QuattroRomeo

We are going there next month . We are looking for a tour that is about 3-4 hours. There are only 4 of us. I was looking for the Irie tour but not picky as long as air conditioned and has cold drinks. Any suggestions. ? Was going with Carnival but sometimes the locals are a little more fun.

We took a half day tour with Curacao-actief in December and it was great! It is in an open jeep though, no AC. (See a photo on their website). They have water and water with lime juice available on the jeep. Good variety of half day and full day tours that are more nature-oriented than some tours and very interesting.

If you mean viator.com, yes they are a reputable company. We have used them in other countries, but not Curacao. On our recent cruise, we booked through curacao-actief, another good company for excursions.

Seven Seas was open 6:30-8:30 on Cartagena day for our December cruise.

The chocolate mousse in the MDR was pretty nice, we had it on the Sun in December. Generally, the best desserts we had were in Le Bistro. Don't know if this will translate to the Epic!

Yes, it is called the Viva Vino package. (If you search that name in previous posts, the list is posted on a few of them). When you get on board, go to the atrium where they have staff taking reservations for restaurants and also a table where you can see the wine selections for Viva Vino. You need to fill out which ones you want.

They have good wine tasting seminars on sea days too, we did a couple at $15.pp

Thanks, glad you enjoyed it! We did use the buffet for lunch by the Great Outdoors, but could never find a seat! Too popular now I guess! But we did find the buffet area in Moderno's while carrying our plates looking for a place to sit! It's funny how you remember all kinds of little things, weeks later.

Your itinerary on the Sun looks really interesting with Guadeloupe, and Barbados (which we have always liked for a port). Look forward to your comments on those port days! Will you be snorkeling?

Hi We will be on the Sun this weekend! We are wondering how the shows have been! We were on the Gem in March and the shows were absolutely amazing so we are hoping that it is the same on the Sun. Also is there any chance there is the band Kenosis on the Sun? They were on the Gem and they did a Whitney Houston/ Tina Turner tribute and it was amazing. Thank You!

I checked our daily programs for the Dec 11 sailing and no sign of Kenosis; were they in the nightclub on the Gem? The shows in the theatre were very good. Our lineup included:comedian Michael Ester, Vocalist George Solomon, Acrobats Soul Duo, Hypnotist TerranceB, El Gaucho, and Pianist Paul Pappas. We really liked El Gaucho & Paul Pappas.

Funny how subjective so many things are: we didn't care for Brianna or let's say, we weren't impressed with her. I had nothing against her. Our CD wasn't Richard I don't think. That is how unimpressed with him we were, we don't even remember who he was.

We agree with you Nita, Bubbly Brianna was a little much at times, at least at trivia. I can certainly see how she would have appeal in different venues though; apparently she was very entertaining in a singing show but we didn't see it! p.s. our CD was Iain Bagshaw.

Part 5

Disembarkation- I booked the NCL HOHO bus tour and FLL airport shuttle tour. We assembled in the Stardust Theatre and waited for our turn to disembark. The instructions were a little vague, and that could be improved upon. We had our carry-on luggage with us and had to pick up our main luggage in the terminal area along with everyone else first, then go through customs, then outside. We found a BigBus tour booth there and asked where to go, then we were given baggage tags for all the luggage and carry-ons. The luggage was loaded onto a truck, and we boarded a bus. But not the tour bus; this bus drove us to the BigBus Tour stop. We chose which loop to do-there is a choice of City Tour or Beach Tour, (we chose the City), and boarded that bus. It was about 90 minutes and we sat on top. It is open-air, so have your sunscreen with you! There was a tour guide on board and he was friendly and interesting. Once we finished the tour, we collected our luggage from the truck that was waiting there by then, waited for our airport bus, and then headed out. The bus to the airport was very comfortable. This excursion was a good way to pass some time before our 2:40 p.m. flight and a nice tour. Next time we’ll do the beach loop!

