GA Dave

Day 3. Woke up just as we were passing the lighthouse at the entrance to Port of Nassau. A very restful night for me. Freedom and Independence of the Seas were already here and Carnival Sunrise, Carnival Conquest and Carnival Freedom were tailgating us into port. Very glad I decided to stay on the ship today. After my morning routine, I dressed in my swimsuit and tee shirt and went down to the buffet for an omelet, some sausage, and coffee. Then I wandered out to an empty pool deck. So nice this early in the morning. Set up shop for a while and enjoyed the early morning sun and quiet. Had a couple of very brief sprinkle showers, but otherwise the weather was fine. Around 10:30, I went back, took a shower and headed up to Great Outdoor. This has become my spot and all the bartenders know me. It helps to tip. The floaters on my Pina Colodas just keep getting bigger and bigger! 😂 Had lunch at Great Outdoor (cheeseburger, cheesedog, cheese fries). Going to diet severely when I get home! Next I went to the Spa for my deep tissue massage. The therapist was excellent and worked out two major knots in my shoulder muscles that have been bothering me for weeks! I know people say massages on cruise ships are expensive, etc, but being on a cruise is my only real relaxation time I have due to my work schedule and I figure I’m worth it. After the massage I went to the pool deck and just kept walking. It was getting really crowded and there were a ton of loungers with towels on them but very few people in the pools/hot tubs. Not into playing those games anymore, so back to the Great Outdoor I went! After a few drinks here, I went exploring a bit. Visited The Local, Sugarcane Mojito Bar (Raspberry Guava Mojito!!), and the Spinnaker Lounge (Rebellious Fish!). The Spinnaker kind of reminds me of the Yacht Club Topsail Lounge on Divina and Meraviglia, with the big, slanted windows, the “mood” music, etc. The only thing it is lacking is the finger foods! Met two wonderful families from Texas and had a great conversation. Finally found my way back to the cabin to change into dinner clothes and chill for my 6:30 La Cucina reservation. At La Cucina, I had the salad with strawberries, etc and the Osso Bucca. It was good, with no complaints from me. I did hear other people complaining of food being bland throughout the cruise. I have to wonder how many people have had Covid in the last two years, not even realized it or it’s effects on their palettes. The rest of tonight will be one more trip to the Great Outdoor and maybe the show in the theater, Rock You Tonight. My bags are mostly packed already and I plan to be online for the early self debark tomorrow so I can hit the road early. Thanks for following along with my rambling. I hope it helped one or two people better plan for their Sky cruise.

Balance of Day 2 Sorry, kind of fell behind on my trip report. After hanging out at the pool for a bit yesterday, went back to the cabin to shower and dress for dinner. I brought all-white clothes for the Glow Party but figured that was a disaster looking to happen, so I just wore my khaki jeans and a red, collared polo to dinner at Cagney’s. No issues at all and I saw others dressed less formal than me. I went to the Pinnacle Lounge for a pre-dinner cocktail and talked with the wonderful family that had been in the cabana next to mine on GSC. Dinner itself was excellent. I had the shrimp cocktail, wedge salad, and the prime rib. Everything was spot on and I had a great conversation with a wonderful couple from Miami Beach who were celebrating their 50th anniversary. Service was just the right pace. Being that I usually only eat around 1400-1500 calories per day, dessert was just not going to happen. After dinner, I wandered down to the shop and bought myself a refrigerator magnet of the Sky. My refrigerator is getting quite full with all the different ships I am going on. I also watched people lose money in the casino for a bit and walked most of the decks to burn off some dinner. As usual, I found my way to the Great Outdoor Cafe on deck 11 aft. Great bartenders and great views there. This is where I made a mistake. Went back to the cabin with all intentions of changing into my white clothes, noticed it was still an hour until the Glow Party, and lay down on the bed to watch some television. BOOM! The day caught up with me and I was gone. Woke at 11:00 PM, changed and went back to sleep! 😴😴😴😴. Day 3 to follow.

Great Styrrup Cay Day I was up early today (as usual) and hit the buffet at 7:00 AM. Very empty and there was plenty of food and hot coffee. The tenders started loading around 8:15 and I was on the island by 8:30ish. I found the excursion hut and was then escorted to the shuttle to my cabana. It was a very relaxing, refreshing day for me. The service from both the food and beverage staffs was outstanding and the beach was virtually empty most of the day (pictures to follow). I stayed until 2:30 and even had a nice 30 minute nap in my cabana! 😂 Back on the ship now, sitting at Champs Bar, overlooking the pool deck which is maybe 20% of capacity and listening to some music and nursing another Pina Coloda. I have a 6:30 reservation at Cagney’s tonight that I am very much looking forward to. More later.

Sailaway: The spot is the Great Outdoor Cafe. Although they will push you to the pool deck, you cannot actually see anything from there. Dinner at Palace Main Dining Room. Shocked at how empty it was at 6:00 PM. Literally two tables totally three passengers, including me. Most seemed to be eating at the buffet. I had the French Onion Soup and the Beef Medallions. Soup was good except for a lack of a cheese layer on top (it was on the bread). Beef medallions were good and came with steak fries and broccoli. For those that eat normal “American” size dinners, they may want to add a dessert. But for me, the soup and dinner were more than enough. Waitstaff told me that there are only 1,165 passengers onboard this weekend! So, my 5:00 AM wake up caught up with me this evening and I fell asleep until 8:00 PM. Wandered up to the Spinnaker Lounge. Had a good Pina Coloda and a nice chat with the server. It was very quiet in there. I talk a walk from the front to the back of the ship on deck 11 and was surprised by the lack of people out and about at 9:00 PM. Definitely a different crowd from my last four MSC cruises, where the nightlife seems to go much later. More tomorrow from Great Styrrup Cay.

