First cruise with Norwegian since a truly horrendous experience on Pride of America in 2005 on the inaugural San Francisco to Hawaii trip. You would think a hospitality business would be keen to get repeat custom but given that experience plus a truly great Garden Villa experience to Alaska in 2004, we haven't heard from then in 14 years until we decided to take a quick weekend break. With that in mind we booked two weeks before our trip and without much expectation. Overall it was a decent weekend break with the usual high points and low points. Enjoyed the inclusive drinks package and being aboard the ship in general. The ports of call were not appealing to us and we only got off briefly for 30 mins at the private island and 40 mins in Nassau. The tender service was utterly appalling being kept to wait 25 mins on the journey over and 35 mins on the way back in blazing heat. That we could cope with but we were really horrified with the fact that the tender couldn't cope with a handicapped gentleman who was clearly distressed to be wedged into the stairs as they tried to carry him up a very narrow gap. This is something that has to be addressed immediately in our opinion. The cruise was something of a booze cruise to many travelers but fortunately it wasn't too bad... or maybe the weekend we chose kept it to a minimum. That said, some evidence of loud foul mouthed drunken yobs was in evidence so prepare for that if you take this cruise. Room service was excellent although the room was a little warm when trying to sleep. Food was adequate in main dining room but poor in the buffet. The buffet itself was a mess and simply not adequate in terms of how things were laid out for the number of people on board. Other ships do this so much better. Demeanor of the staff was an overriding impression and it seemed a lot were going through the motions. I don't know if this is because they no longer get tipped on drinks or that servers now have to serve the wine / alcohol but it just seemed off. I can well understand that some servers would get disillusioned by having to do more for less rewards though. Entertainment - Rock of Ages show was good, everything else was poor. Bar singers had a captive audience ready to enjoy themselves but both of them slowed the pace down and didn't seem to know the songs apart from one verse. Pool & Other activities - Pool area was basically a meat market and very crowded. Can't imagine sharing so many germs with other humans in the pool but some seem happy to do so. A place to avoid for me though. Embarkation and disembarkation were easy and overall, the cruise was fine for what we wanted. Next time we won't bother getting off the ship as we might be able to use the pool when everyone is off the ship. Read Less

We found a decent deal on this voyage, most likely because of the closure of the Cuba itinerary. At the last minute NCL was forced to change its Cuba run to a sad Nassau run. We figured the destination wasn’t as important to us as a getaway in the sun and some time to unplug and relax. Sadly, NCL is all about keeping the 20-somethings happy, drunk and “energized.” And NCL nickles and dimes you to death. What started as a $1200 package (with balcony upgrade and insurance due to an ailing family member) turned into a MUCH more expensive weekend. But worse, there was NOTHING relaxing about this ship. First, I considered the open bar to be a nice idea. We could sip a few pink drinks with paper umbrellas as we enjoyed the sun by the pool, in the Caribbean sun and vibe, right? Great idea. Not even close. The evening we began the journey, the college-aged boys began doing the contest drinking by the pool, standing at the edge, flexing and trying to spontaneously elicit cheers from the crowd as they chugged enormous amounts of drinks from long beer-bong type things. Vomit ensued in various parts of the ship (of course). Later, they crawled off to various cabins which improved things. Additionally, you are given way-overpriced options to upgrade your beverages the first day. $30 per person per cabin per day to include top shelf booze, unlimited energy drinks (think-really drunk, hyper caffeinated frat boys) and unlimited bottles of water. Also half way decent wine with dinner instead of super cheap wine. Ok, I thought it might be worth it for the wine, and for me since I planned on having a few drinks. Unfortunately we both were required. So $60 per day. It was Friday evening with a Monday early am disembarkation. That meant either $180 since Monday isn’t at sea, right? Check your bill. $240 was added to ours. Leaving at 7:30 am means you don’t even get a mimosa with breakfast, and if you did, it would be a $30 mimosa. The facilities were quite nice. The pool was salt water which was really lovely once the large children calmed down a bit. The sensation of buoyancy in the water on the gently rocking boat was very soothing and enjoyable. Also, the ship was overhauled last year in preparation for being used for travel to Cuba. Sadly the current administration cut that off, so now they have a really nice ship being used for booze cruises, typically reserved for older ships. The dining haul is spotless, the rooms were nice and clean and service was decent including turn down service. Lock your valuables in the safe though. I “lost” a diamond ring I left on the small tray by the coffee pot. I should have remembered to put it in the safe...my bad. But the ship resisted having someone come to investigate. The ring was not a favorite and not terribly expensive. I didn’t want anyone to lose their job, so I just took the loss. I should have put it in the safe. Dinner in the main dining room was nice. Being early diners, we were able to receive window tables two of three nights. The food was good but not stellar. We sent back cold appetizers and received luke warm appetizers, and had issues with the temp of our steaks. But the steaks themselves were very tender when they were cooked properly. No lobster or higher end seafood which is a bummer on a Caribbean cruise. There are a couple fish dishes but they looked unappealing. Deserts were better than Royal Caribbean or Carnival offerings. The wines with the upgraded beverage plan were decent-to-good $40-$50 bottles at normal retail, though the prices they listed them at on the menu were nonsense. Service was very nice and wait staff was quite attentive. You will need to future out how to find out about ship activities each days. The announcements were barely audible, so no help there. The brochures were hit or miss. We found out late that picture night was night two. That’s ok, they cost too much anyway. The private island had the chance to be great. As it was it was just good. The water was nice and the snorkeling was good, as long as the sun stayed out. When the sun goes behind clouds it is hard to see the beauty of the coral and fish. When the sun is out and you get right up to the rocks, the colors are lovely. Not Great Barrier Reef lovely, but definitely worth the effort, if not the $30 leaky mask. I would recommend this one, but if you can, bring your own mask and snorkel, save the money and enjoy the experience a bit more. You snorkel immediately where the ship lets you off so it would be easy to bring your own gear. Sadly, there were Norwegian Cruise Lines plastic cups scattered throughout the reef. Nassau is a terrible destination. The smell is of baking urine and regret. You are hassled mercilessly for money from the moment you step off the ship. Taxis, scooters, tours, horse and buggy rides (we took one, supposed to be 25 minutes, barely 10) and everything else you can imagine. You will feel abused after an hour on the island. The straw market is another place where you will be accosted and robbed for every penny you can be convinced to depart with. Skip it all and head to a beach. You will over pay for the taxi but overpaying once is better than being panhandled continually. By noon we were ready to get back on the ship. But this was the absolute worst part of the cruise for me, and it negatively colored every bit of the rest of the experience. And it was fully within this ship’s ability to correct, which made it even more infuriating. We decided to go hang out and relax by the pool and enjoy the sun, a drink or two, and some much-needed down time. Most of the 20-somethings were still sleeping off bad hangovers or on the island. The crowd was older. But the buffoon playing “music” by the pool was quite full if himself and his talent. The loud, thrumming techno-dance vibe garbage he was “playing” at 100% full volume was suitable for a night club I suppose, but certainly not for the atmosphere of an afternoon by the pool in the bahamas. He did something to older and newer songs to make them all exactly this very high intensity, mind-numbing beat, and every two or three songs, escalated them into a ramp up of a high wail. It was absolutely the equivalent of Dante’s 7th level of hell. In fact, if I do end up in hell, this will be the soundtrack. There was no escaping it. The only way you would see people letting go of the deck chairs they reserve all day is by playing this garbage. People would come, lay down, put things over their heads, put on headphones, move further away, and finally leave. It was outright maddening. Keep in mind that on a Friday - Monday cruise you really only have two full days to relax in the sun. NCL snuffed out one of those days completely by letting the soundtrack of the tilt-a-whirl at the Mall parking lot carnival rule the atmosphere. The “cruise director” should be keel hauled for allowing it. It really ruined the entire day, and thereby ruined fully half the cruise. Frankly, all the other things that were annoying paled in comparison of rendering the pool unusable by the audio assault. It was that bad. It was definitely not “high-energy” as was obviously being attempted. It was “near-death.” After two hours of trying to extract enough vitamin D to overcome my plummeting mood, we gave up and went inside. With little else to do, we retreated to our cabin and read a book. Yay. What an incredible waste of a day and money. RCL, you have the opportunity to turn a sad issue of a reconfigured itinerary into a decent experience. Nassau is awful but that can’t be fixed. Lose the “all you can possibly consume and then vomit back up” booze fest. Improve the dining room menu slightly, improve overall communications, and for God’s sake lose the souped-up Mazda beater car on steroids sounds going on by the pool. A little bit of effort to upscale the event itself would turn the frat party booze cruise/vomit fest into an experience that could be enjoyed by all, including those who don’t slug a round, belch loudly, high five and chest bump. Next cruise for me is back to another line. Read Less