Hero Cards- We had filled out several hero cards to recognize crew members that we appreciated, and I asked at the Front Desk if the cards were really helpful to staff, and I could tell from the look on her face that they were important: “Oh yes” she said, “our names are put in a draw and we all get to see the comments”. So, make sure you fill out a card for anyone that you feel deserves it!

Photography- We usually let the photographers take our picture since it doesn’t cost anything until you actually choose to buy it, and we always get a couple of them. Our favourite photographer was Lok, he was very personable and competent with a lens! We bought a porthole frame to put one of our portraits in and received many compliments over the holidays!

In Summary- Our NCL Sun cruise was the best we’ve had in years. Our stateroom was a mid-ship, deck 9, port side balcony #9055. It was very quiet and comfortable. Yes, the ship is not brand new and there is some wear and tear. That did not affect our experience at all; in fact, we have been on a couple of ships that were brand new at the time, and while that is nice, they were not our favourite cruises because of how the crew responded to, and interacted with, passengers. It is really the crew that makes the difference! The crew on the Sun worked very well together, and customer service was the norm. Officers greeted you in hallways. They seemed to realize that passengers are there for a long-anticipated vacation, and treated us like we were important to them. We also really enjoyed the specialty restaurants and the events we tried, and found it added a lot to our enjoyment. Considering that the fares haven’t gone up much since we started cruising and the price of food certainly has, we thought that the extra expense for a nicer dining experience was well worth it for us. Can’t wait to go again!!

-Pam & Ray

enjoyed your review we are on the sun in april and I have been looking for reviews yours is the first I seen Thanks so much

Thank you Starfish, hope you found it helpful! You will enjoy the Sun!

You have every reason to be excited- the Sun is great! Hope you have a wonderful time and enjoy some of the terrific meals there!

Please post a link to your review when it is done.

 

sent via forum app on my S4

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1965351

Am enjoying reading what you have to say, as we were on the same ship at the same time. I forgot to mention Modernos for lunch. Yes, it was a great place and the secret kept it from being too over crowded. As for Las Rambles, I enjoyed it, but hubby did not. I think the reason he didn't. it was the night of the Dallas game and he just wanted to get to the sports bar.

Thanks Nita- it was a great cruise!

Part 4

Wine Tastings and Beer Tasting- were held in Las Ramblas on sea days. We attended 2 wine tastings, hosted by Master Sommelier Juvy and she was fun and informative. The first tasting was a progressive wine tasting with food pairings, and the wines we tried were: Beringer White Zinfandel, Estancia Pinto Noir, Matua Valley Sauvignon Blanc, Penfolds Koonunga Hill Shiraz, Bonterra Chardonnay, and Bonterra Cabernet Sauvignon. We loved the Matua!

The second tasting was Old versus New world wines, where we tried: Laboure Roi Pouilly Fuisse, Penfolds Koonunga Hill Chardonnay, Ruffino Chianti, Colores del Sol Malbec, Marchesi de Frescobaldi Remole, and Chateau St Jean Signature Red. Our favourite in this group was the malbec.

I cannot tell you what beers were involved in that tasting- as only DH attended, and since it was held just after the wine tasting, his memory is a little fuzzy!!! The Sun also offered whiskey and margarita tastings.

Latitudes Party- We met in the Stardust Theatre for this event and thought it was one of the nicest loyalty parties we have been to on a cruise. The drinks served were full-sized, your choice of rum punch that DH had and said was very good, the sparkling wine, and a non-alcoholic punch. The appetizers were delicious. There was a draw for prizes and we were lucky enough to win one- our prize was a bottle of bubbly and a NCL ship coaster set; also raffle tickets, a paradise lotto ticket and bingo cards- none of which were as lucky..

No Fee Activities – we often played trivia and met some great people that way: a shout out to Val & Jim, Lillian & Paul, Bugsy & Ray! The ones we attended were held in either the Windjammer or the Observation Lounge. We learned that you could get activity cards initialed by staff at these things and somehow cash them in for little doodads at the end of the cruise, so I dutifully had our cards signed as we went along.. we also did a few golf- putting and bean bag toss events, which don’t take too long and are a bit of fun.

