Norwegian Sun

[BentleyRadcliffe]

Just returned from the Sun...cruise date March 1st-March 8th, 2015. Very disappointed!!! This was our first cruise and we were so looking forward to an excellent experience...alas, that was not the case.

First of all, the service in the main dining rooms was horrible. The waiters were just going through the motions because the tips are already included per day. The food selections were very poor. Only one seafood option on Friday, Red Snapper with Gumbo which included sausage in it. As a practicing Catholic who observes lent, I was disappointed that no other seafood option was available. One evening the waiter took our drink order, (there was thirteen of us at the table) and we did not receive our drink orders until after the appetizers, and soup/salads were served. When we asked where our drinks were, we were told and I quote..."the bar is really busy right now". Mind you, we had to pay for the drinks with an 18% gratuity already added. When our entrees arrived, our food was "auctioned off" "Who had the Snapper?" Who had the Risotto?" I have had better service at Cracker Barrel. The menu was basically the same each day. Not much variety. The buffet, was so, so. Hollandaise sauce was cold, as well as some other foods not served at the proper temperature. Cagneys, was okay as well as Moderno which had a thirty dollar & twenty dollar cover charge. There was no chocolate buffet or midnight buffet. The room service menu was vey limited.

The pool deck was another experience, not enough lounge chairs to go around. Also other cruisers would "save" chairs by placing items on the chairs and the chairs sat empty for three or four hours. When this was pointed out to NCL staff they said they would watch and remove items after an hour which never happened. The drink prices on Bloody Marys went up after noon. The 18% gratuity is also added to all the drinks. When I asked for a salted rim I gave the server an extra dollar in addition to the added gratuity and he said "oh boy...it's my lucky day".

On the positive side, Roberto, our Cabin Steward was EXCELLENT!!!! He truly understands what customer service is all about. Also, one of the "washie, washie girls, Maria was fabulous, she did wait us one night in one of the main dining rooms and was always very pleasant when she encountered us.

The casino staff was very friendly and the drink service was on point. The highlight of the trip was winning thirteen hundred dollars. I feel like I got my money back for the cruise.

I did happen upon a printed GS (Guest Satisfaction) Action Plan for March (a pamphlet put out by NCL for the staff) that showed A loyalty Index Score for March being 65. March Guest Satisfaction Overall Service Goal of 87. I guess they are not aiming for 100 as a score. All in all we, as well as the others in our party will not be returning to a NCL cruise.

[Laszlo]

Sorry about your cruise. We were on the Sun about a month ago. Service in the main dining hall(s) was fantastic!. We were a party of 2, 4 or 6 and service was always great. Never had an issue around the pool at all, lots of chocolate out on Friday night? The service in Cagney's our first night was really bad and few nights later at Le Bistro it was great

Edited March 10, 2015 by Laszlo

[roger001]

Wow. So sorry. We've been on her 5 cruises and she is one of our two favorite ships. She was great as recently as two months ago when we were lasts on her. Hope your experience was an isolated one. Again, sorry it didn't work out for you.

[Sauer-kraut]

There was no chocolate buffet or midnight buffet.

 

 

It has been several years since there has been a midnight buffet. The chocolate buffet has been turned into a special chocolate dessert night in the MDR's.

 

Sorry you weren't well informed.

[russianmom]

I'm sorry your first cruise was such a disappointment.

I was on the Sun last month and we had a good experience.

 

I believe salmon is one of the always available items in the MDR as are some vegetarian options.

 

Some of the things you mentioned such as limited room service menu, midnite buffet and chocolate buffet could have been found by a bit of pre-cruise research.

 

My husband hated his first cruise but has been hooked ever since he gave it a second try on another line.

[BentleyRadcliffe]

Maybe this had something to do with the food being sub par?...lol

 

http://tbo.com/news/crime/cruise-ship-employees-charged-with-smuggling-cocaine-in-their-underwear-20150310/?page=1

 

I hope this was an isolated incident. As I stated there were thirteen of us on this cruise, many of which are frequent cruisers and they too felt that the customer service in the main dining rooms was lacking. The group only dined together the first night & the last night. Other evenings were parties of 2 or 4. I will not let this one experience dampen my enthusiasm for cruising. Looking forward to booking a cruise soon.

