Thanksgiving on the SUN--good trip! 11/20-11/27

[Another ship trip]

A review of the SUN trip--11/20-11/27. Embarkation was seamless for us but maybe because we have been on many NCL cruises and were in a penthouse. Got immediately on. We have been on this ship before so just reacquainted ourselves and unpacked our carry on luggage. Weather was chilly the first day as Houston had a cool snap. Ship sailed within an hour of posted time. By the next morning, it was warm and sunny.

Had butler and concierge but only used butler to bring hot breakfasts about 4 times. Concierge used for VIP tender tickets. We prefer to book our own dinner reservations so that is what we did. Butlers (Henry and ???-I forgot) and concierge (Anca) very professional and do their job as they are supposed to. Top notch.

First stop: Cozumel. Tendered in. Waited with VIP passes for about an hour and a half until ship was cleared and they had everything set up. I went ashore to buy a loose diamond to replace a lost one in my ring at DI and then returned to the ship. Went on the ATV excursion and it was great fun. Teenage boys love this stuff. OUr ATV did tip over backwards at one point with gasoline spilling out on us but we were fine. That kind of stuff can happen on an ATV and it is the chance you take. The island does show signs of lots of damage but they are working very hard to get things in order. The Punte Lagusta mall is really in bad shape but about half the stores along the main street were open and the townspeople were happy to see us. DH dove at Palancar and Delilah (I think) and he said it was great. We have dove there dozens of times so I guess the hurricane didn't do too much underwater damage.

Second stop: Belize. Been there 5 or 6 times and went reef bottom fishing there again. Lots of fun. Then went shopping in the main plaza. Back to DI and just around. Hot and sunny day.

Third stop: Roatan. Been there many times too. Hubby went on the reef shark dive (his second time to do this) and he said it was even better than the last time because they got to swim with the sharks prior to letting out the chum. Watched the video and no way for me! I just went shopping (not much shopping there but got a personalized glass bottle filled with bath salts for the cat-sitter). Later went to West End and walked to Tabyana and just walked around. The sand fleas are fierce there so bring a strong repellant! Another beautiful and sunny day.

Two sea days. The last one started getting blustery by mid afternoon and the activities on pool deck dried up.

Entertainment: Cirque Pan--seen it before but it is good for dancing. Que Noche--not my favorite. The singing lady I spent about a song with her. She belongs in a lounge--not as the main entertainment. Suffered through it the last night to see the other entertainment. The comedians were good. Blackstreet Boys were full of energy and were great. Lots of laughs and enjoyed them both times. The other comedian (MR. Chinless) was also funny. I appreciate that they have realatively clean shows are were funny to boot. THanksgiving had over 400-500 minors so entertainment needed to be family friendly.

CD-Simon. He is about average as far as the 18-20 we have had--not humorous like many I have had but got the job done satisfactorily-no complaints. Tatiana is the shopping hostess and cruise consultant and she was quite professional and helpful. Thanks Tatiana!

Drink prices definitely very high. Kept drinking in check that way! Did attend the captain's party and Latitudes Party and VIP party. Drinks flowed quite generously there so I don't see how anyone could complain about that!

In casino, tournaments for blackjack should be completed each sea day and I would have entered them all. But with only one tournament with one prize, nah. Slots relatively tight except for one penny machine and one quarter machine I saw during the week. Table games were as usual. Glad NCL has a poker table. I partook often.

Bingo outrageously priced but has been for the last several years. Seems like fewer people are partaking of bingo these days. Price probably drives them away.

Played trivia 4-5 times and won coffee mugs, luggage tags, beach ball, address books. Love the trivia. Karaoke is a hoot as always.

Met lots of nice people on board, some of whom frequented these boards. Really nice bunch of folks and would love to see some of them again. So much more I could say, but all in all, another fun cruise. Ready to schedule the next one now!

[Spot]

We are on the Sun in Dec. What is the earliest time we can embark?

This will be our first NCL cruise so any details you can provide will be appreciated.

Thanks, Welcome Back and I'm glad you had a great time.

[Mekamax]

Thank you for the review!! We will be on the Sun on Sunday and can't wait - good to hear about the ATV tour as hubby thought it looked fun too. Did they provide helmets? Were there two on a ATV as I noticed the price was less for 2 people?? Thanks, Debbie

[House_Atreides]

We're anticipating sailing Sun 4/23 and have never sailed on her. Was nice to see a good review:) Entertainment is not important with us; but I would like to know how you found the food/buffets, etc.?

 

We're in an AC suite (9076), sounds like you had great butler service, thanks again!

 

Mary:)

[caa]

We are on the Sun in Dec. What is the earliest time we can embark?

This will be our first NCL cruise so any details you can provide will be appreciated.

