NCL Insiders - any rumors about the Sun's drydock in April?

I know she had a brief "refreshing" as part of the Norwegian Edge upgrades last year, but now she's up for a 2 and a half week dry dock in April before starting the Cuba itinerary. I was just wondering if anyone had heard more about what's planned - the official press release was pretty vague.

I know she had a brief "refreshing" as part of the Norwegian Edge upgrades last year, but now she's up for a 2 and a half week dry dock in April before starting the Cuba itinerary. I was just wondering if anyone had heard more about what's planned - the official press release was pretty vague.[

 

They are going to finish The Edge Enhancements in Victoria, British Columbia before doing a Panama Canal cruise from Seattle, Washington to Port Canaveral in late March, early April 2018.

Ah, but what are these mysterious "Edge Enhancements" - inquiring minds want to know!

I've sailed on her 3 times, and she's one of my favorite ships - there are things I would hate to see changed.

That being said, I've also sailed the Epic and the Getaway and would love to see some things like the Sugarcane Mojito bar find a home (I know the Sky uses the Sugarcane drink menu, but I don't think they've renamed a bar location with that). I'd love a real O'Sheehan's instead of the Sports Bar, but I don't know if they have enough space for that.

That's not much time to do anything.

I liked the Sun, but hopefully they find a better use for that weird las ramblas place and add on to o Sheehan’s.

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I liked the Sun, but hopefully they find a better use for that weird las ramblas place and add on to o Sheehan’s.

 

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Sun does not have O'Sheehan's yet, is that correct?

Sun does not have O'Sheehan's yet, is that correct?

They have a place like o Sheehan’s, but only serve food in evening and not 24 hours. I imagine if Sun is going to be a new booze cruise ship they’ll need to remedy that with a 24 hour food location.

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I liked the Sun, but hopefully they find a better use for that weird las ramblas place and add on to o Sheehan’s.

 

 

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Since there is no O'Sheehan's on the Sun I don't know how they'd add to it. Maybe you mean they should change the Sports Bar to O'Sheehans's?

Sun does not have O'Sheehan's yet, is that correct?

That is correct.

The Sports Bar deck 11 port side aft next to the Great Outdoors Buffet suffices as a sort of O'Sheehan's.

O'Sheehan's is fully open on the ships that have it 24/7 - NCL SUN Sports Bar is not.

The NCL SUN is a smaller ship than the STAR - DAWN and does not have a lot of room to work with here.

The Las Ramblas could be used but does not have much more space than the Sports Bar.

If anything I would like to see Las Ramblas replaced with a Los Lobos concept - NCL DAWN.

Having all but one of the Specialty restaurants in one location presents scenes of a crowded situation.

Cagney's Ginza Teppanyaki and Le Bistro are all aft on deck 12 next to Las Ramblas - only la Cucina is

located on deck 5 starboard - the MDRs are also on 5.

The NCL SUN was set up for a different time frame of cruising and conversion to the -AWAY class floating

amusement park features is just not going to happen and I hope it remains so. While the SUN has its quirks

getting from one end of the ship to the other and between decks any dry dock conversions are going to be

minimal. The ships recent deployment in the Cuba cruise market supplementing the NCL SKY is probably

going to stay that way with seasonal cruises to South America. Alaska cruises for 2018 will be with the BLISS

and PEARL - maybe with the SUN doing the final repositioning cruises of the season while the larger ships

move to more lucrative markets.

You guys are reading too far into my post. I hope they find a way to add on to the sports bar, AKA O Sheehan’s on nearly every other boat.

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That is correct.

The Sports Bar deck 11 port side aft next to the Great Outdoors Buffet suffices as a sort of O'Sheehan's.

O'Sheehan's is fully open on the ships that have it 24/7 - NCL SUN Sports Bar is not.

The NCL SUN is a smaller ship than the STAR - DAWN and does not have a lot of room to work with here.

The Las Ramblas could be used but does not have much more space than the Sports Bar.

If anything I would like to see Las Ramblas replaced with a Los Lobos concept - NCL DAWN.

Having all but one of the Specialty restaurants in one location presents scenes of a crowded situation.

Cagney's Ginza Teppanyaki and Le Bistro are all aft on deck 12 next to Las Ramblas - only la Cucina is

located on deck 5 starboard - the MDRs are also on 5.

The NCL SUN was set up for a different time frame of cruising and conversion to the -AWAY class floating

amusement park features is just not going to happen and I hope it remains so. While the SUN has its quirks

getting from one end of the ship to the other and between decks any dry dock conversions are going to be

minimal. The ships recent deployment in the Cuba cruise market supplementing the NCL SKY is probably

going to stay that way with seasonal cruises to South America. Alaska cruises for 2018 will be with the BLISS

and PEARL - maybe with the SUN doing the final repositioning cruises of the season while the larger ships

move to more lucrative markets.

That's exactly what I DON'T want to see. Take a great complimentary dining space and turn it into another fee place. The buffet on the Sun is already fairly small, even with the inclusion of the Great Outdoors section.

I'm not looking for her to turn into an -Away class ship - I like her just fine as is. I have no idea what can be done in a two and a half week dry dock - I've been pretty surprised with what they can get done in a few days or weeks on other ships. This is why I'm asking - I know there are folks who cruise all the time and make it a point to meet officers and other staff in the know - I was hoping someone had heard something more specific than "Edge Enhancements."

