My NCL Sun review (First time w/ NCL)

[Illustriouslaz]

This is a brief review of my 7-day Western Caribbean cruise on the Sun. I'm just going to address some of the issues I've read in the various reviews simply because thats what I was focusing on and it is still fresh in my mind. If you have any questions please ask as I'd like to give my opinion to help others.A little backgound info on myself: the is my second cruise, my first was on the Disney Wonder, I love to eat and I'm a psuedo chef. There was a total of 11 of us cruising.

 

Food: The food in the dining rooms was excellent for what it was. What I mean is, if you like fancy food like chilled strawberry soup or Osyters Rockfeller, then it was spot on. If you arent used to that kind of food than I recommend just ordering a Ceaser salad (which I did alot). I tried some different stuff like artichoke hearts, etc, stuff I wouldnt normally eat and it was good. I might not order it again if I was paying for it but it wasnt bad at all. Very fresh. We ate at Pacific Heights one night and I remember seeing on here that a member ordered the Meatloaf so I did and it wasnt all that great but I ate it all. My brother loved it and actually ate part of my wifes. The buffets had alot of different choices. While I didnt particularly care for some, I just demolished what I did like and left quite satisfied. The lunch buffets were pretty decent. I liked the hot dogs over the burgers and the fries were on point. I could just eat a whole plate of them. The buns for the burgers and hotdogs weren that good though. I dont know if they were stale or just cheap but I didnt like em. Room service was actually REALLY good. I ordered it 3 times, once for breakfast, once late at night and once after we got back on from the port. The grilled cheese (double decker) and hotdogs were really good. I didnt like the pizza that was delivered though. The pizza in Pacific Heights during lunch time was much better. Oh yea and the waffles served for breakfast in PH was SOOOOO good. I ordered them with extra butter and extra syrup. We ate at East Meets West for the last night and the food was REALLY good but I didnt like how it was served. The menu said that the side orders served 2 but the waiter just went around with a little skillet and put the food on my plate and I was like just sit it down man. If you cant tell, I LOVE food and I LOVE to eat. The lines werent long at all for the times we went to the buffet and when we ate at the restaurants, generally around 6-6:30 there were any waits. As I mentioned before we had 11 people and only once did we have to get 2 separate tables, even still there was no wait.

 

Crew/Service: The crew was on point. Like the 1st or 2nd day the room steward came in and asked if everything was ok and asked all of our names and remembered them from that point forward. My daughter enjoyed the Kids Club and Astro and Nat the Brat were awesome. I had a little discrepancy on my bill (was charged twice for eating at EMW) and it was handled well by the person at the desk. It took a little bit because the person in the restaurant couldnt figure out how to reverse it so the desk person told them to send it to accounting and they reversed it there. The bar staff was always asking if you wanted something. I wasnt too annoyed but I can see this getting on some people's nerves. Waiters were very good. I only drank water at dinner at it was only once or twice were my glass was empty (and I drank ALOT of water).

 

Ship: The ship was/is well maintained. They were always cleaning and wiping stuff down. I like the hand sanitizers near the food. First time I ever saw that. One of the hottubs was acting up though. Sometimes it would work fine and then one time we had to keep hitting the button every couple of mins.

 

Excursions: We booked the Roaton beach, Playa Mia at Coz and of course did GSC with NCL. Roatan was kinda a wash because it rained but I brought my football and a bunch of us played ball. Couldnt see anything in the water (I brought my own mask and snorkel), food was ok. In Belize we toured the ruins with some friends we know. Coz... Coz Coz Coz. I like Cozumel. We went to Playa Mia which is a really nice setup but I have a few gripes we them. One is we were told to be ready at 7:45 on the boat. We were. We waited for about 45mins to an hour before we were called to the tender boat. We get tendered over and theres a guy (1 guy) standing at the Playa Mia station handing out wristbands. Theres a hundred people mobbing this guy, people saying "Oh I'm with them" "Hes not with us" blah blah. It was very unorganized. After we got our bands we waited around for the guy to finish and to take us to the bus that transported us to Playa Mia. We get to PM around 10 and we're told to be at a spot at 1:20 to get taken back. So I was kinda tee'd off about only have 3 hours to spend there but it was plenty of time to do what I wanted to do. They had plenty of stuff to do including jet ski rentals and the guy that I talked at the rental was nice and gave me and my bro 10 mins for free since we rented 2. My next gripe about the place was the food. They had a nice spread with a good amount of authentic Mexican food. However, the food was cold to lukewarm and there were flies all over the place. I ate it but it could have and should have been a little bit better. I mean light some citronella and get some burners under the trays and it would have made a big difference. GSC was nice but no big open areas for football, but we did find one spot and played a nice little game. Food was ok, lines werent too long.

