Solo on the Sun to Alaska June 7-17 2024

[lepidoptera]

Sail in to Juneau has been beautiful. I ate breakfast out in the Great Outdoors. Then spent the morning in the observation lounge. One of the best features of this ship is the deck on the Observation Lounge. I was able to step out a few times and watch whales. Both the buffet and the great out doors were slammed, so I decide to do lunch in Seven Seas. People seem pretty eager to get off the ship. My only shore excursion is the Tram, so I am gonna have a relaxing lunch then head to my room and grab something before getting off. We are using the Sun’s tenders which I assume means the lifeboats. 

[lepidoptera]

[lepidoptera]

[lepidoptera]

Breakfast with a view. Lunch menu-the corn chowder was very good, almost as good as mine. 
 

We have arrived to our tendering spot. It looks like we will be right in town. I can see the Ovation of the Seas and a few other ships from my seat in the dining room. 

[lisabdh1]

On 6/7/2024 at 5:22 PM, Cardex said:

 

I am looking forward to your review. I will be sailing solo on the Sun on July 5th.

Please join our group! We have lots of fun stuff planned!

[lepidoptera]

Hey everyone! I had a busy day in Juneau and an early morning excursion today so I am just getting back to the thread. Hope to get through posting about Juneau before I take a nap. 
 

So I was a little bit worried about tendering in Juneau, I am really relieved to have good things to report. Tendering started right on time. I was not in a rush and by the time I headed down to the Bliss lounge to board (around 2:30) they were on group 6. They ended up dropping us off right in front of the Mt Roberts tram. This was actually a little bit nicer than when I was in Juneau with NCL and at the AJ docks.

 

First order of business was to head to Changing tides in the Senate building which is a yarn and quilting store. I’ve been there before, I feel like it has become more of a quilt store and they actually didn’t have a great yarn selection. I did grab a few skeins of yarn hand dyed in Alaska. They also had Qiviut, yarn made from the undercoat of Musk Ox. It is incredibly soft, warm and expensive. I did not buy any of this. 
 

Afterwards I headed up the tram. This was just okay. It had nice views, but I am glad my ticket was covered by the free at sea. They did have signs telling people the trails were dangerous and muddy. Maybe I would have enjoyed it more if I had been able to take the trails. 
 

The  I stopped in a few stores to find a baseball hat. The wind has really been messing up my hair. Once I had a hat, I walked to Deckhand Dave’s. By this time it was getting chilly and I ended up needing to put on my sweatshirt. I went with the combo-was not a fan of the salmon.

 

Then I walked around a bit more stopping in a bunch of stores. The only other place I bought stuff was at the Alaska Fudge Company. I got a mix of Marionberry and Huckelberry. 
 

By this time it was getting late so I headed back to the ship. The 2 tacos I ate did not fill me up so I went to Seven Seas for dinner. Didn’t finish with dinner until right before 9. Since I had an early excursion I decided not to go see the comedy show and headed back to the room. 

[lepidoptera]

Included a pic of where we were dropped off and what they had for sale tour wise. By the time I got off at 2:30ish most vendors were only selling one more tour departing at 3-not sure I would rely on getting a spot with how late the Sun arrives compared to the other ships.

 

 

 

Edited June 10 by lepidoptera
Fat fingers with the o

[lepidoptera]

Multiple people fell trying to get photos with the sign in the snow.

[lepidoptera]

@jrt.momI forgot to tell you-the spa was described as just sauna and steam room. No hot tub or pools. It was $169 for 10 days (including the 3 different scrubs). If you weren’t the one asking I apologize. I normally do the thermal spa, but decided it wasn’t worth it. 

[9tee2Sea]

in downtown Juneau, on the main street, there used to be a " food bank" for the needy.  It was called The Glory Hole.  I never laughed so hard.  It was a religious food giveaway that preached the word of G-D to all who would listen.  Being me, I took the name a totally different way.  I doubt its still there, and if it is, they MUST have changed the name

[jrt.mom]

That yarn store looks amazing! I really liked that Aurora Borealis quilt. I'll be sure to find that place when I'm there in October. 

[www3traveler]

24 minutes ago, jrt.mom said:

That yarn store looks amazing! I really liked that Aurora Borealis quilt. I'll be sure to find that place when I'm there in October. 

I would check out the quilt stores website.  Since The Aurora Borealis quilt is a kit, you might be able order it online now.  By October you might have it finished.

[graphicguy]

Love your pics.  Brings back a lot of happy memories.

[Usually Landlocked]

Thank you for sharing your experiences! I’ll be on this cruise in July and I excitedly told my husband about the live updates and how I was poring over all the dailies and menus. (I think he was slightly alarmed as he takes more of a “show up and see what happens” approach to vacationing.) But for those of us who are itinerary-driven, these are the kinds of details we love to see. 🙂 

[bluefish17]

Really enjoying your posts as I'm considering the Sun for Alaska. I've seen many reviews of the Sun on CC saying that even though the ship was recently refurbished, it still looks old and dated. Could you comment on whether these reviews are accurate? Thanks!

