We just returned from the NCL Sun December 24 Western Caribbean. All in all, it was a wonderful trip, with a few glitches.

CABIN: We were in Penthouse Suite 8202, sometimes known as the "cruise critic suite". It is at the very forward center portion of the ship. The cabin was a bit smaller than we expected, but the bathroom, dressing room area was huge. I will download pictures later today and try to post them. The combination the main cabin and dressing area made for a large suite. The balcony was huge. Enough room for two loungers two chairs and many people. We pulled the tables from the cabin onto the deck and still had plenty of room. We had 4 people in this cabin. Two adults and two children (ages 12 and 14). We had initially thought we could have a roll away, but this was not possible due to the space in the main cabin. We ended up putting the children in the main bed-separated into twins, and we slept on the pull out couch, which was amazingly comfortable! If you have more than 3 people- carefully consider if this arrangement will work for you. The first day at sea was extremely rough. If you are prone to sea sickness, as my 12 year old is, this in NOT a good cabin. The front of the ship has the most movement. Fortunately we had others traveling with us in a cabin more mid-ship. He slept with them that night. I was worried about wind in the front: this was not an issue. Except for the first day with a lot of rolling, were were able to be on the balcony any day or night with no wind issues. By the way, they keep the fore section dark in the evening. We were directly below the bridge- and light at night could interfere with navigation. (The view from the web cam is the view from this suite- it was just over our heads). The plus side is incredible night views of the stars-incredible!

EMBARKATION: The trip started on a rainy day in New Orleans. Embarkation was very easy and quick. Suite passengers check in at a special lounge. I had thought someone would escort us to our cabin, but after processing our paperwork, we were directed to the gangway and left to find it ourselves. We met our concierge, Meireke (sp?) in the embarkation lounge, and were able to arrange for dinner seatings for the specialty restaurants at that time. Although we did speak with her a few times, we never saw her in person again, until we tipped her on the last morning. It was helpful to have a concierge to make restaurant and spa appointments, but even so, I was not able to secure our preferred times for all venues. We checked in at 2:30 -only one and a half hours after boarding began, and by them many of the dinner times were taken. My advice for anyone wanting specialty restaurants- even in a suite- make your reservations as soon as possible. Read more