Sun - March 29 to April 5

[llachance]

Our trip this last week on the Sun was one of the most relaxing cruises I have ever been on. I think I can easily convert to "Freestyle" cruising and bought a future cruise credit while on board.

 

We were in Aft Penthouse Suite 9276 and loved the size and the amazing balcony. This was a cruise that I enjoyed staying in my cabin.

 

At sail away we had an unofficial meet and greet in our cabin. Met a lot of great people and hooked up with many throughout the week. We had our "official" meet and greet on the first sea day but even though the cruise director showed up no one else did! I think we had more fun in my cabin! BTW - the cruise director makes or breaks a cruise, at times, and I was not impressed with Denny.

 

Roatan - we went on the Tabyana Beach Break and Snorkel. Windy bus ride and you have to pick up your snorkel gear on the ship and drag it with you but it was worth it. Great snorkeling, plenty of lounges and "Monkeyladas".

 

Belize we did the Barrier Reef on the catamaran. Seas were rough but the snorkeling was good. They then took us to Banister Island for an hour of lounging. You could easily spend the day there. They picked us up directly from the ship and then dropped us off in town.

 

Cozumel - we did the speed boats and I still have bruises on my derrier. It was a lot of fun but wish we could have stayed in the water longer. Walked around town....

 

Ate at Le Bistro (food was ok - service was very bad), the Italian restaurant the server challenged us when we said we bought the bottle of wine on board the ship (more then once) and service suffered there as well. Service in the dining room was spotty but the food was such that I would have been happy eating there every night. The tapas bar was awesome....and we ate at the garden grill for lunch when on board. Fancy drinks were 9.75 but an ordinary rum and coke is only going to set you back $5.00. Overall the food was 3 Star but the wait staff, across the board, needs more training.

 

Spa prices were the highest I have ever seen and I have sailed all lines just about so didn't partake. Never got in the swimming pool but the folks seemed to be having fun.

 

Parties, disco nights, etc. were somewhat lacking and I attribute that to the cruise director! No cohesion, lots of lag time.....

 

All said, we had a great cruise. We will sail the Sun again if the itinerary is one that we are interested in. And, if the price is right I will get a Penthouse again because the price was right!

[Mystic cruisers]

Thanks for the review llachance. We'll be in your cabin in 2 weeks, so we're glad to hear you enjoyed it. I was wondering if you saw any signs of Freestyle 2.0? I was told by the Sun coordinator that they would start around April 1 on the Sun. I saw on other posts that the bedding has already changed. Can you confirm it was done in our room?

[llachance]

had nice sheets and a comforter but if you like a softer matress be sure to ask for the egg crates because the mattresses were not soft and had an obvious hump where the two beds came together.

 

Also, was surprised at how soft the couch looked and how hard it actually was. Another thing, if you like to lay under a coverlet and read you will need to ask for one. I used the pool towels because I was too lazy to do anything else!

 

As far as 2.0 I guess you can say we saw some because the Italian restaurant is no longer free. Since this was my first NCL cruise I can't speak to the improvement of food but there were Rock Lobster tails on the dress up night. There were no shrimp cocktails except in the pay as you go restaurants but I was able to eat lamb in the main dining room and couldn't in the french restaurant unless I paid an additional charge, to the upcharge, which I wasn't willing to do.

 

I know that several people in our group have sailed NCL before and they probably will pipe in for what they know...

[knbcruisers]

Returned home to Central FLA today from the Sun. We had planned to participate in the meet/greets, but couldn't get ourselves organized the first day, and napped through the official. Sorry to have missed the opportunity to meet the roll call folks. This was our second cruise and embarkation went well, very efficient. Disembarkation was a totally different story. We had the later (9:50 am) color tags, and it over an hour to get off the ship and clear customs. The set up was very congested. I don't know if this was just a bad day, or a problem specific to Port of Miami. It was much easier to get off the Golden Princess in Ft. Lauderdale.

Overall we had a really good time, I would recommend the trip to New River/Lamanai, it's a long day but the ruins are awe-inspiring, an experience of a lifetime. We had private tour from Diana/Cynthia's company, and it was a great experience, zip lining, beach, mangrove tour. Cozumel was great, Punta Sur park for snorkeling is beautiful, then we drove the east side of the island and had lunch at Coconuts.

I did find that there were some issues on the cruise. Due to this being school break, there were a lot of kids, which I expected. DH is a teacher and we have to travel at the same time as everybody else. However, the pool area is just not large enough to accomodate that many kids, only one pool was open on the first day, and they took over the hot tubs, often with 5-6 kids in one tub with no adults.

The food at the buffet was fine for breakfast, waffle station was nice, but the buffet food was disappointing overall. The set-up is a real mess with everyone going everywhich way. The staff had trouble keeping the plates/juice/coffee filled, especially on port days when everyone eats early. We heard one staff member get very snippy with a woman when she asked for more bowls. Overall the staff was good, our cabin stewards did a very good job, however one of the bar staff gave my husband some attitude. I think some of the staff needs a little more training in service, and improvement in their English skills. Patricia in Il Adagio was terrific. The main dining room food was good, East Meets West ( get the cheesecake!) and Il Bistro were worth the extra charge, but Il Adagio was not. Las Ramblas was good, and the guitar player, Dave?, was great. Overall we had a great time, love the balcony cabin, and the ports. I would recommend NCL to others as a decent value for the price, especially for families or larger groups. We have already decided to cruise next April vacation, but will probably go back to Princess, the service and food are a step up from NCL, and access to an adults only pool is a real plus at that time of year.

[Carnac767]

We had no problem with disembarkation in Miami on our Sun cruise. We were called to leave the ship at 8:20. It tooks us less than five minutes to clear customs and get on the NCL bus for Miami International. We were at our gate at the airport at 9:30. Of course, then our flight was delayed by thunderstorms in Atlanta and we didn't leave until four in the afternoon.

[skoolbusdrvr]

just off the sun. everything was just wonderfull. iwas told by cruise staff that 2.0 will be in full april 12. so every one enjoy!

[DizzyDallasDi]

just off the sun. everything was just wonderfull. iwas told by cruise staff that 2.0 will be in full april 12. so every one enjoy!

 

Woohoo! I'm on the April 12 trip so I sure hope that crew member knew what he/she was talking about :D