Freestyle review...I'm free to say whatever...

Here is my review of the 2009 NCL Sun inaugural Alaskan 7 day cruise.

We had a great cruise to a most beautiful part of the planet.

for those who want a little more please read on...

I thought I would try to write a fact filled and tongue in cheek review to assist those who will follow. By doing so I hope to somehow repay some of the debt I feel I owe to all those cruisers and posters who came before me and were there patiently answering questions, even though many of them (the

questions) have already been asked a hundred times before.

Embarkment/debarkment & Bingo? : I was a little surprised there was no *Lattitudes desk. It didn’t matter anyhow, we arrived at the port just before noon and we were on the ship in about ½ hour. The whole process was fairly smooth and organized through all the steps. Ours and (some other blokes) luggage arrived reasonably early. We kept only ours because we didn't want to pay the airline for the extra baggage fees, so we returned the other bags promptly to the steward.

*we did receive in our room ship pins, and invitation to the latitudes party.

Leaving the ship is so easy peasy! Hint go get your luggage tags as soon as they are available because they tend to run out of the later times/colors (9:45 & 10:00) first. I went while everyone was at the departure lecture hehe. Or use the expediated method of departure by throwing up on the captains shoes. I didn't personally see anyone use option 2 in case anyone was curious.

I hope I didn’t miss buying that winning Nevada ticket, but don’t feel too sorry for me yet, there were still many chances to buy them later at the stardust show lounge. Hint: wait until the last full day to play the Nevada tickets if that’s your passion. By the last night of the cruise they were giving away a free strip of tickets, a t shirt, and an NCL carry bag with every $20 purchase. Trust me when I tell you that I never heard anyone screaming with joy from winning a substancial monetary prize.

Bingo prizes tended to get better as the days passed also.

Cabins: We went with a BE (guaranteed balcony) because we were sure that there were only 2 BE and 2 BD cabins on the whole ship (any of which we would have been happy with) and were not surprised to be placed in a BC cabin somewhat aft. We chose the balcony on this cruise because our cruise critic friends made a point of saying that “Alaska is the one destination you will not regret spending the extra and getting the balcony” I can happily report this was true. The floor to ceiling windows were great to look from even when it was too chilly to actually sit out on the balcony proper.

There was one morning I was awakened at 4:30 AM to a horrible loud, grinding/pressure spraying noise under our room. It was so loud it scared the heck out of me. Believe me you never want to hear that noise on a cruise ship especially in Alaska (Can you say Titanic?) at any time of day let alone 4:30 AM while in a stupor. I sure hope that whatever it was that needed repair or maintenance at that ridiculous hour was necessary. I’m sure someone else had already phoned to complain because the noise stopped even before I had a chance to do anything about it.

For a seven day cruise and two people, the cabin size was excellent. Closet, shelving, cupboards, desk, were probably the best compilation and design of useable storage we have ever had on a cruise. Ikea eat your heart out. We probably used only half the space available. 2.0 was evident with a new bed,

robes, pillows, etc. The TV set could use an upgrade. We had a 12” coal fired portable with the miss matched remote. The set was so old it was antiqued yellow. Channel selection was , ah, who cares really, you can stay home if you want to watch a lot of TV. It was a good distraction to have the republican news on while getting dressed.

The room was kept clean and visited twice a day by our room stewards but they seemed to have a hard time focusing. 4 or 5 days the stewards forgot to replenish items in the cabin. The good news is that we always had enough TP. That’s when the sh t could have hit the fan. We know we could have called the hotel manager and reported that we didn’t get our coffee, towels, Kleenex, glasses etc. But this stuff just isn’t important enough to stress about while on a holiday.

