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Sun Review - October 9th - Southern

sonicbuffalo

By sonicbuffalo,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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nana&poppy2526

nana&poppy2526

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SonicBuffalo, thanks for the great pictoral review. I've actually sailed on the NCL Sun, and loved it so much that we have another cruise planned for March 6-17, 2014. As someone has mentioned before we will not be going to Cartegena or St. Maarten, but to Guateloupe and Barbados instead.

 

I'm surprised that you do not mention "The Great Outdoors" in your review. That was one of our favorite places to go grab a bite to eat and sit in the "great outdoors", watching the world go by.

 

Unfortunately, I think food is the first place cruise ships find to cut back when budgets get tight. Times have changed and you almost never hear anyone coming back from a cruise (these days) saying, "THE FOOD WAS INCREDIBLE".

 

Unlike you, five of our six cruises have been on NCL; the other being Royal Carribbean. Except for the EPIC (we really disliked the EPIC), NCL has been a pleasure to sail with.

 

Thanks again for your review!

Bonnie Smith

CHARLOTTE, NC!!!

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sonicbuffalo

sonicbuffalo

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SonicBuffalo, thanks for the great pictoral review. I've actually sailed on the NCL Sun, and loved it so much that we have another cruise planned for March 6-17, 2014. As someone has mentioned before we will not be going to Cartegena or St. Maarten, but to Guateloupe and Barbados instead.

 

I'm surprised that you do not mention "The Great Outdoors" in your review. That was one of our favorite places to go grab a bite to eat and sit in the "great outdoors", watching the world go by.

 

Unfortunately, I think food is the first place cruise ships find to cut back when budgets get tight. Times have changed and you almost never hear anyone coming back from a cruise (these days) saying, "THE FOOD WAS INCREDIBLE".

 

Unlike you, five of our six cruises have been on NCL; the other being Royal Carribbean. Except for the EPIC (we really disliked the EPIC), NCL has been a pleasure to sail with.

 

Thanks again for your review!

Bonnie Smith

CHARLOTTE, NC!!!

 

You're welcome Bonnie....I tried to get my wife to book the Sun again for the next sailing but she says we must wait....love the ship! Enjoy your cruises!

Edited by sonicbuffalo
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heythereyou

heythereyou

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nana&poppy2526 Bonnie Like you 5 of our 6 cruises have all been NCL but ours have all been the SUN , which seems to have the itinerary we want every time we want to go on a cruise. we Love the SUN and the great outdoors is one of the reasons! We have been wanting to try another ship and was thinking of doing the EPIC, we are a bit afraid of it being to large Was wondering why you disliked it.
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nana&poppy2526

nana&poppy2526

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(I like your screen name!)

 

The EPIC was the largest ship we'd ever been on, and it had the smallest room EVER of any of the smaller ships we've been on. The odd configuration where the bathroom is practically in your bedroom was bothersome. Strange design in the rooms with their wavy walls. On top of that, the EPIC does not have an outside deck where you can go outside and walk around the ship! In order to go outside, you have to go to the pool deck, where all the other blue million people are. Lastly, there were four shows. Period. If you're on a seven night cruise, and you're offered four shows (one of which you had to pay for), what are you supposed to do the other three nights?

 

In our meet and greet, one of the ship's representatives made the statement that "this ship was built by the French. It is the only NCL ship that will ever be built by the French". Kind of got the impression that they weren't happy with it either!

 

We've been on the Pearl twice, the Dawn, the Sun (about to be twice) and we LOVED all of them, but the EPIC....not so much! Others LOVE it; not us.

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heythereyou

heythereyou

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(I like your screen name!)

 

The EPIC was the largest ship we'd ever been on, and it had the smallest room EVER of any of the smaller ships we've been on. The odd configuration where the bathroom is practically in your bedroom was bothersome. Strange design in the rooms with their wavy walls. On top of that, the EPIC does not have an outside deck where you can go outside and walk around the ship! In order to go outside, you have to go to the pool deck, where all the other blue million people are. Lastly, there were four shows. Period. If you're on a seven night cruise, and you're offered four shows (one of which you had to pay for), what are you supposed to do the other three nights?

 

In our meet and greet, one of the ship's representatives made the statement that "this ship was built by the French. It is the only NCL ship that will ever be built by the French". Kind of got the impression that they weren't happy with it either!

 

We've been on the Pearl twice, the Dawn, the Sun (about to be twice) and we LOVED all of them, but the EPIC....not so much! Others LOVE it; not us.

Thank you so much for your reply. Sounds like the Epic is not for us either. I love the outside open areas on the Sun, I would not be happy at all if the only outside area was the pool deck. My favorite things to do is seeing sunrise and sunsets and watching sailing into and away from our ports. I also am surprised only the 4 shows I just assumed there was a show every night. I Like my nightly shows. I guess that means next cruise on either the the Pearl or Dawn.

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newmexicoNita

newmexicoNita

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Thank you so much for your reply. Sounds like the Epic is not for us either. I love the outside open areas on the Sun, I would not be happy at all if the only outside area was the pool deck. My favorite things to do is seeing sunrise and sunsets and watching sailing into and away from our ports. I also am surprised only the 4 shows I just assumed there was a show every night. I Like my nightly shows. I guess that means next cruise on either the the Pearl or Dawn.

 

We have not sailed the Epic and most likely will never sail for of the trendy, mega ships. There are just too many things we love about mid sized ships. We did a mega ship about 2 years ago (not NCL) and were not impressed. It just isn't our thing. The Sun is the perfect size, nice cabins, wonderful people (both passengers and crew) Las Rambles and just about everything we love about cruising. After our Sun sailing in 2 weeks we will be booking the Dawn repo.

