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Sun 3/22-3/29 - A Wonderful Trip

lgfromdg

By lgfromdg,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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lgfromdg

lgfromdg

Posted
Posted

Just back from our Sun cruise yesterday; we had a fabulous time. We loved the ship, the crew, the intinerary - the cruise exceeded all our expectations.

 

I booked during the Pity the Procrastinator sale. I booked a Guaranty Cat C oceanview (at the price for the lowest priced OV) knowing that there would be a possibility of being upgraded to a balcony. A couple weeks before the cruise, I started hoping for a call from the upsell fairy but never received one. I didn't get my cabin assignment until the Tuesday before sailing and then found that we were upgraded to a BA balcony :D

What a great way to start our cruise.

 

I booked our flight to Miami the day before sailing, since I would be a wreck flying in the same day. The day before we left, we had 60 degree weather. I woke up Friday to a snow storm (it was predicted but you never know for sure) Our flight was an hour and a half delayed but after a good de-icing on the runway we took off. Many others after us weren't so lucky - 400 flights at O'Hare were cancelled Friday and the Milwaukee airport shut down completely. I have no idea how many flights in total were cancelled that day but thousands of vacationers weren't as lucky as us. I booked us for 1 night at the Holiday Inn Bayside so we would be close to Bayside Market. The hotel was nice and in a great location.

 

It was a short cab ride to the pier Saturday morning. We got to the pier around 11:30 and were checked in and aboard right around noon. The 7 Seas dining room opened at 12:30 so we went down there and happened to meet the mizbear family from our Roll Call. My daughter & I joined them for lunch and had a great meal and even better company.

 

Our cabin was ready at 1:00. We were in #0036 - we never had a balcony before and it was nice to have so much light flowing in. The bed was on the hard side but it had the cushiest duvet on it. The shower was a rounded one with a curtain. I liked the shower on the Jewel better but someone I met preferred the Sun's showers because he was a large man and found it easier to maneuver in the Sun's showers since the curtain was flexible and glass doors aren't. The layout of the room was great and there was plenty of storage.

 

The ship was spotless. Although the Sun is 7 years old, it did not look worn or dated. CDC was onboard prior to embarkment on Saturday and teh ship scored 100. I personally loved the size of the Sun. It was big enough not to feel cramped but small enough to get to know a lot of the other passengers. I met a lot of great people on the cruise and don't think that would have happened on a mega-liner.

 

We found the food on the Sun to be very good for the most part. If we ate breakfast, it was in the buffet and we found enough choices to satisfy us. You could get made-to-order waffles in Pacific Heights and I heard you could get omelettes somewhere else. We only had lunch in the main dining room once and grabbed something at the buffet or Las Ramblas the few days we were on board at lunch. We ate dinner in 7 Seas restaurant 4 nights and ate at Il Adagio twice and East Meets West once. My daughter & I loved our meals at il Adagio; we each ate the same thing both nights. She had the chicken and I had the beef and it was fantastic. We had Surf & Turf at East Meets West (although we could get 1/2 lobster, we asked for the tail only) and the lobster was sweet & delicious. Our steaks were overdone; I could have told the waiter but didn't since I was getting full already. We had very good service at East Meets West. I'm not a gourmet but we have many wonderful restaurants near our home and think I know good food and for the most part the food on the ship was very good. A waitress at 7 Seas told us that management would be aboard the ship in the next week or two and Free Style 2.0 would be implemented and that the food should be even better. One thing to note, some of the specialty restaurants were 1/2 price between 8:30-9:30 each evening.

 

There was always something to do on the Sun. There were a lot of Trivia contests and shows in the evening. We're not big on the shows but did go to the Crew Show & Fountains which we liked. Although BINGO is expensive, there were a number of give-aways during the games. We played on 2 days and I won twice the second time winning a total of $263. I had to cash the voucher at the Casino and decided to gamble a bit, winning another $125 on the slot machines. I was up almost $400 for the day. It was a good day to be me.

