Norwegian Sun Review

4.0 / 5.0
2,168 reviews

Nice, Smaller Ship

Review for South America Cruise on Norwegian Sun
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Stealthdog
6-10 Cruises • Age 40s

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Sail Date: Dec 2018
Cabin: Penthouse with Balcony

We were quite happy with this cruise. It was a repositioning cruise from Miami, through the Panama Canal, to Santiago, Chile. This was our first suite experience and had a fantastic time. This was the smallest ship we have been on, with a little less than 2,000 passengers. The ship itself was very easy to get around and never had a feeling of being overcrowded. We would absolutely recommend the Sun, depending on what is important to people below.

Itinerary/Ports: The reason we booked the cruise was because the itinerary was completely new to us. After the sailing, we would absolutely do it again. For the most part the ports are ugly looking, commercial shipping ports. Once we left the port, we were very happy. Because so few cruise ships stop at these locations, it did not feel like we were being shuffled through the same, tired tourist, commercialized trap ports found in the Caribbean. We were able to get some good, authentic experiences, and felt like we were off the beaten path in many of the stops. On the flip side, the ports still seemed immature and still learning how to offer a wide-range of fun things to do for a couple of thousand of tourists only there for 5-12 hours. Ports included Cartagena and Santa Marta (Colombia), Manta (Ecuador), Trujillo and Lima/Callao (Peru), and Arica, Coquimbo, and San Antonio/Santiago (Chile). At three of the ports we saw some great wildlife - sea lions, dolphin pods, and a walrus. The Panal Canal Transit was outstanding and I would highly recommend to anyone. Seeing the locks and how they are done to lift and lower the ships was awesome. There were a couple of ports we only had 5-6 hours at - in general, I would recommend going through the ship for excursions for any port with that little time, unless there is a nice little town/beach right off the ship. This itinerary did not have those nice little port villages/beaches at the port.

Food: We tried the Main Dining Room three times for dinner and then stopped going. Every night there seemed to be some kind of issue with temperature, quality, or options. The menu itself seemed very boring and repetitive. If we went more, we probably would have just returned food we didn't like or wasn't cooked right. Because we were in a suite, we were able to go to Cagneys for breakfast and lunch every day. After our dining packages ran out, we just paid ala carte at the specialty dining restaurants the rest of the cruise. We found all of the specialty restaurants to be good to excellent. Cagney's was probably the best - the meats were also cooked correctly. This was probably the best lamb I have ever had. Bistro was also very good. There were a couple of items I tried I didn't care for, but most of the menu was outstanding. The menu on La Cucina changed from our last sailing and I think we liked the older menu better. The new menu included some pizza options. We were pleasantly surprised by Los Lobos - we ended up going there three times. We did not have one item we didn't like. My favorite was the stuffed poblanos. We did Sushi one night - the Sushi on the Sun was better than the experiences we had on Celebrity's Sushi on Five. Moderno was ok - probably our least favorite of the options. It did not seem as good (quality of the cuts and options at the salad bar) as other ships, and we are spoiled with several Brazilian Steakhouses where we live that are much better. We did not go to the Teppanyaki - it looked like it was usually full, but we've done that so many times that the show the chef does is not exciting any more. Our only real gripe was the Sun does not have the Irish Pub, but has the Sports Bar instead. The menu and food at the Sports Bar was much worse than our experiences with the Pub and its not open as long. We never went to the buffet, so can't provide feedback with that.

Cabin Review

Penthouse with Balcony

Cabin SG

This was a first suite and we were very happy with it. The bathroom was very large - there was a separate tub with jets and another shower. Toilet area and the shower only space were small. Lots of space inside, with dual sinks and tons of cabinet space. The bathroom area also included a quasi-walk in closet - lots of hanging space and drawers to clothes so you don't have to clutter the living/sleeping area with clothes. The balcony was also large, with two sun chairs and a table with a couple of chairs. It was forward facing, but we never had any wind issues.

Port Reviews

Cartagena (Colombia)

Took a taxi to the old town. Very easy city to get around.

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