Why no Sun posts

[Elawies]

I have been haunting this site for some time to hear from Sun sailors, and they have been very sparse. Why are Sun sailors not posting reviews, roll calls, etc. We are sailing on 10/13, to Mexican Riviera, and I have not been able to pick up on information from previous Sun travelers. Here and there, a few pictures, but for some reason Sun travelers are shy. It is either very great, or awful. Please share your experiences. I promise when we get back to write a review for all you other Sun travelers who are also waiting. :) Elawies

[weloverunning]

Elawies; There are 16 reviews from Sun passengers since July in the review section. There are roll calls for the 4 sailings of the Sun to the Mexican Riviera before the Sun heads down to South America for the winter. There is a current thread running "live from the Sun", but since this is the first cruise since the Sun left Alaska there isn't much feedback yet.

[retiredonthesea]

Nothing to complain about the Sun. One of our most fun cruises last Oct. over Halloween. Suite AC 0065 one of our most favorite suites of all the NCL ships we have been on. Like the size not too big not too small, crew great, entertainment enjoyable, food---enjoyed it. All in all we love the SUN!!!!:D

[lanceholt]

We were on the Sun to the Western Caribbean in January and had a fabulous time. Great ship, great service, you will have a ball!

[kruzinRiva]

Elawies --

 

I just found this post and believe me -- I agree with you! I have been very frustrated trying to find Sun related posts, reviews and pictures. Try doing a search on this forum and you will find some. And have you tried the member reviews section? Quite a few there, too. Be sure to read the "Live from the Sun" thread, if you haven't yet -- it's great! (I think by 'Ron and Kristy' but I'm not sure that's the screen name)

 

I won't be sailing the Sun until next March so I will be of no help but I am eagerly awaiting your thoughts when you return. Only a week away for you!!! I'm so excited for you (and jealous) -- have a great time!! We just got back from a quickie Baja trip and it was wonderful but I'm ready to go again already!

 

Becca

[newmexicoNita]

I have been haunting this site for some time to hear from Sun sailors, and they have been very sparse. Why are Sun sailors not posting reviews, roll calls, etc. We are sailing on 10/13, to Mexican Riviera, and I have not been able to pick up on information from previous Sun travelers. Here and there, a few pictures, but for some reason Sun travelers are shy. It is either very great, or awful. Please share your experiences. I promise when we get back to write a review for all you other Sun travelers who are also waiting. :) Elawies

Please do, I don't know why people don't write reviews after their Sun sailing. I know most everyone who sails her loves her...

 

Nita

[IWORK2CRUISE]

Hi all,

I previously posted the answers below:

Quote:

Originally Posted by rpbcouple

Hi Everyone: I was envious of all of you two weeks ago when you were leaving and I was still home. However, now its us leaving in 9 days. I have a few questions for you:

Did they have an ironing special the day you got on board?

yes (50% off?)

Did they have a mid-cruise bag of laundry special and if so, do you happen to know which day and how long it took to get the items back?

The laundry special was offered twice. $19.99 for a stuffed bag left out in the morning and returned by 6pm the next day. I think the offer was on days 5 and 7 but I don't specifically recall.

Which night or two were optional formal nights?

"Dress up or not" was on night#2 and night #10

Was there a Pub Crawl?

No pub crawl. There are a couple of beer tastings for $15 pp and there are martini, whiskey and wine tastings offered as well.

Was there a self-service soft ice-cream machine?

The ice cream is not self serve but is available daily just inside the Garden Cafe entrance from the pool deck. Hours were Noon - 9:30 pm.

Anything we shouldn't miss i.e., mystery theater, Quest, etc.

I skipped the Quest due to being tired that night. Liars Club was quite funny. The crew talent show, Monte Carlo night. Did not go to White Hot party as it just isn't for me.

A couple of evenings they had music outside on the pool deck.

You should still have the group Amadeus on board and they are great. We had also enjoyed them on the Majesty 2 years ago.

We did not attend the Comedy Workshop with comedian Tim Kaminsky but heard that it was quite good and was offered on the 10th afternoon.

Any great excursions?

Did not do excursions through the ship but found city tours offered in most ports to be quite reasonable. You could probably skip that in Mazatlan and taxi to the Gold Zone (we had thought that it was a city tour and time at the beach in the GZ but it was not really what was represented. No time to continue out to the GZ after some people shopped in town and we were then taken to a restaurant on the beach before the GZ actually starts.)

