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Cliff Demczuk

Age: 39
Occupation: Technical Analyst
Number of Cruises: 6
Cruise Line: Norwegian
Ship: Norwegian Sun
Sailing Date: February 8th, 2004
Itinerary: Western Caribbean

Introduction: This was our fifth cruise to the Caribbean on NCL. The Norwegian Sun is one of Norwegian Cruise Lines Freestyle Cruising ships, which I will describe later. The itinerary from Miami was as follows:

Day 1 - Arrival at pier in Miami - set sail by 6:00 pm
Day 2 - Day At Sea
Day 3 - Montego Bay, Jamaica
Day 4 - Georgetown, Grand Cayman
Day 5 - Costa Maya, Mexico
Day 6 - Cozumel, Mexico
Day 7 - At Sea
Day 8 - Disembarkation in Miami

Getting to the ship: The Norwegian Sun sails from Miami, and the pier is located in the cruise ship terminal with all the other lines. Depending on which actual pier you are on can make the entry process easy or more difficult. This time we were very fortunate to be in the newer area, and things really went quite smoothly. We had booked our air with NCL and had bus transfers direct from the airport to the terminal. The Sun begins boarding at around noon in Miami. We arrived on the pier around 1:30 PM, and had about a 15 minute sign-in process. The latitudes line was very short compared to the regular line. There were no glitches or signs of anyone complaining about long embarkation lines this time around that I overheard.

Cabins: We booked a guaranteed inside cabin, and our resulting cabin was on deck 7, forward on the starboard side. The cabins seemed a bit larger than those of it's sister ship the Sun, and we seemed to have plenty of room. We found this room to be very convenient to the atrium area.

The Ship: The ship is rather well laid out. There is a huge atrium that runs from the top of the ship down to Deck 5 where the lobby is. In the center there are 4 glass elevators. For some reason, a lot of people preferred to wait (and wait and wait) for these, rather than use the other elevators located near the stairs in both the front and rear of the ships. Here's a hint: If you don't want to wait long for an elevator, use the normal elevators. However, at the end of a day, when people are coming back on the ship, use the atrium elevators, as the normal ones are crowded with people re-entering the ship. Deck 5 also houses the two main dining rooms, the Four Seasons, and the Seven Seas. The specialty restaurant Il Adagio is also squeezed in on Deck 5 between the two main dining rooms. To get there, you actually have to go to deck 6, and taqke a small staircase down to Deck 5. There are small shops on Deck 6 in the atrium area, as well the Dazzles nightclub/disco, Windjammers Bar, Havana Cigar Bar, and the Photo Shop. The Stardust Lounge is also located on Deck 6 as well as 7 for the main shows. Deck 7 houses the main shops, and coffee bar, and the casino. Deck 11 is the pool deck, and Deck 12 is the Observation Deck. Deck 12 also contains the Observation Lounge at the front of the ship. Deck 11 contains the Outdoor Cafe (for buffets) and the Garden Cafe (also for buffets) at the rear of the ship. Pacific Heights, which feature only Cooking Light menus is also located on deck 11. The Spa, and the gym, and the Sports Bar are also located on Deck 11. Ginza, the asian restaurant, and Le Bistro, the french specialty restaurant are located on Deck 12 in the rear of the ship along with Las Ramblas Tapas bar and restaurant.

Restaurants: The Norwegian Sun offers 2 main restaurants, a buffet and 3 alternative dining restaurants to choose from. The intent of “freestyle cruising” is to give the Sun’s passengers a wide variety of choices for dining pleasure. The three alternative dining restaurants (Le Bistro, Ginza and Il Adagio) all require an additional $12.50 cover charge. They also require reservations as well. The following is a breakdown of the various restaurants:

Garden Café (Deck 11, aft): This is the main buffet of the Norwegian Sun. It is open for breakfast, lunch and dinner. This is a fun and quick place to get a meal. There are food items like waffles, various egg dishes, cereal, fruit and so on for breakfast, pasta and various poultry and meat items for lunch and a separate dessert cart are always available to enjoy. The seating is both inside in the café or you make also sit outside by the pool or on the fantail of deck 11 by the Great Outdoor Cafe.

The Great Outdoor Café (Deck 11, aft): Just aft of the Garden Cafe are two separate buffet lines that are open early for breakfast and lunch (primarily on days at sea). It offers the mostly the same food as the Garden Cafe but it has a larger selection of fruit and cereals for breakfast. Also good for a quick bite before that shore excursion in the early morning.

The Seven Seas Restaurant (Deck 5, aft): This is one of two main restaurants that serve breakfast, lunch and dinner restaurant dining. Of the two main dining rooms, this one offers the best views (ask for a table near the rear windows) and quick service in our experience. It is a lot less crowded, especially on the formal night as everyone seems to stay near the atrium and the Four Seasons. One reason people tend to avoid the Seven Seas is since you have to go all the way aft, it is a little less covenient than the Four SDeasons, but that just makes it easier to get in quicker.

The Four Seasons Restaurant (Deck 5, midship): This is the other main restaurant (along with the Seven Seas) and offers the same menu as the Seven Seas. It is located just outside the atrium area of Deck 5, and being so convenient, it tends to be more crowded. Service is good, but plan on requiring at least two hours for your full dinner here. We enjoyed several meals here.

Le Bistro (Deck 12, aft): Le Bistro is the french alternative restaurant that serves mediterranean style cuisine. The restaurant is a wonderful experience and offers a complete menu in a beautiful setting. The $12.50 cover charge is well worth it. We had two wonderful dinners here. It is rather high on the ship, so if you are less tolerant of movement, be aware that you feel it a bit more up top. The staff was amusing and very very attentive.