[RedRover96]

WOW!!!! on the arrest................

[RIvacationgirl]

We were on the Sun Feb. 15th cruise and we found the service to be very good overall. However, I did have one night in the main dining room where my food came much later than my husband and my bar drink came with dessert. Other than that night, we had very good service, and found the crew to be very friendly and accommodating. For us, we were satisified and would sail her again.

I am sorry your experience was not up to par. It is so disappointing when those service issues do happen.

[Solararc]

We all know why the food has suffered lately and I'm sure now that "powder pipeline" has been closed the cooks can focus on service

 

 

*Living large one week at a time*

[RuthlessBoss]

I wonder how the OP would feel just dealing with a group of 13 though drinks, appetizers, main dishes, remembering what dish belonged to who. And the server had other tables too, dealing with the same. The server is at the mercy of others to provide for the orders.

For a first cruise, too many complaints. I think he/she had a preconceived notion of what was going to take place, and no afterthought as to why things happen the way they do.

[BentleyRadcliffe]

In my party there were THREE servers. There is no excuse for bad service. I think because the grat is automatic there was no sense of urgency and or professionalism. Others in our party are very frequent cruisers and they too thought the service was sub par. I guess I should have known...the cruise was so inexpensive, in fact, right before sailing we received a refund from the travel agent because the price dropped significantly. The old adage is true...you get what you pay for. I had no "preconceived notion of what was going to take place, and no afterthought as to why things happen the way they do." I had an idea that the basic standards of service would at least be present. If one thinks getting cocktails after the apps/soup/salads were served is acceptable, oh well. It would be different if it was free, but we PAID an 18% gratuity. "TIPS"..."To Insure PROPER Service"

[RuthlessBoss]

In my party there were THREE servers. There is no excuse for bad service. I think because the grat is automatic there was no sense of urgency and or professionalism. Others in our party are very frequent cruisers and they too thought the service was sub par. I guess I should have known...the cruise was so inexpensive, in fact, right before sailing we received a refund from the travel agent because the price dropped significantly. The old adage is true...you get what you pay for. I had no "preconceived notion of what was going to take place, and no afterthought as to why things happen the way they do." I had an idea that the basic standards of service would at least be present. If one thinks getting cocktails after the apps/soup/salads were served is acceptable, oh well. It would be different if it was free, but we PAID an 18% gratuity. "TIPS"..."To Insure PROPER Service"

 

If the salads and appetizers were ready before a cocktail prepared by someone else, what was the server supposed to do? Was he to hold back the other things while he waits for the bar tender to get caught up?

[Loucat]

We were on the Sun 2/1-2/8 2015 and had excellent service with the exception of Cagney's.

That was not good with waiters running around crazy; a dysfuntional Maiter D (cause of the problem) in Cagney's.

Other than that we had good food and great service.

I wish I could go back!!

[pizzalady1]

In my party there were THREE servers. There is no excuse for bad service. I think because the grat is automatic there was no sense of urgency and or professionalism. Others in our party are very frequent cruisers and they too thought the service was sub par. I guess I should have known...the cruise was so inexpensive, in fact, right before sailing we received a refund from the travel agent because the price dropped significantly. The old adage is true...you get what you pay for. I had no "preconceived notion of what was going to take place, and no afterthought as to why things happen the way they do." I had an idea that the basic standards of service would at least be present. If one thinks getting cocktails after the apps/soup/salads were served is acceptable, oh well. It would be different if it was free, but we PAID an 18% gratuity. "TIPS"..."To Insure PROPER Service"

 

Did you talk to any of the managers walking around the room? We had slow service once where we waited 1/2 hour for our salads, caught the manager, and whamo, great service from a different waiter. You need to speak up and try to make it better. Most times, letting a manager know, will result in much better service (and maybe freebie chocolate covered strawberries).

[debnjoe1438]

Wow, been on the Sun twice, going again. I've never had such "bad" service on the Sun or any other cruise. Yea, stuff happens, however only minor irritations for me.

 

I hope your second cruise, if you do one is better.

