Norwegian Sun Experiences?

[peachcreamsicle]

My husband and I are considering booking an NCL Sun cruise and are unsure of what to expect since it’s an older ship.  We are in our 30s and not particularly interested in waterslides or go carts, but still expect good amenities and dining options.  Has anyone sailed on the NCL Sun recently and care to share their experience? Thanks in advance for any info! 

[mskaufman]

Also thinking about it now that they are in Baltimore.

[peachcreamsicle]

4 minutes ago, mskaufman said:

Also thinking about it now that they are in Baltimore.

This is us exactly! We love cruises we can drive to 😊 We just experienced a less-than-stellar Carnival cruise though, so I’m apprehensive about wasting my remaining vacation time for the year. 

[mskaufman]

Waiting to see some more reviews.

[www3traveler]

It has been a long time since I have been on The Sun but that 12 day cruise tempts me even if it means flying from the Pacific Northwest in December.

 

She is a wonderful small ship.  She is unique for several reasons (1) Her elevators are glass, (2) one of the main dining rooms is three steps out of the elevator at one end of the lobby area, (3) The Observation Lounge has a outdoor deck running the length of the Lounge (great place to watch pier runners), (4) A lot of people complain about how small Her Buffet is but there is a two deck space across the aft of the ship to eat, lounge etc.

 

By early December all of Her Christmas decorations will be up.  Do not miss the elaborate Gingerbread Village displays.

 

I can not wait to board The Sun once again.

[AKR2011]

The Sun was my husband's favorite, but we went in 2014. The size was great and the crew was absolutely fantastic. Our biggest complaint was that the sports bar had limited hours instead of the 24-hr. O'Sheehan's. Maybe this has changed? 

[wxtrix]

48 minutes ago, AKR2011 said:

The Sun was my husband's favorite, but we went in 2014. The size was great and the crew was absolutely fantastic. Our biggest complaint was that the sports bar had limited hours instead of the 24-hr. O'Sheehan's. Maybe this has changed? 

 

from what i’ve been reading (we’re on one of the 12 night cruises out of Baltimore), it has not changed.

 

We've never sailed the Sun, but she’s slightly smaller than the Carnival Pride, which we’ve sailed twice out of Baltimore and loved, so i’m expecting to love the Sun as well.

 

people make a cruise, too, and the 2 Baltimore sailings we’ve done had a great friendly mix of passengers.

 

 

[julig22]

1 hour ago, AKR2011 said:

The Sun was my husband's favorite, but we went in 2014. The size was great and the crew was absolutely fantastic. Our biggest complaint was that the sports bar had limited hours instead of the 24-hr. O'Sheehan's. Maybe this has changed? 

Nope, still not 24 hrs. Was on the Sun in Alaska in May.

[peachcreamsicle]

5 hours ago, julig22 said:

Nope, still not 24 hrs. Was on the Sun in Alaska in May.

What did you think of your cruising experience? Would you sail on this ship again? How was the food? 

[dexddd]

We sailed Sun over ten years ago.  Other than the mini suites are best in fleet, ship old style.  Did get a good refurb.  Buffet dinky.  Front observation nice.  Sports bar weird hours.

[peachcreamsicle]

6 minutes ago, dexddd said:

We sailed Sun over ten years ago.  Other than the mini suites are best in fleet, ship old style.  Did get a good refurb.  Buffet dinky.  Front observation nice.  Sports bar weird hours.

Funnily enough, I sailed on the Sun in 2014 but have hardly any recollection of it (that may be a good thing since I tend to remember my negative cruise experiences).  I think I may just have to go for it 😊🤷🏻‍♀️

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, peachcreamsicle said:

Funnily enough, I sailed on the Sun in 2014 but have hardly any recollection of it (that may be a good thing since I tend to remember my negative cruise experiences).  I think I may just have to go for it 😊🤷🏻‍♀️

Go for it.  Any cruise on any ship is what you yourself make it.  You could meet some very interesting passengers and become life loong friends with them.  I have.  The itinerary is wonderful and you would be out of the cold Canadian for a few days.  You might even be able to buy some unique Christmas giffts even for 2023 or 2024.

