Here comes the Sun...do do do doooo

[Crissy699]

So here are my thoughts after enjoying a week in the Sun, on the Sun!

 

Embarkation at Port Canaveral-excellent. Very simple, easy and quick. We carried on our luggage, arrived around 11 am and were on within 20 mins. Once onboard, there was a bit more chaos-the gangplank put you on the ship on deck 6, directly into the second floor of the atrium (which is very small and it is not that easy to figure out where to go). There were lots of people congrigating and a few staff trying to point people to the buffet. We asked which dining room was open for lunch, and we were told Seven Seas (in the back of the ship) would be open, but not until 12:30. Great. So we sat on the ground outside on deck 6 (on the other side of the ship from where people were getting on) and waited.. (*why no tables and chairs on the Promonade deck, NCL?? More complaints on this later...:p)

 

The room-better than I expected. We booked an Oceanview with a porthole on deck 4 (#4025). This was the lowest level room we've ever been in, and with the porthole I was expecting the small porthole and a small-ish room (though I know from reviews that the rooms on the Sun are larger than usual). However, when we entered our cabins, around 1:30 (earlier than the originally announced 2pm)- I was pleasantly surprised. The porthole was huge, about the same size as the real windows we were used to-YAY! And the room was good size, though the sofa and coffee table took up a lot of room (as we didnt need the extra sleeping quarters). Tons of storage space, and a normal sized (for a cruise ship) fridge, though it takes a while to cool items down...The bathroom was a little different than I am used to. With a round shower with just a curtain and a very large vanity, with plenty of storage, and a toilet in the middle. The shower should really have a door, as every night we ended up with large puddles in the bathroom (I can only assume they came from the shower, where else?)-this wasnt fun for me and my pregnant bladder that calls for multiple middle of the night bathroom trips...resulting in cold and wet feet in the dark. When we entered the room, there was one issue-one of the drawers was in peices on the floor. Fortunately, this was fixed within a few hours. Our TV was a new flat screen, though it was small and did not have good picture quality at all. Finally, our remote went missing on day 2 (after our steward had rearranged the beds for us) and despite multiple calls to Guest Services, it took more than 2 days to get it back. Not the end of the world, but a bit of a nusance, and a bit strange.

 

The ship-smaller but tons of space, nicely appointed and in good shape. We enjoyed the Sun, there seemed to be tons of extra space, even though this is a "smaller" ship. I guess it is because the top decks arent taken up by Villas, etc? The pool area was large and offered plenty of lounge and table seating. The buffet was a madhouse, small and poorly set up. The Great Outdoors (at the rear of the buffet) was a great alternative to the buffet-skip the buffet (if you can walk through it!) and go all the way back-they serve food there too! Also a GREAT spot to sit and relax, people watch or sight-see. The Observation Lounge on Deck 12 FWD was a gorgeous spot, a hidden gem that is terribly under-utilized. If our Cruise Critic Meet & Greet hadnt been there-I wouldnt have known it existed! Check it out, even though there is never anything going on there. The carpets throughout the ship looked new-they must have been replaced in the Jan dry-dock. Dazzles is a great spot, though its placement makes it a constant pass-through which can be distracting. This leads to my three main complaints about the ship-where are the hallways?? You constantly have to walk through venues (Dazzles, Photo Gallery, Casino, Restaurants, etc) to get where you want to go. Some planning, creating hallways on either one or both sides of the ships, would have been appreciated...but what can you do now, eh? Also, the Promonade deck (deck 6 on this ship-they use it as the jogging/walking track, grr) has always been my favorite chillax place to sit in the shade and watch the ocean flow by. But there are no tables and chairs on this deck on the Sun, which really dissapointed me. We found ourselves sitting on the ground just so I could enjoy some time there. I know they want to use it as the Sports deck, but there is DEFINITELY room for some tables and chairs as well. Other folks used this deck for smoking, but they all had to stand. I cant help but think a few drinks placed on the railing were lost at one point or another-which would have been prevented by the placement of tables and chairs. Ok rant about this is over..Finally, my last complaint is the crowding of the atrium with double elevators, then having an additional elevator bay just a few feet off the atrium. Now, I get that more is better, but this is a little ridiculous. The atrium is far too cramped with both bays. The bay on the aft end of the atrium is really all they need, and that would allow for more space in the atrium. Again, not much they can do about this now, though. *Sigh*