 

The best lengthy tour was in Acapulco for 45pp and took more than 5 hours. Really got a good look at the entire area and saw the cliff divers. (If you see a driver/guide named Antonio Rodriguez grab him)

Did a similar tour in PV that was 25pp and was to have been 3.5 hours but also kept us out for more than 5 hours (look for Ramon.)

Best swimming was Cabo.

 

Thank you for any answers.

Oh, you will have a different Captain and Cruise Director than we had as both Captain Von Knorring and Brett got off for vacations.

I am sure you are in a funk since you are probably returning to work on Monday.:(

 

Funk? How about major depression? Went back to work on Friday after an 18 day B2B.

 

MORE NOTES:

I will also state that the ship is very well maintained and clean. We found the crew members to be very friendly and helpful.

The bedding is extremely comfortable!

Our only real complaint is the lack of music at the pool. Some afternoons there was music for ONE HOUR and others there was NONE.

 

When in Acapulco they had a wonderful Mariache band board the ship and play at the pool in the late afternoon. Well worth listening too. That evening in the Stardust they had a Mexican Fokloric show that we unfortunately missed the beginning of. Wonderful, colorful costumes, dancing, music and roping.

 

Don't miss Mr. Producer.

 

The only "pay" specialty restaurant that we selected this time was East Meets West. The dinner was quite good as was the service. Like many though, I wish that there was just the one fixed price. Once you pay your $20 you still have a somewhat limited menu. OR you can pay additional fees for more premium entrees.

 

What else?

*Excellent waffles in Pacific Heights for breakfast.

*Soup and sandwiches in Las Ramblas for lunch. I also loved going to the Garden Cafe and trying both the hot and cold soup selections.

*Octoberfest BBQ at the Great Outdoors. Free T-shirts when you buy a bucket of beer.

 

One of the easiest disembarkations ever as they had you drop your customs forms in a box the day the before. Actually 2 boxes (one was for those who may have exceeded their limits.)

[Elawies]

Thank you Iwork2cruise. Your response is exactly what I have been looking for, someone who has been to the Mexican Riviera. Glad to hear the beds are comfortable but was sorry to learn there is a lack of music. One of the things we enjoy is a piano bar, a glass of port, and he likes a cigar. I read recently that the Havana Bar no longer allows smoking and would like to get an update on that. I am looking forward to the Mexican Folklore show you mentioned in Acapulco. We were planing on going to Il Adagio and maybe one other of the "pay" restaurants. Did I read your posting correctly when you say that even though you pay your $20, if you want premium entrees you have to pay more? What premiium entrees and how much more? Thank you for taking the time to answer. I really appreciate the information. Elawies:)

[Elawies]

Elawies --

 

I just found this post and believe me -- I agree with you! I have been very frustrated trying to find Sun related posts, reviews and pictures. Try doing a search on this forum and you will find some. And have you tried the member reviews section? Quite a few there, too. Be sure to read the "Live from the Sun" thread, if you haven't yet -- it's great! (I think by 'Ron and Kristy' but I'm not sure that's the screen name)

 

I won't be sailing the Sun until next March so I will be of no help but I am eagerly awaiting your thoughts when you return. Only a week away for you!!! I'm so excited for you (and jealous) -- have a great time!! We just got back from a quickie Baja trip and it was wonderful but I'm ready to go again already!

 

Becca

 

Becca. I read the Live from the Sun thread, but she discontinued it due to cost and time constrictions. I hope she writes a review. We are really beginning to get excited about our trip and can hardly wait. Will write more when we get back. Elawies:)

[LoisGriffin1]

I am always looking for Sun posts too. I am travelling to Alaska in June but am still interested to know what the ship is like no matter where its sailing.

[Ron & Kristy]

Hi all! I'm the one that started the "live from the sun" posts but as stated the connection was so slow that it was just eating up my minutes so I had to stop. I am going to do a review but unfortunately I've had real life issues taking up my time and I haven't been able to get to it. I go in for surgery in less than 2 weeks. :( I'll do my best to answer any questions that I can and I'll try to get my review done. I had posted a port review and unknowingly got myself in trouble. I didn't realize that I can't do that per board rules. The post was deleted.

