This was my first time cruising it wasn’t what I was expecting but I made the best of it I will say it’s all inclusive except if u want better food and more selections of space it caters to passengers spending more money. I don’t recommend this ship for kids wasn’t much for my little sister to do she is 11 so I recommend traveling adult only for this ship the excursions were terrible the fact the boat doesn’t dock at select ports the process of getting to destination was horrible and took half the day also if traveling don’t get the one going to Belize it’s faux and man manmade water was dirty and the shops were overly priced but Mexico was better it’s legit and boat actually docks there which was better the service was great food wasn’t the best except late night snack the musicals were the best I have seen omg must see performing arts at its best also formal night is just for photography sales there no party except white hot party this was best party ever spinnaker is the best lounge so stay on airplane mode and stay busy do not stay in cabin you will be disappointed Read Less

This was my first cruise and it was my first trip with just my daughter. Everything about the cruise was amazing. The crew were very friendly and helpful. The cabin was wonderful, always clean and everything we needed. The food was delicious and great verity of foods and the restaurants were always very clean and the staff was very attentive. All of the entertainment was awesome. Everyone was so talented. The comedian was the best, we couldn’t stop laughing. The trivia games were very challenging, but fun. The activities staff was great and very friendly. The pools were wonderful and it was not too hard to find two spots to lay by the pool and relax. The ports were beautiful with so much to see and do. We did the scuba diving excursion And we loved it. The instructor was very informative and made sure we were ready to go and the coral reef was so incredible. The shops were also great on board and off at the ports. Read Less

We booked a NCL cruise because it came highly recommended by past cruisers of NCL, past passengers on the Sun, as well as NCL crew that we are friends with. We love cruises because of the ease of travel as well as a general expectation of superb service. Unfortunately, we did not find this on our cruise on the Sun. Once we arrived at the terminal we were met by a porter who was extremely rude and said "for $10 I may not lose your bag on the pier" after we had tipped him $5 for 2 bags. We had a hard time getting answers after we booked on what our specialty dining package got us. We only found out that it was just 2 meals once we got to the check in desk and not 5 that our deal was supposed to have. Check in was smooth after our questions were answered. The waiting area for boarding was very hot and there was big containers that looked like they were for water, tea, lemonade, etc but were not filled. Once on board we were sent around the outside of the ship on deck 6 and we were trying to find the easiest way to get to the buffet but we couldn't find any staff that could point us in the right direction after the security staff checking guests onto the ship. Once we wandered around and found the buffet, a lot of the food was out and was not being refilled. This was right around 1pm while everyone was trying to eat. The line was not organized at all which led to confusion and some other passengers getting hostile with one another. We decided to go to a bar to let the craziness at the buffet die down but were only met with more confusion. This trend with the bar staff seemed to continue though out the entire cruise. We had the premium beverage package so we should have had access to basically all liquor on board. The bartenders seemed to have no idea what the Premium package consisted of verses what everyone else on board got. We were denied things that were clearly stated on the list of premium list multiple times. Along with the bar scenario, the idea of all passengers getting open bar ended up being pretty miserable (New Ship's all inclusive model). This led to all of the bars being impossible to get to especially the pool bars. It wasn't until the last day at sea that the crew started putting out more little cart bars to handle the load. We understand that the dining situation on NCL is different than the other cruise lines that we have experienced but the dinning experience we had, overall, was pretty bad. The servers we had in the Seven Seas dining room were all poor (Minus the guy we had the last night, Arjun). On 3 different occasions (1 dinner, 2 breakfasts) we waiting 10+ minutes to be approached by a waiter after being sat. Once being sat, it seemed that we were an annoyance for not having or entire order ready even before speaking to the server. We were told we could only have either the house red or white wine (despite having the beverage package) on 2 different nights. Food was never great in the main dining room. Either not hot or could tell had been under a warmer getting soggy for a while. We ate at Cagney's steakhouse one night. The porterhouse steak I had was actually not as good as the sirloin I had in the main dining room. Steak was ordered medium rare and came medium well/well done. It had already taken a long time to get our food so we didn't bother sending it back. We did, however, have a great experience at Teppanyaki. Food was great. Atmosphere was great and the service was the glimmer of good service we had onboard. Another disappointing experience was the pool and chairs on the pool deck. There was no where near enough chairs to support the amount of people that wanted chairs. People were going out and setting up towels on chairs before 7am and leaving them there all day and never showing up despite the literature saying that you cannot reserve chairs for longer than 30mins. When we asked the crew about this they said "there is nothing that we can do". There ended up being people laying on the ground and sitting against walls due to the lack of chairs. We ended up seeing multiple confrontations between passengers over chairs. The worst experience of the trip was the tendering situation to Harvest Caye. We were in group 7 to tender off the ship and were not about to get off the ship until 12:30p after being anchored since 7a. Once our tender group was called we still had to wait in the stair case on the way down to Deck 3 for 45 mins. Once we were on the island (1:30p) everything was so crazy expensive ($10 for a bottle of beer on the beach from an approved vendor). We were told that the last tender back was at 5:30p so we arrived back to the tender pier at 4:30p to make sure we had plenty of time. We were met with a line that weaved through the entire shopping village area. We ended up waiting a total of 55 minutes to get onto a tender back to the boat. This is absolutely insane and the tender situation definitely ruined our experience in Harvest Caye. Finally, our flights were booked through NCL and our flight down was fine arriving in MIA around 10a. Our flight back however was booked for 5pm out of FLL. With the last time to disembark being 9am, we were left to sit in the waiting area of the airport all day waiting for a flight. Once our flight was assigned, I reached out to NCL to see if we could get our flight moved up to a sooner time but were told that it wasn't possible even though Delta's website showing plenty of availability for the same price on earlier flights. The entire experience with NCL was super disappointing because we had such high hopes for cruising a new cruise line. What is the most disappointing is that the ship (Sun) was in amazing condition. We loved how clean and updated the ship and staterooms (Balcony) were as well. The layout of the ship was very nice as well as the lounges being inviting and fun atmospheres. The Great Outdoors Dining area is an awesome feature where we spent a lot of time. The service on board, however, dwarfed all of these nice amenities. It just seemed that no one in the crew had any idea what was going and that there was mass confusion at all times and in result led to us feeling that we were an afterthought or annoyance to the crew. Read Less

