I’m going to be brutally honest here. I definitely had my reservations about a cruise on the Norwegian Sun. I knew that ship, along with the Sky, were some of the oldest ships in the Norwegian fleet. They have both recently been refurbished, but, you know, some things just can’t be glossed over. I watched so many cruise vlogs of the Sun, so I would be prepared. But, honestly, I can say that I was pleasantly surprised with the cruise we experienced!
My Concerns Going In
I had two main concerns. After seeing a lot of reviews, the consensus was that the stateroom hallways (and the staterooms themselves) had a stale, musty odor about them (almost moldy or mildewy). I even made sure I had air freshener with me on this trip to try and eliminate the smell in our cabin. But, I didn’t smell any of that.
My second concern was the “open bar.” The other negative reviews I saw on the ship were that it ended up being more of a booze cruise. I believe that we were on one of the last sailings the Sun before NCL did away with the open bar concept. I think, in the long run, that will help the perception of that particular cruise. We were on the four-day sailing to the Bahamas out of Port Canaveral. There were multiple groups of bachelor and bachelorette parties that gave our first day and muster drill that “booze cruise” atmosphere. However, after the first day, I didn’t get that sense at all. That may be because we didn’t stay up late and, for the most part, avoided any late-night activities (like the GLOW party). But, again, I was pleasantly surprised.
Ports We Visited
This was only a four-day cruise, so we only visited two ports. Our first stop was Great Stirrup Cay. We had originally purchased a small cabana for the day but upgraded at the last minute to the Villas. Boy, I am so glad we did! It was probably one of the most relaxing days I’ve had in a long time! If you want to see an overview of our villa on GSC, come back next week for a post specifically talking about that.
Our next stop was Nassau, Bahamas. Quite honestly, we’ve been to Nassau multiple times and I mostly use that day to do activities and explore the ship while everyone is in port. So, we used this day to lounge around the ship, do trivia, check out the arcade, and have a leisurely lunch.
Specialty Dining
For my birthday, we had dinner at Los Lobos, and it quickly became one of my favorite specialty dining restaurants. We are embarking on the Norwegian Bliss soon, and I’ve already made sure we’ve got reservations at Los Lobos! Highly recommend if you are going on Norwegian anytime soon!
Would I Recommend?
Absolutely! If you are looking for a long weekend cruise, I say go for it! Check out my vlog above from the cruise to see how our time went! If you decide to go on a cruise on the Norwegian Sun, let me know! I might have some tips!
