Sun Coastal Cruise 28-Sep, 2014

[fshagan]

This is our review of the Sun coastal cruise from Vancouver BC to Los Angeles, September 29 - October 4, 2014.

 

We are in our late fifties, and have sailed on the NCL Sky, Jade, Star and the Epic before this. We love NCL's relaxed atmosphere and find the entertainment and food fine. The Sun is the antithesis of the Epic; it is one of NCL's smaller and older ships.

 

We started by flying from LAX to Vancouver and hopping on the Canada Line light rail to get to down town Vancouver. The Canada Line terminates just two blocks from our hotel, the Delta Suites. On the weekends, the trip takes just 22 minutes and costs about $7.75 per person.

 

We found the Delta Suites easy enough, but were a bit concerned about the first room we were shown:

 

 

But after some discussion, we settled on room 1609 instead (we actually had reservations for 1409, but it wasn't ready yet). The Delta Suites are a nice place to stay, and while some of the Yelp reviews mention the dated furniture, we found the suite to be very comfortable. You can't beat the views:

 

 

We walk a lot, and after settling in at about 11:30 AM, we walked around Vancouver until nightfall. Vancouver was sunny and warm on the 28th. We walked down to the port where the Sun would berth in the morning (two Holland America ships were in port). Then we walked over to the OTHER port in the more industrial / seedy area of Vancouver to see the NCL Pearl leave. Vancouver is a pretty city, with very friendly people, but we did see our share of homeless and street people once we got off the beaten path, just as you do in most cities. We did not run into any aggressive pan handlers like we have here in California. We had dinner in the gas light district and returned to our hotel around 8:30 PM to settle in and prepare for our sail away.

[fshagan]

The morning was met with rain and cloudy skies, and checking out of the Delta Suites did become a bit of a problem; they were trying to charge us $30 more than the quote we had in hand from their website. After some discussion, they tried the "we'll correct this later" routine, and we gently assured them we were able to stay until we got a copy of the corrected bill. A few minutes later we were on our walk to the dock in the light rain, with our luggage safely covered in trash bags.

 

Check in and boarding the Sun was fast and efficient, and we discovered our cabin, 0009 on the tenth floor, ready for us. The Sun's balcony cabins are large enough, about 1/3 wider than the balcony cabins on the Epic (where I could stand, stretch out my arms, and touch both sides of the cabin). The balcony is also a more generous size, so there's a lot to be said for the older ships.

 

 

 

 

The weather didn't really clear up as much as it settled in to a misty overcast day of the type you find only in the northwest; not cold enough to really complain about and still beautiful enough to enjoy. Here's a picture of a lighthouse outside of Vancouver:

 

[fshagan]

Our first ports were Seattle on Tuesday and the Astoria on Wednesday. I like Seattle, but found it dirtier and a little seedier than Vancouver. We walked to Pike Place market, saw the famous fish market where they throw the fish, walked up to the monorail and rode over to Seattle Center where the Space Needle robs tourists of $21 each to ride to the top. Been there, done that, so we didn't succumb to that particular temptation. We walked around the gardens a bit, got back on the monorail and found the Seattle Underground tour in Pioneer Square. It was well done, and interesting, walking below the sidewalks and seeing the ruins of the old city. The tour guide gave us a tip about the Smith building with the distinctive pyramid top: it is only about 25' shorter than the Space Needle, historic, and the observation deck costs $7.50. We rode the historic elevator with a great elevator operator named Hamilton, and spent some time on top. Very impressive.

 

After our first port, we were a happy couple:

 

 

On Wednesday, we docked in Astoria to the sound of bagpipes from a local. Nice touch, Astoria! We continued our walking tradition and walked from the port to 17th and Grand, where a local couple has an old Victorian home they have restored and open for free tours (it is part of their commitment to the historic preservation of the building --- and opening it at least once per year is required to maintain their special historic preservation tax status). We found them to be friendly and had a great time learning a bit about one of Astoria's pre-eminent businessmen who built the house (the first in Astoria to have an indoor bathroom).