 

The food-good, but not great. My biggest issues were with service timing, no Blue Lagoon and limited buffet options. I'll start with no Blue Lagoon-yes, I know they have the Sports Bar from 5:30pm-5:30am-BUT Blue Lagoon was my saviour for the afternoon munchies, on a cruise I ALWAYS seem to get hungry around 2-3-4 in the afternoon. On the Sun, your only options are Room Service (good, but limited selection and slow...45 mins+) and the Great Outdoors (good, but again extremely limited selection-only burgers, dogs and cold cut sandwiches). So with no Blue Lagoon I was often left starving and then of course we would need to eat dinner as soon as we could, which meant we were off to Four Seasons, which opened at 5:30pm. I dont typically get hungry again after dinner, so we only enjoyed the fares at the Sports Bar a few times-and those were really me forcing myself to go because I missed the Spinach and Artichoke dip, the chicken fingers and the chicken sandwiches! I need the 24/7 Blue Lagoon-this will factor strongly in my next cruise choice. Next, the slow service issues. Dinner in the MDR's were almost always painfully slow. I joked that we should have brought a book or the laptop-but it was that bad. I am not sure if it was just us, but I dont think so. I saw many others twiddling their thumbs too! The servers were always polite and provided friendly service, but it was far too slow for me. Finally, the buffet on the Sun is surprisingly small (only one side of the ship vs both as on the other ships I've been on) and very limited options. Most of the food space is taken up by cold cuts, fruits and salad options. Only a very, very small area was the hot foods (usually Indian food-which I LOVE! fortunately...) unless you went outside for burgers and dogs. It is usually a madhouse (as others have said, though I didnt believe it would be that bad...well, it was ;)) We didnt visit any of the specialty restaurants, just Sports Bar, MDR, Buffet and Las Ramblas-which is poorly used in my opinion. The "tapas" were olives, slices of deli meat and some cheese. Not what I expected, as we have an excellent Tapas restaurant here at home and it has all sorts of great, HOT dishes! They need to do something else with this nice atmosphere restaurant. Even chips and salsa would have improved it for us. One visit was it for us...

 

The staff-very friendly, but a little unorganized (perhaps because this was only the second cruise on this new run?). Our Cruise Director, Pedro, was friendly and fun, though I hear that once is enough to have him on your cruise, after that his jokes are old and his humor is tiring. I thought he was fine, but certainly not at all memorable. The dining room staff was always pleasant, our steward was friendly and helpful, though not as easy to find as our stewards on previous cruises. The cruise director's staff was friendly and tried to make us excited about Bingo and Instant Wins, but kind of fell short. Not sure if it was them or the crowd...

 

