SUN review 3/18-3/25 from a RCCL fan

[VikkiGarcia]

This was my families first time trying NCL. We have sailed RCCL Rhapsody,Legend,Navigator, Radiance. I know all comparisons are subjective but I just wanted to pass on a few insights now that we have sailed, for those who scowered this sight trying to get all the info you can before making the decision to try another cruiseline. I will just hit some highlights so I don't bore you with every detail.

 

Good things on NCL SUN:

 

Embarkation: This was so fast and smooth. It took about 20 mins. from the curb to being on the ship. I have never had thing move so fast. Our luggage was at our stateroom doors about 15 mins. after we found our cabin. I was unpacked and enjoying lunch at the Outdoor Cafe before 1:30! A+

 

Cabin: We were in #8103 and #8104. I really liked the cabin setup. These style quad cabins (1 upper and sofa) are much wider than any quad cabin we have had on RCCL. We only had 2 in each cabin so I can't tell you how comfortable the sofa and upper were. There was more storage than RCCL. The TV had two movie channels, one new releases. The room had a fridge. We booked a guarantee directly through NCL. The cabins we got were a six category upgrade. We have never gotten that big a jump through RCCL.

 

Teen Passport: We bought one for the kids to split. They each had 10 coupons for the week. This was a great deal. It came out to 1.75 for each frozen virgin drink, whipped cream and all. The bartenders did not seem thrilled to get the coupon so we tried to get ours from a different venue each time. Our kids would get one at a different bar while heading to the show each night.

 

7Seas dining room handling special diet: My hubby has Celiac diease so he must avoid gluten. The staff in the restaurant went out of their way to make him happy. On RCCL if a sauce is made with flour my husbands food would come plain. On the SUN someone made him a gluten free sauce. They also made him a set of cookies. The gluten free bread was alo served warm. On RCCL the bread was obivously made first thing in the morning and stored somewhere until dinner.

 

Itinerary: We chose to sail NCL because I loved this itinerary...Costa Maya..Guatemala....Belize.....Cozumel(we could have skipped this one we have had our fill)

 

Disembarkation: Again really quick. The New Orleans dockside staff is outstanding. Everyone was speedy. I have never seen the porters move so quick.

 

The not so good:

 

Tween program(10-12) :The counselors had no enthusiasm. It is held in a small windowless room. This was clearly an afterthought. My daughter found kids who had no desire to go to kids club. More kids hung out (than go to the loosly organized program) This is the exact opposite experience from RCCL. Adventure Ocean is the reason my kids love to sail. Many kids did not want to go check out the kids club because you cannot sign yourself out. My daughter has been able to sign herself out of programs since she was 9 (under our families strict list of where she can go) Made to stay until a parent arrives just makes it seem more like prison.

 

Teen program (13-17): Horribly organized. The staff acted like they were being forced to interact with this age group. We found our son (and all the other teens) hanging out in the atrium. When I asked what was going on. He said the activity ended early so they were suppose to "hang out" until the next one starts. I said shouldn't you be "hanging out" in the teen room. He told me it was locked. I went right over and the door was locked. So if anyone wants to compain about the teens on this ship you can blame the staff not filling the evening hours with organized activities.

 

My kids rated this cruise the worst we have taken. My kids have sailed the Panama Canal and 14 day Hawaii and never used the word bored until this sailing. If it was just us I might have a different opinion of NCL. I still plan to try Carnival and Princess, but for now we remain RCCL fans.

 

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

[jerhardt]

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise, too bad the kids didn't.

 

IMHO, another reason not to take kids on a cruise.

 

Yes, I do have kids, and they are in this age range (and older).

[Stillfloatin']

My kids are grown now so I can't comment on the programs but it sure sounds like the Sun didn't have much for kids. And locking the teen room inbetween activities sounds like the perfect formula for setting bored teens loose to find their own fun. :eek: If you ever decide to go on a cruise without your kids, you might want to give NCL another try. We love this cruiseline because of the Freestyle concept, although it's not for everyone.