 

The Sun crew was phenemonal. Our room stewards, Pearla & Edy did a great job of keeping the room clean and were so friendly. Starting the second night, we had towel animals every evening. The room stewards who took care of the cabins aft of us, Johnny & Enrico, were so friendly. even though they didn't stand to gain anything by being so nice to us (or so they thought) they always greeted us warmly and asked about our day. I do not understand how anyone could begrudge the crew the $10 per day auto-gratuity. The Sun crew was the highest rated of all NCL crews in 2007 and for Jan & Feb in 2008. I was so impressed by everyone we met. Since we were so lucky to have received a free upgrade (when I would have been willing to pay for an upsell) and lucky to have gotten out of O'Hare and lucky to have won at BINGO and the Casino, I decided to pay it forward. I passed much of the money I saved or won on to some of these fantastic crew members. I tipped at dinner every night, tipped extra for sodas & drinks, tipped our cabin stewards $75 each and gave Johnny & Enrico a tip as well. In addition, I filled out S.T.Y.L.E. cards out for 7 crew members. I hope that by doing that I compensated for the cheapskates who complain about and stiff the crew.

 

We had wonderful weather for our entire cruise (except sailaway) We took a Victor Bodden tour in Roatan, the NCL Altun Ha tour in Belize and booked Nachi Concum in Cozumel. We loved Nachi Cocum. They only book 100 guests each day so it wasn't crowded at all. For $49 pp, we got lounge chairs on the beach, a meal consisting of an appetizer, main course and dessert and unlimited drinks. We had a great day there.

 

We used the BAGGS program at disembarkment. We were off the ship at 8:30 and at the Miami airport (which was a madhouse) by 9:00. Our flight wasn't until 2:30 so I rented a day room at the Miami International Hotel. We were able to relax in comfort so I think it was worth it.

 

This cruise was one of my best vacations ever. We had a wonderful time on a fantastic ship and met many great people. Who could ask for more?

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Lowie

Lowie

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terrific review! how sweet of you to share in your good luck with the crew. i too am on the same sailing as Brenda, i wonder if that will be when the management will be on board.

 

can you tell me more about the altun ha tour?? please :)

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mollyanne

mollyanne

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Posted
Just back from our Sun cruise yesterday; we had a fabulous time. We loved the ship, the crew, the intinerary - the cruise exceeded all our expectations.

 

I booked during the Pity the Procrastinator sale. I booked a Guaranty Cat C oceanview (at the price for the lowest priced OV) knowing that there would be a possibility of being upgraded to a balcony. A couple weeks before the cruise, I started hoping for a call from the upsell fairy but never received one. I didn't get my cabin assignment until the Tuesday before sailing and then found that we were upgraded to a BA balcony :D

What a great way to start our cruise.

 

I booked our flight to Miami the day before sailing, since I would be a wreck flying in the same day. The day before we left, we had 60 degree weather. I woke up Friday to a snow storm (it was predicted but you never know for sure) Our flight was an hour and a half delayed but after a good de-icing on the runway we took off. Many others after us weren't so lucky - 400 flights at O'Hare were cancelled Friday and the Milwaukee airport shut down completely. I have no idea how many flights in total were cancelled that day but thousands of vacationers weren't as lucky as us. I booked us for 1 night at the Holiday Inn Bayside so we would be close to Bayside Market. The hotel was nice and in a great location.

 

It was a short cab ride to the pier Saturday morning. We got to the pier around 11:30 and were checked in and aboard right around noon. The 7 Seas dining room opened at 12:30 so we went down there and happened to meet the mizbear family from our Roll Call. My daughter & I joined them for lunch and had a great meal and even better company.

 

Our cabin was ready at 1:00. We were in #0036 - we never had a balcony before and it was nice to have so much light flowing in. The bed was on the hard side but it had the cushiest duvet on it. The shower was a rounded one with a curtain. I liked the shower on the Jewel better but someone I met preferred the Sun's showers because he was a large man and found it easier to maneuver in the Sun's showers since the curtain was flexible and glass doors aren't. The layout of the room was great and there was plenty of storage.

 

The ship was spotless. Although the Sun is 7 years old, it did not look worn or dated. CDC was onboard prior to embarkment on Saturday and teh ship scored 100. I personally loved the size of the Sun. It was big enough not to feel cramped but small enough to get to know a lot of the other passengers. I met a lot of great people on the cruise and don't think that would have happened on a mega-liner.

