Spring Break on the Sun - Loved it!!!

[LBS1]

A Suite Sun Review.

This trip included me, wife, daughter (12) and son (9). We were joined by a friend and her Daughter (12) and her son (10). I’ll start off by saying a cruise for me is all about relaxation and comfort. I don’t care much for the shows, the Mr. Sexy legs contests, or “trivia with your cruise staff.” I drink very little and am way past the party, party, party phase of my life. I want my kids to have fun and to spend time with my wife, family and friends. Finally, no matter what our minor complaints nay have been, we loved the Suite, the Ship, the Crew, the Ports, and sometimes even the food.

Our family flew into Fort Lauderdale from Houston the day before the cruise. There was NO way I was going to take a chance on missing the cruise due to a late flight. We got in at 6pm, used the hotel’s shuttle, and were at our hotel by 7pm. I had booked our two rooms using some Intercontinental points I had accrued from past business travel.

For a Ft Lauderdale stay I will 100% recommend the Fort Lauderdale Holiday Inn Express Airport/Cruise on State Rd. 84. The room was nothing special; the fridge was a bit noisy, until I unplugged it, and be ready to wake up every time the AC comes on, it was really loud. Where the hotel excelled was with their service. Our friend’s flight had arrived at 9AM that morning and even though check-in was not until 3pm, the hotel manager stored their luggage for them, allowed them to use the pool and even to have breakfast. Great Job.

Our dinner that night was at a nearby restaurant, The Old Heidelberg. I am a huge fan of good German food, but unfortunately, I did not get any here. We would have been better off going to the Wendy’s or the storefront Thai across the street.

I had told the kids, and everyone else, that we would be taking the shared shuttle to the Miami Cruise Terminal, but instead surprised them with a ten-person limo. Believe it or not, for seven people traveling together, this was the least expensive way to go. The charge with tip worked out to be about $16 per person.

We arrived at the cruise terminal at 1130AM, and as we were in an Aft Penthouse, 0265 on deck 10, we were pulled away from the main and into the VIP check-in room where Erika, the Sun’s Concierge was waiting. The office had two staffed desks in it with couches and chairs for people to wait their turn. Sandwiches, coffee and drinks were offered. We sat and waited while the clerks quickly processed our credit card, paperwork, took our photos and handed over our room cards. Our traveling companions were not in a suite but they were allowed to check in with us. Although checked in, they could not receive their room cards from the VIP staff, those were only available from the main check in desks. In order to keep us together, a terminal escort walked us into the main terminal and thru the security scanners. He then parked us in some chairs as he ran to retrieve our friend’s cards.

After walking us to the green screen photo op to have a group photo taken, we were turned over to one of the Sun’s two Butlers, Naveem who escorted us to up the gangway and to the ships check in terminal where our cards were swiped for the first of many times. On the way to our room, Naveem explained to us as he walked us past the ship employees keeping people away from their cabins, that he was the butler for the port side of the ship. We were on the starboard side and would have a different butler. He let us know that our butler, Roland, would check in with us as soon as he was free. So within 20 minutes of pulling up to the ship, we were in our room.

The first thing we did once we were left alone was to check out the stateroom. The AC suite is made up of two rooms and in my opinion, for the price it’s the best room in the NCL fleet.

You enter the suite through a small hallway, and emerge into the living area that contains a couch that unfolds into a queen size bed, and a small coffee table and two easy chairs. On one wall is the entertainment unit, with a 27inch TV, and a DVD player. Below that in a small cabinet was a small refrigerator. The unit also holds a coffee maker, champagne and wine glasses, four storage drawers and a writing area with a straight backed chair.

A bottle of complementary Champagne was waiting for us on ice, so we stepped out onto the HUGE deck, popped the cork and the three adults shared a glass of bubbly. The suite’s balcony wraps around a fifth of the back side of the ship. There are two sliding doors into each of the rooms. It is furnished with three deck chairs and two lounge chairs, and there is still a ton of room left over.

About that time Roland came by and introduced himself. We prearranged with him to bring a pot of coffee and hot water and hot chocolate powder each morning at sunrise, and a plate of brownies and cookies, with coffee and hot chocolate every evening at 9pm. We also arranged to have the honor bar items removed. We also used this time to pre-tip the butler. He also arranged to drop off a couple of DVD’s from the Sun’s catalog. They are mostly older titles but played through the rooms theater sound system they sounded great.

Another visitor who came by was our Room Steward, Roberto. Roberto turned out to be the treasure of the trip. I asked him if he could get us the always needed egg crates for our bed and an extra chair for the balcony.

The living area of the suite is connected by two frosted glass doors to a bedroom that contains the very hard bed and a small closet unit that has tons of storage. There were four shelves inside the closet and five drawers for storage. The unit also contains a small TV. I use small loosely as it is still bigger then the TV’s in the balcony cabins. There were also two small bedside tables, one containing a small clock.

There is a small sliding door that leads to a changing area with another closet and drawers. Past the changing area is the bathroom with the sink, jetted bathtub an enclosed shower, there is also the toilet in its own room.

I am a large guy, over six feet and 280 pounds. I was very happy that the tub contained its own shower head, as the shower looked as if it would be a very tight fit. Both the tub and toilet room had adequate space.

By the way, no looking under the sink, the cabinet hides a….scale!

More later as this is getting reall long.

[chrisbd1]

I have read 4 reviews of the same sailing, 3 loved it, one was not impressed. I guess cruising is what you make of it.

[BeachBumMama]

Glad you had a good time, look forward to the rest. Welcome back.:)

[WinnieinWA]

Thank you so much! :) I can't wait for the rest of your review. Am on the Sun in August in an OS so am very interested as to how the butler worked for you.

 

Winnie

[newmexicoNita]

All of us will be anxious to read about the rest of your week. It still amazes me how 3 out of 4 can have possitive experiences and one disappointed. I guess as has been said, it is what you make out of it. I think many people have a expectation level and others are more realistic. Nothing is perfect; I could return home from any vacation, think about it and find things that were not quite what we had hoped, then write a review about what went wrong or I can think about the meals that were really good (and yes there are always some) the friendly crew, the ports, the art work, the great dancers, etc. and write about what made this cruise special. This doesn't mean one should not remark about the things that were not up to par, I just prefer to play them down unless they are very serious.

 

Nita

[Lisa&Neb]

We were also in an AC suite on deck 9. I would have to agree with the OP, don't look under the sink in the bathroom - a scale, I was surprised to see that I actually lost some weight during the cruise, but I was still shocked to see it there.

[Lib0007]

Thanks for your review . . . I'll be interested in reading more also. I'd especially be interested in what your son & friend's son enjoyed, liked, disliked . . did they participate in the kids club, etc. I'll be sailing with my son who is the same age (9).

 

As far as the scale . . . I'm glad we won't have one!

[travelmatron]

Great review, we didn't know about the DVD player. Someone else mentioned a CD player, too. We'll be on board next week, on the Port side too. I hadn't thought of pre-tipping the butler, but it sure seems like a good idea. I know it's a cheeky question, but what did you think was an appropriate amount? I'm looking forward to the rest of your review!