Thoughts on 15 day Sun Transatlantic 04/23 - 05/08

[laurmac]

Just came back from a 15 day transatlantic cruise on the Sun. Here are my thoughts:

 

Food – We often had lunch in the main dining room. As folks have said here before, the lunch menu in the MDR is the same every day. I was okay with that – it was quite extensive, and it was nice to be able to have my favourites several times on the cruise (Calamari and Cobb Salad).

 

We liked the food. I only had 1 so-so meal in the MDR (Prime Rib not done to my liking) and the staff were very accommodating on lobster night, when I wanted another half lobster tail.

 

We ate in the MDR more than we usually do (DH prefers the buffet, I like the MDR) because the buffet didn’t offer as much selection as previous cruises on the Jewel and Pearl. The Buffet area is not as large on the Sun – so that’s why. The food that was there was good.

We liked eating in Moderno for Breakfast and lunch, as it was a less busy than the buffet. Moderno has breakfast pizzas and calzones (as well as waffles, fruit, rolls and cereal) in the morning, and sandwich fixins for lunch. We did not try it for dinner. We did try Teppenyaki one evening. All our dinner companions had been there once before on the cruise, others had been twice! We enjoyed it, but knew what to expect – we had experienced it on the Jewel and Pearl. They have taken Mochi Ice Cream off the menu though, which is disappointing as I really liked it, and it’s hard to find.

We liked the sports bar but we wished it had been serving food for lunch or afternoon snacks. We definitely enjoyed the tapas and nachos in Los Ramblos.

 

Dress code – My DH loved the dress code – he was able to wear shorts in the 4 Seasons for dinner. The Seven Seas and Le Bristro were the only restaurants that required pants. This is why we love NCL.

 

Room - We had an OV on deck 5. We really liked the location (FWD). It was close to the atrium, Java Café and Four Seasons Restaurant. The only downside is that deck 5 is not a walk through deck so you have to go up or down a flight to get to the 7 Seas Restaurant. For the first time on 6 cruises I found the bed uncomfortable. I asked the room steward for a foam topper after suffering for several nights, and it did the trick. I found the shower in the room a bit small.

 

Entertainment – 15 nights of unique entertainment is a lot to provide, but we enjoyed all the shows we went to, even if a couple weren’t to our taste. We particularly enjoyed listening to Kim Doolittle in Los Ramblas each evening. She plays great music and has great stories – very engaging. No more Jean Ann Ryan shows of course, but we didn’t really miss them (except for the aerial acrobats). The young talent on the ships, performing shows like Shout, Beatles Celebration, and We will Rock you were all very talented, enthusiastic and full of energy. I may be wrong but I suspect that none of these folks had been in these shows before this cruise, as you could tell they needed a few more rehearsals, but the shows were good none the less. A couple of more cruises and they will be old pros. A couple of the Beatles Celebration fellas entertained us with some mellower Beatles tunes, and some of their own tunes (which were wonderful) in Los Ramblas one night. Very memorable evening. Pedro Serra is the CD on the Sun which is a switch I believe, as the first couple of Freestyle Dailies still mentioned Shona!

 

The Journey – The sailing across the Atlantic was very smooth, except for one day that was a bit rough. I didn’t mind though – part of the adventure. The ports were magnificent – It was sunny in every one of them. The Azores, Lisbon, Zeebrugge and Amsterdam. We did Shore excursions in the first two, and wen t on our own for the second two, and we believe that we made the right decisions. We enjoyed them all.

 

Any questions, just ask!

[Sauer-kraut]

Pedro Serra was our CD too, and did a good job. We had him on the transatl. in October, and I thought he went to the EPIC, so I was surprised when I saw your post (seeing how the EPIC is crossing back to Europe).

 

Glad you enjoyed the SUN, I never really found anything to really complain about, and we enjoyed the Buffet meals a lot. We never ate MDR for lunch nor breakfast so I probably missed some good meals there.

[laurmac]

The Sun is off to the Baltics - in fact many of our fellow cruisers are still on her. I agree, Pedro was very good. He hit just the right tone for us.

[LoisGriffin1]

Thank you for the review.

 

Could you let me know the hours for the running track? Its important for me to get some miles in and I don't want to be stuck on a treadmill.

 

Do you know if Pedro is staying on the Sun for the Baltic sailings going forward or is he doing it short term while they find a replacement?