 

We found the food on the Sun to be very good for the most part. If we ate breakfast, it was in the buffet and we found enough choices to satisfy us. You could get made-to-order waffles in Pacific Heights and I heard you could get omelettes somewhere else. We only had lunch in the main dining room once and grabbed something at the buffet or Las Ramblas the few days we were on board at lunch. We ate dinner in 7 Seas restaurant 4 nights and ate at Il Adagio twice and East Meets West once. My daughter & I loved our meals at il Adagio; we each ate the same thing both nights. She had the chicken and I had the beef and it was fantastic. We had Surf & Turf at East Meets West (although we could get 1/2 lobster, we asked for the tail only) and the lobster was sweet & delicious. Our steaks were overdone; I could have told the waiter but didn't since I was getting full already. We had very good service at East Meets West. I'm not a gourmet but we have many wonderful restaurants near our home and think I know good food and for the most part the food on the ship was very good. A waitress at 7 Seas told us that management would be aboard the ship in the next week or two and Free Style 2.0 would be implemented and that the food should be even better. One thing to note, some of the specialty restaurants were 1/2 price between 8:30-9:30 each evening.

 

There was always something to do on the Sun. There were a lot of Trivia contests and shows in the evening. We're not big on the shows but did go to the Crew Show & Fountains which we liked. Although BINGO is expensive, there were a number of give-aways during the games. We played on 2 days and I won twice the second time winning a total of $263. I had to cash the voucher at the Casino and decided to gamble a bit, winning another $125 on the slot machines. I was up almost $400 for the day. It was a good day to be me.

 

The Sun crew was phenemonal. Our room stewards, Pearla & Edy did a great job of keeping the room clean and were so friendly. Starting the second night, we had towel animals every evening. The room stewards who took care of the cabins aft of us, Johnny & Enrico, were so friendly. even though they didn't stand to gain anything by being so nice to us (or so they thought) they always greeted us warmly and asked about our day. I do not understand how anyone could begrudge the crew the $10 per day auto-gratuity. The Sun crew was the highest rated of all NCL crews in 2007 and for Jan & Feb in 2008. I was so impressed by everyone we met. Since we were so lucky to have received a free upgrade (when I would have been willing to pay for an upsell) and lucky to have gotten out of O'Hare and lucky to have won at BINGO and the Casino, I decided to pay it forward. I passed much of the money I saved or won on to some of these fantastic crew members. I tipped at dinner every night, tipped extra for sodas & drinks, tipped our cabin stewards $75 each and gave Johnny & Enrico a tip as well. In addition, I filled out S.T.Y.L.E. cards out for 7 crew members. I hope that by doing that I compensated for the cheapskates who complain about and stiff the crew.

 

We had wonderful weather for our entire cruise (except sailaway) We took a Victor Bodden tour in Roatan, the NCL Altun Ha tour in Belize and booked Nachi Concum in Cozumel. We loved Nachi Cocum. They only book 100 guests each day so it wasn't crowded at all. For $49 pp, we got lounge chairs on the beach, a meal consisting of an appetizer, main course and dessert and unlimited drinks. We had a great day there.

 

We used the BAGGS program at disembarkment. We were off the ship at 8:30 and at the Miami airport (which was a madhouse) by 9:00. Our flight wasn't until 2:30 so I rented a day room at the Miami International Hotel. We were able to relax in comfort so I think it was worth it.

 

This cruise was one of my best vacations ever. We had a wonderful time on a fantastic ship and met many great people. Who could ask for more?

Laura: What a great review! I echo your sentiments in so many ways. We were on the Sun in February and the crew couldn't have been better. This was our 7th cruise but we never had a crew we enjoyed more. We also did Nachi Cocom and the BAGS program - both were fantastic. We have enjoyed all our cruises but there was really something special about the Sun. I would not hesitate to sail on her again.:)

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lgfromdg

lgfromdg

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Lowie - We took the tour that is called Altun Ha & Belize City tour which took almost 4 hours. There was another tour called Altun Ha & Belize River Cruise which was longer. You have to tender in Belize and it is a fairly long tender ride so that's why I chose to book with NCL. The seas were rough that day so they could only tender from one side of the ship. Since they were operating at 1/2 tender capacity, even the NCL tours were running late. We boarded an air-conditioned motor coach and took a brief tour of Belize City (not too much to see). It was about an hour ride to Altun Ha. If you have never seen ruins, it was a good tour. I've been to Chichen Itza so I wasn't too impressed but my daughter had never been to the ruins and she thought it was amazing. There's a few small (2-3 story) buildings and a large temple. Before you climb (if you want) the temple, the guide takes you on a 15-20 minute walk to a pond. If you're too tired or too hot, don't bother with that - there's not much to see. After you see the ruins, you have 1/2 hour to shop (a few local vendors) or get something to drink. You can get a free sample of Cashew Wine, a local specialty. When you get back to the pier, you have time to do a little shopping.

