We usually cruise on Holland America, but this time we were with a large group and they were using Norwegian. We really hesitated to go because we had heard some things about Norwegian that led us to believe it was noisy, crowded and not good service. We were very much surprised that the Norwegian Sun had none of this. We like Holland America because it's a more traditional cruising experience and not as many children.
Embarkation - Very quick and efficient. We arrived at the terminal a little after 11 AM. Our luggage was taken and we went up to check in - very quick and the personnel were very pleasant. We met our friends up there, and we were called to board shortly before noon. The staterooms weren't ready yet, so we had lunch in the Four Seasons restaurant. It was nothing spectacular, but it was good. I had a tuna salad sandwich that was enough for 2 people to eat, and tasty.
We then went up to our rooms, and they were ready then. We had a mini-suite on Deck 11. The room and balcony weren't as large as our HAL mini-suites, but it was good sized. We had a king bed. The room had a small sofa and a built in wall-unit with a flat-screen TV, a desk, shelves and small refrigerator. The balcony was only large enough for 2 small chairs and a small table (on HAL we had 2 chairs, 2 lounge chairs and a larger table, with room to walk around). The bathroom on the Sun was large - started with the closet with more than enough room to hang all of our clothes and store our 3 pieces of luggage. There were also several drawers and a cupboard with the safe. Next was the sink and a small makeup area with a chair, then there was a door to the bathtub/shower and toilet. The bathroom was well-maintained and tastefully decorated. My only complaint with the bathroom was that the tub was incredibly high - I'm short (5'3") and it was difficult to step into the tub to take a shower.
We had a mini-suite on Deck 11. The room and balcony weren't as large as our HAL mini-suites, but it was good sized. We had a king bed. The room had a small sofa and a built in wall-unit with a flat-screen TV, a desk, shelves and small refrigerator. The balcony was only large enough for 2 small chairs and a small table (on HAL we had 2 chairs, 2 lounge chairs and a larger table, with room to walk around). The bathroom on the Sun was large - started with the closet with more than enough room to hang all of our clothes and store our 3 pieces of luggage. There were also several drawers and a cupboard with the safe. Next was the sink and a small makeup area with a chair, then there was a door to the bathtub/shower and toilet. The bathroom was well-maintained and tastefully decorated. My only complaint with the bathroom was that the tub was incredibly high - I'm short (5'3") and it was difficult to step into the tub to take a shower.Problems with the room - really only 2. The bed was extremely hard - we had our steward bring an egg crate topper and it took 2 to make the bed comfortable enough to sleep on. The other problem was that the upholstery was worn, close to thread-bare and stained.Our room steward, Kelly, was the best. Our room was cleaned and made-up quickly every morning. When we saw him in the hall he always asked if we needed something, and he was very quick to deliver whatever we needed. A very personable young man