On the last day, we were advised to cash in the cards for logo items by going to Dazzles nightclub. When I got there, the room was dark since a movie was still showing, so the cash in was moved to the adjacent hallway. This too was in the dark, and the ‘line’ was quite disorganized.. some people were quite indignant about perceived line-cutters and it was rather irritating...you had to wait to get to the table to see the points/prize redemption list, which really held things up..somebody went up and grabbed the list to read it and they were promptly chastised…the passenger actually had a good point – it would have moved along much faster if you knew before you got up to table what you wanted.. I stood in line at least 15 minutes with part of me saying I must be crazy to do this for a keychain..but at last I moved forward..the list of items did indeed include key chains, pens, deck of cards, t-shirts, & those foam rubber thingies to put pop/beer cans in. So if none of those things are important to you, don’t bother!!

Casino- This casino was the busiest one we have ever seen on our cruises! We did not use it, but often walked through it. We talked to a crew member about it and he said that this sailing and the previous one, were called junket cruises, because there were so many CAS comp room passengers on board. Of course these dates are quieter sailings so I suppose it helps to fill the ship! Didn’t matter to us, and maybe it helped us, because we never had a problem finding room at the shows, specialty restaurants, bars and lounges. Not sure if there’s a correlation there or not but that was our experience.

Stardust Theatre Shows and Music- We enjoyed a couple of shows with performers Paul Pappas (piano medleys) and El Gaucho, who did a variety of things including piano, guitar, and bolos and he was quite entertaining. DH watched the Fountains show and the crew show while I was packing and said the crew show in particular was very good. Sorry I missed it!

We loved that so many of the Sun’s venues had live music, it is something we have really missed on the past few cruises. It was very nice to relax in a lounge and hear piano, jazz, and singing.

Excursions/ Port Days

Cartagena- Although our roll call was quite active, it wasn’t very productive for group tours, so I gave up on the artisan focused group tour I had planned and instead arranged a private tour for the 2 of us with Jose Villa Jr. (search Cartagena Destiny). We told Jose we wanted to see certain parts of the old city and then go to an area where locals actually live. Jose picked us up in his car right at the dock and off we went. We walked through the old town and through Getsemani. Jose was known everywhere we went and we had no problem finding clean rest stops and a nice breakfast spot. We were in places like San Pedro Claver all by ourselves, beating all the groups there. Jose’s historical commentary was interesting and it was a really great experience to have a guide who could talk about living there, what things cost, politics, how things are improving in the area and anything we asked about he could answer. The locals we saw along the way looked very happy and healthy, most areas were clean and it was not at all scary. We did some shopping but it was clearly at the regular tourist places, not the artisan spots I had wanted to go on with the first tour I had planned; but, I was able to bargain for a leather purse and DH got a panama hat. All in all, for $120 we thought it was a terrific 4-hour experience in Cartagena!

After Jose returned us to the dock, we took the ship shuttle to the terminal shops and had a bit of a walk around enjoying the wildlife. I bought some coffee beans at Juan Valdez as I usually do, and looked in the artisan shop, where I can see the prices have definitely gone up! On a previous trip, I recall buying a watch for $17. that was fashioned from some kind of large bean or pod sliced up, (sounds weird but it is quite neat looking). This time, they cost $74. Yikes!!

Aruba- we didn’t have any plans for Aruba having done many tours there, so we walked about town. Many stores were closed, being a Sunday. However, we did go to Kay’s, my favourite jewellery store in Caribbean, and DH bought me some beautiful earrings as we had celebrated our 25th this year. So a good day!!!!!!!!

