Norwegian Sun Oct. 30th to Nov. 11 - Tips

[big_lar_1]

Hello;

 

My girlfriend and I are just back from the Norwegian Sun from Oct. 30th to Nov. 10th. I wanted to share a few observations and tips on the trip, instead of an entire review. Hopefully these will help some of you getting set to travel in the near future. I wish I had known some of these before we departed:)

 

Embarkation : Took a taxi to the pier from Miami airport. Normally this is a flat rate around $26 USD, but we asked him to stop to let us buy some wine to carry on. Total fare was $38 USD. The boarding process went fairly smooth until we tried to bring the wine onboard for use in our cabin. Norwegian does not allow you to bring any wine without paying a corkage fee. This may come as news to members who have previously cruised with Carnival and Holland America (among others). However, it is not negotiable and surprised many people in line!!!!! You must pay a $15 USD corkage fee per 750 mL bottle and $30 USD for the 1L and 1.5L bottles. Otherwise they will keep it for you and return it to you the last sea night of the cruise at 7:00 pm.

 

Room: We had purchased a basic inside room and do not kniow if we were upgraded or not. However, we ended up on the 10th deck and found the room to be decently spacious (certainly compared to Carnival). Surprisingly there was plenty of storage with 6 full size drawers and another six for socks and underwear in a seperate closet. As well there was a full closet to hang suits/dresses and a half closet to hang pants/shirts. Lots of shelf and counter space in the bathroom for toilettries. Overall very nice

 

Lattitudes Reception Party: Don't miss this one as it is Norwegian's chance to say thank you for returning as a customer. Get there early as they serve free drinks before the presentation and for the first half hour.

 

Casino Introduction: While still in Port you cannot gamble so the casino gives free lessons on how to play the games (and free drinks). Worth it even if you would like to understand what you are watching on some of the poker games (which are not straight forward).

 

First Night Dinner: Make sure you try either of the (non-pay) sit down restaurants (The Seven Seas or the Four Seasons) on the first night as they feature Lobster Tails and they will not be repeated. Apparently many people are tired from travel and the embarkation and opt for the buffet on the first night. This is a way for Norwegian to control costs and still offer surf and turf.

 

Officer's Dinner: This was a lottery system event for which you applied at the Guest Services Desk. We were selected (odds were apparently 1 in 3) and had a great time dining with a group of 5 other passengers and a Senior Officer. Don't miss the chance if you are selected as it was quite fun.

 

Pub Crawl: Good value at $25 per person. A great chance to meet some fellow cruisers and to see most of the onboard bars/lounges. (5 or 6 drinks included)

 

Formal Nights: There were three of them. The first was on the first sea day (which was also Halloween and the Officer's Dinner on our cruise). The second was a "Dress Up or Not" night about midway through the trip and the third was on the second to last sea day. This seemed like plenty of chances to look great. It is optional and at least half of the guests did not participate.

 

Dining Rooms and Buffets: The buffet can get a little crowded and the key (as always) is to get out of sync with the majority if guests. For breakfast, the Seven Seas serves a sit down breakfast which was excellent. (Eggs were really good and cooked to order). Also, check out the Outdoor Cafe at the back of deck 11 which has its own buffet and a beautiful view of the sea or your ports. This space was surprisingly uncrowded as I am not sure everyone knew it was there. Dinners at the Seven Seas and Four Seasons were also quite good. They offerred a Strip and Rib Eye Steak, respectively, on their everyday menu which I heartily enjoyed, as well as a Salmon steak (again quite good). Try the daily local special which featured the food of the region you were travelling through. Again, very tasty. We did not feel the need to upgrade tothe specialty restaurants, but those who did seemed quite satisfied.

 

Sports Bar: Easily the best chicken wings on the seas. Rivals most specialty wing places back home. The Sports Bar only serves food after 5:30 pm, but open very late (3:30 am+) so plan accordingly. Service is a bit spotty so yo may save some time by ordering at the bar.

 

Working Out: Very busy given especially as the crowd was mostly 55+ age onboard. Hang in there as it got less busy as the cruise goes on. We enjoyed working out and then going for morning coffee on the nearby Outdoor Cafe.

