Christmas on the Sun in the Owner's Suite

[Fishbait17]

Just thought I would add a review of our Christmas cruise on the Sun. Would be thrilled to answer any specific questions if you have them (if I know the answer!). Just for comparison, I also sailed this year on the Pearl and Jewel in smaller suites, and on the Dawn in a balcony. On the Sun, we had the Owner's Suite 1003 and the adjoining mini suite 1004 for our family of 5.

 

Embarkation was good, the first agent in the VIP lounge was a tad surly, but everyone else was fantastic. Through and into our cabins in no time flat. Hubby and I took a little time to settle all the "cruise stuff" in the cabin while the kids (17, 19, 20) explored the ship. Of note: We had ordered two anniversary packages, one for each cabin, but only one was supplied; probably just overlooked as I faxed them together and they looked about identical except for the cabin numbers. Had ordered one bottle through bar setup, it was waiting, but when we placed the order for our 3 bottles supplied for the suite, we had to wait until day 2 to get them, no big deal unless you care counting on them for sailaway. We had a bottle of Mumm's Cordon Rough in the OS, and to my surprise, there was a bottle of cheaper cparkling wine in the mini, in addition to the one for the anniv package. I think they treat the mini like a suite on this ship, because of the wine, and also an error later in the week with breakfast delivered to us by mistake by the butler instead of a mini suite down the hall.

 

Our butler was Naveen, and he was great, although I am sure very overworked as there were only 2 butlers on the whole ship. We don't use the butler much, but he was right on time delivering our breakfast when we ordered. Didn't see him as much as our butler on the Pearl (in AB), but more than the butler on the Jewel (in AC). The concierge, Jacky, was very nice, but messed up a few of our reservations during the week. On one, we requested a 7:15 dinner, our card came back saying 8:00, and when we showed up at 8, they had given up or 7:30 table... They got us in anyway. On the next night at Adagio, there was no record of our reservation at all... They also got us in, but service was slow and dinner took over 3 hours. The rest of the week we checked all of our reservations ourselves and they were fine.

 

The Owner's Suite was FABULOUS! There was a large living room with sofa, 2 chairs and coffee table, plus the bar area, plus a table for 4 and a desk. The bedroom was next in line and was large, and kind of overly long and odd shaped. Next was the walk-in closet, very large. There was plenty of hanging space, but a bit short on drawers, as we had 3 persons, but it was fine. The main bath was huge, with a whirlpool tub (never used), a decent sized shower, toilet enclave, two sinks, and tons of storage. There were doors separating the bedroom from the liv room, and the closet from the bedroom, but none from the closet to the bath... A bit odd as my daughter used the vanity in the closet, and would vacate while Dad showered, but no problem. We also had a small 1/2 bath at the entrance to the suite that was great to have with so many people. There were sliders in the Liv room, bedroom, and the closet to get to the balcony. The balcony had a table for 4, 2 loungers, and a hot tub.. It was great! The hot tub was much shallower than we expected, more like a large bath tub, but was great for up to 3 people to scrunch down in. It was old and the controls, water were kind of stripped, but we worked it out with tricks in turning the handles. Several of the covers on the bottom air jets were broken off, and it was uncomfortable if you slid into them, it would be nice to fix these. The door from the closet came in handy when my daughter and hubby were asleep and I would go outside at night. We spent a lot of time in the cabin, as I don't like crowds much, and having all the space and privacy was fantastic! The mini suite was larger than I had anticipated, and the bath setup was great. We had the adjoining door unlocked, and it was like having a 2 bedroom, 2 1/2 bath suite, fantastic! Downsides to the cabins: Very few, just the older TVs and the OLD non-functioning coffee maker.. Please upgrade these to Jewel class quality!

 

Food: We ate all but one night at various specialties, and they were all great. Menus are the same pretty much as the Pearl/Jewel/Dawn. Adagio was great, ate there twice, once took waaay too long (and several other tables were complaining), but it was partially our fault, the second time was perfect. Also did East Meets West twice, Le Bistro once, and Teppanyaki once. All were very good, and at EMW the last night, the waiter rushed our service at our request to get in front of 3 very large parties.. The only night we ate at the main restaurant was for the Murder Mystery Dinner, and the food was just OK... Please take this with a grain of salt as we are serious foodies and are more than a bit spoiled LOL. The Murder Mystery itself was fun; we were a bit distracted by family issues, but had a lot of fun anyway!