[lepidoptera]

1 hour ago, bluefish17 said:

Really enjoying your posts as I'm considering the Sun for Alaska. I've seen many reviews of the Sun on CC saying that even though the ship was recently refurbished, it still looks old and dated. Could you comment on whether these reviews are accurate? Thanks!

I was a bit worried about it as well. Overall the ship seems to be in good condition although some of the decor seems a little outdated. My stateroom is in great repair with a good mattress and very clean. 
 

The layout of the ship is definitely an older layout, with a lot of walk through this to get here. Od you can only access this through the rear elevators.
 

I have seen a few things that need repair-the tables in Los Lobos were a little beat up. But over things seem to be week taken care of.

This is the first cruise that I have taken since the pandemic that the staff don’t seem worked off their feet and unhappy. They have all been wonderful. 

 

Overall very impressed so far and having a great time.

[lepidoptera]

Yesterday Skagway was fantastic. My previous cruise did not go there, and I was looking forward to. 
 

Originally I had 2 excursions booked, the Whitepass railroad and a biking excursion. I had decided to cancel the biking one after watching some YouTube videos. It just looked a bit too extreme. I tried to get on one of the Whitepass combo excursions but they were all sold out. 
 

Meeting time for my excursion was 7:35 at the end of the dock. I got there slightly early and there was already a long line. 
 

Soon they started loading people on. They let people choose their own carriage. I was worried about getting a window seat, but was able to get one in the left hand side. In fact they said the train would be completely full but there were open seats and even open benches in our carriage. I had brought my passport but I didn’t need it. 
 

The ride up was fantastic, I took so many pictures I ran out of battery by the Summit and had to charge my phone. Not a lot of people were getting out on the platforms on my carriage, I ended up spending a lot of time out there. At the summit there was still lots of snow and ice-I was wearing a fleece and probably could have used my gloves and hat. I really, really enjoyed it.

 

On our way back we were given the option to get off in town, even though we were very close to town. I took this opportunity and thought the town was cute. There was a yarn shop (Aurora) next door to a quilt shop on Broadway. This yarn store was better stocked, and even had a few qiviut hats for sale. It also had some really nice bags and other things of interest to non-knitters. Skagway seemed less crowded than Juneau even though we had a similar mix of ships including Ovation and Radiance of the Seas. 
 

Once I finished shopping, I headed back to the ship for lunch. The lunch options were not great, but I was tired and hungry. I posted about Juneau and started sorting through my photos before napping. 

[lepidoptera]

[lepidoptera]

[lepidoptera]

I originally had dinner plans for La Cucina, but decided to change and eat in Four Seasons. I liked the menu they had more than La Cucina. I got a table by the window and we started our railway while I was dining. I didn’t get a pic of the dessert menu. I had the carrot cake, I believe the other choice was a cannoli. I also go the lemon sherbet. 

[Hogladyrider]

26 minutes ago, lepidoptera said:

 

Oops wrong thread!  Sorry!

Edited June 11 by Hogladyrider

[lepidoptera]

I did see the show last night. I 

 forget the name of the singer, she was doing diva’s through the ages. It was fine. 
 Here are yesterday’s dailies as well. 

[www3traveler]

36 minutes ago, lepidoptera said:

I was a bit worried about it as well. Overall the ship seems to be in good condition although some of the decor seems a little outdated. My stateroom is in great repair with a good mattress and very clean. 
 

The layout of the ship is definitely an older layout, with a lot of walk through this to get here. Od you can only access this through the rear elevators.
 

I have seen a few things that need repair-the tables in Los Lobos were a little beat up. But over things seem to be week taken care of.

This is the first cruise that I have taken since the pandemic that the staff don’t seem worked off their feet and unhappy. They have all been wonderful. 

 

Overall very impressed so far and having a great time.

Have you had a chance to express your comments to either Bran or Hasan.  They would love to hear what you have to say.

[lepidoptera]

Today we are in Haines. Pretty sure we pulled up around 3. I was trying to sleep on a little bit the announcement that we were cleared came at 7am sharp. I’ve been dilly dallying all morning. Took my time getting ready, ate breakfast in the buffet. Have been hanging out in the observation lounge. My tour isn’t until 14:45. I might go out and wander the town after lunch not sure. 

[lepidoptera]

4 hours ago, Usually Landlocked said:

Thank you for sharing your experiences! I’ll be on this cruise in July and I excitedly told my husband about the live updates and how I was poring over all the dailies and menus. (I think he was slightly alarmed as he takes more of a “show up and see what happens” approach to vacationing.) But for those of us who are itinerary-driven, these are the kinds of details we love to see. 🙂 

Thanks so much. I am glad you are finding everything useful! I am a planner like you and there was not a ton on the Sun.