NCL Sun Review - 12/29 thru 1/8

[micmark]

We sailed the Sun out of Houston from 12/29 thru 1/8, traveling with 4 in a cabin (2 adults, 2 children).

 

We had an excellent time on the Sun. The weather was excellent and the seas were smooth. Except for the 2nd to last evening we hit extremely rough seas, 20 – 25 ft waves. Many people including my wife were sick. We were in a forward cabin so we had quite a ride. Equivalent to sleeping on a roller coaster!

 

Our itinerary was as follows: Embarkation, at sea, at sea, Great Stirrup Cay, Montego Bay Jamaica, at sea, Grand Cayman, Cozumel, at sea, Disembarkation.

 

Embarkation was a breeze! Never had it this easy getting on a ship. We arrived around noon and was on the ship in less than 5 minutes. This is the first time we’ve actually checked-in on the ship (as opposed to the port). The Stardust Lounge was set up as the check-in area.

 

We had a great time at all ports with Montego Bay being our favorite. We choose to do our own thing and went to the Sunset Beach Resort. We paid for a day pass which included all food and drinks. They had several pools and water slides for the kids, plus paddle boats and kayaks. A quick $2 taxi ride from the pier and we were there!

 

In Grand Cayman we booked Stingray City with Captain Bryan. It was great. I recommend this excursion due to the fact that we were on a catamaran with only 35 people total. There were other boats there that had literally 100s of people on board.

 

This is our 5th cruise on NCL and our 3rd since Freestyle. We really enjoy the freestyle concept and honestly can’t imagine going back to assigned seating. We never had any trouble getting a table and in fact we were always immediately sat. This could be because we dine early in order to get the kids to Kids Club by 7:00pm. Dining room food was very good and certainly much better in preparation and presentation than we are accustomed to eating. For those of you with young children and jam packed schedules, you know what I mean! The Sports Bar after 3:00pm offers an excellent “pub” menu. The burgers and pizza are much better here than at the buffet. Although I can honestly say that everything I ate off the buffet was good. Except for the scrambled eggs! This I believe is a problem on most every buffet. Go for the omelets! We dined in 3 of the specialty restaurants and had excellent meals each time. The kids really enjoyed the Tepanyaki room.

 

Disembarking was equally as easy, except for the part of finding your luggage and getting through the crowd once of the ship.

 

This was an excellent vacation and we would not hesitate and to sail the Sun or NCL again.

[Don Haynes]

I agree, the Sun is a very nice ship. She has a wonderful crew. Thanks for your review.

[sceptic]

Micmark, we're looking at a Sun cruise with four people. What sort of cabin did you have (even the cabin #)? How old are your kids (mine are teens)? Anything you could provide about how much room you had and the sleeping arrangements in your cabin - and others, if you took a peek - would be greatly appreciated.

[micmark]

Micmark, we're looking at a Sun cruise with four people. What sort of cabin did you have (even the cabin #)? How old are your kids (mine are teens)? Anything you could provide about how much room you had and the sleeping arrangements in your cabin - and others, if you took a peek - would be greatly appreciated.

 

We were in cabin #9309 which I think is Category II. It is an oversized inside cabin. There was plenty of room for the 4 of us. Our kids are 10 & 13. There was a king size bed, a pull down bunk, and a fold out sofa. Our friends had the cabin next door and they actually had 5 in their cabin. They felt they had adequate room also. If you are okay with an inside room, I think this is the way to go. The oversized cabin was nice. The good thing about an inside room is that you hardly spend anytime in the room. This was our 5th cruise and we've yet to stay in a window/balcony cabin.

[newmexicoNita]

The Sun is one of my favorites: I am still trying to decide if I prefer her to the Jewel and Celbrity's Connie. The Connie has some very special features and the cabins are very nice: the Jewel is just about the prettiest ship I have seen and certainly the nicest we have cruised with a wonderful crew, but there is something about the Sun. I hope to take her this spring or fall. NMNita

[sceptic]

micmark, thanks! That really puts my mind at ease. A TA I've talked to keeps saying to get two cabins, but with the very low NCL prices for 3rd and 4th passengers it's a lot cheaper to put all of us in one cabin -- provided you're not on top of each other.

[nicenelli]

We are going on the Sun on April 8 with 2 kids age 11 and 14. How was the kids' program and teen program for your kids? we are also staying in an nside room and it was reassuring to know that there was enough room. thanks

[micmark]

We are going on the Sun on April 8 with 2 kids age 11 and 14. How was the kids' program and teen program for your kids? we are also staying in an nside room and it was reassuring to know that there was enough room. thanks

 

We put both of ours in the Tweens group (9 - 12). Our friends that we travel with have two girls that are 11 & 12, so we wanted all the kids to be together. My oldest son just turned 13 so we did not feel that he would have mixed comfortably in the teen group. We did have to "fib" to get him in the 9 - 12 group because they are not flexible with that if there are a lot of kids. Which in this case being a New Years Eve cruise there was. We were quite happy with the programs and schedule for the 9 - 12 year olds. Basically on sea days you can sign them in at 10:00 (out a 12:00) in at 2:00 (out at 5:00) in at 7:00 (out at 10:00). They never had a problem going and actually always requested to.

 

I cannot speak for the teens club, but I do know that it is not as structured as the younger groups and the teens are allowed to come and go as they please. I talked to the teen counselor and she said that she actually got "in trouble" with a parent because there teen was not in the club. Apparantly the teen was telling them they were going to the club, but was really off doing something else. IMHO, "I was a teen once, I probably would have been doing the same thing!" :)

[nicenelli]

thanks so much for the feedback.