Mitsugirly's extensive back to belly sun & sky review

[mitsugirly]

Up to Deck 7.

 

 

 

 

Since we are in the back of the ship (when I left off), I will start with the Stardust Lounge (since it is located on both 6 & 7).

 

 

A very pretty hanging chandelier light that has an opening from below where you can see it on either deck.

 

 

 

 

 

The lounge has purple seats...Sakari's favorite color and she screamed with excitement at this.

 

 

 

I liked how they had separate chairs down below instead of the stadium/movie theater chairs. It was a very nice added touch to see the tables in front of them and some leg space. You don't get very much leg space on most of the ships and this actually reminded me a little of the Carnival Dream (which had the tables in front and plenty of room to get around each other).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

Along the back of the second floor, they had some bar stools that sat at a long bar-like table.

 

 

 

A different perspective of looking up at the chandelier light.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

After walking out of the Stardust Lounge and down the hall, you will come to the Galleria Shop and Shopping Arcade.

 

I was fascinated by the ceiling (as you can tell since I took more pictures of it than the actual shopping). You will also notice that it's the first thing Sakari noticed and loved about the area as well.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Next up, the place I spend most of my time at and love to donate my money to....

 

The Sun Casino.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Once again, we are at the open atrium area with the glass elevators so time for more pictures of that area because you all know it's different looking down than looking up.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Then we have the Champagne Bar. This is where you can get premium champagne and vodka, caviar, pate, and foie gras (whatever that is). :confused: :eek: :p It says it holds 62 people.

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

At the end of the Champagne Bar is the hall for the Art Gallery. You will find art all over the ship (at least it seemed like it) for sale with information on it for the auction. I don't recall seeing so much art along hallways on the other ships as I did this ship (and the Sky).

 

You can tell, by the picture, that this is one of the side hallways on the side of the ship and it has a ramp instead of the 2 steps that you will find in the middle hallway leading to the elevators.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Just a few more pictures looking back at the atrium area before moving on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Now the next thing I'm still trying to understand.

 

This would be category OD, which is an ocean view room and category IF, which is an interior room.

 

They are located on Deck 6A, but accessible from deck 7 by stairs ONLY. There is NO elevator that will go down to this floor area. Weird I know!

 

It is called the Osto Deck.

 

I still can't figure out how this works though because there are cabins on the 6th floor, which would/should be in this area and yet these cabins are there as well? So how can you be standing on the 7th floor and walk down a flight of stairs (which would logically put you on the 6th floor) and there also be 6th floor rooms as well? Maybe I'm missing something. :confused:

 

I can't imagine anyone wanting to stay in these rooms and have absolutely no access to the elevator.

 

 

The steps leading down to the dungeon.

 

 

 

 

 

[Katie'sMom]

Thank you so much for your review. Started reading your reviews prior to my Getaway cruise. Love your spirit and awesome perspective! :)

[mitsugirly]

Last but not least on this floor...the Kids Korner/Splash Academy. Sakari's favorite place on the ship.

 

The kids can do art projects, play and run, play games, watch movies, play on the computer and much more.

 

There are always people on these boards that ask how the kids club is and while I don't have anything (other than Carnival) to compare it to (which I might add that Sakari hated and so did I), I think NCL has an AWESOME kids program. The structure every day with something different and it has a "theme" to it. One day you might find that it is "Pirate Day" and everything they do is pirate related. They made pirate hats, crafts, paint their faces like pirates and do a pirate parade around the ship singing songs and "hunting for the treasure". Another day could be the Prince and Princess Day and they do everything related to that. I just love their program and I know that Sakari begs to go there and fusses to leave, then begs to return as much as I try to give her options of things to do with us around the ship, she prefers to go there when she can.

 

Also, the counselors at the club are usually pretty awesome. They are not just people they hire off the streets to fill a position on the ship. These people have degrees all related in childhood development, child psychology, teaching and so on. They are A+ in my book. Enough said.

