NCL Sun – 9-day Baltic Cruise – Aug. 24 – Sep. 2, 2011 - Review and Pictorial

A little background – My wife and I could be considered experienced cruisers, with 20 priors and the last 12 of them on NCL. (OK…so we are NCL groupies) Therefore, I’ll admit this may be seen as a somewhat biased review, but definitely honest. This was our first time on the Sun and we were very much looking forward to the experience. Although we love the Jewel-class ships, our fondness for the Spirit made us hope the Sun would have that same feeling.

It did.

I will provide a summary of our trip, and then a day-by-day pictorial, with more details.

Summary

Pre-cruise- We always arrive at least a day before embarkation for safety reasons and try to see as much of the port city as possible. We stayed at the Hotel Neptun (Sankt Annae Plads 18-20 , Copenhagen, DK, K 1250 Phone: (45) 33 96 20 00), which is conveniently located about a block from the Nyhavn. 4-star Hotel with great accommodations, breakfast included.

Transportation- Copenhagen is a delightfully manageable city that is pedestrian and bicycle friendly. It would be easy to tour using a walking map and public transit. A physical problem stopped us from our usual walking, so we took cabs whenever we needed to go far. Figure about $60 for taxi from airport to center city and about $50 from city to cruise terminal. Remember CPH taxi fares include VAT and the tip. Use Danish Kroner for all your expenses in CPH. English is welcomed and never had a language problem.

Embarkation- We boarded early and stress-free. Porters unload and process your luggage at the curb. At Noon, there were no lines and we were carded and on the ship in 10 minutes.

Cabin- We had our first Aft-facing balcony; up until now, we have favored normal minisuites. We decided long ago that having coffee in the morning on our balcony is an indispensible part of any trip. Our cabin, 0267 on Deck 10 had a wonderfully wide layout that felt very comfortable, with oodles of storage. We met our cabin steward as soon as we boarded. We asked his working schedule and told him what ours usually is. We asked for a few special things and “advanced” a bit of the gratuity to show good faith :p . Thus, we had a sparkling room throughout the whole voyage, saw him every day in the hall, always with a smile and a concern that all was well for us. Top notch.

Dining- We have a very predictable routine for dining. We have Room Service for a wake-up breakfast every day, just coffee and juice. Since they always call before delivering, that’s our wake-up call. After the juice opens my eyes, I will then go up to the Garden Café and bring back my full breakfast and we eat on the balcony, weather permitting, or in the room. A nice way to start the day. Lunch is best at the Great Outdoors, with a table full of Caesar Salad and Pizza (health food). For dinner, we usually will try the Main Dining Room for a few nights, and Specialty restaurants for the majority of the cruise. The MDRs were just fine, easy seating in the early hour. The staff was great, engaging and very meticulous; the food was always good. We always tell the waiter when we first meet that we are shooting for the early show and service becomes quick and efficient. For Specialties, we ate at Le Bistro, Il Adagio, Teppanyaki, and Moderno. Booked in advance on board and always got the time slot we wanted. All the formers did not disappoint…and Moderno, a new experience, was fantastic. I suggest you hit it on the tail of a light lunch, because you won’t want to say no to anything. They also have a killer salad bar, with surprises that made for one of the best salads I ever assembled. Watch the Freestyle Daily for the hours that Las Ramblas serves Tapas, usually up until 9 or 10 p.m.; always bring a few plates back to the room for a late night snack. Blue Lagoon fans have the Sports Bar as a 5pm – 5am substitute… wings and artichoke dip all around.

Entertainment- We are not entertainment snobs and feel that any live entertainment is a good show. The house performers (4 boy and 4 girl dancers, 2 male and 2 female feature singers, for a total of 12 performers) worked hard and gave several very enjoyable shows. We did not see all of the specialty acts over the week, since this itinerary is very port intensive, but I enjoyed all that we attended. The Lounges were always full each night with singers and various performers, so, believe me, there is no shortage of quality entertainment on the Sun.

Excursions- We used SPB Tours for our excursions in Berlin, Tallinn, St. Petersburg and Helsinki. For Stockholm, we used the NCL tour. I will speak more of our SPB Tours experience in later Day-to-Day posts, but suffice it to say that…it is inconceivable that we could have had a better experience than the one we had with SPB; I highly recommend them. A day or so before Stockholm, we decided to change our NCL tour to a different NCL one and the Excursion desk was helpful and made the switch with no questions asked.

Disembarkation- A snap. We had an afternoon flight, so we relaxed and tried to be the last ones off the ship, at about 9:30-10am. A full line of waiting taxis were available and got us to the airport with time for lunch.

