NCL Sky Picture Review, as promised

ok I will try to be brief since I just got out of work and I am pretty tired.

We live in Ft. Lauderdale so it was just a short drive I believe we got there at around 11:15am and before we knew it we were waiting to embark. Since we got there so early we had to wait in the waiting area for about 20 minutes with free drinks and a daily planner. Then we boarded it was very exciting (oh by the way I was traveling with my mom, I am 29 and she is 61 I think :-), lol) anyway first thing we did was go upstairs by the pool area and order a drink.

She ordered a strawberry daiquiri which in my opinion was virgin, but not according to the bartender and I ordered a long Island Ice tea, my drink was weak as hell. I recommend ordering martinis if you are a drinker like me. then we walked around and explored the ship. The grounds were very clean and the service was excellent. We then headed towards the buffet area and had a light lunch, the food had a variety of options to chose from, everything was pretty good, except for the burgers and the thai salad.

During this time we were taking pictures and taking advantage that Facebook was still affordable and emailing pictures to the family. Later on we realized that our cabin was ready so we headed there. We had an inside basic cabin and yes it was small, but it was very clean and well organized. The AC was excellent although the thermostat had no degrees numbers and it took some time to figure our preference. I did had one complain about the room, we had only one electricity outlet in the room and one in the bathroom. The one in the bathroom required the light of the bathroom to on to work. So yeah we slept with the bathroom light on in order to charge our gadgets for the next day. No, there was no light leaping into the room from the bathroom. but there was a little from the front door. So I just put a towel in the floor to block it.

Ok we then did the drill and headed to the back of the ship to leave port, took lots of pictures and had some more weak drinks. The back/ buffet area was not too crowded and it was perfect for a sail away environment. we then headed to the pool area which was PACKED and the jacussis that did not allowed children were packed with children. (go figure the best jacuzzi was the one in the front of the ship in the children area, head there and take it for yourself? lol) But it was fun watching all the drunk people make a fool of themselves, a nice party/ calm environment it was a light mix.

we then headed to the room to change and go to the MDR, that ight was Lobster night, so what did we eat? That's right Lobster and it was very tasty. I highly recommend getting a bottle of wine instead of by the glass, their pours are 5oz at best. I am not sure if I coming like an alcoholic, but, well yes I like to drink and get the most for my money. Unfortunately I did not do my research prior this trip. One more thing with drinks, the martinis by the pool are watered down. The ones in the MDR are made for real drinkers!!!

After dinner we went to see the nightly show and it was an introductory show as well as a comedy act, it was fun but I did notice one thing. The comedian was spanish born ( I am colombian) but he was raised in England, he did made some spanish jokes that the main USA non spanish audience probably did not get. So maybe that might annoy some people, I did notice the couple next to use whispering to each other. But overall it was a lot of fun, Candy the cruise director did a great job, she is full of energy and a blast. I love her.

To finish our day we went to the jogging deck and enjoyed some moments of silence and serenity, some more pictures and we are off to bed. We did not party much that night, actually any night, we were all drained out by 11pm :-/.

By the way something to note is that the entire trip we sailed along The Majesty of the Seas, she was out traveling partner.

top front deck

Pool area, Picture taken from the uppermost bar

Buffet Area

the party is getting started

My salmon tartare Appetizer

Our server recommended the Key Lime pie and it was fabulous!

Please let me know if anyone is following, because all this writing is exhausting. It will be my pleasure to go on if I got followers. Also my apologies for grammar and spelling, english is my second language.

I'm hoping you get to post some pictures of the private island

it's been under construction and nobody has posted picts for the summer of the progression

Are they done?

Are there shade trees?

Is there a quiet area away from little kids?

THANKS!

I have to wait till Jan. --- I'm a chocolate-martini-holic - hoping they are good and strong for that price!

I am enjoying your pics, and comments! Keep it going!:)

I'm hoping you get to post some pictures of the private island

 

it's been under construction and nobody has posted picts for the summer of the progression

 

Are they done?

 

Are there shade trees?

 

Is there a quiet area away from little kids?

 

 

THANKS!

 

I have to wait till Jan. --- I'm a chocolate-martini-holic - hoping they are good and strong for that price!

Ill get into that tomorrow, I promise. It's bed time now :)

 

I have to wait till Jan. --- I'm a chocolate-martini-holic - hoping they are good and strong for that price!