I was hoping someone had heard something more specific than "Edge Enhancements."

When we were on the Sun October no one seemed to know about the dry dock changes. The staterooms all need to be updated as they were not touched in 2016.

I agree that an O’Sheehan’s style venue that serves breakfast and lunch is sorely needed. The sports bar could be extended into Moderno if they moved the game room. The Tapas space is not really used. It is a good good location - hopefully they will convert it into a nice bar space like the Sky has.

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I'm not seeing any sailings on NCL.COM for the SUN 16 to 27 Nov 2018.

Maybe the 2nd refurbishment of 2018 to prep the SUN before she heads back to Miami and returns to her South America sailings.

Ah, but what are these mysterious "Edge Enhancements" - inquiring minds want to know!

If you google "norwegian edge", you will get to the NCL page regarding the "edge enhancements". It was basically a plan to refurbish the entire fleet. The Sun was done in May 2016, as noted on the page, as merely refreshment throughout the ship. Not sure if any further "enhancements" are planned.

As noted, the Sun (and her sister, the Sky) are different from most NCL ships, as these were not originally built for "Freestyle" cruising. They were built for Costa cruises, but the shipyard went bankrupt midway through construction, and the ship sat for a couple of years semi-completed. So, NCL has been trying over the years to determine the best way to incorporate Freestyle onto these ships, sometimes with good results, sometimes not. The Sun currently has more space for dining venues and bars than the Sky, particularly up on deck 12, though the Sky still has the Outrigger lounge forward on 11 (I believe). They could "repurpose" some of the dining venues, but structurally, there isn't much more they can do with the ships, short of a full out tear off of a couple of decks and rebuilding. The galley on 12 on the Sky was always hard pressed to meet the needs of Bistro/Cagney's, so the galley on 11, that handles the buffet does all the rest of the specialties (except la Cucina), so while this grouping may present crowding in front of house, it makes sense from back of house. I think the best they could do would be to "double up" on some spaces, like making Moderno part of an O'Sheehan's for breakfast and lunch. This does, however, start to present problems with crewing levels to man the expanded number of galleys serving breakfast and lunch, and these ships have pretty crowded crew quarters.

I would expect the drydock to be mostly technical, with some usual repairs to cabins and public spaces, and just some cosmetic changes to any dining venues, not real structural changes.

As to what can be done in a couple of weeks, when the Sky changed to the Pride of Aloha, we did the entire change of decor (carpets, upholstery, drapes, art work, etc.), and a full tear out and revamping of the casino in a 3 week shipyard period.

If you google "norwegian edge", you will get to the NCL page regarding the "edge enhancements". It was basically a plan to refurbish the entire fleet. The Sun was done in May 2016, as noted on the page, as merely refreshment throughout the ship. Not sure if any further "enhancements" are planned.

Haha, I've tried that! She is scheduled for another dry dock in April of 2018 - that's the one I'm trying to find out about. They pulled her from a summer in Alaska and moved her to 3/4 day Bahama/Cuba itinerary like the Sky.

As noted, the Sun (and her sister, the Sky) are different from most NCL ships, as these were not originally built for "Freestyle" cruising. They were built for Costa cruises, but the shipyard went bankrupt midway through construction, and the ship sat for a couple of years semi-completed. So, NCL has been trying over the years to determine the best way to incorporate Freestyle onto these ships, sometimes with good results, sometimes not. The Sun currently has more space for dining venues and bars than the Sky, particularly up on deck 12, though the Sky still has the Outrigger lounge forward on 11 (I believe). They could "repurpose" some of the dining venues, but structurally, there isn't much more they can do with the ships, short of a full out tear off of a couple of decks and rebuilding. The galley on 12 on the Sky was always hard pressed to meet the needs of Bistro/Cagney's, so the galley on 11, that handles the buffet does all the rest of the specialties (except la Cucina), so while this grouping may present crowding in front of house, it makes sense from back of house. I think the best they could do would be to "double up" on some spaces, like making Moderno part of an O'Sheehan's for breakfast and lunch. This does, however, start to present problems with crewing levels to man the expanded number of galleys serving breakfast and lunch, and these ships have pretty crowded crew quarters.

I've sailed on both ships, the Sun 3 times, and the Sky once. Although they are similar, I far prefer the Sun. I wondered if kitchen space and location had anything to do with which restaurants were offered. Last I checked, the Sun still had an older menu being served in the main dining rooms, compared to the one currently offered on the Getaway and the Epic.

I would expect the drydock to be mostly technical, with some usual repairs to cabins and public spaces, and just some cosmetic changes to any dining venues, not real structural changes.

I know the Sun was having some...aroma issues...hopefully whatever they are planning will help remedy that! :D

As to what can be done in a couple of weeks, when the Sky changed to the Pride of Aloha, we did the entire change of decor (carpets, upholstery, drapes, art work, etc.), and a full tear out and revamping of the casino in a 3 week shipyard period.

Wow! Two and a half weeks seems to be a longer dry dock then ones I've seen recently - I know the Dawn had a really long one, and they totally changed a lot on that ship. That's why I'm so curious. I just really love the Sun as is, and I hope that if there are any changes other than cosmetic, that they don't change anything really great about that ship.

Thanks for your info!