Ports-

Warnemuende- We chose to go to Berlin for a full-day tour. First off the ship and a 2.5 – 3 hour motor coach ride into Berlin. A full day of sightseeing and history, with a quick local lunch, made for a very satisfying first day. Pay with Euros for snacks, souvenirs and drinks. We finished around 6 pm and motored back to the ship in plenty of time for the 10 pm departure. Dinner was at the Pool Deck sailaway party.

Tallinn- A delightful medieval city that is easily done on your own. A short walk from the cruise terminal gets you into the Old Town. Local maps and a few printed walking tours off the web will do just fine. We had a half-day tour guide to show us around, and she helped us see some of the neat areas off the obvious path. Cobblestone streets everywhere, so wear good sneakers. A really neat city center and great shopping and food. Easy in, easy out…safe and friendly. Pay with Euros.

St. Petersburg- Blew us away. I gotta tell ya…all the books and pictures you see or videos that you watch will not do justice to the magnificence of this city. Two full days will let you see the highlights and the famous spots, but that just scratches the surface. Our tour guide from SPB was simply amazing and made sure we didn’t miss a thing. We also took a nighttime Fun Tour that sailed the canals of St. Petersburg while we turned bottles of vodka into empties. After that we took a long stroll along Nevsky Prospekt, the main promenade street of St. Petersburg and had a ball doing it. This was the highlight port of the trip and made it all worthwhile. Use only Rubles for food and shopping; ATMs everywhere. I pulled 1000 rubles for lunch for two (about $35), which got us pierogis, drinks, desserts and a big bowl of cold borscht for me. There’s a first time for everything.

Helsinki- We had a half-day motorcoach tour with many stops around the city. My wife is a librarian and we always seek out the main library; we found the National Library of Finland. The Rock Church, the Olympic Stadium and the many churches and historic buildings were nice to see. Finland has a different perspective and history than most of the other Baltic countries. Bring Euros.

Stockholm- The Vasa Museum is clearly the must-see of this port. We had an NCL tour that neatly took care of museum admission and also had several hours of motorcoach touring around the city. The ship anchored in Nynashamn and we tendered. Nynashamn is about an hour from Stockholm and easily reachable by local train. We chose the tour for just being lazy and not wanting to worry about connections. I understand that next year, the Sun will dock directly in Stockholm and have a scenic trip as the ship heads inland towards the city. If you are any kind of a photo buff and want to take pictures at the Vasa, bring a tripod or single-leg telescoping one. The lighting in there makes it impossible to get quality pictures without very slow shutter speeds. Everything here is dual priced in Swedish Krone and Euros, so here is the last stop to use up your stash of Euros.

There you have our summary.

This is a very port intensive itinerary with very little down time. If you are an attack-tourist like I am, you have be prepared for long days, one after the other. The day-at-sea after Berlin was a godsend; no matter how good you are, St. Petersburg should wear you out…and it’s worth every minute of it.

I will continue this thread with pictures and a bit of a commentary from each of the ports; I hope it will entertain and inform, especially for the folks who are anxiously awaiting their turn on the Sun in the Baltics.

(pssst…it’s worth waiting for.)

We will be on this trip next May! Thank you for your review. I'm looking forward to your photos!

I'm happy to hear we will be docking in Stockholm city next year! :)

Did you buy Euros in the US before leaving on your trip?

Did you buy Euros in the US before leaving on your trip?

We got a few thousand DKK and a couple of hundred Euros before we left, knowing that we would need the DKKs as soon as we arrived. The Euros were for convenience.

For the rest of the trip, it is good to know that a Capital One debit card with PIN worked flawlessly anywhere, for purchases or ATM pulls. Minimum ATM fees and no exchange charges.

Note... I had to re-do my pictorial posts, since the board only allows 6 linked pics per post; I wanted to do one post per trip day, but I'll have to break them up. Let me try to get at least one day up tonite.

Day Minus One

We flew in a day early, like we always do for cruises. No stress if there are airplane delays or cancellations. Arrived at CPH around 12:30 and took a cab to the hotel.

Copenhagen is a very pedestrian and bicycle friendly city.

We stayed at the Hotel Neptun, a Clarion property. Very well located about a block from the top of the Nyhavn.

The cab from the airport was about 300DKK, about $60. Remember that taxi fares in CPH include tax and tip. The Neptun is a clean and spacious 4-star hotel, with free wifi and a great free breakfast.

We checked in, freshened up and walked to the Nyhavn for the Canal boat tour; they leave very frequently up until 5pm….no wait at all. Walked up, bought tickets and got on the boat.