 

Internet: $55 for 110 minutes if you purchase on the first day, plus a $3.95 setup fee. Service was relatiively slow so don't expect to do more then check email and respond to the critical ones in 5 minutes. Probably not good for surfing, but you can print out your boarding passes for $0.50 per page.

 

Ports:

 

Cartagena: We opted for a full day tour with a local cab for $60 USD (negotiated down from $80). The driver and cab were well marked and very professional. His English was also quite good. Saw the Fort, the Old Town and the New Town in about 4 hours. The driver even acted as tour guide in the Old City so that we did not get lost.

 

Aruba: We did some shopping and walked around the city. Not much to tell

 

Curacao: Beautiful buildings and colours. We did some shopping and saw the local fish market right on the water, which was quite interesting. Stopped at an outside bar near the rotating bridge which had "misters" to keep you cool and took advantage of a drink special of 5 beers for $15 USD.

 

St. Maarten: Beautiful beaches within an easy walk after taking the Water Taxi ($7 USD per person for the day) off the ship. We paid $20 USD for 2 Chairs, an Umbrella and 5 beers. Just walk down the main boardwalk by the beach and look for signs.

 

St. Thomas: Mandatory passport inspection in one of the restaurants, which took about 15 minutes. Even still you had to line up by 8:30 am so it was not great for the late risers. The town itself was about 2 miles from our dock and we were able to walk in about 20 minutes. Shared cabs were available for $4 USD per person each way. On the return we met a local who asked if we were taking the bus. Turns out the bus stop is only 20 feet from downtown and in reality is just another shared taxi. Easily got us back to the ship for $1 USD each.

 

Activities: We participated in several trivia contests, but there many others events like towel/doillar bill folding. dance lessons/contests, etc. After each one you would get your activity card signed (two points if you won) and you could collect points towards Norwegian prizes at the end. On redemption (5:00 pm on the last sea day) you could get something for as lttle as one point, but the big things were: Water Bottles or a Deck of Cards at 15 points, T-Shirts at 20 points and a Coffee Mug at 30 points

 

Nightly Shows: There were three Norwegian cast show - Encore (Broadway music). We Will Rock You (80s music) and The Look of Love (Burt Bacharach music). All were very good with the singers and dancers easily well above average. Add to this 2 comedians, a hypnotist, a cirque du soleil duo, a Beatles cover band, a Banjo Player and a Violinist (think Lord of the Dance) and you had great headline shows every night. The Norwegian Sun singers also performed in the Observatory lounge on various nights and did a Broadway show and ABBA tribute among others.

 

Music in the Lounges: There were at least five different acts which performed in the Windjammer, DazzelsLlounge, the Atrium and on the Pool Deck. Our favourites were Soul, a fantastic band with two great singers (hits from the seventies to present day) and Bill Forrest (the pianoman). Bill did several themed sets (Beatles, Beach Boys, Elton John, Billy Joel, Gershwin, Eagles, The Rat Pack) which were always packed. Get there early as the Windjammer is surprisingly small and could easily fill twice the capacity. Bill did some research on the songs and bands and was able to add some interesting tidbits to spice up each tune.

 

Norwegian Deposit for a Next Cruise: If you can afford it, this is a greast deal. You put $250 USD down as a deposit on a future cruise and Norwegian issues you a $100 USD dollar credit to your stateroom, so it ends up costing only $150. You have 4 years to take another Norwegian cruise which you can book through any travel agent (even online ones) and Norwegian will take the $250 off of your cost. Only catches are that only one deposit may be used per room/per cruise and the cruise must be 7 days or longer.

 

Disembarkation: This is a no-brainer!!! Plan to carry your oiwn bags off if you can. You must be out of yiour room by 9:00 am, so we took our bags up to the Outdoor Cafe which served buffet breakfast until 10:00 am. We had a lesiurely breakfast and coffee while watching the loading and unloading of the various ships in port. At 10:30 they had finished announcing all of the baggage tag times and we headed down with zero wait for elevators and no lineups!!! Wish I had thought of this 5 years ago. Took a cab to the airport for $26 USD flat rate and was still at the airport before 11:00 am.

