Excellent ports, but NCL really dropped the ball overall

Item: Norwegian Sun
Rating: 2.9
Author: jramsey1980

Norwegian Sun Cruise Review to Europe - Western Mediterranean

jramsey1980

Contributor Level: Purser

Cruises: 2-3 cruises

Review: 1

Helpful Votes: 16

Overall rating:

2.9 out of 5

Verified Review

10 Night Europe: Spain Portugal & Gibraltar (Granada Roundtrip)

Sail date: January 03, 2023

Ship: Norwegian Sun

Cabin type: Inside

Cabin number: 8106

Traveled as: Couple

Reviewed: 1 year ago

Review summary

The ports were excellent, the Ship and overall onboard experience was terrible.

Embarkation

1 out of 5

The process of boarding the ship for embarkation process was a breeze, due to the fact this cruise was basically non-stop, with cruisers choosing when and where to board and begin their 10 days. But also due to that being the case, we did not get to enjoy any of the usual embarkation celebrations that NCL normally holds the first night. Additionally, the NCL freestyle on our cruise was numbered 8 on our first day and reset back to 1 until our third day aboard in Lisbon. NCL did have a few embarkation events onboard the ship that day.

Ship experiences

Food and Dining

1 out of 5

We were aggravated to find that they were constantly running out of many of the wines and beers they normally have available throughout the cruise, as well as several different types of alcohols, all of which were still stocked for purchase through their duty free the whole time, coincidentally. At one point it was so bad that you had to ask what they did have before trying to order. Additionally, the food in the two main dining rooms was not very good at all. NCL is known for their food, but they really failed on the Sun.

Onboard Activities

1 out of 5

Because this is an on-going cruise where people embark and debark at different ports, we did not get to enjoy any of the usual embarkation celebrations that NCL normally holds the first night. Additionally, the NCL freestyle on our cruise was numbered 8 on our first day and reset back to 1 until our third day aboard in Lisbon. NCL did have a few embarkation events onboard the ship that day. Overall, this particular cruise was severely lacking in entertainment. I really fail to see what the cruise director onboard the Sun even does each day, other than make constant shipwide announcement every day.

Entertainment

1 out of 5

What entertainment that was provided, was generally whatever crew members the cruise director would throw together on a stage somewhere that could half-way sing or whatever, and passed that off as entertainment.

Service and Staff

2 out of 5

We found the overall friendliness of the crew to be severely lacking, and got the feeling it was due to them being overworked by NCL. The service in the Seven Seas was by far the worst, but was closely followed by the Sports Bars terrible service.

Ship Quality

1 out of 5

The NCL Sun is really showing its age. At one point during the cruise, they had to turn off the water to the entire ship for 4 hours to make repairs. That 4 hours ended up turning into almost 10 hours for the hot water to be restored. The ship also smelled like raw sewage in multiple Locations the entire time.

Cabin / Stateroom

3 out of 5

Not bad, just overshadowed by the rest of NCL’s failings on this particular cruise.