Thoughts from the Sun 1/4/15, on top of the Mayan world!

[noche_caliente]

Hi everyone. I've finally settled back into my normal post-cruise life enough that I can begin on my review of our cruise aboard the Sun, 1/4/15.

Details about the cruise:

We boarded in Tampa, FL and had ports of call in Roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize, Costa Maya, Mexico, and Cozumel, Mexico.

We sailed in Forward Penthouse Suite, 9003.

On this trip were my husband (40), my son (9), and my daughter (4), along with me, (34). Joining us in a balcony cabin 9013 were my inlaws (68 and 63).

 

Disclaimer: This review is written from my point of view and my experiences. A bit about me that will help you see my point of view. I am a high school teacher. And I'm an introvert. I'm also a summer baby and grew up on the water. I cruise to get away from people and be able to reconnect with the sea. I am perfectly content to spend a sea day sitting on my balcony or even in my stateroom just reading a book. We don't care much for the belly flop contests or the sexy legs contests. We don't go to the shows, we don't leave our kids in the kids' club very often. We don't eat fancy foods and dine in the main dining room for dinner because it's easier that way. I am a laid-back cruiser who goes on the ships to relax.

When I'm in port, I love to explore. I've had skin cancer twice before I was 30, so I'm not much of a beach person but I do try to fit in at least one beach day.

I should also add that I've worked hard to lose weight over the past 10 months. I lost 38 lbs and 25.5 inches so far. Because of this, I am selective of what I eat and I worked out most of the days on the ship. I also don't take may pictures of my food. So no food porn here with only one exception.

 

So anyway, that's me, my family, and what we like. I'll be back shortly with our pre-cruise information and then on to the ship!

Edited January 22, 2015 by noche_caliente

[DMH15]

Hi everyone. I've finally settled back into my normal post-cruise life enough that I can begin on my review of our cruise aboard the Sun, 1/4/15.

Details about the cruise:

We boarded in Tampa, FL and had ports of call in Roatan, Honduras, Belize City, Belize, Costa Maya, Mexico, and Cozumel, Mexico.

We sailed in Forward Penthouse Suite, 9003.

On this trip were my husband (40), my son (9), and my daughter (4), along with me, (34). Joining us in a balcony cabin 9013 were my inlaws (68 and 63).

 

Disclaimer: This review is written from my point of view and my experiences. A bit about me that will help you see my point of view. I am a high school teacher. And I'm an introvert. I'm also a summer baby and grew up on the water. I cruise to get away from people and be able to reconnect with the sea. I am perfectly content to spend a sea day sitting on my balcony or even in my stateroom just reading a book. We don't care much for the belly flop contests or the sexy legs contests. We don't go to the shows, we don't leave our kids in the kids' club very often. We don't eat fancy foods and dine in the main dining room for dinner because it's easier that way. I am a laid-back cruiser who goes on the ships to relax.

When I'm in port, I love to explore. I've had skin cancer twice before I was 30, so I'm not much of a beach person but I do try to fit in at least one beach day.

I should also add that I've worked hard to lose weight over the past 10 months. I lost 38 lbs and 25.5 inches so far. Because of this, I am selective of what I eat and I worked out most of the days on the ship. I also don't take may pictures of my food. So no food porn here with only one exception.

 

So anyway, that's me, my family, and what we like. I'll be back shortly with our pre-cruise information and then on to the ship!

I love reading reviews from various perspectives. Looking forward to it.

[noche_caliente]

So, we decided to drive to Tampa from Virginia. We put all 6 of us in a rental minivan with just enough room for our luggage. We left on Friday, 1/2 to be sure that we could make it down and have plenty of buffer in case there was bad weather, traffic etc.

The drive was supposed to tak 10.5 hours without stops, but with all the stops we needed to make with 2 kids and 2 grandparents.... and then the car accident on I95, it took 13.5 hours. The accident was really upsetting to me, as it was very recent when we passed, and there was an SUV that obviously had a young girl in the car. See, when we drove past, there was a little girl's doll trapped between the door and the frame of the car, half in and half out. The SUV had rolled... I sent up a prayer for the family and hope that everyone was ok.