 

Again, hope this is useful.

[scottann92]

Thank you for tips and review. We will be on the Sun new years day, cannot wait. This will be our third cruise. Our first one was on the Epic, and everyone said we would be spoiled with that being our first. But really looking forward to the Sun and the southern carribean. :D

[Lena B]

Thanks for all of the tips! We sail on the Sun for Valentine's Day and I'll share your information with our roll call.

[debnjoe1438]

Thanks for the info. What is the cost, if there is one, for the officers dinner?

[big_lar_1]

Officer's Dinner was free and they picked up the wine.

[debnjoe1438]

Officer's Dinner was free and they picked up the wine.

 

Thanks, I may have to check this out once on board. :)

[jeckstein]

Thanks so much for the review. We will be on the Sun in April and are already counting the days.

[Karysa]

Nice tips. I will add that on our 2 SUN cruises this year the hair dryers were those old blower types. Also, Great Bay beach , the town beach in St. Maarten is known to have on going pollution issues. The nature foundation has been making some strides however lately in this regard.

[queenschick9b]

Can I ask when the pub crawl was? Towards the beginning of the cruise or the end?

[big_lar_1]

The pub crawl was the first sea day. It gives you lots of time toi visit afterwards :)

[newmexicoNita]

Hello;

 

My girlfriend and I are just back from the Norwegian Sun from Oct. 30th to Nov. 10th. I wanted to share a few observations and tips on the trip, instead of an entire review. Hopefully these will help some of you getting set to travel in the near future. I wish I had known some of these before we departed:)

 

Embarkation : Took a taxi to the pier from Miami airport. Normally this is a flat rate around $26 USD, but we asked him to stop to let us buy some wine to carry on. Total fare was $38 USD. The boarding process went fairly smooth until we tried to bring the wine onboard for use in our cabin. Norwegian does not allow you to bring any wine without paying a corkage fee. This may come as news to members who have previously cruised with Carnival and Holland America (among others). However, it is not negotiable and surprised many people in line!!!!! You must pay a $15 USD corkage fee per 750 mL bottle and $30 USD for the 1L and 1.5L bottles. Otherwise they will keep it for you and return it to you the last sea night of the cruise at 7:00 pm.

 

Room: We had purchased a basic inside room and do not kniow if we were upgraded or not. However, we ended up on the 10th deck and found the room to be decently spacious (certainly compared to Carnival). Surprisingly there was plenty of storage with 6 full size drawers and another six for socks and underwear in a seperate closet. As well there was a full closet to hang suits/dresses and a half closet to hang pants/shirts. Lots of shelf and counter space in the bathroom for toilettries. Overall very nice

 

Lattitudes Reception Party: Don't miss this one as it is Norwegian's chance to say thank you for returning as a customer. Get there early as they serve free drinks before the presentation and for the first half hour.

 

Casino Introduction: While still in Port you cannot gamble so the casino gives free lessons on how to play the games (and free drinks). Worth it even if you would like to understand what you are watching on some of the poker games (which are not straight forward).

 

First Night Dinner: Make sure you try either of the (non-pay) sit down restaurants (The Seven Seas or the Four Seasons) on the first night as they feature Lobster Tails and they will not be repeated. Apparently many people are tired from travel and the embarkation and opt for the buffet on the first night. This is a way for Norwegian to control costs and still offer surf and turf.

 

Officer's Dinner: This was a lottery system event for which you applied at the Guest Services Desk. We were selected (odds were apparently 1 in 3) and had a great time dining with a group of 5 other passengers and a Senior Officer. Don't miss the chance if you are selected as it was quite fun.

 

Pub Crawl: Good value at $25 per person. A great chance to meet some fellow cruisers and to see most of the onboard bars/lounges. (5 or 6 drinks included)

 

Formal Nights: There were three of them. The first was on the first sea day (which was also Halloween and the Officer's Dinner on our cruise). The second was a "Dress Up or Not" night about midway through the trip and the third was on the second to last sea day. This seemed like plenty of chances to look great. It is optional and at least half of the guests did not participate.

