Jenorama

We stayed in 9318 and it was a regular room and the balcony was indeed enormous. In that room, the bed is by the balcony with the couch closer to the door.

 

Jen

We had an aft mini suite on the Sun for our Alaska trip. This was our first trip on the Sun and I'd heard the minis were quite nice. One of the reasons we booked the mini was that we were traveling with my dad and while he had his own cabin, I knew that it was quite likely that he would be spending time in our cabin with us and having the extra space came in very handy. Also on the Sun mini there are a ton of power plugs and lots of storage. I liked the bathroom/vanity/closet area--it was really nice to have all of that out of the way of the rest of the room.

 

Our trip home from Vancouver was a 3 day on the Pearl. For that one we just got an inside, but we did the sideways inside. I was kind of disappointed in the sideways inside--you miss quite a lot of privacy because the door opens right into the bed area rather than into the little hallway generated by the bathroom and closet. I did see the sideways insides on the Sun and they were enormous. I don't know that I'd do a sideways inside on the Jewel/Pearl again.

 

If you have the opportunity, I'd go for the mini suite. :D

 

Jen

We were on the Breakaway's second Bermuda sailing and we got the tote bag and the book along with the ship pin for Latitudes folks.

 

Jen

My dad is going on the 12/5 PoA sailing. I'll let him know they should have the decorations up! :D

 

Jen

I've certainly noticed a difference. We went on the BA to Bermuda on her second Bermuda trip in 2013. There were a ton of room service dishes and trays outside of the rooms, some that would stay there practically all day. This year we did 7 day Alaska on the Sun and 3 day CA Coastal on the Pearl. We saw a couple of trays, but not nearly as many as we'd seen on the BA two years ago. I don't know if that's because of the new room service fee or if it's because they're leaning on the crew to clean things up more promptly. Either way, it was a much better experience.

 

Jen

We were on the Sun for the very last Alaska 7 day in September. They had the Amber Strings quartet onboard and they were very nice. I don't know if the quartet is leaving before the Sun starts SA, but I imagine they'd have another one come in. There was quite a bit of live music onboard. In addition to the Amber Strings, there were two rock bands, a piano player (Beau Tahana--he's pretty great) a jazz band and an acoustic guitar player. Not bad for a small ship!

 

Jen

Regarding the Sun, it does not have a Spinnaker lounge but rather the Observation Lounge at the front of the ship. I was just on it for the last Alaska trip of the season and during the Captain/Hotel Director Q&A, I asked specifically about the upcoming dry dock and if the Observation lounge would be sacrificed. They both said no, the Observation lounge would not be going anywhere. They said that some ships had had the Spinnaker converted to rooms to their detriment and that seemed to indicate that this sort of nonsense would not be carried forward.

 

The Observation lounge on the Sun was awesome and we also spent a lot of time in the Spinnaker on the Pearl. With the smaller ships, the Atrium is just not large enough to support big group activities and it would make zero sense to get rid of the Spinnaker.

 

Jen

The only time I used the tap water was when making my protein shake and rinsing after brushing, so I didn't notice any taste issues. They had the big bottles of Aquafina for sale--for $4.25. Ridiculous when there are plenty of complimentary options available.

 

Jen

Coffee and water is available in the buffet. In addition to water, the dispensers have strawberry-kiwi and mango flavored waters as well as iced tea and lemonade. These are complimentary and they have orange and cranberry juice in the morning, also complimentary.

 

Jen

One thing about Elton that kind of cracked us up is he was way too high energy--more like 80s Elton than current Elton. When we've seen him, he sits on his piano bench, sings the song, then kind of waves when it's over and goes on to the next song.. There is generally no walking around and no banter.

 

Now, if they had a 70s-80's Elton with the crazy outfits and Donald Duck costume--that would be a show to see!

 

Jen

I didn't get any sort of drink package on our Sun Alaska or Pearl 3 day. I have a refillable water bottle and before heading out for the day, I'd fill it up from the water dispenser in the buffet. Just make sure to use one of the glasses they have there--don't put your water bottle directly under the dispenser as that is unsanitary and rude.

 

Iced tea, lemonade and flavored waters are also available at the buffet vending station along with coffee, hot tea and hot chocolate. We did bring a small case of water onboard for Alaska, but we didn't really feel the need for it. When that ran out, I just used the regular tap water to make my morning protein drink.