 

Now I knew ahead of time that this place was going to be a lot different than the design of your "normal" kids club area on the other ships and it was pretty cute with the stairs, being at the front of the ship, 2 story ceilings and the skylights. Then there's the round peep ship holes for the parents to peak in to this "parent free zone" from the hallway. Pretty darn cool I tell ya!

 

 

The hallway with the peep holes:

 

 

 

 

 

 

The bulletin board with the activities.

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

The entrance into the club...down the steps you go.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Another neat thing that NCL started doing a few years back was a Circus show. The kids can practice during the week different skills/tricks and then on the last sea day, they put on a show in the theater for the parents and anyone who wants to come. They are devided up into age groups and do a skill that they learned. It's pretty cute.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Across the hall from the 3-5 and the 6-11 is it??? Is the teen club. I didn't go in and just took this picture from the hallway.

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Thank you so much for your review. Started reading your reviews prior to my Getaway cruise. Love your spirit and awesome perspective! :)

 

 

Thanks so much for coming in and reading this review. I'm glad you like them. More to come. :)

[mitsugirly]

So that completes Deck 7. I'm done for the night and need to get in bed. I don't work tomorrow (but do have an interview), so I will probably be able to spend a little more time getting more of the review done.

 

Thanks to everyone that has joined in and are enjoying my review. :)

[hpecorari]

Then we have the Champagne Bar. This is where you can get premium champagne and vodka, caviar, pate, and foie gras (whatever that is). :confused: :eek: :p It says it holds 62 people.

 

Foie gras is duck or goose liver - and I, for one, love it! Was there a charge for this? Not the vodka, but the pate and foie gras? Thanks!

 

Harriet

Edited November 26, 2014 by hpecorari

[destaw7182]

The ship looks like it is in excellent condition. As usual, your pictures are amazing.

 

I didn't know that the Sun had a 2-story atrium. The only other NCL ship I've been on is the Pearl and I guess I assumed that all of NCL's fleet lacked the big atriums. This was definitely nice to see.

 

Keep it coming please! Good luck on your interview.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[mitsugirly]

Foie gras is duck or goose liver - and I, for one, love it! Was there a charge for this? Not the vodka, but the pate and foie gras? Thanks!

 

Harriet

 

Oh my, REAL duck or goose liver? :confused: I don't know if there is a charge for it since I don't usually go to those bars and was just quoting from their site what is available there. Do they normally not charge for that?

 

The ship looks like it is in excellent condition. As usual, your pictures are amazing.

 

I didn't know that the Sun had a 2-story atrium. The only other NCL ship I've been on is the Pearl and I guess I assumed that all of NCL's fleet lacked the big atriums. This was definitely nice to see.

 

Keep it coming please! Good luck on your interview.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

:confused: Not sure where you got that the Sun only has a 2-story atrium? I'm confused. So far I have showed decks 5, 6 and 7 and they are all open with the glass elevators going up to deck 11. :p

 

Yes, the Jewel class ships (Jewel, Pearl and Gem) all have only the 2-story atrium.

 

If you worded that wrong and meant that you thought all of NCL's ship ONLY have a 2-story atrium and are looking for the bigger atrium ships, the Spirit, Dawn, and Star also have the atrium's that go all the way up to the top of the ship with glass elevators. :D

 

The newer ships (like Epic, Getaway and so on don't have atrium's that go all the way to the top, but they do have several floors open as well. :)

[hpecorari]

Oh my, REAL duck or goose liver? :confused: I don't know if there is a charge for it since I don't usually go to those bars and was just quoting from their site what is available there. Do they normally not charge for that?

 

Yes, real duck or goose liver. It is cooked, not raw. LOL Sometimes served as a pate. I don't know if they charge for it or not since I've never been on any other NCL ship that served it at a bar. Sure would like to know, though.

 

Harriet

[mitsugirly]

Now we will take you up to the 11th floor (since the rest of the floors are just rooms).

 

We will start with the front as you get out of the elevators.

 

 

 

You will have the Spa & Salon with the Sauna & Steam rooms on one side (which I did not go to or get pictures up...sorry, I completely forgot) and on the other side is the Aerobics and Fitness Center.