 

The ship's layout was odd compared to the Pearl/Jewel/Dawn. It took me a few days to find my way around. It didn't feel much smaller than the others, but was definitely different! On the others, it seemed that there were hallways up and down at least one side of all public rooms, on the Sun, you almost always have to walk through one room to get to another. Not a real problem, but took some getting used to. Adagio seemed the hardest to find, it is on Deck 5, but access is from deck 6, took us about 10 minutes to find it the first time. The casino was nice, big enough, and the staff was great - they knew me by name by day 2! A bit hard to find an ashtray, not many smokers left! The kids enjoyed the upper pool deck on both sea days, while we enjoyed our private balcony. I spent much of the time inside (sun issues) and was surprised at how cold the interior of the ship was (but only felt it when I stepped outside into the heat). The gym was much used, and the kids liked it, even after the trainer hijacked my daughter's boyfriend for a very tough workout, even by his standards! In fact, the gym seemed huge to me, with several rooms. One daughter had a spa treatment, and loved it. They saw a few shows, and were disappointed with the ones they saw, but unfortunately, we missed the comedy magic show that they had anticipated and we heard it was very funny. Quest was very funny as usual. Hubby found the lounge entertainment just ok, but it was fine for him. We all enjoyed listing to Mr Guess in Las Ramblas a couple of nights over drinks. We missed a lot of other things going on, choosing instead to lounge around the cabin.

 

For Ports, we did everything on our own with no ship's tours. In Roatan, the weather was not great. We had arranged fishing and beach time with Victor Bodden, and there were no fish around that day, although we did have some great dolphin encounters. Had a nice beach lunch, but the weather wasn't great for sunbathing, so we called it a bit of an early day. In Belize, I had hired Jaguar Paw Resort for ziplining and cavetubing, it was a great day! We had a private car with a guide, and even with tendering over an hour late (Christmas? don't know why we anchored so late), we were able to do everything we wanted with time to spare. This was definitely the highlight of our trip... I am desperately afraid of heights, and my kids were sure I would back out, but I completed the course with no complaints. Cavetubing was great, except the crowds from the other operators were pretty obnoxious. Once we got away from them, we had a very peaceful cruise through the caves, much lovelier than I anticipated. We had held and played with spider monkeys on Roatan, but the baby howler monkey at Jaguar Paw was the sweetest thing alive. He wouldn't leave me! In Cozumel, we had a quiet beach day at Nachi Cocom, fantastic as usual. Our private Cay day was nice, but I was in a hammock most of the day and am COVERED with bites. I wasn't sure if it was that day or maybe bedbugs, but I have hundreds of bites all over my legs, like at least one per square inch. Whichever, I am very sensitive to bites, so nobody else got many at all, and I am used to it.

 

In comparison, I would say that the other ships were better laid out, but held little advantage over the Sun. Service and food quality were very similar, the itinerary was almost identical to the Pearl (2 days longer). We had a fantastic time, with enough "on-the-go" time and relaxing to balance each other perfectly. Now that I have rambled on, I would be happy to answer any specific questions!

 

Robin

[bulgargirl]

I liked your review. Thanks. You pointed out issues you had but didn't get overly dramatic about how your whole vacation was ruined by lack of covers on the hot tub jets!

 

Appreciate the information as I'm on the sun soon myself.

[MonaCK]

Oooh.... Murder Mystery Dinner? Is this a regular practice? :)

[gehrandt]

We'll be on the Sun on Jan 19 - murder mystery dinner sounds like something our family would love. Hope they have it on each cruise - or at least the 19th.:) Does anyone know if this is a normal thing?

[WinnieinWA]

Oooh.... Murder Mystery Dinner? Is this a regular practice? :)

 

 

It was on the Dawn 2 weeks ago. Look carefully in the Daily for sign up time and place. DD and I wanted to go but didn't see it offered till too late.. our fault!:(

 

Fishbait17,

Thanks so much for your review. :) I have an OS in August to Alaska so I especially enjoyed reading it.

 

Winnie <----> hoping they get the coffee pot working before August:eek:

[gehrandt]

Which rest. did they hold the Murder Mystery Dinner? The Main dinning room or one of the speciality rest.? Tks.