 

I hope you enjoy your cruise as much as we did.

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priscillabud

priscillabud

Posted
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Hi - thanks for your good review. We are leaving this Saturday for our cruise on the Sun. Was wondering if you noticed any Freestyle 2.0 improvements, i.e. bathrobes in rooms, new bedding, welcome champagne upon boarding, etc. The ships are all supposed to be complete with the improvements by June. Was hoping that the Sun was being worked on before we leave. Thanks for any info on this.

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ChBoxers800

ChBoxers800

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I want to 2nd, 3rd and 4th the great reviews on the Sun. Our entire group had a fabulous time and I'd sail her again in a minute. Am just hoping that our upcoming Dawn cruise is just as good.

 

To Priscillabud: No signs of 2.0 yet. I think you are probably out of luck as it looks like the Sun will be undergoing 2.0 changes after it completes this itinerary. Don't worry bout that tho...you will still have a wonderful trip!

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isles1

isles1

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Posted

Nice report!

 

I believe your server's estimate of a few weeks re: Freestyle 2.0 coincides with the repositioning of the Sun from Miami to Vancouver for the Alaska cruise season. Since 2.0 is to be implemented fleet wide by June, for the purposes of the Sun's upgrade to 2.0 it makes sense IMO for the changeover to be completed before kicking off the Alaska cruise season. That opinion is, of course, self-serving but I hope am correct. :D

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KCritter

KCritter

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We used the BAGGS program at disembarkment. We were off the ship at 8:30 and at the Miami airport (which was a madhouse) by 9:00. Our flight wasn't until 2:30 so I rented a day room at the Miami International Hotel. We were able to relax in comfort so I think it was worth it.

 

Thanks for the great review! I'm getting sooo excited about our cruise next week. Only three more working days!

 

I have a question, though. What is the BAGS program?

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ChBoxers800

ChBoxers800

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Thanks for the great review! I'm getting sooo excited about our cruise next week. Only three more working days!

 

I have a question, though. What is the BAGS program?

 

The Bags program is an option that you can buy(while on board) for I believe $25 per person. I may be wrong on the price as I didn't use it, so if I am, please someone correct me.

 

You can receive your boarding pass for your return flight home, plus check your bags for the flight, right on board the ship. When disembarking, you just go to the airport and get on the plane. No standing in lines, checking luggage, etc. It's all done for you.

 

You will receive info about it (literature will be left) during the week in your stateroom. Not sure if all airlines participate, but many do.

 

Have a wonderful trip!

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Carnac767

Carnac767

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The Bags program is an option that you can buy(while on board) for I believe $25 per person. I may be wrong on the price as I didn't use it, so if I am, please someone correct me.

 

You can receive your boarding pass for your return flight home, plus check your bags for the flight, right on board the ship. When disembarking, you just go to the airport and get on the plane. No standing in lines, checking luggage, etc. It's all done for you.

 

You will receive info about it (literature will be left) during the week in your stateroom. Not sure if all airlines participate, but many do.

 

Have a wonderful trip!

 

The bags program was $15 PP. You still have to retrieve your bags pierside to take them through customs. Once that's done, you give your bags back to NCL, they take them to the airport and you pick them up at baggage claim at your destination . . . or in our case, Delta delivers them the next day because our bags misconnected. I guess that's what a United pilot gets for flying on the competition. :)

 

Great review. Thanks for taking the time to share it with us.

 

Oh, one more thing about the bags program. That price doesn't include your own transportation to the airport. That's just for the bags.

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JFontaine

JFontaine

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I think it is interesting that on the same board where a cruiser writes of stiffing the staff of all of their tips because of a $25 dispute with the cruiseline, this OP not only tipped extra to those who helped - but also tipped the attendants who were not even assigned to her cabin! I hope that kind of good karma comes back to you on many more wonderful trips.

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lgfromdg

lgfromdg

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Thanks. With all the good things that happened to us on this cruise, I think that it would have been bad karma not to pass it on. I couldn't have been luckier or had a more wonderful cruise and like the commercial says "that's priceless".

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