Norwegian Sun 15/7/12 Baltics Review - Pictures and Food and Dailies!

I am 16 and I have just got back after a nine nights Baltic Cruise with my Dad. I chose this as a fun break after finishing my exams, after having such a good time on the Gem in 2009.

I want to write this review to show people what it was like and help others planning to go on the Sun, because there isn't that much information about it on these forums (trust me, I looked!). Also it is a way to reminisce about the holiday :D .

Since you can only attach 6 (I think) pictures a post, this could end up being quite long... enjoy :) .

Friday 13th July - Flight check in

We were flying EasyJet from London Gatwick to Copenhagen at 7am the next day, to give us a day to spend looking around Copenhagen. You have to understand that EasyJet check in at Gatwick is basically a choice of two long lines which passengers from all flights go in. For this reason, we came the night before to drop off our bags, hoping to avoid the queues...

When we got the car parking ticket, we noticed the charges: £1.50 for up to 15 minutes, but almost double the cost, at £2.80 for 15 - 30 minutes... let the challenge begin :D ! From the car we got a bit turned around as the terminal has been redesigned, but as we turned the corner towards check in, there was nobody - and I mean nobody - there. Only two people behind the desks, no passengers whatsoever.

So we are five minutes into time, the bags get checked in quickly and we are paying for the ticket after only 12 minutes ;) .

Not long now until the holiday begins...

I'm excited to read the rest of your review. We'll be on the Sun for Christmas.

More please (-:

I'm doing an Alaska cruise on the Sun next May. I'm looking forward to hearing about the ship and seeing pictures.

Saturday 14th July - Copenhagen (Pre-cruise)

So we headed back to the airport, (luckily we only live 20 minutes away), and stopped by at EasyJet check in on the way to security. This is what it looked like at 5:50am :

So we had made the right choice :-) .

The new security at Gatwick (south terminal) was really nice and was super quick, about two minutes, if that. Our flight was gate 32, a long walk, that's what you get from a budget airline ;-) . EasyJet don't do reserve seating, it's just a mad scramble, first come first served. For some reason, people were avoiding the emergency exit rows, so we made a beeline for them and enjoyed the extra legroom during the flight. The flight to Copenhagen took about 1 1/2 hours, so we were there at 10:45am local time, which is one hour ahead of London.

We were booked in the Hilton airport hotel, but we used Hilton reward points for the room so we got it for free. I think the room was about 38,000 points for two for the night. Getting to the hotel was quick, but the room wasn't ready, and the receptionist made a point of showing how many cards were on the pile of unready rooms. We left the cases with the hotel concierge and also bought a 24 hour Copenhagen public transport ticket.

Since we wanted to use the ticket to get the train to the ship tomorrow, we waited until 12:30pm to stamp it, which is when it was valid from. While waiting, we got a drink at Burger King and used the free airport wifi :-D .

The train to the city centre took about twenty minutes and was perfectly on time, unlike in the UK. The first thing we did was look for some free to rent bikes (they actually cost 20 DKK, but you get it back when you return it). We found a pair of them by Tivoli.

From here we cycled through the city to see the Little Mermaid statue. Bikes have right of way so even on busy roads we didn't feel in danger from cars. The statue is really small, but basically one of the only things to see or do in Copenhagen, so it was crossed off the list. Next we cycled back to Nyhavn, a small canal with fishing boats.

Here we took a boat trip on one of the tourist boats.

The tour took about an hour and we saw various sight including the Little Mermaid again, the Opera House and some canals. It was worth it and didn't cost too much, although I can't remember the exact price. After that trip we took the metro and train back to Tivoli. Tivoli is expensive, it cost us £40 to get two entrance tickets and an unlimited ride wristband for myself. But it is worth it because you can spend a long time there, also the queues for the rides are small compared to other theme parks like Alton Towers and Six Flags.

We spent a fair few hours here and had dinner in the park at Wagamama. For those who don't know, it is an asian restaurant for noodles etc. We were surprised by the prices - the main I had costs £7 ($10) in the UK but cost £11.50 ($17) in Copenhagen! The best part of the meal was when the waitress asked if we had any vouchers or discount codes. Dad said something along the lines of 'No, but I'm so handsome ;-D ', and she gave us 20% off the bill, just for that :-D .