 

We had a fantastic cruise. Let me preface it by saying that DH and I are fairly easy to please and not picky people. The only meal we had that wasn't up to snuff was on embarkation. We went to the 7 Seas and had club sandwiches. They were dry and not too tasty. That was the ONLY bad meal we had on the ship in 11 days. We ate at two of the specialty restaurants twice each, Il Adagio and East Meets West. The rest of the time it was the main restaurants and one night we ate at the Sports Bar.

 

If you have any specific questions please ask and I'll try and get my review started.

 

Kristy

 

P.S. The Sun is a beautiful ship and we loved it!

[benedga]

Elawies

Go to Roll Call NCL Sun and there is a 10/13, it took me a while to find. See you on the cruise.

[kruzinRiva]

Kristy--

 

Thanks so much for your 'Live from the Sun' posts! I really enjoyed the thread, though I know what you mean about the problems with expensive and slow internet isssues from past cruises and COMPLETELY understand your reasons for stopping. Looking forward to your review when you get a minute to finish it. You've already gone a LONG way to answering many of my questions and truly ramping up my excitement for our cruise!

 

BTW, was there a refrigerator in the room? We are in a BC category balcony and I'm really hoping for a mini-frig...

 

I've had real life issues taking up my time and I haven't been able to get to it. I go in for surgery in less than 2 weeks.

 

I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles -- was it scheduled before or a new problem? Either way, I hope surgery goes well and that you recover quickly

 

Take care,

 

Becca

[Ron & Kristy]

Kristy--

 

Thanks so much for your 'Live from the Sun' posts! I really enjoyed the thread, though I know what you mean about the problems with expensive and slow internet isssues from past cruises and COMPLETELY understand your reasons for stopping. Looking forward to your review when you get a minute to finish it. You've already gone a LONG way to answering many of my questions and truly ramping up my excitement for our cruise!

The last day of the cruise I couldn't even log on the connection was so slow. I had 11 minutes left and after 7 minutes of trying to connect I gave up.

 

BTW, was there a refrigerator in the room? We are in a BC category balcony and I'm really hoping for a mini-frig...

 

Yes there is a mini fridge and it works quite well. I left a post-it note the very first day and asked our room stewards to empty the contents, which they did from both the fridge and one of the cupboards. The items are so rediculously expensive and I knew we wouldn't be eating or drinking any of the stuff so best to get it out of there. I brought my own water, sodas and some snacks so then I had room for my stuff. It helps when you're not flying to port. We only live an hour and a half from San Fran. :-)

 

 

 

I'm so sorry to hear of your troubles -- was it scheduled before or a new problem? Either way, I hope surgery goes well and that you recover quickly

 

Thank you Becca. It was an existing shoulder problem. I'm having orthoscopic surgery on it on the 20th.

 

Take care,

 

Becca

 

Now I guess I should get busy on that review! :D

Kristy

[Addictedtwo]

Elawies --

 

I just found this post and believe me -- I agree with you! I have been very frustrated trying to find Sun related posts, reviews and pictures. Try doing a search on this forum and you will find some. And have you tried the member reviews section? Quite a few there, too. Be sure to read the "Live from the Sun" thread, if you haven't yet -- it's great! (I think by 'Ron and Kristy' but I'm not sure that's the screen name)

 

I won't be sailing the Sun until next March so I will be of no help but I am eagerly awaiting your thoughts when you return. Only a week away for you!!! I'm so excited for you (and jealous) -- have a great time!! We just got back from a quickie Baja trip and it was wonderful but I'm ready to go again already!

 

Becca

 

We will be on the Sun 11/4 repostioning cruise I will post when I get back.

[Ron & Kristy]

Please anything you want to know please ask away. I'm happy to answer any and all questions.

 

Kristy

[TERESAh]

