NCL Sky 4 Day Cruise Review with Pics

[nbsjcruiser]

NCL SKY - sorry should have put that in the title

 

More pics than words in truth. :)

 

We were on the 4 day Bahamas sailing last week (Nov 17-21) and so I thought I'd do a quick review for you folks and then post some pictures.

 

We arrived one day early on Sunday and did our usual pre-Miami routine and spent the day in and around Bayside with a tour of the Miami port on the Miami Queen. We have done this before and since we had our Daughter with us we thought we'd give it another try. It was fun and well worth the $30 per person.

 

Embarkation:

The quickest I've ever experienced on any of our 17 cruises. We arrived around 11AM and walked right in through security and on to the ship. It was very well done. Our first lunch was in the MDR and this is something I wish all ships would do. We use the MDR a lot now on our cruises and avoid the buffet when possible.

 

Food:

I found the food on the ship good. As I mentioned we did the MDR for all of our lunches and breakfasts. No issues there at all other than to say the last morning it was really quite hurried and service was not as good as it had been. MDR dinners were good, nothing "knock your socks off" but good and well served. Last night in the MDR was a very busy night. The servers were quite busy and the dinner was a bit longer than it should be. We did two dinners in specialty dining - Cagney's and Il Adagio. Food and desserts were quite nice and I really enjoyed the Lobster Fettuccine in Il Adagio. I found that overall the desserts were really good, perhaps the best on any ship we've been on in recent years. I'd give the food a 8.5 out of 10.

 

Ship Condition:

The ship was well cared for and clean. Our room Steward did a fine job. Its hard to find any fault in these guys and gals. Our room Steward told us he worked for NCL for like 15 years and had two children aged 14 and 17. So his kids basically never see him. Tough life there. Anyway, he did a great job on the room, no complaints.

 

Service:

I found that it was typical NCL service meaning they really do try and go the extra mile. I had an issue with my card that, for some odd reason, would not work in any bar. Restaurants like Cagney's, it was fine. DW made a trip down to see what the issue was and they claimed it was fixed - turns out it wasn't. I had to make a trip down as well. No big deal as far as we were concerned. Anyway, the night we were to go to Il Adagio we heard a knock on the door and nice bottle of wine and chocolate covered strawberries were delivered. They didn't have to do that but we sure appreciated it!

 

Stops:

We hadn't been to Freeport in 10 years so it was nice to see this one again. The port area is as it was back then except for a few extra buildings. We had Beach Hideaway (I think that's what it was) booked for the day and as it turned out it was our first and only beach day of the entire trip. The area is well cared for and we found it to be safe and a nice beach area to spend the day. We bought our own food instead of getting the unlimited food package - cheaper. We had a pretty fun day out there.

 

Nassau - been there many times. We wandered around town and then due to crappy weather we headed to the Casino over on Paradise Island. Not much else to say on Nassau.

 

Day 4 we were slated to go to Great Stirrup Cay but high winds put the kibosh to that and so we spent the day at sea. Unfortunately we didn't see the sun that day either but what can you do? They gave away free rum punch though so that was nice.

 

Entertainment:

This is the one area that maybe I think could have been better. I usually expect to see a comedian even on the 4 day cruises but not on this one. The crew talent show was a great show though and the Cruise Director and especially Assistant Cruise Director did a good job. They did a great Quest, an obvious steal from RCI, but they still did a fine job at it.

 

Weather:

Crap. Miami was nice and sunny. Freeport sunny until about 2PM and then no more sun for the rest of the trip. Even a planned visit to South Beach on Friday when we got off the ship was a no-go due to rain. Sometime you can't win.

 

Overall:

Quite happy with the cruise, food was good weather was crappy service was exceptional. I'd do that cruise again.

 

Pictures to follow

Edited November 27, 2014 by nbsjcruiser

[nbsjcruiser]

A few pictures from around Bayside and the Port of Miami

 

 

 

 

 

 

[TJMK]

What ship were you on?