We choose this cruise for it 5 night itinerary because it went to Belize and we were very excited to get out on their famous reef. DISEMBARKATION WAS AN ABSOLUTE DISASTER! Another ship was at the pier, the Norwegian Escape, so our ship had to tender ashore. Apparently this had never been done because it took over 3 hours in lines for us to get off the ship. We have cruised at least a dozen times and never experienced anything like this. There was zero communication from the ships officers and NONE OF THEM WOULD EXPLAIN. To top it off, when we finally got ashore, it was too late to go into town and get out on the reef. We had read reviews that the cruise lines snorkeling excursion was more for beginners and we are experienced snorkelers and were planning on a more exciting day trip. We resigned ourself to a nice day at the beach, but it wasn't a nice beach. It was an OVERCROWDED, man-made ugly beach with coarse sand and murky water...... As for the two sea days, there are not sufficient chairs onboard for the passengers, so a day of relaxing in the sun was virtually impossible unless you went down at 8 am and didn't leave your chair unattended. I literally saw 2 men almost come to blows over a chaise lounge by the pool. There was plenty of room on the upper deck for more chairs so why not put more up there so everyone could relax????? The food in the buffet was below average, the food in the restaurants and main dining room however was very good. As far as the open bar, the drinks were mostly good but waiters by the pool were few and inattentive. Entertainment was also lacking. The cruise director was no one to be found. Not fun at all. The only enjoyuable entertainment was the comedian. We enjoyed our snorkel excursion-beach day in Costa Maya. It was the highlight of the trip. Overall, I would think seriously before going on this ship. Choose another. Read Less