This is our second time on the Norwegian Sun. It's a quick drive for us to get to and we enjoy getting away for a quick, relaxing weekend. On a previous cruise we met the principal singer Drake Allen. What an absolute pleasure to listen to him each night. He is a talented singer and guitar player and the crowd really enjoys listening to him. I hope we run into him on a future cruise! There was also a new group of singers and dancers at the Starlight Theatre. They were definitely better than the group in May. We met Jamieson and Liam personally and they were genuine and gifted performers. Embarkation continues to be slow however the disembarkation was a breeze! The areas of the ship that were refreshed look much better than previously. The mirrors in the bathrooms and the shower curtains need to be replaced as they bring down the overall effort that was made to spruce her up. The restaurants were very good this time and the staff was very pleasant. We have nothing but good to say about each meal we had. We did not get off the ship for excursions as this was truly a relaxing voyage for us and loved every minute of it. Read Less

We live close to Port Canaveral and decided to take a weekend getaway with two other couples. All of us are regular cruisers and have been on just about every line out of, Port Canaveral, Port Everglades and Miami. Knowing that 3 day cruises are party boats, my expectations were not high. The service on this ship was great. My cabin steward took great care of us, bar service was terrific and all dining room staff were accommodating and efficient. It was an old ship, but updated nicely and clean. Private island has a spa and when you get services you get a wonderful and healthy Buffett, free drinks and private beach access with the use of free floats. I cannot say enough about what a great day we had at the private club on the island. Didn’t do the general population on the island, but people on the tenders said that was great too. Entertainment was adequate, nothing special, but enjoyable. Cruise director and staff were friendly. Bar staff and service was great at all he bars and wait staff by the pool was plentiful. Now for the issues: I like to play blackjack. Lowest table limit was $15. I thought that was exorbitant. Princess, Celebrity, RCCL and Carnival all have 5, 6 or 10 dollar tables. Also the slot machines were not any of the newer games that are on the other ships. When I asked about lowering the limits the person who came to chat with me was arrogant, condescending and basically said tough. Another thing the smoke in the casino was horrendous. Another issue is the sports bar. They have many televisions, but only one channel. I wanted to watch a football game that was on, but was told they only get 1 channel. Obviously, this has been an ongoing issue for fans. The bartender was very sweet and basically just referred me to guest services. He did not want to say much, but I got the impression Norwegian doesn’t want to pay for the package that includes the sports channel. Let’s talk food. Dining room was good, but everything was very salty. Only ate at the Buffett twice and was not impressed. Didn’t eat most of my meal. Last issue I had were with the public restrooms. They were clean, but all had a horrible odor. Let me be clear, I had fun, but the above issues were enough to say, I probably will use other lines for future weekend cruises. Read Less