[mrleo33]

I was on this same cruise and honestly I definitely agree with Vikki's assessment of the Sun's finer points. I had no exposure to the Teens or Tweens programs so I could not honestly comment on it or dispute anything Vikki has said.

I would hesitate to write off the entire childrens program though. It was an excellent program for younger kids. Our children are 4 and 6 and loved it. Today I asked d/s my nearly 7 year old, of his five cruises, which had the best kids program, Carnival, RCCL or NCL and his comment to me was "they were all great, when are we going on another cruise?" So he had no complaints at all and always jumped at the chance to go to the kid's program. This is our 2nd cruise with "Nat the Brat" one of the kid's favorite counselors, we first met her on the Spirit when we sailed out of NYC last year and she is great with the little ones.

 

In general I found this ship's crew to be the friendliest I have seen. A few of them I would have liked to have taken home with me. If I needed anything, they bent over backwards to accomodate my needs. We were basically adopted by an Assistant Maitre D named Fortunato Revell. Anything we needed he would jump at the chance to get it for us, and the man was everywhere, all the time. One night he was in East Meets West, the next morning he was down at Great Outdoors, then a few minutes later he was in 7 Seas, and even with as busy as he was, he would always stop by our table and say hello and ask how our cruise was going. The only major issue we had was with the new reservation policy, It makes it virtually impossible to get into Teppanyaki. I tried calling at 8:00 a.m. for the next night and they gave us a reservation time for 8:30 I believe, then when we showed up they wanted to seat us outside the Teppanyaki Restaurant in East Meets West. I was really unhappy because the "show" is a major part of the experience and no one offerred to do anything to resolve this to our satisfaction. So we walked out and didn't attempt to return. We really had a great time on this cruise. I also have to agree with Vikki on the size and layout of the rooms. This has been the largest and nicest set up of any of our cruises. Vikki, glad you made it home safe. Take care and stay cool.

[Bennett'sCruise]

I am glad you enjoyed your cruise, too bad the kids didn't.

 

IMHO, another reason not to take kids on a cruise.

 

Yes, I do have kids, and they are in this age range (and older).

 

I doubt they will leave the kiddos at home as Phil & Vikki travel all over the world as a family! One of the highlights of all my cruises so far is seeing what a fabulous job Vikki did in organizing their family of 4 in an inside cabin for 14 days! She's a wonder!!!

Vikki ~ it actually sounds like NCL did right by you guys ... except for the teen/tween programs. Seems weird that it was handled so poorly ...

"Hi" to the family from Bill & I ... see you over on the NUTS thread ... :D

~d

[newmexicoNita]

This was my families first time trying NCL. We have sailed RCCL Rhapsody,Legend,Navigator, Radiance. I know all comparisons are subjective but I just wanted to pass on a few insights now that we have sailed, for those who scowered this sight trying to get all the info you can before making the decision to try another cruiseline. I will just hit some highlights so I don't bore you with every detail.

 

Good things on NCL SUN:

 

Embarkation: This was so fast and smooth. It took about 20 mins. from the curb to being on the ship. I have never had thing move so fast. Our luggage was at our stateroom doors about 15 mins. after we found our cabin. I was unpacked and enjoying lunch at the Outdoor Cafe before 1:30! A+

 

Cabin: We were in #8103 and #8104. I really liked the cabin setup. These style quad cabins (1 upper and sofa) are much wider than any quad cabin we have had on RCCL. We only had 2 in each cabin so I can't tell you how comfortable the sofa and upper were. There was more storage than RCCL. The TV had two movie channels, one new releases. The room had a fridge. We booked a guarantee directly through NCL. The cabins we got were a six category upgrade. We have never gotten that big a jump through RCCL.

