Just Off The Sun 7/8-7/15

[mj5739]

We just returned from a wonderful Alaska Cruise on the Sun. I will try and hit the highlights and will be glad to answer any questions that I can.

 

Our group: Myself, my wife, and two sons ( 24 & 16 ).

 

We spent the week before our cruise in Seattle to escape the Georgia heat , relax, and see some sites. We did all the usual tourist sites, but I wanted to mention something special we did. We drove north up I-5 an hour and a half to Anacortes and went on a Orca whale watch tour with Island Adventure Tours. We found them on a brochure in Seattle. We thoroughly enjoyed this trip. They don't pack the boat full like a lot of other tours and it was very well done. Also, the area around Anacortes is beautiful. My wife and I also took the Victoria Clipper to Victoria and visited the Butchart Gardens. This was also a good tour but a very long day ( 7am - 10pm ).

 

Now for the cruise:

Embarkation - We arrived at the pier just before noon. They were not yet very busy and when we mentioned we were in a suite, we were taken straight to a waiting agent in the suite line. We checked in, received or ship cards, and met Anca Zamfir our concierge. More on Anca later. We were on the ship and in our room in about 15 minutes.

 

Our room - We were in AD Suite 9002 ( Left center on the bow ). The room itself was fine, furniture and fixtures a little worn and dated, but adequate for a family of four. The bath was great: Whirlpool tub/shower, separate shower, Two lavatories with lots of storage space, separate toilet area, vanity area with mirror and chair, and plenty of closet space for all of us. The balcony was entered through triple wide sliding door/window. It was about 10' x 18' with 2 chairs, 2 lounges, and small table. I was concerned about having a forward facing balcony because of the wind. Most of the time the wind wasn't that bad. Even when it was strong, you could stand to one side by the divider and get out of the wind. I would gladly trade any small wind discomfort for the amazing view. Most of the time it was completely quiet out there and you could hear the water lapping against the ship. My favorite times out there were in the evenings heading north and west when the seas were still and we would get tremendous sunsets. I was even able to spot 5 humpback whales.

 

Staff and crew: As mentioned before, Anca was our concierge. She was a pleasure to work with. She helped us with dining reservations, shore excursions, delivered movies, and took us off the ship with VIP disembarkation. Our butlers, Harry and Roel, were prompt, friendly, and professional. Our room steward/strewardess, Oliver and Barbara, were great. They called us by name every time we saw them and always had a smile. They were truely out while we were in and in when we were out. They must be two of the hardest working people I have ever been around. We were impressed with the entire staff and crew.

 

The food: We thought the food was fine. We never had anything that was horrible or not edible as some others have reported. The buffet was a buffet. We had lunch there a few times and it was fine. The dining rooms and restaurants were what I would describe as above average. Our service was always good and that goes a long way in making it a good experience.

 

Shore excursions: Ketchikan-My 24 year old son and I took the Tatoosh Island Sea Kayak tour. We had a great time and I would definately recommend it over the Eagle Island tour after seeing their group. My wife and other son took the Rainforest Wildlife Sanctuary tour. They were able to see several eagles and salmon.

Juneau-We took one of the Blue Bus Shuttles to Mendenhall Glacier. I would recommend doing this on your own. We didn't have any problems and made the round trip in about 2 hours. The highlight of our entire week was taking the Tracy Arm Fjord and Glacier Explorer tour. On the way to the glacier we saw a humpback whale, a black bear, many eagles, seals, mountain goats, and a harbor porpoise. We were able to get very close to both the north and south Sawyer Glacier ( the ship could not because of the ice flow ). It was amazing. We were able to see the glacier calve several times and hear the white thunder. My 16 year old thought boarding the ship at the glacier was very cool with everyone on the ship watching us and taking our picture.

Skagway-We rented a car from Avis and drove the South Klondike Highway to Emerald Lake. Just a quick note: The Avis office is on 3rd street, not 2nd as is on their web site. We used Murray's guide and road log that I printed from his web site. The scenery was beautiful and the drive was very easy.

Prince Rupert-My 16 year old son and I took the Whales and Marine Life Encounter by Zodiac. This is definately a trip for the adrenaline junkies. I haven't mentioned before now that the weather had been great up until Prince Rupert. Well once we decided to get on an open Zodiac that ran 50 mph, it decided to rain. We still had a good time and were even able to see a few whales. My wife and other son took the Exchamsiks River Nature and Jetboat tour. My wife described it as being in the middle of a horror movie. The mosquitoes were unbelievable. The tour was poorly run, the naturalist guide seemed untrained, and they were unable to eat the salmon because of the mosquitoes. The only redeeming part of the tour was the boat ride because they were able to escape the bugs.

 

I am sorry this ran so long. Once I started writing, I did not want to leave anything out.

 

We had a great time ( how could we not, we were on vacation on a cruise? ).

 

I will be glad to answer any questions that I can.

