We have just returned from a fabulous cruise on the Norwegian Sun (departure December 7th, 2014), and are happy to report that out of the five Norwegian cruises we have taken, this was definitely in the top three! We splurged and stayed in the Owner’s Suite (1203) which had an amazing private balcony with a hot tub; a tremendous amount of living space; two bathrooms (one of which you could practically live in); and was on the same deck as the spa. The ship itself, while in need of some love, is in pretty good shape. Having been on the Breakaway twice for our last two cruises, while the dining options were not as many, the food was some of the best we’ve eaten on any of NCL’s cruises. We ate at Cagney’s, Le Bistro, and Moderno for specialty restaurants. The service at Cagney’s was haphazard, but otherwise our food was good. Le Bistro and Moderno were definitely our faves. However, I have to say that the food we had in the Main Dining Rooms was quite excellent. Overall, we did not eat at the buffet, but we were impressed with the set-up and offerings. Being an ice cream fanatic, I was very happy with the ice cream bar they have set up at the start of the buffet.

The crew were friendly and accommodating. We had breakfast most days in La Cucina, and found the servers to be very nice. Our concierge Patrick was very helpful. While we overall had a good experience with the Spa, we found the therapist we used to be a little more pushy than normal. While it didn’t detract from our experience, it didn’t feel as relaxing as it could have. Also, the spa is much smaller on this ship than on the newer ones, and does not offer a thermal suite. Frankly, unless you really feel in need, I would skip the spa or go there on a port day that you get in early.

The itinerary was great! We were fortunate to have fabulous weather at each port. For Roatan, we did a Best of tour through Victor Bodden Tours, and it did not disappoint! We had a great time—definitely go to the Iguana Farm and Victor Bodden’s Monkey Business. We did the ship excursions to Laminai Ruins (our guides were great!) and to Chaccoban. I would suggest only doing one ruins tour (the Laminai) as doing two ruin excursions back to back felt a little unnecessary (even if we had a good time in both). In Cozumel, we took a cab to Paradise Beach Club, which had a low entry fee although you have to guarantee a minimum spend for lunch of $10 per person. It was a nice stretch of the beach, very family friendly, and had all the amenities you could ask for (beach chairs, umbrellas, changing area, restrooms, decent food and service, and a pool). I wish they didn’t put so many water flotation toys in the water, but we still had a great time. Read more