Curacao- I booked a private tour in advance with Curacoa-Actief, to do a half-day snorkel tour. Larry met us at the dock and we were off in no time. We were surprised that no one else on the ship booked this tour (since you have to book individually). Larry drove to the Marriott Hotel and picked up one other couple, and we were on our way. We snorkeled in 2 different spots one in Spanish Bay and the other was the sunken tugboat spot. Along the way, Larry talked about the history of the island and we had a few stops for photos including Fort Nassau. DH is not a strong swimmer, but he ended up having a great time and took to snorkeling very quickly! We drove back to the ship around noon, had lunch on board, and got off again to just walk around Otrabanda, since we usually walk around Punda. It was just okay; the farther we went the worse it started to look, so we just went back to the ship and relaxed. Next time we’ll do a full day tour with Larry!

St. Martin – we planned on getting a taxi at the pier and going to the artisan market in Marigot , as it was a market day and we have never spent more than an hour in Marigot before. The ship ended up tendering, as there were 8 ships in port. The tender dock was actually right on the beach in town, so we walked to the street past Back Street, saw a bus with a Marigot sign, and got on. Took about 35 minutes and was $2 pp. We walked about the market, and I have to say I was disappointed. There were lots of stands and kiosks, but maybe 3 real artists in the whole place. Most of the stuff were the usual things you can buy anywhere in the Caribbean. We walked to an actual art gallery and I had a nice look in there, but there was nothing I couldn’t live without that day. Walked to Serafina’s and had a look, but it was hot and crowded so we didn’t bother with any pastries. Someone told us about a stand in the market that sold the same pastries more cheaply, but we couldn’t find it. DH had a look in a Davidoff shop where he found some Cuban cigars, Romeo & Juliets for $25US so he bought a couple of those. That was our big purchase for the day. We waited for the bus to return and got on for the return ride, and then back to the ship. It was very hot that day and the bus did not have AC. We both decided that next trip, we would go snorkeling!

St. Thomas – I booked the NCL excursion well in advance for the catamaran snorkel tour at Buck Island to see the turtles. I couldn’t find a comparable private tour before we left. There were 2 time slots available, so I took the morning slot so we could walk about in the afternoon. There was quite a wait outside the ship for our group to assemble. We saw the newlywed couple we met from the Chef’s Table, that had their original tour, the Seablaster, cancelled, so they joined this one. Also, the afternoon lot for this catamaran tour was cancelled and those people were added to the morning one. Eventually, we were led a short distance around the pier to the meeting point for ‘The Cat’. The Cat staff advised we then had to wait for an additional group to join us from the OTHER NCL ship in port! We weren’t too pleased since there were already quite a few of us. Finally we were able to board, but there must have been 40+ of us. The catamaran was a beautiful boat and the crew was friendly and safety conscious, if a bit too slick. They clearly had done this tour 1,000s of times. When we finally got to the snorkel spot, it took forever to get in the water as everyone had to descend into the water using the ladders. We lost close to 30 minutes snorkel time because of our place in line and how long it took some people to get in. We were able to see 3 large turtles, a stingray and lots of fish when we finally got in. It was an interesting area to snorkel but the turtles didn’t hang around with all of us there! The crew put out some rum punch (couldn’t taste the rum) and Doritos on the counter for our return trip, and a dish of salsa. No plates, no napkins, very bumpy and windy – clearly not the best time for something like that, and in truth it was difficult to get past the front line of people who had dug into the trenches and weren’t moving!.. so we passed. One of the crew went around slapping fake “Cat” tattoos on everyone’s arms, and another crew member started his sales pitch for the t-shirts and pullovers they had for sale, along with a reminder of the tip jar… The excursion was just okay, could have been a lot better with fewer people. Next time, I’ll search harder for a private tour!

We find that cancellations of ship excursions are always last minute and very frustrating for all affected, since you have little time to arrange something else. We found this particularly disappointing last year on a Med. Cruise, having booked a couple of ship tours months in advance, and both were cancelled. It’s one thing to get to places in the Caribbean on a last-minute whim; quite another to get to a lot of places in the Med. that aren’t right at the port! Not sure what the answer is, but just wish the cruise lines would give you more notice. Now when we want to really go to a particular place, we will only book private tours.

Next: final thoughts!