 

Dining Rooms and Buffets: The buffet can get a little crowded and the key (as always) is to get out of sync with the majority if guests. For breakfast, the Seven Seas serves a sit down breakfast which was excellent. (Eggs were really good and cooked to order). Also, check out the Outdoor Cafe at the back of deck 11 which has its own buffet and a beautiful view of the sea or your ports. This space was surprisingly uncrowded as I am not sure everyone knew it was there. Dinners at the Seven Seas and Four Seasons were also quite good. They offerred a Strip and Rib Eye Steak, respectively, on their everyday menu which I heartily enjoyed, as well as a Salmon steak (again quite good). Try the daily local special which featured the food of the region you were travelling through. Again, very tasty. We did not feel the need to upgrade tothe specialty restaurants, but those who did seemed quite satisfied.

 

Sports Bar: Easily the best chicken wings on the seas. Rivals most specialty wing places back home. The Sports Bar only serves food after 5:30 pm, but open very late (3:30 am+) so plan accordingly. Service is a bit spotty so yo may save some time by ordering at the bar.

 

Working Out: Very busy given especially as the crowd was mostly 55+ age onboard. Hang in there as it got less busy as the cruise goes on. We enjoyed working out and then going for morning coffee on the nearby Outdoor Cafe.

 

Internet: $55 for 110 minutes if you purchase on the first day, plus a $3.95 setup fee. Service was relatiively slow so don't expect to do more then check email and respond to the critical ones in 5 minutes. Probably not good for surfing, but you can print out your boarding passes for $0.50 per page.

 

Ports:

 

Cartagena: We opted for a full day tour with a local cab for $60 USD (negotiated down from $80). The driver and cab were well marked and very professional. His English was also quite good. Saw the Fort, the Old Town and the New Town in about 4 hours. The driver even acted as tour guide in the Old City so that we did not get lost.

 

Aruba: We did some shopping and walked around the city. Not much to tell

 

Curacao: Beautiful buildings and colours. We did some shopping and saw the local fish market right on the water, which was quite interesting. Stopped at an outside bar near the rotating bridge which had "misters" to keep you cool and took advantage of a drink special of 5 beers for $15 USD.

 

St. Maarten: Beautiful beaches within an easy walk after taking the Water Taxi ($7 USD per person for the day) off the ship. We paid $20 USD for 2 Chairs, an Umbrella and 5 beers. Just walk down the main boardwalk by the beach and look for signs.

 

St. Thomas: Mandatory passport inspection in one of the restaurants, which took about 15 minutes. Even still you had to line up by 8:30 am so it was not great for the late risers. The town itself was about 2 miles from our dock and we were able to walk in about 20 minutes. Shared cabs were available for $4 USD per person each way. On the return we met a local who asked if we were taking the bus. Turns out the bus stop is only 20 feet from downtown and in reality is just another shared taxi. Easily got us back to the ship for $1 USD each.

 

Activities: We participated in several trivia contests, but there many others events like towel/doillar bill folding. dance lessons/contests, etc. After each one you would get your activity card signed (two points if you won) and you could collect points towards Norwegian prizes at the end. On redemption (5:00 pm on the last sea day) you could get something for as lttle as one point, but the big things were: Water Bottles or a Deck of Cards at 15 points, T-Shirts at 20 points and a Coffee Mug at 30 points

 

Nightly Shows: There were three Norwegian cast show - Encore (Broadway music). We Will Rock You (80s music) and The Look of Love (Burt Bacharach music). All were very good with the singers and dancers easily well above average. Add to this 2 comedians, a hypnotist, a cirque du soleil duo, a Beatles cover band, a Banjo Player and a Violinist (think Lord of the Dance) and you had great headline shows every night. The Norwegian Sun singers also performed in the Observatory lounge on various nights and did a Broadway show and ABBA tribute among others.