I picked this cruise rather last minute, which for me is unusual. I am usually the deal hunter who books in advance. In fact I still have a booking for Carnival Magic in December 2019 that was already booked when I found this cruise. This cruise fell into spring-break for my kids schools. We had originally planned to vacation at Destin on the outer bank, and my wife had submitted her vacation request as far back as last November. Unfortunately they did not approve her vacation until 2 weeks before spring break. We actually booked this cruise early march and had resigned ourselves that she would have to put in her 2-weeks notice if it came down to it, as that is required in order to get re-hired there. It was rediculous. Needless to say the condo's we were looking at had become unavailable by mid january. This was the only cruise that happened to have a schedule that did not require leaving school days early or arriving after classes had resumed. Given its last minute nature the pricing was not too egregious, but I am sure booking earlier might have yielded better results. This was the fifth cruise I had sailed on and subsequently the 5th distinct ship as well. In the order of sail date I have sailed on: Carnival Victory, Allure of the Seas, Brilliance of the Seas, Carnival Liberty, and now Norwegian Sun. We were excited by the free open bar and the free-at-sea upgrade to the ultimate beverage package. We usually get the drink package on all our cruises, as they not only get you premium wines and sprits, but also those special irish coffees and mochas, as well as bottled water. My first bar experience was the Atrium Cafe and Bar. Having the Ultimate Beverage Package (UBP) I looked over the menu to find a decent Cabernet. They only listed one wine that wasnt just a generic name 'cabernet'. It was a Simi Cabernet, which is a fairly decent $20 bottle at most retail stores. Some excuse from the bartender about not having come up from the stock room yet. This was his excuse also on Day 2 and Day 3. Ironically this was a similar excuse at other bars EXCEPT for the Observation lounge, who had Simi available on the first night at sea. The 'house' cabernet they kept trying to pass off ..... Livingston. This stuff is worse than franzia. Its normally sold in JUGS. I have no idea how they got these 750ml screw-top bottles. To upgrade someone to the UBP and then deny them any premium wine is just plain wrong. They listed 6 different premium tequila, gin, and vodka's. But if you were a wine drinker they just wanted to serve swill. DAy 2 my wife came to another realization regarding the bait-and-switch nature of the UBP. BTW when you get your free upgrade they still make you pay the gratuities (20%) of its essential value. This means that not only are you paying an increased daily gratuity on your cabin ($20.50/pp/day instead of $15) but you're essentially paying another $6/pp/day for those with the UBP. My wife goes down to the Cafe to get a specialty coffee. These are supposed to be included like every other cruise line as long as you dont go to the starbucks counter. Well they only have ONE cafe on the whole ship and even though its not starbucks, thats the only kind of coffee they serve. So another bait-and-switch lie. She found out when they charged her account $6.50. Later on day 2 I noticed everyone complaining that ALL the bars kept denying them bottled water even though the UBP includes that. They claimed they were out. Its an unlimited open bar cruise. To not have water is purely irresponsible considering the risk of dehydration and alcohol poisoning. It wasnt until I complained to management about the wine, coffee and water did it get rectified on day 3. Their plan was to deflect and excuse until it was too late and assume the guests would just go along with it. Day 3 had the whole ship angry. Harvest Cay clearly says no tenders on the information. We and everyone was told no tenders. So guess what? Info in the Freestyle schedule talked about tender tickets. My wife calls the customer service desk, gets fed a lie about low ocean levels. The NCL Sun weighs 78,000 GT, its the lightest ship in their fleet. The fact that the NCL Getaway weighs 147,000 GT and was tied up to the peer blew that story out of the water. Heavier ships sit DEEPER in the water. its called submerged displacement for a reason. So our 10am peer time turned into sitting around for an extra 2hrs before the first passenger got off the ship. They only had 3 tenders and they were taking too long to cycle. They needed 6 tenders so they could get people moving faster. The lines consisted of 15min periods where nothing moved. The last group made it to shore at 2pm for a all-aboard 5:30pm departure. UNACCEPTABLE. IF that was not enough the captain of the NCL Getaway did the most irresponsible, dangerous, maneuver you could imagine. I was on the tender at 4:30 returning to the ship when the Getaway starts backing out of port. We were next to the ship trying to get off when that IDIOT captain spun up his engines to rotate at flank speed (full speed) it sent such a turbulent wake our tender kept crashing into the ship repeatedly. My daughter (16) and son (9) had litterally just stepped off the tender when this happened. They were not 6 feet in front of me when we had to hold on and try not to capsize. My son (handicapped) standing there crying and terrified that he is watching his parents die right in front of him because this IRRESPONSIBLE captain could not wait till the tenders were clear of collision before tearing out of port at break-neck speed. It was bad enough he came along and screwed us out of the peer, but letting him leave first??? Should have made his butt stay at the peer until ALL tenders were completed. Had I been on that ship I would have charged up to the bridge and relieved him of duty myself (possibly more than just that) I have the martial acumen to back it up and endangering peoples lives unnecessarily is unacceptable. He should not have command and NCL policy should state that peered ships must remain in port as long as tendering operations are underway if within 1 nautical mile of the anchored ship. Read Less