 

We visited the courthouse, which is a nice example of early 20th century architecture, and their city hall. We ended our day at the maritime museum, which is nice and on a par with most other maritime museums. I was surprised there wasn't more history about the Columbia River at first, but I realized it was all there ... they need some compelling story telling to bring the exhibits alive. The lightship Columbia, moored just outside, was a nice bonus to the museum and fascinating to explore.

 

 

 

 

Outside the museum, we asked a local volunteer about any pizza places close by ... my diet precludes pizza, but on vacation I splurge, and a local pizza place was the goal. He directed us to one close by, and hailed another volunteer when we couldn't fit on the trolley (which was packed to the gills, so to speak). The other volunteer had a 1926 Dodge Brothers sedan, all original but restored, and he gave us a ride. For free. You have to love a small town that sends bagpipers to greet a ship, and has townspeople open to helping the tourists.

[fshagan]

Thursday and Friday were sea days, but we never had a problem finding something to do. As we closed in on hour home port, we saw sealions, otters, sharks and some kind of big fish that was huge:

 

 

 

 

 

 

Over the course of the cruise we ate in the main dining rooms, the buffet in Moderno, the regular buffet and the Great Outdoors buffet. On one day, we ate the jerk chicken from the barbecue on the pool deck, and that was tasty. Food was typical of what you find on NCL.

 

For specialty restaurants, we tried Moderno and loved it. Very relaxed atmosphere with tasty food and very nice staff. Moderno features a rotating selection of meats brought to your table by servers; the lamb chops were good, the ribs OK, the bacon wrapped chicken very tasty, the pork a bit on the dry side by certainly acceptable, and the filet absolutely wonderful. Grilled pineapple was a favorite too.

 

Alas, Cagney's disappointed again. The service was simply bad. Cagney's has now started serving side dishes in little pots about 4" in diameter. The pots are probably designed to allow the servers to plate the sides. Or for some other reason I can't fathom. But cramming a 4 1/2" baked potato into a little pot is a little silly. My green beans had a few pieces of broccoli in them, and were cold. I thought perhaps the sides were sitting for a long time, as the baked potato was merely warm, and had trouble melting the butter after I pried it from the little pot so I could actually add the butter (once we actually got it ... it took four different inquiries to get the butter.)

 

Cagney's on the Sun is a frenetic, harried place, with rushed servers and unhappy customers. The food, which I used to consider on a par with the Outback Steakhouse (and not worth the $30 surcharge) is now below that standard with the little pots of sides (which we have deemed the "Chamber Pots of NCL"). Perhaps the Sun had a couple of employees out that evening, or something happened in the kitchen. But I doubt we will ever eat at Cagney's again, a sentiment we heard from several others on this cruise. Cagney's was the only low point of the cruise, and certainly did not ruin our evening.

 

Disembarkation on Saturday was easy, and fast. We enjoyed the Sun, and would not hesitate to sail her again. The larger balconies, the ease of getting around the ship, and the attentive staff are all pluses. In the future, on all NCL cruises, we will simply avoid Cagney's.

[Love my butler]

I agree. The Sun is a great ship with a great crew but NCL is sure cutting corners at Cagney's to save a nickel here and a dime there. I am guessing they use the little pots and just have them all prepared and ready to go all night. Probably under a weak heat lamp and then when they arrive at your table, poof, they are luke warm at best.

[Keith1010]

Thanks for your review.

 

Keith

[dobiemom]

Loved you review and pics. (Especially your first room at the Delta Suites. ;))

 

I was in San Pedro yesterday ("ship inspection" of the Crown Princess) and saw the NCL Sun there, but it was not embarking passengers. Could anyone tell me what was going on? TIA!

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Loved you review and pics. (Especially your first room at the Delta Suites. ;))

 

I was in San Pedro yesterday ("ship inspection" of the Crown Princess) and saw the NCL Sun there, but it was not embarking passengers. Could anyone tell me what was going on? TIA!

