Norwegian Sun Review

Not as Planned, But Fun All the Same

Review for the Eastern Caribbean Cruise on Norwegian Sun
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Laurel212
First Time Cruiser • Age 30s

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Sail Date: Dec 2010
Cabin: Mid-Ship Balcony

The schedule of our 7 day Eastern Caribbean cruise was changed after a shuddering malfunction in an engine reduced our speed by about half. We made it to the Bahamas, but St. Thomas and St. Maarten were replaced with the Dominican Republic and NCL's private island, Great Stirrup Cay, in order to make it back to Port Canaveral on schedule. NCL quickly organized tenders, events and shore excursions for the new ports of call, provided a few extra complimentary things on board and gave everyone $100 credit and 30% off another cruise. I understand the Sun was due to go into dry dock for maintenance in January-- maybe it needed to be a little bit sooner. The ship was clean, but starting to show some signs of basic wear. It could use a little updating and was not as stylish or impressive as the Spirit.

I was pleased with my stateroom. Kind of garish carpet and couch, but good lighting (and a variety of it, not just harsh overheads), plenty of storage, minifridge, powerful air conditioning, lots of mirrors, fine spacious balcony, and it was quiet as a tomb. The stewards-- Ramel and Nevil-- were angels and memorized us immediately-- if they saw us in another part of the ship, they greeted us by name. They worked fast, carefully, and were friendly to a fault.

The food was generally very good, and I only had a couple dishes (both chicken) that I considered mediocre. The soups were particularly delicious, as were all the seafood dishes I got. Professional plating, appropriate portions, nice variety. The Freestyle dining in the two main dining rooms usually worked well, though we did have to share larger tables with other passengers a couple times. Speedy, polite service (though I think it was markedly stronger in the first few days of the cruise). The buffet (which I only ever went to for breakfast) was, truly, too small for the volume of people trying to use it. There were simply not good paths of travel and lines tended to get confusing. It was always crowded and noisy, and I always immediately took my food outside.

Cabin Review

Mid-Ship Balcony

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