Dining: Dining was hit and miss. We tried for the most part to avoid the garden Café. It’s not very well designed for sea and bad weather days. When the weather is inclement outdoor café was underutilized creating bigger logjams in the garden café. Now I really understand how narrow the inside passage is. Half the problem was with fellow passengers who didn’t want to wait in line while their food got cold, annoying the others with more manners who were willing to wait in line while their food got cold. Rest assured in heaven there will be a buffet with no line and always a table by the window for the patient folks with their good manners and cold meals. The best tip I got was from here at Cruise Critic. “On the first day avoid the crew herding you to the Buffet and head for the Seven Seas restaurant for lunch”. This was an excellent and relaxing way to kick off the cruise! Now back to the garden buffet. Two of the three of the steam tables (heated food stations for lay folk) including the outdoors café served burgers and hot dogs .Now I have nothing against a burger or dog, but this lack of variety creates long line ups for the one carving station.

At dinner, often offered was the same meat dish as the seven seas and four seasons cafés and this food was as good in the buffet as it was elsewhere in the free dining venues. The kitchen staff was consistent, just like in the four seasons, we got lukewarm food one night at the buffet. NCL if you are paying attention, serving temperatures of food is important and should be checked often to protect your guests from food borne sickness.

I saw the plastic tongs! Yes the legendary plastic tongs! I read a thread about this and when I spotted these gems I almost laughed aloud. They are a little hard to use, it is true. Having been a food and beverage manager for several years I can tell you though that metal tongs and spoons, left sitting in a steam table get FREAKIN HOT! given a choice, I would rather see kids struggle with plastic tongs than listen to them scream with pain when they brand their little hands with a hot metal utensil. From what I can see, the only sure fire way to put this controversy to bed is for everyone to start digging in with their bare hands and forget about utensils altogether.

We made a same day reservation and had a nice meal in Le Bistro. In fact we never waited long to get into any restaurant. We had tapas (NCL style), or at home what we call sandwiches and soup in Las

Ramblas for lunch on Cinqo De Mayo day. The service in the four seasons and especially the seven seas was great all the time. Actually, almost all the crew were great. Sometimes you have to engage them, but they are friendly and do have a sense of humor, or atleast laugh politely at jokes they don't understand. The menus lack imagination but there was always something to eat, not much WOW factor, but if you had a picture of me you would see that I seldom was hungry. Bar service was there, but not intrusive. I thought it was just about the right amount of badgering. Speaking of badgering, it is nice to see the crew insisting on passengers using the hand sanitizers all the time. I saw one poor kitchen crew member exasperated trying to get this pre Cambrian geezer to use the sanitizers while he offered his hands for inspection and insisted that he had already washed for dinner.

How's this for irony, Ladies complaining about the smell of cigarette smoke wearing cheap perfume so strong that it lingers in the elevator or hallway long after they have left the area. We have designated areas for smoking, maybe we need a cologne zone! Really if you smell that bad take a shower ( not in perfume) and be kind to those who don't want to smell you or are chemical and odor sensitive.

Well if you read through the whole diatribe without falling asleep congratulations, I may write some more later, or not. But, I have run out of space.

Here is my rating :

I took away ½ star for the cabin stewards and took away 1 star for the

restaurants and give this cruise 3.5 stars out of 5.

Don't stop now that you've got me hooked. :D

Thanks for the start of your review, and your humor! I would enjoy hearing your experiences on shore, too. Did you do excursions, thru the ship, or independently? Was there adequate time in port? Did you try local seafood? Thanks again.

Thanks for sharing, I'm also looking to see how things went in the ports.

I am so enjoying your review - still chuckling at the branding by hot utensils and NCL Tapas!

Great review thank you.

Loved your writing technic and humor. Can't wait to read "the rest of the story". So far it's really balanced with honest opinions! GREAT

Ditto, that goes for me, too.

DT

 

How's this for irony, Ladies complaining about the smell of cigarette smoke wearing cheap perfume so strong that it lingers in the elevator or hallway long after they have left the area. We have designated areas for smoking, maybe we need a cologne zone! Really if you smell that bad take a shower ( not in perfume) and be kind to those who don't want to smell you or are chemical and odor sensitive.

 

Excellent point well made!