 

Music in the Lounges: There were at least five different acts which performed in the Windjammer, DazzelsLlounge, the Atrium and on the Pool Deck. Our favourites were Soul, a fantastic band with two great singers (hits from the seventies to present day) and Bill Forrest (the pianoman). Bill did several themed sets (Beatles, Beach Boys, Elton John, Billy Joel, Gershwin, Eagles, The Rat Pack) which were always packed. Get there early as the Windjammer is surprisingly small and could easily fill twice the capacity. Bill did some research on the songs and bands and was able to add some interesting tidbits to spice up each tune.

 

Norwegian Deposit for a Next Cruise: If you can afford it, this is a greast deal. You put $250 USD down as a deposit on a future cruise and Norwegian issues you a $100 USD dollar credit to your stateroom, so it ends up costing only $150. You have 4 years to take another Norwegian cruise which you can book through any travel agent (even online ones) and Norwegian will take the $250 off of your cost. Only catches are that only one deposit may be used per room/per cruise and the cruise must be 7 days or longer.

 

Disembarkation: This is a no-brainer!!! Plan to carry your oiwn bags off if you can. You must be out of yiour room by 9:00 am, so we took our bags up to the Outdoor Cafe which served buffet breakfast until 10:00 am. We had a lesiurely breakfast and coffee while watching the loading and unloading of the various ships in port. At 10:30 they had finished announcing all of the baggage tag times and we headed down with zero wait for elevators and no lineups!!! Wish I had thought of this 5 years ago. Took a cab to the airport for $26 USD flat rate and was still at the airport before 11:00 am.

 

Again, hope this is useful.

 

thanks for a well thought out and objective account of your cruise. We will be on the same one in about 3 plus weeks. Well, 4 minus one day. As for the wine corkage fee, I think it was good you pointed this out, but I also think most people are now aware of NCLs policy. Of course HAL will allow you as much as you want to be brought on with no charge for using in your cabin. This is no longer the case with RCI and Carnival. They are limiting it to one or no bottles.

 

Again, thanks for taking the time to help others know what to expect.

[300dtc]

Thank you for posting! We are on the Sun in June for the Alaska intinerary. Just a few questions...were the hairdryers still the old hose type? Did the TV's get replaced with flat screens yet? Where was your favorite spot to hang out? What about best bar? How was the smoke onboard?

 

Thank you:)

[Keith1010]

Thank you for the very well written tips.

 

Keith

[cj'smom]

Thanks for posting this. Very helpful! We leave in less than a week for the same itinerary. Have heard good things about the Sun. Will be in 2 inside cabins.

 

Some other questions...

Room - is there a pull out laundry line in the shower? any suggestions on dealing with the shower curtain which I'm told can be "clingy"

 

Lattitudes - when was the reception?

 

Casino - did you do a slot pull? how did it go?

 

Formal nights - thank for the heads up that there are 3...thought there were only 2. We love to dress up and are bringing tux/gown for one night

and suite/cocktail dress for the other so will re-wear one outfit. Which night had the most people in formal tux/gowns?

 

Fitness center - do you have to be over 18 to use it?

 

Ports, Cartegena - where did you find the taxi/tour guide? was there a marked area right at the port to pick up a tour? was the $60 for the whole tour or per person?

Would the cab fit 4 people (2 adults, 2 teens) That sounds like a great option as we really want to see as much as possible in that port. Did you feel safe?

 

Aruba, - Do you recall when you could disembark and when you had to be back on board? Itinerary on NCL site says 1:00 arrival and 8:00 departure but then says that disembark is 2 hrs after arrival and passengers must be back on board 2 hours in advance of departure. That would leave only 3 hours in Aruba - doesn't seem like much. Trying to see if it's possible to do a non-ship excursion that leaves at 2:00 and gets back at 5:30.

 

St. Thomas - are you saying that you had to have a passport to go ashore and had to bring it off the ship with you? If you weren't in line by 8:30, could you not go off the ship?!

 

Shows - no Franki Valli review? was looking forward to that but the others sound good too. We love to go to the shows.

 

Activities - besides formal nights and the white hot party, are there any other special nights/activities we might want to bring something for?

