NCL Sun Revew: 3/25-4/1

[KKeeganS]

About us: Married and in our early-mid 30s. We had 5 cruises under our belts on Celebrity, RCCL, and NCL. We both work full time, and I am also taking three classes a semester, so we were really just interested in relaxing and resting up. We picked this line primarily because I wanted to see New Orleans, and we both wanted to visit Belize.

 

Pre Cruise Stay – Spent two nights at the Elysian Fields Inn in Fairburg/Marigny. This was my first trip to NOLA and I wasn’t sure what to expect as far as crime, attractions, or anything else in post-Katrina NOLA. On the trip from the airport and specifically on Elysian Fields Avenue on the blocks leading to the Inn, I did see a lot of devastation still present – houses with the spray paint markings on them still and I admit I was a little worried. We were greeted at the inn by Jim (who runs the inn with his wife, Leigh). He gave us a great overview of the area (including a little map with restaurants and bars mapped out), instructions on how to reach the Quarter (a pleasant 10-15 minute walk) and answered our questions. We settled in for a minute and went off to explore. We were out from early-morning to nearly midnight and never felt worried about crime – streets were well-lit, busy, etc. We are from Boston, though, so folks from smaller towns might be a little apprehensive and prefer to take a cab after dark.

 

The Inn itself was fantastic. Leigh and Jim were great hosts, answered all our questions, gave us tips for some places to try, had loads of brochures and suggestions. I think their advice helped us make more of our two days than if we had stayed downtown at a bigger hotel. We really loved New Orleans and hope to be back again soon. I would definitely stay with them again.

 

Embarkation: Cab fare was $7 per person (or meter fare, whichever was greatest) and about a 10 minute ride from the Inn. We arrived around 11:30 and had no problems checking in. We were given a number and they called groups to embark. Overall took about 45 minutes and we were on the ship having lunch by around 12:30.

 

Cabin: 9275, the last cabin on the starboard side aft with a longer balcony. I had heard it had two lounge chairs, two regular chairs and a little table, but there was only one lounge chair. Our cabin steward was great. I don’t know how he got his work done because he was ALWAYS in the hall to say hi and ask how we were doing.

 

Food: Utterly subjective, but my opinion is that the food on NCL is fair to average, and a step down from RCCL in both the buffets and the main dining rooms. The service is adequate and I find there is a big difference between having the same server every night to having different servers. We do love freestyle, especially for this trip when we really just wanted to wear casual clothes and hang out with each other. We had one night where we waited about 5 minutes for a table for two, but that was the only time. We did find that having dinner in the forward restaurant (I think 7 Seas?) that if you go later, the staff is busy taking down tables and resetting them which was quite distracting. We discovered that restaurant closed earlier than the aft one, so we would go to the aft one on nights we ate late. We also went to Ginza once and Le Bistro once. Service and food were great in both. Tried virtually all the sushi rolls, and I would book another cruise just to get the Godzilla roll again. It’s like sushi, but desert….yum! At Le Bistro, I had the goat cheese tart which was divine. Hubby tried escargot for the first time and loved it. We did Las Ramblas for snacks one day and it was decent.

 

Bars: By the pool we would order our fruity frozen concoctions in a regular glass for $6, which was reasonable. Every night before dinner we would go to the virtually deserted Observation Lounge for martinis. Good service, good quality drinks.

 

Shows/Cruise Director Staff: The highlighted performer for the week was a hypnotist. We checked out her first show and that was about it. I stumbled on the 1 Versus 10 show one night and enjoyed that. I am sad to report that we were in bed well before midnight every single night, and that was fine with me.

 

Ship: The hull art looks great. I do now understand the comments about the décor in the staterooms – ugh. DH and I are fans of the Voyager class ships on RCCL, and in comparison, I found the layout of the ship a little confusing. I hated taking the stairs up to the 11th deck and having to go through either the buffet or the restaurant to get to the pool deck. The reason I stumbled on the 1 versus 10 show was because I was trying to get from the internet café to the cabin and had to walk through Dazzles to do it. Because of the location of the sports court, you have to walk all the way around to Deck 12 aft and go through Las Ramblas to get to the stairs. Things like that irked me, and by the end of the week, there were still places I couldn’t find without looking at a map.

 

Ports: I got seasick on the first sea day so we changed our Costa Maya excursion from a ruins tour to a beach break (hubby didn’t realize we hadn’t already paid for the excursion so he thought we would lose money if we just canceled outright and went somewhere on our own). It was about a 30 minute bus ride and the beach was packed. It wasn’t bad, but I’m sure it wasn’t worth what we paid for it.

 

In Guatemala, we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the pool. I have heard great things about this port from those on the ship, and the townspeople gave the ship a wonderful send off.

 

In Belize, we did the Aerial Trek and Cave Tubing tour through the ship. Apparently there were some tender issues that day, but we were on the first tender out so it didn’t affect us. Because of the length of the trip from port to the resort where the tour is, and the fact there were tenders, I felt more comfortable booking through the ship. It worked out well for us, and this was definitely the highlight of our trip. To quote our tour guide “Alley-Cat,” it was UNBELIZEABLE!

 

In Cozumel, we did the Discover Scuba tour through the ship. We did a Discover Scuba through RCCL in Curacao and they basically put you in a suit and send you off. This was much more of a class/learning experience with a dive at the end. I am interested in getting PADI certified so I enjoyed it. My husband was squirming by 5 minutes in and almost unconscious after 45 minutes of lecture. Something to consider.

 

Debarkation: Because of my fear of flying, I booked an 11:00 a.m. return flight to minimize actual travel time, and on the boards got a lot of conflicting advice as to whether it was possible to make that flight. We did express debarkation and went out at 7:15 to get in line to carry our bags off. The doors were supposed to open at 7:45, but we walked off the ship at 7:15, had cleared customs and immigration and gotten a cab by 7:30, and were checked in at the airport at 8:00. I know any number of things could have gone wrong and caused a problem, but I wouldn’t’ hesitate to book an 11 a.m. flight again from NOLA.

 

All in all, we had a very restful, exciting, wonderful vacation. My seasickness episode prevented me from making our scheduled M&M, and I’m so sorry it did. Otherwise, we had a great time. We loved freestyle, and for future cruises, we will have to decide between NCL and RCCL. Each had positive attributes and things we didn’t like, but they were minor and based on our personal tastes.

 

I'd be happy to answer any questions if I can.

[Stillfloatin']

Thanks for the balanced and informative review. We are looking to book the Sun next year for the Panama Canal cruise so it's good to get as many perspectives as possible.

[BeachBumMama]

Welcome back, glad you enjoyed yourself. I LOVE cruises with the intent for relaxation, I never feel like I need another vacation when I get back.:)