[nbsjcruiser]

Some more from the port tour

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nbsjcruiser]

What ship were you on?

 

Sorry - the Sky - I've asked the moderator to edit my title and put that in there.

[nbsjcruiser]

A few more pictures from the port tour and on Biscayne Blvd

 

 

 

 

 

 

[nbsjcruiser]

 

 

 

That's it for now, Flickr is all messed up tonight for some reason. I'll post some more tomorrow.

[nbsjcruiser]

A few pictures from embarkation day

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Novis]

We were also on the Sky in October and had a great time. We didn't have one bad meal. The portions were larger this time and one of our waitresses indicated that they were just introducing a new menu. Embarkation and debarkation were very smooth. The service was fabulous. They all work so hard to ensure you have a good time. We happened to have great weather which is unusual as we typically run into some sort of tropical storm!

[SenatorsFan]

I love those sunset pictures and the night-time ones are beautiful, too. We did a 4-day on Sky right after our Breeze cruise in July 2013 and had no complaints. It was our first NCL cruise. At that time there was a really good band playing in the Outrigger Lounge and other bars and we followed them around nightly. I'll look forward to the rest of your review.:)

Heather

[nbsjcruiser]

I love those sunset pictures and the night-time ones are beautiful, too. We did a 4-day on Sky right after our Breeze cruise in July 2013 and had no complaints. It was our first NCL cruise. At that time there was a really good band playing in the Outrigger Lounge and other bars and we followed them around nightly. I'll look forward to the rest of your review.:)

Heather

 

Yeah the band was pretty good on this cruise too. Not sure if they're the same or not.

 

Here's a few more pics from sailaway

 

 

A speed boat came zipping by while we were sailing out. Hmmm. I wonder if the Coast Guard will like that?

 

Apparently not :)

 

[nbsjcruiser]

Gonna post the next few in a larger format. Just curious how it will look

 

 

I believe that's the Star

 

 

Edited November 28, 2014 by nbsjcruiser

[albertamom]

Your pictures are gorgeous! We're hoping to do the 3-day Sky cruise next April, and I now definitely want to do the port tour beforehand. :)

[Rochesterboatingdotcom]

We were on the Sky the week before you - third time for us on Sky and she is getting better every time. We had an aft balcony this time which was wonderful. Also we opted for the dining package, ate in Cagney's three times and LeBistro once. Can't say enough about the food and service in Cagney's, it was very much over the top. LeBistro, not so much.

 

We would sail the Sky again in a heartbeat - she is one of our favorite NCL ships.

[SenatorsFan]

I just checked and Impac was the good band we listened to.

Heather

[PathfinderEss]

Thanks for your review and photo's.

[nbsjcruiser]

I just checked and Impac was the good band we listened to.

Heather

 

Sounds familiar. It may have been the same band.

[nbsjcruiser]

A few pics from our stop in Freeport and a few of the Sky.

 

 

 

 

 

[nbsjcruiser]

We did Beach Hideaway which was nice. Food was decent and we had the only nice sunny day of our cruise on this stop.

 

 

 

 

 

[nbsjcruiser]

And 4 more from the beach break.

 

 

 

 

[nbsjcruiser]

A few pictures from in and around the Sky - I'll have more later

 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 29, 2014 by nbsjcruiser

[heakja]

Amazing quality of your pictures! Really looking forward to see the rest!

[UM-Fan]

Nice pictures, what kind of camera do you use?

[nbsjcruiser]

Nice pictures, what kind of camera do you use?

 

Hi, thanks. I use a Nikon D3100.

[nbsjcruiser]

So Wednesday was Nassau. We had the day all planned. Walk around town in the morning, hit the beach in the afternoon. Then Mother Nature said, nope. I don't have many pictures from Nassau, having been there so many times. We spent the morning walking around town then headed to Paradise Island for some casino time.