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Norwegian Cruise Review
Norwegian Sun Cruise Review
7-day Western Caribbean

I.Y. Lee
Age: 30
Occupation: Web Developer
Number of Cruises: 1
Sailing Date: January 8th,  2006

This is our first cruise trip, over all we had a great time; the shore excursions were exciting, the services on the ship were wonderful. Here are some of the details:

Embarkation: We got the Port of Houston around 1PM, the exact time we could embark. It took us at least 2-½ hour to get to our cabin. I had read some reviews saying embarkation was smooth and a breeze, I’m not so sure 2 ½ hours could be qualified as “smooth”. Staff at the port was quite rude and clueless. The photographer could be kind of annoying. Our luggage didn’t arrive at our cabin until 5:30PM that evening. It wasn’t a pleasant experience.

Ship and Cabin: In general it’s a beautiful ship. We had booked a cabin with balcony. Thank God! I strongly recommend that if you could afford a cabin with balcony, DO IT! It’s worth it. At least everyday you get some fresh air; see the sunset and sun rise, also the cabin feels a lot bigger. The bathroom is extremely small. I’m 5”2 and 110 lb and I found it difficult to maneuver in such a small space.

Services: Our housekeeping staff was nice, friendly and they did their job well. Everyday our cabin was cleaned twice, sometimes even completed with toweled animals on bed. The restaurant serving staff was polite, nothing to write home about.

Food: Buffet was actually not too bad. Every night there was different theme so we got to try variety of food. Major dining rooms (Four Seasons and Seven Seas) were great too. They had better food, but not too much selection. We also tried a specialty restaurant (East meets West Steakhouse), for $20 the quality of the steak was pretty good. Overall the quality was above average, but not so special that I’d rave about it. One thing that’s worth mentioning was they have an Indian Station at the buffet if you’re tired of the western food. The staff also promoted alcoholic drinks like there’s no tomorrow. One drink could cost you $7-$10 or even more. A soft drink costs $2. They so sell a soda card for $42 and you get unlimited soda. Unless you’re a hard-core pop drinker, it’s really not worth it.

Entertainment: Most of the activities were pretty boring to us. Art auctions, bingo, meet your fellow travelers, etc…but nighttime entertainment’s got more varieties. Jean Ann Ryan Production put on great shows; the illusionist’s performance was kind of insulting, very circa 1986, old tricks. The comedian was sort of funny from time to time if he didn’t interact with only one person from the audience.

Shore Excursions: Everything’s expensive even from a tourist’s point of view. Make sure you bring enough cash with you. We didn’t check out any of the jewelry shops; there’s just way too many.

Cozumel, Mexico: Power snorkeling. I’m not really a swimmer to begin with, so I found it challenging. But people in the same group had a lot of fun and we even saw 3 octopus! The people who led the power snorkeling activities are some of the nicest people I’ve ever met. They made sure the money you spent was worthwhile. Cozumel is not the cleanest place to begin with. Their toilets don’t have seat covers. Make sure you bring your own tissue paper!

Belize: Cave tubing and jungle trekking. This is the number one selling activity in Belize and you can’t do it anywhere else. Try to book this one if you can. The jungle trekking part took about 30 minutes, and the cave tubing took about 30-40 minutes. It is one of the most fun things I’ve done in my life! Remember to bring your water shoes. You can also rent them there and it’ll cost you about $5-$10 US. Again, the locals are nice and friendly; I can’t say enough nice things about them.

Roatan, Honduras: We didn’t book any excursion for this location. Instead we rented a scooter for $40 US a day. What a fun way to explore the island! We rode it from the pier to Half Moon Bay and it took about 20-30 minutes on paved road. We also got to see the how the locals live, it was priceless. The sun in Honduras was extremely intense, but the white sand beach was fabulous. We had lunch at Café Latino, the best shrimp and chicken fingers we’ve ever had.

Debarkation: It was relatively fast and smooth. If you want to get off the ship as soon as possible, keep all the luggages in your cabin.

GOD! We’re so glad to be home. Honestly we won’t take another cruise trip for a very long time. This is just not our cup of tea. The last 2 days at sea was absolutely positively a drag. We were bored to tears! The sea got pretty rough we couldn’t do anything. One thing great about NCL is their free-style cruising. We had no intention to meet anybody or interact with anybody on the ship, we just wanted to relax and have a vacation and we got it.
 

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