Sailed out of Port Canaveral. We love Port Canaveral-from the parking garage to the terminal right onto the ship, everything went smooth. It is very clean and we felt very safe. Disembarkation from our cabin to our car-under 10 minutes, easiest one ever. The Ship was quite lovely and felt "new" inside. Everything was clean (with the exception of the restroom near the pool outside buffet door) YUCK! The outside of the ship could stand a little attention as she feels a bit "tired". For the most part the staff was great. Our stateroom host was wonderful. She kept our cabin clean and our ice bucket full. Bar servers were ok, just not enough of them on a ship with Open Bar for all. But they tried to keep up. We did have the premium beverage package, but ran into the bars/bar tenders not have the "premium" wine or the bartender just didnt want to open a bottle. We wouldnt do the premium package again. It doesn't include the coffee (Starbucks), and its just not worth the extra $$ for us. We were in an Oceanview (obstructed Oceanview) which was great. We kept the curtains closed for the most part (we were on the promenade deck, 6th floor. This room had so much storage, wow. It was at the end of a passageway so it was very quiet, and the AC was cold! We ate in the Seven Seas Dining room and the food was meh. Definitely an area they can improve on. We enjoyed Sushi one night and it was good. Le Bistro consistently knocks it out of the park with food and service!. We did try Los Lobos and while service was very good, we probably won't be back. Food was just ok. We enjoyed the Sports Bar and wish it was open longer hours. Read Less

Booking a aft balcony suite is the way to go when cruising. Gian our Conceirge, Francis our butler and Anvasih our cabin steward could not of been more perfect. Travelled with my 2 nieces 13 and 10. Yes the Sun is an older ship but was in good shape. Free drinks and non alcoholic drinks were free. The world show and the comedian were very good and the variety of things to do was appropriate for this cruise. In port every day. The shore excursion in Nassau with the sea lions at Blue Lagoon was the best. Don’t miss this opportunity. The Sun was easy to navigate to the different venues. The Four Seasons the complimentary dinning option was excellent. Wait staff said they just changed the menu. A great place to dine every evening. Only went to Teppanyaki specialty restaurant and this was the best!! What a show and great food. Try the calamari. I can’t say enough about this dining experience... dining for suite guests for breakfast and lunch was fantastic in Cagneys . I only found 2 smoking areas, the top deck 12 at the Champs bar and the casino. Champs bar was packed all the time as well as all table games in the casino. The Sun is still a wonderful ship! Read Less

Chose this cruise because of the date, itinerary, the port, and recommendations from a friend. Was happy with most things, wish there had been one more day but that was our choice. Dined in the preferred dining restaurants only for dinner and food was excellent, especially enjoyed Le Bistro and Cagney’s because service was excellent! Buffet was hard to get anything and at breakfast when we did get to eat the food was cold. Decided room service was worth the $7.95 service fee although the selection was limited. Was disappointed in things for teenagers to do on the ship. The private island stop was nice, we did get a cabana which made it extra special. There was some confusion with other guest in disembarking and the required documents and because of rain and thunderstorms the line for the tender was long and slow. Unfortunately our children had to experience a few drunken passengers on the ride back! Read Less

We chose this cruise due to a fundraiser that fell thru. I had paid for it and decided to keep my ticket. Four other family members all veteran at cruising joined me. We had a blast. They enjoyed the drinks while I stayed with Pepsi, Water and tea. We did the Japanese Restaurant on the ship as well as the 2 main dinning rooms for dinner and the Buffet for breakfast and lunches. The private island was beautiful and very relaxing, with good food also. We went swimming with the Dolphins out of Nassau and had a blast. The walk to our meeting place was relaxing and took lots of photos. We had a photo album made from our photos and some other prints and love them all, will make great memories to hang on my wall. The staff was all very professional. I am already thinking of booking a longer one for 2021. But have to think a bit on it. Read Less

We were told at the last minute we could take our 12-year old special needs grandson on a cruise but we only had three nights because of his therapy sessions. This was the only cruise available the dates we needed so we paid more than we usually do for a cruise. Overall the cruise was nice but basic. The food was excellent, most of the staff was friendly. Some of the music played at the pool during the day wasn't always family-friendly. We had to closely monitor our grandson with tv channels when we were in the room because most are not rated for children. We found one movie we could watch when he was resting. Embarking & disembarking were very easy & organized each time. We enjoyed playing the games onboard. We thoroughly enjoyed Greater Stirrup Key. We didn't participate in excursions in Nassau because of the expense, but had fun with our grandson at the Straw Market. Read Less