We just got back from our cruise 10/2. It was the worst cruise we have been on (our 23rd) and the last time we will cruise with Ncl. The food in the main dinnig room was the same every night, luckily we likded salmon and chicken breast but after 12 nights wanted something different. We were told to go to one of their specialty restuarants if we wanted something different. They have five of these restuarants and really promote them. They say you dont need reservations, but we went to the Pizza restuarant one night and were told we couldnt eat there as they needed a reservation the day before. They explained this was so they knew how much food to coook----we just wanted a pizza---thought this was a cruise with unlimited food. The pasta always arrived cold and the ice cream arrive in hot dishes so was half melted. There was never one day they had an acitivty by the pool---and we had perfect weather. There were two shows that were good but the rest were not. They had no activities on the ship during the day until the last 2 or 3 days. They had no captain's farewell party and only on on arrival if you had sailed on the ship before. The buffet was likewise same old same old day in and day out. No nice deserts. They did have a chocolate party one night, but the chocolate didnt taste like real chocolate and waiters were going around carrying large trays of champagne and asking if you wanted a glass. If you said yes, they asked for your card so they could charge $8 to your account. We thought since they were'nt have a farewell party they could give you one glass free. They had no drink specials-or rather they did but they were $8 a glass plus 15% gratuity making it almost $10. Finally on the last day, they had $2 off their Margarittas. We asked for a large as our waiter told us we would get two shots, we watched the bartender pour the drink and he only gave us one-half shot even though we were charged extra.

[TERESAh]

Hope you have better luck than we did. We were told by several empoyees that this was a training ship and boy did it show. One of the managers in training told us they have to learn their jobs somewhere, so they do it on this ship then move up to a better ship when they are done with their training. Unless you want to pay to go to one of their specilty restuarants, you wont find much in the main dinning room. they food is served cold and bland. One night after we ordered our desert, we waited 45 minuntes before we got it. We had to search for salt and pepper shakers on sever occasions.

[ute_fan]

TERESAh -- ??????????????

 

We just got off the Dawn (I realize it's not the same ship, but it's our 6th NCL cruise), and the main dining room menus were NOT the same every night. I can see on a cruise longer than 7 days where they might end up repeating some of the menus, but I would be absolutely astounded if there was only one menu available. Yes, there is salmon and steak on the "always available" section of the menu, along with a baby shrimp cocktail and caesar salad, but the rest of the menu changes every night.

 

As far as it being a training ship, try talking to the employees on other NCL ships. We've had several of them stop us when my DH was wearing his NCL Sun t-shirt, and ask when we sailed on the Sun. When you get to talking to them, they have ALL stated that the Sun was their favorite ship to be on, and that it's the hardest ship in the fleet to get a contract on.

 

I realize it's been a while since we sailed on the Sun (June, 2004), but I really have trouble reconciling your statements with the ship we were on.

 

As far as the original posters, question, I think there aren't more posts about the Sun because those of us who have sailed on it would just as soon keep this beautiful ship a secret!

[IWORK2CRUISE]

Thank you Iwork2cruise. Your response is exactly what I have been looking for, someone who has been to the Mexican Riviera. Glad to hear the beds are comfortable but was sorry to learn there is a lack of music. One of the things we enjoy is a piano bar, a glass of port, and he likes a cigar. I read recently that the Havana Bar no longer allows smoking and would like to get an update on that.

It isn't NO MUSIC throughout the ship. I was concerned about the lack of music during the day at the pool. The piano bar was quite good. It is true though that the Havana Club no longer allows smoking. It still smells of cigars throughout the Windjammer and I met one man who really enjoys cigars who was a bit upset that he would need to goutside.

I am looking forward to the Mexican Folklore show you mentioned in Acapulco. We were planing on going to Il Adagio and maybe one other of the "pay" restaurants. Did I read your posting correctly when you say that even though you pay your $20, if you want premium entrees you have to pay more? What premiium entrees and how much more?

At East Meets West ( I think Le Bistro too) there is the regular menu which is more premium than the dining rooms and then there is an "upper level" for extra large steaks, lobster tail, entrees for two, that there are additional charges for. I think it was an additional $10.

Thank you for taking the time to answer. I really appreciate the information. Elawies:)

You should have a wonderful time.

[Red-Bird]

We were on the Sun sailing of Sept 7/14 to Alaska. We had a wonderful cruise and other than a couple of minor issues with the ship, we enjoyed our week in Alaska. We found the food to be more than adequate in the main dining rooms and excellent the one evening we dined in East Meets West. After trying the buffet early in cruise we chose to avoid it because of the crowd and lack of seating but we had lunch a few times at the Outdoor Cafe and enjoyed it.

 

We found the staff in both the dining rooms to be friendly and obliging (except a slightly rude fellow who seated us once in the 4 Seasons) nor did we experience any waits or slow service mentioned in other posts. We found the ship to be clean and the crew that we encountered to be pleasant and friendly.

