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Norwegian Cruise Line

MS Norwegian Sun

Your Rating:
Reviewed by: Stevie M.
# previous cruises: 1
Date of Trip: January 18, 2003
Itinerary: Caribbean - Western

The Western Caribbean Itinerary was chosen for snorkeling opportunities but the weather made a mess of that. There is little to do in Cayman or Roatan when your plans go awry.I would not book a 4 port 7 day cruise again. Not relaxing at all. Even though we were frugal, and do not drink alcohol, our on board bill came to 650.00 by the end of the week - for 3 shore excursions, 3 dinners, a few juice and non-alcoholic cocktails, 4 occasions of Internet access to check e mail; and the $10/person/day gratuity!

Public areas are quite nice. The Observation Lounge is lovely and under-utilized. Garden Cafe restaurant is probably over-utilized. Ships tours do not show you all of the public areas properly, and are focused more on what you can pay extra for. Internet Cafe was comfortable but computers are not set up for efficient log in so plan to spend at least 10 minutes to check basic e mail at .75 per minute!

We most enjoyed the Four Seasons dining room, but sampled two other 'included' restaurants (Pacific Heights and Seven Seas) and were happy with them. Le Bistro is well worth the additional $10 cover charge. East Meets West was interesting but barely justified the 1/2 price $5 per head we paid as early diners. Most "cover charge" restaurants are not busy at any time. Don't expect high quality from the Garden Cafe but as a cafeteria it is superior. Take the time to have breakfast in the Four Seasons - absolutely the best Eggs Benedict anywhere! Amazing considering what it takes to produce that on a ship of 2000 passengers!

We had a superior inside cabin which had lots of space to accommodate us. My husband is 6'5" and was comfortable in all areas, including the shower. We were on the Norway Deck directly under the Garden Cafe and only noticed noises on those nights with extremely rough seas (20+ foot waves) when anything not bolted to the floor was going to travel!

James Stevens III was a phenomenal comedian. We found the ships revue group to be as accomplished as any professional theatre and in particular the principal female dancer is an amazing talent. There was a country cruise group of 800 fans and 4 acts on board our cruise, and the rest of the ship was excluded from attending these concerts and parties. It was very annoying, and limited what was available in other public rooms. Norwegian should either book an exclusive cruise for this type of attraction or insist that on board passengers can attend by purchasing tickets. Many people were extremely annoyed at not being able to move through the ship due to closed off areas or line ups for these "exclusive" events.

Pools are nice. Children unattended should not be allowed in the adults hot tubs but this was not enforced. There was a lot of drunkenness and breaking of glass in the hot tubs which was also ignored by ships personnel. Dive In shore excursions had no alternative or contingency plans when their excursions cancelled, and we had to go ahead with one that was a huge disappointment due to weather and poor planning, no refunds. The Lamanai/River excursion is amazing, and pretty much redeemed the cruise which was cold, soggy and in need of a boost by Belize. I would not book on board shore excursions again, but would go ahead and book on shore. Case in point Grand Cayman - Dive In cancelled our Stingray Snorkel citing weather but 3-4 very good operators on shore were going ahead with the tour at half the price.

We met one couple that we will keep in touch with. Having 800 country music fans on board skews your picture of what cruising must be like. FreeStyle cruising does not lend itself to making new acquaintances but we very much enjoyed being able to dine whenever/wherever we chose.