 

 

I dont know what else to add. I remember some people saying that the shows were crowded but whenever I went to Dazzlers or Starlight I found a good seat. We didnt come to shows/events late though so maybe that had something to do with it.

 

If you have any questions just post em up.

[Duck111]

Thanks for the review!! We are sailing on the Sun 12-29-07 over New Years......I read mixed reviews so it was great to read yours.... I am also glad to se you went to Cozumel (We love Cozumel)....I've heard the they have changed our itinery to Costa Mia???? I'm not sure of the source of the info and all of my ducumnets and web site still says Cozumel......I've got my fingers crossed!!!

[wilson9112]

Thanks for the post. It sounds like you had fun! How was the pool? Did the private island provide umbrellas ( I heard they took them away). Now I know not to order pizza via room service. Did you go to Las Rambles? I heard that was supposed to be really good. Glad you had a good time. Thanks again for the update:D

[Stout Drinker]

I'm glad you had a good time on your cruise. What kind of room did you have?

 

Were you satisfied with the choices for room service?

 

Thanks for posting the review.

[Illustriouslaz]

Thanks for the post. It sounds like you had fun! How was the pool? Did the private island provide umbrellas ( I heard they took them away). Now I know not to order pizza via room service. Did you go to Las Rambles? I heard that was supposed to be really good. Glad you had a good time. Thanks again for the update:D

 

I didnt swim too much in the pool but I got in the shallower one with my daughter only for a bit. It was a regular pool, not too bleachy. I was in the hot tubs a little more, about 3 times. They were nice size but sometimes we had to wait to get into one. GSC didnt have umbrellas on the beach near the water but the tables had umbrellas. The beach at Roatan was the only one that had beach umbrellas.

 

I didnt eat at Las Ramblas but I wanted too because I heard the food was good. While at EMW I peeked into Las Ramblas and its really only hor d'oveurs they had.

 

Btw, my son ate the room service pizza without complaint, maybe he was hungry. For me the cheese was a little too well cooked and the crust was a little on the sweet side.

[Illustriouslaz]

I'm glad you had a good time on your cruise. What kind of room did you have?

 

Were you satisfied with the choices for room service?

 

Thanks for posting the review.

 

We had a room with a balcony on the 9th floor. It was nice, just a tad smaller than our room on the Disney Wonder. My sister-in-law had an inside stateroom and it was a very nice size. I dont think I'd ever cruise without a balcony but it wouldnt be because of the room size (based on what I saw on the Sun).

[Illustriouslaz]

Thanks for the review!! We are sailing on the Sun 12-29-07 over New Years......I read mixed reviews so it was great to read yours.... I am also glad to se you went to Cozumel (We love Cozumel)....I've heard the they have changed our itinery to Costa Mia???? I'm not sure of the source of the info and all of my ducumnets and web site still says Cozumel......I've got my fingers crossed!!!

 

I hope you get to go to Coz. I love the island but the water was clearer at GSC. We did some shopping at Coz after the beach and got some nice deals. Very good experience.

[wilson9112]

We had a room with a balcony on the 9th floor. It was nice, just a tad smaller than our room on the Disney Wonder. My sister-in-law had an inside stateroom and it was a very nice size. I dont think I'd ever cruise without a balcony but it wouldnt be because of the room size (based on what I saw on the Sun).

