Just back from 3 night Sky...re-routed due to Trop Storm

[Lilystar]

Well after a stressful week leading up to the cruise waiting to see what happened with Hurricane/TS Erika, we are finally back. This is the first time I've ever cruised the Caribbean during August/Sept and it will be the LAST time. It is far too stressful with the weather. And I live in Central Florida!

 

Just a couple notes about my experience with the NCL Sky. I've cruised many times in October and April on various cruise lines including Carnival Imagination, Carnival Sensation, RC Enchantment of the Seas and RC Majesty of the seas and Disney Wonder and Disney Dream. I did sail on NCL Epic in August last year but that was in the Western Mediterranean and isn't really all that comparable.

 

I was not impressed with this ship in any way. I am not a chronic complainer, however I do compare trips to others I've taken on other ships and this one had more downers than good things unfortunately.

 

Compared to the other cruise lines equivalent ships on Carnival and RCCL, the Sky was sad looking. I gathered at some point that the Sky was supposed to have a Hawaiian theme, but man was that subtle. I feel like it's a good theme for a ship, but I think they need to be more committed to it. The loose theming here and there was kinda sad. Of course this is all my subjective opinion and I feel that the Sky needs some major upgrades to keep up with the others. And some of that is purely aesthetic. Paint, theming, ANYthing would help. The pool area is so boring looking...it didn't even look festive to me.

 

We chose an inside cabin for this particular cruise so I can't compare that to my other experiences on other lines where I had an outside or balcony, but I can tell you that it was the smallest room I had ever been in. We actually had them separate the beds just so we'd have more room to maneuver around in. The mini-bar/fridge didn't cool anything...it was plugged in and on because the light was on..but nothing actually chilled in there. They left a note in our room saying that "laundry pressing was 50% off but didn't leave a price chart. When I tried to call about it, I never got an answer so I called guest services who said they didn't know and to try calling room steward later, I finally just gave up.

 

We found the entertainment to be mediocre. Entertainment on Carnival is so much better. Compared to Royal Caribbean, I found it to be about the same, maybe a tad bit better. We enjoyed the "Vegas" Production show on our last night.

 

The day before we left, we finally saw that NCL had a weather advisory on the website and they had announced that our sailing would visit Key West instead of Great Stirrup due to the storm. We were really disappointed because we actually chose this cruise because of the visit to the island. That being said, it wouldn't exactly be fun to be on the private island if there was a big storm, so I do understand their decision. Then come Saturday, the storm moved west so Key West was out and they announced we would go to Freeport. Ugh. I would have taken Key West any day over Freeport. I was there 7 years ago and it hasn't gotten any better. That island is a dump, I'm sorry to say. I had hoped that they would have gotten their acts together there, but not so. We didn't have time to research anything on Freeport since we only found out we were going there the night prior and without internet access, we were at the mercy of my memory in what was there. We ended up taking a taxi to Taino Beach and it was a total mess. It didn't help that a big storm came in about 10 minutes after we arrived, but even without the storm, it was a dumpy looking beach with a run down bar. We ended up going back to the ship early and it eventually cleared up to the point where we could lay out by the pool on the ship.

 

We couldn't quite figure out why we couldn't still go to Great Stirrup instead of Freeport on that day. I think perhaps because they didn't have the island stocked or maybe because of the tendering process. Who knows...but we were pretty disappointed in Freeport and like I had mentioned, we chose this cruise because of the visit to Great Stirrup. We hadn't planned on spending any extra money that day on excursions since we had the UBP and planned to lay on the beach and drink/eat. With a visit to another port, that required us spending additional money. Normally this wouldn't matter, but we justified this particular cruise because of the low overall cost.

 

We really liked the UBP with the exception of having to sign receipts every 5 minutes (which got old). It was a great load off of our minds to have free drinks while on board. (the addition of Great Stirrup would have really made us happy) We enjoyed a couple glasses of wine with each of our dinners and that was nice. I tried some wines I wouldn't normally have. We chose to go to Il Adagio one night and was disappointed overall. It did not appear that they served anything different in the restaurant and nothing was special about it. AS a matter of fact, the night prior, I had the same italian dish in the regular dining room as had on the menu at Adagio. If you're going to have a specialty restaurant then I feel that it needs to be a little more special in its offerings. I ended up having chicken parm and it wasn't even that good. Overall I give the food on the entire cruise a B-. Carnival and RCCL far surpasses both of them in food choices, taste and presentation. (again, my opinion of course)

 

I don't think I'm writing off NCL all together at this point, but unless the cruise is basically free, I will not sail on the Sky again.