You know something, I failed to do this. But from now on I am just going to be clear that I want them strong and see if maybe they make it stronger. it's worth a try. Myself I drink vodka straight up, maybe a twist, so um yeah :rolleyes::rolleyes::rolleyes: lol, its pretty hard to mess that drink up.

Loved the pics - it has been years since I was on the Sky - not much has changed about her - even though she has been through two renovations since then.

I am sorry about the weak drinks - when I was on the Pearl they were mixed quite strong - I had a mudslide that just about put me away - I also had some coffee and cocoa drinks that were also quite good - it was Alaska so we drank mostly warm drinks:D

Thank you so much for the review. Great pictures. I just got off the Sky Monday but I much enjoy reading reviews and I'm terrible at taking pictures. :o

Right on about the martinis. I had them at the Atrium Bar and they seem pretty strong and the bartender very friendly (not a big drinker myself). Every ship I've been on, the froen tropical drinks like pina colada and frozen daiquiris are weak. I think they add a sweet cheap rum. But I have a way to spike them or make sure always to order from the same bartender so I can complain when they are weak and tip when they do it right :cool:

Btw did you notice them use the blue dot? I didn't see any.

I have to wait till Jan. --- I'm a chocolate-martini-holic - hoping they are good and strong for that price!

The chocolatinis are YUM. Had a melontini too.

I love the Sky and yes the hot tub marked adults only always had kids in it.

We are sailing the Sky in two weeks for a quick weekend getaway. Thanks for the review. Did they have 2 for 1 in the Plantation Lounge. It seems hit or miss. Thanks again!

I am definitely following this thread.

I will be on the Sky in November.

It's my first cruise - can't wait!

I am disappointed to hear that the drinks are weak.

I like to drink when I am on vacation, but hate wasting extra calories, lol.

Hey, Martini Girl here! For the $ you pay, you want some bang for the buck! I have never noticed any problem with the alcohol content, but I rarely order fruity type drinks, except maybe at sail away .

Never been on the Sky, so very interested to hear more. Also missed our opportunity at GSC due to hurricane avoidance. Keep the review coming!

We are sailing the Sky in two weeks for a quick weekend getaway. Thanks for the review. Did they have 2 for 1 in the Plantation Lounge. It seems hit or miss. Thanks again!

You know they did have the special, but the timing was off, I think 3-5 something like that. Both times I missed it :-/

anyway continuing with the review,

Ok moving on. I was lucky to remember about setting the alarm for 8am since there was no light to wake us up in the morning. We woke up early and ate breakfast at the buffet, I would recommend ordering the eggs from the gentleman making them in front of you, instead than getting them from the big bin in the buffet. There were so much better. Other than that the food at the buffet was great, I had so much to eat , soooo full.

Well then we headed down to the gangway, since we rented a Clamshell we did not need a ticket and we could board at any time. You can also get the fast embarkation with any other repurchased item I think, just verify when you get buy it. In any case there really did not seem much of a wait if you had a ticket.

Once we got to the island we headed to claim our clam shell. I CANNOT express enough no one should rent the clam shell ever. They are hot as hell and the view are horrible, they are packed all in lines and in front of each other. Just horrible, in addition to that they are set next to the slide, so a lot of children screaming and running. We ended up ditching the clam shell and looking for shelter under and palm.

The island lacks shade very, there a few palms or trees and they are all taken very fast. The palm that we claimed earlier soon became shelter for a family with a baby, we felt bad and spared half of the palm for the baby. He was so white and maybe a year old, so yeah we had no problem sharing. Here is my recommendation, go to http://www.amazon.com and look for a clamp on umbrella they are $14 and they are GREAT. We take them everywhere and never again suffer about the shade situation.

The buffet once again had so much food and once again I way over ate. Think, ribs, pizza, burgers, hot dogs, fruit, lots of desserts, and well a lot more food.

As far as the island goes, yes she is still under contraction, but very hard to notice. I think most the work is being done to the far left of the island pass the buffet and the smaller beaches be the end. Over all it was a very peaceful and nice day. Good snorkeling, as guest services for best place to snorkel, I brought my own gear but still had to rent the vest $5.

Once thing to note is that near the beach area we did note a light smell of still standing water, but nothing to bad.

Seagulls fighting for food :D

Water is so clear

Sky from the tender

Majesty of the seas from our beach.

The Clam shells by the water slide, all that section has clamshells ready be set. You can see they are packed so close to each other, no room for wind to move thorough and cool you down.

The palm tree we found shelter under.