We stayed in the park until about 9:30pm to see the lights come on. After that we hopped on the train and were back at the hotel for 10pm. We received our room card and only when it came to pressing the button in the lift (elevator ;-) ) was it that we realised we were going to have a nice room - the button said 'Executive Floor' above it :-D . Now we definitely didn't book this!

The room was really good, and looked practically brand new. it had a great view of the airport and road so I shot some time lapse photos.

Then we settled down for the night and looked ahead to the next day...

Great so far! MORE!

Enjoying your review! Looking forward to reading more!:)

I am enjoying your review. Thank you.

Sunday 15th July - Embarkation

The day was finally here :D . At the Hotel thanks to our room we got a complimentary continental buffet breakfast on the top floor with great views of the airport. It was quiet when we got there at about 9am, but quickly filled up. Some of the people there we even recognised later on in the cruise.

Afterwards we walked around the airport to find out where EasyJet check in was to make our return trip easier. We then retrieved our bags and made our way to the station to catch the rain. We got on the 11:14 train which we took about five or six stops to a station called Osterport. From Osterport we got on the S-Tog one station further down the line to Nordhavn, the cruise port station. From the station we got our first glimpse of the ship :eek: . (no picture, sorry).

From the station it is a simple 10 minute walk following a painted blue line on the pavement (sidewalk). The whole trip from the airport to port took 50 minutes. Our bags were quickly taken from us at the port and we were ushered into a big tent which acts as the check in and security area. It only took about 20 minutes to get through. For the photo they take on a green screen, Dad wore a green shirt, sadly it didn't have the desired effect when we looked at the outcome later ;) .

So before we knew it we were standing in the atrium.

Not the best picture, but there are 4 panoramic lifts that you can see out of. On the sides are different things on each deck. Deck 5 is the lowest deck with the atrium and has the Java cafe and Guest Services. Deck 6 has the Internet Cafe and Deck 7 was where companies try to sell their goods. Outside the Java Cafe was a table where you can buy drinks options, so we queued and bout the soda package for me, which was about $40. They give you a mug and a sticker on your card. Normally the mug was enough to get the free drink, only twice during the entire cruise did I get asked to show the sticker when I presented the mug.

I got a diet pepsi from the adjacent Java cafe, and I was amazed when they poured it from a Pepsi bottle and not from the tap. The only time that happened though, surprise surprise ;) . By now it was about 12:30 pm, and no sooner had be bought the soda package was the announcement that the cabins were ready...

Enjoying your review. Looking forward to more :)

Thanks so much for your review! We'll be on the Sun in December, so looking forward to everything you have to say.

You are off to a great start with lots of good information and great photos.

Stateroom

The room we had was 0007, on Deck 10 by the forward stairs. Above us was the fitness centre, but we didn't get any noise apart from one afternoon when they were moving the machines around. It is a balcony cabin and we knew what to expect from the one we had on the Gem. So...

I had a squeaky bed (luckily I was using earplugs :) ).

The bathroom looks small but when being used it was large enough, especially the shower which looks really small but was fine for everyday use.

This shows how little room there was between the end of the bed and the sideboard, and every time you came into the room you had to squeeze past it. That was our only real criticism of the room.

The safe was large enough to fit everything we needed into it.

Overall we were happy with the room, it was quiet and a decent size. We used the sofa to put our cases on which saved us having to put them under the bed. We also got the mini fridge emptied so we could put our own provisions in there.

Can't wait to learn more about our ship the Sun that we sail on in January! Thanks for sharing all the great facts and pictures. Keep 'em coming!

Were there any outstanding staff members??

This review is great. Can't wait to see more pictures of the Sun. We are sailing the Sun on 10/24/12.

Were there any outstanding staff members??

A few, our cabin stewardess was great and always greeted us when she saw us. Also, the waitress in the Sushi bar knew us by name and always greeted us too, even when in the Garden Cafe in the mornings.

Sunday 15th July - Lunch and Sailaway

After we had checked out the room and deposited our bags, we headed down to Four Seasons MDR for lunch.

