We're Australians in our late 50s with only 6 previous cruises with which to compare (none on this line). This was the first cruise with freestyle dining that we experienced. We had booked this cruise on the internet at a great price. Having never travelled in the Baltics, we were excited about seeing the cruise ports especially St Petersburg which we found proved to be the highlight of the cruise.

Embarkation: Arriving by train, we walked to Premier Inn Dover Central where we were given a room with a great view of the harbour. We spent 2 nights there and loved our visit to Dover castle. Checking out at 12 noon, we had a wait for our booked taxi as there were 2 ships leaving that day. The taxi driver had trouble dropping us off as the Dover port was a bit of a bottleneck. The line at embarkation was long but moved reasonably smoothly. After reading about NCL's strict luggage check for alcohol, we were surprised to find that our hand luggage was only checked on the wharf by customs. We did hear later that checked baggage faced their usual detailed inspection. Once on board, we found our cabin was ready so we left our hand luggage there and went for lunch.

The Ship: Norwegian Sun is a tired ship needing refurbishment. Coming off MSC Poesia (truly a beautiful ship) a week earlier, we noticed the contrast. The public rooms seemed dark with worn fittings. Read more