Despite all the delays, we finally arrived. We chose to stay in the Courtyard Tampa Downtown. We had a king suite that had 2 rooms, with a sofa bed in the living room. Here, lets let some pictures do the talking:

The view from the door:

IMG_6242 by vthokieche, on Flickr

Behind that curtain is a balcony!

IMG_6243 by vthokieche, on Flickr

IMG_6253 by vthokieche, on Flickr

The master bedroom:

IMG_6244 by vthokieche, on Flickr

IMG_6245 by vthokieche, on Flickr

IMG_6246 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

Behind the headboard is the dressing area, and on the other side of the wall to the right of that last pic with the mirror is the living room area.

[CTCruiser001]

Following: Thanks for doing a review!

 

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I497 using Forums mobile app

[noche_caliente]

The dressing area and closet:

IMG_6247 by vthokieche, on Flickr

IMG_6248 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

The bathroom:

IMG_6249 by vthokieche, on Flickr

IMG_6250 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

The view from the balcony!

IMG_6252 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

We also had a roll-away bed brought in, as there were 6 of us staying in the room.

 

Thoughts about the room:

 

*The furnishing were really nice, and the main bed was very comfortable.

 

*The sofa bed was really small, like somewhere just a bit bigger than a twin, but not quite full. The impression from my inlaws was that it wasn't very comfortable, and you could feel the frame through the thin mattress.

 

*My son reported that the roll-away was about the same as the sofa bed.

 

*The hotel itself was in a great location, but parking was pricey. It was right off of 275. There were several restaurants and even a local organic corner store within walking distance.

 

*They also had a neat filtered water station and bagged ice near the elevator on our floor. I imagine the others would be the same. We were on 6, in the corner.

 

*The rooms were spacious, with plenty of room to move around, even with the sofa bed out and the roll-away in the room. Unfortunately, the roll away will only fit in the living room. We chose to leave it by the door so my father in law could easily get on the balcony. This left plenty of space for the kids to play. In the bedroom, I was able to complete P90X3 workouts each night without any trouble.

 

*The fridge in the room did a nice job of keeping water cold, and my inlaws were pleased with the coffee.

 

*They had Paul Mitchell Awapuhi shampoo! That was fun for the hubs and I as we both remember using it as kids :) I always thought the name was super silly.

 

*There was a lot of street noise that would come up. It seemed like lots of Harleys would zoom up and down the side street at all hours of the night. I don't know if it would have been quieter in a different location of the hotel, but I doubt it.

 

*The hotel parking was around the back of the hotel. We shared a courtyard with the residence inn, and parking was across from them.

 

*I had Shakeology for breakfast on embarkation day, but the family headed down and purchased breakfast in the hotel. It was a little expensive, but they reported that it was really good.

 

I think that's all my thoughts on the hotel. Next up is our pre-cruise day in Tampa. Before we get into that, are the pics ok? The font?

[russianmom]

Great start!

 

Sounds like my perfect vacation-reading and relaxing on the balcony. I can't wait to read the rest. 24 days until my turn!

[suzieq2cruise]

Here I am and I also love different perspectives. We, too, tend to spend more time in our room than many cruisers... Also, understand the food choosiness so truly looking forward to your notes and review. Suzie

[noche_caliente]

Sorry for the delay! I had to coach last night and try to make it to a cub scout event. It was a really packed day and I was exhausted. Today was filled with excitement as we had an early release due to "weather" that hasn't done much. I hope to continue tomorrow. While there doesn't seem to be much interest, I'd like to continue for those who are following along.

[DMH15]

The Sun. Ah, my favorite. I will continue along. :)

[coscab]

We will be back on the Sun in March, looking forward to more of your great review!!

[orangepawlady]

Looking forward to your review!

[russianmom]

I'm still here!

[noche_caliente]

Saturday morning we were up and about early because we had plans to go see Winter and Hope! That’s right, the stars of Dolphin Tale and Dolphin Tale 2 were waiting for us at the Clearwater Marine Aquarium. We had made arrangements to participate in the Dolphin Adventure Tour. From the CMA website (http://www.seewinter.com/dolphin-adventure-tour), here is the description of the tour:

“Join us aboard our Catamaran “Nicholas’ Journey” to be a part of our Wild Dolphin Research Program and help us study our local dolphin population! Our Program is entirely funded by guests who join our field biologists each day on the Dolphin Adventure Tours.