This was a last minute trip and we were able to get a cabin in a great position (9 Starboard/Aft) and perks included 1 special restaurant meal, 100 min of wifi, and drinks package. Our TA upgraded the drinks package to Premium Plus which got us the nicer brands as well as bottle water, Gatorade etc. This sailing was packed with families (last week before school starts locally) and packed with many Bridal-Girls getaways. Embarkation-- Super smooth. We were at the pier by 11:30 and they were already boarding group 2...having already boarded Priority folks. Waited maybe 10 min to board (group 13) Lunch--plenty of choices for lunch. Daily Buffet is fine. Bar service at Great Outdoors Cafe was slow at embarkation compared to our last sailing (Aug '18). Sail Away in the Spinnaker Lounge-- they have some but not all of the brands of wines/liquors on the Premium Plus Package. Still they had a few to choose from and the view is great. First Night-Dinner at Le Bistro was EXCEPTIONAL. We enjoyed our meal so very much. The service was outstanding. Food was one of the best at land or sea. The smoked duck salad is delightful. The duck is tender and moist, a hint of smoke and is perfectly pink. Escargot was delicious--plenty of garlic and butter. The rack of lamb -- ordered rare was cooked to perfection. Dining companion thoroughly enjoyed the Steak au Poive. Because we had the Premium Plus bev package we enjoyed plenty of Veuve Cliquot and an incredible bottle of Chateauneuf du Pape. The head waiter chose wisely--the wine was a perfect pairing. We were so please with our meal and wrote out cards to thank both the server and chef. Word was sent to the Chef at how much we enjoyed our dinner-- he came out to our table to greet us. A very nice and thoughtful gesture. (Chef agreed the server choose the wine well too!) Grand Stirrup Cay-- we stayed on the ship to enjoy the quiet. Tendering to the island was taking a good deal of time. From what we heard from those who enjoyed the beach--they said the beaches were very nice. Second Night- Dinner MDR -- We had a table by the aft windows and enjoyed a lovely view over dinner. Service was exceptionally good. Again our Premium + package allowed the waiter to bring us a great bottle of red which paired perfectly with the Pappardelle and Braised Short rib. We tried the Gnocchi with pesto... and they were perfectly cooked. We wished the pesto was bolder and similar to the pesto on our starter/app. (garlicky and bold with basil) The flourless chocolate cake was excellent as was the fig/apple crumble. Bliss Lounge- Went to hear the Reggae band and stayed for the "Not so Newlywed Game". Hilarious. Nassau-- Rain squalls blew through as we planned to walk into town-- so back to the pool deck for us. Once folks returned from excursions the pool deck was mobbed.MOBBED. Lines at the bar were slow and they claimed to have no Gatorade. They were so busy no one would go fetch it. Disappointed because not having Gatorade on the Pool deck (part of our bev package) --it a real "miss" in service. The DJ cranked up the music which was entirely TOO LOUD. Our phone decibel screening put it Waaaaay up there.. It was absurd and unnecessary. Third Night- MDR -- after having several great meals in MDR on our Aug 2018 sailing on the Sun... and dinner the night before being so great---our last night's dinner in MDR was a miss all the way around and an unpleasant surprise. Apps-The potstickers were yummy as were the cheesy potato app. That is where the bright spot ends for this meal. The app of Asian noodles salad was so under seasoned--it was as though they forgot the dressing. The seabass was so overcooked and VERY dry. We should have sent it back. The Calamari over orzo was ok..we had it as a side dish. Desserts were all misses, the cannolli was not nearly as decadent as a ricotta filled cannoli should be, the coconut cake had no real coconut flavor and the carrot cake was missing spices and a decent cream cheese icing. Service was good and the waiter choose an excellent Sauvignon Blanc. Stateroom-- Our stateroom seemed like it had been refurbished. The cabinets were in great shape (amazing amounts of storage) and the bathroom was in great shape. Carpets, drapes, bedding all were decent. This differed from last year's stateroom Aug '18 also on this ship. Last year--our stateroom on deck 8 was in bad shape and the cabinet drawer fronts were loose. Stateroom attendant.. rarely saw him.... Room was spotless. WiFi We had 100 min of wifi and when I tried to connect-- it was so slow/bogged down, I gave up. Turned the cell phone back to airplane mode Misses-- --At Guest Services I asked for distilled water for CPAP about 2pm embarkation. Didn't arrive. T So the next morning when we saw our attendant -he said that the Guest Services had not gotten a message to him. He fetched the water for use the other nights. --Bartenders at pool deck were overwhelmed. Got wrong orders and the bar was out of Gatorade. Bartenders had eyes and attention for the girls-trip groups in thong bikinis and overlooked others. In fact the girls in front of myself and an older woman behind me--ordered for us at the bar because the bartenders seemed to not "see" us. My traveling companion had the same problem with other bartenders as well. Hits--Exceptional meal and Exceptional service at Le Bistro. Stateroom was kept very clean. MDR Seven Seas Dining staff works hard and delivers nice service. Hit/Miss-- Kitchen for MDR--after having several great meals-- delivered one evening of almost all misses. Read Less

Older ship but well appointed. Some nicer underused areas to escape from crowds. Took our 7 month old and 7 year old. We had a mini suite with balcony which was good for us and 2 kids, the bigger bathroom helped. Like how they made drinks available since it was all inclusive, not big lines to get a drink. Included dining felt good compared to other cruise lines. Most the staff were very nice and prompt. Thought the bar staff was the best overall. Few things I didn't like .. steakhouse quality/taste wasn't good compared to specialty dining in other lines. The guppies playroom was dirty and people were walking with dirty shoes on the floor mat/play area for them. We wouldn't let our baby down to play in there. Buffet always seemed crowded and hard to find a seat without being blasted by hot air. Would cruise on NCL again. Read Less

Recently sailed to Key West and Bahamas and loved the ship experience. Ship was clean, staff was friendly, entertainment was good. Dining was well above average; for-fee dining was superb, included dining was pretty good! Service on the ship and upkeep was excellent. Seems like the maintenance staff was always repainting and the ship was updated and in good condition. The ship has limited pools and these get crowded, especially in the afternoon. The layout would be most boring for kids (the kids pool is TINY!). Only drawback on this entire adventure was the ports of call. Each left much to be desired. Freeport (Grand Bahama) remains fairly devastated following past hurricane. Nothing to do there. Nassau was just ok (excursion is a must as the town is so-so). I would totally travel with Norwegian again but would never visit these ports of call with this liner or another. In addition, the next cruise I take will need to have more pool options! Read Less