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anamarieus

anamarieus

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Well....we didn't get drunk, don't gamble....but the shopping excursions and Claudia's Tour was fantastic....sorry you weren't impressed....

 

Happy Thanksgiving to all!:)

 

okayyyyy... but what does getting drunk or gambling have to do with a written cruise review. I guess u just dont post port or ship reviews, but that is okay. Dont assume I wasnt impressed, just wondering.

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hotcarib

hotcarib

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okayyyyy... but what does getting drunk or gambling have to do with a written cruise review. I guess u just dont post port or ship reviews, but that is okay. Dont assume I wasnt impressed, just wondering.

 

Not certain about the drunk comment (inappropriate~much?) but I for one appreciate the fact that a picture is worth 1,000 words!

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hotcarib

hotcarib

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I suppose but was not always sure what pics were of. We are on the Sun in Jan. and would have loved a little more verbage.

 

While I understand what you are saying I think you are under valuing OP's time and effort in creating this thread. I for one know just how much effort is required to post all the photos. Also, if you posted, or IM OP I am certain he would love to share details. We leave on this same itinerary/ship on the 11th and have so valued this thread.

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sonicbuffalo

sonicbuffalo

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While I understand what you are saying I think you are under valuing OP's time and effort in creating this thread. I for one know just how much effort is required to post all the photos. Also, if you posted, or IM OP I am certain he would love to share details. We leave on this same itinerary/ship on the 11th and have so valued this thread.

 

Thank you for your kind words.....and Happy Thanksgiving to everyone!

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sonicbuffalo

sonicbuffalo

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nana&poppy2526 Bonnie Like you 5 of our 6 cruises have all been NCL but ours have all been the SUN , which seems to have the itinerary we want every time we want to go on a cruise. we Love the SUN and the great outdoors is one of the reasons! We have been wanting to try another ship and was thinking of doing the EPIC, we are a bit afraid of it being to large Was wondering why you disliked it.

 

We loved the 11 day Sun itinerary....which ship is taking the Sun's place next year? The Sun will be in Tampa.

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heythereyou

heythereyou

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not sure what ship is taking the Sun place but if you search for 10 and 11 day cruise out of Miami which the sun does now. the Pearl will be doing those. The 10 day has a cruise with 4 ports we have not done as yet. So sounds great!

 

PORTS OF CALL Embark Miami; Tortola (British Virgin Islands); St. John's (Antigua); Fort-de France (Martinique); Basseterre (St. Kitts); St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands); Disembark Miami

 

the 11 day has only 1 port we have not been to (St Kitts} and if we do the 10 day first will have no new ports. But has many great ports. St Lucia being our favorite.

 

 

PORTS OF CALL Embark Miami; St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands); Basseterre (St. Kitts); Castries (St. Lucia); Willemstad (Curacao); Oranjestad (Aruba); Disembark Miami

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Babyeddiedog

Babyeddiedog

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I really appreciate the photos, there are lots of reviews of ports and ships, but I also like to 'see things for myself'. Pictures taken by the companies, whether hotels or ships, never really represent what the place is actually like, pictures taken by guests are a much better representation.

 

Thank you again.

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sonicbuffalo

sonicbuffalo

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not sure what ship is taking the Sun place but if you search for 10 and 11 day cruise out of Miami which the sun does now. the Pearl will be doing those. The 10 day has a cruise with 4 ports we have not done as yet. So sounds great!

 

PORTS OF CALL Embark Miami; Tortola (British Virgin Islands); St. John's (Antigua); Fort-de France (Martinique); Basseterre (St. Kitts); St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands); Disembark Miami

 

the 11 day has only 1 port we have not been to (St Kitts} and if we do the 10 day first will have no new ports. But has many great ports. St Lucia being our favorite.

 

 

PORTS OF CALL Embark Miami; St. Thomas (US Virgin Islands); Basseterre (St. Kitts); Castries (St. Lucia); Willemstad (Curacao); Oranjestad (Aruba); Disembark Miami

 

One of our favorite ports of call was St. Lucia too! We loved the island tour!

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sonicbuffalo

sonicbuffalo

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I really appreciate the photos, there are lots of reviews of ports and ships, but I also like to 'see things for myself'. Pictures taken by the companies, whether hotels or ships, never really represent what the place is actually like, pictures taken by guests are a much better representation.

 

Thank you again.

 

I agree with you? You're right....I enjoy seeing the pictures too!

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cruisenfromjersey

cruisenfromjersey

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Thank You for posting your review and pictures. The first NCL cruise we did was on the Sun. We had a fabulous time and have been doing NCL ever since. We have tried others in between but keep going back to NCL. Our favorite two ships are the Pearl and Sun. Love them. We are headed back to the Sun in Jan. and can not wait...

As for food, very subjective. We have never had a bad meal on NCL but that's us. We love freestyle. It just fits our style.

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sonicbuffalo

sonicbuffalo

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Thank You for posting your review and pictures. The first NCL cruise we did was on the Sun. We had a fabulous time and have been doing NCL ever since. We have tried others in between but keep going back to NCL. Our favorite two ships are the Pearl and Sun. Love them. We are headed back to the Sun in Jan. and can not wait...

As for food, very subjective. We have never had a bad meal on NCL but that's us. We love freestyle. It just fits our style.

 

glad you enjoyed Freestyle! We loved being served Rum Punch while getting back on the Sun in St. Thomas.....for free!:D

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