I did the Chef's Table in March. Sounds like tge same menu which U loved. Except men and women were served different desserts. I wanted the "man" one for the dark choc which I adore. Alas! The man next to me noticed me lusting at his plate and offered me a taste. Of course I obliged :)

 

Also, the reason the lamb cooled was it was allowed to rest before slicing into chops. This is proper. This preserves the juices in the chop rather than on the cutting board.

 

Also, sea bass should be gently cooked to remain tender not rubbery. Therefore, not hot, hot. Warm is proper.

 

I am someone who eats fast, because I like my food hot. So, this took some getting used to for me when I took my culinary training. I would now prefer the food to be tender, warm and juicy than hot, tough and dry.

 

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Donna, I understand what you're saying about the tenderness and both the veal and the fish were perfectly cooked; however, everything on the plate was a little too cool. The problem I think was timing; there was a really long gap of time before and between these courses, so whatever the holdup was, the dishes either sat somewhere for awhile or had a long way to go to get to us! I was a little surprised that the event wasn't held at one of the specialty restaurants, but I guess that would tie up the specialty's kitchen. One of the solo diners in our group was a particularly well-travelled lady, so everyone asked her lots of questions and her interesting stories filled in the time really well!

Enjoying your review. We will be going in the SUN in April. I'm interested in the walking tour for Cartagena. Did you use guide ( NCL or private) ? Thanks

 

We used a private guide, Jose Villa Jr. You can find him on Viator local guides, and also Cartagena Destiny tours. Details of our tour coming up shortly!

Part 3

Seven Seas MDR- we ate there for dinner whenever we were not in a specialty restaurant. The food was good, we usually got the Chef’s daily special. The soups were really good, but having been spoiled by the specialty restaurants the entrees didn’t particularly strike us as spectacular in the MDR and nothing sticks out in our minds to recommend. Nothing was wrong with the food mind you, just not as memorable for us. And the meals were never hot, just sort of warm. I understand that the plates have to take the scenic route getting to your table compared to the specialty restaurants though, and so didn’t really expect anything to be hot.

A couple of nights the entrees were very slow to arrive, and we LIKE long dinners! It seems that staffing cuts particularly affects MDRs, we’ve experienced similar issues on other lines. So if you’re in a hurry to go to the show, go to dinner early!!

The lunches were very good in Seven Seas. DH liked the spring rolls with chili sauce, the soups, and we enjoyed all the lunch sandwiches and entrees. The salmon, shrimp and avocado sandwich was very tasty ( but they should rethink the choice of crusty roll for it, while a very good roll, it is a hard roll and everything squished out when you bit into it)!!

We had breakfast here a few times and I got the fruit plate with cottage cheese, and the French toast. The menu read “French toast with maple syrup”, and once, I actually got maple syrup; all of the other times I got regular table syrup. It tasted like ordinary, bland table syrup, no ‘nasty’ taste to it in case you were reading another thread that talked about that!

Le Bistro French Dining- We ate here twice for dinner, walking in without a reservation. It is nicely decorated in European style and very comfortable. Service here we found to be just right- attentive, without being too cloying. Between us we tried Les Quatre cornets, grilled asparagus, mushroom soup, onion soup, coquilles St. Jacques, mussels in pernod cream, and escargot as appetizers and loved all of them. We had no trouble ordering multiple appetizers; most of these are small and it was nice to try a lot of different things so order several!!

For entrees we tried the coq au vin, fruits de mer, rack of lamb, and duck breast. The dishes were nice and hot and tasty. The lamb came medium instead of medium rare. My favourite entrée if I had to choose, was the coq au vin, but everything was great. For one dinner we received our wine from the anniversary package, a nice Santa Catalina merlot, which is their house wine.

Desserts we had included crème brulee (was there ever any doubt..) the chocolate Napoleon and oh my god it was good .. incredibly rich and creamy..the apple tatin, which was a nice change, and profiteroles which DH liked. The ambience in Le Bistro was really wonderful with French music and soft lighting and the ocean view!