 

"Norwegians like to stay fit" (Not this Norwegian, this Norwegian likes to eat!!!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Laszlo]

Keep um coming, can't wait to see the pool deck and upper forward deck!

[yukongold]

Enjoying the pics.

[mitsugirly]

As you walk out the door, you have the pool deck area.

 

You have the dance floor and stage, which is where they will hold numerous events like the sail away, White Hot party and so on. This area will also have plenty of live bands playing during the days and transforms into a beautiful array of colors in the evenings to light everything up.

 

 

 

 

 

There's a clock out there...just in case you lose track of time. (I myself am on "cruise" time and could care less). :D

 

 

 

Immediately to your right, as you walk out of the door is your smoking area. It's very small and over flows down the line on most days because there are more smokers than tables and chairs.

 

 

Now I will take a moment to talk about this "smoking" issue and the new rules. I'm not here to ruffle any feathers or get a debate started, just stating the facts and things that I learned on the cruise.

 

Yes, I am a smoker and have been for many many years (hanging head in shame). I was raised in a family, back in the 60's when everyone smoked and it was the "cool" thing to do. My entire family smoked and I picked up the habit. I am not proud of it, and know it's a bad habit, but non-the-less a habit that's hard to break. Have I broke the habit before? Yes. It wasn't easy. I hope to do it again, but who knows. With that being said, I'm also a very polite and conscious smoker as well. Even if I'm in a smoking section, I make sure I'm not blowing smoke in someone's face, I'm waving it out of the way, I won't smoke around others that don't smoke and even when in places like the casino, if there's not someone smoking beside me, I won't smoke either. I have also been known to put it out if someone comes along and sits beside me that is not smoking (just because I don't know if they do or not).

 

Now, the new "rules", effective Nov 1st of this year is that you can no longer smoke on your balcony in the rooms. Did this effect me? No. I'm use to not smoking in the room since I have "normally" booked an interior and I go outside to smoke at home, so really there's no difference for me. I would much rather go outside to smoke in the Caribbean than at home in the snow. No complaints from me! (Well, I guess the only complaint is that I can't do it in my sleepwear...that would offend a few people!) LOL

 

I found the only smoking places on the ship was in this small area on the pool deck (11), on the aft across the entire deck on 12 and the casino. If there's more, I missed it.

 

Now let's talk about this small area on 11. I have already told you that there's more smokers than spaces. So, you get people crammed in there standing or flowing over on down the line. My only gripe about this place is...people that were smokers would come there and sit and never move. It was their hangout spot and not just that, they would hold a table (kinda like chair hogging) and go get their meals and bring it back to the table and eat taking up space. I mean come on, go eat your meal and THEN come to the area to smoke. No need to be taking up all the space the entire time. I consider these people inconsiderate!

 

I also did talk to other smokers who said that they WERE still smoking on their balconies and that if you came out on your balcony during the night and looked in any direction, you would see hands hanging over the railing with a lit cigarette in it. One guy I spoke with said he's not only still smoking at his balcony, but he's putting his cigarettes in a cup of water and the room steward empties it every day for him (so they obviously know). I'm sorry, but there are rules for a reason and those that break the rules are what makes it hard on the rest of us that abide by the rules and give us all a bad rep.

 

I also found people smoking while sun bathing...anywhere no matter what deck.

 

One last thing on smoking...the area that they have on deck 11 is right in front of a glass wall that is the fitness center. There was a lady that worked out in there every day and we would see her come in, look at everyone and go around closing the blinds to the place. By the next to last day of the cruise, this is what the smoking section looked like:

 

 

Notice it's gone? (It's the area just where the lounge chairs are stacked up). Well, according to the story, she complained about working out and having to look at the unhealthy people smoking and they picked up and moved the ENTIRE section to the other side. REALLY??? All it took was 1 person complaining about having to see it and they move the entire thing? My thoughts: how many years have the non-smokers been complaining about smoking on the balconies and how long did it take to stop that? Then this? I would be real interested in knowing if it's still on that side or if they moved it back. It was just weird.

 

Ok enough about smoking and on with the tour.