Last August, Clearwater Marine Aquarium initiated a photo identification study to document the lives of the bottlenose dolphin population of Clearwater Bay and Clearwater Harbor. To date, our field biologists have identified and cataloged more than 80 dolphins using pictures taken of their dorsal fins.

As we tour Clearwater Bay’s estuary system you will:

• Learn about members of our local dolphin population

• Learn what it takes to be Dolphin SMART

• Be a part of our mission and help us protect and preserve our marine environment as we study its inhabitants

• Play Bird Bingo and identify birds of prey and wading birds including, osprey, ibis, egrets, great blue herons, pelicans and more

• Conduct onboard water quality tests and plankton tows

• Kids can participate in our Jr. Marine Biologist Program while on board

Receive a complimentary photo of your expedition!

Time: Weekdays 11:30am

Weekends 11:00am and 1:30pm

Prices:

Adults $32.95

Seniors (60+) $28.95

Children (3-12) $21.95

Space: Limited to 40 participants per trip.

Reservations are required, but walk-ins available if the trip is not already full. For further information, call us at (727) 441-1790 ext.0.”

 

We left Tampa, grabbed some breakfast at Hardee’s, and headed west to Clearwater and CMA. The drive took about 30 minutes, but it was very enjoyable and scenic. We arrived at CMA just a few minutes after opening, and had an enjoyable time in the aquarium for about and hour and a half with minimal crowds. We got to see Winter and Hope, Nicholas, the numerous seat turtles, sting rays, otters, nurse sharks, and other animals there for care or rehabilitation. We also listened to some of the talks, got to see and hold some of Winter’s prosthetic tails, and just generally learned a good deal about the mission and successes of CMA. IT was also very nice because of the limited number of other visitors. We would find later that the crowds had increased quite a bit.

 

At about 10:45 we met outside for the tour on Nicholas’ Journey.

DSCF0190 by vthokieche, on Flickr

We headed out to look for dolphins. Now I didn’t expect to actually see dolphins, because that’s just my luck. I never get to see animals on these types of things. So onto the catamaran we go. The staff explained to us about how they’ve been documenting the local dolphin population, and they’ve identified over 80 different dolphins in the area. At this point, I thought our odds were looking better to actually see some dolphins. The water was a bit choppy because of the winds that morning, so that made spotting dolphins a little tougher to spot. We saw some different sea birds, and eventually someone shouted and pointed… sure enough, we saw some dolphins! It was the most breathtaking thing ever! We saw three different dolphins including Callie and her calf. It was so sweet to see a mama with her baby! Our guides were telling us that it’s been really fun to watch the baby grow and how Callie would let her get farther away as she grows. They kept circling the boat, and it really seemed like they were playing with us. They would appear on one side, circle around and come to the other side and then back to the first. It was just so unique and enjoyable.

 

Here are some of the better pics I got. The fist one is Callie and her baby breaching right between Callie and the boat.

S0040053 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

S0060060 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

S0090079 by vthokieche, on Flickr

[noche_caliente]

Now, the experience was made all the more enjoyable because CMA practices being Dolphin SMART.

While the dolphins were playing around the boat, the captain cut the engine and put a microphone in the water. We could hear the dolphins communicating a bit, but also how load the boat engines of even distant boats were. After the dolphins decided to move on, we went and collected some data to help with ongoing research projects for CMA. As a chemistry teacher, I really enjoyed those aspects of it, but what made it better was that they had the kids on board help with the collection and recording of the data.

 

A note about Dolphin Interactions. I’ve done the dolphin encounter at Chankanaab in the past. At the time, I thought it was pretty spectacular, but I had a lot of reservations about supporting a program that keeps dolphins in captivity. While they claim that all of their dolphins were born in captivity through a breeding program, it still just feels wrong to me. Could you imagine being restricted to your house for your entire life forced to interact with people when you don’t really want to? It just feels wrong to me. Yes, I had fun, and the experience was unforgettable, but it felt wrong at the same time.

 

Contrasting my prior experience at Chankanaab with this adventure on Nicholas’ Journey at CMA, and there is no comparison. It was so much more exhilarating to see the dolphins in their natural environment, swimming free, playing with our boat and happy.