DH asked a couple in the elevator that he knew had eaten at Le Bistro, what they thought of it. The reply was “horrible, just horrible”. I got off the elevator on our deck but DH was so shocked he had to find out what was so horrible and continued on the elevator with them. As it turned out, it was the size and quantity of the scallops that ruined their experience, they were just “too small”, and they got off the elevator shaking their heads. DH then got off the elevator shaking HIS head!!!

Chef’s Table – This event was held on Dec. 14, the day we spent in Cartagena, and was a lot of fun, but be aware that it lasts a long time- 6:00- 10:45 in our case.. Our group of 11 lucky diners assembled in the atrium bar where we were served a glass of bubbly.. then we were greeted by the head chef and other officers who paraded us through the atrium en route to a private room in the Fours Seasons… our 15 seconds of fame!! Our table was set with name plates and the china was gorgeous. We were greeted by the Master Sommelier Juvy, Executive Chef Charles Fernandes, Food and Beverage Director Daniel Dyer and John Tragett, Restaurant Manager. Each course was presented with an introduction by Juvy and Charles. We started off with a lovely blanc-de-blancs, then received our amuse bouche, whose name- “ Molecular Gastronome” was bigger than the spoonful!! But it was a tasty bite for sure. Each of us had 4 differently flavoured lavosh pieces artfully displayed at our place setting..we then enjoyed tuna tartare, followed by Sauvignon Blanc to wash it down.. then asparagus cream..short crust tartlet..a delicious granite..then the sea bass, accompanied by a chardonnay..next was a veal chop with a glass of cabernet sauvignon .. we were bursting at the seams by this point but it kept coming..a beautiful cheese platter ..followed by a yogurt mousse dome cake and chocolate rum banana.. wow..coffee too..

There was a bit of a wait for the sea bass and the veal chops, and they were not really hot when served; not sure why it took so long but obviously the kitchen used is not close by!!

Next, we all went to the atrium for a group photo and each couple also had a photo taken with the Chef. Ship photographer Lok did a terrific job and we love our photo keepsakes and copy of the menu. But it wasn’t over yet- we were finally escorted to the Havana Club Bar ( behind the Windjammer) and served after-dinner drinks. I chose Grand Marnier, others had Glenlivet, Baileys, etc. It was quite the experience!

After the heat of the morning in Cartagena and our walking tour there, plus all of this food and drink, we were glad to sleep in the next morning!

Next: other activities on board (besides eating!!)

Thanks everyone, you will definitely enjoy the Sun experience!

Chef's Table coming up..

Part 2

DINING VENUES

Moderno- We went on embarkation night about 5:30. We were the only ones there for the duration of our meal (yes, we know it was lobster night in the MDR) so we had very attentive service. No complimentary house wine was offered, but we had not made a reservation. So we enjoyed one of our Viva Vino wines- the cabernet sauvignon …..

We enjoyed the table-side presentation of various meats on skewers, and they were all good. We are not big red-meat eaters, but did enjoy the tenderness and flavour of all the meats. Our favourites were the picanha sirloin and the chicken breast. The salad bar was spectacular- we haven’t seen another one nearly as good anywhere-it should be offered on its own as a feature somehow! For dessert, we tried the cocoanut flan, which was

tasty but the salad bar and meats were the real stars here.

Moderno became a regular buffet at lunch time, separate from the Garden Café. While the offerings were fewer than the Garden, it was a much less hectic area, quieter to sit in, and offered good salads, soups, lovely breads and rolls (including those pretzel rolls) and pasta and pizza stations.

Las Ramblas- we only tried the tapas once, but enjoyed all of the bites.

Garden Buffet – we only ate here a couple of times for lunch, but next time we would go more often. It was excellent, with a really good variety of foods, hot and tasty, definitely something there to please everyone. One of the best we have seen on a ship!

At the Great Outdoors Buffet, we enjoyed the shorter lines for some breakfasts and enjoyed quiche, scones, and salads.