The tour was about an hour and 15 minutes and covered all the major highlights and landmarks of the city, narrated by a very friendly guide. For a short stay in Copenhagen, this is a must-do.

(continued...)

We had made reservations for a special dinner at Godt’s, which is a 2 block walk from the canal. A small place, only seats 20...It was one of the finest dinners we have ever had. Pricey for sure, but to a foodie, that’s secondary. Great couple run the place and made for a fun dinner.

After that, we grabbed a cab to Tivoli Gardens.

We walked the full grounds of the park, seeing the transition from dusk to dark, with all the lights coming on at night.

Strolling through the different areas with an ice cream cone on a warm night, music playing in the background... doesn't get better than that.

You could spend a wonderful evening there, with many different style restaurants to choose from.

After some souvenir shopping at Tivoli, it was back to the hotel by cab. To get some needed sleep after the red-eye into CPH and prepare for boarding the next day.

Day One

The next morning we had breakfast at the Hotel (included) and prepared for our departure. Here's a view of the breakfast area in the hotel's atrium.

We got a cab and asked the driver to take a bit of a winding route to the cruise terminal, so we could finish seeing the points we wanted to in CPH.

Since my wife is a Librarian, we always seek out the library in cities we visit. We had the cab stop at the Main Library of CPH to see the facility and snap some pictures.

Then, we had him take us right to the Little Mermaid for a photo shoot, then on to the pier.

Actually the extra stops and waiting time added very little to the expected cab fare from the hotel to the port.

Unloaded our luggage with no wait, got checked in with no line and were on the ship shortly after Noon.

Walked to our room to drop off our carry-ons and went to the Seven Seas main dining room for lunch. Early boarding seemed like a good plan, there were very few people onboard.

We spent the afternoon walking the ship to get accustomed to the layout and then returned to our room to unpack the luggage and "dig in."

We went topside for the sailaway party, a bit cloudy and chilly, but good music and some drinks as we left Copenhagen.

Back to our cabin for a quick change and off to dinner at Moderno Churrascaria, the new Brazilian restaurant (which replaced the old Pacific Heights on the Sun.)

This was definitely worth it...quite a meal. They do "rodizio," which is a neverending serving of ten styles of meat...beef, pork, lamb and chicken...served right from the skewer.

Eat till you drop.

They also had an amazing salad bar that could have been a meal in itself. You must try it; it'll become a favorite spot.

After dinner, we caught the late show in the Stardust Lounge and called a good Day One.

Ship - Impressions of the Sun

This being our first trip on the Sun, I did a lot of homework reading the past experiences posted here on CC.

The ship never felt crowded.

It seemed like there was food whenever you wanted it any time of day or night. I had read a lot of complaints about the diminutive size of the Garden Café on the Sun.

Perhaps those who complained had no idea of the scope of options beyond a table right next to the buffet action station. You could get your lunch from the actual Garden Café and sit inside,

or you could sit outside at the Great Outdoors (which is our favorite spot)…

or you could get you food from two serving lines outside at the Great Outdoors…

or you could bring your food into the Sports Bar, right off the Great Outdoors and watch the news on one of the dozen TVs while you ate…

or you could continue inside to Moderno, where there were plenty of tables and, oh yeah, a full deli buffet and a chef making pasta dishes to order or offering pizza and calzones.

I have to answer those who complained about the buffet, I say: “…what problem?”

(continued...)

The ship is designed around a Centrum, with panoramic glass elevators the travel from Deck 5 to Deck 11. The centrum spans from Deck 5 to Deck 7. Old school design, not as open as the Jewel-class ships, but nevertheless, very nice. This area has the main “lobby” of the ship’s hotel on Deck 5, with Internet Café, Java Café and Champagne-Martini Bar on the Deck 6 and 7 levels.

The Theater (Stardust Lounge) is located Aft on Deck 6 with balconies on Deck 7. The stage is quite large and the main floor is more cabaret style seating, not the stadium seating you see on the larger ships.

Dazzles at midship is the main disco area and Windjammer is a small bar entertainment area just next to it

The Shops occupied what seemed like a very large almost disproportionate area. The high end jewelry, duty free perfume, liquor and tobacco, as well as the ship’s branded merchandise made for a very well-stocked suite of stores to browse and shop.

The Pool Deck (Deck 11) was really a perfect layout for this ship… never had a problem finding a seat or a lounge. Often one side was set up for tables, since there were so many on-deck cookouts during the week. There was a stage at one end…two pools and 4 hot tubs in the center, and the massive Topsiders bar at the other end.