 

They do sell a bottled water package onboard and for that you get Aquafina, but I think it's completely unnecessary as the water onboard is already purified and perfectly fine and tasty to drink. You reduce waste and save yourself some $$.

 

Jen

I took food from the buffet all over the ship on our 7 day Alaska on the Sun and 3 day on the Pearl. Just do your "washy washy happy happy" and it's all good. The Great Outdoors is usually the snack place in the afternoon and late night. On the Sun it was cookies, some pastry, cold cuts, cheese, and some hot items in addition to the soft serve, coffee and flavored water, lemonade and iced/hot tea. The Pearl was more extensive and included pizza in addition to the other items mentioned. One memorable sea day afternoon they had pineapple upside down cake which I hadn't had in years and years. It was delicious. Also, ghetto mocha is the bomb--who needs the $$ coffee bar? Throw a packet of hot chocolate in a cup, add coffee and a bit of half and half.

 

You'll have a great time!

We saw it on the Pearl in early October. It was okay. Elton John, Madonna and Tina Turner. The Elton was okay, the Madonna not so good and the Tina was pretty good. My husband remarked that it might have been a better show if it were just the performers doing the songs rather than trying to impersonate them. We've seen Elton John 3 times and that guy was nothing like him.

 

The lady playing Madonna was way too high and squeaky, but the lady doing Tina Turner had it pretty much spot on.

 

Jen

We had 9318 on our Bermuda trip and it was great. Good sized room and huge balcony. You won't regret it!

 

Jen

We were on the second Bermuda trip on the Breakaway and we got the book and a tote bag. I don't know if they're still doing that though.

 

Jen

I think I remember reading that it would be out fleet wide next year some time.

 

Jen

I have a question--my dad has the UBP for upcoming Alaskan Sun at the end of Sept. I've never had the UBP, only soda. I know there is the 18% gratuity--is that something that gets added to the bill on an ongoing basis and will need to be settled at the end of the cruise or is it covered by the price of the UBP? This is my dad's first cruise and I'm trying to minimize horrible surprises at the end. :D

 

Thanks!

 

Jen

Are the luggage tags even printing out correctly? When I went to print out ours, the text and the color were on two separate pages. I will probably just get them at the terminal.

 

Jen

So we're doing a 7 day Alaska round trip on the Sun leaving out of Vancouver on 9/21 (last RT of the season!). On the 28th, we're taking the Pearl 3 day home to SF. Prior to the cruise, we have 3 days in Vancouver, so we'll be gone pretty much 2 weeks. Our plan is to pack with shipboard laundry in mind. What day of the week is the bag of laundry special on the Sun? It's a Monday to Monday ride and I don't want to lug around too much or get caught short.

 

Thanks!

 

Jen

I'm glad to hear that breakfast is still no extra charge. We have a mini suite on the Sun for Alaska this year and I'm looking forward to enjoying Glacier Bay on my aft balcony. I'm interested to see how snacks from the buffet work out. On the Breakaway, we'd visit the buffet for some snacks and enjoy them in Fat Cats with the music.

 

Jen

9318 was our cabin to Bermuda. The balcony is indeed enormous. Watching the ship move through the coral maze leaving Bermuda was wonderful and the sunrise arrival into NYC is not to be missed!

 

Jen

We did Alaska on the Star the first time and had a balcony. It was really early in the season, so it was a bit cold to be out on the balcony very often, but having the large sliding glass door window was very good. We're doing AK again on the Sun late in the season this year and we have an aft mini, so hopefully being out of the wind will be a bonus.

 

For Alaska, I would definitely do a balcony for the first time at least and then if you do AK again, you can decide if it was worth it or not. :D

 

Jen

I have been looking for this for ages! Thanks so much for posting the link--I see it's going to be on TV on 3/7--I will be setting my DVR when I get home! :D

 

Jen

We did Bermuda on the BA on her first season and it was wonderful. We didn't book any NCL excursions, but did everything on our own using the ferries and busses. The high speed ferry ride I think would be very thrilling for the kids and the busses are something else. We did the Crystal Cave which was beautiful, but might be kind of tame for kids. There's also a lot of stuff to check out at the Dockyards itself.

Have a great time!

Jen

We're going on the Sun to Alaska on her last run of the season! We have a mini suite as well and I'm really looking forward to it, especially since it's an aft. We usually pack for half the week plus one and use the laundry bag special. Pro tip: roll your dirty laundry as tightly as you can to cram that bag full. On the Breakaway it was a paper bag and while we didn't tear it, it was a near thing!

 

Jen