Jazz Brunch- held in Le Bistro, this was a terrific lunch and we couldn’t believe it was only half full. There was a lunch menu, from which I chose the chateaubriand and DH had the eggs benedict. In addition to the menu, there was a beautiful buffet set up with salads, really good asparagus soup, an out- of- this- world quiche lorraine and wonderful desserts, including crème brulee. During the brunch, there was a jazz trio playing, with a singer doing a set for part of it. Really enjoyable interlude for a nice long lunch. During all this, DH and I had a little distraction – it was so funny to see through the window, a tall, thin 70ish year old man with quite the tan, wearing a tiny Speedo, walking laps around the deck..he went by our window seat about 4 times…! Distractions aside, highly recommend the Jazz Brunch!

Java Café- I love coffee and the café is always an important part of cruise fare for me! The café offered good coffee and the treats included croissants and yummy cinnamon rolls topped with pecans in the morning, and usually a variety of pound cake slices in the afternoons. There were 3 waiters that usually staffed the café and our favourite was Jaka.

We like cream in our coffee- (we use 18%, or table cream, at home), but know that half and half is the usual cream available. We were presented with those little containers of some creamers, and some “non-dairy creamers”, which we really do not like. When we asked for the real creams, they didn’t have any! In the café! So I told the waiter to cancel the coffee. Later in the day Jaka was on duty, we related our story, and we never wanted for cream again on the cruise-no matter where we were! Our preference seemed to be known throughout the ship somehow.

Coffee served elsewhere on the ship was actually pretty good; much better than we’ve had on other cruises.

Il Adagio Italian Dining – we loved this place and ate 3 dinners there. The view is great and there isn’t a bad seat in the place. We walked in between 5:30-6:00 each time with no reservation, and there was no wait. Between DH and me, we tried the fried calamari, bruschetta, minestrone soup, capricciosa pizza, spaghetti carbonara, lobster fettuccine, rib eye steak, ossobuco and grilled shrimp. If we had to narrow it down, we would recommend the ossobuco, grilled shrimp, or rib eye steak for entrees and calamari and minestrone soup for appetizers- all really, really good! Skip the bruschetta as they automatically bring you warm bread along with 4 flavoured olive oils. All of our dishes were served nice and hot. For dessert, I really liked the affogato on macadamia ice cream, which I learned about on CC, thank you!

The waiters were very attentive; if anything, this was one place where they were sometimes TOO attentive- there is no need to be asked by several staff multiple times how you liked everything! After all, we were there 3 times and our plates were clean!! It was annoying when we were eating with another couple; we actually lost track of what we were talking about. We did mention it on board, so hopefully the message gets relayed. Of course, in the grand scheme of things, not a big problem- it beats being ignored!

Room Service- We used room service almost every day, for a light breakfast and it was the fastest delivery time we have ever had on a cruise. We got coffee, croissants and yogurt. It was the funniest thing that no matter what kind of yogurt you requested, it would be strawberry! Even when DH ordered on the phone and they asked what flavour, he would say blueberry or raspberry, then they would say they had strawberry!..that’s okay..we do strawberry..! and for coffee cream, it was incredible, ..room service brought us our favourite cream, and one time we got 4 cups of cream! ..thank god for the mini-fridge!

Four Seasons MDR- We only went there on embarkation day for lunch. We ordered the chef’s special, fish cakes. The appetizers came quickly enough but then the entrée seemed to take forever. Then another couple sat down at a table beside us about ½ hour later; while we were still waiting for our entrée, they got their fish cakes … our waiter told us there was a delay because they ran out.. didn’t explain why we didn’t get ours though? So probably our order was taken by another waiter… we finally got them and they weren’t worth the wait, and were lukewarm..we didn’t bother with dessert, as it had taken too long already and our rooms were ready . We didn’t eat there again until breakfast on debarkation morning. Service was great that day, but DH did not really enjoy his turkey sausages.

Next up: more Dining Venues!!

