Norwegian Sun is the third and final ship of this design. She was preceded by Norwegian Sky (entered service in 1999, relaunched as Pride of Aloha in 2004); and Costa Victoria of Costa Cruises (entered service in 1996). NCL defines both Norwegian Sun and Norwegian Sky as Sun class ships.[1]
In 2017 Norwegian Sun sailed from Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada to Seward, Alaska. On 5 October 2017, she went from San Francisco to Miami. She continued to Los Angeles on a fourteen-night voyage. After returning to Miami she served the month of November sailing round-trip voyages in the Caribbean from Miami. Her 2017 calendar ended with two-week voyages along the Western South American coast to Valparaiso, Chile.
Between 9 September and 14 October 2018, Norwegian Sun operated cruises from Miami to Havana, Great Stirrup Cay, Costa Maya, Mexico and Harvest Caye, Belize.[3]
In June 2019, it was announced that, following the travel ban preventing U.S. cruise ships from visiting Cuba, Norwegian Sun would no longer be offering their "open bar" service and would instead transition to the traditional way for charging for onboard drinks.[4][failed verification]
Beginning in 2026, Norwegian Sun will no longer sail from Seattle to Alaska during the summer cruise season in the northern hemisphere. Its new homeport will be Helsinki, and it will sail the Baltic Sea, also offering cruises from Copenhagen. It will visit ports in Sweden, Norway, Germany, Lithuania and Poland.[5]
Incidents
2022 iceberg collision
On June 25, 2022, while cruising near Alaska's Hubbard Glacier, the ship collided with a small iceberg known as a "growler". The ship docked in Juneau, where it was inspected by the Coast Guard. There was some damage found, but the ship was allowed to continue on a shortened itinerary. After the passengers disembarked, the ship was taken out of service for over two weeks for repairs.[6][7]