We chose this cruise because it was during our kids spring break. I wanted a real vacation from cooking, cleaning, grocery shopping. We got a great deal and it included our airfare from Detroit to Miami. Being a former Carnival Cruise Line employee I was excited to see what NCL would be like. Embarkation: The NCL staff were friendly and very efficient at the Miami airport. We got on the transfer shuttle to the pier with no problems. Embarkation staff were great too. We got thru quickly and went to our cabin and dropped off bags. We had a aft balcony cabin on deck 10 which was perfect. The buffet is on deck 11 so it was super convenient and our kids (ages 10 and 11) felt comfortable going there by themselves too. It was our kids first time cruising. I have to admit I wasn't sure if they would like it, but they had a blast. Once they discovered the basketball court thats all they wanted to do. Its close to the pool on deck 11 so we could keep an eye on them. Dining: We ate breakfast and lunch at the buffet on deck 11 every day. And we ate in the dining room for dinner. I am very picky about food and I have to say I was impressed. I thought it was very good. Everything was fresh and flavorful. The only "bad" experience I had was having fish & chips in the sports bar- they were barely luke warm. Ports: We went to Belize (Harvest Caye) and Costa Maya (Mexico). Belize was ok. We went ashore and went to the pool for 1.5 hours. Another NCL ship was in port with us and it was very crowded. Our son had a bad sunburn so we decided to stay onboard the next day in Costa Maya. It was great to be onboard with very few guests. Entertainment: we did not see the shows Cabin: nicely updated, lots of space to store suitcases and drawers for clothing, etc. The only complaint I would say is that the pull out sofa that our kids slept on was hard as a rock. I can't imagine an adult sleeping on it. Overall it was an amazing cruise! We already put a deposit down on a future cruise- Yah!!! Read Less

I booked this cruise primarily for my mom as she wanted to celebrate her 78th birthday on a short cruise. We sailed on April 1st on a 6 day cruise with stops at Harvest Caye Belize and Costa Maya Mexico. EMBARKATION - smooth and fast. BALCONY ROOM - my parents and I stayed in room 8238 which is in a middle of the ship. It was roomy enough for us and there was plenty of storage space. The bathroom is tiny but the water pressure is good and we had an amazing room steward. I slept on the couch and after the 1st day requested a foam mattress, which was provided, as well as the robes. The room was cleaned twice a day and supplies replenished, even the tea bags. FACILITIES ON BOARD - There were plenty of bars and restaurants, as well as a game room, casino, theater, library, internet cafe, night clubs, lounges, spa, sports deck and a pool deck. There were about 2000 people on board but did not feel crowded at all. RESTAURANTS - we did not do a buffet as my parents do not get around well. We ate at their 2 main free restaurants (Seven Seas and Four Seasons) for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We did have lunch at Moderno once - they make great pizza to order FOR FREE during lunch, then it turns into a Brazilian steakhouse for dinner(NOT FREE.) We also ate at Cagney's - for some reason that night everything was too salty. We also had my mom's birthday at the Le Bistro - the food was great as was the service. The service was great at all the restaurants that we frequented. The food was decent, better than expected. ENTERTAINMENT - the shows were ok, my favorite was the WORLD TOUR - they had skits from different parts of the world. The comedian was decent, but the rest so so. The casino was ok for me did not lose too much. They had many venues where they had 2 or 3 people playing or singing different types of music, from Caribbean, Latin, jazz to classical. Very well done and everyone found something they liked to listen to. I spent a lot of time in their nightclub after dinner and a show trying to work off some calories, but still came back 5 pounds heavier. They also had a HOT WHITE PARTY on pool deck but it was too windy for me, but the music was great. HARVEST CAYE - they cruise line screwed up there - it was a tender port for us because there were 2 other ships there so we had to wait a long time. I got the tender tickets at 8:30 and got on the boat at 1:00 pm. Ruined the plans for me totally. I was able to get to the beach only and had a little walk about the port. It was very well made, and had everything for a price, drinks, food, entertainment and goodies. The beach and pool were great and had a lot of lounge chairs to accommodate the crowds. The water in both was great for me and I was able to find the shade too. COSTA MAYA - here we did not tender so were able to disembark at will. I was able to grab a taxi and head into town. There you can have a great meal, drinks, swim or a message by the Crazy Lobster for $20 an hour. Amazing day spent there. The water at the beach was crystal clear and warm for this time of the year (early April.) Taxi costs $8.00 one way not per person - so if more people go, the cheaper it gets. DISEMBARKATION - we had breakfast, grabbed our luggage and were off the ship and through customs in an hour. OVERALL IMPRESSION - you get what you pay for and a little more with NCL. No its not the newest ship, nor the most modern, nor is the spa on par with NCL Getaway (not even close) but the personnel are great, the entertainment good, the food is better than expected and fun was had by all. Try them and enjoy. Read Less