The Sun has two MDRs, Four Seasons and Seven Seas. Seven Seas is on Deck 5 aft and we found it to be the more formal of the two, and we ate there most nights. Four Seasons is smaller, on deck 5 mid and has windows on either side. We already knew Four Seasons was open for embarkation lunch, but were surprised that the staff manning the lifts (elevators) were promoting the fact, unlike on the Gem. This meant that Four Seasons was packed, unlike Grand Pacific on the Gem which had about 10 people in it on embarkation day!

I had calamari for starter and grilled chicken salad for main. Both were very good and I would have gladly eaten more! Dad had chicken noodle soup and a wild mushroom omelette; he thought the soup was good but the omelette was average.

Calamari

Grilled Chicken Sandwich

After the meal we looked around the boat. First stop was the observation lounge on deck 12. This was one of the places I spent most time on the boat, because it was the nearest bar to our room, and offered great views. Another good feature was that it had a balcony right out front which was always quiet, except during sailaways. I don't remember the Gem having this feature (although I could be wrong). The only problem with the lounge was the layout of the seating - the seats were in long rows, so you had to squeeze past people to get a seat in the middle - especially for the front row, because you had to lean over thanks to the sloping windows.

Observation Lounge Balcony (I may refer to this as 'observation deck' sometimes)

We then walked along deck 12 towards the Great Outdoors. On the way we saw the BBQ being served up. They did this a few times, but I think it was only on the sea days after this.

We remembered the Great Outdoors from the Gem and it was another one of the places I spent the most time (partly because of the food ;-) ). It is a good place to sit on sea days because you don't get the harsh wind you get from the front of the boat. We found it to be quite busy here at breakfasts, but not as busy as the Garden Cafe. But watch out for seagulls!

After this our cruise director Richard Matic introduced himself over the ship's comm to announce the sailaway. I quickly headed up to observation and watched us sail away at 4:55pm.

The view from the observation balcony, inside Copenhagen harbour

View from deck 12 aft, looking through the Great Outdoors

And this day's still not over! Stay tuned for more...

Saturday 15th July - Evening

We headed to Seven Seas for dinner at 7:30pm. We had looked at the menus and chose here because lobster was on the menu!

I had a starter of caesar salad, a main of lobster and red snapper and cheesecake with strawberry for dessert. The starter was as expected. The lobster was great but for me the red snapper had too much pepper on it, which was a disappointment. The cheesecake was average, but the sauce was good.

Dad had mushroom soup, fillet of beef and lemon sorbet. They were all good choices and the sorbet became a favourite of his during the cruise.

Caesar salad

Lobster and red snapper

Cheesecake

After the meal we watched the welcome aboard show in the stardust theatre.

The show gave you snippets of different acts that would be shown in full-length shows during the cruise. The pick of the lot was Cripton's magic, and we went to the full-length show later in the cruise. After the acts are done Richard (cruise director) introduced the senior staff and the show ended. Verdict? Worth it since you can then decide which full-length shows to watch and which to avoid.

I then had a walk around the ship.

The atrium from deck 10 in the panoramic lift (elevator). Bad picture, I know!

The funnel lit up at dusk.

I forgot to mention the itinerary of the cruise. It is as follows:

9 night Baltics cruise

15/7 - Copenhagen, Denmark

16/7 - Warnemunde, Germany

17/7 - Day at sea

18/7 - Tallinn, Estonia

19/7 - St. Petersburg, Russia

20/7 - St. Petersburg, Russia

21/7 - Helsinki, Finland

22/7 - Stockholm, Sweden

23/7 - Day at sea

24/7 - Copenhagen, Denmark

And thanks for all the comments so far :) . Feel free to ask any questions if you have some :D .

Wonderful! Did the same trip on the Sun last summer. She is a great ship.

Great shots of the ship!! I was on her for her crossing home to Port Canaveral back in 2010. Lots of fun! Thanks for sharing your review. You are doing a great job! :D

Keep it coming, love the review! So excited to see the pics - we're on the Sun in 80 days!

Thanks for the wonderful review. I can't wait to read the rest!:D

This is one of my Bucket List itineraries. Can't wait to see more :)