 

The only issue we had was the layout of the ship and because of a sensitivity issue I have with cigarette smoke (COPD) we found we had to avoid Deck 7 because we had to walk through the Casino but that was just me. I also have a similar problem in Vegas. The aft elevators on Deck 11 also could be in a better location IMHO.

 

This was our first cruise with NCL, we have cruised Princess and RCL previously but we would definitely cruise with NCL again but the only thing that would lure us back to the Sun would be an itinerary to our liking.

[mummsie]

The Sun was a great ship. We loved her the bits except for the smoke walking through the casino as a previous poster said. We found the food great - different menu every night and we only dined in the free restaurants. I refuse to pay extra for food. We loved the entertainment at night. Our only problem is we are ballroom dancers and the dancefloor on this ship is totally inadequate for the number of passengers. That was my only gripe. - mummsie:)

[Ron & Kristy]

In response to the post by Theresa. I was on the Sun for the same cruise and I didn't experience anything like she is reporting. I loved the Sun and would cruise her again in a heartbeat. The crew was friendly, helpful, and always ready to go the extra mile. The entertainment was top notch. There were 2 different comedians and they were terrific. The Jean Ann Ryan Company did an outstanding job. Our food was always hot, and arrived timely and was very tasty. We had excellent service in every restaurant we ate in. How this person could say that they were told that no reservations were needed for the specialty restaurants is beyond me. It was told to us repeatedly that reservations had to be made including Pacific Heights which is not a pay extra restaurant but you still needed reservations. I thought the restaurants served a wonderful variety of food. Too bad no one told this person that you could always order the special drink of the day without the fancy glass and save yourself $2 a drink. Sometimes you need to do a little research before going to inform yourself. As far as daily activities, there was always something going on. There was trivia, gameshows you could participate in, classes, bingo, etc. Of course there was less to do on port days but maybe that's because the majority of people were off the ship doing other things. I'm not saying that everything was perfect but there wasn't enough wrong to warrant going on about it. One of the people we met had his suitcase accidently dumped into San Francisco bay before departure and I never heard him complain the way this person does. He had a wonderful attitude and a great outlook. Some people could take a lesson from him.

 

Kristy

[Ralphinsc]

We just got back from our cruise 10/2. It was the worst cruise we have been on (our 23rd) and the last time we will cruise with Ncl. The food in the main dinnig room was the same every night, luckily we likded salmon and chicken breast but after 12 nights wanted something different. We were told to go to one of their specialty restuarants if we wanted something different. They have five of these restuarants and really promote them. They say you dont need reservations, but we went to the Pizza restuarant one night and were told we couldnt eat there as they needed a reservation the day before. They explained this was so they knew how much food to coook----we just wanted a pizza---thought this was a cruise with unlimited food. The pasta always arrived cold and the ice cream arrive in hot dishes so was half melted. There was never one day they had an acitivty by the pool---and we had perfect weather. There were two shows that were good but the rest were not. They had no activities on the ship during the day until the last 2 or 3 days. They had no captain's farewell party and only on on arrival if you had sailed on the ship before. The buffet was likewise same old same old day in and day out. No nice deserts. They did have a chocolate party one night, but the chocolate didnt taste like real chocolate and waiters were going around carrying large trays of champagne and asking if you wanted a glass. If you said yes, they asked for your card so they could charge $8 to your account. We thought since they were'nt have a farewell party they could give you one glass free. They had no drink specials-or rather they did but they were $8 a glass plus 15% gratuity making it almost $10. Finally on the last day, they had $2 off their Margarittas. We asked for a large as our waiter told us we would get two shots, we watched the bartender pour the drink and he only gave us one-half shot even though we were charged extra.

 

Welcome to cruise critic. 23 cruises and not one post???? Color me skeptical...................... :rolleyes:

[WinnieinWA]

We enjoyed the Sun in August, 08. It was well maintained and clean. The crew were attentive and seemed happy. The food was very good to excellent in the main dining rooms. The service was friendly and excellent in the main dining rooms. We never had to wait for a table for 6 whenever we wanted to eat in the main dining rooms.

Shows were very good. Did not do Casino or Buffet.

 

Spa was good if you know to tell them NO right off the bat with their sales pitch. Prices were quite high compared to what I pay on land.

 

Our experience was excellent on Norwegian Sun.

 

I liked it so much I booked a May cruise to Alaska with my daughter.

 

Happy sails.