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Sun Review - October 9th - Southern

sonicbuffalo

By sonicbuffalo,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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heythereyou

heythereyou

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Sonic buffalo,

 

I have been looking through your pics on photobucket from your link. Great photos!! We are going on this cruise Wednesday (10/30) and greatly appreciate reading your comments and pics! Could you please tell me which beach you went to in pics 215 to 218. It looks like it could be in Curaçao and possibly Mambo Beach?

 

 

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We went to Mambo beach and these pictures look like it is that beach. From what I understand there is different entries to this beach with different names seaquarium being another name. while walking the beach met up with friends who came in at seaquarium beach which they said was free to enter. Where Mambo had a entry fee.

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sonicbuffalo

sonicbuffalo

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Final Review.....Compared to carnival Miracle

 

First of all, we liked the Miracle better for the food in the MDR, and the buffet. We do not feel it should be a necessity to have to pay for a specialty restaurant

in order to get a decent meal. Minus 10 for no Filet Mignon....but plus 5 for not having Flat Iron Steak.

 

We enjoyed the itinierary twice as much as any we have been on with the Miracle. We're not gonna compare the Norwegian Sun to the Carnival Breeze or the the Dream as the ships are not comparable in size.

 

We did enjoy the entertainment more on the Sun. It was more varied, and better quality than the Miracle, or the Breeze's.

 

We did enjoy our excursions more on the Sun, even though we went on our own. We had a snorkeling tour booked through the Sun, but they cancelled it at the last minute due to lack of participation.

 

The Steward on the Sun was better than all that we've had on Carnival. He learned our names quickly and never forgot anything we asked him to do. He was awesome, but I forget his name.

 

The Dining Area really stunk on the Sun. They forgot my order one night, and never really got to know us as it's Freestyle dining. We did eat every night in the same dining room at the same time. There were 8 of us. The freedom to eat when you want is ok, but at Carnival, they get to know you (the waiters), and they know what you want and when you want it.

 

We also missed the chocolates on the bed, and it was difficult to find extra newsletters to take with us into town each day. You had to walk all the way down to guest services. At Carnival, they were at most bars and easy to get a hold of.

 

The cleanliness of the ship was a tie with the Miracle and the Sun, even though the Sun is the oldest ship between the two.

 

The TV was better on Carnival since we could see local programming, and NCL had movies and Newschannels. TV not that big of deal but it's nice to have local programming.

 

All in all, we enjoyed all of our cruises....but loved the 11 day cruise more than the 7 and 8 day cruises we took on Carnival. I like the pricing better for 11 days on the Sun, but we couldn't get a great rate on an aft balcony like we did on the Miracle, Dream, and Breeze. Both cruislines have their pros and cons, but we have to rate Carnival a notch ahead of NCL.

 

On the other hand, we had a real Carribean band (steel band) on the Sun, and we had that vibe going that only a live band can provide. So maybe the Sun was a notch ahead for entertainment reasons. We really did have the best cruise ever on the Sun. We met some friends and enjoyed their company throughout the cruise.

Edited by sonicbuffalo
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debnjoe1438

debnjoe1438

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Final Review.....Compared to carnival Miracle

 

First of all, we liked the Miracle better for the food in the MDR, and the buffet. We do not feel it should be a necessity to have to pay for a specialty restaurant

in order to get a decent meal. Minus 10 for no Filet Mignon....but plus 5 for not having Flat Iron Steak.

 

We enjoyed the itinierary twice as much as any we have been on with the Miracle. We're not gonna compare the Norwegian Sun to the Carnival Breeze or the the Dream as the ships are not comparable in size.

 

We did enjoy the entertainment more on the Sun. It was more varied, and better quality than the Miracle, or the Breeze's.

 

We did enjoy our excursions more on the Sun, even though we went on our own. We had a snorkeling tour booked through the Sun, but they cancelled it at the last minute due to lack of participation.

 

The Steward on the Sun was better than all that we've had on Carnival. He learned our names quickly and never forgot anything we asked him to do. He was awesome, but I forget his name.

 

The Dining Area really stunk on the Sun. They forgot my order one night, and never really got to know us as it's Freestyle dining. We did eat every night in the same dining room at the same time. There were 8 of us. The freedom to eat when you want is ok, but at Carnival, they get to know you (the waiters), and they know what you want and when you want it.

 

We also missed the chocolates on the bed, and it was difficult to find extra newsletters to take with us into town each day. You had to walk all the way down to guest services. At Carnival, they were at most bars and easy to get a hold of.

 

The cleanliness of the ship was a tie with the Miracle and the Sun, even though the Sun is the oldest ship between the two.

