NCL Sky Review (LONG) with pictures!

[duncanmaria]

Great review so far - many thanks for sharing!

 

We sailed on the Majesty several years ago and loved that little ship. How do you compare the two? (I know, apples and oranges - just curious about your feelings since you sailed the Majesty twice.)

[LaWeezy]

How detailed are you!! We loved our cruise on the Sky! What a great ship. Everyone was just great.

But last Dec we went on the Dawn and it was not so great...

Service was not the greatest and the weather well that is a whole other story...too depressing to discuss.

But you sound, (other than DH hamburger problem), sounds good.

I can't wait to go on another cruise, but I think it will be awhile before DH goes on another.....

He would rather go on an all inclusive this year...hey maybe one of those cottages.

[BooBooMonkey]

Great review so far - many thanks for sharing!

 

We sailed on the Majesty several years ago and loved that little ship. How do you compare the two? (I know, apples and oranges - just curious about your feelings since you sailed the Majesty twice.)

 

Majesty holds a special place in our hearts. We did a 3-day for the first time without kids on her in 2003 and had a friend join us for a 7-day from charleston to Key West, Grand cayman, and Cozumel in 2005. Both those cruises were so nice!

 

You really can't compare the two. Majesty was so small that the sea motion was definitely an issue, whereas it would take a lot more bad weather to make the Sky feel that way. Plus, those cruises were back in the day when they handed you a glass of champagne and escorted you to your cabin when you boarded (regular cabin, not suite or anything).

 

I think Sky is just about the right size. I don't really like much bigger than that. It is definitely not the same experience as Majesty was. Staff are equally as nice, but there are just so many more people, and I think they have decreased the number of staff per passenger over time.

 

Apples to oranges is about right...

[BooBooMonkey]

Having been to Nassau at least 5 times before, we were looking for something different. We were not interested in paying $100 per person for Paradise Island, and had done the Cable Beach properties' day passes; we had done the taxi tour, and walk around town on your own. We wanted to see the “real” Nassau. So, I found the “People to People” program on the Bahamas Ministry of Tourism board and contacted them to see if we could hook up with a guide for the day. With this program, local volunteers are matched with visitors and they become your host for the day and try to show you things of interest based on your preferences.

 

We met our hostess “Cassie” at the Ministry of Tourism building just outside Festival Place (the building you have to walk through getting off the ship). I am an RN and DH is a history buff. Cassie is a retired RN who has been a life-long resident of Nassau. She picked us up in her personal vehicle ant drove us all around the island of Nassau for 4 hours!

 

We first drove through town and she pointed out some churches/schools/government buildings, etc. Then she took us to Ft. Charlotte, which is west of the cruise dock and has a great view of everything. The museum costs $5 per person plus you need a couple dollars to tip the tour guide after the quick tour of the underground part of the fort. The fort is pretty cool and has lots of photo ops on the top where you can see for miles around. There is a small market area there that is much less intimidating than the big Straw Market.

Here are some of the photos we took there:

 

 

 

 

 

A new ship port is being built west of the current one. this is what is shown in the picture below.

 

In this photo, if you look carefully, you can see people down there on a Segway tour!

 

I'm going to have to finish up the rest of the review tomorrow. I have lots more pictures to share and more food stories, etc.

 

Thanks again everyone for reading. Feel free to ask questions and I will answer if I can!

 

Boo

[spacepotatoes]

This is such a great review, feels like I'm back on the ship again :)

 

We liked the food everywhere we ate on the ship, though some things could have used more flavour. It's too bad you didn't get to experience Longboards! DH and I went one night and it was great. DH tried the cheesecake and loved it, I had the Buffalo wings and they were just amazing. I think Longboards is meant to be very similar to Blue Lagoon but the menu wasn't very extensive.

[sparks1093]

Thanks for letting me cruise on the Sky again, if only vicariously:).

[BooBooMonkey]

After visiting Fort Charlotte, we drove all around the west and south side of the island. We saw the College, new stadium being built, and many areas where the rich and or famous live and play. There are many public beaches that are nice but more secluded than the ones near the ships.