Thanks, Welcome Back and I'm glad you had a great time.

 

You should be able to board around 11:00. We boarded at 12:30 and there was no line for anything. They handed us a pink ticket for latitudes (previous NCL cruisers), and yellow tickets for non-latitudes, but then everybody merged onto the same path as we walked straight onto the ship and up to an agent in the Stardust lounge to complete the checkin. The longest wait was for the family in front of us to get their pockets emptied at the metal detector. :D

 

Somewhere in that checkin process they handed me a paper that said (paraphrasing here) "cabins won't be ready until around 1:00. you can go in and drop off your luggage, but then go out on deck and let the stewards' get their jobs done." By the time we got to our cabin, it was ready and the stewards' cart wasn't in the hallway.

[Spot]

HipHipHurrah!!! We will try to be there by 11 - thank you for your quick response!

[tray]

Hi everyone! It's so great to see some of our new friends back on the boards! Almost makes me feel like I'm back on the Sun! We had a wonderful time! A lot has already been covered here, but here are some additions to the reviews from our Thanksgiving Sailing on the Sun:

 

Embarkation: We live in Houston. Arrived at the port around 10:30 a.m. and somehow missed being handed boarding tickets (and being new to NCL and this terminal, I didn't know we had missed anything!). It was no problem, though. As soon as I noticed they were boarding by ticket colors, I went to inquire and was handed tickets. The people at the terminal were very organized and friendly. They keep you informed of boarding via a microphone and were very efficient. They have a lady walking around handing out orange juice & there's a desk with forms for the Kids Club. A kid's club crew member is there with necessary paperwork to sign your kids up prior to boarding. This was a great idea! We arrived at 10:30 a.m., got our car unloaded, said our good-byes to my parents and went into the building. It was approx. 10:40 when we sat down in the terminal and we were called for boarding somewhere around 11:00 a.m. It was quick and painless! Note: On disembarkation while waiting for my parents to pick us up, I peeked into the embarkation area at about 9:15 a.m. and there were already approx. 50 people in there waiting. Excited passengers! But I know some posters were asking how early you could go! Interesting point to us: you don't actually check in with your cruise tickets until you are on the ship! That was a first for us! It was very smooth and we were in our rooms (which were cleaned and ready for us) by 11:30. Our Sr. Room Steward, Humberto was a gem!! He came in immediately and greeted us with a huge smile and handshake! He was the best steward we've had so far. He knew our kids by name and really went out of his way to make sure we were happy and taken care of! I did take the advice of the other posters and gave him a little extra tip at the beginning, but I don't believe he gave us preferential treatment based on that. I just think he really loved his job and enjoyed meeting new people! We did get 3 towel animals: a rabbit, a monkey and an awesome crocodile (the day we were in Belize looking at crocs, coincidentally!). Met our Cruise Critic friends (hi everyone!!) in the observation lounge for cocktails and really enjoyed putting faces to names! Hope some of us get to cruise again!

 

First Day: Had lunch in Garden Cafe. I was a little underwhelmed initially because the buffet seemed so small in comparison to the other ships we've been on. But the food was very good. Their tilapia was excellent on the two different occasions I ate it. Even my fish-hating husband admitted to liking it! If you didn't like what was in there, you could go to the back of the Garden Cafe & eat outside at the outdoor buffet. There are two buffet lines outside; don't forget to peruse the buffet on the port side b/c it has different selections than the other lines. There are hamburgers, hot dogs, french fries, etc. there. We didn't realize that until the 3rd day! The ship is beautiful with lots of dining choices. We decided not to book specialty restaurants that first day because we wanted to get familiar with the ship. We tried two different days after to book Le'Bistro and the Teppanyaki Grill and they were booked. So book early like everyone on these boards suggests!! Had fun sailing away----but kept waiting for the Captain to 'blow the horn' (not proper sailing terms, I know! Sorry!)---but it never happened. We docked and sailed away from Cozumel without the horn again, so my husband finally asked a crew member. He was told that's not customary---and that they only do it (sometimes) when they pass a sister ship. We've only cruised RCCL in the past and that's always been a tradition. Maybe they've had passengers complain about the noise. I can see how it may be irritating to some, but I kind of missed it! Had dinner in the buffet that first night then went to the show. It was just an introduction to the ship----fairly informative---but kind of boring (especially for our 10 yo!). I was nervous about the caliber of the shows after this 1st night, but I learned quick enough that there was nothing to worry about!!! Slept like a baby---and enjoyed those duvet covers!

 

2nd Day: Sea Day------warm, sunny and soooooo relaxing! Awesome band by the pool, Roots Link! They sang me to sleep while suntanning more than once!!! Fun activities to partake in: we didn't do much that first day because we wanted to enjoy the sun and knew we'd have two more sea days at the end of the cruise!!

