Norwegian Sun Experiences?

[ChiefMateJRK]

4 hours ago, Travelicious said:

Are there still shower curtains?  I was on one a while back that still had shower curtains, and I was thinking it was the Sun.

I believe that there were, but I really don't pay much attention to that stuff (I do shower every day, before anybody asks🤣).

 

Just curious.  Why would that matter?

[Travelicious]

27 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I believe that there were, but I really don't pay much attention to that stuff (I do shower every day, before anybody asks🤣).

 

Just curious.  Why would that matter?

Just personal preference.  I prefer not to have a curtain chasing and clinging to me in the shower. 🙂

[DMH15]

1 hour ago, Travelling2Some said:

We did a trans-Atlantic on the Sun in November and, while I don't remember many specifics, we were very happy with the ship, particularly the crew on that one.  Buffet food was not as good as the Bliss (fewer choices, poor layout, Indian not as good) but there's always plenty of good stuff to eat on any cruise.  It was our first trans-Atlantic.  We had a lot of sea days and were not bored.  Inside cabin was roomier than most.  We have been on lots of the big ships and I would not hesitate to book the Sun again.

I think people are either TA people or not.  We love sea days.   Sometimes we are so overwhelmed on a port intensive cruise we don’t have time to relax and enjoy being “out in the ocean”.

 

[ChiefMateJRK]

5 hours ago, Travelicious said:

Just personal preference.  I prefer not to have a curtain chasing and clinging to me in the shower. 🙂

Oddly, I've never had this problem.

[LIMPIT]

Hi everyone,

we have just booked an amazing itinerary on The Sun for October 2024.

I saw a fantastic deal, which included 5 nights Hotel in Honolulu, then cruising Hawaiian Islands with two overnights, four sea days, then French Polynesian Islands, 20 days in total.

we reside in England and whilst we are experienced cruisers, we have never sailed with NCL, but the smaller intimate ship, and bucket list ports of call really appealed to us.

Lots of research to do.

We have been fortunate enough to have cruised to many beautiful locations, but first time to South Pacific, super excited.

Edited September 20, 2023 by LIMPIT

[Travelling2Some]

On 9/9/2023 at 3:23 PM, DMH15 said:

I think people are either TA people or not.  We love sea days.   Sometimes we are so overwhelmed on a port intensive cruise we don’t have time to relax and enjoy being “out in the ocean”.

 

We are usually do choose port intensive cruises, which is why this was our first TA.  The itinerary was very unusual.  From NYC (our home port) to Bermuda, 3 stops in the Azores (usually only 1), Madeira, 2 stops in the Canaries, 2 ports in Spain, Gibraltar and then ending in Lisbon, after which we spent 10 days in Portugal.  We ended up with a couple of canceled ports, so more sea days than we signed on for.  Being retired we don't travel to relax and, living on the coast, the ocean is part of daily life.  I'm always fine with a good book but I can do that at home for free.  Still, we would gladly do a TA again, especially if it was "stupid cheap" like this one was. 

[MaggieNY]

We just got off the Sun last Wednesday. It was an okay ship. I prefer the smaller ships as they're more intimate, but it seemed like the offerings on the Sun were more limited than we had on the Gem and Dawn. 

 

The buffet area is a little smaller but it wasn't bad. The selection was a little more limited than other NCL ships. We never had a problem getting a seat. We like the Great Outdoors buffet area but couldn't always make use of it due to rain. The sports bar handled overflow from the buffet and they used Moderno for continental breakfast then soup/pizza for lunch. Strangely enough, we had better service in the bigger MDR (Seven Seas) than in the smaller one (Four Seasons). Usually it's the other way around.

 

Spinnaker Lounge has those nice windows up front for viewing. We weren't a fan of the aft Stardust Lounge. The lower area is pretty flat instead of sloped, and you had to get there early to find a seat in the upper area that wasn't blocked by a column. The Bliss Lounge is a nice size for all the games & trivia.

 

Our daughter & son-in-law were on 6A Oslo, which is this weird forward deck sandwiched between decks 6 & 7. At first they liked it because the only people walking those corridors were guests on that deck (no through-traffic). However, it was crazy loud at 5:00 a.m. when the ship was pulling into port. We had the roomiest interior we've ever had on Deck 8 and even had empty drawers and shelves. We were not fans of the shower curtain or the hair dryer, but everything else was great.