 

Also, many condo-type areas you never get to see if you don't stray far from town. There are some very nice homes up on bluffs over on the west side, and some exclusive gated communities. Cassie also drove us by the airport where they have just finished the new international terminal (it looks really nice). We also saw a national park area that has the remnants of an old slave compound. You can see the ruins of these from the road.

 

 

An interesting thing we learned is that the Chinese are investing a lot of money into infrastructure, tourism, etc. in the Bahamas. They have bought up the land on Cable Beach where the hotels are and will be building a huge resort there—supposedly the largest such resort in the Caribbean. They have also built the new sports stadium. Cassie heard they will be bringing over like 8500 Chinese workers to build the new resort. Kind of sad considering so many Bahamians are in need of work. (Things that make you go Hmmmmm...!).

 

After seeing pretty much everything there is to see from a car, we went to lunch at the Fish Fry on Arawak Cay. There, we ate at Oh Andro's restaurant, which was highly recommended by our host.

 

 

We were looking for something local, and this was just perfect. DH ordered some chicken wings that he just loved. I couldn't resist the conch fritters (again) which were 12 for $3! Cassie ordered what was called a “grouper snack”, that really was a decent sized meal. Those around us who had ordered the regular sized meals had HUGE plates of food in front of them fit for 2-3 people! Our food with drinks and tip came to about $30. It was really delicious. We would go back there again.

 

After lunch, we stopped at a pharmacy to see if I could find some benadryl cream for my bug bites (see above for that drama if you haven't already). Then, we stopped at the public beach for a photo-op and then Cassie drove us back to town right where we had met her. We had brought her a small thank-you gift and I gave it to her at that time, and we bought her lunch at the restaurant. For a total of less than $45, we had a four-hour tour with lunch and a PRICELESS companion to give us very interesting information and share about the island and her life there. I highly recommend the People to People program if you are interested in going beyond the tourist parts of visiting Nassau.

 

Our hostess Cassie:

 

 

Here are a couple of beach pictures:

 

 

Re-boarding, pier runners, and best MDR dinner so far up next!

[jjaazzy]

:pThanks for posting about the meds, I am will definitely add these items to my box of tricks. I have psoriasis anyway and anything else that would make me itch might just send me overboard! So thank you so much I will load up the HBA bag. I'm not going to this island this trip but that can happen anywhere.

[BooBooMonkey]

Back to the ship.

 

We did not even try to smuggle any booze back on in Nassau, which was probably a good thing. The security people were checking everything, like water botles, my empty travel mug from that morning's coffee I had in my tote bag, etc. DH had on cargo pants and they asked him if he had anything in his pockets (believed him when he said no..pockets were flat). I think if his pockets did not look so flat, they would have patted him down. They were being very vigilant that day!

 

There were a few stragglers getting back on board that evening. One couple was left behind as the ship was pulling away around 6:30 (supposed to be back on board by 5:30, and the ship did wait until after the scheduled 6:00 sailaway time). As the woman arrived in a golf cart, she ran down the pier yelling, “Hey, that's my ship, come back!!!” I'm always torn at feeling sorry for people or not. Even some of the people who are still WALKING down the pier past the time they were supposed to be back on board amaze me. I would be freaking out. Much rather be up on deck watching them than the other way around!

 

This evening, we went back to the Palace MDR, where we had the best dinner so far. It was on par with the lunch we had in the MDR the first day. Of the two MDRs I find the Palace to be the better of the two. Our waiter was “I Made”, who with his assistant April, did a fantastic job that night! Timing was spot-on and special requests were handled without question. We both really enjoyed the scallop appetizer (DH ordered two and they brought it out on one plate). They offered cheese rolls in the bread basket that were fantastic! We requested a basket of just these, and they were provided without question. I had the Caesar salad again (I think NCL does a really good job with this always-available salad). Entrees were the bowtie pasta with sausage for DH and the strip steak (well-done with A-1 on the side—don't hate me) for myself. We both enjoyed our choice of entrees. For dessert, I had the lemon cake with blueberries and DH had a chocolate orange cake. Both desserts were good. No real complaints this time!

 

After dinner, we went back to the cabin and I decided not to go out as the sandfly bites were really making me miserable and I just wanted to dose up on benadryl and get some sleep. I really needed a good night's sleep anyway after three very long, busy days anyway! DH headed back to the casino to donate some more money to the NCL casino fund.

