Great service, bad itinerary

Norwegian Sun Cruise Review to Cuba

WhiskeyDick

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 39

Overall rating:

3.8 out of 5

7 Night Cuba & Caribbean Adventures (Miami Roundtrip)

Sail date: September 16, 2018

Ship: Norwegian Sun

Cabin type: Balcony

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 6 years ago

Review summary

Embarkation was chaos. No signage, no helpers, figure it out as you go until you clear security. Cabin was very nice, only issue was the balcony door whistling loudly when it was windy. It was fixed promptly. The cabin stewardess was fantastic, customer service was terrific. Any problem got a fast follow up. No complaints at all about the appearance of the ship, or quality of the staff. The specialty restaurants were great, especially the churrasco and Cagney's. The main dining rooms had excellent food and a varied menu. The buffet was uninspiring. Lots of people dressed in stained trailer park fashions, lots of rudeness among the passengers. I got food poisoning from the buffet on the fourth night, which made an "at sea" day miserable. Our first destination was changed at the last minute from Great Stirrup Cay to Key West, citing a "docking issue", no room for us (?????) As I had zero desire to pay to see Key West again, it was very disappointing. Cuba was amazing, we booked a 10-hour private tour in a 1957 Chevy Bel-Air with a guide and driver for $250. The ship has nothing to offer that can compare. Harvest Caye was a tourist trap disappointment, and less than 6 hours on shore. It was a throwaway port, and we could have stayed an extra day in Cuba. Costa Maya was nice, as we booked a 5-hour private tour of the Mayan ruin with lunch and swimming in the seven color lagoon through a third party for $165, much better and less expensive than anything the ship had to offer. On board entertainment for a small ship was surprisingly good, especially the theatre shows. Lounge entertainment was okay, but they had far too many "competitions" to "liven up the crowd", which drove many from the room to avoid being hassled to come up on stage. For us, this cruise was all about Cuba, and good thing, as other than Costa Maya, the other ports were bad (Key West), and horrible (Harvest Caye). If you're willing to spend large dollars for a day in Cuba, this is your ship. Not to sound like I'm bitter on Norwegian, the ship was clean and attractive, the staff was amazing, the food (other than the buffet) was excellent, and we had a good time. If you do go to the buffet, please leave your stained wife beater T-shirt in your cabin; there are plenty enough of them in there already.