Advice please - Norwegian Sun upgrade option - Do it or Leave it?

[oldmiller]

Hi

 

We are first time cruisers travelling on the Norwegian Sun in the Baltics in July as our honeymoon. We have booked an ocean view stateroom and 9009 on the Fjord Deck (9) has been assigned to us. We have now the option of upgrading to a balcony stateroom for an additional €250 in total. The staterooms offered today are Viking Deck 8076 or Fjord Deck 9273, 9218 or 9014.

 

Should we stay where we are or upgrade? We have never been on a cruise before and would welcome advice from experienced cruisers especially those who may know about these rooms. I do not know if a balcony means a bigger room or is it the same size as an oceanview and just has a balcony.

 

Thank you so much - if we are to take this we need to do so before Saturday. thank you

[Happy HALer]

If it was me, I would go for the upsell. You will love the balcony.

[Pokeraddict]

For sure upgrade to a balcony, your going the hottest month of the year so chances are y'll have great weather. I would also do it and not tell the bride.

 

You know the old saying a happy wife is a happy life.

[CrabbyPatti]

I agree go for the balcony room. You will love it! I got spoiled my first cruise with a balcony................just booked my 4th and 5th cruise and would only book with a balcony!! Have Fun!

[roger001]

Yes, the balcony. With it being your first cruise, and especially your honeymoon, it will mean so much more to you to have a balcony room. The balcony is a wonderful private area to escape the rest of the ship, sit out in the morning having coffee, enjoying each other and the ocean sailing past. Our just sit out and watch the world go by, read, drink...or whatever. When you first walk into your room, you will go straight through, open the door to the balcony, and just lean over the railing and see the world beyond from you own private viewing area. When you leave or arrive at a port, you will stand out on YOUR balcony and watch all the excitement. The Sun is a wonderful ship. Either 9273 or 9218 should be fine. 9273 is a great location if you want to run up to the buffet or Great Outdoors for food, both just above you. Or straight down is the main dining room. 9218 is fine too, but closer to the front of the ship. If there is any wave action, the front of the ship will feel more movement. But yes..yes...get a balcony. It will make you cruise soooo much more enjoyable. Here's a bunch of pics, way too many of the Sun taken two years ago. We were on her a couple of months ago and she's much the same however. Oh...those pics contain pics of a deck 9 balcony room, can't remember the room number right now...but they are all the same.

 

http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff281/roganderson60/Sun/?start=all

[Planmaam]

I agree, upgrade to the balcony. I would avoid 9218 as it is right at the stairs/elevators, so will have a lot of traffic outside your door. I personally would choose 9273, as it is at the rear where there will be little traffic, and as roger001 said, less wave action in rough seas.

 

Whatever you do, have a great honeymoon cruise, and married life.

[Sauer-kraut]

We had balcony 8086 and thought it was great. For the Baltics I'd splurge for the balcony, you can come back from excursions early and enjoy just watching the world go by before sail away.

 

Also, the balcony cabins will have a coffeemaker in the room stocked with coffee, and you can always grab some hot chocolate packets from the buffet and have hot chocolate in your room as well.

 

Have a wonderful time!!

[MrsNancyG]

Balcony baby! It gives the cruise a whole new dimension of enjoyment. You'll love it!

[Kaboochi]

Balcony!!!!!!!!!

[DevCruise]

Get the balcony. Like the others have said, well worth it.

[Medtech2]

Hi

 

We are first time cruisers travelling on the Norwegian Sun in the Baltics in July as our honeymoon. We have booked an ocean view stateroom and 9009 on the Fjord Deck (9) has been assigned to us. We have now the option of upgrading to a balcony stateroom for an additional €250 in total. The staterooms offered today are Viking Deck 8076 or Fjord Deck 9273, 9218 or 9014.

 

Should we stay where we are or upgrade? We have never been on a cruise before and would welcome advice from experienced cruisers especially those who may know about these rooms. I do not know if a balcony means a bigger room or is it the same size as an oceanview and just has a balcony.