 

After the tour, we returned to the aquarium to get our free photo souvenir. They of course would try to sell you different pics where you pose in front of a green screen, but they were quite pricey. You could get them on a super-cute Hope or Winter USB key though… I think I will budget for this in the future, but it was a little more than I was willing to spend this trip. I want to say it was like $10/pic or so. My kids and inlaws also took advantage of the snack bar to grab some water and sodas. I don’t know what the cost was, but they did have Pepsi products. They also had things like hot dogs, chips, dill pickles, ice cream… I moved on to the gift shop and surprised my kids with a couple of stuffed animals that they had begged for earlier, and also a book about Winter, Hope, and Panama.

 

We got to walk through the viewing area where the staff cares for many of the veterinary needs of the animals. That was pretty awesome too, as they had a sea turtle in as a patient earlier in the day. I will say that when we returned from the tour on Nicholas’ Journey, it was quite busy at CMA and very crowded. Since our tickets included admission to Winter’s Dolphin Tale Adventure, we headed over on the trolley. This is a second site dedicated to the movies and has memorabilia from the movies and actual pieces of the set and props. The crowds over here were much smaller. We walked around a bit, saw some video scenes paired with props, went through the hurricane experience, played some carnival games, and decided we were tired and wanted to head back. I should note they also had a snack bar and gift shop over here. These were much less crowded. I would suggest waiting until you get to Winter’s Dolphin Tale Adventure if you wish to grab a snack or something from the gift shop.

 

Prior to heading over on the trolley we asked about parking over at the other site and they said it was very limited. I wish we had taken our chances, as traffic returning to CMA was very heavy and it added almost an hour to our excursion. Because traffic on the bridge back towards CMA was at a standstill, we waited another half hour to board a catamaran similar to Nicholas’ Journey to get back to CMA. Since we had such a long wait ahead of us, and because it was only a block away, I headed to Starbucks to get a mocha frappuccino! We had hoped to see more dolphins on the way back, but no such luck. However, the ride was still quite peaceful, and all too soon we were back at CMA. We headed toward the van and back towards Tampa. On the way we stopped at a Chic-Fil-A for lunch to take back to the hotel. Sadly, it was almost 4 pm by the time we were settled back in the room and eating.

[noche_caliente]

After all that excitement, the kids and grandparents were wiped out. The hubs and I decided to head back out to make sure we could find our way to the port and parking lot for the Parking Doctors, and also head out to get some bottled water for the cruise. As I drink over a gallon of water each day, we wanted to be sure to not have to pay ship’s prices for it. We had a nice time without the kids, wandered a quite nice Target, passed the hotel to be sure we could get to the port without problem in the morning, and finally headed back in.

 

At this point I popped in P90X3 for the LAST workout of the program and enjoyed some chocolate Shakeology for dinner. The hubs went around the corner to Dominos to get a pizza for the kids and grandparents, and then we packed back up to get ready to board the Sun in the morning.

 

Whew! That was one LONG write-up, and that’s just the pre-cruise day! Up next, The Parktologists, boarding the Sun, and our first adventures!

[coscab]

We always park at the pier, thinking about parkology to save a few$$, thanks for the review so far.

[OUgal]

Enjoying your review. My family and I will be on the Jewel in March and will be visiting many of the same ports as your cruise. I'm looking forward to reading about any excursions you did while in port.

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[retiring soon]

HI all!

 

Enjoying your review & look forward to hearing more about the Sun.

You're off to a great start!

 

~ Jo ~:)

[Charlie4]

looking forward to more

[dobiemom]

Thanks for taking the time to do this. Looking forward to more... especially about the ship itself (I will be on her this October).

[noche_caliente]

{ Cruise Day 1 }

The day we were eagerly anticipating was finally here! It was time for us to board the ship and begin the cruise, the pampering, the relaxation… but first we had to get to the ship. Everyone was up early without the need for an alarm. We were all excited to get to the ship. I used my travel blender to make my morning meal of Shakeology, and the family headed down to the hotel lobby for breakfast. Everyone came back up, but it was only 9AM, yet we were ready to go! So we sat around for a few minutes, and then decided to go ahead and hit the road. We had some bag shuffling to do, we needed to get some things in to the bags for the ship and leave things in the rental van from the hotel. And, my FIL is a bit slow moving, so we wanted a bit of an extra time cushion.

