NCL Sun - Honeymoon!

My fiance and I are going on the land and cruise tour from Vancouver in July! I have only been on one cruise (on the NCL Spirit in 2008) and my fiance has never cruised! Any tips or suggestions for this cruise would be greatly appreciated! We are in a balcony room and we booked early so we have the free 3 meal dinner package. My mother is also looking into booking us the Deluxe Romance Package as a honeymoon gift! I am so excited but so nervous because it is all so new for us! We don't want to miss anything! This is our trip of a lifetime! Thank you in advance!

It's been a few years since we've been on the Sun but there is a Great Outdoors area aft of the buffet (outside seating) if the weather is nice. The buffet is small and our trip in the Baltics people lingered in there taking up seating space. You can get your food and go to the port side of buffet and sit in Moderno for breakfast and lunch. They should also be serving a limited selection over there.

There is a front observation lounge that is rather large.

My fiance and I are going on the land and cruise tour from Vancouver in July! I have only been on one cruise (on the NCL Spirit in 2008) and my fiance has never cruised! Any tips or suggestions for this cruise would be greatly appreciated! We are in a balcony room and we booked early so we have the free 3 meal dinner package. My mother is also looking into booking us the Deluxe Romance Package as a honeymoon gift! I am so excited but so nervous because it is all so new for us! We don't want to miss anything! This is our trip of a lifetime! Thank you in advance!

Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!

I went on the Sun last June southbound, and had a blast. Look through me review and ask any questions you have in the review. Here is the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2376089

It is a comprehensive photo review.

Congratulations!

The Sun is our most favorite NCL ship. She is small enough to not overwhelm and large enough to have enough to do.

As I don't know what you would be disappointed about if you missed, I recommend planning each day by looking over the Freestyle Daily the night before. Bring a highlighter to mark it up. There will be lots of complimentary and fun activities, especially on sea days. We enjoy the Cruise Director Staff led activities like the various competitions (ping-pong, shuffleboard, trivias, golf) as a way to meet other cruisers.

Decide about your excursions before you get on the ship. Either book something through NCL (we do that when we travel far from this ship as the ship will leave without you if you don't make it back in time) or book something at the dock when you get off the ship. It has been a number of years since we cruised to Alaska, but especially in Juneau there were lots of options on the dock for half of what the cruise line was charging. Maybe rather than the romance package, your mother might pay for a special excursion (e.g., whales or helicopter to the glacier).

You should be able to book your dinners 90 days out from your cruise. Book for a sea day or a day when all aboard is earlier so you are not rushed for special dinners.

Otherwise, go with the flow....enjoy the shows and parties and activities as well as your balcony early in the morning as the eagles fly overhead and maybe you will spot a whale.

My fiance and I are going on the land and cruise tour from Vancouver in July! I have only been on one cruise (on the NCL Spirit in 2008) and my fiance has never cruised! Any tips or suggestions for this cruise would be greatly appreciated! We are in a balcony room and we booked early so we have the free 3 meal dinner package. My mother is also looking into booking us the Deluxe Romance Package as a honeymoon gift! I am so excited but so nervous because it is all so new for us! We don't want to miss anything! This is our trip of a lifetime! Thank you in advance!

Congratulations!

What's your departure date? We are also on the Sun in July

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Thank you everyone! We set sail from Vancouver on July 17th! I am so excited! Does anyone know how the weather will be? I am worried about overpacking!

This is exactly what I did last summer for my honeymoon. Unfortunately I missed a lot of what was going on on the ship, as my new husband was sick (He ended up being hospitalized when we returned home).

But I can highly recommend the excursions. In Ketchikan we did a float plane tour, which was spectacular, but also allowed us to have the afternoon to wander around town and shop. This ended up being key for us, because we didn't make it to shopping in Juneau due to a long excursion (glacier hike, which I definitely recommend if you enjoy the outdoors and especially if you are rock climbers.) and we just weren't impressed by the options in Skagway, although we did have time for a nice lunch of King crab when we got back from the Railroad tour (we went up and back by train; it was breathtaking). If we hadn't bought souvenirs in Ketchikan, we would have been out of luck until Fairbanks.

I do recommend going off the main street to find the more locally owned stores; they tend (not always) to have different inventory and more stuff that is made in Alaska, instead of the typical stuff imported from Asian countries.

We were on the Sun last summer from Vancouver to Seward. We loved the ship. Tips include when you board head to the MDR that is open for lunch instead of the buffet. Bring clips for the shower curtain since it tends to fold in on you as the shower is small. Bring a light rain suit in your bag for excursions just in case it rains. Use your balcony to avoid the crowds in Glacier Bay & Hubbard Glacier. On our trip prior to that one we went out on upper decks with all the people thinking we would see more but that was not the case as you see the same sights from the privacy of your balcony. The ship does a strange deck plan that takes some getting used to and I hope you enjoy it as much as we did. We had read so many stories on CC of how the ship was old & beat up but we found that not to be true. We also did not experience the bad odors commonly reported on CC in many of the reviews. Enjoy --- it is a trip of a lifetime!!!!

How romantic! Hope you have a wonderful time and congratulations!

Congrats!!!

You will be in my favorite ship!

Do have dinner one evening in La Cucina/Il Adagio. The setting is romantic.

In Skagway we did the White Pass vintage train and loved it.

In Juneau we did helicopter up to Mendenhall glacier. Pricey but outstanding.

In Ketchican we did the lumberjack show. So hokey. Did not like it.

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Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials!

 

I went on the Sun last June southbound, and had a blast. Look through me review and ask any questions you have in the review. Here is the link: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2376089

It is a comprehensive photo review.

I just spent all day looking through your review! Thank you! I am even more excited than before!!!!!

Thank you everyone! We set sail from Vancouver on July 17th! I am so excited! Does anyone know how the weather will be? I am worried about overpacking!

Statistically Vancouver should be warm & dry, and you're probably not going to have much rain in AK ports either. But given how variable PNW/SE Alaska weather is, if you want to be able to handle whatever is thrown at you then you need to pack for anything and everything between approx. 50-80F, heavy rain, and sunshine. The whole region is temperate rainforest after all...

Layers are key - a light water- and wind-proof top layer (not a heavy lined coat) for when it's rainy and/or windy, a mix of long & short sleeved tops worn on their own or underneath the jacket for warmth as needed (a light fleece is a good idea), shorts/light pants for hot days and heavier pants or longjohns/extra stockings for colder days, and a toque/gloves/scarf. Wide-brimmed hat and sunscreen for the sun (bug spray too if you're going inland).

The gloves/toque/scarf may seem like overkill in July, but on a glacier cruising day the chill from the ice is noticeable - and if it's at all windy, remember that the effective wind speed is also affected by the speed and direction of the ship: a 70F day with a ship sailing into the wind could easily feel like you're down in the 40s. All three scrunch up small and weigh very little. Spare socks work as mittens too, but it's very hard to work a camera then!

If you're really tight for space, you can buy cheap fleeces and jackets in ports - they're not waterproof but unless you're spending a long time outside, water-resistant is probably good enough in July (fancy breathable rainwear is obviously superior, but again not really needed unless you plan to go hiking or otherwise be outside getting sweaty in bad weather).