The entertainment-started out good, but..... The shows started out good, but things went downhill somehow on the second half of the trip. The first show was the standard Welcome Aboard show, which had the usual songs and dances, but also had a bit by the Comedian-who we enjoyed thoroughly. The two female singers are both very talented, and very nice to look at. The two males left something to be desired... The dancers were good, not the best I've seen, but certainly not the worst. Day 2 brought Encore, again the same songs and dances we've seen almost every cruise (songs from various broadway shows). Good time, though I would have liked to see something new. Day 3 brought Elvy Rose, a boisterous female singer/dancer who was entertaining, but once is enough for me. Day 4 was Shout and Late Night comedy-both shows I was REALLY looking forward to. However, my stomach had other plans. I was sick from sun up to sun down. Not sure why-then I was fine the rest of the trip. Day 5 was an action comedian (juggler) who was entertaining, but once you've seen one juggler, you've seen them all in my opinion. Again, once was enough for me. Day 6 was We Will Rock you-again the same songs and dances I've seen almost every cruise, rock music and dances. Entertaining, but still would have liked to see something new. Also, earlier in the day was the crew show-the crew who performed were talented and tried their hardest, but there were issues with sound and timing, and it was a little painful to watch at times. I felt bad for some, and was ready for others to be over, unfortunately. Seemed that there was no one really in charge, organizing who was doing what and when. Perhaps this was because of the new run/new crew? Day 7 brought an encore combination performance by Elvy Rose and Scotty Cavanaugh, the juggler. I really didnt want to go (and I wish I hadnt) but my hubby wanted to go....Like I said before, the first showing for these two was more than enough for me...

 

The ship had other activities throughout the day-Trivia, Arts and Crafts, Seminars, Dancing classes, etc. The Arts and Crafts were really fun-we got to take home a nice picture frame and a journal. I hear there was also a little keepsake box that we missed. Also, FYI for anyone who likes to spend a little time playing games (hubby and I like to play Scrabble on vacation...) the games are in the Library on Deck 6, all the way in the back of the Library is a little room with tables. No longer in the Lifestyles room (which is now a store) or the card room (which is now an art gallery).

 

The itinerary-alright for some, I wouldnt do it again. I prefer sea days at the beginning and end, as a wind-up and wind-down, but this itinerary was a bit jumbled. First we visited Cozumel, it was rainy in the AM, then hot and humid throughout the rest of the day. We explored the shops a bit, but then couldnt wait to get back on into the A/C. Next stop was supposed to be a tender in Grand Cayman, but the Captain canceled that because of rough weather. That was the day I was sick all day, so I didnt mind much ;) Next stop was Ocho Rios, Jamaica-a jungle environment, far too hot and humid for exploring. I wish we had booked an excursion, but we didnt do well with the planning on this one. We got off, then got right back on the ship. Oh well. Final stop was Great Stirrup Cay, which would have been an EXCELLENT day, had it not been downright chilly and the buffet not inundated with flies! We enjoyed the fairly rough surf for a while and explored the island a bit, but we were cold and wished the sun had poked out before we were setting sail from the island!! :cool: I would look forward to visiting this island again, next time hopefully with more sun, warmer weather, and something to stop the incessant flies surrounding the buffet (this really put many off their appetites).

 

Debarkation-a bit of a mess. FYI-Dont book a flight before noon when sailing out of Port Canaveral! Customs took forever to clear us. Some people missed their flights, though since we had booked ours for 12:35, we were ok and made it with about 30 mins to spare. Keep this in mind, as I hear the week before us they didnt let people off till 10. We got off around 9:35.

 

Finally, a shout-out to Pam (DHnDWplus2) for organizing the Meet & Greet! and Tammy (mikeandtams) for the awesome nametags!! The M&G was fun-the gift swap went over well. I went home with some yummy Canadian Maple Syrup and candies. Hubby went home with some Tim Horton's Hot chocolate and a travel mug. There were other great gifts. Someone mentioned we would all be getting a bottle of wine from the Captain, but that never happened... :p oh well, not like I'd have been able to enjoy anyway-but sorry to any others who were really looking forward to it. Not sure where that info came from, but it was a big surprise to hear it, as we've never had anything special for being a CC'r onboard before.. and I guess we still havent. Oh well :rolleyes: We also enjoyed chatting with the other folks on the Meet & Greet, though we didnt seem to run into many people throughout the trip, unfortunately. We did enjoy seeing George and Suzanne (train4ed) a few times, though!