 

Off we go, following the route we travelled the day before, with no stress as it was already familiar. We arrived just after 10 I think at the Parking Doctors. Check in was fairly smooth once he returned from picking cruisers up at the pier. He directed us where to park (conveniently in the corner next to a fence which left only 1 car beside us) and said he would return shortly to pick us up with the luggage to take to the pier. Now, this is where the complaint comes in. The site suggests that they have restrooms available in the lobby. My father-in-law badly had to go, but they weren’t allowing him in the lobby. The guy claimed that those employees weren’t in yet. Now this makes no sense to me, as someone had obviously been inside to bring out a table and list of existing reservations. And what if someone who was leaving needed to go? This part was a bit unacceptable to me. When you gotta go, you gotta go. I feel like they were just wanting to run the shuttles. However, FIL could have been in and out in the time it took to load the luggage, so this left me with a bad taste.

 

After about 20 mins we were loaded up and on our way to the pier in the back of a very nice Suburban. We had a porter very eagerly take our luggage, but he informed us that they could not take bottled water! WHAT? This was the first I had heard of this at the port of Tampa. This put a bit of a kink in our plans, as we had 2 cases and the inlaws had 1. We had stuck a luggage tag on them and were planning to send them in with the luggage. No biggie, we just put them on top of the rolling carry-on and tried to move on. MIL was struggling and dumped hers a couple of times, but we finally made it upstairs to security. We quickly passed through and were in the terminal ready to check in. After a delay for FIL to find the restroom while we filled out the health forms, we made it to the check-in counter. We went to the priority check-in area, but sent the inlaws to fend for themselves as there were maybe 4 folks at the counters, and it seemed like it would be faster that way. Once we were checked in, we were escorted to the priority lounge area which was just an area screened off from the main area. We met Patrick, and he allowed the inlaws to sit with us and extended boarding to them. We indicated that we knew they would to be able to join us for lunch. Much to our surprise, he said they could dine with us in La Cucina!

We got our first views of the Sun and sat down to enjoy the snacks provided to us. There were various fruits as well as some finger sandwiches.

IMG_6255 by vthokieche, on Flickr

It was about 10:45 when we began our wait, but time seemed to pass quickly and around 11:30 we were ready to board! Our first views of the ship as boarding through the gangway:

IMG_6257 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

Once on board we headed down one flight of stairs (there was an elevator a bit away for those who needed it) and we arrived at La Cucina.

IMG_6258 by vthokieche, on Flickr

We were seated and began to take a look at the menu:

IMG_6262 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

The kids menu was also available. This would be the same menu at all locations for lunch and dinner throughout the ship.

IMG_6263 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

I had the turkey burger which was amazing. Sorry, I’m no usually in the habit of taking photos of my food or really noting from one day to another what I ate. They only stand out if they are really good or really bad.

 

Once we finished lunch, we headed on up to our rooms. I don’t know if they were officially ready, but no one stopped us. We met our steward, Kelly, and butler, Randy very quickly. Amazingly, they had already been studying and knew our names when we arrived. After taking quite a few pictures of the suite, we decided to head out on the ship for a tour prior to muster.

 

Along the way we took a bad pic of the inlaw’s rom, 9013.

IMG_6265 by vthokieche, on Flickr

[noche_caliente]

So, our room. We were in forward penthouse suite, 9003. We loved it. I will let the pictures do the talking. Sorry, some of them are a bit over-exposed, but you get a good idea of the room from them.

IMG_6267 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6268 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6269 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6270 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6271 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6295 by vthokieche, on Flickr

[noche_caliente]

The bathroom:

IMG_6272 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6291 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

Turning around a looking into the dressing/closet area:

IMG_6273 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6292 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6293 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6294 by vthokieche, on Flickr

[noche_caliente]

And towards the room:

IMG_6274 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6275 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

There was a shower in the tub, AND a stand-alone shower. I tried both ;) but preferred the one in the tub, as it had more room, more light, and felt less claustrophobic.

IMG_6276 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6290 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6277 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

 

[noche_caliente]

IMG_6278 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6279 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6280 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6281 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

And the balcony! I really enjoyed sitting out on the loungers. However, with the metal sides, when seated you couldn’t see the sea to well with my vertical impairment anyway…

IMG_6282 by vthokieche, on Flickr

 

IMG_6283 by vthokieche, on Flickr