Norwegian Sun Review
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We were on the 11 day Southern Caribbean Sun Thanksgiving week cruise and had a wonderful time! This was our 2nd cruise with NCL - the other being on the Star. We have also cruised Disney, RC, and the now defunct Premiere.
Ship - Yes, it's older and smaller but it's in great shape and it's obvious that the crew works hard to keep it that way. I often saw crew replacing, repainting or repairing areas on the ship. It doesn't have the WOW factor of larger ships either in terms of amenities or décor but it is pleasantly furnished and a comfortable home away from home. I loved the Observation Lounge on deck 12 Forward. I also loved the Great Outdoors at the rear of the ship for a wonderfully pleasant place to eat buffet meals (and the two buffet lines there that were never crowded because everyone was at the buffet inside, lol.). Though, of course, loungers by the pool were in demand, I never had trouble finding a open lounger if I went away from the pool a little ways. Personally, I liked that I could easily walk the length of the ship in a short amount of time, especially if I was running around trying to track down my teens! We were told that the ship was full but it certainly didn't feel like it. It never seemed crowded and we never had to wait more than a couple minutes for a table in the MDR.
Cons - the layout is quirky and takes a little getting used to. It's a railroad style architecture where the spaces all connect in a line to each other and you have to walk through one to get to the next. The only area where this is really inconvenient is on deck 7 where everyone (including kids) has to walk THROUGH the casino from the atrium to get to the shops and theatre beyond it. Also, since the casino is right off the atrium, smoke from the casino infiltrates the atrium but this is really only a problem on deck 7. On deck 6, you have to walk through Dazzles night club to get to the photo gallery, library and theatre. This was only a problem at night when the nightclub would get crowded or when there were shows with "adult" content that parents might not want their kids passing through to hear.
Cabin Review
Our cabins were spacious with tons of storage space. The beds are elevated with plenty of room to stash suitcases underneath. The lighted closet is large and had multiple bins in it. There is a full size mirror on one of the doors. The bathroom had 3 cubbies on either side of the mirror so lots of storage for sundries there as well. The shower was small but met our needs fine. There is a hairdryer on the wall in the bathroom. There was a loveseat-size sofa that pulled out to a bed. It was a nice little sitting area. Across from the loveseat is a desk/vanity area with a lighted mirror, a flat screen TV, 3 pull-out drawers and multiple shelves. There is also a mini-fridge. There is no pull down bed in these rooms. The cabins were quiet. We never heard our neighbors at all. They are on the hall with the kid's club/teen club so we did get some noise from teens going back and forth and on a sailing with lots of kids, there would be potential noise from families taking their kids to the club. Access to the stairs/elevators was quick and easy. If you don't mind walking through the smoke of the casino, you can walk to the balcony of the Stardust theatre which is on the same level.