 

The TV was better on Carnival since we could see local programming, and NCL had movies and Newschannels. TV not that big of deal but it's nice to have local programming.

 

All in all, we enjoyed all of our cruises....but loved the 11 day cruise more than the 7 and 8 day cruises we took on Carnival. I like the pricing better for 11 days on the Sun, but we couldn't get a great rate on an aft balcony like we did on the Miracle, Dream, and Breeze. Both cruislines have their pros and cons, but we have to rate Carnival a notch ahead of NCL.

 

Thanks for the review and all of the pictures. Hope your next cruise is as good as this one was. :D

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Arzeena

Arzeena

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We went to Mambo beach and these pictures look like it is that beach. From what I understand there is different entries to this beach with different names seaquarium being another name. while walking the beach met up with friends who came in at seaquarium beach which they said was free to enter. Where Mambo had a entry fee.

 

Hi guys!

We had free entry via Seaquarium beach and paid $3 per lounge chair. While the Mambo beach people had a $3 entry fee and free lounge chairs....so it equals out.....somehow you have to pay $3.

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Arzeena

Arzeena

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I'd like to know the Concierge's name of you know.

 

Her name was Leeah or Lia or Liah. We did go looking for her. Never met her although concierge service was listed on our platinum welcome packet. Perhaps the services are only for suite guests that are platinum?.....we are platinum but did not have a suite.

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hpecorari

hpecorari

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And we did not know what to use her services for!:confused: so we went looking for her so we can talk to her, but she was hard to find. I guess the suite guests must be keeping her on her toes!

 

The only time I used her was for when we had to go through immigration before we got to St. Thomas.

 

The only place I could ever find her was in the morning.....she was at Il Adagio Restaurant. She could always be called.....but I never needed anything from her that I really couldn't do myself. She's there for early disembarkation at ports and back in Miami, for making dinner reservations for you, and shore excursions for you.

 

Harriet

 

Harriet

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PROCRUISE

PROCRUISE

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Thanks for your post #263. This is about what we're expecting on our 1/1/14 cruise aboard The Sun in cabin 0050. We, likewise, have been to all these port stops, more than once, and always seem to enjoy Curacao the most because it is so easy to just walk around town and enjoy. Only cruised with NCL once before and the food was pretty poor but hoping it will be a little better this time around. I'm sure we won't starve. :)

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DMH15

DMH15

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Her name was Leeah or Lia or Liah. We did go looking for her. Never met her although concierge service was listed on our platinum welcome packet. Perhaps the services are only for suite guests that are platinum?.....we are platinum but did not have a suite.

 

I read on another thread that due to so many new platinums the suite concierge is not the same as the platinum. I cannot confirm though.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk - now Free

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pcreek

pcreek

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Thanks for taking the time to post this review and all the lovely photos! Sure looks like you all had a great time! :D

 

I took my first cruise on the Sun - nice memories! Loved 'seeing' Aruba, as I haven't been there yet!

 

One question - in St. Maartin, you said you took a taxi. We are thinking about taking a taxi to Maho Beach (to see the planes). Do they have 'regular' type cars for taxis, or do they use the van/mini-bus type vehicles? I have a bad ankle and a car would be easier than having to climb up into something else - like a tour type bus.

Thanks!

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sonicbuffalo

sonicbuffalo

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Thanks for taking the time to post this review and all the lovely photos! Sure looks like you all had a great time! :D

 

I took my first cruise on the Sun - nice memories! Loved 'seeing' Aruba, as I haven't been there yet!

 

One question - in St. Maartin, you said you took a taxi. We are thinking about taking a taxi to Maho Beach (to see the planes). Do they have 'regular' type cars for taxis, or do they use the van/mini-bus type vehicles? I have a bad ankle and a car would be easier than having to climb up into something else - like a tour type bus.

Thanks!

 

They have both types....not like St. Thomas where most are open air busses. Ours was air conditioned....you should be fine! Safe travels.

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pcreek

pcreek

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They have both types....not like St. Thomas where most are open air busses. Ours was air conditioned....you should be fine! Safe travels.

 

Thank you so much!! That makes the decision to just taxi over, instead of opting for a tour (which we've done before). :D

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Vol fan

Vol fan

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We also missed the chocolates on the bed, and it was difficult to find extra newsletters to take with us into town each day. You had to walk all the way down to guest services. At Carnival, they were at most bars and easy to get a hold of.

 

.

 

We had chocolate mints on our pillows every night on the cruise. Also, we asked our steward to leave three dailies each night in our stateroom so we each had one and one fresh one to bring home for our cruise files. He always left three copies. We always do this on cruises and the stewards do a great job of remembering to leave the extras.

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