Brief review of the Norwegian Sun, Western Caribbean, Dec 2014

[snarfbeast]

My gf and i just returned from a week in the Western Caribbean on the Sun. We had a great time, here's some quick notes that are hopefully useful to others:

 

The Sun is an older ship (2001), and capacity is about 2000 guests. For our cruise, we were at about 1500. It never felt crowded, we had no problems getting seats for dinner in the MDR or in the buffet(s). Our room was 1204, a Mini-Suite on deck 11, all the way forward. The Mini-suites don't feel much bigger than a normal balcony room, but the bathroom was enormous in comparison (a full sized shower/tub, separate makeup table area, large closet).

 

We did not eat at any of the premium restaurants, just the MDR for most nights. The food was good, but nothing special. The New York strip steak stood out as rather poor and overcooked, but everything else was acceptable. My favorites were the pork medallions and pork chop. They are also good at cooking chicken perfectly, every chicken dish we had was moist and pretty tasty. Desserts were bland and not worth the calories until the last night, when they had a variety of special chocolate items. Portions on most items were small, which was a good thing. I ordered two entrees and left out the carbs on the second one and that was plenty of food.

 

The buffet was not as awkward for breakfast as some other reviews led me to believe, though the placement of the omelette station at the start of the line was a little odd. Head all the way to the buffet lines at the aft of the ship, they seemed to always be the least busy, especially on the first day. That also puts you right on the aft patio, which is a great spot to eat.

 

Service was great for the most part, though our room attendant never did quite figure out that we almost always went out early for dinner and hit the sack early as well (10-11ish). We usually ended up just getting the activity guide and towels from him when we got back from dinner, which worked out fine.

 

Room service was just ok. The menu was a little limited, and they do not do any hot breakfast. Sandwiches come with the crusts cut off, and potato chips on the side. The strawberry pound cake was delicious, we had that on several occasions after a dinner in the MDR.

 

Ports were fun: Roatan, Belize City, Costa Maya, Cozumel. On time in to every port, and no problems getting on or off the ship. We tendered into Belize City, which was efficient if a bit packed. It's only a 15 minute ride, so not a big deal. Note: If you get a single hull tender with outboards, sit as far AFT as you can. You get some gas fumes for a few minutes, but the ride is far smoother. The return trip we caught a two level tri-hull that was much less packed and a much much better ride. We did a cave tubing excursion, which was neat, but too short. You ride in a bus for about an hour each way, hike for 30 minutes or so, and spend maybe 40 minutes in the cave. It's very, very busy, lots of other tubers to run into.

 

At Roatan we did the Maya Key excursion, and it was excellent. Not much of a taste of Honduras, but relaxing and uncrowded. Snorkeling was excellent! The animal enclosures were neat, though the big cats were a bit sad to see (you can tell they are stressed). All of the animals are rescues of some type, so it's noce to see them being cared for at least.

 

In Costa Maya we went to the Chacchoben ruins, which was great. It's about an hour bus ride, but i think it was worth it. I'd like to go back someday and spend more time wandering the site.

 

Our Cozumel excursion was paddle boarding and snorkeling. Paddle boarding was great fun, the snorkeling was not that great. There's just not much of a reef or fish activity in the area we went to (Stingray Beach).

 

I'm not much of a shopper, so the aggressive shops in and near most of the ports were a negative to me.

Edited December 18, 2014 by snarfbeast

[coscab]

Thanks for the review, we have been on the Sun 3 times and are booked a 4th time in March for the same itinerary, we have done this itinerary before and always enjoy it. We just got off the Pearl and liked the chocolate volcano cake, do you remember if they had it in the MDR?

Did you tour the ruins with NCL in Costa Maya, we usually just take a cab to the beach area but someday would like to do the ruins.

Thanks again for the review.

[WISEGIRL1006]

Thanks for your review. We set sail on the Sun in February, this is my bf's first cruise and I want him to enjoy it as much as I do. We are difficulty choosing our excursions in Roatan and Belize.

[snarfbeast]

Thanks for the review, we have been on the Sun 3 times and are booked a 4th time in March for the same itinerary, we have done this itinerary before and always enjoy it. We just got off the Pearl and liked the chocolate volcano cake, do you remember if they had it in the MDR?

Did you tour the ruins with NCL in Costa Maya, we usually just take a cab to the beach area but someday would like to do the ruins.

Thanks again for the review.

