zoya19

We loved the Sun but found for the 2 kids limited stuff to do. We were on the ship in Jan. They loved the kids club, daughter turned 6 on cruise and son is 8 but other then times in the kids club there wasn't a lot going on the ship for them to do compared to some other ships. We found older adults hung out in the kids hot tub area and complained if the kids were splashing, there is 2 other pools, one adult and one everyone. The everyone pool was closed a few days so this very limited our options for swimming all together. We did use the golf cage a few times, tried to use the basketball court but teenagers/adults always seemed to be playing and not allowing younger ones to play, it was really windy for ping pong. We may go back on it but I think we may try one of the bigger ships that offer, more places to play as a family and sport things to do. Also, I didn't take the kids to all the shows as I didn't think some would be appropriate but other people did take their kids to them all, we picked ones that we thought they would like and were suitable. It was still a lot of fun.

We were on the Sun in Jan. and my son who is 8 got an ear infection. We were very impressed with the doctor/nursing staff. They were great with him. They had concentrated antibiotics on board that the doctor mixed with water for him, that needed a lot of shaking. They told us to come back in a couple days if it didn't start to feel better. He started to feel better after a few doses. I was surprised how reasonable it actually was as well, including the medication it was just over $125.00. It was charged to our cruise account and we just used our credit card to pay at the end of our trip (our onboard credit was actually applied to this..which I thought was funny but wasn't going to complain). We are in Canada so my husband's insurance company you send away to and still waiting to have our claim but I know we will get it eventually.

Hopefully you won't have any problems though!

4. Kids club- my kids loved the kids club on the Star, were OK with it on the Dawn- any feedback from the Sun? They will be in the 6-9 group.

 

Thanks!

We were on the Sun in Jan. and my kids are both in the same group, 6-9 years old. We have never been on any of the other NCL ships so can't compare but the kids loved the program and always wanted to go back. They had circus training and near the end of the cruise did a big performance for us, they had a pirate night where they got face painted and went through the ship looking for treasure, they played games including video games, did crafts, had a p.j. party etc.

The only downfall I could see is they did pick up a few things that we didn't find were appropriate (sayings/actions), not sure if this was from the staff or other children or a combination but I figure this could happen anywhere.

Overall we thought it was a very good program. I hope your children enjoy it!

We just visited in Jan. and we didn't require anything. We are from Canada.

We were on the Sun in Jan. My two children 6 and 8 loved the kids program but there was not a lot of things to do with them outside the kids program. The little kids pool area is very tiny/shallow and a lot of older adults sat in their kids hottub in that section, they did not have kids with them. A few times the one pool was closed/drained were the kids could swim and the other pool was adults only so it was quite disappointing. Plus they were so packed and was hard to even get to the pool. It was too windy/rough most days for ping pong, they did have a basketball court but a lot of adults playing. There was a few driving ranges we used a couple times with them. We did the scavenger hunts, which were fun. Some of the nightly entertainment was fine for them (singing/dancing shows) but I only took them to some of them as I didn't feel the hypnotist, piano player, comedian and stuff would work for them.

We still had a fantastic time but I think next time we would look for a ship that offers more to do with the kids when they don't want to use the kids club. Years ago we were on Royal Caribbean and the kids loved the miniature golf and ice rink for example.

Pretty strict..we were on the Sun in early Jan. It left the 1st and my daughter turned 6 on the 3rd. Her brother is 8. Once she turned 6 she could join his group but not till then. They were together mostly though as there were not a lot of kids on this cruise. Some of the counselors were fine with her joining him and others not so much. They never did change her band or her binder info. which made it a pain for checking in / out. We had to explain quite a few different times that she had her birthday and was now 6.

I read online that you have to fill out some type of online questionnaire first in order to use it. Did you have to do this? Are they asking for your email address etc. in order to send you promotional emails?

We didn't have to give any information. I was using my wifi on my cell phone to connect, I pulled the sim card out for the trip so I wouldn't be charged if someone called or texted me. I just went to my settings and hit connect. If I remember correctly I don't even think there was any terms/conditions and if there was it was just a check box. Never gave my email address to anyone and haven't received any junk emails or anything.

Recently on NCL Sun they gave us a pager, my kids are a bit older 8 and 6. My son has allergies so this may have been a safety precaution on the kids club team as well just in case. I did see some people requesting them. They seemed to have a lot of them available.

Does the sun have a pub crawl and can you buy tee shirts ? :)

They do have one as we were out on the pool deck and you could see the people involved parading through and yelling pub crawl and using some party favours. No, idea about the t-shirts though.