At the side where the Pool deck met the Garden Café, you could go thru that door anytime day or night for ice cream, either soft swirls or hard scooped. If you want a lot, just ask for a big bowl, and there are syrups behind the counter. Remember this spot because they also make waffles to order here in the a.m. and crepes in the afternoon.

Probably the single biggest impression we have of the Sun is its officers and crew.

We have never experienced a more visible and accessible top management nor a more friendly staff, and this was everywhere on the ship.

The crew went out of their way, every day, to make sure you were having a great time. I have never seen so many smiling crewmembers who would stop and ask if all was OK.

We met and spoke with Steven, the Hotel Director, almost everyday, in different venues around the ship. We finally told him "whatever it is you are doing, don't change a thing."

That's how good we felt the atmosphere was.

Day Two - Port – Warnemünde/Berlin

The ship docked in Warnemünde (Rostock) and we chose to spend the day in Berlin.

We had booked a special tour package with SPB Tours that included a full day in Berlin, 2 days in St. Petersburg and a half-day each in Tallinn and Helsinki.

We had no trouble leaving the ship when it was cleared; the SPB rep was waiting with our names on a clipboard list. We boarded a modern motor coach for the 2.5 hour ride to Berlin. About an hour and a half into the trip, we made a rest stop at a highway service plaza.

Our Tour Bus for the day in Berlin

Once in Berlin we stopped for a regroup at the Charlottenburg Palace. The group broke up into two segments; our segment stayed with the motorcoach all day, which was very comfortable and convenient. Our tour guide was Preston, an American living in Berlin. He gave very detailed and understandable context to all the places we visited.

The day was split into one half in East Berlin and the other in West Berlin...with some zigzagging across the line as we toured. It was amazing to see the entire location of the former Berlin Wall etched in the pavement of the streets in a continuous thin line of bricks.

Mid –day lunch was a quick stop for beer and sausages at a pleasant open-air restaurant.

One day in this large city, with so much history, can only be a "Whitman Sampler" of a sightseeing tour, but here are some of the must-see high points.

The Charlottenburg Palace

Olympiastadion, Berlin Olympic Stadium

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, outside. All glass bricks.

Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church, inside

Reichstag

(continued...)

Holocaust Memorial. A very controversial monument in Berlin, due to its unusual design with absolutely no signage or context. Artistically, I didn't get it...but emotionally, I admit it had a heavy impact. The city later added a lower level with much background and exhibits.

Brandenburg Gate

The Concert House at the Gendarmenmarkt

The Franzosischer Dom (French Cathedral) on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt

Deutscher Dom (German Cathedral) on Berlin's Gendarmenmarkt

Our Guide gives a perspective to the divided city

(continued...)

Checkpoint Charlie

Surviving section of the Berlin Wall

Throughout the city, this in-pavement marker strip shows where the Wall was located

(continued...)

The Altes Museum (Old Museum)

Berliner Dom (Berlin Cathedral)

We reformed with the other group a little before 6pm and said our good-byes to Preston.

The motorcoach made it back to the ship in plenty of time.

That evening, we had a BBQ dinner up on the pool deck, so we dropped our tour gear off at the room and went to the pool for dinner and drinks.

A long day, but very informative. The next day, a sea day, would let us recharge.

Fabulous, thanks!

Wonderful review and pictures!

Cant wait for the next installment.

Your pictures are beautiful! Thanks for taking the time to share your experiences. This type of itinerary is on our bucket list...someday :)

Wonderful! Thank you!

We can't wait for our turn next June! :D

Great review ! We are doing the T/A next Apr 21 and then continuing on to the Baltics--SPB tours has gotten quite a few good write ups. Will def do the one to Berlin and am deciding which to do in STP as I really want to see the ballet.

So from reading yours posts Euros are ok everywhere but in STP you need rubles ?

Thanks !

Day Three - Day at Sea

Couldn't be timed better after the 15-hour romp in Berlin. :o

Figure this is a good day to stroll around the ship with you and talk about the eating places. (...do I sound like I am food-centric? I'm worried.)

Today, we had a relaxing breakfast from the Garden Cafe (brought back to the room), custom eggs, sausages and a plate of croissants and jellies....had lunch in the MDR and an always-super dinner at Le Bistro.

Here’s what you have as choices:

The Garden Café and Great Outdoors with buffet service and action stations. Contrary to some opinions, this is not a serial-line buffet; you are expected to squeeze in and pick those things you want. As I have said earlier, don't just consider the seating within the Garden Cafe; there are many other fine choices for a comfortable table. They usually toggle the open times between the two (Garden and Outdoors), so when you see the shades pulled in the Garden Cafe, check the Great Outdoors. Coffee is always available.