Obviously, we intended to go to Cuba, but...well, that didn't happen. PORTS: This is my #1 purpose for cruising, so it gets a lot of weight on my opinion. After our timely departure from Port Canaveral (smooth, excellent in and out), we were scheduled to arrive in Key West 11 hours later at 3p. Once underway, they shifted it back another half-hour. Even though there were no other ships in Key West, we berthed at the inconvenient Outer Mole, so had to deal with the secure shuttle nonsense, which is basically land-tendering. The last embarkation group was allowed off the ship at 5p, but even if you weren't one of those unfortunates, what a complete waste of a port! We then backtracked way back north, arriving at Freeport, Grand Bahama around 11a. That was fine, I guess, but I'd rather get an earlier start in port than that, too. Enjoyed this port, great snorkeling at Dead Man's Reef. Our third and final port was Nassau, where we FINALLY were allowed to get an early start. Unfortunately, this was the worst of the three ports, and by far the worst port I've ever visited on any cruise. Our privately scheduled tour from Cheryl's Taxi never showed up, so we booked a tour on the street. That was a mistake. Nassau's poor reputation as a port is richly deserved. Obviously, there are many considerations in selecting an itinerary, but this one seemed designed to maximize sailing time at the expense of time in port, which is baffling. We could have had a lovely, full day in Grand Bahamas if we'd have stopped there first, and honestly, anywhere else would have been a better port than Nassau. DINING: The Lido buffet was no better or worse than any other ship's. The regular dining room's lunch and dinner was better than Carnival's but not as good as HAL. The Brazilian upcharge restaurant was totally worth it and I'd wholeheartedly recommend. The Le Bistro upcharge restaurant and the upcharge sushi restaurant were nothing special, wouldn't recommend, wouldn't try again. Would have been just as pleased with the fare in the regular dining room. DRINKING: Cocktails, wine and beer are included in the fare, and it was really nice not to have to run that tab. The liquor selection was quite good, and cocktails were generally well-mixed (I like 'em strong), but service could be hit-or-miss. ENTERTAINMENT: Awful. I love playing trivia and went to two trivia things which were both just...bleak. Karaoke was no better. Gave up on the comedy show after 10-15 minutes. Walked through a lounge where the "entertainment" was uncomfortably homophobic. Seriously? We're still doing this? Ugh. The cruise director was very difficult to understand over the ship's intercom system, to the extent that some of our party didn't know the muster drill was even underway until I telephoned them. They didn't sound the actual alarm until everyone had been standing in the assembly stations for 15 minutes or so. POOL: The pool is both saltwater and highly chlorinated and will absolutely melt your eyeballs right out of your head if you open up underwater. If anything on that ship deserves a cautionary sign, it's that pool. They never put deckchairs on the upper back deck away from the pool noise, which sucks, because that's the only place I actually wanted to sit on the deck because they played music at unendurably loud levels near the pool. I really hate listening to other people's music. STAFF: With a few conspicuous exceptions, the Sun's staff seemed very burnt-out. It's self-evident NCL needs to improve working conditions for its onboard staff. Everyone worked diligently, they all just seemed very exhausted. People need real time off. Period. CONCLUSION: I do sympathize with all the cruise lines that had to hastily change their itineraries, but this itinerary was just rubbish. Key West is ruined by a very late arrival and terribly inconvenient pier, Nassau is basically an enormous souvenir shop full of hustlers. A half-day at the lovely Grand Bahama Island just can't make up for that. Read Less

I wanted to try Norwegian. I have been on several cruises with Carnival and Royal Caribbean and MSC. The food in the buffet was terrible. The hallway to the cabins smelled terrible. The staff was rude and the casino cheated my husband out of $3500.00. We wasted our money and our time! When we got to Key West Norwegian wasted so much of our time to be at Key West. The food was terrible. To get any decent food you had to pay extra for it. The pool area was small and was always over crowded. The cruise line only has Pepsi products. I hate Pepsi products. The room steward kept interrupting is while we were resting or trying to get ready. He kept knocking on our door asking questions. Norwegian cruise line doesn't even make the cute towel animals. There was nothing done to make you feel special like the other cruise lines! Worst cruise ever!! Read Less

This particular cruise that we took was a re-route from Cuba. The price was good and I wanted to see Freeport which I hadnt seen in years. The Norwegian Sun is an older ship, but was surprisingly fun and very enjoyable. The nighttime shows were excellent with a huge cast and a very big stage. The only two things I didnt like was the casino which was so smokey I could only take it for 15 minutes. And for me the sports bar was pretty lame. Other than that things were pretty darn good. I loved Freeport. We took a taxi to the market and the driver then took us on to Lighthouse Point hotel. Price was $10 round trip per person, but I understand that taxi fare just went up a bit. There are a couple of day passes at Lighthouse Point hotel to choose from. We chose the $5.00 one which just gave us beach access and look around. There is also all inclusive and beach chairs etc. We walked through most of the Lucayan Beach resort areas and loved it as it had been years since we had stayed there. Most of the hotels are closed, but we still liked it. In Key West we took the air conditioned free city bus first as it was very hot at 1pm and got a feel for the the city and then took the Conch Train at $28.50 each and enjoyed that. In Nassau we took an excursion to the Zoo and saw the pink flamingos and also a tour of the city. It was well worth it for us. The food on board the ship was average in my opinion. Not terrific but certainly not bad either. Service was great. Overall I was very happy with just about everything especially the rooms 6208 and 6207. So nice to be able to sleep all night with no outside noise!!! Read Less