We rented a car and saw them at Sapphire beach and in the trees at Drake's Seat. Our closest experience with the though was actually in Curacao, right near the port. My kids are 6 and 8 so we are big on finding lizards and other creatures. ;)

We rented from Budget by the cruise ship and didn't have any problems. They gave us a sheet to fill out with all damages before we left. They already had a lot marked on it and we added a few more. We also took pictures before we left of the car (date/time stamp) just in case. We had no problems. We rented with them 5 years ago as well and it was basically the same procedure. No one checked our car this time when we returned it though. We have insurance through our own insurance company here in Canada for rental cars but the people ahead of us paid the extra $15-$20 so they wouldn't have a hassle just in case. My biggest concern was keeping the sand out of the car as I didn't want to pay extra for that as we checked out a lot of beaches with the kids.

I didn't find it worked by the ship but once you got out into the town, it worked no problem. My husband and I sat in a couple different parks, let the kids play and caught up with work/home for a few minutes.

NCL sent a very special cupcake to our room for our daughter. They also gave as a celebration card to take to the dining room for any night we wanted. In the dining room they brought her a cake, and whole bunch of staff sang her happy birthday and made it very special for her. She turned 6 on the cruise.

On NCL the kids did a pirate night with parade. Their faces were painted and with the parade they searched the ship for treasure. It is probably not as elaborate as Disney but my 2 had a great time.

We just did an 11 night southern cruise and then 5 days in disney. We priced disney cruise and a 3 night disney cruise was going to cost us more than are 11 night. We lucked into kids sailing free with NCL. Then we did Disney on the way home for 5 days so we had a good mix of both. My kids have never been on a disney cruise so didn't know what they were missing. ;) We loved the anytime dining and the kids club.

Lots of people did not wear white on our cruise, but it was a lot of fun. This was the only night we stayed up really late as the kids were having so much fun. ;) Mommy was exhausted but the kids wouldn't stop dancing..lol.

We cached on our last cruise a few years ago and plan on doing it again on a few islands this time. Some ports we rent cars, others we just do right off the ship, all depends on which island it is. Barbados so far was one of the nicest places I have found to cache. My husband likes photography as well and we found so many neat places caching for both pictures and to explore. We have 2 younger kids with us so we normally don't do any of the higher terrain ones or too hard of difficulty ones. Have fun!

Thanks so much for posting. We leave on the 1st and I have read many mixed reviews. This is great. :)

Not sure about your entire route, but the toll booths around Orlando have at least one manned booth that can make change for cash.

Looks like we may head to Clearwater for a few days before the cruise to visit friends and they mentioned taking a toll road over to Miami as it was the fastest? After the cruise we are heading to Orlando to do Disney for a few days with the kids. Glad to hear there is someone working in the Orlando one. Thank you!

From my readings looks like we will have to go through toll booths as we are driving down from Canada. Looks like a lot now don't take change or have someone working at them? Do I need to pre-register with my credit card with Sunpass to pay for these or will they still have someone working or??

Thanks

Thanks everyone and thank you also for sharing the wonderful pictures. :) I can't see the kids using the hot tub and I won't either as I am pregnant but we all wanted to be able to swim together.

Thanks again!

Our kids our 6 and 8 and we were wondering if they are allowed to use the main pool on the Sun with us? Or are there age requirements for it?

Thanks

We are leaving out of Miami port on Jan. 1st with NCL. Looking to spend the night before somewhere within a couple hours of Miami or in Miami, we will need to park our car somewhere, either at a hotel or near the port. It is New Years Eve, but we are not looking to go out or anything.

The one hotel recommended to us from the company we booked with only offers shuttles to the port at 1, 1:30 and 2:00. I thought these seemed pretty late in the day? Is this normal? Then we would have to pay for a taxi when we arrived back home to get back to the hotel.

Seems hotels up closer to Fort Lauderdale are cheaper..thinking maybe staying the night before in that area and driving to the port the next morning? Do people ever do this? Any problems? I have found quite a few off port parking places ranging from $4.50-$9.00 or so per day, they all seem to have really mixed reviews. Any decent places to park if we decide to drive in the morning of? If they offer free shuttle to and from the port, even better.

Thanks for any help, tips or advice.

Thanks for reporting back. Approx. how much was the cab and were their cabs available to go back or did you ask your taxi driver to pick you back up at a certain time?

Thanks in advance!