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The
Shore Excursions were all well organised, or at least those
we went on. One benefit of taking a ship's tour when in a port where
tenders are used, is that you get ashore first. Use the drop off box
to book the excursions, it saves on the queue. However any of the Dive-In
excursions must be booked in person, this includes the Sandbar
trip in Grand Cayman; not sure why as it's only in 3ft of water:) The
tours on offer differed slightly to those advertised on NCL's
website. A number of additional tours were available and slight
amendments to others. Those for the week 17 Aug 2002 can be viewed here.
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Cabin
0003 |
We
had a BA category cabin on Norway Deck, 10. forward. No. 0003. It
was nicely furnished, with plenty of storage space. My only complaint
would be that there were no upper bunks for the children. Instead the
sofa was pulled out to make a double bed at nights and it took up
most of the floor area. Would have been far better having that as a
single and an upper bunk as the 4th berth. The bathroom was small,
but functional. The shower was 'coffin' like; a good job all the
shampoo and soap was in dispensers. You would never have been able to
bend down and pick up a dropped bar of soap without banging one's
head! There was an hairdryer above the toilet, which wasn't
particularly powerful, but will do. |
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The
balcony was about 4ft deep and the width of the cabin. The 2 chairs
were not particularly comfortable, but one got used to them. A small
table for the drinks, and an outside light for the evenings. The deck
was covered in the same blue plastic matting that was around the Kids
Pool, and gets rather uncomfortable when barefoot. The 'neighbours'
cannot see into your balcony unless they make an effort to peer
around the railings. We had a good view of the Bridge Docking Arm.
The
Bridge |
Beverley
& Howard
The
cabin stewardess was very good, but didn't always get round to
making up the beds much before lunchtime:( The 'Please make up the
Cabin' sign we left on the door the 2nd day disappeared! The ice
bucket was kept full and the cabin clean. Chocolates on the pillows
at night. There was also a kettle, with tea and coffee, which saves
having to go and get one from the Garden Café. We didn't use
Room Service so can't comment on that.
On
the thursday, you can fill a laundry bag with as much as you can,
and it'll be returned on Friday all done for $20. I've never squashed
my clothes up so much! |
Top
The
4 glass elevators in the Atrium are quite slow, but just slightly
f'wd is a stairwell and another bank of 4 lifts. You don't have to
wait long for these, but when calling the lifts, the buttons on each
side only call the 2 lifts adjacent to them. So everyone tends to
press the buttons on both sides. This results in unnecessary stops,
as once the lift on one side has been, it doesn't clear the 'called'
status of the otherside. Just a minor irritation. It would be better
if all 4 lifts worked together. There is a second bank of 4 lifts
aft, which work on the same system. All go to all deck, with the
Atrium lifts which don't go down to Deck 4 or up to Deck 12.
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Other
Public Rooms:-
Windjammer
Bar |
Dazzles
Nightclub, which was used for many activities during the day,
bingo, port talks, art auctions etc, is a 'walk through' room, and
really more of meeting point for a drink and chat than a 'nightclub',
all blues in decor. The Windjammer Bar, is the Martini Bar. Do
spend a while looking at all the pictures of ships on the walls, and
the items of ship memorabilia in the glass cabinet. Also a couple of
nice models of past sailing ships.
Cupholder
- SS Orsova 1953 |
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The
Havana Cigar Club is through the Windjammer Bar, for those
who partake. The Observation Lounge on Deck 12 is a super room with
comfy chairs and an all round forward view. Also opens onto a small
forward deck.
![One of the Models - [Photo Gallery behind]](images/sailship.jpg)
One
of the Models
- [Photo Gallery behind] |
Sun
Club Casino
The
Sun Club Casino, bright and jazzy, neon lights, numerous slot
machines, Roulette, Crap tables etc. seemed to be open most hours
when not in port. Various tournaments were held during the week, but
as I wouldn't have the first idea how to play any of these games, I
can't say if they were good or bad. There were also a lot of the
scratch type Lotto cards left lying around; not sure what these were
or for. |
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There
are a couple of bars on deck and another in the Atrium. Drinks are
expensive, more so than I am used to anyway. The 'Welcome on Board'
cocktail was $6.95, and it seems as though this is a 'freebie' when
you are offered it. We knew it wasn't after having read other
reviews, but it was obvious from the faces of some people, that they
weren't initially aware there was a charge. The daily drink
'Specials' and 'Fruit Smoothies' are all $6.95 [$5.95 without
alcohol], which can add up substantially. There is a 'Bar Hopping'
program, which entails getting a card stamped at each bar, and a
T-Shirt of sorts, but I didn't find out the details.
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The
Prom on Deck 6 is a jogging/walking track going all the way
around, with blue non-slip flooring. Joggers on the outside, walkers
inside. This I found to be the wrong way around as if one wanted to
just stand at the railings and take in the sea/scenery it was
annoying having people constantly pounding past you. Walkers wouldn't
have made any difference. The bulkheads have murals all around, which
I though was a nice touch. There are mirrors place at each end and
side so one doesn't bump into anyone and a couple of water fountains.
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Promenade
Deck
Jogging
was permitted between 8am & 8pm. A rope was placed across the
aft end 'out of hours'. However if the crew were late roping off the
track people still carried on. There are however no benches or chairs
here at all. Placing some back against the bulkheads between the
davits would not be in the way of anyone exercising. Some people just
sat here on the deck reading. |
Gratuities.
These are added automatically on a daily basis to your onboard
account. $10 per adult and $5 per child "under 12". However
out 12yr old was only charged at the $5 rate. All drinks purchased
have a 15% gratuity automtically added; what I found disconcerting
was that when presented with the receipt to sign for a drink there is
a place for one to fill in marked "Additional Gratuity".
One felt almost guilty not adding anything in, but why should you? I
did however give a bit extra on a few occasions when staff had done
'extra'. The additional tips are shown as a separate item on your
account, and this did cause a number of people to query their
statements, not realising what the amounts were.
*The
entertainment consisted of mainly shows/musicals
featuring the Jean-Ann
Ryan Company,
which I understand were excellent. The other performers were, the
Comedian Tom
Briscoe,
Comedian/Magician Fred
Becker
, Singer Jane
L. Powell and
her Band,
and the Norwegian
Sun Showband.
In the other public rooms and Atrium, one could find vocalists,
pianists, other musicians and comedians including Bobby
Hamilton, Ariel Jacobe, David Morgan, Offshore Sounds, Lu Lu &
The Big Boys and
Rick & Vince; always
something on somewhere and most of those I saw were pretty good.
Port lectures, or rather 'Where to shop or which excursion to
take" talks were by Gail.
The Cruise Director was Rich
Clesen.
There were no maritime/historical lectures.
Many
announcements are made by the entertianment staff for Bingo etc. The
phrase 'See ya there'! grates after a while, but you can switch it
off in the cabin.
Top
I
am sure I have forgotten to mention numerous things. Please email me
if you have any questions.
 Part
I
View
My Photos of Norwegian Sun
 Part
I Part
II Part
III |
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