Preview: NCL's Sun & Star Offer Heavenly Choices
Cruising the way you want it. With
Norwegian Cruise Lines' (NCL) newest vessels—the
Norwegian Sun with Caribbean cruises out of Miami, and the
Norwegian Star based year-round in Hawaii—shipboard travel is
no longer regimented.
Rebirth of NCL
During the
dual christening on November 17, NCL's president and chief executive
officer, Colin Veitch, stated the Sun and Star represented the
rebirth of NCL. With the introduction of the new ships and
resort-style, do-as-you-please Freestyle Cruising fleet wide,
NCL hopes to have a broader appeal.
To make large ships even
more appealing, NCL is offering many dining options and intimate
areas for relaxing and sleeping.
Dining
The
1,936-passenger Norwegian Sun provides a choice of nine
different restaurants and 10 distinctive menus every evening. The
2,240-passenger Norwegian Star is NCL's largest ship and will
offer passengers 10 different restaurants and 11 different
menus.
With the flexibility of multiple restaurants and
menus, passengers will be able to enjoy a different restaurant every
night of a seven day cruise without having to dine in the main
restaurant. However, some restaurants require a $10 cover charge
during dinner hours. Both ships also offer an array of casual
snacking and café outlets, including an on-deck grill, an ice cream
bar, a coffee shop, multiple bar areas, a 24-hour hot and cold room
service, and an extravagant midnight chocolate buffet.
Formal
nights are out on the Star and Sun; "resort casual" dress code is
in. For those that like to dress up, however, both ships will have
one optional formal night and will reserve a dining room and
lounge.
In addition, passengers can choose their dinner
companions rather than being assigned to a specific
table.
Tipping has also been simplified. Instead of
passengers' having to distribute tipping envelopes to wait staff and
cabin stewards, the tip line is automatically added to each guest's
onboard bill. Passengers have the option of leaving an additional
tip for great service, or should they feel the service did not meet
their expectations, they can remove the charge from their final
bill.
Cabins
Both ships offer larger
staterooms—seventy percent of them are outside cabins and most have
balconies. The cabins have exceptional standards complete with
duvets, refrigerators, and tea and coffee makers. Most cabins will
include a sofa bed or pop-up trundle bed, and many will have a
fourth pull-down berth. Many cabins, including suites and
mini-suites, can connect to create a two, three, four, or five
bedroom area suitable for families. The Star has come close to the
Disney vessels by offering a much larger bathroom with separate
toilet, shower, and sink compartments with sliding doors.
The Star shines even brighter by
offering two luxury garden villas aft of the main sundeck. Each
villa is over 5,000 square feet and includes a roof terrace and
private garden featuring open-air dining, Jacuzzi, private
relaxation area, and a panoramic ocean
view.
Activities
Both ships offer plenty of
choices for those passengers who wish stay active, including a
driving range, volleyball and basketball court, fitness and spa
center, aerobic area, whirlpool and hydrotherapy facility, and steam
and sauna rooms. The Star's sports deck contains fun extras like a
"boxercise" area with a sprung wooden floor, a jet-current exercise
pool, and an interior 20-yard lap pool. Both ships have large main
pool areas, but the Star's is larger with its enormous water slides.
For those who want to be pampered, Hawaiian-based Mandara Spa offers
passengers on both vessels an exotic menu of spa and beauty
treatments.
There are also special onboard events throughout
the week, including art auctions, lectures, lei making classes (Star
only), and movies. Evening entertainment involves piano stylings,
disco dancing, comedians, jugglers, and high-energy extravaganzas in
the ships' main theaters. The Sun is equipped with a
casino.
For the Kids
Each ship is
family-friendly with a huge supervised children's center complete
with playroom, outdoor pool, movie theater, computer rooms, teen
center, video arcade, and nursery and toddlers' nap room. Supervised
activities organized by age are offered throughout the day and
evening. There is even a special children's area in the buffet
restaurant with its own low-level serving counter and kid-sized
tables and chairs.
Real Traveler Thoughts
I
found these ships to be exceptionally pleasant and intimate, which
was amazing given their size. My only complaint was that the staff
on the Star seemed a bit overwhelmed and at times indifferent to
customers' requests. I hope that will change with time, because both
of these ships have promise. Consumers will benefit from more
product choice, and if you are looking for something completely
different in cruising, these two ships might be for
you.
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