Great family and friends cruise. Food in the specialty restaurants were outstanding. Bar service was great. Stateroom service was fantastic. Stateroom was awesome. Very spacious. Free style dining was fabulous for me and our family. Plenty to do and didn’t have to do anything. Met a lot of nice people as well as the interesting ones. Beach in Freeport was fun. Family went jet skiing. Didn’t take advantage of the children’s area even though we registered and toured the area. There was so much for our grandson to do with us in Port and st the kids pool and family pool. He had a ball. It was great just knowing that service was there if we needed it. He totally enjoyed hanging with us. We celebrated his 4th birthday which was a couple days prior to our sailing. What a great time we all had. Embankment was outstanding. Luggage was in order. Outstanding process to get off the ship. Timely. Read Less

I got off the Norwegian Sun today after a 4 day cruise to the Bahamas with my mom. Are you ready for this tale? After boarding on the first day, nothing was open and the rooms weren't ready. When we went to the room, we were given a single bed even though we booked a double beds. We feared my mother's luggage was lost, since it was several hours without it at the room. I spoke with another guest who said that his luggage was put on the wrong ship. We tried to call our room attendant "Brianna", but the number was a busy signal. We called Guest Services, but the number was also busy. The luggage finally arrived around 9 PM while we were eating what tasted like frozen food or bad airplane food in the main dining hall. We then met our real room attendant who explained that the number didn't work because "she went home today on vacation." Not sure why they couldn't replace the card with the correct attendant's name and number? Shortly after eating/drinking on the ship, we would get horrible cramps. We did not know the cause until after looking up the symptoms on the internet today (the cruise charged $35 per device each day for WiFi) that we had contracted THE NOROVIRUS! Why did we contract the Norovirus? "Washy Washy" was not everywhere on the ship and we watched the workers clean the tables without gloves and without disinfectant. The ship was dirty and we saw crumbs on the floor and on the tables everywhere. The tables were cleaned with wet rags and food everywhere was not bussed. So much so, that seagulls would have feasts on the deck outside on the questionable food no one seemed to enjoy. Comfortable sleep did not happen because we didn't have working AC the entire trip. We called maintenance the first night to fix the AC, but there still was no cold air circulating in our room. We would feel cold air while passing other guests' rooms and in other parts of the ship. The repair man explained that the coldest our room was allowed to get is 73 degrees and the ship utilizes "chilled recycled ocean water." However, 73 degrees would have been tolerable unlike the 80 degree room that we had. We were sweating laying on top of the covers every night tossing and turning. Everytime we reached out to Guest Services, a person who could not understand English very well would get confused and tell us everything was fine. To make matters worse, our toliet would not flush and the sink constantly made a loud gurgling sound. The toliet was fixed a total of 4 times and the AC was "fixed" about the same amount if not more. The bathroom smelled of rank sewage, so we had to constantly spray hair spray in there to not gag every time we had to enter. The shower was also repaired twice, since only scalding hot water came out. We spoke with 4 other guests that claimed their room FLOODED! The toliet and shower eventually worked on the last day of the trip, but the AC never worked. We are leaving the trip completely exausted (and sick). The entertainment on the ship was beyond cheesy and usually involved the ship begging for more money. The ship's shops were desperate money grabs, much like the $5.50 bottle of Aquafina placed in our room to "tempt" us. The food was subpar and every meal oredered was taking a chance. During one dinner, I ordered French Onion soup because I thought how can you mess that up? Much to my suprise, that was bad too. The soup tasted like only beef stock and had no flavors of onion, salt, or bouillon. The ship also kept trying to pass off certain foods as gourmet. For example, one appetizer on the menu was "cream cheese and crab stuffed wonton with a sweet chilli sauce". Isn't that called, "crab rangoon"? We noticed a lot of interesting menu items that we believed to be recycled leftovers from other meals like adding bacon to sauerkraut. We picked snorkeling/beach day for our excursion in Freeport, Bahamas which came be to around $150. When we arrived to get on the bus for the excursion, we were informed that the snorkeling was canceled due to weather. The ship did not inform us earlier of this and instead loaded up a tour bus full of guests whom we suspect were charged the full amount for a 15 minute shuttle to the beach. Instead, we went back to the ship and asked for a refund. We then caught a taxi which only came to $14 for both of us. The White Party/Glow Party was held from 10:30 PM-12:00 AM the night before a port of call was 7 AM. The party took place by the pool deck and it was raining. The workers were squeegeeing the deck and the DJ was trying to get the crowd to come out from hiding from the rain. After the rain stopped, the crowd came out to dance and consisted mainly of small children. The DJ played EDM music for a bit, then switched to explicit rap much to the horror of the parents in attendance. They had a twerk contest on the stage and parents were taking their children to leave. A woman with a see through dress and a thong on got in the splits and began dancing like a stripper on the stage for everyone to see, kids and adults alike. There were other people on stage dancing that kept it clean, but she had to be pulled off stage because she was showing her buttcrack/vagina. There looked to be children watching as young as 5-12 years old. The DJ was blasting Cardi B songs and asked the crowd of kids to sing along to the explicitly laced lyrics. I left after that, since I had no interest in twerking around little kids. Small things such as crew members not knowing guests' names, no towel animals, and no drinks being served by the beach chairs were also a disappointment. We cruised with NCL in 2015 and had a fantastic time, so we suspect there must have been a restructuring within management. The cruise reaked of budget cuts and corporate greed. We suspect that the workers were paid very little and we were told that they rarely get to go home to their families in their home countries. Sorry if this was too much to read, but I did not want to spare any of the details. I posted this on NCL's Facebook page, but it was taken down by the moderators (suprise). Read Less

The food was bad, the waiter was good but there seemed to be no excitement from the staff. The freestyle meals are cold and not friendly. The smoke on the ship from the casino was horrible. You could smell it 2 floors down in the dining area. The staff on the ship were not educated on events and where to go many times we asked. We have cruises many times and this was probably the most disappointing cruise we have ever been on. Our cabin was nice and we enjoyed having a balcony but when we tried to sit out there the people in cabin 8051 were smoking. We were not told this ship allowed smoking or we would not have scheduled a cruise in this ship. The staff when we got off the ship in customs were very rude to everyone getting off of the ship. We will probably not cruise with Norwegian again. Read Less