 

Teen Passport: We bought one for the kids to split. They each had 10 coupons for the week. This was a great deal. It came out to 1.75 for each frozen virgin drink, whipped cream and all. The bartenders did not seem thrilled to get the coupon so we tried to get ours from a different venue each time. Our kids would get one at a different bar while heading to the show each night.

 

7Seas dining room handling special diet: My hubby has Celiac diease so he must avoid gluten. The staff in the restaurant went out of their way to make him happy. On RCCL if a sauce is made with flour my husbands food would come plain. On the SUN someone made him a gluten free sauce. They also made him a set of cookies. The gluten free bread was alo served warm. On RCCL the bread was obivously made first thing in the morning and stored somewhere until dinner.

 

Itinerary: We chose to sail NCL because I loved this itinerary...Costa Maya..Guatemala....Belize.....Cozumel(we could have skipped this one we have had our fill)

 

Disembarkation: Again really quick. The New Orleans dockside staff is outstanding. Everyone was speedy. I have never seen the porters move so quick.

 

The not so good:

 

Tween program(10-12) :The counselors had no enthusiasm. It is held in a small windowless room. This was clearly an afterthought. My daughter found kids who had no desire to go to kids club. More kids hung out (than go to the loosly organized program) This is the exact opposite experience from RCCL. Adventure Ocean is the reason my kids love to sail. Many kids did not want to go check out the kids club because you cannot sign yourself out. My daughter has been able to sign herself out of programs since she was 9 (under our families strict list of where she can go) Made to stay until a parent arrives just makes it seem more like prison.

 

Teen program (13-17): Horribly organized. The staff acted like they were being forced to interact with this age group. We found our son (and all the other teens) hanging out in the atrium. When I asked what was going on. He said the activity ended early so they were suppose to "hang out" until the next one starts. I said shouldn't you be "hanging out" in the teen room. He told me it was locked. I went right over and the door was locked. So if anyone wants to compain about the teens on this ship you can blame the staff not filling the evening hours with organized activities.

 

My kids rated this cruise the worst we have taken. My kids have sailed the Panama Canal and 14 day Hawaii and never used the word bored until this sailing. If it was just us I might have a different opinion of NCL. I still plan to try Carnival and Princess, but for now we remain RCCL fans.

 

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

I am sorry your kids didn't have a good time. I don't know why they found the program boring, maybe it was due to other kids not wanting to participate as well. I have had a few clients cruise NCL with teens: all have had a great time, though the older kids, ones past about 15 seems to prefer just to hang out.

 

Being such an RCI loyalist it is good to see you are willing to try other lines. I have a gut feeling none will match up. When we get so into a particular line it is hard to break away. I am the same way. NMnita

[VikkiGarcia]

Hi Trudy and Dianne!!!

 

Everyone....

I guess I should have took a bit more time in writing my review after reading it again it does sound a bit harsh. I did see the regular Kid Corner room on the ship and they seemed very comparable to RCCL. The younger kids did see to be having loads of fun. It is the program and facilities for Tween and Teen that were nowhere on the same level. I guess having a dedicated teen room, a teen disco, kareoke (sp?) and activities that did not seem childish has spoiled my kids. Mine have never thoughts of "hanging out"( not in the program) in the evenings as an option. I think I would be nervous having them wander the ship with newly made friends. A cruise is our opportunity to let the kids have a bit of freedom and allow me and hubby to go to the casino or see a show (a bit of adult time). This is a huge departure from our other vacations exploring Europe, Thailand, South America. We spend every moment together and get on each others nerves. Traveling is our family's thing..everyone has to have a vice. Maybe NCL will see us again when we are empty-nesters.

[cruisequeen10]

This was my families first time trying NCL. We have sailed RCCL Rhapsody,Legend,Navigator, Radiance. I know all comparisons are subjective but I just wanted to pass on a few insights now that we have sailed, for those who scowered this sight trying to get all the info you can before making the decision to try another cruiseline. I will just hit some highlights so I don't bore you with every detail.

