Brief review of NCL Sky 12/15-12/19

[alexandria]

This was our third cruise together with NCL (my wife had sailed on NCL with her family in the 1970's) and our fifth cruise overall, having also sailed Carnival twice. Overall, this was a very pleasant cruise with a few disappointments.

 

We arrived at the port at about 1:00 pm (thanks to Delta for a 90 minute delayed departure) and NCL had us checked in and on board in about twenty minutes. We used the Latitudes line, the regular line was longer but not too bad. There was no escort to our cabin but OJ and water and baked goods available in the terminal before boarding (on a table after check-in) and both champagne and OJ were offered upon boarding. Our cabin was not as clean as it should have been (used straw and other trash on balcony, slippers from a previous guest under the bed and scraps of paper on the floor) and no robes or fruit menu were available in the cabin (and this was a balcony). Cabin was turned down only two of four nights and ice was not kept replenished very well. The hand soap dispenser in the bathroom remained empty the entire cruise. Unlike other previous cruisers, we did have sufficient towels.

 

The cabin is really small but okay for two. Three would be challenging. The cabin is about 9ft wide and about 17ft long. The living area (excluding bath, closet and hall) is about 9ft by 11ft. Three very small drawers and one small shelf in the closet, one small drawer in desk and one night table with two small shelves. One small corner shelf available above the TV. Cabin is about 150 sq. ft. (Category BB) with a 9ft by 5 ft (approx) balcony. Cabin was on starboard (right) side with view in Miami of the cruise terminal and Miami skyline, view in Freeport of dock and marketplace, view in Nassau would have been of sea but blocked by RCCI Majesty of the Seas, and view at Great Stirrup Cay of the island. Frequent noise seemed to come from use of stairs near cabin (particularly unsupervised adolescents chasing each other up and down late at night). The balcony door can be held open with the hook provided and the sound of the water at night is wonderful. A/C kept the cabin cool but a magnetic sensor on the door turns it off if the balcony door is open.

 

Service in all dining venues was very good to excellent. Some servers were clearly more service oriented (offering to pour cream in coffee or get juice from cold foods buffet at morning breakfast in Palace) while others seemed less eager to please. Service as a whole was well timed and orders were always correct. Selections for dinner were good but we ate at all three specialty restaurants, finding them all excellent, both service and the quality of the food. Well worth the minimal cover charge for the quality of the meal. Menu selections for lunch, however, were not as varied and on days 2 and 3 were particularly poor. Food was always at the proper temperature in the dining rooms. Food was generally excellent in the specialty restaurants ($20 pp for Cagneys, $15 pp for Le Bistro and $10 pp at Il Adagio) and very good in the dining room. Ate at the buffet two days for lunch and found the food quality to be average and the service fair to poor. Did not use room service on this cruise.

 

Purchased the anniversary package which was an excellent value. Received an anniversary cake at dinner two nights with the wait staff singing. The only issue was that the canapes were not delivered the evening scheduled but a call to room service resulted in their delivery the following afternoon exactly when requested.

 

Other than the cabin, the ship was very clean to spotless with many workers evident throughout the day painting, replacing carpet and performing other maintenance tasks. The hot tubs and pool were almost always operational (unlike my experience on Carnival when they were frequently closed) and the gym was very well equipped with all of the machines in good working order. Most of the crew that we met or encountered were friendly and personable.

 

Entertainment was very enjoyable, including the Broadway song and dance production, the comedian (Rich Purpura) and the NCL Sky showband which was spectacular. I was going to try my luck in the Casino but after standing in line for twenty minutes to sign up for the Casino at Sea program for some promotional play, I gave up. I took that as a sign that the casino on this trip was not going to be good to me!

 

Tendering to GSC was quick and smooth and getting on and off the ship at each port was easy. Disembarkation was great, carried our own luggage off at 8am with no line whatsoever and had cleared customs and were in a taxi to MIA less than fifteen minutes later. Despite chaos at the American Airlines counters at MIA, they were able to move us to the 9:50am flight instead of the 4:00pm flight we had booked. Saved us a six hour wait in the airport. Thanks, American!

 

A few areas where NCL fell down on the job: Both the Martini tasting and Margarita tasting were canceled on Day 2 since they said they needed a minimum of six. The Latitudes lounge never had snacks and the coffee and hot water for tea available in the attached library were generally lukewarm to cold. Despite what the Latitudes benefits say, there is no Latitudes party on the Sky for either the four or three night cruises. No robe or fruit menu in the cabin.

 

For the price paid ($149 pp for a four night cruise in a balcony cabin, including fees, fuel surcharge and service charge, it came to $600 total for both of us) it was well worth it. However, in the interest in retaining loyal customers, NCL would be well advised to deliver on their promises. Much better to under promise and over deliver than to do as NCL on this cruise. It won't keep me from sailing NCL again as it is an good value but it does reduce the satisfaction of my experience and my willingness to recommend NCL to friends and family.

 

I'll be happy to answer questions if I am able.

[snorklinbarb]

Sounds like you had a good trip despite some issues with your cabin steward. What cabin were you in?

 

Who is the CD now? I think Matt Baker is on vaca.

[PennStateMom]

We will be on the Sky January 16-19. I was wondering if you recalled what time you were able to disembark in Nassau. I have another post with this question as we are thinking about booking a snorkeling tour that departs at 8:15 am and I'm wondering if that is too early. Also, how quickly did you have to make your reservations for the restaurants? Before you left? Thanks for the review. I've only been on one other cruise before and my main goal is to get out of the Pennsylvania winter and relax. Hopefully, the weather will cooperate.

[*Wink*]

Nice, well-balanced review. Thanks.

[alexandria]

We were in 0206. I recalled in a prior review that a cruiser who had a nearby cabin on a prior sailing was less than complimentary about their cabin steward as well.

 

As far as Nassau, we pulled up to the dock at about 7:00 am and we were off at about 8:30 after a leisurely breakfast. Unfortunately, I don't know what was the earliest time folks could leave the ship. Announcements were far and few between, which meant a peaceful cruise, although they did pick up a little on the last night.

 

You will have to wait until you board to make any reservations as specialty restaurants. In the balcony category you could reserve the day before, others in oceanview and inside could only book the day of the reservation. They have several flat screens on the ship that show dining availability and I recall that all three restaurants would book up by about noon for the 6pm to 7:30 pm spots but that there was usually good availability for 5:30 pm and for times after 7:30. We never had a problem getting the times we wanted reserving the day before. We reserved Cagneys for embarkation night when we boarded and they had all times still available then (about 2:00 pm).

 

I neglected to mention that we only had a short wait once in the Palace dining room and that was on "formal night" (night 2) when they served lobster (which was a half-tail with other seafood over pasta with fresh drawn butter, very tasty) and the wait for a table for 2 was 30 minutes, they gave us the option of sharing a table with others and were seated within just a few minutes.

 

Cruise director was Darin Wyman.

 

Like I said, a very enjoyable cruise, particularly for the price paid, with just a few minor disappointments.

[starrian]

Hi, How did you get such a great price? Book way ahead? I liked your review!

[alexandria]

No, it was just the opposite. NCL periodically has the balcony cabins on the 4 night Sky cruises for $149pp for Latitudes members, usually about six weeks before sailing. You just have to keep an eye on their website.