From September 16-23, 2013, I sailed on the Norwegian Sun from Vancouver to Los Angeles with my 90-year-old father. To give you some background about us for perspective on this review, this was my 14th cruise, and my father’s 3rd. I’ve sailed on Royal Caribbean, Celebrity, Holland America, Princess, Costa, Carnival and Uniworld, while Dad has only sailed on Royal Caribbean. Alaska has been my main and Dad’s only destination – I’ve also sailed in the Caribbean (3 sailings) and European rivers (1 sailing).

Ours was a last-minute booking that came about when the 9-night West Coast cruise that we had booked on the Celebrity Millennium was cancelled due to propulsion problems that required a month-long drydock. The Norwegian Sun itinerary, though 2 nights shorter, was the only one that allowed us to keep the flights we had booked, and our post-cruise vacation, intact. The initial cost of the Norwegian cruise was just over half what the Celebrity one had been – $1,827 for the two of us, vs $3,573 – though with Celebrity the fare included a Premium Beverage package (unlimited drinks of any kind) which would have cost $700 with Norwegian. We booked similar Verandah cabins on both.

With the vast range of options available in the way of cruise ships today, there is an equally vast range of passenger types. Each has their own likes and dislikes, and their own priorities when it comes to deciding what makes a good cruise holiday. For me in particular, but for Dad as well, the Norwegian Sun was not a good fit. We both found the food in particular to be lacking. Most of it ranged from mediocre to inedible, and as I mentioned above, even the specialty restaurant we went to was nothing special. After several poor meals, I thought that a clubhouse sandwich and corn chowder was safe for lunch, but they were both very poor. The only really good meals we had during the cruise were the 3 that we went ashore for, to neighbourhood pubs. Read more