Enjoy

[BigRedFan]

13 hours ago, peachcreamsicle said:

My husband and I are considering booking an NCL Sun cruise and are unsure of what to expect since it’s an older ship.  We are in our 30s and not particularly interested in waterslides or go carts, but still expect good amenities and dining options.  Has anyone sailed on the NCL Sun recently and care to share their experience? Thanks in advance for any info! 

I was just on the Sun for a wonderful itinerary out of Lisbon visiting ports in Spain, Morocco, Ceuta, the Canary Islands.  The ship was lovely, the food was good.  Interesting little fact, this ship has the theater in the stern as opposed to the bow.  I actually enjoyed the smaller size very much.  I am currently booked on a B2B sailing of the Sun in 2025; Singapore to Doha and Doha to Dubai.  It will visit India which is a bucket-list destination for me. 🙂

Genzi

[www3traveler]

1 hour ago, BigRedFan said:

I was just on the Sun for a wonderful itinerary out of Lisbon visiting ports in Spain, Morocco, Ceuta, the Canary Islands.  The ship was lovely, the food was good.  Interesting little fact, this ship has the theater in the stern as opposed to the bow.  I actually enjoyed the smaller size very much.  I am currently booked on a B2B sailing of the Sun in 2025; Singapore to Doha and Doha to Dubai.  It will visit India which is a bucket-list destination for me. 🙂

Genzi

OH WOW  I wish!!  What fun!!

The Spirit also has the theater in the aft of the ship.

[julig22]

8 hours ago, peachcreamsicle said:

What did you think of your cruising experience? Would you sail on this ship again? How was the food? 

Not sure how helpful I can be - I sail because of itinerary, so food and ship amenities aren't things that are overly important to me. It's usually the buffet for me! But I just got off of the Jewel and I can say that the food on the Jewel was probably better. My steward on the Sun was fantastic. Ship layout is a little strange but once you learn which hallways are dead-ends....

However, I had the best "standard" balcony cabin ever IMHO. Not sure of the actual category because it was a courtesy upgrade.  Deck 8, last cabin and the deck wrapped around the back - best glacier bay viewing ever, since I had views from the side and the back.

Sailing to Canada on the Sky, sister ship, in a couple of weeks.

[ChiefMateJRK]

17 hours ago, peachcreamsicle said:

Has anyone sailed on the NCL Sun recently and care to share their experience?

We sailed her on a ten day in late July.  It all depends what you are looking for.  It had the best entertainment I've ever had on an NCL ship.  I don't really want the big shows, just quality performers in the various lounge venues.  We also had the nicest inside cabins we've ever had.  Crew was great.  Drawbacks would be a) very small buffet (food selection, not seating), b) Sports bar is no substitute for The Local on larger ships and c) no Brewhouse.  The OL was fantastic, quiet and relaxing.  All that said, I much prefer the Bliss or Encore (not so much the 2024 version of Joy).  I've yet to sail on the Prima.

[CookieShip]

Just booked the Sun out of Baltimore in December. I really like the ease of cruising out of Baltimore so this will be a new ship to me and all new ports! There are just limited options if you want to go out of Baltimore, the ships tend to be older as they need to be smaller to fit under the bridge.

[spdwain]

Can anyone tell me if the sofabeds on Sun are real fold out sofabeds?  We find the futon like sofa, like on Breakaway, where you simply remove the back is very hard and uncomfortable.  We sail as 3 adults and really need a comfortable bed for the 3rd person. 

[smillerholmes]

I was on the Sun for a 20-day Panama Canal sailing from Miami to Seattle.  I am also booked for an Alaskan-10 day in May 2024.  I found the ship to be very well cared for with a top notch staff.  Yes, it is an older ship, but well cared for and I enjoyed my time on her.

