Welcome to Your Favorites, where you have the opportunity to share your travel experiences with fellow Internet Travelers around the world.

Airtours

MV Sunbird

Your Rating:
Reviewed by:  M. MacKesey
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: February 7, 2004
Itinerary: Caribbean

We weren't looking to go on a cruise. Every year we book vacation time then wait for a last minute deal. This cruise cost us the same or less than a 4 Star all-inclusive resort. Plus we like the idea of seeing different islands (Catalina doesn't count!) and trying out a cruise for a reasonable cost.

This is a budget ship. It is good value for your money. It is also 20 years old and can't be fairly compared to the newest ships (it's rates can't be either).

One taxi driver told us that Sunbird was one of the largest cruise ships in the world when built, and it was a big deal when it came to port! makes you think about people's expectations and how they've changed.

To sum up, excellent introductory cruise ship, but we met one couple on their ninth voyage on the Sunbird!

There are two pools which are not large, but on the other hand they were never crowded either. I liked the idea that this is a proper ship (a week with the Brits has me talking like that). It looks like a ship, not like a container ship like the bigger vessels we saw. Sunbird seems very well maintained and the style of the public areas may be a bit dated but every thing looked clean and new.

There is a topless area on the top deck forward.

We enjoyed the meals. The portions were just the right size, not North American huge portions. So you could have a 4 or 5 course meal and not feel bloated. By the end of the week the food started to have a certain sameness to it, but I don't care where you go, that's bound to happen. You are allowed to eat lunch on land!

The service was very good. Some of the servers even started to call me by name. Also one the servers called "Harry Potter" would sing during dinner. Much fun. Sometimes the diners would join in (to drown him out I suspect!)

The food was about the same everywhere. In the evening your could eat outside on the Lido deck and the service was a little more casual. You get your own salad for example. It's where you eat if you didn't bring formal clothes, also.

By the way, we really didn't have to wait for service much. You have to sign for everything. A bit of a pain but I hate all inclusive wristbands more.

By the way, a beer was about 2 pounds, mixed drinks about 2.50. If you get the all inclusive package they give you a separate card to use along with your id card.

We heard all the stories about cruise ship cabins. We own a boat so I had no problems with the cabin. This is not the QM2. The cabin stewart did an excellent job of tidying up. He even put up a picture we bought of us in our formal wear!

Note; you are not going to shower with a friend on A or B deck. We were midship and we could hear engine noise. We didn't care.

We liked the entertainment. There was a Brit comedian whose jokes sometimes went over our head, but that's OK.

Antigua, St Kitts, St Thomas, San Juan was our itinerary. Then a beach day on Catalina island (a small island off the DR). Save your shopping for St Thomas or San Juan. We took island tours on Ant and St K. Note; when you go on an island tour the price doesn't include admission to any parks or museums. Thats usually another $5. We didn't seem to need anything but American money.

If you want to do something really popular (train ride on St Kitt, sub ride on St Thomas) you might want to book the trip on the ship to make sure you get on. Also if you go on a ship based tour it will cost you more (sometimes much more) BUT the ship won't leave without you. Something to think about if you're the nervous type.

We really enjoyed the different islands. That was our main reason for cruising.

The week we were there I'd say the ship was 60% Brits and 40% Canadians. I think there was ONE American on the boat (who lived in Canada). It made for a different kind of experience. By the way, Sunbird isn't even mentioned in Fodors cruise guide book, and I don't think the ship is sold in the USA. So if any Americans wander on board they live in a border city (Windsor, Buffalo) and bought their trip in Canada.

40% of the people on the cruise bought the drink package. There were 1400 on the ship (crew is 540). 400 of them were repeaters. At least 100 of the crew don't deal with the public directly (based on the crew telephone directory I saw). I don't know if that ratio is good or not. We were happy with the service.

There was very little complaining on the ship that I heard, except when the Americans made EVERYONE go through immigration before St Thomas. Even then very little. Don't come on this ship looking for singles action, I think you'll be disappointed.

I don't know what it is about British men, but on the two formal nights they all look like James Bond. The majority of men did wear tuxedos. However, you can avoid all that by eating on the Lido deck.

The British and Canadians got along very well but hanging around with Brits seems to give me a terrible headache in the morning for some reason.