[LoisGriffin1]

sorry a couple more questions:

 

How quickly did passengers start disembarking upon arrival to Copenhagen?

Can you self-disembark?

Were there lots of taxis or should I arrange transportation beforehand?

[laurmac]

I remember seeing a sign that said you could run on deck 6 between 8 am and 8 pm.

 

My info says that Disembarkation started at 5:30am, for those who wanted to walk off with their luggage. Our itinerary indicated we would arrive at 5 am, and I assume we did. I don't know what your itinerary states for an arrival time in Copenhagen, but I would assume you could disembark a half hour after that.

 

We took the shuttle to the airport ($30 ea). At the airport we ran into a couple from the ship that took a taxi. They said it cost them about $65 US. They indicated they were told there wouldnt be a lot of taxis, but didnt have a problem finding one.

 

There was no mention of whether Pedro was staying on the ship or not.

 

Hope this helps.

[willysgrandma]

Thanks for a great review - we were on the last US sailing of the Epic before she left Saturday to go to Europe and some of the staff were telling us that they were getting their seasick medicine ready - apparently they may not need it.

[Carnac767]

Thanks for posting the review. We're sailing on the Translant next year and have been looking forward to some reivews from this year's crossing.

[nathand95]

What was the temperature like? I have heard it can get quick cold and windy on TA's. I don't mind wind, but if I'm going to be on a 15 day cruise in the middle of the ocean it better be warm enough to lay by the pool!

[STARFISH*4]

we were on the SUN in December and going again this December and LOVED our B2B and PEDRO....HOPE he will be our CD again!!!

[slotaddict]

I am glad to here the positive comments regarding the Sun...just got off the Epic before she went to Europe and immediately picked the Sun for our next cruise..I've been on the Jewel and Pearl and did not know what to expect from the Sun....

[DMH15]

Count me in as a fan of Pedro. The Sun is a great ship. Just booked March 2013... Who knows who will be C.D. By then!

[laurmac]

I think you'd be disappointed with the temperatures. I believe folks were lying outside on the first day (out of florida) and the last couple of days (close to europe where they were having a unusually warm spell), but across the atlantic there were very few souls lying out there. It was just too cold.

[Cactus Cruisers]

This was our first TA and first time on the Sun but our 12th NCL cruise. I loved the ship. We had an aft balcony cabin on deck 9 and the location was great for the buffet upstairs and the 7 Seas dining room and theater downstairs. The casino, shopping, and Dazzles are mid-ship so they were convenient, too.

As others have mentioned, the seas were exceeding calm--Captain Borg said it was his smoothest crossing yet. We had great weather in all the ports. We did private tours in the Azores and Lisbon and Amsterdam. We used Brugge Taxi to get from Zeebrugge to Brugge. I WOULD NOT recommend this company. They were a half hour late picking us up at the pier and never showed up at the appointed time and place to return the 8 of us to the ship. The cost was supposed to be about 6 euros per person each way. When they left us stranded, we had to divide up into two 4 person cabs which charged over 50 euros for each taxi--an expensive ride.

In the Azores we used a company called Amazing Tours, in Lisbon we used Inside Lisbon and in Amsterdam Private Holland Tours. All three companies were very good and the guides spoke excellent English and we had a great time. I believe they all have reviews available and also have websites.

I can't add much to the previous review about the activities and food on board the Sun. I did not expect them to have so much to do during the sea days. We were on board on a sea day for the Royal Wedding and it was shown for about 6 or 8 hours on the big screen in Dazzles nightclub. They also had a Royal Brunch and a High Tea during the day for a $15 and $10 fee, respectively.

We had an exceptional Cruise Critic group which made all the difference for Joe and I. I have done about 5 other NCL CC cruises and this one was by far the best. If you don't know what a Snap Shot Rally is, hopefully you will have someone like Mickey in your group to do it for you. Each of us were able to share 2 pictures from the trip and he made a CD of all the pictures with the location of the picture and the name of the photographer and gave us each a CD. Like Julie said--icing on the cake.

We had some really great times on this cruise, especially with Marvin and Linda and Dan and Debbie. I am ready to book another TA for maybe fall of 2012. Kathie :)

[zounds]

Thanks very much for all the good info! We'll be on the Sun for the first time in Dec. so we hope the good quality holds til then. steve