[Fishbait17]

I have seen the Murder Mystery dinner on the Pearl and the Sun, and pretty sure I saw it on the Jewel as well. The dinner was served VERY EARLY (like 5:15-5:30) in the main restaurant = Seven Seas I think? Sign up was on I think Sunday at 4pm, and the dinner was Wed night (Cozumel day) although it may have been different day due to the holidays. Toughest part was returning from port at 4:30 ish and getting 5 people ready for 5:15 meeting. The people we were "assigned" with were a lot of fun, and from a town nearby us - we have mutual friends... It was fun!

 

Robin

[jeffpaddlehawaii]

Hi Robin...

 

Many thank you's for your Sun holiday review....we will be in OS #1003 for an eleven dayer to the Mexican Riviera in October. Have cruised in an OS on the Dawn, Jewel and Pearl but do understand that the OS configuration on the Sun is unique...so your review is of special interest to us!

 

Would you mind sharing more about the casino...that venue is great interest to us?!?

 

Aloha, Barby

[Globaliser]

Sign up was on I think Sunday at 4pm

You have to keep an eagle eye open for this on the Freestyle Daily. I'm an assiduous reader of it every night, planning the next day, but completely missed seeing it (although we wouldn't have gone to the dinner anyway).

[Fishbait17]

Hi Robin...

 

Many thank you's for your Sun holiday review....we will be in OS #1003 for an eleven dayer to the Mexican Riviera in October. Have cruised in an OS on the Dawn, Jewel and Pearl but do understand that the OS configuration on the Sun is unique...so your review is of special interest to us!

 

Would you mind sharing more about the casino...that venue is great interest to us?!?

 

Aloha, Barby

 

What in particular would you like to know? Lots of slots, from pennies to $5 and up (I think there were $100 slots). Most seemed to be quarters and nickels; I play a lot of nickels with max bet ($5-6 bet). Some really fun games that I hadn't played before at Harrahs properties, lots noticeably different than the Jewel and Pearl slots that were more in tune with Harrahs. They had a few BJ tables, one with bonus spins; 3 card, Let It Ride, and Ultimate Texas hold 'Em tables, I forget whether they had Pai Gow; craps, automated roulette that nobody ever played. Great waitresses, especially Riza, but late at night they got harder to find. Snacks every night (never tried em). Was usually a Texas Hold 'Em game in the side room. I didn't earn nearly as many points as I usually do, either I was losing too much or not spending enough time, maybe they raised the points earned ratio..

 

I am interested in questioning you as well, as we are booked in a Pearl OS in March. I know the balcony (front) isn't as big, as we were next to it on the Jewel, but wondering if you have pics of the config of the cabin itself? We are very much looking forward to that cruise, and will have 6 with us that sailing, in the OS, with the adjoining AC and BB cabins. I am guessing it isn't as big as the Sun, but then the Sun's suite looked smaller in pics than it really was. It's a great suite, especially for claustrophobes like me. A wonderful place to escape the business of the ship.

 

Robin

[jeffpaddlehawaii]

Hi Robin....

 

Many thanks for the recap of the Sun's casino...I am a dedicated $1 video poker player and Jeff is a dedicated BJ player! We only leave the OS is go ashore and to go to the casino...have all of our brekkies and din-dins served ensuite by our Butler...we become total chaise lounge lizards on the verandah or in the parlor.

 

Can only share our Pearl OS experience on the 10th deck: you will totally LOVE the OS (it has some sort of Bose Surround Sound that is fabulous!!!). The front verandah is smaller than the Sun's, but the suite itself is larger...just a totally different configuration (you will definitely NOT be claustrophobic!). The 10th deck OS has a huge parlor with a powder room and a super nice dining nook and a fabulous bar and coffee machine area....the bedroom is good sized and delightfully comfortable...the master bath is a mind-blower---huge along with a double closet and dressing area. You will have three state-of-the art TV's (2 of which play DVD's and CD's).

 

Apologize for being unable to provide you with any pix...you should post a separate request for this stating your suite number.

 

You will have PLENTY of room to entertain family and friends...just super that you were able to secure the adjoining AC and BB cabins!!!

 

You will have a super cruise and totally enjoy the Pearl's OS!!!!

 

Aloha, Barby