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Lucy Nesbitt

Age: 50
Occupation: Medical Secretary
Number of Cruises: 4
Cruise Line: NCL
Name of Ship: SUN
Sailing Date: June, 8th, 2003
Itinerary:

My twin sister and I turned 50 this year and always promised ourselves we would cruise Alaska the year we reached that milestone. We invited family and friends to join us. After doing research and making several phone calls, we settled on The Cruise Marketplace to help our group book this cruise. Thank you Kenna and Janice for the immense amount of work you did in dealing with our group and for finding the best price.

My sister and I had sailed on the NCL Star in May 2002 to check the Freestyle way of cruising and decided this would be the way our group would prefer to cruise. We picked the Sun because of the room categories, the itinerary and the ease of getting to and from Seattle. We chose the deluxe inside cabins and the balcony cabins for our group, although there were several other choices. We later learned from our travel agent that NCL had oversold the balcony cabins and offered those in our group who had booked them the opportunity to upgrade to a mini suite for a very nominal charge. Thank you NCL! The mini suite was beautiful and I found it hard to leave at the end of the cruise. Most of our group booked the deluxe inside cabins and I was surprised how roomy they were. I would recommend that size for those who prefer inside cabins.

Several of our group arrived in Seattle a few days early to explore all that city has to offer. We got to see NCL’s sister ship, Sky, at the pier and watch the activity of their Saturday sailing. This also helped us know what to expect when we arrived on Sunday.

Embarkation: There was a bit of confusion out on the street as taxis, busses, vans, etc discharged passengers but there were several people at the pier directing you where to go. First we took our bags to a big warehouse type building and they looked at our tickets and took our bags to put through the security machines. There were no porters to tip here which was a plus. Then onto an attached building to check in. At the bottom of the escalator we were handed a sheet to fill out about exposure to SARS. Upstairs there were several check in lines, very well marked and representatives directing you where to get in line. Since I was a past passenger, I was in the Latitudes check in line which went fast. Several passengers were sitting in the lounge area and I could hear them being called to board the ship. I think they did this by number but since Latitudes members can board whenever they want, I did not pay too much attention to that process. At check in again you show your ticket and passport or other documents, get your photo taken, and are presented your key card. It took roughly 10 minutes for the wait in line and check in. There is a separate line for Latitudes members for boarding but this dumps into the same line for the security x-ray process at the end so you are butting in front of others, which I found to be odd.

On board they swipe your card and a crew member is there to direct you to your cabin. The mini suites were on Deck 11 forward. There are several panoramic elevators that will take you to this deck which overlook the atrium. The atrium of the Sun is not the WOW as some ships are. But since I don’t pick a ship because of the atrium, this was minor to me.

Once we got situated and got rid of our hand carry luggage, we went to Seven Seas dining room for lunch. This is a very pretty room with huge picture windows. After lunch we had a bit of time to explore the ship before the mandatory muster drill. The muster drill took awhile because as always, there were some people who were late. Unfortunately we sailed away from Seattle during this drill. But we were able to get back to the room and grab our cameras so we could take pictures of Seattle fading away behind us. With the help of the little ship schematic map you are given, it is easy to find your way around. There are various decks that do not go all the way through and though I heard some passengers complain about this, it was a minor inconvenience. You have to remember there is a 7-8 story atrium in the middle of the ship plus we never see what’s inside all those crew doors. So it is natural that some floors will not be able to go all the way through because of kitchens, inside stairways, etc.

We planned to meet our group in the Observation Lounge shortly after the muster drill and this was a very pretty bar. We spent quite a bit of time there listening to music and watching the late sunsets. I would recommend this bar also for a quiet time as it never was busy and the views were incredible. One of the best things about cruising to Alaska is that there is always something to see. Many times it seemed we could reach out and touch the land as we sailed by. The scenery was stunning everywhere and each day got better.

Ports: Monday was spent cruising the Inside Passage. The weather was absolutely gorgeous and the seas very calm. Again, the scenery was stunning.

Tuesday we sailed to Juneau. The passage into Juneau was beautiful. There were waterfalls everywhere, float planes flying by with magnificent trees and blue skies. There were several ships in Juneau and we were actually late getting there. Once we docked there was a mad rush to get off the ship which of course, is never fun. Unfortunately there was no way to prevent the mass of people all trying to get off at the same time though I will give the staff credit for trying. This was the only port in which that happened though. We had pre-booked a whale watching tour through Orca Enterprises. They met us at their office directly across from where we docked and then took us by bus to the boat. The water was smooth as glass in the inlet where we were (the name escapes me) and Capt Larry was informative. We were lucky to see several humpbacks as well as otters, porpoises, seals, bald eagles and a bear. It was a great trip and I would highly recommend them for your whale watch. There was plenty of time left to wander in The Red Dog Saloon and some of the shops.