 

I have to share a funny at his expense. DH has a tendency to sleep walk at times. At home, he will get up in the middle of the night, go to the kitchen, and eat something, and then come back to bed. He never remembers doing it, but the evidence is there in the morning (cabinets open, dishes left out, etc.). Well, I was awakened to him getting up in the middle of the night on the ship (I thought to use the bathroom), opening the cabin door, and walking out into the hallway in his undies before I realized what he was doing! I got him back into the room and he said he was going to sign up for Wi-fi! LOL! I directed him to the bathroom and then went and LOCKED the cabin door lest he try it again. He had no recollection the next morning of having had this exchange. Kind of funny, but scary at the same time! I wonder if he was caught in his underwear on a security camera...lol.

 

I will post the food porn from this dinner later. Pix are on DH's computer and I can't find them!

 

Anyway, that's it for Wednesday. Next up...GSC (or not)...

[BooBooMonkey]

Food Porn:

 

 

 

 

 

 

[BooBooMonkey]

 

 

 

 

 

[BooBooMonkey]

We both decided to sleep in a bit today (7:30 for me, 9:30 for DH). I woke in the morning as itchy as ever! This was the day I decided to go down to the medical center because I was wanting some benadryl cream and the store would not open until 2:00 pm that day. The tender line was up the stairs from deck 3 up to deck 4—wall to wall people at around 11:00 am. When I did this cruise before, DD and I left to the island around 9:30 and there was no line, so earlier is probably better.

 

Anyway, I went up to deck 12 early to enjoy my morning coffee and write my cruise journal for the day. I met a mom there who was traveling with her DD and a friend. We struck up a conversation and had some things in common. That is part of the reason I love getting up early and going up top before everyone else does. I always meet interesting people in the early morning hours. If not, I get to enjoy the sunrise and just watching the crew bustling about with their morning duties while enjoying my coffee and some quiet before the activities of the day.

 

That is where I ended my journaling for this cruise, so the rest of this is from memory (fading fast!). We ate late buffet breakfast that day and just sat on deck mostly, watching the tenders go back and forth to GSC. Breakfast at the buffet is generally the best meal to have there. I was feeling pretty miserable with the bug bites and by the time we thought we might just go over to walk around and check it out, we decided it wasn't worth the hassle. We had been to this island together many years ago on Majesty, and I had just been there with DD in September. So, it didn't hold a lot of fascination for us. The tenders looked to be as rocky as ever too...not my favorite thing.

 

So, we enjoyed having the whole Lido to ourselves, for the most part. We had buffet lunch also, which was just OK. We were not impressed with the buffet lunches/dinners/late-night food on this sailing.

 

I made my way to the Internet cafe to check-in for our Southwest flight the next day. It is $3.95 to sign on plus 75 cents/minute if you do the pay-as-you-go thing. I ended up spending about $16 for that (plus a little time to look up these sandfly bites and what to do about them). We sat on deck most of the day and read our respective books (DH on his phone kindle app, and me the regular “analog” version of a hardback novel I brought. It was a very relaxing day, which we both needed at that point.

 

My only regrets about not going to GSC are not seeing the new tender dock, and missing the barbecue lunch (which was really good when I was there in September). On such a short, port-intensive cruise, I recommend making one of the days a “sea” day if you want some rest/relaxation on your trip. Last time, DD and I stayed on board on the Freeport stop.

 

That afternoon, I got our two big bags we were going to check all packed up before dinner so I could enjoy the evening without having to worry about it. We had one whole medium-sized bag with all clean clothes in it! I always pack too much, even after saying that after each cruise! For this itinerary/ship/cruise line, I suggest you bring more casual clothes than you think you will need, and fewer dressy clothes for the evenings. I wish I would have brought some comfy black flat shoes to wear in the evening too.

 

NCL lets you choose your luggage tag color (time to disembark), which is nice. On other lines it's a crap shoot unless you select to self-carry everything off. You must go to a display at the service desk and grab whichever tag color you want. Tags are not delivered to your room (which I found out the hard way last time). We selected Blue which would be the latest to be called, since our flight wouldn't be until around 2:35 the next day. More about disembarkation in the next installment.

