I have been reading reviews of the Sun and how the food is not so good.

[newmexicoNita]

I have been reading the reviews of the Sun since our Sun cruise is coming up, and in most of the reviews the food has been rated as "horrendous" "slop" "lack of choices" "same stuff, different name" and not only referring to the buffet, but referring to the main dining and the paid restaurants. What is the course of action if the food is terrible all cruise? Just complain? Request a refund? Since food is a major part of the cruise, if the food is unbearable, what is the recourse? One of the reviews said that the best food that they ate was the hamburgers and hotdogs on the outdoor grill.... I hope that something is done about the food before our cruise.

 

Here is a direct quote from the last review about the Sun: "The menu for 13 days consisted of Pork, Lamb, Duck and more Pork, Lamb, & Duck. There was no variety. Everyone onboard was complaining about the food and saying the specialty restaurants were not any better."

I think you are looking for the posts that are rating the food "bad". Many reviews have the opposite views. We just got off the Star (all NCL ships offer similar menues) The food, though not nearly as good an HAL was just fine. 21 of us cruising only one couple griped. Everyone else thought it was good to very good. In the main dining rooms: every night there was a choice of beef, poultry, fish and one other entree plus a pasta entree and a vegetarian one. How many choices do you expect. As for the specialty dining rooms, they are as good as any we have tried and we have sailed on and tried specialty dining on all but one mass marketed line. Not only are they as good, they are less expensive.

 

Someone says everyone on board was complaining? Golly how could one find time to talk to over 2200 people?

 

No, you have no recourse, of course you can not ask for a refund. Since when does a ship guarantee you will love the food? Now if they don't feed you, that would be different. Food is subjective but let me give you an example of some of what we had; you decide:

 

One night I choose Beef Stroganoff after a salad and a wonderful soup. Another night we had beef Wellingon plus the Sea food platter (that was fomal optional night) I had Salmon another night. The things missing: escargot only in the special dining room and this goes for the large shrimp cocktails. If you don't see something you like on the menu: you can ask for Salmon, chicken, or a steak plus they are happy to bring baked potatoes or fresh veggies like Asparagus. the desserts were not the best, but the homemade bread probably is better than any other line we have cruised.

 

Now, I haven't read any of the other comments to your question, but it sounds to me like you are setting yourself up for failure or failure to enjoy the food.

 

Nita

[Lib0007]

Please do not let a few food posts scare you away from the Sun. She's a great little ship.

 

This makes me feel a little better, however, it is not just a "few" food posts . . . it is all the food posts of late. I'm just hoping there is a good reason and it will correct itself when the Sun starts the Caribbean.

 

I have continued to read that she has been an alltime favorite of many. I have only sailed once on NCL, on the Spirit, which we loved.

[newmexicoNita]

This makes me feel a little better, however, it is not just a "few" food posts . . . it is all the food posts of late. I'm just hoping there is a good reason and it will correct itself when the Sun starts the Caribbean.

 

I have continued to read that she has been an alltime favorite of many. I have only sailed once on NCL, on the Spirit, which we loved.

Did you read 98valkyrie's review?

 

Nita

[TooEze]

I have been reading the reviews of the Sun since our Sun cruise is coming up, and in most of the reviews the food has been rated as "horrendous" "slop" "lack of choices" "same stuff, different name" and not only referring to the buffet, but referring to the main dining and the paid restaurants. What is the course of action if the food is terrible all cruise? Just complain? Request a refund? Since food is a major part of the cruise, if the food is unbearable, what is the recourse? One of the reviews said that the best food that they ate was the hamburgers and hotdogs on the outdoor grill.... I hope that something is done about the food before our cruise.

 

Dear Dispatchcops

 

We were on the Sun in 2006 and my husband wrote a very lenthy review of it, you can go to member reviews, the sun and his is John Soper. We have found that with most reviews, you throw out the best one and the worst one and the truth is somewhere in between!

The food at the main dining room was not to the same standards as RCL but it was certainly edible, also we found the specialty restaurants excellent, especially the tepanaki one

I can tell you we definaltely enjoyed the Sun and even though we cruised with RCL this year, last week we booked with the Sun again in March 2008.

 

So don't fret too much, I'm sure you will enjoy it and have a great time!

 

Regards

Tracy

[cod]

I wanted to add that this cruise we did not eat in any of the specialty restaurants. My favorite in the past has been Le Bistro but we just decided to skip it this time. On our last Sun cruise we ate in three but I think it was because we had a couple of obc's to spend! At that time I was disappointed in 2 of the 3....the Italian one and the one where they cook at your table. We thought neither was worth the extra money though I'm sure many would disagree with me. Perhaps it was just a bad night in both.

 

We ate at Le Bistro on the Sky and the Sun and liked it both times. However, we were not disappointed in the dining room food this go-round.

[ts01974]

Did you read 98valkyrie's review?

 

Nita

 

OT did I miss your review Nita?

 

Thanks

 

t

[newmexicoNita]

OT did I miss your review Nita?

