Norwegian Sun Weekend Cruise Review June 22 thru 25th

[Georgia_Peaches]

Hello all,

 

I'm just back from a quick cruise on the Sun and wanted to share my review of the experience.

Background: avid cruiser mostly on Celebrity and usually in a suite. This was my second cruise on Norwegian with the first being last Thanksgiving on the Epic.

After having read some negative reviews of the Sun following a Panama Canal debacle, I wasn't quite sure what to expect. The price for this weekend get-away with my mother was right, so I opted to throw caution to the wind and take my chances on the Sun. I'm really glad I did!!

Embarkation in Port Canaveral was exceptionally smooth. We parked the car at the pier at 12:15 and were seated in the MDR for lunch with wine in hand by 1 PM. This was a vast improvement over our Thanksgiving experience which took several hours to complete the embarkation process resulting in a delayed departure. But I digress...Lunch was quite good and set the bar high for future meals in the MDR. More later...

At around 1:30 an announcement was made indicating our cabin was ready. We were on deck 10, cabin 0001. Our location was at the end of the hall but close to the midship elevators. It was a very quiet location and our neighbor was the ship's First Officer. This is a standard balcony room and is quite compact. As I mentioned, I usually opt for a suite but since it was such a short cruise, I went for the standard balcony. The cabin was very clean and comfortable. The bathroom is small but sported one of the best showers I've had on a cruise ship in a while! Water pressure was amazing! Since I was traveling with my DM, we had the beds separated with the night table in between. This made for very little walking space near the closet...but we managed with no problem at all. There was plenty of storage and outlets/charging ports conveniently located at the vanity table and near the bed lamps. This was a great improvement over Epic, whose outlets are hidden in a cabinet and require the use of an extension cord (which I brought but didn't need). John was our cabin steward. He was probably the most impersonal steward I've ever encountered. I asked him for a refill of coffee filters and ended up having to help myself to some on the steward's cart as I passed one in the hallway...John never replenished them. I also asked John about our complimentary sparkling wine which was supposed to be waiting in our stateroom. He told me to contact bar service for this as it was not in his purview. I never did, as we had a drink package and didn't really need it anyway. But it would have been nice to have as a Bronze tier member, it was supposed to have been included.

We explored the ship and found it to be very clean and new. With the recent refurbishment, new carpets and updated furniture could be found in all public areas of the ship. The color scheme is a soothing blue and quite complimentary to the wood and glass accents. We found bar service to be plentiful and speedy and I was happy to see that the standard liquors were mid to top shelf labels. My only complaint here is the use of Pepsi products over Coke...I'm a Georgia girl through and through and Pepsi simply will not do ;-( After reading several threads prior to embarkation regarding the discontinuation of straws, I planned ahead and brought my own. But sometimes I forgot the straw, and really didn't miss it like I thought I would.

We didn't see any shows as our nightly entertainment was spent in the casino. The casino is small but adequate and comfortable. There was a fair give and take with the slots which allowed me to play for a long time without breaking the bank. I've been on plenty of ships where the slots are very tight. I didn't find that to be the case at all. It was also nice that the casino was open while the ship tendered for the private island beach day. We didn't go ashore as we had the casino all to ourselves!

We only ate in the MDR or the buffet line for lunch. MDR food was just average. A food critic I am not, but I know what I like and the evening meals left a lot to be desired. They always started off good with tasty appetisers and soups, but went down hill by the time the entre arrived. Still, I didn't go hungry but the food was not the highlight of the trip.

Norwegian Sun pros in a nutshell...

• very friendly and attentive staff (except for John)
  
• clean and attractive public areas
  
• quiet stateroom, clean, and lots of storage
  
• quick bar service
  
• small ship but never felt too crowded
  
• smooth embarkation/disembarkation...one of the best experiences ever!
  
• speedy luggage delivery
  
• nice live music in the main foyer
  

Norwegian Sun cons in a nutshell...

• cabin steward was a downer
  
• no Coke products
  
• fair to poor dinner food in the MDR
  
• no sparkling wine as a Bronze member
  

With far more pros than cons, I would consider the Sun again for a quick weekend get-away or maybe even to check out Cuba. And maybe next time, we'll try one of the specialty dining venues...just to see.

 

Christina

[JCDCA]

Did you not get off the ship at all? The private island is probably the highlight of the short weekend cruises (as far as ports go).

[Georgia_Peaches]

Did you not get off the ship at all? The private island is probably the highlight of the short weekend cruises (as far as ports go).

Yep, I forgot to mention the we got off the ship in Nassau and took a taxi to Atlantis on Paradise Island. My DM had never been and wanted to check it out. As for the beach scene, I'd be all for it if we didn't have to tender in order to get there. With so little time on this quick trip, we didn't want to waste it on waiting for our turn to tender. I'm sure it very nice, though.

[bostongal965]

The reason you didn't get the complimentary sparkling wine is that most Latitudes benefits don't apply to cruises under 5 days.

 

Glad you had a good cruise otherwise!

[NayRN]

The reason you didn't get the complimentary sparkling wine is that most Latitudes benefits don't apply to cruises under 5 days.

 

Glad you had a good cruise otherwise!

 

 

Very true! I’m Platinum+ and just completed a 5-day on the Sun....no Latitude benefits!

[Georgia_Peaches]

Very true! I’m Platinum+ and just completed a 5-day on the Sun....no Latitude benefits!

Good to know...I'm too new to Norwegian to know all of the quirks...but makes sense.