 

Thank you so much - if we are to take this we need to do so before Saturday. thank you

I would jump on 9218. We were in 9021 and it was close to the midship cabins. There was absolutly no movement. You will definitely enjoy a balcony. You can enjoy a romantic breakfast out on your own private oasis while watching the sun come up ;)

[Umbarger]

Yes, Yes, and Yes, Upgrade. That is a great rate for a balcony!

[auntierobin]

One more vote for balcony.

[oldmiller]

Thanks to everyone who replied being new to cruising we really dont have a clue with regards to the best staterooms or decks and have been trusting the TA mostly so its great to have advice from experienced cruisers like yourselves.

 

Now which one to choose of course when I ring the TA all of the rooms they offered yesterday may well be gone today!! Thanks again:)

[dexddd]

Don't take the one on 8, it is above the theater. I'd also go for the one on deck 9 aft as it is right up the stairs a couple floors to the buffet, sports bar, Great Outdoors.

[oldmiller]

Thanks guys we upgraded today. I had my heart set on the 9273 however after the TA was cut off twice by NCL having been on hold for 40 minutes that one was gone. We got the one on deck 8 8076 for €250 extra. The others available 9218 and 9014 suddenly jumped again in price to €650 to add the balcony. I know its above the theatre but hopefully we have made the right choice as 650 was too far out of our price range to go with them.

[Clay Clayton]

Here is a second to an aft balcony on Deck 9. Have sailed Sun a number of times and with the exception of the secret balconies on Deck 11, we try to get on Deck 9 - rooms above and below you so no extraneous noise and as others have said, by going for one of the aft rooms, it is an easy two flights up to the buffet if you want to have breakfast or lunch on your balcony.

 

Have a great cruise....we had wanted to do the Baltics for DDP's 50th in 2013 but since NCL is going to be sailing Star there next year we are going to wait and hope they sooner or later put a ship there that has a "Great Outdoors"...our favorite space on Sun.

[roger001]

Thanks guys we upgraded today. I had my heart set on the 9273 however after the TA was cut off twice by NCL having been on hold for 40 minutes that one was gone. We got the one on deck 8 8076 for €250 extra. The others available 9218 and 9014 suddenly jumped again in price to €650 to add the balcony. I know its above the theatre but hopefully we have made the right choice as 650 was too far out of our price range to go with them.

 

Shows in the theater are usually over by about 10:30 pm. So you really shouldn't have any real late night noise. You'll love it in any case.

[oldmiller]

thanks Roger that is great to know. I am really looking forward to having the balcony now. When I originally posted the question as to whether or not to upgrade we were not so sure but seeing all of the positive posts urging us to go for the balcony I am so glad we have especially as it is our honeymoon so its nice to have something a little bit more special! Thanks so much for all of the advice - now I need to go and find out about Balconies and the extras that may come with having that- have just discovered they have coffee makers!!:)

[PatJim]

One added bonus of having a balcony room on the Sun (rather than Jewel-class ships, say), is that it's about the same size as a mini-suite on the others. It's quite roomy for a ship cabin. So glad you got the balcony. We had one on the Sun for a Baltic cruise last May/June and loved it.

When you come back, please let us know how it was:)

[oldmiller]

Thanks PatJim that's great to know about the size of the cabins. Delighted to hear you have been on the Sun and on the Baltic cruise. Did you enjoy it? any tips for the ship or the ports? This is our first cruise so all tips are very welcome! Thank you

[roger001]

Thanks PatJim that's great to know about the size of the cabins. Delighted to hear you have been on the Sun and on the Baltic cruise. Did you enjoy it? any tips for the ship or the ports? This is our first cruise so all tips are very welcome! Thank you

 

