Review--Just back from Sun

[jenlynmc]

We arrived in Vancouver Sat and spent night at Hyatt Regency. Got a good price on it on Priceline. It was a bit worn but nice and great location. We walked around downtown, to Robson, Gastown and Canada Place.

Sunday's embarkation took us 1 1/2 hrs. We went early and there was already a line there. NCL did serve pound cake and juice in waiting area to make it more bearable.

Our luggage was there when we got to the cabin. Cabin was spotless. We had BA 0215, balcony starboard, forward. We loved the balcony--it was great to watch the inside passage scenery and Sawyer Glacier from there. We used it a lot.

We did sail away BBQ. Quality of BBQ was just okay.

Monday was day at sea and we mainly sat on the balcony.

Tuesday was Ketchikan. My husband fished with Northern Lights and caught quite a few but only one keeper. He enjoyed it a lot. I walked into town, shopped a bit, and returned to the Sun.

Wednesday was Juneau. We were scheduled for helicopter glacier trip. It was cancelled due to very high wind. We were booked on the NCL excursion which used Temsco. Another company was going up--I was glad I hadn't used them because I would have been very concerned due to the wind. We took the $5 bus to the Mendenhall Glacier and did some of the trails. It was beautiful. We did the saloon which was fun.

Thursday was Skagway. We rented a car and drove to Carcross, Emerald Lake and on to White Horse. This was our favorite day. The scenery on the Klondike Hwy was incredible. White Horse was a nice, non-touristy town. This was around 300 miles round trip but we are used to driving and it did not bother us. We enjoyed the "alone" time and there was almost no one else on the road.

Friday was Wrangelle. We walked around town and wondered why we stopped there. I'd have an excursion planned for this stop!

Saturday was a day at sea. It was our only rough day with waves about 18 ft and near gale force winds. I was taking 1/2 bonine pill each night so I wasn't sick, just uncomfortable. I ordered grilled cheese (yummy) and stayed in the room watching football and the race.

Sunday's disembarkation was great. We were off by 7:45 with no line. I'd get off early every time!! We did have a problem with our account. They did triple charges for something. Having saved our receipts seemed to help them understand and they took off the erroneous charges.

We rented a car at Canada Place and drove up to Grouse Mtn and then down to Richmond. Grouse Mtn. was neat with sky ride, lumberjack show, nature center. Richmond was a nice town. We stayed at Park Plaza (just ok). We had our best meal of the week at the Boat House. It was GREAT!!! Incredible salmon and fish, salad, veggies and sourdough bread. I highly recommend it.

NCL Food: We found the food above average but not great. Desserts were exceptional, but everything else was hit or miss. I tried beef, fish and chicken dishes and didn't LOVE any of them. We did not eat in the specialty restaurants. We stayed away from the buffet because it was lower quality than dining room and encouraged us to eat too much! We went there in the afternoon for coffee and snack. The breakfasts in the 7 Seas were our favorite meals. They were worth the bit longer time they took. I also did lunch in the 7 Seas and it was good too. The Tuna Salad Nicoise (sp?) was very good.

Entertainment: We did the first night variety show to determine what we'd like to see for the week. We ended up going to hear Roots Link several times. Other than that, we didn't really enjoy much of the entertainment. It was a little old--if I never hear "Route 66" again, I will be happy... In fairness, lots of people really enjoyed the entertainment.

Selling: I did find the photo opps aggravating, especially when you were going on shore. The drink pushers weren't too aggressive. I wondered why they didn't just bump the price and include these things.

On board facilities: We went to the casino and had fun there. We lost a little money but not much. The craps table was a little unprofessional (the money guy in the middle frequently had to remind the guys on the side to pay on a bet). After a few times of not getting paid, I decided to stick with the less active games where I could really watch my hand. The stores were nice--we brought back some liqour which was a really good buy. I used the internet service once. It was somewhere between dial up and cable speed. Buy more minutes than you need to compensate for speed.

We had fun and would do it again. Next time, I'd probably look for a higher luxury level ship. Let me know if you have any questions.