A couple of Sun Questions

[Lilycat2010]

Hi All,

 

Well, I just put a deposit down on a Sun cruise for February. I'm excited, but also a bit nervous. The recent Sun reviews have been awful, and I know everything is subjective, but still gets you thinking.

 

So, my husband is wondering with the recent renovations, do they have flat screen TVs in the balcony cabins?

 

Also, this will be our 3rd cruise, 2nd with NCL. We did the Epic, then tried HAL's Nieuw Amsterdam. So, we have been on 2 brand new ships. Will an older style ship disappoint? I guess I'm worried that we'll be jaded. We're pretty laid back, so I'm sure we'll make the best of any cruise. Just wondering if an older ship makes a really big difference.

 

Thanks for any thoughts!

[computerworks]

 

So, my husband is wondering with the recent renovations, do they have flat screen TVs in the balcony cabins?

 

Will an older style ship disappoint? .... Just wondering if an older ship makes a really big difference.

 

Not so much an older ship, but an older-style ship... it's a different experience..one that we like very much.

 

Re: TVs.. I think standard balcony rooms still have the CRT TV...there were flat screens in the minisuites and (I would guess) higher.

[valleyvillage]

Everything is so subjective. The Sun is smaller by a bit, we really didn't feel that it was dinky or anything like that.

 

The suite life on the Sun is especially nice because she has very few suites. The concierges love working that ship.

 

If you opt for the mini-suite, those are very special, much nicer than mini suites on other NCL ships. The layout is very nice.

 

Enjoy your cruise! Be sure and sign up for the roll call and meet & greet. They provide great options. :D

[roger001]

Awful???? That's like "Horrible"!...no..no...just not so. The Sun has a Great Outdoors...that's good. Has a Forward observation lounge...that's good. Balcony rooms and the associated balcony a bit bigger (yea...bathroom a bit smaller, but very functional). A bit more storage space, bigger couch.....I don't know about the TVs. The Sun's layout is different from the other ships NCL we've been on......but that's not a bad thing...just different.

 

Shiny new isn't everything. Older, maintained, clean, comfortable feeling is good too. The following has a bunch of Sun pics from about 11 months ago.

 

http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff281/roganderson60/Sun/?start=all

[cdnsteelman]

The recent Sun reviews have been awful, and I know everything is subjective, but still gets you thinking.

 

Sorry I don't know about the balcony room TVs but I thought I'd offer some positive thoughts on the Sun for recent experience.

 

We crusied the Sun pre-drydock around Cape Horn for 14 days and loved the ship. Great food, service and staff. Granted we were in a suite. Il Adagio is the best specialty restaurant on all the ships we've cruised on. The Garden Cafe is quite small on the Sun, so that can be a challenge.

 

We're less than three weeks away from another 14 days on the Sun, this time in the Caribbean, and are very excited to see the drydock changes.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

csm

[jdvmd]

Love, love, love the Sun! Wonderful crew. I have sailed on her twice in the last two years (14 nights South America and nine nights in the Baltic). I am already looking to book her again for a Caribbean cruise. Have been on 44 cruises including all the big boys like Oasis, Solstice, Epic. While I had a great time on those cruises as well, there is something to be said about a smaller ship.

[mpk218]

The Sun is a great "smaller" ship , one of my favorites.

Enjoy your cruise and count yourself lucky that you will be on a ship (size) that will be a distant memory not to many years from now. The trend toward the larger ships seems to be unstoppable , so enjoy her while you can.. ;)

 

You wont be disappointed

 

MPK218 ( suite cruiser )

[NMLady]

I know there was one particular shorter cruise that had bad reviews but I really think that's an exception. We spent 33 wonderful days on the Sun last year before drydock and loved every minute of it.

I agree that The Great Outdoors is a wonderful place to sit -- to eat from the buffet, to read, to enjoy the sun and breeze, to chat with others, to have a drink.

I also agree that the Observation Lounge in the top deck bow is also a great place to enjoy the view, have a drink, read, relax. Also there's a door on each side out to a small bow area outdoors that is a great place for taking photos when coming into port.

 

We thought that service by the crew everywhere was outstanding. We were fortunate to have really good cabin stewards too.

 

I think you'll really enjoy your cruise on the Sun.

[Lilycat2010]

Thanks for all the great feedback! My fears are easing. And thanks for the pictures, too. She looks great!

 

My husband has really enjoyed napping an afternoon away and watching a movie in the cabin on a flat screen. He'll just have to get over it on this one and enjoy the rest of the ship.

[woozlebear]

I think the crew really enjoy working on the Sun. Their accomodation is much bigger than on some of the other ships.

Therefore happy staff with lots of smiling faces.

 

We are sailing on her again in January on a B2B same cabin, can't wait!

 

 

Regards

Susan

 

 

quote=Lilycat2010;31053294]Thanks for all the great feedback! My fears are easing. And thanks for the pictures, too. She looks great!

 

My husband has really enjoyed napping an afternoon away and watching a movie in the cabin on a flat screen. He'll just have to get over it on this one and enjoy the rest of the ship.

[dalgirl]

Loved the photos Roger 001 - We are looking forward to our first cruise on the Sun in July - We hae sailed all the jewel class ships and the Dawn and are just off the Epic. On the Epic we really missed the great outdoors looking out over the ocean and the promenade deck and the bathroom as one separate entity. I won't miss getting turned around and walking a mile to go the other way.... we plan to sail the Epic again, but really prefer the smaller ships.