 

In typical Port of Los Angeles fashion, inspections delayed the removal of luggage from the ship by over 90 minutes. Once the bags were removed, everything went quickly. A staffer mentioned they got more inspections than normal. Folks were remarkably patient.

[don't-use-real-name]

A coastal cruise requiring all those lengthy inspections - what gives it was not

like a cruise up from the Mexican Riviera with potential drug smuggling ?

Oh your salmon importing was way over limits - it was supposed to be catch

and release ! LOL

OR just maybe they were doing you a favor delaying your escape to the 405

parking lot !

Disappointed that NCL changed the cruise stop of San Francisco for Seattle.

Originally planned - Vancouver - Astoria - San Francisco and Long Beach/San Pedro.

My first really big time cruise was on the Princess Golden Princess doing this

same routing adding a half day stop at Avalon, Santa Catalina island.

Missing San Francisco is real bummer and substituting Seattle NCL could

have given you a tender tour on the way passing thru !

 

Many Thanks for sharing your photos and commentary !

[DirtyDawg]

We were on the Pearl that did the same route the day before you. Did You tender in Astoria? If so how long was it to get back on the ship? Some people on our cruise waited over 2 hours! Did your crew get to go to Costco too? Many of our crew had the day off and they ALL seemed to have gone to Costco to load up munchies, pots and pans, and at least one weed-eater!

[Old & Retired]

We were on the Pearl that did the same route the day before you. Did You tender in Astoria? If so how long was it to get back on the ship? Some people on our cruise waited over 2 hours! Did your crew get to go to Costco too? Many of our crew had the day off and they ALL seemed to have gone to Costco to load up munchies, pots and pans, and at least one weed-eater!

 

Costco in Oregon is a crew favorite. No sales tax.

[DirtyDawg]

Costco in Oregon is a crew favorite. No sales tax.

 

Apparently it's a B.C. residents' favorite too. We saw more than a few cruisers carrying laptops and other Coscto branded products back on board with them. It's such a nice, quaint seaside town - who knew it was a shopping mecca too!

[fshagan]

How could you wait two hours to get back on the ship in Astoria? It was berthed at the dock so you could walk off. Maybe they were relying on the trolley and had to wait for it to come through not packed to the gills with people to get back to the dock?

 

We walked everywhere, and access off the ship and then back on took only a few seconds. The gangway was a bit steep so older folks had to take it slowly going back up, but other than that the Sun was very efficient at getting people on and off.

[DirtyDawg]

How could you wait two hours to get back on the ship in Astoria? It was berthed at the dock so you could walk off. Maybe they were relying on the trolley and had to wait for it to come through not packed to the gills with people to get back to the dock?

 

We walked everywhere, and access off the ship and then back on took only a few seconds. The gangway was a bit steep so older folks had to take it slowly going back up, but other than that the Sun was very efficient at getting people on and off.

 

We were tendered in the river. They docked at the pier to let people off but moved the ship to a spot about a mile up river from the museum. The tender boats docked by the museum and it took 25 minutes to get out to the ship. There was a Holland America ship that docked after us and remained at the pier for the day. It was a bit of a bummer but the Captain served up free Rum punch for an hour the next afternoon as a way to make it up to us!:D

[fshagan]

Its such a little used port I didn't even think about having two ships in town at the same time. I'll bet it just about overloaded the town!

[DirtyDawg]

Its such a little used port I didn't even think about having two ships in town at the same time. I'll bet it just about overloaded the town!

 

We managed to get on the Trolley (mainly to do something because the tender lineup was so long!) but it was just like the Tokyo subway at Rush Hour! That being said we could all hear the volunteer conductor's comments about the town and it's history. It was a great deal for $2! :D

 

The rest of the town was busy but not too overloaded.

Edited October 12, 2014 by DirtyDawg