NCL Cruises, Norwegian Sun, Western Caribbean

We spent 7 nights cruising on board the Norwegian Sun and because it was so very inexpensive and pretty much all inclusive, we weren't expecting much. We mainly took it as an easy way to take our kids to such places as Belize & Honduras, just to have a quick look at those places out of curiosity. It was a last minute thing, when we saw some amazingly cheap prices online. Well, we were very pleasantly surprised and had a wonderful holiday! Even though there were the 4 of us in one cabin (2 adults, 2 kids), we never felt squashed and we were more than happy with the standard of room and the fittings. The room was very clean & well maintained during our trip, too.

We actually found the food great. We did eat in the silver service restaurant, and enjoyed it, but as we were travelling with kids we mainly stuck to the buffet. They had poached salmon, fresh salads and numerous roast meats and desserts to choose from. As we only on for 7 nights, we found the choices fine, and we like what they called 'freestyle dining', where unlike more formal lines, you can dine whenever you feel like it, not at a set time in a set place. I think if you were cruising for longer you might want to try out all the other restaurants where you pay a small price extra to dine there, as you'd probably want more variety.

The entertainment was good in some areas, though not so much in others. The activities, games, exercise options and options for the kids were great. There's tennis, coits, pools, spa, outdoor games, bingo, etc which were all good fun. I was a bit disappointed when I attended a couple of the 'talks' such as the one on the history of the areas we were travelling to, and the shopping one, as they were basically just sales pitches for gem shops & art galleries affiliated with the cruise line. But if you avoid the 'talks' there's plenty of other indoor activities such as shows & movies, a library and book exchange, and shops to browse in. They even had a sale on deck with items form the shops & there was actually some well priced stock if you picked through it.

We also found that there was a great mixture of ages & backgrounds amongst the people on the ship. Previously we've been on cruises where everyone was the same age - the 20's party set, or the golden oldies, etc. Whereas on this cruise we found that there was a great mix of people of all ages from all over the world, which made for some very interesting conversations.

As we're not huge drinkers & tend to prefer juice rather than soda to drink, we found that we didn't have to pay for much extra on board at all. They do add on $10 per adult per day as tips, which we were fine with as you really don't have to tip much each day. We also had some added expense with the shore excursions, which we only did in a couple of places, including visiting Chichen Itza, which was fantastic! Other than that we just wandered around when we got into port, walking through town, further from all the stuff set up to meet the ships. It was so interesting just to see how people live in other places & we found people very warm and friendly in Mexico & Central America.

We'd go again in a flash, and would choose NCL over Princess line (despite the disparities in quality) as we preferred the more casual, family-friendly setup on Norwegian.

The food in the specialty restaurant was plentiful and absolutely delicious. The wait staff in the upcharge specialty restaurants were the nicest on the ship - I think because a tip was expected there. The food in the garden cafe was of poor quality. The food in the restaurants that did not charge extra was fair at best. The staff was pleasant but none really went the extra mile for you. I think that this is because of the built in tip structure - nobody really tried hard for the tips. The entertainment was fair - about average for a cruise - nothing to write home about. The excursions were fair as well, but expensive.Smoking policy was not adhered to and there was way too much smoke all over the ship. There were either no signs or very small signs in non-smoking areas.The ship is showing her age. Cracked furniture, glass, and a bit run downThere was mildew in the bathroom and nobody thought to take care of that. The idea of free style is a great one but giving up eating with others meant paying extra for really quality food and service. I liked eating when I wanted and just with my husband, but what I didn't want to give up was quality - and that's exactly what I did give up. I won't go NCL again!

The staff on-board the Norwegian Sun NCL Caribbean cruise were very unknowledgable about anything on the cruise, and they kept telling us to ask somebody else. They add a gratuity to everything you buy, and then add another $10.00 per person per day on your bill. You have to buy a soft drink package if you want soft drinks, and it is around $45.00 per person. The drinks on-board were outrageous in price. Basically, the staff were unhelpful, and several people had stated the same thing, so it was not just us. The company pushes Diamonds International, which is in all ports, and they are a hugely expensive, but that is all you will hear. This is the worst cruise we have ever been on, and we have cruised a lot.

Going on the Norwegian Sun was a really good experience, there are many many excursions to go on, and the staff are very friendly. The Sun was spectacular I would recommend it to anybody.