The NCL Sun is fighting the aging of the seas quite well. Public areas are kept up to high standards, though some might consider them dated. Cabins, quite the opposite. The dating shows, and only major remodeling will fix some of the "patches" that are being implemented.
The main dining rooms are very nice, service is just delightful....but the dinner menu is well below average when compared ...
A brief background on this cruise is in order before commencing the review. The NCL Sun was originally scheduled for a two week drydock in San Francisco. For reasons known only to NCL, that drydock was shortened to one week. This led to the creation of an unusual Alaska cruise itinerary and an unusually good deal for an Alaskan cruise. Instead of the usual departure points of Seattle or Vancouver, ...
Embarkation
My timing was perfect to miss most of the crowd getting on the ship. I was on the ship my noon in time for lunch.
Somehow I missed the porters so I took my own suitcase on. Had to drag it around with me as our rooms were not ready until sometime after 2 pm but that’s Ok, my suitcase isn’t big.
Food:
Well, I guess cruise lines like you to pay extra for those specialties ...
We took the cruise out of San Francisco where the ship had been in dry dock for 5 weeks. We expected everything to be refreshed and new. Unfortunately, the dry dock repairs were not completed. This created a one-day delay in the sail date. We didn't mind that so much since NCL provided hotel accommodations for an additional day in San Francisco. It gave us an opportunity to visit the Academy ...
Flew to San Francisco 2 days before our scheduled cruise departure, to see the sights around the area. Wanted to be there because too many things can go wrong flying in the same day as the cruise. This way we are rested rested and ready to board at our scheduled time. The problem was NCL gave us the notice of delaying departure by 1 day, less than 24 hours of our scheduled boarding time. We were ...
We had two balcony cabins for the PoA cruise in March 2016 to bring her from dry dock in San Francisco back to Honolulu for her usual year-round island hopping. Departure was delayed by one day as the bad weather in SFO impacted some of the renovations. Boarding at Pier 27 was the most chaotic and unprofessional procedure that I ever had to witness, it took us 3,5 hours to get on the ...
This was our second time on the POA as Hawaii is a favorite destination for us. It offers the best itinerary and is the most relaxing way to see all the islands, offering overnights in Maui and Kauai, two ports on Hawaii, and an hours long sail by of the Na Pali coast which I don't believe anyone else offers. POA is the only cruise ship which sails strictly inter island and weekly, year round. ...
Have taken this cruise 3 times now. Usually from HNL to HNL. Last time from San Francisco as POA was in dry dock for refurbishment. Gave us 5 sea days which I badly needed. (4 with a small delay because rain hampered NCL from finishing work) BUT they made good for the small delay with credit for the 1 day delay, 50% credit back what we paid for Hawaii cruise toward future cruise, and hotel in SF ...
This was our 4th cruise with NCL. We boarded in Vancouver and spent a wonderful 21 days with the Pearl and her staff. The ship was clean. The public areas were well tended and the public bathrooms were always clean and in good working order. The staff, from kitchen to housekeeping to fitness center could not have been more welcoming, kind, enthusiastic and helpful. Our cabin was adequate but there ...
This was our first cruise on NCL and we were totally delighted. The cabin steward spoke with us by name from our first meeting, always smiling & happy, our room was kept discreetly tidy, and the towel animals were always fun to see each evening.
The food selection was more than we could have anticipated, extremely pleased with the choices.
The entertainment was the best; Tim the comedian, ...