 

3rd Day: Cozumel---same thing everyone else has mentioned. It is so barren and sad. But we were very happy we were able to stop and contribute a small share to the rebuilding of this beautiful place! 1st we went to Paradise Beach. The other posters mentioned it was hard to do much that day b/c of the wind and cool temperatures, which was true. Our kids were bored b/c the water was cold and the water was too rough for the beach toys. But the beach was beautiful and the staff was incredibly friendly! They were working the whole time we were there, straining the sand to get the shell pieces out. Stayed for about 2 hours then headed back to the square. Had a great Mexican meal and margarita in the market, shopped a little then headed back to the ship.

 

Belize: We also did the Lamanai New River Tour and thoroughly enjoyed it! Our 13 yo son was 'bummed' b/c all the other kids were going cave tubing and that 'this was going to be so boring'. But he LOVED it, as did our 10 yo daughter. The airboat ride was a lot of fun, we saw all the things mentioned previously (hi Cathy!) and also really enjoyed the ruins. The Howler monkeys were fascinating, as none of us had ever been around them. They sound like they are right out of Jurassic Park! It was especially cool to climb the 112 ft. temple and be at the same level as those monkeys in the treetops!! Our daughter's favorite excursion!

 

Roatan: Did the Tabyana Beach excursion through the ship and really loved this place! Just the drive to the beach would have been enough for me. Wow----what a gorgeous place! It is very poor and I don't think there would be much to do if you didn't book an excursion. Our lunch was good on the beach, the sand was beautiful, the snorkeling was great (just be careful because their reefs are large and in shallow water) and there were lots of kids for our kids to hang out with. There are 2 pretty peacocks walking around the grounds---we always love seeing them! We spent all day there and didn't want to leave! Lisa---we didn't notice any sand fleas---did you notice them being bad at Tabyana or down further? Maybe we were not enticing to them b/c we were too sweaty from suntanning!:D

 

Last two days at sea: Relaxed, played bingo (lost:( ), played slots (lost:( ), made paper carnations, went to the cooking demonstration, and suntanned!! Our last day the seas were rough due to bad weather (did you guys do okay, George?) but other than that----everything was perfect!!! Would go on this ship again in a heartbeat!! There's so much more I could talk about----but this is already WAY too long! Just booked a cruise on the NCL Jewel for next Christmas. We have 6 rooms and need 2 more to get group amenities. Is anyone interested in going with us and joining our group? You'd get our group rate discount plus other amenities! Just let me know!!

 

If your leaving soon on this wonderful ship, you are going to have a great time! Sit back, relax and enjoy!!:p

[tray]

Forgot to mention: we ordered the bar set up through NCL and had no problems! Because of a goofy Texas law (IMO!:p ), they couldn't deliver alcohol on Sunday, but we had it by 11:00 a.m. Monday morning. Really didn't need it before then anyway (except it would have been nice to have for sailaway---but oh well!!).:p

[Spot]

Thank you so much for adding to this review (I was wondering where everyone who was on that cruise had disappeared to - not many reviews at all). We will be on the Sun in December (our first with NCL) and we are excited.

I'm glad you had such a wonderful cruise!!

[Another ship trip]

REgarding the ATV question:

Yes, they provide helmets and you need closed shoes. There are both one person and two person ATV's but you must be at least 16 in order to have one by yourself.

Tray,

I only got about two bites by the fleas but hubby got lots of them on legs and arms and they DO itch! Here's why (I think). He put his towel directly on the sand. I laid on a beach chair near the water. They must have just jumped on him and had a tasty lunch!

[clouseau]

Dang Sand Fleas!

 

I think all the sand fleas destined for tray's group found me first. I probably have 50 bites on my legs. It's been a week since Roatan and I only got 4 hours sleep last night because the bites itch like crazy. Make sure you put on some deet!

[G-man33]

The Sun was a wonderful experience; we enjoyed our first cruise so much the kids want to make it a Thanksgiving tradition. I have to agree with the prior reviews and give NCL thumbs up. I would sail with NCL again in the future. (We did great on the last day with the rough seas, motion patch and Bonine = no problem.)

We went Cave Tubing in Belize with Major Tom ***** (Cavetubing.net) He was wonderful. We had a small group of 9 and two guides including Major Tom. He was extremely knowledgeable and took extra special care of my 12 and 8 year old girls. He took us exploring the crystal cave on foot while other tour groups just past by on the river.

Roatan-no problem with sand flees at beach, but we were on chairs. Very relaxing day at Tabyana. DW and DD went on zip line, their experience made me jealous, and the highlight of their excursions.

It was great meeting new people and the CC group was wonderful. Looking forward to number 2.