Megamixer

Very happy to read this thread. I was getting a little panicky reading the options in the dining venues. My partner will love all this different food. Me, give me a burger on a bun, no mayo or anything green on the plate. We just returned from an NCL cruise and I was happy they still have the "classic" section where I could get a NY strip and fries. If I remember correctly it, HAL and Princess removed that option.

If I remember correctly, on my first cruise on the Sovereign Of The Seas in 1992 we had an "outside cabin" with a huge oval window but a sofa bed? It seems like during the day it was a sofa then the cabin steward would open the bed up at night? I was an innocent youngster in those days and one of my memories is getting a small serving of sherbet before the main course in the dining room. I looked at my partner and asked why we were getting dessert before the main meal. He had to explain the sherbet was to "cleanse the palette."

It seems like we also got a list of all the other passengers on my cruises in the early 90's?

It appears Judy will be friendless on this cruise.

I have never ever thought of removing the daily service charge until now. I always prepay before cruising and will see how my next 19 day TA goes. I normally take an additional few hundred dollars that I give out when I feel it's deserved but have already decided that's not happening on the upcoming cruise. Our prepaid grats were over $700.

Kirstys1 how did your cruise on the Sun in January go? I've been reading horrible reviews again.

No it isn't. Create an account online with a user name and password. Then download the app to your device and you can log onto the app with the same information.

We also were booked in a Marriott in Lisbon before our TA. Did you just ask if they were holding rooms at a hotel or are you doing the whole Air to Sea package? It's not the "end of the world" if you have to arrange all that yourself but I'm like you. I like emailing my travel agent, tell her what cruise I want to go on and she sends me an invoice to pay with the air, pre and/on post hotels and transfers. I do have a history with our travel agent, she's very good and knows all our expectations, wants and needs though.

We have Wyze cameras inside and outside our house mainly to see what our three dogs are doing. I was able to connect to the cameras in Dec on the Jewel with basic internet. Because the ship internet is so slow I did knock the resolution down on the cameras in the app. On another note - the internet on the ship is strange. I'd be connected to the ship's wifi, but NOT connected to the internet and would get notifications on my phone. I would get notifications from the Wyze cameras and the garage door. I couldn't react to those notifications but I still got them.

I haven't seen "Friends of Dorothy" listed for about 10 years. I was very disappointed when it was dropped. At the first meet up we'd always place bets on which night the first person would show up asking who Dorothy was and why did she have so many friends.

It was the same way on the Jewel at Christmas - only Le Bistro and Venetian dress codes.

I loved that comment because it's me. I've been reading this thread agreeing with some, not agreeing with others. I prefer RCL dining mainly because I enjoy traditional dining. I'm the "meat and potatoes" guy so usually by the 2nd or 3rd night my waiter knows to not have vegetables contaminating 🙂 my meat, I want plenty of bread and keep my iced tea filled. I'm trying to get over my desire for traditional dining since it's almost gone. We sailed Princess for the first time last fall and I was surprised all they had was anytime dining too. On our Christmas cruise on the NCL Jewel I think my whole family agreed we liked the food in the buffet the best. I have a 19 day transatlantic booked on the Sun in April; after 19 days I'll see what my opinion is.

This will be our first transatlantic and longest cruise yet.

Thanks to all for your input. We did book the April transatlantic this morning.

We were on the Jewel for the Christmas cruise. There were people wearing masks onboard and in ports, adults and children. Not a lot but enough so that you wouldn't feel out of place wearing one. I'm wishing I had worn one in the packed theaters since I came home with a cold.

Also notifications. I got notifications from every app on my phone that sends them when I was connected to the ship but not logged in. My security cameras, garage door, local tv news. Of course clicking on the notification would go nowhere but I'd have an idea of whether or not to sign in.

"Most of the speciality restaurants are all one big room, separated by a partition and different furniture !" Is this something they did with all the ships refurbished in 2018? I noticed that on the Jewel last month. We were eating in Cagneys and waiters kept going by our table to the kitchen with their meat skewers from Moderno. There were several restaurants grouped together on one of the upper decks. I don't remember this from before. It seems they were more spread out.

I did mean the ship but Emma is delightful too 😁.

Those videos were great and she does look good.

Pictures! Thanks! It looks nice; I like the turquoise. Your comment "apparently I didn't take a lot of pictures of the ship" is funny. We've sailed on the Sun twice. I looked through my pictures and I had pics of the cabin and of the chocolate buffet (remember those?). None of the atrium, dining rooms or theater.

Thanks for the reply. It seems we'll be doing this cruise in reverse of your sailing. This particular one is perfect for us. I don't like flying to Europe and back; this one is great because we'll fly to Europe in the beginning when we're excited then just have a short flight home at the end. Also the longest stretch of sea days is 3 which makes my husband happy. We haven't been to any of these ports including Bermuda so it'll all be new to us.

Crap! I was hoping the Sun would have the updated bathrooms like the Jewel.

I believe the refurb was during 2018 (Edit - I just checked; 2018 the same time the Jewel was.)

Is anyone currently on the Sun or have sailed recently that can post some pictures or details about the refurb? We're thinking of booking the transatlantic in April. I recently got off the Jewel for the Christmas cruise and was pleasantly surprised at the updates. Will I be just as happy with the Sun's?

As a P.S. to my previous post I wholeheartedly agree about the sucky internet. I think the internet was worse on this ship than the very old Grandeur we were on over the summer down in Central America. I asked the internet cafe guy if it would be faster if I upgraded to the streaming package. He basically said no, I'd just be able to stream Youtube? Also embarkation was great. As I was getting off the ship I thought disembarking was a nightmare but once we were through customs and had our luggage I looked at my watched and realized it was only about 30 minutes in the line.