 

Good things on NCL SUN:

 

Embarkation: This was so fast and smooth. It took about 20 mins. from the curb to being on the ship. I have never had thing move so fast. Our luggage was at our stateroom doors about 15 mins. after we found our cabin. I was unpacked and enjoying lunch at the Outdoor Cafe before 1:30! A+

 

Cabin: We were in #8103 and #8104. I really liked the cabin setup. These style quad cabins (1 upper and sofa) are much wider than any quad cabin we have had on RCCL. We only had 2 in each cabin so I can't tell you how comfortable the sofa and upper were. There was more storage than RCCL. The TV had two movie channels, one new releases. The room had a fridge. We booked a guarantee directly through NCL. The cabins we got were a six category upgrade. We have never gotten that big a jump through RCCL.

 

Teen Passport: We bought one for the kids to split. They each had 10 coupons for the week. This was a great deal. It came out to 1.75 for each frozen virgin drink, whipped cream and all. The bartenders did not seem thrilled to get the coupon so we tried to get ours from a different venue each time. Our kids would get one at a different bar while heading to the show each night.

 

7Seas dining room handling special diet: My hubby has Celiac diease so he must avoid gluten. The staff in the restaurant went out of their way to make him happy. On RCCL if a sauce is made with flour my husbands food would come plain. On the SUN someone made him a gluten free sauce. They also made him a set of cookies. The gluten free bread was alo served warm. On RCCL the bread was obivously made first thing in the morning and stored somewhere until dinner.

 

Itinerary: We chose to sail NCL because I loved this itinerary...Costa Maya..Guatemala....Belize.....Cozumel(we could have skipped this one we have had our fill)

 

Disembarkation: Again really quick. The New Orleans dockside staff is outstanding. Everyone was speedy. I have never seen the porters move so quick.

 

The not so good:

 

Tween program(10-12) :The counselors had no enthusiasm. It is held in a small windowless room. This was clearly an afterthought. My daughter found kids who had no desire to go to kids club. More kids hung out (than go to the loosly organized program) This is the exact opposite experience from RCCL. Adventure Ocean is the reason my kids love to sail. Many kids did not want to go check out the kids club because you cannot sign yourself out. My daughter has been able to sign herself out of programs since she was 9 (under our families strict list of where she can go) Made to stay until a parent arrives just makes it seem more like prison.

 

Teen program (13-17): Horribly organized. The staff acted like they were being forced to interact with this age group. We found our son (and all the other teens) hanging out in the atrium. When I asked what was going on. He said the activity ended early so they were suppose to "hang out" until the next one starts. I said shouldn't you be "hanging out" in the teen room. He told me it was locked. I went right over and the door was locked. So if anyone wants to compain about the teens on this ship you can blame the staff not filling the evening hours with organized activities.

 

My kids rated this cruise the worst we have taken. My kids have sailed the Panama Canal and 14 day Hawaii and never used the word bored until this sailing. If it was just us I might have a different opinion of NCL. I still plan to try Carnival and Princess, but for now we remain RCCL fans.

 

If you have any questions feel free to ask.

Hi, my mother has Celiac and we are going on the Sun to Alaska in August. We have provided the letter to NCL and we got back a list of foods that are gluten free. Just one question, is your husband wheat free as well. My mother has to have the wheat free/gluten free. Is this the same thing. We are getting excited about returning to the Sun for the 2nd time. We are a party of 8 celebrating my mother's 85th birthday.

[VikkiGarcia]

Cruisequeen: My hubby cannot eat wheat, flour, barley, malt. I think all those things rolled together is what Celiac Disease is. This is why he eats a gluten free diet. The 7Seas dining room did a great job. We told them the first day that we put in a special request. We dined here every evening. They asked if we would be eating there for breakfast and lunch. We decided that we would do the buffet for those meals. Hubby just avoided items he thought were suspect. Every evening they gave us the next nights menu. Hubby would place his order so any accomidations could be made. It worked out great. The only down side was that it locked us into the same venue for dinner every night. So we never really got to experience the whole "freestyle" concept. The bonus was that we did not have to ask questions about ingredients, everything went real smooth. Alot of the staff got to know us and knew my hubby was the "special order guy" right when we sat down. His special bread was brought to the table warm. Someone even went out of their way to make him cookies. All special touches if you have been deprived of these "treats".