 

I realized this review sounds a little Debbie Downer, but I figured that someone might find some of the info helpful. We did end up having amazing weather in Nassau so it made the trip a success at least. We went to Atlantis and did the Beach Day on our own (bought it directly from the Altantis ticket office). Loved our day there. :)

[dexddd]

The Hawaii theme is leftover from when the ship used to sail as Pride of Aloha in Hawaii around 2006.

[BamaVol]

Everyone's entitled to their opinion. I'm sorry you weren't impressed. I wish Nassau and Freeport were removed from every cruise itinerary. But they're so close to Florida and there's really nothing to replace them.

 

I didn't have the same impression of the ship/activities/food but YMMV. I think we will try Carnival next just so we have 3 mass market lines to compare.

 

And after one cruise close to a hurricane, I am with you - no more summer cruises in the Carribean.

[jb456]

A few questions if you don't mind~

 

What was the cost for Atlantis at the ticket booth? Did it include visiting the aquarium (I think it's called the digs?) did it include a lunch? I read some packages include a lunch and the ones on NCL do not.

 

What was the cost of taxi from ship to Atlantis?

 

--

 

In Freeport what was the cost of taxi to Taino beach?

 

Thank you!

Edited September 2, 2015 by jb456

[NYCruiser84]

The reason why they probably avoided GSC is because the ship is literally docked in the middle of the ocean and you have to use a tender in order to get to the actual island. Which can be a little rocky on a beautiful day let alone if they're anticipating any bad weather

 

 

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[fin]

We were on that cruise too, and don't find much to disagree with what you say. I think some inside cabins may have gone for $147 per guest.

 

Others here will likely say the obvious, which is that if you choose to sail in hurricane season, your port choices are not guaranteed. But it is cheap.

[Lilystar]

A few questions if you don't mind~

 

What was the cost for Atlantis at the ticket booth? Did it include visiting the aquarium (I think it's called the digs?) did it include a lunch? I read some packages include a lunch and the ones on NCL do not.

 

What was the cost of taxi from ship to Atlantis?

 

--

 

In Freeport what was the cost of taxi to Taino beach?

 

Thank you!

 

Hey there! If you go to the "Discover Atlantis" booth outside the Coral Towers at Atlantis, the cost of the package we went with was $80 per person. It included use of Atlantis Beach (not cove beach), use of chairs on the beach and towels wherever you picked them up from, included admission to all the aquariums (the Dig) and the predator lagoon (above ground and in the underground aquariums) and also lunch at your choice of 5 or 6 quick service restaurants (all served the same burger/chicken/salads). We thought it was a good value and allowed us to be on our own schedule to/from the ship. Jumped a taxi at the port for $4 per person and then back again from the Coral Towers taxi stand for same cost. Transportation for the 2 of us was $20 Round trip with tip.

 

In Freeport, I would not bother going to Taino Beach, it was a complete dump. If you are hankering to get off the ship, go into town and Lucaya Beach, you're better off. The taxi Round trip for 2 people was $30 with a $2 tip. Would have cost the same to go into town. Honestly, I'd take advantage of the staying on the ship after the experience we had in Freeport.

Edited September 2, 2015 by Lilystar

[jb456]

Hey there! If you go to the "Discover Atlantis" booth outside the Coral Towers at Atlantis, the cost of the package we went with was $80 per person. It included use of Atlantis Beach (not cove beach), use of chairs on the beach and towels wherever you picked them up from, included admission to all the aquariums (the Dig) and the predator lagoon (above ground and in the underground aquariums) and also lunch at your choice of 5 or 6 quick service restaurants (all served the same burger/chicken/salads). We thought it was a good value and allowed us to be on our own schedule to/from the ship. Jumped a taxi at the port for $4 per person and then back again from the Coral Towers taxi stand for same cost. Transportation for the 2 of us was $20 Round trip with tip.

 

In Freeport, I would not bother going to Taino Beach, it was a complete dump. If you are hankering to get off the ship, go into town and Lucaya Beach, you're better off. The taxi Round trip for 2 people was $30 with a $2 tip. Would have cost the same to go into town. Honestly, I'd take advantage of the staying on the ship after the experience we had in Freeport.

 

Thank you very much for the great info. Really helpful to get an idea on prices.

 

Regarding Freeport it's or first time there. We have read it is not a great port but since it's our first time we have no choice but to get off the ship to at least say "we been there" lol. Still trying to figure out what to do...

 

Thank you again for the reply!

[janpo]

We too sailed the Sky this past January. I also was not impressed with this ship at all. She is tired looking and lots of things needed fixed or replaced.

 

We did the 4 night sailing. I thought maybe it was because we had sailed the Getaway a few months before and comparing the two is just not fair. But..we have also sailed the Pearl and loved it.

 

Lots of people seem to love the Sky. We are not one of them.

Edited September 2, 2015 by janpo