Today’s the day we board the Norwegian Sun. Our first cruise on this line! We were up early and had coffee in the lobby chatting while waiting for newspaper to arrive. Afterwards the four of us went to breakfast in the hotel dining room.
The eggs weren’t cooked properly and the ham steak was deli ham! Thank goodness we know we’ll have much better food in a few short hours.
After breakfast we all got ready to checkout and met in the lobby at 10:30. The hotel had arranged a shuttle to take us to the port for $10 per person. We were loaded up with a party of 6 that were sailing on the Carnival Triumph.
Overall, the hotel was a great deal with excellent staff. The only black mark was the breakfast.
We were dropped off first and at the check-in desk in less than 10 minutes. Boarding started at 11:30 am and we were on soon. It was very orderly and smooth.
We went to the atrium and booked restaurant reservations for three nights. Tonight at East Meets West (steakhouse), Monday at Il Adagio (Italian) and Wednesday at Le Bistro (French). Took about 20 minutes to get that out of the way.
Next we went to the dining room (7 Seas) for lunch. It was nice to have the option and avoid the buffet madness. Here are the choices we all enjoyed.
- Appetizers: Goat cheese & pancetta quiche, split pea soup, salad, taro chips
- Entrees: grilled tilapia with rice (cooking light), BBQ ribs, club sandwich
- Desserts: Peach cobbler with ice cream (all around)
Service was extremely slow and the maitre’d apologized. He made it sound like a kitchen problem.
Rooms were open at 1 pm so we headed there after lunch. We have starboard balcony cabins mid-ship on deck 10 (Norway). The cabins are nice with lots of storage. Our travel agent, Best Price Cruises, had sent a bottle of Merlot to each cabin.
We had picked up six bottles of caffeine-free diet coke at shuttle stop on way to the port and had a fridget to store our bottles. The TV is small (13 inch) and looks old. Hopefully they will be upgraded to larger flat panels as part of freestyle 2.0.
Rested a little while before going up to the muster drill at 3:30. Afterwards unpacked one suitcase that came while were gone. Then we all went to the observation lounge for sail away drinks. We had received coupon books from our travel agent and we used one that was good on embarkation day only — three drinks for the 2.
We enjoyed the scenery (and our drinks). Miami Beach is beautiful! After we got out to sea, we went back to the cabin and finished unpacking before getting ready for dinner.
We met sister M and BIL at the restaurant for our 6:15 pm reservation. The regular service charge is $20 but tonight it was half price from 5:30-6:30 PLUS we had buy one get 1 free coupons from the booklet. We paid $5 per person AND it was one of the best meals I’ve ever had on a cruise ship.
We were seated by the window at a table for four. Sister M brought her bottle of wine which we enjoyed with our meal. They brought the bread basket right away. Each place setting had own butter dish. We ordered and the appetizer course came quickly.
- Appetizers: crab cakes, shrimp cocktail
- Soups/Salads: lobster bisque, New England clam chowder, caesar salad, lettuce wedge
- Entrees: Filet Mignon, lamb chops and NY strip steak
- Sides: baked potatoes, mashed potatoes, asparagus, sweet corn, french filed onion strings
- Desserts: Chocolate obsession, bananas foster, mocha creme brulee, new york style cheesecake
It was a wonderful meal with excellent service, great food and fun company.
Steve and I went to the welcome aboard show at 9 pm and enjoyed it for the most part. Afterwards we toured more of the ship before returning to our cabin. We sat out on a balcony for a while and watched the ship sail past the Florida keys before retiring.
NOTE: The cabin only has one nightstand and it doesn’t have a drawer. Also the hairdryer is not portable.
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