 

That night's dinner in the Palace MDR was pretty much the worst. We did go a bit later than we had the other nights, so maybe that had something to do with it. The timing was really bad, and the food was just “OK”. Water glasses were not filled regularly as they had been the first few nights, the salt shaker was empty and then they brought another pepper shaker, etc. All little things, really. But they seemed to add up to make it a not-so-good experience.

 

DH was disappointed there was no “lobster night” at the end like on Carnival. He did enjoy the escargot appetizer, however. We investigated the menus for the upcharge restaurants, and found that you could get lobster in cagneys after paying not only the extra cover charge, but an additional charge for lobster. It would have cost us an extra $70 (I think...memory fading) to have lobster for dinner had we chosen to do so. Now, I am perfectly happy to eat whatever I can get in the MDR, but DH was really disappointed not to have had lobster during his cruise. I do think there is something to be said about having the same wait team every night too, which you don't get with Freestyle. Overall, food quality has declined a bit on each cruise we've taken in the past 4 years or so. Not just on NCL. I guess it's the price we pay for low fares. Not sure what the tipping point will be for us on this.

 

That last evening, we spent a little more time in that black hole of a casino, ordered one more drink from our favorite server at the atrium bar, and watched some basketball. They were showing the NCAA games in the casino and on the room TV.

 

Next installment...disembarkation at POM, shuttle to FLL and flight home...

[MrsDelo10]

I have enjoyed reading your post. I will be cruising for the first time ever on 4/11 and I am excited and your post has helped me out alot especially with the packing (I am a very heavy packer..LOL) i will also make sure i pack creams for any bug bites that i pray i dont get..Question, how were you able to smuggle on the wine? Also do the rooms have closets to hang cloths or just drawers? Any other info that you can give me that will help me as a first time cruiser will be great..Thank You :):)

[jdvmd]

Thanks for such a great review! We were on the Sky last September as a last-minute anniversary trip over Labor Day weekend. We had a wonderful time. We also love the beaches on Freeport. Would be interested in hearing about the two cabins you mentioned that can be rented.

 

I also loved how you included pictures of the food. A picture says a thousand words. Great food and beautiful presentation.

 

I read so many reports about the food being horrible in NCL's main dining rooms and that just isn't the case. You can find bad food on any cruise line. I hope the people that have been reading mixed reviews will find this thread and not listen to the negativity.

 

Glad you had a wonderful time. We are looking to book again for this Labor Day and our anniversary!

[BooBooMonkey]

I have enjoyed reading your post. I will be cruising for the first time ever on 4/11 and I am excited and your post has helped me out alot especially with the packing (I am a very heavy packer..LOL) i will also make sure i pack creams for any bug bites that i pray i dont get..Question, how were you able to smuggle on the wine? Also do the rooms have closets to hang cloths or just drawers? Any other info that you can give me that will help me as a first time cruiser will be great..Thank You :):)

 

Congrats on your first cruise!

 

We smuggled the carton of wine in our carryon because I figured if it didn't work, the worst that could happen was I'd have to pay the $15 corkage fee. I think it worked because it was a carton vs a huge box or a bottle. Also, we packed it surrounded by a bunch of other stuff that we hoped would camoflage it on the ex-ray machine; like disposable underwater cameras, first aid kit, books, etc. So, either our ruse worked, or they just weren't paying attention!

 

The rooms have rather large closets on this ship with almost enough hangers (you might want to bring some wire ones you can just leave there). The problem in this ship's cabins is lack of drawer space. The balcony room had the same setup as the inside cabin--3 small drawers and one shelf in the closet. You can store stuff in your suitcases under the bed.

Hope this helps!

 

Boo

[BooBooMonkey]

[quote name='jdvmd']Thanks for such a great review! We were on the Sky last September as a last-minute anniversary trip over Labor Day weekend. We had a wonderful time. We also love the beaches on Freeport. Would be interested in hearing about the two cabins you mentioned that can be rented.
I also loved how you included pictures of the food. A picture says a thousand words. Great food and beautiful presentation.
I read so many reports about the food being horrible in NCL's main dining rooms and that just isn't the case. You can find bad food on any cruise line. I hope the people that have been reading mixed reviews will find this thread and not listen to the negativity.
Glad you had a wonderful time. We are looking to book again for this Labor Day and our anniversary![/quote]

Hi Jdvmd...I think you may have actually replied to some questions I had about Sky when DD and I went on a whim at the last minute in late september?!