This was mine and my husbands first cruise and our honeymoon. We were sold a drink package on a free-drink cruise. The food was horrible. We never had any wait-staff ask if we needed anything or how we were. Everything started with a 30-60 minute wait in a line. We were only left 1 wash cloth a day in our room. We never made an evening show because dinner would take 2-3 hours. My husband and I are up and out of our room early (5:30-6am) and the upper decks were always a mess - everyday! Beer bottles, wine glasses, plastic glasses, just trash/mess everywhere. We should have had 100 minutes of wifi - never happened and never could catch the IT person on board. One of our excursions we were unable to make due to Norwegian messed something up with the tender boats. Second stop our excursion was cancelled. This cruise was our first and last! So sad that we had looked so forward to our honeymoon cruise! I am so thankful that we are able to have fun anywhere or this could have been much worse. Norwegian really let us down! Horrible everything. Read Less

I booked the Sun cruise just two weeks before flying to Santiago, Chile to start this unique, fabulous memory 16 day cruise. I was also leaving the next day to fly to LAS from FL for a couple of days and then on to LAX to go on the NCL Star for a 8 day Mexican Riviera cruise, so I only had 5 days at home between these two fabulous cruises. Both of these cruises were enhanced with perfect weather, especially with all the time I was out on the top deck taking in (and capturing photos) the crossing of the Panama Canal. Our ports in Peru were eye openers to me with the poor living conditions. I had opportunities to go inside their churches - they were simple but also beautiful. As in almost all my cruises with NCL, I met wonderful, interesting and friendly people - both as other passengers and employees. As a solo, senior, female that is very important to me. The Star was even more enjoyable (SO many great eating areas with the Garden Cafe) than when I was on her back in September of 2016 for a 14 day repositioning from Copenhagen to Denmark doing Norway, Faroe and Shetland Islands, Iceland, Scotland and Dublin (my favorite). I DO enjoy NCL cruising! Read Less

1.Excursions were poor: a. One poor English-speaking guide without a microphone for 40 people If your in the back of the bus you hear nothing. b. Excursions were not as advertised. I paid over $260 to go to an island to get pictures of South American birds but we never got on the island we were to go to and I feel very cheated. c. The setup for boarding excursions is poorly organized.They tell you to meet in the ship's auditorium at a certain time and then have wait for almost a hour before your tour is called for disembarking. I was the first to show up but was often the last to get out of the room for lack of tour directors organization skills. 2.Overall,the entertainment was good. The best entertainment on the ship was the three classical string players yet they were never given a space to handle the crowds who wanted to hear them. Furthermore, they were put next a bar with loud speaking and sometimes intoxicated people which totally destroyed the listening experience even if you could find a seat. 3. The food was mediocre at best! The head chef should be fired. He provided the the worst entree choices I have ever had on a cruse ( I have been on 15). The onion soup was little more than hot water ( I found no onions nor cheese). Thank goodness, the bred and desert chefs were excellent. 4. You need to have a setup for (equipment, lines and nets) for pickle ball. It is the fastest growing sport for seniors. 5.The cabin and dinning room service was excellent! 6. Bridge instruction and play was enjoyable, however, we were assigned to a play in an area with only small tables. Read Less