Ginza (Deck 12, Aft): This is the Asian restaurant. We did not take advantage of this restaurant. The menu seemed to be a melange of sushi and asian, with a heavy dose of seafood.

Il Adagio Restaurant (Deck 5, midship): Located on Deck 5, between the main dining rooms, this restaurant is slightly harder to find. Even on the last night, people were still asking for directions. The menu is very interesting, based mainly in continental italian cuisine. We didn't get to try it, but several people expressed that it is very good.

Las Ramblas (Deck 12 Aft) : This exotic bar/restaurant features a rich selection of hot & cold tapas from around the world. We didn't try them however.

Sprinkles Ice Cream Bar: The Ice Cream bar is located next to the Garden Cafe, and is open every day from 1:00 to 4:00 PM. Lines tended to form right at 3:00 PM, but if you waited a bit until it was a bit later, you wouldn't have any wait at all at the counter. Great ice cream, and it makes me wonder why anyone would pay for the Hagen Daz stuff the charge for at the pool deck.

Special Buffets: The Norwegian Sun offered only one special buffet on this cruise. The signature “chocoholic” chocolate buffet where everything is made from chocolate was held on the last afternoon. Cakes, pies, fruit dipped in chocolate, moose, cheesecake, fudge, you name it and if it was made with chocolate they offered it. I only managed to make it partially through the line before my plate was overflowing. One nice touch is that they will offer to transfer your chocolate to a "to go' plate so you may take it back to your cabin. Interestingly, there was no picture time scheduled... so if you were not first in line, it was pretty much disheveled if you wanted to take pictures. The contents were fabulous however, and very delicious. Since they hold this at an afternoon timeframe, dress is very casual and come-as-you-are.

Entertainment: Entertainment on the ship is scattered throughout. Of course, there is a casino. Every night there is a sail-away party on the pool deck. The band there was a reggae style band, and was pretty good, called Roots Link. There is live top-40 style music in the Dazzles Disco, although the musicians were not quite as talented as the poolside band. In Windjammers, there was a piano player who also sang. The main shows were adequate and located in the Stardust lounge. They ranged from magician acts, to little broadway ensemble shows, to singers. There was another "swing" type of band (Glenn Miller music) located in the Observation Lounge. They seemed to do pretty good, although that was not my cup of tea. Karaoke was also offered from time to time in the Observation Lounge and also in Dazzles. All in all, most of the entertainment was enough to keep you busy, but nothing to write home about. I think NCL could take a lesson from Carnival and improve the talent of the entertainment. There were also lots of activities available like bingo, and art auctions as well. We mananged to score several great bargains on art work this cruise.

Shore excursions: There were two types of shore excursions. One were the ones categorized as "Dive-In" and the regular shore excursions. There were excellent choices among each. The Dive-In excursions involved snorkeling or diving with NCL's own instructors as well as the tour operators. NCL is the only line that actually hires it's own diving and snorkeling instructors. These guys were fun to be with and made the excursions safe and fun. We did both types of excursions (shore and dive-in) and for the most part we were very satisfied.

Ports and excursions:

Montego Bay, Jamaica: we did the "Discover Jamaica" tour which included a lunch, and a walk up the Dunn's river falls. It was a lot of time riding and a little time actually doing and seeing. Dunn's River falls is beautiful, and we had a good time there. Lunch was OK.

Georgetown, Grand Cayman: This port requires tendering. There were seven (yes, 7) ships in port on this day, so the pier was extremely crowded. Fortunately, we were on our own for excursions, and we dragged our dive equipment down the street to a little dive shop called Eden Rock. Eden Rock is great, because you can dive directly in front of the dive shop on two nice sections of reef called "Devil's Grotto and "Eden Rock". Both little sites contain grottos and swim through caverns and tunnels and great sea life. The best part is, if you bring your equipment, it costs very little compared to ship excursions. The two of us dove twice off shore for a total of $35 US COMBINED.

Costa Maya, Mexico: Well, we had booked a tour of some Mayan ruins this day, but alas, we were unable to dock due to higher than normal winds and another shipp blocking the pier. We went for an extended stay in Cozumel instead. Costa Maya is a relatively new stop for Mexico, and there is not really much of a pier or anything there except beaches and a few shops.

Cozumel, Mexico: Cozumel is always great, especially when you get to stay longer. We got to stay overnight after being sent away from Costa Maya because of high winds. On this island, the diving is superb, and since we hadn't had the chance to book one ourselves, we partook of the ship's dive excursion. The diving was great, we saw lots of great coral and critters, including huge eagle rays. The crew was especially happy for the extra time in Cozumel to unwind.

Freestyle Cruising: Freestyle cruising is great. Basically, what this allows you to do is to have the freedom of choosing who, and when, and where you want to eat every night. Basically, we choose what time we wanted to go to dinner and showed up when we felt like it. Except for the specialty restaurants, reservations are not required. You can sit with as few or as many people you like to. I would recommend that if you have a party larger than 8, make arrangements with the maitre'd of whichever main dining room you wish to be in ahead of time, as it may be hard for them to set up the proper table for you. The tipping is also automatically added in to your final bill. At a rate of $12.00 per day per person, we found this to be a bargain. It had no appreciable impact on level of service that we could decipher. Freestyle also applies to leaving the ship. You can basically leave whenever you would like, thereby avoiding any lines if you are flexible enough.

Summary: We both enjoyed this two weeks immensely. We would recommend cruising on the Norwegian Sun heartily. I can honestly say there was not a single thing I could find to complain about this particular week.

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