marelind

Hi Mary! We sailed on the Sun in the cabin next to yours and I just wanted to say hello!

Hi, I remember you! So glad you "stopped" to say hello!

Video tour of 10006 (before the redecoration during dry dock in 2015)

This video was shot by me in April of 2015 just after the drydock. We stayed in this cabin - 10006 - for that cruise.

I cracked up when I saw the videos. I got confused and the video for 10006 was the video I posted on YouTube last year! I got confused because we were in the deck 9 OS on the Pearl a month later. The video for 10006 was taken after the dry dock in 2015, but I noticed they did not change out the carpet on deck 10 but they did for deck 9. Curious!

We have been in 9006 on the Star and 10004 Owner's Suites on the Pearl and Jewel that are very similar to the same ones on the Star. Our preference is for the deck 10 Owner's Suites because the cabin is larger and the decks are pretty much the same. Specifically, the closet, dressing room and bathroom are larger, and the bedroom seems larger as well. In addition there is a cutout for the dining table in the deck 10 cabins that gives a little more room in the living room as well. The Owner's Suites are our favorite cabins; I can't imagine you would be disappointed.

A few things to know about these cabins:

1. You are under the bridge so the lights on the front deck must be off at night and the bedroom curtains drawn to protect the night vision for the bridge.

2. The front deck is completely visible from the bridge on deck 10 and about half the deck is visible on deck 9.

3. The front deck can be quite windy when underway. It is usable if seated, otherwise it can be quite "bracing".

4. When coming into port the thruster engines for maneuvering are quite audible.

The reason we love Norwegian is that you can dress however you feel comfortable (within reason). You will see a wide variety of dress in the evening depending on what each person is doing. There will be people who are celebrating an occasion and are dressed up or going to a special dinner at one of the specialty restaurants. There will be people in shorts and sandals who want to hit the buffet before the show or going to the casino. On the dress up or not night there are a few who wear formal dress, others suits and dresses and others slacks and a collared shirt.

Not too early...just about perfect...

At worst, you'll be off the ship by 10:00 am...

It's about 25 miles to LAX...even with a little traffic, it will take under an hour on a Sunday...Even figuring an extra half an hour to find and load your ground transportation, you'll be at LAX with at least two hours to spare...Even the worst security and check in lines won't take you that long...bring a book...

I agree with Bruin Steve. We had to get DS and family to LAX after a cruise out of San Pedro and we had a good amount of time. If you are taking a shuttle you can get a reservation with Prime Time or Super Shuttle and just walk out, check in with their rep and get in line. You can also reserve a private shuttle with them that will be reserved for you.

My husband has COPD and we have cruised with a few different types of rented POCs. He chose to purchase the Respironics Simply Go for a few different reasons. One reason is that it can be used on continuous or on "puff" mode. Also, the batteries are easy to change as they can be accessed from the top of the machine. It has worked well for him.

Before last year he chose to travel just with the POC. That was until we were leaving Florida for a Panama Canal cruise and we would not be back in the US for two weeks. Our next port was going to be Cartagena three days later. The rented POC stopped working using the electrical cord plugged into the wall. It would work on battery power, but not plugged into the wall. It was 20 minutes to sailaway and we were freaked out!!! As the ship was pulling out we realized the fuse was blown on the wall outlet we were using and once that was reset the POC worked perfectly. From then on we have rented a room concentrator from Special Needs at Sea. If something goes wrong with the POC or the room concentrator there is another one available in the hold that can be swapped out, or so they say.

I don't know if you can take the "little bottles" on the ship, and that would be such a hassle. My husband tried the Inogen, but then it did not do the continuous so he purchased the Simply Go. Other than that the Inogen are very nice, but I can't remember if you are able to change those batteries from the top. We also rented an Eclipse and that was inconvenient because of size and I think the batteries were hard to change.

Congratulations on the upsell!! I am excited for you! Panama Canal cruise is our absolute favorite cruise.

All full suites get priority check-in lines, the VIP lounge and breakfast and lunch in Cagney's, so you're in! Have a wonderful time!

My thought had more to do with going into and out of ports, but triptolemus is probably right.

I'm booked in a port side balcony on the NCL Sun for a May repo cruise. Should I reconsider my choice and go starboard for better views?? THANKS in advance.

Personally, I would if it was easy to do and didn't lose any perks.

The bath robes aren't too warm in my opinion. With that said, I would talk to the butler or steward to ask them what they can do to keep you warm out there. It sounds like a great idea!

We took a Mexican Riviera cruise last April. My DIL researched and this is what we did as best I can remember.