[STARFISH*4]

I dont believe most of the negative reviews, we spent a WONDERFUL 2 weeks last year on her (B2B) and that was with the mechanical problems she had in the first part of the sailing.

we are doing another B2B in 6 weeks and again for 3 weeks (B2B) next year, there are alot of REPEAT cruisers who spend ALOT of time on her and ENJOY the "charm" she has to offer:) !!

[auntierobin]

When in Feb. are you looking at, we need a few good people for our roll call on the 18th?

 

It will be our first time on the Sun also, we have sailed 3 other NCL ships and have been really happy with all of our cruises and don't expect this cruise to be any different.

[timeforadaiquiri]

I'm so glad to read all these positive postings. My sister and I are 85% sure we want to be on board in March of 2013!

[NoahtheRed]

We took the Sun last April to the Western Caribbean and had a great time. It was our first cruise, but really, it was very awesome. The thing you have to remember about reviews are that frequently, people who have a negative experience (and there will always be at least someone who does) will be the most vocal about it. 99% of folks enjoy their cruises and just don't say anything about it.

 

That said, you'll enjoy the Sun

[fishertwin]

Just off the sun today,I will post a long review soon . The tv is an old 12" model with 2 movies to choose from. Some real old, some only 3 months old . About 12 total to choose from play over and over and over. 1 Station with about 10 real old tv shows that play over and over and over. Then news stations that don't play much national news or weather,mostly political talk shows. Oh and E ,old not new. The best part is they play a second channel of sound in the backround on all stations . The balcony cabins are good size with tons of room for 2.

[NMLady]

Another favorite place of mine -- the Sports Bar. It is in the aft, close to the buffet, and has huge floor to ceiling windows on the port side with tables and comfortable chairs for seating next to them as well as seating across the room facing them. I often brought my lunch from the buffet to sit in the sports bar or I'd order a drink and read in one of the chairs by the window on sea days. The TV's there were also always on -- sports of course when available.

 

The Sports Bar serves free snacks from 5:30pm - 5:30am (there is no Blue Lagoon on the Sun so it's the only place besides room service to get a late night snack/meal). My favorite was their hamburger. Hubby's favorite was the fish filets. He'd always order a double order of them.

[STARFISH*4]

Just off the sun today,I will post a long review soon . The tv is an old 12" model with 2 movies to choose from. Some real old, some only 3 months old . About 12 total to choose from play over and over and over. 1 Station with about 10 real old tv shows that play over and over and over. Then news stations that don't play much national news or weather,mostly political talk shows. Oh and E ,old not new. The best part is they play a second channel of sound in the backround on all stations . The balcony cabins are good size with tons of room for 2.

 

so did you have a GOOD time?

would have been NICE if they switched out the old tvs in dry-dock like the other ships but i dont go on a cruise to watch tv and we are rarely in the cabin.

[slotaddict]

Just got back from the Sun today...we had a good cruise...tv in balcony room on 9th floor was the the old kind...

 

I think the ship presents well and is in very good shape overall...we loved the size of the room, tons of storage, and balcony just a tad larger than others...

[Crissy699]

We're just off today as well, we were in 4025, an oceanview room with a large porthole (larger than I expected, quite nice). We had a new, flat screen TV-it was small (17 inches?) but new. Not sure why different rooms had different TV's? For those of you saying you had the old style, what rooms/categories were you in?

 

I'll be posting my review, with Dailies and some pics, by Monday. :D

 

Bottom line-I really liked the ship (it was reminiscent of my favorite ship-the Spirit, but not nearly as easy to navigate as the Spirit)- but would not go to FL to sail her again. I REALLY like sailing from Boston and I LOVE the Bermuda schedule (2 sea days out, 3 days in port, 2 sea days out), and Bermuda itself. So basically, I liked the ship, but not the itinerary or departure port. This is very subjective, though, others will have LOVED the ports and not the ship-I'm sure.

[JerseyJaguar]

Shiny new isn't everything. Older, maintained, clean, comfortable feeling is good too. The following has a bunch of Sun pics from about 11 months ago.

 

http://s241.photobucket.com/albums/ff281/roganderson60/Sun/?start=all

Thank you for the pics, I love that you took so many of the room and bathroom, I think I'll be very comfortable in my balcony room.

[DMH15]

Count me in as a Sun lover. And i have booked my first repeat ship i lived the Sun so much. But the aft was suite was easy to love.

 

Like mpk says, one day the Sun will be retired and gone wl be the day of the smaller mainstream line ships. I dread that. I prefer the smaller ships. I do not need a lot of bells and whistles. Older can be nicer. I like to stay at the Waldorf in NYC.

 

I hate buffets, so i avoid them. I heard people complain about the one on the Sun though. So be warned. Il Adagio was nice. We liked the Great Outdoors for sausage and burgers.

 

Wish 2013 would hurry and get here!!!

[Kokomo_Man]

If you missed it, I just did a "Live From..." series of posts from this week on the Sun.

 

By the way, we were in a suite and had one old style CRT TV in the "front room" and a smalish flat-screen in the bedroom... go figure.

 

Here's the link to my posts: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1501554

[Albert Bell]

We booked a cruise on the Sun for late September next year, just looked at the photos of her and can't wait till we go.

 

Great thread thanks everyone. :)

[DMH15]

If you missed it, I just did a "Live From..." series of posts from this week on the Sun.

 

By the way, we were in a suite and had one old style CRT TV in the "front room" and a smalish flat-screen in the bedroom... go figure.

 

Here's the link to my posts: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1501554

 

Which suite were u in?