 

Thanks for your post. We are also on the 9th floor 9029 balcony. Im glad you liked it. I look forward to the balcony! Oh yea, was the Garden Cafe open 24 hours? Did you notice if there was a cappuchino or expresso machine there? Thanks:D

[silkhair1]

I have not been on the Sun, but your review (minus excursions) seems like my reviews of my NCL cruises. I eat a lot of ceasar salads too with chicken on top. LOL

[Illustriouslaz]

Thanks for your post. We are also on the 9th floor 9029 balcony. Im glad you liked it. I look forward to the balcony! Oh yea, was the Garden Cafe open 24 hours? Did you notice if there was a cappuchino or expresso machine there? Thanks:D

 

That's a good room. I was in 9024. Theres a quad of elevators that's right at your room. When you get off the elevators your room is right there. I actually don't remember the Garden Café being 24 hours. I didn't go up there real late but I know the sports bar serves food from 5:30pm to 5:30am. The pizza and chili cheese dogs are good. I've had better buffalo wings. They didn't have a capp/epress machine in the GC.

[wilson9112]

That's a good room. I was in 9024. Theres a quad of elevators that's right at your room. When you get off the elevators your room is right there. I actually don't remember the Garden Café being 24 hours. I didn't go up there real late but I know the sports bar serves food from 5:30pm to 5:30am. The pizza and chili cheese dogs are good. I've had better buffalo wings. They didn't have a capp/epress machine in the GC.

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Thanks for the post! Hope you are looking forward to another cruise:D

[Illustriouslaz]

I have not been on the Sun, but your review (minus excursions) seems like my reviews of my NCL cruises. I eat a lot of ceasar salads too with chicken on top. LOL

 

Well I'm allergic to shellfish so sometimes all there was pre-entrée for me to eat was a ceasar salad.

[Allie322]

We've booked the Playa Mia excursion for our visit to Cozumel next week (WOO HOO!!). Did you do your shopping at PM or back in town? If your bus left at 1:20, how much time did that leave you before you had to get back to the ship? And, one more question....you had to tender? I was thinking there was a pier in Cozumel.

[Illustriouslaz]

We've booked the Playa Mia excursion for our visit to Cozumel next week (WOO HOO!!). Did you do your shopping at PM or back in town? If your bus left at 1:20, how much time did that leave you before you had to get back to the ship? And, one more question....you had to tender? I was thinking there was a pier in Cozumel.

 

There are some little shops at PM and my wife picked something up there but we shopped more on that strip right by the water. Found some nice deals there. We had a few hours before we had to get back to the boat. I think about 2 1/2 hrs. The only place we docked was Roatan. Theres a pier at Coz but NCL didn't dock there. Princess was already there when we go there and then the Disney Magic showed up and docked on the other side. You will have a good time at PM. Just mind what my gripes were and let me know if you had different experiences.

[Lib0007]

I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed your cruise on the Sun. We'll be sailing her next April for spring break. And I love to eat too!

 

Regarding the kids club, what age group was your daughter in? My son will be 9 on our cruise and he has always looked forward to the kids activities.

 

We will be at Playa Mia next week - I've never been there before.

 

Thanks again for your comments.

[Illustriouslaz]

I'm happy to hear that you enjoyed your cruise on the Sun. We'll be sailing her next April for spring break. And I love to eat too!

 

Regarding the kids club, what age group was your daughter in? My son will be 9 on our cruise and he has always looked forward to the kids activities.

 

We will be at Playa Mia next week - I've never been there before.

 

Thanks again for your comments.

 

My son was in the 9-12 or 7-12 group, my daughter was in the 2-6 group and my brother hang out in the 13-17 group. they all love going there.

[snorklephile]

We love the Sun, in fact, we are thinking about planning a cruise aboard the Sun to get married (cozumel). Are Twice as Nice still playing in the Observation Lounge?

[Illustriouslaz]

We love the Sun, in fact, we are thinking about planning a cruise aboard the Sun to get married (cozumel). Are Twice as Nice still playing in the Observation Lounge?

I didn't get to hang out at the Obs Lounge. They had the Jazz thing going on and it was closed when I went up there. I didn't see anything about ''Twice As Nice'' though.

[bikergal78]

Thanks for the review :D

[momthewriter]

Hey, Allie--

We will be on board next week, too.

We sail 11/17.