 

They only had the volcano cake on the last night. I wish they'd had it every night, i loved it. =]

 

We booked all of our excursions thru NCL, i believe there were a couple of ruins trips offered in Costa Maya. We chose one called "Chacchoben and Beach Break" (i think) as it was a full day bundle that included a trip to the ruins, then lunch, drinks, and about 90 minutes at a beach club nearby (Uvero?).

[coscab]

They only had the volcano cake on the last night. I wish they'd had it every night, i loved it. =]

 

We booked all of our excursions thru NCL, i believe there were a couple of ruins trips offered in Costa Maya. We chose one called "Chacchoben and Beach Break" (i think) as it was a full day bundle that included a trip to the ruins, then lunch, drinks, and about 90 minutes at a beach club nearby (Uvero?).

Volcano cake was on the menu every night on the Pearl, we took full advanatge :D There was no chocolate night, first time we didn't have a chocolate night on a cruise, it was a 10 day but we did a 10 day on the Sun last year and they had it in the dining room one night and also had it on the Dawn last March, I wonder if somehow I missed seeing it on the daily list, there were a few nights we didn't eat in the MDR.

[Love my butler]

Volcano cake was on the menu every night on the Pearl, we took full advanatge :D There was no chocolate night, first time we didn't have a chocolate night on a cruise, it was a 10 day but we did a 10 day on the Sun last year and they had it in the dining room one night and also had it on the Dawn last March, I wonder if somehow I missed seeing it on the daily list, there were a few nights we didn't eat in the MDR.

 

The Sun hasn't implemented the new menus yet. On the old menus you only get it once. With the new menus you can get it everyday.

 

NCL has eliminated the chocoholic buffet and switched to a generic 'chocolate desserts' night toward the end of the cruise. I hate cutbacks!

 

P.S. Thanks for the review. LOVE the Sun and her spectacular crew.

Edited December 19, 2014 by Love my butler

[coscab]

The Sun hasn't implemented the new menus yet. On the old menus you only get it once. With the new menus you can get it everyday.

 

NCL has eliminated the chocoholic buffet and switched to a generic 'chocolate desserts' night toward the end of the cruise. I hate cutbacks!

 

P.S. Thanks for the review. LOVE the Sun and her spectacular crew.

We experienced the chocolate desserts night in the MDR on the Dawn in March 2014, but unless I missed it there was none on the Pearl a few weeks ago, I really watch for that in the daily so perhaps they didn't have one for some reason, the butler brought plenty of chocolate and with the volcano cake I guess we certainly didn't need anymore!

Do you know if the new menu will be on the Sun in March 2015, I missed some of the lunch items from the old menu and Cagneys lunch didn't have anything I liked (I mostly eat chicken but the old MDR menu had a Cobb salad and the olive tepenade (spelling?) the butler brought it a few times, he told me it's just a suite amenity now).:(

[zounds]

Thank you very much for the well-written review! We'll be on her in Jan. and have booked Maya Key. I'm curious as to their drink and snork. rental prices. Do you happen to recall appr. what they are? I've researched, but haven't seen them. We've done this itinerary on the Sun, et al before, but never to Maya Key. steve

[GoofyCrew]

In Costa Maya we went to the Chacchoben ruins, which was great. It's about an hour bus ride, but i think it was worth it. I'd like to go back someday and spend more time wandering the site.

 

Thanks for your review! We leave on the same cruise on the Sun in about 2 weeks. Our first cruise - we are getting so excited!

 

We are doing the Chacchoben ruins excursion in Costa Maya also. You said bus - how large? We will have our kids along so I am just trying to gauge what we are in for. I've heard the road is a bit, um, rustic, so maybe a bus will seem safer. :rolleyes: We won't be doing the beach excursion portion, just the ruins.

[shwidd]

I just returned and had a great time. Didn't book any excursions through NCL and did just fine...

Check out the Native Choice for Costa Maya, the experience includes a trip to a mayan village to have lunch with a family, food was great!! Experience was awesome!!

 

In Belize we went cavetubing with cavetubing.bz , again, they were awesome!

 

And in Honduras we used Victor Bodden tours fun N' sun package. Monkey Business was so much fun!!!

 

Missed lobster night and the chocoholics buffet that NCL doesn't have anymore, was really looking forward to it. :(

[Lollygil]

Thanks I am on this cruise in February. Was the White Hot Party at the pool or inside?