Previously mentioned, the Sun does have a Great Outdoors. That is an open rear deck that includes a grill opened most of the day. For breakfast, get in the grill line and have custom made omelets cooked up for you and sit in the open watching the world go past . It's just out the back door of the buffet area. Also, the Sun has a forward observation lounge and bar. Surrounded by floor to ceiling windows, it's a nice place to sit and relax, usually very uncrowded unless they are having an event there. Ask if Wayan is still bar tender and Dylon is one of the servers there. Both very nice people. I can't remember where it is on the Sun, but somewhere is a bridge viewing area where you can look through a big glass window and see the crew running the ship. Just ask where it is. Your room will have a small refridge in it. It will be stocked with expensive drinks and items. Just have you room steward remove them for you (or actually we just do it ourselves now and put all of them in a drawer) and use the refridge for your stuff. If you like soft drinks, you can take them on board with you if you wish. Your room steward will be a very nice person, but busy. He/she have responsiblity for almost 20 rooms. So sometime they might overlook something accidentally. If you need something for or done to the room, just ask. They truly do want to do a good job. (Room stewards are not like suite butlers though and can't provide that type of service). The Sun is a wonderful ship. It does have a floor plan though that is a bit different than the other class of ships. I still get a little turned around sometimes trying to find things.

[oldmiller]

Thank you Roger!

[PatJim]

Thanks PatJim that's great to know about the size of the cabins. Delighted to hear you have been on the Sun and on the Baltic cruise. Did you enjoy it? any tips for the ship or the ports? This is our first cruise so all tips are very welcome! Thank you

 

When you board, be sure to get the little folded brochure that has the ship's layout. Agree with last poster that there are places you have to go up to get down (i.e., no direct route on some decks going from one end of the ship to the other). Makes it interesting!

 

The Baltic trip was super. We have friends in Copenhagen and stay with them, so I can't give you ideas about where to stay there, but if you need hotel suggestion, let me know. Friends joined us on the cruise and found a great, reasonably priced, hotel downtown by Nyhavn (harbor at end of the 'walking street,' Strøget). Always love Tivoli Gardens just before dusk. It's magic, and I'm never going to be too old to enjoy the rides!

 

All the port visits will enchant you. We read posts on CC re excursions, and printed out walking tours & maps. Thumbnails:

Germany--ship docks at small former fishing village. Didn't go to Berlin, as travel time R/T very long. Stayed in the town; easy walking around; have fish & beer at a restaurant on the water. Also a train station near ship, if want to explore towns further afield.

Estonia--We choose the cruise for St. Petersburg, but we were so moved by our visit to Tallinn. Find and watch the documentary, 'The Singing Revolution.' Walk up hill to Medieval walled town, a Unesco World Heritage site.

Finland--got HoHo (hop on/hop off) bus right off ship. Went to church in rock, and walked from there to Helsinki's harbor area. Great seafood restaurant in harbor!

St. Petersburg--did NCL daytime tours, but skipped nighttime ballet as too exhausting. Day 1 to Pushkin; was struck by photos in Catherine's Palace of what it looked like after Germans destroyed it. Touring the restored palace--unreal. Don't miss it. Day 2 the Hermitage. Read a lot of St. Petersburg history prior to cruise. Somehow, it took this trip to realize what 900 days of German bombing actually meant to the citizens of St. Petersburg. These two tours were good combo, bad lunches. This trip was all about museums, but would definitely go back to Hermitage. Must be largest museum in the world. In future, would book a private tour company, something recommended by CC members, so we can actually walk the city streets and get feel for town.

Stockholm--did NCL-sponsored bus drop off/pick up to Stockholm. But train station by tender, so next time would just take train. We downloaded walking tours and had a great time.

If you join your Roll Call for this cruise, it's possible to get ideas from fellow cruisers and/or share cabs/sign up for same private tour groups.

 

 

.

[dexddd]

If it hasn't been mentioned or you didn't find it, on the Baltics Ports of Call forum is a walking tour of Tallinn that someone posted a few years back.

 

If you do the tour in St. P. and the night ballet, it will be a quick turnaround time if you go back to ship and then head out again so you might want to go to buffet to get food for dinner or do room service. The buffet and grill stayed open late some of the nights that had long days in port (e.g. Germany).