I had posted a kind of daily blog on the major social media site about my cruise to help out newer cruisers and figured I would copy it to here if anyone is interested: NCL Sky Check in piece of cake @ 9:20 AM. About a dozen people here. Did not board until 11:20. Given group numbers like Southwest Air. Do muster immediately. Very easy. Lunch @ Great Outdoor Cafe, deck 11 aft. They have buffet stations and a bar back here. I found the food choices to be plentiful and everything I had was good to very good. Pool deck was basically empty @12:00 PM Cabins ready right around 1:00 PM. Balcony cabin is smaller than I am used to but plenty big enough. Enough hangers for a three or four day, but would need to bring more for a seven day or two people. Bathroom is very small. Would be a challenge for two people. Balcony is adequate. Internet is not available until approx 1:30. It is a bit different in than other lines, but Internet cafe on deck 7 in the Atrium was very helpful Cabana envelope was in cabin, but still had to go to Excursions desk to actual ticket, which is also the tender ticket. Staff has been awesome. Very attentive. Very easy to book La Cucina for the last night’s dinner. It was right next to the Excursion desk. Shocking to me how few people are actually tipping servers. Quite a few tweens and teens onboard, but very well behaved so far. The Great Outdoor Cafe will be my hang out spot! Such a great people watching spot! Excellent staff.

This is not really new. NCL announced a while ago that they were dropping the test requirements. EXCEPT: For sailings beginning August 1, 2022, vaccinated guests sailing on a cruise originating from any port EXCEPT a U.S. port; Canadian port; or Piraeus, Greece are exempt from all pre-cruise COVID-19 testing requirements. I think they were waiting on actions by the CDC to drop the USA requirements. I have no idea when Canada will drop their requirement (2056???).

As a solo cruiser, I can tell you that MSC is the only line currently giving solos a break. Most of the cruises I have booked in YC have either had no solo supplement or a very small (12-18%) supplement. I have priced Haven cruises and there is no solo discount at all, everything is 2X the per person rate. And those rates are substantially more than comparable MSC cruises here in the USA. I have also found that I truly love YC more than Haven even if they were priced the same.

I was on Divina in the YC on the June 9 cruise. Had a blast! It was interesting comparing Divina's YC to Meraviglia's YC, which I had sailed last August, January and March. I found the Deluxe Suite cabin smaller on Divina than Mera, but loved the pool deck and One Bar up top on Divina. Seemed more upscale and integrated on Divina than Mera. The restaurant being at the back of the ship really did not bother me that much, as I also loved going to the Garden Bar. Two birds, one stone. I will be on Divina again in September, then on Mera in November and December, so I will be truly spoiled by the service in both ship's Yacht Clubs! 😁

Glad to see you sailing NCL again. I also still look fondly back on our GA cruise in September of 2018. That was a great cruise! I am actually sailing NCL again later this month, also for my birthday. A quick three-day on the Sky. Then I will be back to my new favorite, Yacht Club on MSC for September, November and December. Hopefully we will bump into each other again in the future.

Did not want to start another thread for what may be a redundant question, but I also searched and really could not find an answer to my question. So I am highjacking this thread. 😄 The last time I was at Great Stirrup Cay was July 2002. I know things have changed dramatically since then. I am sailing solo in a balcony cabin on the Sky to GSC in July for my first NCL cruise since 2018. My last NCL cruise was in the Haven, and I have sailed in MSC's Yacht Club four times since the post-Covid restart, so I am tempering my expectations for this next cruise. How do they determine the priority for the tenders for GSC? I would assume that Haven has first priority, then maybe Latitudes status. then others. Back in 2002 you stood in line in the theater and got priority numbers. Is it still the same? If I booked a cabana, would that give me any priority? Any help is appreciated.

I formally used to always travel NCL and experienced Haven on the Getaway. I have now sailed Meraviglia in the Yacht Club three times and find it a better overall experience than the Haven. My first trip on Meraviglia, I stayed in one of the forward facing YC Deluxe Suites and made a video. You can see it HERE.

USA Today Article

Lobster Roll lunch from Ocean House this past Saturday. YUM!

I have friends that have sailed Carnival recently and they are definitely sailing close to or at normal double occupancy capacity numbers. Numbers running 4000+ on some sailings. I leave on Divina tomorrow. A friend who is currently on the ship doing a B2B said that the four-night cruise currently at Ocean Cay has 1600 total passengers with 64 in the Yacht Club. Our three-day cruise starting tomorrow is expected to be 2100 total with 78 in Yacht Club. Divina's capacities are 3502 double occupancy with a lifeboat maximum of 4202.

I have not found that problem at all and I have four more cruises booked for this year on MSC. Three are as a solo in the YC.

Have you joined the group on a large social media outlet? We are having a Meet & Greet!

This is what I use. No issues at all. Men's Water Shoes

Which date?

There is a beach right off the dock called Lighthouse Beach. They also offer the oversized golf carts as transportation all over the island. The beach close to the dock is not very rocky if memory serves.