Norwegian Sun

Outstanding!

Hi all! (Cut and pasted from my Facebook page.) Ok! here is my review of our amazing adventure "down under" to australia and new zealand for 14 nights aboard ncl's m/s norwegian sun. First of all, please remember that i used to be onboard crew for ncl 30 years ago, so i have a soft spot for them, and i know a thing or 2 about cruising. lol! Bottom line: we loved it! it was amazing! The food was phenomenal. The entertainment was excellent. The service was stellar. The itinerary was inspirational. The ship was sensational. The fellow passengers were polished. I would highly recommend this type of touring of australia and new zealand if you can tolerate 2 weeks on a ship in small quarters and people everywhere all the time. meaning, there's not much peace and quiet. and you are not going to see the interior of any country on a cruise. there are good and bad things about cruising, and that's one of the bad things. plus, you are probably not going to eat/drink the local food/booze. That being said, we were getting a bit anxious after about night 9-10. Let's talk about food. i know a lot about cruise food, and it was simply amazing. even being mass produced. Even the buffet. amazing. it was so much better than carnival and even the last celebrity cruise i took. on par with even windstar! Entertainment: the last 3 cruises i've taken on windstar, celebrity and carnival did not even have a band. a band with a pianist, guitarist, drummer, etc... the norwegian sun had two, five piece bands and they were both really great! they even played music they knew i could dance to! 2 actual dance floors! the sun had many other types of live entertainment to choose from. something for everyone! Did we get cute little towel animals on our bed every night? unfortunately, not. not sure why they aren't doing that anymore, but the service overall was wonderful! We did have an issue with the ac in our cabin, but it was fixed a few days later. lindsay and i had the same issue on our carnival cruise around the british isles, and it was never fixed. we had cabi which was perfectly located away from any noise (nightclub, lounges, restaurants, kids play areas). The ports: we had 10 ports of call on a 14 night cruise. most of them you could just walk off the ship and into town/port/points of interest. so it was very easy to navigate on your own. russ and i had a hard time determining which was our favorite! i think mine was auckland, new zealand. and that brings me to shore excursions. the only one we booked in advance was in hobart, tazmania because, well, the devils, man!! we had to ensure that we saw some devils, and they did not disappoint! Which brings me to stuff to see! we saw every quintessential animal of oceania!: seals, koalas, kangaroos, dingoes, swans, storks, dolphins, penguins, etc... the shore excursions on the norwegian sun were very expensive, just like other cruise lines. so we only booked two. The scenery in the sounds/fjords was gorgeous! and the beaches we visited were lovely! it was still too chilly to swim, but they were still really nice. lots of history, culture and architecture. The ship itself, built and christened in 2001, was extremely well maintained and beautiful. usb ports in the rooms and no need for an adaptor. The internet was, well, ship internet. it did not work very well, even on the app. but that's typical for ships and we were in port most days. Fellow passengers: wonderful! that celebrity cruise to bermuda that jenny and i took. omg! horribly behaved passengers, and 5 people got arrested on a 7 night cruise.

Love the Sun!

Our trip on the Norwegian Sun was incredible. The destinations were unreal. The staff was friendly and fun. The ship was in so much better condition than I was expecting, as it is the oldest ship of Norwegian's- it was a gorgeous ship, and the perfect size. There was a good range of activities to keep you busy each day. I think there could be more entertainment from the singers and dancers during such a long trip, but the musical entertainment that we did have was also better than expected. The spaces were never too crowded, which made it nice to be able to truly enjoy each aspect of the ship. The dining hall food was nothing to write home about, but the specialty restaurants were amazing. The pool and pool decks were nice to lounge at. We were on the ship for 18 nights, and I thought I would be sick of the ship by the end, but I truly wasn't- it felt like home. I would absolutely sail on the Sun again.

Better than expected

Before we left for our 13-day cruise to French Polynesia I decided to glance at the reviews… I almost cancelled because the reviews were not great… I’m SO GLAD I didn’t cancel because it was the trip of a lifetime! The crew was AMAZING!!! They truly bent over backwards for us and were so dang nice! Like everyone had smiles and were so helpful! The food was over the top delicious! My husband said it was the best steak he ever had so he kept ordering it … we felt like we were at a fine dining establishment for every meal… our waiter knew us by name and recommended dishes he felt we would enjoy and he was so accurate…his name was Michael and his assistant was Marve… our food came quickly, always hot and garnished like a 5-star restaurant… the fruit was always fresh at the buffets (only ate breakfast at the buffets) and the drinks were over the top… I loved going up to the spinnaker bar and having chocolate martinis every afternoon - they even wrote my name in chocolate! the entertainment was fun … yes, the ship feels a little dated but in a charming way… it felt very intimate and we never ever waited in line for anything… our balcony room was lovely and I spent many evenings out there watching falling stars.. our room steward kept our room spotless and the towels were always super white and fresh… we never waited more than 10 minutes for a drink server to come take our order at the pool… I loved the evening bar entertainment (several wonderful pianists and singers.) I thought 300 free wifi minutes would be terribly limiting but it was actually very freeing… just enough to keep in touch with kids at home and send some emails… the sailing was calm and I never got seasick… the ships excursions were the best - I felt like maybe they were a bit expensive but we bought a few of them and it really enhanced our cruising experience… if you are considering this boat I would jump at the chance…. I’m 62 and my husband is 64.. if we had kids maybe I’d pick a different cruise ship like one with all of the water slides and such… but if you just want to relax, sightsee, dance, dine, and enjoy each others company this is the boat for you!

Great time on NCL Sun

While the cabins are showing signs of wear and tear, the public spaces have all been recently updated. The crew were great! The food in the dining room was excellent overall. The buffet in my opinion was not as good as the dining room. Overall we had a wonderful experience. October was a challenge in Alaska due to the cold and rain, the Pacific crossing was fine, and it was the perfect time to go to Hawaii. We had a clear day in Juneau to view the Mendenhall glacier. The glaciers in Glacier Bay National Park were spectacular. They closed the outside deck for the first two days of the crossing due to high seas as a precaution but the motion was tolerable. After that the ocean was calmer and our time at sea improved. The entertainment included the Sun singers and dancers, two vocalists from different genres, a mentalist, a magician, and a couple of comedians. The Sun band was terrific! We enjoyed all the shows. I recommend this cruise.