 

Thanks in advance for your help. So excited about this trip (and so much still to do to get ready)!!!

[Tiggertastic]

The passport check will have been because you had returned into USA after being in cartagena - it will have been on the ship

 

It happened to us when we docked in Key West, being the first USA port after being out of the USA

 

Thanks for all the info, we are on in 4 weeks time and will definitely be participating in the pub crawl, seeing the hypnotist and the comedian - I wlll look out for them on the itinerary

[sns1009]

Love the tips! Thank you! We sail in March.

[crystalspin]

Is the $250 deposit available all the time? I somewhere got the idea that it was a first-night/day offer...

 

Does the $100 OBC apply to the future cruise or to the current cruise?

 

and ^June 7 2009^

Edited November 16, 2013 by crystalspin

[cj'smom]

They will offer the $250 deal throughout the cruise. The $100 credit is applied to the current cruise account.

[alwalaska]

The the others, I want to add my thanks for all of this info. I am really excited about our Feb cruise now.

 

I hope we have similar entertainment to yours. I would love to see your answers to some of the questions listed above. I would also love to see any photos that you may have.

[big_lar_1]

Okay, a whole bunch of questions here.

 

Room - is there a pull out laundry line in the shower? any suggestions on dealing with the shower curtain which I'm told can be "clingy"

There was a pull out laundry line. The shower stall was rounded and did not cling too much. Make sure your door is closed in the bathroom as this will create a draft.

 

Lattitudes - when was the reception?

It was the afternoon of the first sea day.

 

Casino - did you do a slot pull? how did it go?

Didn't do it, but check your roll call for details.

 

Formal nights - thank for the heads up that there are 3...thought there were only 2. We love to dress up and are bringing tux/gown for one night

and suite/cocktail dress for the other so will re-wear one outfit. Which night had the most people in formal tux/gowns?

Probably the most were the first fiormal night. But remember that at least half were not dressed up and you had mostly suits and dresses, not tuxedos and gowns.

 

Fitness center - do you have to be over 18 to use it?

You had to be 18 unless accompanied by an adult.

 

Ports, Cartegena - where did you find the taxi/tour guide? was there a marked area right at the port to pick up a tour? was the $60 for the whole tour or per person?

Would the cab fit 4 people (2 adults, 2 teens) That sounds like a great option as we really want to see as much as possible in that port. Did you feel safe?

The cabs were right outside and well marked. $60 was for the two of us (whole group) not per person. The cabs were Chinese cars and a little on the small size. I would think that 3 max would be appropriate. We felt entirely safe and would do this again no problem.

 

Aruba, - Do you recall when you could disembark and when you had to be back on board? Itinerary on NCL site says 1:00 arrival and 8:00 departure but then says that disembark is 2 hrs after arrival and passengers must be back on board 2 hours in advance of departure. That would leave only 3 hours in Aruba - doesn't seem like much. Trying to see if it's possible to do a non-ship excursion that leaves at 2:00 and gets back at 5:30.

Sorry, not much help here. However, being back onboard 2 hours early is a little much.

 

St. Thomas - are you saying that you had to have a passport to go ashore and had to bring it off the ship with you? If you weren't in line by 8:30, could you not go off the ship?!

No, you only had to go through pasport control in the theatre or main dining room. After that passports went basck in the safe and never left the ship.

 

Shows - no Franki Valli review? was looking forward to that but the others sound good too. We love to go to the shows.

There was no seperate Franki Valli show, but they did some of his songs in the Broadway stage show which were quite good.

 

Activities - besides formal nights and the white hot party, are there any other special nights/activities we might want to bring something for?

Can't think of any. Bring your bathing suits and relax :)

[vjl67]

Question about St Thomas: What time could you get off the ship? We are on this cruise in two days and have a scuba dive planned that is picking us up at 845. Now I'm concerned we won't make it.

 

Thanks,

 

Van

 

Sent from my DROID RAZR HD using Forums mobile app

[300dtc]

Okay, a whole bunch of questions here.