[newmexicoNita]

Just returned from the Sun...cruise date March 1st-March 8th, 2015. Very disappointed!!! This was our first cruise and we were so looking forward to an excellent experience...alas, that was not the case.

First of all, the service in the main dining rooms was horrible. The waiters were just going through the motions because the tips are already included per day. The food selections were very poor. Only one seafood option on Friday, Red Snapper with Gumbo which included sausage in it. As a practicing Catholic who observes lent, I was disappointed that no other seafood option was available. One evening the waiter took our drink order, (there was thirteen of us at the table) and we did not receive our drink orders until after the appetizers, and soup/salads were served. When we asked where our drinks were, we were told and I quote..."the bar is really busy right now". Mind you, we had to pay for the drinks with an 18% gratuity already added. When our entrees arrived, our food was "auctioned off" "Who had the Snapper?" Who had the Risotto?" I have had better service at Cracker Barrel. The menu was basically the same each day. Not much variety. The buffet, was so, so. Hollandaise sauce was cold, as well as some other foods not served at the proper temperature. Cagneys, was okay as well as Moderno which had a thirty dollar & twenty dollar cover charge. There was no chocolate buffet or midnight buffet. The room service menu was vey limited.

The pool deck was another experience, not enough lounge chairs to go around. Also other cruisers would "save" chairs by placing items on the chairs and the chairs sat empty for three or four hours. When this was pointed out to NCL staff they said they would watch and remove items after an hour which never happened. The drink prices on Bloody Marys went up after noon. The 18% gratuity is also added to all the drinks. When I asked for a salted rim I gave the server an extra dollar in addition to the added gratuity and he said "oh boy...it's my lucky day".

On the positive side, Roberto, our Cabin Steward was EXCELLENT!!!! He truly understands what customer service is all about. Also, one of the "washie, washie girls, Maria was fabulous, she did wait us one night in one of the main dining rooms and was always very pleasant when she encountered us.

The casino staff was very friendly and the drink service was on point. The highlight of the trip was winning thirteen hundred dollars. I feel like I got my money back for the cruise.

I did happen upon a printed GS (Guest Satisfaction) Action Plan for March (a pamphlet put out by NCL for the staff) that showed A loyalty Index Score for March being 65. March Guest Satisfaction Overall Service Goal of 87. I guess they are not aiming for 100 as a score. All in all we, as well as the others in our party will not be returning to a NCL cruise.

 

Let me just add one thing and I am not here to defend NCL, but I will say; cruising and this goes for any cruise line, anytime in March can be iffy. Why, spring break. It is about the worse time of the year to cruise. We have cruised the Sun three times and with maybe a couple of bad experiences with service in the main dining room we have never been disappointed and we are certainly experienced cruisers with all mass marketed lines.

 

Yes, others have complained about the dining room service, add to this, there were 13 of you. that makes it even more difficult. I just can't understand why not getting your drinks before the appitizers would be a big deal when there were so many of you.

 

Now, a little research and you would probably had known the chocolate buffet was a thing of the past.

 

You say none of you will ever return to NCL. That is your right and the reason there are so many cruise lines to choose from but it sounds to me, from your negatives as well as some positives, you might be a little disappointed in all lines unless you want to settle for one of the luxury lines. Your reasoning about the gratuities being paid up front doesn't hold water. all cruise lines do it this way.

 

I will agree about the not having seafood, especially during lent, but had you asked for something that would fit into your observation the wait staff or the dining room manager would have been more than happy to satisfy you. It is pretty hard to consider special foods for all religions. There is always some religious holidays taking place. I do know NCL, as well as other lines have Kosher foods, but they have to be requested. They also work very hard to provide special diets for anyone who requests them ahead of time. Also, unless the menu has been changed, under "always avialable" is Salmon each night. In fact that is one of the things NCL in the main DR does well, the Salmon.

 

All this being said, I hope you do cruise again and hope your next cruise iis a wonderful experience regardless of what line you choose. Just don't set your hopes too high and remember cruising is more than food and drinks. You said your cabin steward was great, the casino was good and good to you and we all know the entertainment on NCL is as good as it gets.

Edited March 13, 2015 by newmexicoNita