This was by far the worst cruise I’ve ever been on. At the terminal the guest representative was handicapped deaf and could not hear or speak understandably. Horrible ship in terms of layout and maintenance. They had poor customer service where the representatives do not understand English and most of the times do not answer their phones. This ship had filthy conditions, it was a hot ship, and had cheesy entertainment. Don’t expect clean conditions, proper air conditioning, working toilets, or temperate shower water (scalding hot only) in your room. Our room card for our steward provided a number that didn’t work and was told that the individual was on vacation! We were informed by other workers. This Ship is always warm and you really don’t cool off from the heat. The crew members Nickel and dime you for everything and the drinks are awful. Don’t expect the free coffee, lemonade, or water to be good either. Coffee is instant, water tastes funny, and lemonade is questionable. The free at sea unlimited drinks is a joke and they don’t make good drinks. You also get 1 small cup at a time and there’s always a long line. Got sick from either the improper food handling or the free water because I wouldn’t spend $5.50 for a bottle of Aquafina. For the entertainment, it’s all very cheesy. The White dance party is gone and now it’s a Glo party which is supposably family friendly, but they have rap music blasting or play Cardi B asking guests to sing along songs with the F bombs for all the younger kids to hear while they have a twirking contest with a woman in a thong doing obscene things on stage! Hardly something your kids should see! And out by the pool they had a man strip literally rip off his shirt, grind and do obscene things on the judges and then strip and wore nothing but his underwear! Also all the adult entertainment is held late the night before you arrive in port at 7:00 AM, and then again on your final night when you arrive very early as well. Poor planning on Norwegian’s part. Cruise with another company, NCL has changed, and not for the better. This cruiseline has become total trash. Read Less

I cruised with a group for a 60th birthday. We had originally booked a 7 day cruise with a different cruise line but the ship needed to be dry docked and they canceled our cruise two weeks before we were set to sail. The Sun had availability so we booked the 5 day cruise for the same week as the original cruise. I saw this as a great opportunity to try a different cruise line and I was excited to see what Norwegian was all about. The best part of the cruise was the ease of getting on the ship day 1 and off the ship day 5. The food in the buffet areas was okay. The options of types of food was slim and was the same everyday. The hamburger patties were extremely greasy and the pizza was okay at best. The rooms were nice but the bathrooms were definitely smaller than the bathrooms on other cruise ships I have been on. I did enjoy all the shelves they provided in the room and bathroom to put stuff on. After discussing my experience with the others in my group, some of them got towel animals, my room did not (we all had balcony rooms). It's not that I needed the towel animals, but the quality of room service was obviously not consistent across the ship. There weren't many activities to participate in because you are at port every day and most areas of the ship shut down early every night. The staff picked up all the chairs on the Lido Deck so you couldn't even sit outside at night and enjoy the scenery on that deck. You could however go to the back of the ship and sit at tables outside but since that is the only place, finding a table and chairs is difficult because everyone else is there.There is only one lounge to just sit in and enjoy. Again, every thing shuts down early in the evening. The open bar...the consistency of the service you receive at the different bars is upsetting. I ordered a Michelada and I never knew what I was actually going to get. I also didn't know if I would have to MAKE MY OWN DRINK or not. I had one bar tender literally pour more than half a glass of tomato juice and hand me a beer (on the first day). I had another bar tender pour half a glass of Bloody Mary mix (which is fine) and hand me a beer (again, on the first day). I asked if I may have the other ingredients put in the drink and he gave me the ingredients to do it myself. WHAT?! I have to do their job for them?! I must say, I did find one or two bar tenders who did a great job at making my drink and I made sure to go back to those bar tenders for the rest of my trip. The one time I ordered a regular cocktail, there was so much alcohol in the drink that it wasn't enjoyable. And the amount of under-aged drinking that was on that ship was concerning. I never saw anyone ask to see an ID and since it is an open bar, scanning your room key was not needed. I can understand if an adult orders the drink and then gives it to their child, but to see an obvious under-aged person walk up to the bar and get a cocktail is an unnecessary liability on Norwegian's part. Dinner in the dining room was decent. The majority of the food was the same throughout the week. Something I am just not used to from previous cruises. However, the Brazilian Steakhouse was delicious! The service was great as well. Key West was fun as always. Nassau's main land was miserable because of the locals but Blue Lagoon island was fantastic. The island is a safe haven (conservation) for all things natural which is great. The excursion staff was fun and super nice and the equipment (chairs, segways, umbrellas, etc.) was very well taken care of. Grand Stirrup Cay was nice, nothing special. In both Blue Lagoon and Grand Stirrup Cay the food was extremely similar to what they served on the ship which was disappointing. The cruise director was not very good compared to what I am used to. You didn't see him very often, maybe because of the lack of activities. The communication regarding getting off the ship at Grand Stirrup Cay was structured and nice. There was no communication at the other locations at all regarding getting off the ship. We only realized we could get off when we looked down off the ship and saw others getting off. Lastly, while most of the staff was polite, the staff never took the time to create a relationship with us. Again, from past experiences on a different cruise line, the room staff, a few bar tenders, and the dining staff all new our names and certain aspects about my roommate and I. We just didn't have that on the Sun. Overall, I knew the cruise would be different but I was not expecting the quality to be as different as it was. While there were some good aspects of the experience, it was not enough to want to cruise with Norwegian again. Read Less