 

Room - is there a pull out laundry line in the shower? any suggestions on dealing with the shower curtain which I'm told can be "clingy"

There was a pull out laundry line. The shower stall was rounded and did not cling too much. Make sure your door is closed in the bathroom as this will create a draft.

 

Lattitudes - when was the reception?

It was the afternoon of the first sea day.

 

Casino - did you do a slot pull? how did it go?

Didn't do it, but check your roll call for details.

 

Formal nights - thank for the heads up that there are 3...thought there were only 2. We love to dress up and are bringing tux/gown for one night

and suite/cocktail dress for the other so will re-wear one outfit. Which night had the most people in formal tux/gowns?

Probably the most were the first fiormal night. But remember that at least half were not dressed up and you had mostly suits and dresses, not tuxedos and gowns.

 

Fitness center - do you have to be over 18 to use it?

You had to be 18 unless accompanied by an adult.

 

Ports, Cartegena - where did you find the taxi/tour guide? was there a marked area right at the port to pick up a tour? was the $60 for the whole tour or per person?

Would the cab fit 4 people (2 adults, 2 teens) That sounds like a great option as we really want to see as much as possible in that port. Did you feel safe?

The cabs were right outside and well marked. $60 was for the two of us (whole group) not per person. The cabs were Chinese cars and a little on the small size. I would think that 3 max would be appropriate. We felt entirely safe and would do this again no problem.

 

Aruba, - Do you recall when you could disembark and when you had to be back on board? Itinerary on NCL site says 1:00 arrival and 8:00 departure but then says that disembark is 2 hrs after arrival and passengers must be back on board 2 hours in advance of departure. That would leave only 3 hours in Aruba - doesn't seem like much. Trying to see if it's possible to do a non-ship excursion that leaves at 2:00 and gets back at 5:30.

Sorry, not much help here. However, being back onboard 2 hours early is a little much.

 

St. Thomas - are you saying that you had to have a passport to go ashore and had to bring it off the ship with you? If you weren't in line by 8:30, could you not go off the ship?!

No, you only had to go through pasport control in the theatre or main dining room. After that passports went basck in the safe and never left the ship.

 

Shows - no Franki Valli review? was looking forward to that but the others sound good too. We love to go to the shows.

There was no seperate Franki Valli show, but they did some of his songs in the Broadway stage show which were quite good.

 

Activities - besides formal nights and the white hot party, are there any other special nights/activities we might want to bring something for?

Can't think of any. Bring your bathing suits and relax :)

 

Hi, I'll ask my questions again since I think they got lost in the feed, were the hairdryers still the old hose type? Did the TV's get replaced with flat screens yet? Where was your favorite spot to hang out? What about best bar? How was the smoke onboard?

[cj'smom]

Just found this thread again and saw that you answered my many questions above. Thanks so much!

[alwalaska]

Just found this thread again and saw that you answered my many questions above. Thanks so much!

 

By the way, the 2 hour time is for initial embarkation, not each port.

 

In many ports, you will be able to get off of the ship at the time the ship says that it is arriving. They usually arrive a little early and many places clear the ship pretty quickly. You can't depend on this since you never know about weather and all.

 

St Thomas may be an exception for the time you will be able to get off of the ship since they have to check passports before allowing people off of the ship.

 

One thing I noticed on our last cruise, was that arriving later in the day makes the lines to get off of the ship much longer and sometimes more stressful since everyone is ready to get off of the ship by the time it is cleared.

 

On the other hand, the all aboard time is typically 30 minutes earlier than the departure time listed on your cruise itinerary. I have had a few variations to this, so always be sure to check the daily and listen to the announcements. We had one port where they changed the all aboard time 3 times during the course of the morning.

 

I have not done this exact itinerary, but I have sailed NCL 5 or 6 times with fairly consistent results.

[crystalspin]

@ cj'smom

 

Thanks for answer on $250future/$100-OBC. Glad we can experience Norwegian before making the decision! I'm already thinking about NYE 2015 but need to decide on a cruise line...

 

@ big Lar --

 

Interested in your answer RE: smoke. Have friends that will be on the Sun next June to Alaska. They are decidedly NON-smokers (as we are).