 

Thanks

 

t

It hasn't been posted yet, I think it takes a week or so.

 

Nita

[Down-Unders]

I have been reading the reviews of the Sun since our Sun cruise is coming up, and in most of the reviews the food has been rated as "horrendous" "slop" "lack of choices" "same stuff, different name" and not only referring to the buffet, but referring to the main dining and the paid restaurants. What is the course of action if the food is terrible all cruise? Just complain? Request a refund? Since food is a major part of the cruise, if the food is unbearable, what is the recourse? One of the reviews said that the best food that they ate was the hamburgers and hotdogs on the outdoor grill.... I hope that something is done about the food before our cruise.

 

Here is a direct quote from the last review about the Sun: "The menu for 13 days consisted of Pork, Lamb, Duck and more Pork, Lamb, & Duck. There was no variety. Everyone onboard was complaining about the food and saying the specialty restaurants were not any better."

 

It is not the food on NCL that is the problem, just some of the people eating it.

[tammlynn]

I have booked the Sun for next April. I read the review that the OP was referring to and the next five or six are very similar. Now I've been afraid of negative reviews here or there before only to find out for myself that people generally overreact . . . but all of the recent reviews on the Sun are terrible when referring to the food.

 

Could this have anything to do with the fact that this was a repositioning cruise and 13 days versus the usual 7? Hawaii vs Alaska?

 

Would appreciate any opinions. Thank you!

 

I recently returned from the 10 day NCL Sun cruise from Honolulu to Ensenada. I was also on this same ship about a year ago and really enjoyed both cruises. I believe some of the complaints about the food are valid. I believe many passengers expected luxury food, at bargain basement prices. The following is an excerpt from my review posted on the cruise critic member reviews:

 

We enjoyed the Freestyle concept and went to dinner whenever we felt like it! We tried the Seven Seas dining room, but after having terrible service two days in a row, the wait staff seemed unfriendly, confused, and terribly slow; we tried the Four Seasons. We lucked out and had fantastic service from our wait staff of whom we requested the remaining times we dined there. The food in the dining room was good (the lobster was wonderful). It seems to me that the quality of the food is lacking in the main dining room. I think NCL really wants you to eat at the specialty restaurants! If one wants food closer to a gourmet style, they will need to pay the cover charges. We did eat at Pacific Heights (no cover charge) twice and it was very good. Il Adagio was wonderful with some great lobster pasta and tasty swordfish! The desserts at the buffet and main dining room were pretty bland for the most part. They seemed mostly to consist of a type of gelatin type of substance no matter what it was. They do serve some great ice cream though upstairs! Breakfast and lunch are pretty good, but require a little bit of walking. Freshly cooked eggs are in Las Ramblas, waffles are made fresh in Pacific Heights, and other goodies can be grabbed in the Garden Café! One thing I really loved about the Sun is the aft dining area! When we first boarded, my husband and I grabbed our dinner from the buffet and found a great table over looking the port in Honolulu and watched a beautiful sunset while dining out in the fresh air! We ate all of our lunches at the buffet or surrounding restaurants. Once again, you can get some decent food, but you’re going to work for it (specifically walk and wait in lines). Freshly prepared pasta and pizzas can be found in Pacific Heights, sandwiches can be found in Las Ramblas, the wok station and buffet items in the Garden Café, and hamburgers and hot dogs in the Great Outdoor Café. While it is great that the foods are freshly prepared, I found myself waiting in a 15 minute plus line to get some items. For example if I wanted a slice of pizza with my pasta I waited about 10 minutes for my pizza and then had to get in the pasta line for another 15 minutes. If I wanted a side of vegetables with that I had to get in another line in the Garden Café. As for dinner, the buffet was weak with a lot of salmon and chicken dishes served various ways every night. I believe one night I saw carved salmon at the carving station as well as carved chicken! I am guessing it was NCL’s last ditch effort to get rid of these meats, or they had nothing else to place at the carving station. Also, the appetizers in the main dining room were nothing special. My husband and I went to Las Ramblas almost every night for our appetizers where the selection was much better. They had fried calamari, goat cheese, olives, mussels, crab cakes, empanadas, and many other items. We often would bring our plates outside to the back deck, enjoying our appetizers while watching the sun set. Afterwards we headed to the dining room for the rest of dinner. Tea, coffee, and water were always available and juice was offered in the morning. However, I would advise bringing your own large thermal mug or water bottle. The glasses on this ship are frustratingly small. The chocoholic buffet at midnight towards the end of the cruise was nice, but I have a hard time eating chocolate at night and the lines were incredibly long for such a small buffet! I did bring a Ziploc bag and the chocolate covered strawberries tasted great the next morning!

While I enjoy great food, the main reason I will cruise on a vacation is the ports of call! If you are looking for luxurious, gourmet food, I would skip this cruise. However, if you're happy with decent food and you got a good deal on your cruise price, I would say keep your reservation!

Good luck!

Tammlynn