[newmexicoNita]

Hi Trudy and Dianne!!!

 

Everyone....

I guess I should have took a bit more time in writing my review after reading it again it does sound a bit harsh. I did see the regular Kid Corner room on the ship and they seemed very comparable to RCCL. The younger kids did see to be having loads of fun. It is the program and facilities for Tween and Teen that were nowhere on the same level. I guess having a dedicated teen room, a teen disco, kareoke (sp?) and activities that did not seem childish has spoiled my kids. Mine have never thoughts of "hanging out"( not in the program) in the evenings as an option. I think I would be nervous having them wander the ship with newly made friends. A cruise is our opportunity to let the kids have a bit of freedom and allow me and hubby to go to the casino or see a show (a bit of adult time). This is a huge departure from our other vacations exploring Europe, Thailand, South America. We spend every moment together and get on each others nerves. Traveling is our family's thing..everyone has to have a vice. Maybe NCL will see us again when we are empty-nesters.

Vicki, I don't think you came across harsh at all; you reviewed it the way you and your children say it. Just because some of us don't totally agree doesn't mean you need to feel you were to harsh. I also think the term "hanging out" can mean many things. I have seen the older kids on RCI, Celebrity and NCL spend much of their time in the arcade area. Again, when any of us have a true loyalty or love for any particular thing, a cruise line, restaurant chain, hotel chain, whatever it is hard to see too far past that. NMnita

[cruisequeen10]

Cruisequeen: My hubby cannot eat wheat, flour, barley, malt. I think all those things rolled together is what Celiac Disease is. This is why he eats a gluten free diet. The 7Seas dining room did a great job. We told them the first day that we put in a special request. We dined here every evening. They asked if we would be eating there for breakfast and lunch. We decided that we would do the buffet for those meals. Hubby just avoided items he thought were suspect. Every evening they gave us the next nights menu. Hubby would place his order so any accomidations could be made. It worked out great. The only down side was that it locked us into the same venue for dinner every night. So we never really got to experience the whole "freestyle" concept. The bonus was that we did not have to ask questions about ingredients, everything went real smooth. Alot of the staff got to know us and knew my hubby was the "special order guy" right when we sat down. His special bread was brought to the table warm. Someone even went out of their way to make him cookies. All special touches if you have been deprived of these "treats".

VikkiGarcia, Thanks for replying. Last year we went to Alaska on HAL Zuiderdam. They actually had the proper bread that my mother could eat. We told them the first night about her problem and they said "no problem". Every night they brought her a basket of bread and after each dinner they brought the next night's menu. That was great for me too as I got a sneak peak of what was on the next day's menu before everyone else. One night they forgot the menu, so they just assumed she would like the "sole", but they had turkey as well. Well she had the turkey and I ate her "sole" and the turkey. I am glad that they are now realizing some people have dietary issues and are willing to accommodate them. When I first went on NCL Sun 3 years ago, I contacted head office and explained to them, but they had no idea what I was talking about. so my mother just ordered plain food (without sauces) and she was fine. 2 years we were on the NCL Star and again I contacted head office and again nothing. She ordered in her normal way. For dessert one evening they suggested something that of course was made with wheat and she said she couldn't have it because of the wheat. Well all hell broke loose then. The waiter hightailed it to the head waiter who hightailed it to the maitre'd. The maitre'd came over and asked what the problem was. We explained and then he very sternly said we should have mentioned something at the beginning of the cruise and they would make sure it was prepared properly. We did not know at the time that they have a special section in the kitchen where they prepare these special meals. Now we know and they now treat us differently and they actually care. Hopefully on the Sun, we will be treated great.