Wednesday we were in Skagway. We had pre-booked a tour through M&M Tours and our tour was done by Frontier Enterprises. 16 of our group did the Yukon trip which took us through the beautiful scenery into Canada and back. Again, it was breathtaking everywhere you looked. There were 2 vans of our group and one of them saw 2 bears and a cub but unfortunately I was not on that van. So the wildlife is there. After our tour we still had plenty of time to explore the shops in Skagway. There is lots of good shopping in Skagway and the history is also unique. Several of our group took a walking tour and said it was worth it. There is lots of time to do several tours in Skagway as the ship is there all day.

Thursday was Cruising Glacier Bay. It was overcast and trying to rain all day but I understand it is usually like that. There are truly no words to describe the beauty of the glaciers. We stayed in here for several hours. I was fortunate enough to see the glacier calve on 4 separate occasions. There is nothing quite like the crack you hear followed by the huge rumbling sound as the ice separates and crashes into the water. To me, this was the highlight of the entire cruise.

Friday we were in Ketchikan. This is truly a remarkable town, mostly built on stilts. I liked it the best of all the ports. Unfortunately we were a bit too early for the salmon run but I understand the creeks are full of them at certain times during the summer. There are some unique shops to explore here too. We only had about 5 hours here which is not nearly enough time to explore this fun place. The weather that day was chilly and rainy, which was what we all expected the whole trip to be like.

We left Ketchikan and got into some rough weather. It was extremely windy and rainy and I understand at one time the winds clocked at 70 mph. The motion of the ship did not bother me but I heard several people talking about others who were not faring so well. I was wearing a seaband bought either through Travel Smith or Magellan catalog and also taking Meclizine. The combination of the two kept me from having any ill effects of the rough seas. Because of the huge head winds and rough weather, we got into Victoria almost 2 hours late. I had been there before so I did not get off the ship. Several in our group did and said they had plenty of time to see what they wanted to see.

Restaurants: We ate breakfast and lunch most days at either Seven Seas or Four Seasons, whichever was open at the time. The daily cruise newsletter will give information on the hours of all the restaurants. I found the food to be delicious at every meal. The chilled soups were always excellent and the Cooking Light entrees were always very tasty. The wait staff in these restaurants were professional and friendly. We never had to wait for a table and were always waited on promptly. I have no complaints whatsoever about the food or service. At the Four Seasons, it was fun to get reacquainted with one of our favorite waiters from the NCL Star. He remembered my sister and me from a year ago, which I found amazing after all the passengers he has met.

Le Bistro was by far our favorite restaurant. We ate there the first night we sailed as many passengers are not aware the specialty restaurants are open and there was hardly anyone there. Our waiter, Nellon Belcon, became one of our favorites and we made it a point to ask for him during the day when he was in Seven Seas. We also ate at Le Bistro the last night when it seemed full of crew members. The Tepanyaki room in East Meets West was also one our favorites. In fact, we booked it twice for our group. I did not eat at East Meets West though some of our group did and liked it. Several of our group ate at Il Adagio and liked it. I ate at Pacific Heights only for pizza one day at lunch. Las Ramblas Tapas Bar also became one our favorite places. We ate there several evenings when we did not want to get out of jeans and the tapas were so good. We also discovered too late that they served hoagie type sandwiches every day for lunch. The day we ate them it was a nice change. Las Ramblas was never crowded. Unfortunately I cannot say anything good about the Great Outdoor Cafe and Buffet. I did try it but found the food unappealing and would not recommend it. Obviously others did not feel the same as the place was always crowded.

Shows: The shows I saw were very good. There were a variety of them available including comedians, broadway type shows, etc. I did not see as many of them as I would have liked as there was so much to do and I was always off doing something. I enjoyed the variety of activities planned during the day. Meeting several of the staff for trivia, horse racing, games, was a fun way to pass the time.

Disembarkation: This was easy due to NCL’s Freestyle way of cruising. There is a colored tag each passenger receives that tells the time to disembark. Passengers disembark according to times of flights, transportation, etc. There is not some mad rush to get off and you can wait anywhere you want. Luggage is easily found by the colored tags.

We had arranged for transportation back to the Seattle airport through Evergreen and the van dropped us off at the curb, unlike some who have to drop passengers off in the parking garage. Please allow plenty of time for check in as the security line took us 45 minutes to go through. The line was huge and we were told this has never happened before. But you need at least 2 hours at this airport when leaving.

Freestyle Cruising is really a great way to cruise. Our group all enjoyed the flexibility of eating where we wanted, when we wanted and the casual atmosphere of the whole ship. We all agreed that we liked the concept of having the gratuities already charged as there was no hassle trying to scrounge up money at the end of the cruise for tipping. My final bill was what I expected. Think resort prices for things like sodas and bar drinks and you will have no surprises. I never felt like the service was sub par because of this. The cabin stewards, the waiters, bartenders, etc were all very professional, friendly and helpful. I know this is not everyone’s idea of cruising but I would recommend NCL without reservation. There will always be those passengers who have a complaint about something but for our group, we had a great time and were sorry to have our trip end. The Sun is a nice ship, very clean and easy to find your way around.

Please feel free to write me with any questions.

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