Solo on the Sun to Alaska June 7-17 2024

[fmrlkr]

I'm so excited about your review.  I am on the Aug. 30th sailing in a solo balcony.  I booked an oceanview and used points to get a balcony, I am traveling with friends.   

[lepidoptera]

I have never gotten to the ship so late, I was dropped off at about 12:45. It was actually super nice. There was no traffic, so my Uber driver pulled right up. I didn’t stop walking once I got out of the car. Even check in was no wait. The biggest wait was the people in front of me having issues moving their full sized luggage up the ramp to the ship. 

Had issues connecting to the Wi-Fi and accesing the daily. Wasn’t sure how late the dining room or which was open. Ended up heading to the buffet. It was pretty packed with people and their stuff waiting. I ended up eating in Moderno which was way less crowded. Ended up grabbing a piece of pizza and cake from that side. Nothing was super great. But I have Los Lobos tonight so I didn’t really need a lot. 

Rooms were ready at 2pm on the dot. I went and dropped off my bag. Then went and signed up for the Behind the Scenes tour, Wines around the World. Then went and straightened out my dining-I am glad I checked they had me doing with other tables in Los Lobos. 
 

After that I was ready to face the biggest line on the ship-the shore excursion line. I was able to get things straightened out hopefully. There remains some confusion about an excursion in Sitka. I was emailed by NCL that it was cancelled and they were putting me on a different excursion. When I got on my room the o.g. excursion ticket was there, the shore excursion people say that one is the one I’m going on. In exciting news, I was able to get on the Hubbard Glacier excursion. 
 

Now I’m finally relaxing with a Pina Colada in the Great Outdoors. I don’t lab on purchasing the Wi-Fi plan until tomorrow so this will probably be the last set of posts until tomorrow. 

[lepidoptera]

The Freestyle for today 

[lepidoptera]

Some cabin photos. Seems to be in very good repair. Nice size balcony, puts the one I had on the Breakaway to shame. 

 

Edited June 7 by lepidoptera
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[lepidoptera]

What I’ve had so far: 

[www3traveler]

Have a wonderful time.

Happy to see J.C. is still on board as the Cruise Director.  Really nice young man.

[wilmingtech]

Thanks so much for posting your adventure here!  We are on the same 10 day cruise on the Sun departing on August 30th.  So it will be interesting to see all the adventures you have along the way.  

I'm most curious to know what the tendering is like in Juneau. 

Also interested in your Los Lobos experience as we are eating there one night.

 

 

[lepidoptera]

Hello everyone! Hope you are all well. I had some self inflicted IT problems and just got online. 
 

We ended up sailing away slightly late-there was an Alpha called not long after my last post. 
 

I was all unpacked and had cleaned up and changed clothes before we sailed. Watched a little bit from my balcony but then ended up going up to the Great Outdoors. Beautiful views and it was amazing how quick Seattle disappeared compared to Mt Rainer. 

[lepidoptera]

I ended up walking to the front of the ship and going to the Obesrvation Lounge. It was warm enough that I was fine in my Sundress, but it was like walking into a hairdryer it was so windy. 
 

Had a Botanical Spritz, it was super good. My cruise on the Breakaway seemed to have a different drink description and I did it like them. 
 

Then it was time for dinner. There was a small bit of confusion. I thought I had gotten it fixed with the reservations people, but they still had me dining with a group of 3 cabins.

 

Once we got that straightened out things went pretty well. The restaurant was pretty dead. My table was by the window, but the shade was down because we were in full glare of the sun. It was actually a little too warm. Can’t imagine dining in full sleeves.

 

For dinner I ordered the guacamole, the Shrimp Fajitas and the Elotes. Slightly strange they brought out my fajitas before I could even take a bite of my guac. The food was pretty decent. 
 

I did get a Paloma from the drink menu, because they were very attentive and I had finished the Spritz. Not a fan of tequila and it wasnot sitting well so I mostly just had water with the rest of my meal. 
 

Dessert was the best part. I really enjoyed the Passion fruit sorbet. 
 

After dinner I caught the welcome aboard/comedy show. I can tell I will really like JC as our cruise director. Also, I really enjoyed the comedian and might seek him out if he is another venue later. 
 

After this I retired to my room and knit a little/read a little before bed. 

[lepidoptera]

[psuboater]

On 6/7/2024 at 11:10 AM, rockraiders said:

Mount Rainer never gets old. 

I've lived here for 7 years now, and I still get excited when "The Mountain is Out" 🙂 I hope you enjoy our city, OP! I am on the opposite coast gearing for a Mother/Daughter trip on the Joy tomorrow, so keep Seattle well for me until I get back!

[lepidoptera]

We went back an hour last night. I stayed awake as long as possible but was still out before 11. 
 

I woke up around 4, and couldn’t get back to sleep. Sun was up before the daily said it would be 🤣

 

Got ready for the day, then headed up to the Buffet for Breakfast. I super picky about breakfast food, so the waiting in the MDR is not worth it for me usually.