One thing NCL does well is food presentation in the MDR. Everything looked so good! My DH was not as happy with the food as I was. However, he learned from past experience to send it back if you don't like it and try something else. Sure, you can pay extra and eat in the up-charge restaurants, but we chose to use our funds for other things. The food in the MDR is way better than what I make for dinner every night, and I don't have to cook it or clean up after, so I'm pretty easy to please in that regard! It is not 5 stars, but this is NCL, not Cunard! I do think it is a bit better than the food on Carnival, with our one Costa cruise beating them both hands down.

Have fun on your upcoming cruises!

Boo

[BooBooMonkey]

All good cruises must come to an end :(.

Friday morning we had ordered room service to be delivered at 0800, which was delivered on time and was satisfactory as usual (highly recommend room service on the last day or any day you have an early shore excursion). The fruit they deliver is so fresh and good. Plus, it is nice to have some coffee first thing while you're getting ready. We planned to vacate our cabin around 9:00, and our steward knocked on the door around that time to see if we were still there. We ended up leaving the room around 9:15 to go up to the Lido deck and enjoy our last few minutes of “cruise-ness” before heading off to find our bags, go through customs, and get our shuttle back to FLL airport.

Miami seen from lido deck on last day:
[URL="http://s275.photobucket.com/albums/jj300/mommy3k3/NCL%20SKY%20Spring%202011/?action=view¤t=2011-03-25085936.jpg"][IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj300/mommy3k3/NCL%20SKY%20Spring%202011/th_2011-03-25085936.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

I went to the service desk to settle our account (they owed us $17..woohoo :D!). The line was a bit longer than it had been the other times I had been there, but not too bad and that is to be expected the last day. Around 9:30, the CD came on and did request that all passengers please leave so they could prepare the ship for the next sailing. The crew on the Lido was already preparing the area for the next group of cruisers. It brought back memories of our first day...

We began our exit of the ship around 9:45 or so. I called the SAS shuttle company as we were walking down the gangplank into customs. They asked me to call them back when I was “out in the fresh air” because there were shuttles already in the area. We found our bags immediately, and customs was no problem at all (very fast). My only problem at that point was there were no bathroom facilities past that point! I asked a worker where to go, and he pointed me across the lanes of buses, taxis and shuttles to a portable trailer with bathrooms in it!
That is it way over there with the green door:

[URL="http://s275.photobucket.com/albums/jj300/mommy3k3/NCL%20SKY%20Spring%202011/?action=view¤t=2011-03-25095220.jpg"][IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj300/mommy3k3/NCL%20SKY%20Spring%202011/th_2011-03-25095220.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

It wasn't as bad as it could have been. At least it was air conditioned on the inside and fairly clean. The worst part was actually getting over to it! The POM was quite a cluster if you were waiting for transportation. Last time, DD and I had driven and our car was parked in the garage right across from the terminal. We had also left the ship very early in the morning, so there were no crowds whatsoever. This time, it was a crowded mess! I'm really glad our flight was later in the afternoon and we had all kinds of time to get out of there.

This picture shows the parking garage in the background, in case you plan to drive to port. It is pretty easy to get to/from:
[URL="http://s275.photobucket.com/albums/jj300/mommy3k3/NCL%20SKY%20Spring%202011/?action=view¤t=2011-03-25095037.jpg"][IMG]http://i275.photobucket.com/albums/jj300/mommy3k3/NCL%20SKY%20Spring%202011/th_2011-03-25095037.jpg[/IMG][/URL]

We finally got a hold of our driver a few minutes later. He was a young guy and very personable. He took time to show us different sights out the windows and was inquisitive about where people were from, how our cruise was, etc. Much better than the guy on the way down, although he was nice enough (just not at all entertaining---all business). The ride from POM to FLL was equally as fast as it had been on our way down. I highly recommend the SAS shuttle service if you fly into FLL.