Moderno Churrascaria is the new Brazilian steakhouse which we found to be a delight. The salad bar is amazing with eclectic choices like Tuna and

French Beans, Potato, Shrimp and Roasted Garlic, Hearts of Palm, Fresh Asparagus, Ceviche, European Cured Meats and Artisan Cheeses.

I could have dined on the salad alone. The servers bring a constant selection of meats, served right off the skewer. You have a little cardboard playing piece with red or green on each side. You flip to red when you want to take a break; saves you the embarrassment of saying "no" until you are ready for more. Do it...at least once.

->Click the image for a full menu <-

Moderno is open all day for free continental breakfast, pizza/pasta/deli lunch, and then goes surcharge for dinner.

Use Sports Bar for extra seating during morning and afternoon, plus bags of popcorn free anytime, and then the classic “Blue Lagoon” menu of munchies in the evening... ONLY from 5:30pm to 5:30am

(continued...)

The Seven Seas and the Four Seasons main dining rooms, for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The Seven Seas is Aft, while the Four Seasons is entered from the main Atrium of the center ship. The layout is similar between the two.

Breakfast and lunch menus are fixed for the week. We never had breakfast there, but lunched a few times and found the service crisp and accurate and the food very good. Lack of menu changes didn't bother me. I could have a lunch that consists of a plate of Fried Calamari, a Philly Cheesesteak hero and a slice of Cheesecake every day for about a month before I got bored. ;)

This was new for us to see. Dinner menu,as always, has one side that changes nightly and now, the other side for standard fare is different in each of the MDRs.. so you can choose a venue for variety. E.g., go to one for a Rib-eye and the other for a NY Strip.

Everyday Menu, Seven Seas

 

 

Daily Menu, Seven Seas



 

 

Everyday Menu, Four Seasons



 

 

Daily Menu, Four Seasons



 

 

 

So from reading yours posts Euros are ok everywhere but in STP you need rubles ?

Only Danish Kroner in Copenhagen.

Only Rubles in St. Petersburg.

Euro is good everywhere else. Finland and Sweden as a generalization will only take Euro bills, no coins...and may give coin change in local currency.

Las Ramblas is a Mex-style lounge, not a Tex-Mex restaurant..There is always live entertainment there at night and often an entertaining DVD on the TV in the afternoon.... and some excellent tapas is available only for a few hours a night, so don’t wait until it’s too late in the evening. Watch the schedule in the Freestyle daily...bowls of olives...yummm.

Other surcharge restaurants include East Meets West Steakhouse which is just an un-renamed Cagney’s with the fleet standard Cagney’s Menu. Vary spacious with nice decor...never saw a problem getting a time slot.

Teppanyaki has only one table in a fire-proof room with a dual grill that seats 12, so there is usually a full house every night (book early).

Two chefs work in tandem to serve the meal, with flair and some neat tricks we haven't seen at our own local Hibachi haunts.

Le Bistro is in a beautiful spot on Deck 12 with great window tables for two...and it lives up to its reputation, including special treats up front and at the end from the Chef.

Ginza is just a Sushi with tables and a sushi bar, not an Asian full-cuisine restaurant like on Jewel-class ships. In the same locale as Teppanyaki.

Il Adagio is uniquely positioned between the two main dining rooms and is probably the prettiest restaurant on the ship. The menu is fleet standard La Cucina fare. I miss the La Cuchina (Mama's / Papa's, etc.) antipasto trolley, but I believe that is gone now, fleet-wide.

Well, I'm full. Did I miss any place?

Tomorrow is Tallinn, Estonia.

Its sad to hear that Il Adagio has changed the menu. It was lovely last year October, so much food! I have heard on C.C. that La Cucina fare wasn't as good as the old Il Adagio. Oh well, times they are achanging.

Day Four - Port - Tallinn, Estonia

The ship docks within walking distance of the city; this is a very easy to do port by yourself. There are several good Walking Tour PDFs available online; any one of them with a town map will get you thru the day.

Norwegian Sun

We had a half day walking tour planned with SPB Tours and met our guide at the port around 8:30am. There are dozens of vendor stands set up in gauntlet fashion as you leave the ship. (If you miss your trinket shopping in town, you have a last chance here on the way back.)

It is probably no more than a 10 minute walk to leave the port, cross a few streets and enter the portal of the Old Town

View of Tallinn from the ship

Walking to the old town

Here are a few highlights from our tour

The Great Coastal Gate (Suur Rannavarav), entrance to the Old Town

(continued...)

Walking along the inside of the City Wall

Inside, some areas, the Wall now houses offices and condos.

St. Olav's church behind the towers.

The long climb up to Toompea