 

Weird thing about the layout. The omelet station is the only place there are plates. There was a bit of a log jam. At first it looked like there was no Oatmeal. It is at the ice cream station and is served to you. Not a fan- he kept wanting to add milk and raisins, but there was no cinammon. I doctored it up with some fruit and walnuts from the yogurt area. Just okay. Not sure what I am gonna do for breakfast for the next 9 days. 
 

After that I headed to the library and did the Sudoku. Many people were very confused about the time and were looking for their painting class🤣

Then I did the behind the scenes tour. They broke us up into 2 groups, my group had 17. It was interesting, went to the laundry, a galley and behind the scenes. It was weird they were having a show starting so they were giving us a tour while people were jamming in for whatever was next. 

[lepidoptera]

10 minutes ago, psuboater said:

I've lived here for 7 years now, and I still get excited when "The Mountain is Out" 🙂 I hope you enjoy our city, OP! I am on the opposite coast gearing for a Mother/Daughter trip on the Joy tomorrow, so keep Seattle well for me until I get back!

I really do love Seattle! 
 

Hope you enjoy your cruise! 🚢

[lepidoptera]

Not sure why some photos are loading upside down? 

[lepidoptera]

Have some dailies: 

[www3traveler]

Have you met the Food and Beverage Director Hasan yet?

 

JC is very approachable.

 

Did you get signed up for the Port Valet?

Edited June 8 by www3traveler
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[lepidoptera]

1 hour ago, www3traveler said:

Have you met the Food and Beverage Director Hasan yet?

 

JC is very approachable.

 

Did you get signed up for the Port Valet?

I have not met Hassan yet. He did take part in the Welcome Aboard show, but I haven’t seen him elsewhere yet. 
 

I just stopped at my room after lunch and there was a paper for port valet left. I plan on signing up for it. Easier to it have to bring my carryon with me. 

[lepidoptera]

This menu is my favorite lunch menu. I went with the Spinach Ceaser, the Bay Scallops to start. Usually I go Monte Cristo, but the last 2 times it has been disappointing. I chose Carbonara instead. The carbonara was decent for cruise ship carbonara. Then finished with the Lava Cake. The scallops were especially good this time. Now my plan is take a nap. 

[sue402001]

I'm looking forward to following along on your journey and I can't wait to see what you have in store. 

[jrt.mom]

5 hours ago, lepidoptera said:

Not sure why some photos are loading upside down? 

Your dessert picture wasn't upside down...your dessert was Upside Down cake!

[lepidoptera]

I did not do much the rest of the day yesterday. After lunch I went back to my room and tried to read for a little bit but ended up taking a nap. 

 

When I woke up it was already early evening. I decided to see the show- which was a comedic magician Eric Walton. His magic was okay, but I didn’t care for his act. After that I tried out the Four Seasons dining room for dinner. It was around 8 pm. when I was seated and the dining room was pretty empty. 

 

I had the Brushetta, Cobb Salad to start. Both were very good. Nothing appealed on the everyday menu, so I went with the Rotisserie chicken. This was huge, the dark meat was very good while the white was pretty dry. I ate the dark meat and the broccoli. For dessert I went with Rasberry Sherbet. Overall I did enjoy the Four Season dining room. The Seven Seas was vibrating earlier, but the Four season was much smoother. 

[lepidoptera]

[lepidoptera]

So it’s been pretty bouncy and there has been some vibrations in my cabin. It has made it a little difficult to sleep. Also having a bit of jet-lag. It looks like we are not in open ocean anymore, hoping it improves. I woke up again way too early, but was able to sleep until like 6. Gonna go out and do something around the shop for a few hours. 

[zqvol]

2 hours ago, lepidoptera said:

I did not do much the rest of the day yesterday. After lunch I went back to my room and tried to read for a little bit but ended up taking a nap. 

 

When I woke up it was already early evening. I decided to see the show- which was a comedic magician Eric Walton. His magic was okay, but I didn’t care for his act. After that I tried out the Four Seasons dining room for dinner. It was around 8 pm. when I was seated and the dining room was pretty empty. 

 

I had the Brushetta, Cobb Salad to start. Both were very good. Nothing appealed on the everyday menu, so I went with the Rotisserie chicken. This was huge, the dark meat was very good while the white was pretty dry. I ate the dark meat and the broccoli. For dessert I went with Rasberry Sherbet. Overall I did enjoy the Four Season dining room. The Seven Seas was vibrating earlier, but the Four season was much smoother. 

We serve half chicken at a local festival and the white meat is always dry. Must be because they have to get the temp up so high for health reps. Glad you enjoyed the rest of the meal.  Also thanks for the warning about the chicken. 

[zqvol]

2 hours ago, lepidoptera said:

So it’s been pretty bouncy and there has been some vibrations in my cabin. It has made it a little difficult to sleep. Also having a bit of jet-lag. It looks like we are not in open ocean anymore, hoping it improves. I woke up again way too early, but was able to sleep until like 6. Gonna go out and do something around the shop for a few hours. 

You should be in the passage soon and things should be as calm as a lake.