We arrived early at the airport and the driver suggested several local attractions we might want to try (by taxi), since we had time, or that we walk down to terminal 3 and eat at Chili's (which we did, after having checked our bags). We had a leisurely lunch there and slow walk back to terminal 1.

The airport seemed a bit less of a mess than it did the week before, thankfully. I got selected by TSA for extra scrutiny of my footwear. They said they are now doing random checks of random things. Better than the enhanced pat-down I guess! We had a quick flight to Tampa to change planes. Our first flight left about 30 minutes late, so we arrived at the second just in time to board with the A group boarding passes. Uneventful flight home, bags arrived safely, and we were on the road with cloudy skies and a few flakes of snow to remind us that our vacation was truly over.

I may come back later with a final post of general observations to sum up our cruise. In the meantime, feel free to ask any questions and I will be happy to try to answer them! Thanks for reading!

Boo

[poppadaddycruiser]

[quote I do think it is a bit better than the food on Carnival, with our one Costa cruise beating them both hands down.

Have fun on your upcoming cruises!

Boo[/quote]

Yeah but CCL has LOBSTER surf and turf night... bring back lobster ncl or you won't bring me back! I refuse to pay $70 for the two of us to have a lobster dinner.

[BooBooMonkey]

[quote name='poppadaddycruiser']
Yeah but CCL has LOBSTER surf and turf night... bring back lobster ncl or you won't bring me back! I refuse to pay $70 for the two of us to have a lobster dinner.[/quote]

I will bring you back and you can have your lobster dinner...
Love you.

[Pamalicious]

[quote name='BooBooMonkey']
We decided to go down to the service desk and put down another $100 on our on-board account. I had pre-purchased $300 in tow installments by calling NCL directly, prior to the cruise. When we got there, they did not have $100 of that on my account. They filled out a form and said they would e-mail NCL to check on it. We would not have an answer until the next day. This was a bit disconcerting, and I'm glad I had the e-mail confirmations of my OBC. (When I got a print-out of our account balance the next morning, the missing $100 had been applied, so it did work out OK)....[/quote]

Thanks so much for this detailed recent review of your cruise! I have a quick question. Did you still put a cc or debit card down when you got aboard and did you have to put any of that $100/pp per day down? It seems you had $300 when you got aboard and added another $100. I would love to just be able to do that and call it a day.

I really just want to pay on our account at each pay period and try not to have to use my card.

Thanks!

[BooBooMonkey]

[quote name='Pamalicious']Thanks so much for this detailed recent review of your cruise! I have a quick question. Did you still put a cc or debit card down when you got aboard and did you have to put any of that $100/pp per day down? It seems you had $300 when you got aboard and added another $100. I would love to just be able to do that and call it a day.

I really just want to pay on our account at each pay period and try not to have to use my card.

Thanks![/quote]

Yes. That's exactly what we did. I was not required to put any type of card on the account. Then, we watch our account daily to make sure we're not going over and add more cash if needed. It was nice to have everything paid for before we got there. Have fun on your cruise!

Boo

[joecruz1]

Thanks for the great review Boo. My partner and I have booked the Sky for late July. We've never sailed NCL, so, I've been reading the pros/cons daily. Your review, expecially the wonderful food shots, has just got me more excited and anxious for my cruise on the Sky to get here. How did your "rum runner flask" work out? :rolleyes:

[BooBooMonkey]

[quote name='joecruz1']Thanks for the great review Boo. My partner and I have booked the Sky for late July. We've never sailed NCL, so, I've been reading the pros/cons daily. Your review, expecially the wonderful food shots, has just got me more excited and anxious for my cruise on the Sky to get here. How did your "rum runner flask" work out? :rolleyes:[/quote]

We were conservative, as it was our first time with the RR flasks. Two 8-oz packed in separate large suitcases. One in a leather shoe and the other in DH's leather jacket he forgot to leave in the car at the airport when we left.

For the love of all that is holy...please contact me personally with any specific questions please (or the regulars will mutiny about the old post coming back up)...lol! :Dmommy3k3;)at yahoo.

I am happy to answer questions.

[john970]

Great review! How was the calypso band? Do you remember their name? Did they play a lot? How was the nighttime entertainment... was there a professional entertainer each night? Finally, was there live music throughout the ship at night?