[MammothMan]

We did a 10 day Alaskan cruise in May. We had a penthouse on the aft of the ship and got to see some fantastic sunsets. The sun is an older ship and her layout is a little strange but it also has an intimacy that you don’t get on the big ships. We found the entrainment lacking with the shows being below the current standards. The crew was great. 
 

I probably won’t sail her again. Not because it was a bad trip (10 days of sunshine in May in Alaska will make any cruise ship fantastic) but because there’s so much more additional amenities for suite passengers on the newer ships. 
 

One other word of caution. The sun is less than 100,000 ton with at 25 year old stabilization system. In rough seas she will rock and roll. For me an ex submarine sailer I love the

motion, my wife on the other hand was not a happy camper for the first sea day out of Seattle. 

 

But…it’s still cruising and there’s nothing better than that. 
 

 

 

[DMH15]

18 hours ago, spdwain said:

Can anyone tell me if the sofabeds on Sun are real fold out sofabeds?  We find the futon like sofa, like on Breakaway, where you simply remove the back is very hard and uncomfortable.  We sail as 3 adults and really need a comfortable bed for the 3rd person. 

We had a sofa bed in our living room and a bed in the bedroom.  My mom insisted on the sofa bed.   She was fine.  I found it uncomfortable.  

[DMH15]

8 hours ago, MammothMan said:

We did a 10 day Alaskan cruise in May. We had a penthouse on the aft of the ship and got to see some fantastic sunsets. The sun is an older ship and her layout is a little strange but it also has an intimacy that you don’t get on the big ships. We found the entrainment lacking with the shows being below the current standards. The crew was great. 
 

I probably won’t sail her again. Not because it was a bad trip (10 days of sunshine in May in Alaska will make any cruise ship fantastic) but because there’s so much more additional amenities for suite passengers on the newer ships. 
 

One other word of caution. The sun is less than 100,000 ton with at 25 year old stabilization system. In rough seas she will rock and roll. For me an ex submarine sailer I love the

motion, my wife on the other hand was not a happy camper for the first sea day out of Seattle. 

 

But…it’s still cruising and there’s nothing better than that. 
 

 

 

I also cruised on the Sun in an aft PH.  Twice.  A total of 25 days.  It is my favorite ship.  I loved it.   I loved breakfast and lunch in Il Adagio.  I think it is a La Cucina now.  
 

I loved our aft balcony.   So much.  The Sun has no Haven but only 20 suites on board.  I would cruise on the Sun again in a heartbeat. 
 

 

[Travelicious]

20 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

We sailed her on a ten day in late July.  

I'm asking you because you were on her so recently.  Are there still shower curtains?  I was on one a while back that still had shower curtains, and I was thinking it was the Sun.

 

That said, we were on the Sun for 5 weeks in 2017, and we very much enjoyed the cruise.  The crew treated us very well.  We still liked hanging out in the sports bar, even though it is not like on other ships.  It is at the aft instead of over the atrium, which made it not quite so loud.  

[julig22]

2 hours ago, Travelicious said:

I'm asking you because you were on her so recently.  Are there still shower curtains?  I was on one a while back that still had shower curtains, and I was thinking it was the Sun.

 

That said, we were on the Sun for 5 weeks in 2017, and we very much enjoyed the cruise.  The crew treated us very well.  We still liked hanging out in the sports bar, even though it is not like on other ships.  It is at the aft instead of over the atrium, which made it not quite so loud.  

Yes, still had shower curtains in May. At least in my balcony stateroom.

[Travelling2Some]

We did a trans-Atlantic on the Sun in November and, while I don't remember many specifics, we were very happy with the ship, particularly the crew on that one.  Buffet food was not as good as the Bliss (fewer choices, poor layout, Indian not as good) but there's always plenty of good stuff to eat on any cruise.  It was our first trans-Atlantic.  We had a lot of sea days and were not bored.  Inside cabin was roomier than most.  We have been on lots of the big ships and I would not hesitate to book the Sun again.