Our ship from the clam shell area.

Some people paddle boarding on the other end of the beach.

As you can see its very densely planted, that is the DJ booth and the buffet area all the way at the end to the right.

Walking towards the Buffet.

Float rent area

Never mind. Tablet acting up

Great review. I look forward to the rest

If a plate if left for one second alone this will happen to it, lol. it was really funny. Some people had to go get food all over again. The cleaning crews are usually fast at getting there.

Coconut, Guava, rum cake, pistachio cake, and black/white rice crispy treat (it was melting)

The market. Picture taken from the tender.

The main beach area and snorkeling area. Picture taken from tender.

Water slide and straw market.

I am sorry guys but that really all the pictures that I took there. I can't believe I have that few. I might find some of the snorkeling ones, I am not sure where I placed them.

i don't know if you already did but go to the spinnaker lounge and there's a door that will take you to the front of the ship, better than the area where the jacuzzi/children area is.

Thanks for posting!

i don't know if you already did but go to the spinnaker lounge and there's a door that will take you to the front of the ship, better than the area where the jacuzzi/children area is.

You are right except in the sky the name of the lounge is Outrigger, and yes its way better. There is one problem there are no chairs to sit it, so you can only really only stay there for a few minutes at best.

Thanks for your review and pictures. I'm leaving from Homestead soon and will be going on the sky today.

Thanks for your review and pictures. I'm leaving from Homestead soon and will be going on the sky today.

You will have a blast! its a nice ship! Dont miss lobster night tonight

I'm loving the pics.....sailing on the Sky next Friday...

You are right except in the sky the name of the lounge is Outrigger.

I have no idea why I keep on calling it Spinnaker, I should know its Outrigger after 7 cruises hahaha.

Do a great favor and post how much is the beer bucket going for so I can start planning my expenses :)

Have fun,

Ok lets continue, the rest of the day went fast, we went to the pool area to leave port again very packed so we headed towards the front of the ship and as one couple left the jacuzzi to get some drink my mom and I got their seat. Yeah they were not thrilled about it, but they were not pissed either. After an hour or we left and went to to shower get dressed, then we had dinner although not as good as the prior day it was not bad either.

After dinner we walked pass by a music show, I think samba or something for those lines, not my cut of tea. So we headed to the casino, after betting $20 going upwards of $36 and then losing it all we decided to leave.

Then we went for a game show, it was great it was hosted by Candy, I forgot the name but it was located in Dazzles. ohhhhhhhhh something like "the not so newly wed show" along those lines. Anyway do not miss this show they ask couples questions, some private some not and well we had some very cool participants. Lots of fun.

Then we headed to the White party, its in the pool deck and you're supposed to wear white. The place was jamming with people dancing and having fun. But once again we were tired and headed towards the room, its not like I am was going to dance with my mom, lol. We did have a drink and walked around a little more, looked at the pictures from all the "Happy" broke families, lol. No we never bought any of their pictures, I refuse to buy pictures when I can probably get better shots myself and I did.

Oh by the way, we had the soda package, it came included with the TA that I used. The very first day someone stolid my cup, but still had the key card with the sticker so no problem. But I did lose my cute norwegian cup :-(, needless to say that we left the other one in the room the rest of the trip. Please be careful with your belongings this happened so fast that we did not even noticed until a few minutes later.

Sailing away notice all the kids in the tubs. By the way that tub got my silver black, never in 10 years has this happened to me. If someone can explain why ? that would be great. i guess maybe saltwater and chlorinated water??? no clue, in any case take your silver off. White gold seemed to be fine.

A private yacht in a lagoon near Great Stirrup Cay, yup you said it, oh the lfe of the rich :D

Crappy picture, but still. It was taken from the panoramic elevator.

The disney Dream far far far away from us, my camera has a very aggressive telephoto lens.

Yes I love my martinis, an Amazing dirty martini at the MDR!!

I have no idea why I keep on calling it Spinnaker, I should know its Outrigger after 7 cruises hahaha.

 

Do a great favor and post how much is the beer bucket going for so I can start planning my expenses :)

 

Have fun,

I could be wrong here, since I dont drink beer. But I did buy 1 beer to see the price, I believe it was 6.25 including the 15% the tip. the bucket is buy 4 and get 1 free or buy 5 and get 1 free. Not entirely sure, but its one of those two. Also I think buying buttwipers is cheaper than millers light, sorry I meant budweiser lol, just jk.