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Fun Weekend on NCL Sky! 8/25/17 Review and Pics!

DarthGrady

By DarthGrady,
in Norwegian Cruise Line

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DarthGrady

DarthGrady

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Norwegian Sky: August 25, 2017

 

This was my first NCL cruise after many sailings on RCI,Carnival and a few others. Their all-inclusive package offered on the Sky washard to pass up. We traveled down to Miami on the morning of the cruise andfortunately ran into only moderate traffic on I-95. After parking at theterminal, the embarkation process couldn’t have gone any faster. Aside from pausingat the check-in desk, I don’t think we stopped walking at any point until wewere aboard.

 

 

The Sky itself is NCL’s oldest and smallest, but you reallycouldn’t tell the former by walking around it. Everything seemed clean andmodern. The highlights were Captain Cook’s pub and the (criminally underused)Outrigger Lounge.

Cook’s is an old-fashioned nautical themed bar with lots ofwood and low-slung chairs. It also serves as the nightly piano bar, so I spenta lot of time there. The Outrigger is at the very top of the ship, all the wayforward. It has a ton of seating and a nice outdoor observation deck above thebow. They didn’t seem to have much use for it aside from private parties andlightly attended Latin dance hours. I was surprised that such a nice loungewasn’t used as the nightclub. Especially since the Dazzles Lounge isn’t a verygood club venue with its tiny dance floor.

 

 

Up top, the Sky has two main pools and a large pool bar. Themain pool deck was consistently packed during the day, and had the usual livebands and DJs playing music most of the time. My favorite topside bar was aftin the open air Great Outdoor Café. Ron Ron and Jesic are excellent bartenders,so we enjoyed going up there and getting drinks from them.

 

 

Speaking of getting drinks, the all-inclusive model foreveryone on the sailing works very, very well. Every other cruise I’ve been onoffers drink packages. But since everyone doesn’t have it, the bartenders haveto check and swipe cards and often get receipts signed. On the Sky, every adulthas it. So you need only to walk up to a bar and order a beverage. They hand itto you, and you’re done. It’s just that easy and makes the process tremendouslyfaster than other ships.

Food and service on the Sky were comparable to other lines.The food in the buffet and the main dining room were good, but not exceptional.The crew was friendly and did a great job making our brief vacation enjoyable.

 

 

Nassau is Nassau. It exists and ships go there. It hasbeaches, shops and casinos. Rinse and repeat. The real gem of this cruise wasthe stop at Great Stirrup Cay. I’ve only seen GSC from afar, since it is rightnext door to Royal Caribbean’s Coco Cay.

 

 

I assumed that they would be identical, and in thatassumption I was incorrect. GSC is far and away superior to Coco in almostevery regard. The building and facilities are newer and nicer. The beaches haveless rocks and seaweed. The cabanas are much fancier and, finally, it has ataco bar! My favorite spot was the Lighthouse bar. It’s further away from themain restaurant and swimming area, near the rows of cabanas. I liked it becauseit was less crowded, and had chairs around the bar. I spent most of the daythere drinking and chatting with the bartenders, all nice guys. Their patiencewith some of the other guests and their drunken nonsense was truly impressive.

 

 

 

All in all this was a fun little cruise. I wish we’d hadmore than three nights onboard. NCL is offering a great value with theirall-inclusive packages. We’re planning to try the Epic next year out of PortCanaveral. It has the dual benefits of leaving closer to our home, and being anewer/larger ship. I’m looking forward to it, hopefully I’ll have anotherglowing report for you all afterward. I’ll be posting up pictures from thiscruise soon, and I’ll try to answer any questions that you all have.

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