 

Because it's an older, smaller ship, we really felt the waves going from Juneau to Victoria. The ship was really creaking and groaning at 11:30 at night and it scared me a little. After a while, I realized the ship wasn't going to break apart and I was able to relax and let the rocking get me back to sleep. My husband, however, got really seasick. They put out green apples in the buffet and had sea sick bags on all the railings on the stairs. 

 

The entertainment seemed scaled back to us. Not sure if that was because of the itinerary or the cruise director staff. All in all it was okay. If there was an itinerary that we were interested in on the Sun, we'd probably go again.

[Anashoo]

My family was on the Sun in Aug. we had a great time! Only thing I’d do differently would be get at least an oceanview, but that was more due to the lack of light waking up. It was our first inside, so was a bit of a test case for us. We had all 5 of us in a family, though, and it was plenty of room. My teens hated the couch bed, though, so I don’t recommend that one to the person who asked. We even asked for a topper, but the steward put only one in the center, so they each got half of one to sleep on? Besides the head scratcher that was, it didn’t help enough, either. The drop down bed was fine, though. Lack of towel animals was tragic as we have a 10 year old who didn’t remember them on our last cruise with him when he was 2. It’d be nice if they’d at least give you one on your journey. 
 

entertainment options were great! My husband gets bored easily on cruises, wants to not sit around but always be doing things, but he had fun as well. My oldest tried to get into any show that it was an option, and we all loved going to the Bliss lounge to see what was going on. 
 

I booked this one in part due to its size. Our last couple of cruises were both on Carnival ships where it was wall to wall people. I never felt that crowded on the Sun, no need for mdi reservations (I really hate the idea I’d ever have to do that, we like being flexible), never hard to get a seat in a show. I would definitely sail her again! We’ll probably get two cabins, though, just to be sure no one has to sleep on the couch lol

[MaggieNY]

4 hours ago, Anashoo said:

Only thing I’d do differently would be get at least an oceanview, but that was more due to the lack of light waking up.

We tune the TV to the channel with the bow camera. It gives off a little bit of light during the night, then as the sun rises the light gets brighter in the room. It's like having a window.

[seekatz]

We are off the Sun in Alaska about a week ago and had a good cruise, we also sailed her in May so a total of 20 days. Last cruise was a picture window on deck 5, which was nicer than the porthole on deck 4. Both cabins were very quiet, some of the quietest rooms we have had in 40 cruises. The downfall of the ship is the buffet; its way too small and crowded, and the pizza is limited to lunch time for a few hours. Great Outdoors is more open, but we had rain most days so it was limited. The Bliss lounge is awkward, as it is also a major walkway so the use of it for presentations is not the best. Know its a smaller ship, but not a crowded feel except in the buffet area.

[aaaaa]

On 9/29/2023 at 5:46 PM, seekatz said:

 Last cruise was a picture window on deck 5, which was nicer than the porthole on deck 4. Both cabins were very quiet, some of the quietest rooms we have had in 40 cruises.

Could you reveal the cabin numbers?  I'm looking to book an oceanview cabin that is quiet and midship.  Also, what was preferable about the picture window vs. the porthole?  Thanks.

[OceanDreaming2]

We were on Sun in May. Our OV didn't have any heat for 2 days and they didn't have the parts necessary to repair it. We were moved to another OV cabin. It seemed smaller but at least it was warmer.

 

The AC was blasting in parts of the ship. Entertainment was ok.  It just seemed like the ship was old and in desperate need of a drydock. And maybe new management. Very few happy employees.

[seekatz]

12 hours ago, aaaaa said:

Could you reveal the cabin numbers?  I'm looking to book an oceanview cabin that is quiet and midship.  Also, what was preferable about the picture window vs. the porthole?  Thanks.

 

[seekatz]

Cabin # was 5206 and main difference in cabins on deck 4 vs 5 was the size of the window.

The larger window was a nice feature, for little price difference on our sailing.

 

Deck 5 cabins are only in the the front 1/3 of the ship so little hallway traffic. I would avoid the very front of the ship due to movement. I also forgot to mention on both sailings the beds we found to be hard, the room steward was able to add padding to make it better.