We are a family of four, with kids ages 11 and 9. We are Platinum NCL cruisers and love freestyle dining as well as NCL's two bedroom suites. We chose this cruise purely for the itinerary, knowing the ship would be older and not one we would ordinarily choose. The Sun offers no two bedroom suites so we booked a pair of the very few connecting cabins that exist on the Sun. We knew what we would be giving up of the suite life and were okay with that for the amazing itinerary.

While we expected an older ship without the bells and whistles of Epic, Pearl and the several other NCL ships we have sailed, we were disappointed in the ship. The main problem was a HUGE one which had a big impact on our cruise. Our connecting cabins, 9264 and 9265 were right by the aft stairwell. This area smelled of sewage from the minute we embarked until we disembarked. The smell permeated our rooms as well as many public areas in the aft areas of the ship, such as the theater, the entrance to the main dining room and even the buffet at times. It was disgusting and really had a negative impact on our cruise. I cannot understand why I have never seen anyone complain about this before in reviews. It was extremely noticeable on our sailing. It is reason enough that I would never sail the Sun again. Other than the smell, we found the staff to be the most inexperienced of any cruise we've been on, though they were polite and tried their best. The balcony cabin was spacious for two and had ample storage and we had a lot of stuff! Even the bathroom had plenty of storage. The only problem was the shower was tiny. Shaving legs in there was somewhere between a comedy routine and a hazard. My husband and I both found the bed to be hard and uncomfortable. The kids did not complain. Our cabin steward was just as good as any we've had.

Aboard the ship, when we were not enjoying the amazing scenery and wildlife, we spent time doing cruise activities like crafts, scavenger hunt, trivia, etc. Krazy Kevin was our favorite. My kids don't like going to Kids Clubs so we also used the game room for board games. The weather was even warm enough for the kids to swim on two different days. We went to the show the first night and found it so cheezy that nobody wanted to go to another show except the magician and the cruise staff show. We all enjoyed those. Richard, the cruise director was a dud. Read more