Part 1

We try to cruise once a year and had a disappointing cruise in 2012 (not NCL). So we really wanted to get that bad taste out of our mouths for the next one! I researched a lot of CC reviews and found that NCL seemed to have improved in customer service and the Sun in particular was a favourite. I booked in January 2013 and had a year of anticipation and expectations were high!! This can be a dangerous thing...no pressure NCL.. .but I am happy to report that we loved our cruise on the Sun and hope that this review of our experience will help some of you in return!

We have cruised to all of the ports on this cruise more than once, and done the standard tours at each one; so, this time we wanted to try some different activities and decided that snorkeling would be one of them. We also thought that this time we would really try the specialty restaurants and food offerings to see if it made a difference to our experience , as we have seen a decline in the MDR offerings on all lines in recent years.

We flew out of Buffalo to Fort Lauderdale and spent the night at Embassy Suites (our favourite) on 17th. I booked the Miami cruise package online, so we had shuttle service in the morning to the port in Miami. There was only one other couple in the van with us, and it was an enjoyable drive to the ship. It wasn’t too hectic to check in and we were soon on board.

Embarkation

The first thing I looked for once on board was the restaurant Reservation Desk, and signed up for the Chef’s Table and Jazz Brunch. They also offered a murder mystery lunch but I couldn’t talk DH into that one..would love to know if anyone else did that and how they liked it!! I also got the Viva Vino wine packages list and made our selections.

Celebration Gifts – I prepurchased the Anniversary package, and the Birthday package for DH. When we entered the room it had the beautiful roses, a bottle of bubbly, the chocolate covered strawberries, a card stating our entitlements to a portrait photo and Le Bistro dinner & wine, and the date for our canapés delivery. It was very nice!

When DH returned to the room from our port day in St. Martin, I lagged behind so he could be surprised entering the room. It was festively decorated for his birthday with a beautiful (and delicious) cake on the table- he was very pleased!

Stateroom- We were happy with the size of our stateroom and even the balcony was larger than some we have had. Our cabin steward was Phil, and he was very friendly, always had a smile for us, and kept our cabin clean and comfortable. There were no bathrobes in the room when we arrived, so we asked for them and they appeared. We noticed after the first night that the fridge, the thermostat , and the coffee maker did not work! Phil had someone check into it and reported that it was a fuse; everything was fixed.

Next: Dining Venues

We were there when 8 ships were in port (one of them being the huge Oasis of the Seas), and our ship tendered. While it is was certainly crowded there, we took the public bus to Marigot and back and did not feel rushed at all. Just get going early and leave yourself an hour or two at the end of your day to get back and you should be fine . Enjoy!

Oh boy- lots of things we loved! Minestrone soup, calamari, grilled shrimp, at Il Adagio; picanha sirloin at Moderno; coq au vin at Le Bistro..

I am working on a bit of a review of our cruise and it will be heavily food-oriented; so, in a couple of days I'll have a list of what we tried! We certainly enjoyed it overall.

They are offering a special of $57 for Le Bristro, East Meets West, and Il Adagio.

 

I was wondering if anyone who has been on the Sun lately noticed if they were offering any dinner promotions once on board.

 

It is a good deal, but I have OBC and would rather wait until the ship to book since I want to use my OBC rather than a credit card now.

Didn't notice any specials on our sailing Dec.11, and we ate at Moderno once, Le Bistro 2 times ( plus the jazz brunch), and Il Adagio 3 times, so hopefully we didn't miss anything.. not to say there won't be something on your sailing date!

Very interesting so far, thank you! We'll be doing the Med on the Jade next fall, so this will be a great help!

Yes HAL docks there , we docked in Cartagena 3 times, twice on HAL and earlier this month on NCL . We took tours in the mornings, which bypass the terminal shops and go right up to the ship upon return, so then we just take the ship shuttle bus back to the terminal shops and oasis area discussed here, then shuttle back to the ship. You can also walk-it's about 10 minutes, but it is very hot and humid!

P.S. get some coffee beans at the Juan Valdez coffee shop..they are very good..

Try twinislandexcursions.com art gallery tour for something different and fun. We enjoyed it on a previous trip.