In Cabo San Lucas DS, DIL, DGS (almost 4 y.o.) and I went on the Dolphin Encounter through the ship. They paid and I went as a free observer. They had a good time (except when DGS got splashed in the face and almost bailed - to the credit of the person who was working with them he shielded DGS from then on) and great pictures were provided.

Puerto Vallarta - there are a group of hotels within walking distance from the port that you can purchase a day pass that includes drinks and food by their pool or on the beach.

Mazatlan - we walked out the port gates, turned left and walked to the end of the street, through a dirt driveway to the ferry that will take you across the inlet to Stone Island. Purchase a ticket, and when across the inlet, walk straight ahead and over the rise to a wonderful beach. There are several food and beverage vendors where you can sit at a table with an umbrella and stay as long as you have ordered food or drink.

We have done the PC cruise twice from forward facing cabins on deck 10, once on Pearl and once on Jewel. We loved it! The first cruise I got up before dawn as we sailed into the bay. I could see the lights of Gatun locks. As dawn broke we could easily see the locks. We were in the Owner's Suite so we had the front balcony and the side facing balcony. I didn't feel any need to see the canal from any other vantage point, so I would agree that if they are in the penthouse cabins they might want to go to the side of the ship for one of the sets of locks so they can see the view from there.

We live in LA and both Prime Time Shuttle and Super Shuttle run vans between the port and LAX. If you book a shared shuttle ahead of time all you have to do once you get out of the building is cross to the island, find the supervisor, check in with them and they will put you in the line. As new shuttles come in they fill them up and send them off.

We prefer to have a private van pick us up. We still check in with the supervisor, but there is a specific van that is reserved for us. They arrived within about 15-20 minutes. We are booked with Prime Time for a private van for our next cruise. We canceled with Go Sedan because they changed their booking site and it was too frustrating.

And people got all bent out of shape over a butler unpacking your suitcase!

I agree that as a newer cruiser you have no idea what amount you are likely to spend on board, so I think your plan of setting money aside for after the cruise makes sense. Now that I know that I spend a LOT on a cruise, I like to save up my credit card points and use them to pre-purchase OBC. The reason for this is I can maximize the amount I get for the points.

Anyone have current or future info on the Sun's staff? Will be on her end of March thru April.

Yep, in my experience that is true. The winds have been changing though, so check. ;) Best to both of you. :)

Thanks for your input; I have my fingers crossed! Hope all is well with you and Dave. We will miss you on this cruise, but I'm sure you are having all the fun possible on all your other cruises.

Shouldn't matter, NCL does things "easy way" (for customer) regarding B2Bs, for example with Celebrity the two are strictly separate but on NCL as long as you visit guest services during the first leg to make sure that they know you are staying onboard, the onboard account should carry on also.

This is very good news! Thanks!

Did you book it as 2 cruises or one big cruise? If 2 cruises it will probably be refunded.

It is booked as 2 cruises.

Does anyone know about milkshake/smoothie availability on the Sun?

Will the refundable OBC I purchase ahead of time for the first leg be transferred to my account on the second leg if I don't use it up, or do they insist on closing out the book and mailing a refund and start all over again for the second leg? (I purchase ahead to use the credit card points to their best advantage.)

Someone else with more information will answer here, but yes, you can order what they call a "bar setup". It is generally relatively expensive, but it can be done easily.

They bake everything fresh each morning. In certain parts of the ship you can smell the fresh bread. And yes, Norwegian brings on board fresh ingredients and prepares them in the galleys.

The ship will provide a gallon bottle of distilled water upon request, usually through the access desk.

We live in the Los Angeles area and have embarked and disembarked there 4-5 times. Even on a Sunday there is no guarantee that you would make a 10:50 flight for these reasons:

1. We have had exceptionally slow and exceptionally fast times through customs. I have had at least two disembarkations where they started disembarkation late, closer to 9 am than the usual 8 am. One where they had people in lines snaking all over deck 7. People were upset and freaking out. Another time we were embarking in LA and the passengers disembarking were held up in customs.

2. Traffic in LA can be unpredictable. The drive to LAX from the port is about 30 minutes in decent traffic, but if a truck overturns or there is an accident all bets are off.

3. LAX is one of those airports where you need to arrive a minimum of 2 hours ahead of time to get checked in, through TSA and to the gate. The gates can be quite a way from the curb which is a challenge if you have anyone with any type of mobility problem.

On the whole, I would discourage you from taking the 10:30 am flight. One time, early in our cruising we took a red-eye to Baltimore for a cruise. United changed our flight time a few weeks ahead of time. I spoke to a customer service agent and they changed our flight without a fee because they made the changes. It was not a problem.