[kokosmama]

Thanks for the review! I am booked into an AD one deck below and have been worried about the wind factor. Could you see over the rail when sitting down? I have read a few comments about the drive to Emerald Lake from Skagway and see you enjoyed it as well. I am even thinking of changing our helicopter/dogsledding adventure to the drive. How much did you end up tipping everyone? It sounds like you used the butlers sparingly, but the concierge quite a bit.

[fourxcruiser]

We stayed in statroom 1002, just above yours, it was a standard ocean view with balcony except it had small bump into the suite next door by the desk area, which gave us more room then a standard ocean view with balcony. The wind when we were doing 20 knots was intense , but bareable if you sat down. We had to make sure the balcony door was completely closed or we heard the rushing wind. But the view was worth dealing with the wind!

A good thing about the cruise, it did not seem crowded, even though they said we had a full ship, we never saw huge crowds, even in Juneau before all a board, the lines were quick.

The ships decor seemed very sedate compared with Carnivals decor. But the entertainment was top rate. The comedy jugglers "Shark Bait" were excellant, and the singer was very good. The Cirque de Sole "Pan" show was amazing.

The food in the main rooms was "OK" but not as plentiful as the Carnival or Disney, the buffets were a bit boring except for the Great Outdoors hamburgers, which were excellant. The Sushi chef at the "Ginza" Jose and his assistant Rex were amazing, and the sushi was well worth the few extra dollars.Norweigian really needs to re-think the menu in the main rooms.

Freestyle Dining was OK, but I like the "captive" audience things the other lines do at dinner, like the wait staff dancing or singing, the maitre'd telling stories etc. All the excursions we took were entertaining and we did see whales, eagles , porpoises etc. But the strips by the ports just reminded me of every port in the caribbean, enough with Diamonds International already!!:)

I could do without the cruise director "Linda" but the assistant "Johnny" was fanatastic, he should be promoted ASAP. Stay away from the Art Auctions, the new company may have more "Originals" then Park West and everything comes framed, but the auctions were not enjoyable, the guy was boring and no fun. The Park West people we have seen were very entertaining and informative as well. Even if you did not intend to purchase at the auction, at least you were entertained with Park West, this Fine Art Auctions guy just bored me to distraction.

Other then the buffet and dining room food, the trip was very enjoyable, I I did not hear one member of the staff say "NO" to anyone, everyone was very professional and friendly. Overall I'd rate it a 7 out of 10. Improve the dining room food and the Art auction and they'd get a 10.

[mj5739]

Thanks for the review! I am booked into an AD one deck below and have been worried about the wind factor. Could you see over the rail when sitting down? I have read a few comments about the drive to Emerald Lake from Skagway and see you enjoyed it as well. I am even thinking of changing our helicopter/dogsledding adventure to the drive. How much did you end up tipping everyone? It sounds like you used the butlers sparingly, but the concierge quite a bit.

 

You can see a little if you sit up real straight. Really, you have to stand to see very well. Put up with a little wind, it is worth it. I wish I had stayed out even more than I did.

I would hate to talk you out of another excursion, but we thoroughly enjoyed the drive. We like to be on our own schedule instead of someone elses whenever possible.

As far as the tipping, I went by the guidence of other posts that I read earlier. They said tip the butlers as you would a waiter for a nice meal. We came up with an amount depending on the number of times they served us. We tipped the concierge also based on the amount of help she gave us.

[mj5739]

I forgot to tell about our flight home.

I booked our flights using air miles through American Airlines as early as I could last summer. Our origional departure from Seattle was to be around noon. A couple months before the cruise, American changed our flight to one that left at 10:42 am. I knew that we would be cutting it very close and we would need to do everything possible to get out of the ship and to the airport as soon as we could. I booked a Shuttle Express Van to take us to the airport and arranged through our concierge the VIP disembarkation.

We were able to leave the ship at 8:05, walked straight through to our luggage, which was in a special area. We met our shuttle and got to the airport before 9:00. By 9:15 we had checked our luggage, gone through security, and were sitting at the gate.

I would definately not recommend taking a flight that early, but it can be done. If you aren't able to get VIP disembarkation, you can do the self-assist and be the first off the ship.

[acanuk]

Thanks for the insite on the wind factor.We are booked into 1202 on the pool deck for the western cruise next spring break.I was wondering if the view was worth the hassel of the wind.Sounds like the view is worth it.

 

Acanuk

 

Sun 2003

Princess 2005

Sun 2007

[Oppgaard]

We are booking 9002 for an upcoming cruise in December. Did you say that the tub had whirlpool jets? I was told they only came in AC or above but if you are correct, I will be quite pleased with our cabin.

[mj5739]

We are booking 9002 for an upcoming cruise in December. Did you say that the tub had whirlpool jets? I was told they only came in AC or above but if you are correct, I will be quite pleased with our cabin.

 

Yes the tub has whirlpool jets and my son used it. I am sure you will be pleased with the suite.

[Oppgaard]

Thanks for letting me know. I booked it this morning.