This was my first cruise since I had my son five years ago. My previous cruises have been with Carnival. I will start with the positives—embarkation and debarkation were way more efficient than my experience with prior cruises. The specialty dining was amazing. I really enjoyed the private island. It was pure bliss! Beautiful, peaceful and relaxing. Now for the negatives—- The customer service was absolutely terrible. The night we got there my room was filthy. Dust, hairs, unknown crusty stuff in drawers—it was awful! I made a complaint—and housekeeping came and cleaned. Still had crusty bits in drawers and stains on pillows. The room was very worn. Chopped wood in dresses a and closet. The bathroom sink had a screw hanging out. Our steward didn’t even bother to turn down our room or anything on our last night. While most of the staff was incredibly friendly, the workers at the the customer service desk were rude and dismissive. The entertainment was so so, and I was definitely bored by the third night. Read Less

Our 30th wedding anniversary, last minute decision. Worst decision ever. Went to the dining room only once because slow service, food cold and tasted like it was cooked the week before. Maurice the Bartender and staff were awesome, on deck 7, too bad the so called free drinks were a joke. I saw one customer from georgia drink at least 6 hennessey’s and he did not even get a buzz. I am not a drinker and i drank 5 pain killers and it was like i had five cups of koolaid. The bottled beer was weak too. We were definitely over charged for getting on that old tin can, which was nicely refurbished. does not have good shopping on board. Ncl was accommodating cruisers who were not able to cruise to cuba. So i feel we were overcharged for a four day cruise, as i have cruised on longer cruises with ncl. They really dropped the ball on the food they served 07/08/2019 thru 7/12/2019. Same stuff warmed over, sliced and diced, stewed and reused, over and over. Not the usual ncl food. Staff looked sad and beat down. Did not make for a pleasurable cruise. Then the cruise line wants customers to pay the staff salary through tips at the end of cruise. The cuba cruisers were given free cruise, money and 1/2 off next cruise according to the cruisers. So basically we felt like we were alone with other unsuspecting cruisers were paying for their trip. Ncl has lost its mind... Read Less

So first of all - I thought I had zero expectations. I booked Norwegian Sun for the open bar but I quickly realized that got old quick. This was my partner and my first getaway after having our child and our overall experience was just okay. Here are my thoughts: Check in and getting on board was super easy so definitely a positive. Once we got on, we were able to go explore and get a drink and lunch. We quickly realized that they weren't a lot of entertainment for us (since we aren't dancers/clubby people) The one thing we were looking forward to was the comedy show, however it was scheduled the 2nd night during dinner time and our dinner took WAY too long at Seven Seas so we missed that. Our 3rd night, we saw it back again at 10:30pm the final night, however our specialty dinner didn't get done till 10:45pm so we missed the beginning. We were disappointed with the food on the ship. Buffet dinner was not appetizing and dessert kept running out. Sports bar - small menu it took forever to get the food or they forget it and then it is SUPER COLD by the time you receive it. Evening dinner was great and the hibachi was just average. We definitely had better hibachi for the same price. We noticed a handful of leaks on the ship (one at the sports bar and the other on deck 12) which made the carpet super wet and a total hazard. Our stateroom (picture window) was small but cozy. However our drain in our shower was not working which resulted to over spilling into the floor of the bathroom which was so annoying!! Great Stirrup - one of the islands I was so looking forward to visiting but as soon as we got there - boy it STUNK! It was so smelly from the pigs it was unbearable. As soon as I thought I got used to it - BAM you'd smell pig poop again. Was horrible. Bartenders were not that great and I felt they were just throwing liquor in a cup to get people to go away. A lot of the bartenders were annoyed by Day 2 on the ship. There was snarky comments that they were giving the guests. I don't blame them but you have an open bar that is what you get. I don't feel anything was communicated on how to leave - we couldn't hear the cruise director over the intercom because everything sounded muffled. If we didn't check our app we wouldn't have known what to do. I sprained my ankle on the stairs and went to the medical center to ask if they have a wrap they said they are closed and to come back in 6 hours after we depart or they'd have to charge me $75 for an emergency visit. I was a little pissed off - came back and she literally just got up and got me an ace bandage - I am like seriously?? You could have done this earlier. Also if you have your period, you have to go every where looking for tampons since the gift store doesn't open until the ship is moving. Frustrating. On the last night, in the middle of the night, our cabin started reeking of the smell of poop. It was so disgusting. Finally, disembark day - apparently my partner had been flagged to be stopped for a "random check." It was absolutely embarrassing on how they handled it and thought we were criminals getting escorted off the ship. We have traveled many times but that has never happened. Read Less

From the time we checked in on the dock. Till the time we left NCL and the crew on the sun was great our room attendant moomant went above and beyond. Every morning asking us if we had any needs . His attention to detail was great and his towel animals were awesome my daughter loved to come back every night to see what he had made. Miss Emma at the buffet on the 11th floor remembered my daughters name since the first day a greeted her every morning. The food was service at the buffet and at the restaurants were great too. I only have one complaint. That my cruise was too short. All in all the cruis from beginning to end was a great experience even though we didn’t get to go to Cuba. Or to Norwegian’s private island Read Less

This was our first cruise and it was amazing! We had a great time. The staff was awesome. We had fresh towels twice a day, room tided up and bed made. everyone greeted us every morning and through out the day asked how things were for us. Anytime we had questions we received answers right away. Everything was super clean and very well organized. Our shore excursions were very nice and easy to book. The entertainment and activities were so much fun. Music shows, games, comedy show, and parties. When we got to the port it was so easy and quick to get through to the ship and we were instructed what to do. we had lunch as soon as we boarded and then went to our cabin. Our bags were delivered within an hour. It was such a great first cruise and we are looking at our schedule for our next NCL cruise!!!!! Read Less