I want to read the rest of the story too! Thanks for taking the time to post!

Pleeeze - keep on writing. I'm looking at the Sun for this Fall - right now I'm hooked!

Isn't Alaska the best?

Enjoyed your review... sounds like you had a good time!

Here's the only part I differ from you on:

We know we could have called the hotel manager and reported that we didn’t get our coffee, towels, Kleenex, glasses etc. But this stuff just isn’t important enough to stress about while on a holiday.

While it may seem trivial while you are on vacation, if no one reports the inferior service, then nothing will be done to improve it. The hotel director on the Sun is very responsive to such issues and takes pride in making sure your cabin stewards operate at the expected levels. My take has always been to praise them when they do a job well done and also criticize when it is substandard. Sometimes all it takes is a gentle nudge to get your cabin back in proper shape :)

Enjoyed your review... sounds like you had a good time!

 

Here's the only part I differ from you on:

 

 

 

While it may seem trivial while you are on vacation, if no one reports the inferior service, then nothing will be done to improve it. The hotel director on the Sun is very responsive to such issues and takes pride in making sure your cabin stewards operate at the expected levels. My take has always been to praise them when they do a job well done and also criticize when it is substandard. Sometimes all it takes is a gentle nudge to get your cabin back in proper shape :)

We wouldn't have involved anyone for this either. We actually had to lift tissue and TP from the cart once as our steward cleaned our room and left not one stitch of either. Good thing DH and I returned to the room together!:eek: By filling out the comment card and giving every other department great marks and her only satisfactory (this was not the only issue-she actually walked in on us twice) I am sure that the hotel manager got the point that she just wasn't up to par.

Karysa

Great review so far - very easy read balanced with opinions and humor. As others have already mentioned - how were the ports? Did the weather cooperate? Did you sail into Tracy Arm Fjord, or divert to Endicott? I'll be on the Sun in under 2 weeks (sailing 5/24) - so I'd certainly appreciate anything you can share regarding the ports.

Thanks for taking your time to write the review.

This is a great review! Thanks. Enjoy your writing style, and you are honest about the few flaws you found.

I have a question: No Latitudes check-in line? Is this something new with NCL?

Kathy

Thanks for posting. I am very interested in hearing more.

Been looking forward to the first reviews from the Alaskan cruises.

That was a great review, what a wonderful way for me to start my work day.

Loved this review! Except I agree with cliffd64 - OP should have complained on-board about stuff that was not replenished.

How's this for irony, Ladies complaining about the smell of cigarette smoke wearing cheap perfume so strong that it lingers in the elevator or hallway long after they have left the area. We have designated areas for smoking, maybe we need a cologne zone! Really if you smell that bad take a shower ( not in perfume) and be kind to those who don't want to smell you or are chemical and odor sensitive.

I'm with you on that one!!:eek: What's up with all the cologne??!?!??!

It's also been my experience that men sometimes overdo the cologne/after shave thing, too!

Sea Hound:D

"Would love to know which cabin you had...........sailing in an almost aft in January

Susan

Great review. Can't wait to read the rest. Thanks

Great so far, can't wait to hear about the ports. Was there a line for balcony check in?

This is a great review! Thanks. Enjoy your writing style, and you are honest about the few flaws you found.

I have a question: No Latitudes check-in line? Is this something new with NCL?

Kathy

I don't think so, Kathy. I've read some other reviews of recent sailings that mentioned the Latitudes line at check in. Maybe some others will weigh in.

DT

I don't think so, Kathy. I've read some other reviews of recent sailings that mentioned the Latitudes line at check in. Maybe some others will weigh in.

 

DT

I'd say it depends on timing, port and crowds. They had a Latitudes line in NYC for my recent CTN, but it was almost silly since agents were literally waiting for people to help. We could have used any line so it was being ignored for the most part.

COLOGNE ZONE???

I LOVE IT! :D

Thanks for a great review so far!

We were on the Sun last year (to the Caribeban) and loved the ship and the crew!