minutes. I later ran into some people who were next to us in line and they said they didn't get to the ship until 2:30pm (for a 4pm sail away -- apparently NCL was informed of the problem and waived the two hour window.)

 

I will never subject myself to that again. For a seven day cruise or less, I'll pay to park at the terminal, anything longer, I will get two one way car rentals to get us to and from the port and Daytona.

I'm with you 100%. Parking offsite saves $7/day or so but it's not worth it. Parking at PC is such a breeze. I was there in December on Oasis and after I stepped off the ship I was back home in Orlando in less than an hour. The last thing I want to do when I step off a cruise ship is wait for a shuttle.

I'm with you 100%. Parking offsite saves $7/day or so but it's not worth it. Parking at PC is such a breeze. I was there in December on Oasis and after I stepped off the ship I was back home in Orlando in less than an hour. The last thing I want to do when I step off a cruise ship is wait for a shuttle.

A lot depends on which end of the port you are using. Having been on both Oasis (RC-east end) and Epic (NCL-west end) I can assure you the east end is w-a-a-y better re traffic, parking, overall access, speed with which they get you on-board etc. I live locally; know people who work at the port who absolutely refuse to deal with the issues at the west end!

A lot depends on which end of the port you are using. Having been on both Oasis (RC-east end) and Epic (NCL-west end) I can assure you the east end is w-a-a-y better re traffic, parking, overall access, speed with which they get you on-board etc. I live locally; know people who work at the port who absolutely refuse to deal with the issues at the west end!

I priced it out and using Park Port Canaveral will actually save me even less than I thought. They want $46.59 and to park directly at PC it is $68. So only $20ish cheaper. I'm not familiar with the west end, even though the savings is only $20 or so would you still suggest off-site parking based on your past experiences?