 

Overall-I enjoyed the ship, but wouldnt travel so far (we are in MA) to sail her again. And I wouldnt do the Western Caribbean again. I prefer ports where there is a beach or something else to do within walking distance (and where it is SAFE to do so). This was my first cruise while pregnant, which I was a little worried about, but the Bonine was great, and I was able to satisfy my cravings most of the time!

 

Below are some pics of our TV and the Porthole window, for reference. I will try to post Dailies as well (others may have posted them by now...)

[NMLady]

THANKS for the review. It brought back some happy memories for me of the Sun. We also had a porthole cabin, but on deck 5.

It was around the corner from elevators and the stewards had their carts near there so we saw our two fantastic stewards often.

 

I'm glad you discovered the Observation lounge on the top deck. That was one of my favorite places to read on sea days.

 

I agree with you about The Great Outdoors, another great place to sit and a good buffet to use for hamburgers and other lunch items.

 

I didn't find the buffet to be disorganized and I ate there most breakfasts and lunches. I'd get my food and then take it to the Sports Bar for its awesome view.

 

I'd sail the Sun again but I agree with you about choosing a different itinerary than the Western Caribbean although any cruise is a good cruise.

[Ms belp]

Nothing to say. Just liked your title thread. :D

[jackinthebox422]

If you could post the dailies or email to mapp@rochester.rr.com that would be great.

[Crissy699]

I have the Dailies as PDF's as they are 4 pages each...and they are too big to post here. :( I am trying to use a fileshare, but I am at work and the sites are all blocked :o

 

I will try again when I get home. But for now I can email them to those who are interested. Email me at crissy699cruisecritic at gmail dot com :)

[STARFISH*4]

thanks for your review will be returning to the SUN in 38 days and cant wait--we LOVED our B2B last December and have to disagree with you about PEDRO--he was GREAT and we will miss him as he wont be on our sailing (going home-wife having a baby)--he was so personable always present and knew us by name--one of the BEST CDs we have had!!

 

will AGREE with you about the Blue Lagoon (well our best Blue Lagoon memories are on the Star-her OLD locale) but we never were going hungry--always finding something to eat and not minding the buffet to much for brkfst or lunch and ENJOYING very much the GREAT OUTDOORS!

the GREAT OUTDOORS was a GREAT place to be when leaving the ports!

 

sorry you missed the Caymans, unfortunately ports are never promised; we have gotten use to that.

[rvsullivan]

You had me confused when you said you did the Western Caribbean. Looks to me like it was Eastern except for Cozumel? When we do the Western, it is Belize, Roatan, Costa Maya and Cosumel. Most of those have pretty good to excellent beaches. If you look for Western Caribbean out of New Orleans or Tampa you'll get an idea. Sounds like you had a pretty good cruise.

[Crissy699]

To me, like many others, any cruise is a good cruise. I dont mind missed ports, bad weather and I can deal with issues on just about everything. Go with the flow and make the best of it. So I did have a good cruise, despite my few complaints, really just expressing my opinion and hopefully some tips and info that can help someone else. :D

 

NCL sells this cruise as Western Caribbean-Cozumel, Grand Cayman, Ocho Rios and Great Stirrup Cay. The opposite week is Eastern Caribbean-Nassau, St. Thomas, San Juan and Great Stirrup Cay. I probably would have enjoyed St. Thomas and San Juan better, but that trip is more expensive (as they are more expensive ports-maybe better?) Oh well. I think we will stick to Bermuda from Boston for now, until the Breakaway comes to NYC in 2013! :)

[Crissy699]

OK-here you go!

 

Day 1:

http://freepdfhosting.com/5267a519ef.pdf

 

Day 2:

http://freepdfhosting.com/3f77408648.pdf

 

Day 3:

http://freepdfhosting.com/60f856d7bc.pdf

 

Day 4:

http://freepdfhosting.com/bca2f8daa5.pdf

 

Day 5:

http://freepdfhosting.com/bab92efcc9.pdf

 

Day 6:

http://freepdfhosting.com/f78a2633d2.pdf

 

Day 7:

http://freepdfhosting.com/15d0ab7e9f.pdf

[DMH15]

We also really liked Pedro. And would love to have him on another cruise! We also met his wife and she was lovely. So pleased to hear about the baby.

