Sun - Any Help Appreciated

[tantine]

We are looking to book on the Sun in November. We've done the Jewel twice in a 2br family suite and LOVED it!! We'd do it again but we wanted to try a new itinerary.

 

There are hardly any posts re the Sun since the dry dock...

 

We're looking at the aft penthouse suite on deck 11. Has anyone stayed in these - I know there is no separate bedroom for the kids - is it still comfortable? Is there lots of noise from the Great Outdoors (above us on deck 12)?

 

How does the Sun compare to the Jewel - I know it's smaller. We're primarily interested in kids club, food, casino, butler. If the service/food quality is comparable to the Jewel and there's enough to do on the boat we'll be happy.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

[retiredonthesea]

We are looking to book on the Sun in November. We've done the Jewel twice in a 2br family suite and LOVED it!! We'd do it again but we wanted to try a new itinerary.

 

There are hardly any posts re the Sun since the dry dock...

 

We're looking at the aft penthouse suite on deck 11. Has anyone stayed in these - I know there is no separate bedroom for the kids - is it still comfortable? Is there lots of noise from the Great Outdoors (above us on deck 12)?

 

How does the Sun compare to the Jewel - I know it's smaller. We're primarily interested in kids club, food, casino, butler. If the service/food quality is comparable to the Jewel and there's enough to do on the boat we'll be happy.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

Deck 11(Pool deck) has the GOC next deck down for penthouse would be deck 10. We have stayed in penthouse 0065 on deck 10, but bk'd deck 9 PH 9076 for our next cruise as we landed up with banana peel, cig butts ect. people looking down onto our balcony from the GOC. Therefore we decided the middle deck for our nxt cruise would be better.The new cat for penthouse is a SE for the stern.

 

Size wise it is comfortable as the MB is seperate from the living area that has a pull out couch and the bath has two doors--one going in from the MB and one from the hall by the cabin door so you don't have to go through the bedroom to get to the bath. The balcony is nice size. We had a Halloween party in our suite a few yrs back with approx. 18 people. Butler put the whole party together with lots of food and brought extra chairs for balcony.

 

We loved the Sun casino--won enough to pay for our cruise and than some!!;) Also cruised on the Jewel, liked both, but don't know how much extra there is on the Sun for kids to do.

 

East Meets West steakhouse was very good.

 

Happy cruising!

[NMLady]

I don't know if the Blue Lagoon eating spot was important to you, but if so you need to know there's no Blue Lagoon on the Sun.

Instead, you can get snack food (wings, hamburgers, etc) in the Sports Bar from 5:30pm to 5:30am and it's good food imo. The Sports Bar has awesome window view since it has a wall of windows. It's located aft on port side (buffet is starboard). The Great Outdoors there is a great place to sit any time of day.

I don't think there was a Great Outdoors on the Jewel.

[retiredonthesea]

I don't know if the Blue Lagoon eating spot was important to you, but if so you need to know there's no Blue Lagoon on the Sun.

Instead, you can get snack food (wings, hamburgers, etc) in the Sports Bar from 5:30pm to 5:30am and it's good food imo. The Sports Bar has awesome window view since it has a wall of windows. It's located aft on port side (buffet is starboard). The Great Outdoors there is a great place to sit any time of day.

I don't think there was a Great Outdoors on the Jewel.

 

Yes------The Jewel, Gem, Pearl, Jade all have the Great Outdoors on deck 12.

[dexddd]

We were on Deck 10 in the middle in a mini. We heard noise from chairs right after 6:00 am for about 5-10 minutes. We got occasional food on our balcony, but not much. The bigger problem was seagulls leaving white waste on the railing as they like to go to the GOC and pick scraps.

 

Overall, the ship was nice - reminded me a lot of the Spirit in terms of a more classical look. The buffet was a zoo and too small. We had been on the Gem, so the buffet on the Sun is no comparison - it is a lot smaller with much less selection, and less seating.

 

The kids club was revamped since we were on the ship, but the location was pretty cool as it was all the way in the front and had windows so you could see out front. Our kids had a great time with the kids club.

[dexddd]

I should add that deck 9 would be a better choice to avoid the scraps and seagull issue - I never saw any seagulls perch on the railings below deck 10. The aft location is great as it is just up to the buffet, sports bar, and Tapas restaurant.

[mcguy79]

We are looking to book on the Sun in November. We've done the Jewel twice in a 2br family suite and LOVED it!! We'd do it again but we wanted to try a new itinerary.

 

There are hardly any posts re the Sun since the dry dock...

 

We're looking at the aft penthouse suite on deck 11. Has anyone stayed in these - I know there is no separate bedroom for the kids - is it still comfortable? Is there lots of noise from the Great Outdoors (above us on deck 12)?

 

How does the Sun compare to the Jewel - I know it's smaller. We're primarily interested in kids club, food, casino, butler. If the service/food quality is comparable to the Jewel and there's enough to do on the boat we'll be happy.

 

Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Thanks!

 

I sailed on the Sun in a Penthouse suite after dry dock. I've also sailed on the Jewel.

 

In my opinion, the food was better on the Jewel, though food is a tough topic because it's so subjective. It's difficult to say whether NCL has cut costs food-wise, or if it just depends on the head chef.

 

Butler service and concierge were excellent on the Sun.

 

The ship is smaller and has an odd layout. But hey it's a cruise, and you have a great suite and a balcony to enjoy.