[Sauer-kraut]

Just a note about the tapas, they change daily. So its always good to poke your head in and see what is offered. I really pigged out one time up there when they were serving diablo shrimp. Very good!!

 

Sorry your visit wasn't as appealing. Also, another question for up in Las Ramblas, were they still doing lunches up there? I know they were doing a sumbarine type sandwich bar and soups up there on our crossing, just wondering if that is still an option.

[bbrme]

Was that a ZUMBA class on day 4 with Rodrigo?

[bugspost]

are there hairdryers on the sun??? we have booked 10 day caribbean next november..........never cruised NCL so looking forward to it.....:)

[Sauer-kraut]

are there hairdryers on the sun??? we have booked 10 day caribbean next november..........never cruised NCL so looking forward to it.....:)

 

Yes, they are attached to the wall in the bathroom upbove the commode.

[Crissy699]

Just a note about the tapas, they change daily. So its always good to poke your head in and see what is offered. I really pigged out one time up there when they were serving diablo shrimp. Very good!!

 

Sorry your visit wasn't as appealing. Also, another question for up in Las Ramblas, were they still doing lunches up there? I know they were doing a sumbarine type sandwich bar and soups up there on our crossing, just wondering if that is still an option.

Ah, I wish I had known that, I might have stopped in again to see if there was anything remotely exciting. Oh well... thanks for pointing that out for others!

 

I love, love, love mexican, so I missed the Tex-Mex restaurant-and I also love tapas (at least the tapas I eat around here!) so I was disappointed with it.

 

They were offering deli sandwiches for lunch there-which I cant do (no deli meats for me for the next few months, unless they are micro-waved, not really appealing or possible)...so we didnt even bother going in for lunch there.

 

bbrme-I cant help you with Zumba, sorry, this was a relax-vacation for me, had to keep everything super low-impact, doctors orders...

 

bugspost-as Sauer-Kraut posted, they are the wall dryers over the toilet, they are one-speed, one-heat setting..and pretty awful. Unlike the dryers on the Dawn, which were surprisingly excellent. I tried to use it once and it wasnt happening. Didnt help that mine broke apart either LOL :p If a dryer is important to you, I would bring one (if you can??) but it wasnt important to me, I just wore my hair up instead, which was easier with the wind.

[iluvdoxies]

It was nice meting y'all at the meet/greet --I felt so bad, I barely remember it.

 

We looked at the buffet a few times. was never crowded when we were there ---noonish.

I loved the pretzel rolls !

 

Yes GSC weather was lousy - we were going to parasail but it was canx due to winds. It was quite cool so we didnt stay long.

 

I also got a pic frame and a nice journal kit - I love the picture frame.

[zounds]

Thank you very much, Crissy for the well written observations and dailys! I don't see any more 2 for 1 martinis at happy hour, but I do see 2 for 1 restaurants with future cruise sign-ups. steve

[Crissy699]

I just wanted to say sorry for all the typos in my original post :o..I rely too heavily on spellcheck sometimes when typing long documents-and obviously something went wrong when checking this document. I knew I spelled things wrong but was too tired/lazy to fix and assumed SC would get them---wrong! OOPPS!

 

Anyway, 2-for-1's--I didnt hear/see many specials at all. Which was surprising because I didnt seem to see many folks drinking. So usually if they are not selling what they need to sell, then they have specials to boost sales-but I didnt see anything like that. Hmm. Maybe I just wasnt where the people were drinking, and they were doing OK with that bottom line after all. Funny, because my hubby actually commented a few times that this was the "dryest cruise he's ever seen"- as we really didnt see many people drinking! Oh well.

 

We didnt partake because I am preggo-but we arent usually big drinkers anyway. We usually love the martini tastings though-they did have a few of those, plus Margarita and Mojito tastings (which I was sad not to be able to join in on!). Hubby bought a bucket of Blue moon on the first day and managed to make it last all week!

[jdvmd]

thanks for your review will be returning to the SUN in 38 days and cant wait--we LOVED our B2B last December and have to disagree with you about PEDRO--he was GREAT and we will miss him as he wont be on our sailing (going home-wife having a baby)--he was so personable always present and knew us by name--one of the BEST CDs we have had!!

 

will AGREE with you about the Blue Lagoon (well our best Blue Lagoon memories are on the Star-her OLD locale) but we never were going hungry--always finding something to eat and not minding the buffet to much for brkfst or lunch and ENJOYING very much the GREAT OUTDOORS!

the GREAT OUTDOORS was a GREAT place to be when leaving the ports!

 

sorry you missed the Caymans, unfortunately ports are never promised; we have gotten use to that.

 

I agree! I have had Pedro on two sailings totaling 23 nights and found him to be my favorite CD on any line. He is funny, down to earth and incredibly hard working. Would love to have him on a cruise again.

[slotaddict]

are there hairdryers on the sun??? we have booked 10 day caribbean next november..........never cruised NCL so looking forward to it.....:)

 

 

If you have hair longer than 1/4 inch it will take forever to try....Bring your own you will be happier...

[slotaddict]

Thanks for the review...it seemed pretty accurate to me as I was on your ccruise...

 

I thought Pedro was just OK, he was friendly enough but surely not dynamic as some CD's are...

 

I played Bingo and thought it was downright painful, the last bingo took almost two hours...I did win the super jackpot bingo (with two others) but it took all I had to even stay there....we were late for our dinner reservations...

 

Another painful thing was Shout, you should be glad you missed it....I had no idea the 60's were all about Petula Clark...our group left the show....one at a time...each one hung in as long as they could.

 

You did mention dining room service...for me it slooowww....consitantly slow, with the exception of one night when we had a waiter named Ray. I really don;t think it was the waiters, I believe it was the kitchen..we did Moderno and Teppanyani and found both to be excellent...

 

The highlight for us was our room steward who was wonderful pleasant and just a pleasure....

[jdvmd]

I have long hair and didn't have a problem with the hair dryer drying my hair. The part where you hold it, however, gets hot.

[Sauer-kraut]

Just a note about the tapas, they change daily. So its always good to poke your head in and see what is offered. I really pigged out one time up there when they were serving diablo shrimp. Very good!!

 

Sorry your visit wasn't as appealing. Also, another question for up in Las Ramblas, were they still doing lunches up there? I know they were doing a sumbarine type sandwich bar and soups up there on our crossing, just wondering if that is still an option.

 

I am going to retract my statement. After reading another review I saw the tapas menu posted and it didn't seem like it would change. How sad, as I really did enjoy the ones I tasted. On the new menu I'd probably have a few olives and that would be it. The shrimp with kiwi just doesn't sound that good to me. :(

[STARFISH*4]

I thought Pedro was just OK, he was friendly enough but surely not dynamic as some CD's are...

 

 

Another painful thing was Shout, you should be glad you missed it....I had no idea the 60's were all about Petula Clark...our group left the show....one at a time...each one hung in as long as they could.

 

 

The highlight for us was our room steward who was wonderful pleasant and just a pleasure....

 

maybe he is so anxious to get home...his wife will be having a baby...he was quite dynamic on our B2B last Dec

 

Shout was my least favorite i LOVE the songs that came out of England in the 60s but the whole thing with the girls acting out and all just didnt do it for me...i think we will skip this show...been there done that

 

our steward last year was GREAT so personable always calling us by our names--towel animals everynite which is a PLUS for me!!

[jackinthebox422]

hjello