NCL Sky Notes and Dailies from 5/28/12

Cruised the Norwegian Sky on May 28th (dailies to be attached, I just need to figure out where to upload) and am appreciative of all the advice on here, so I thought I’d pass along some observations comparing it to Royal Caribbean Majesty of the Seas four-day cruise which we took last year. It’s basically the same cruise. RC goes to CoCo Cay and Key West instead of NCL’s trips to Great Stirrup Cay and Freeport.

-In general, I think Royal Caribbean’s staff was much better trained. That’s not to say the folks on NCL weren’t friendlier, but many of them seemed to be new. Our NCL steward was a sweet kid, but didn’t know 3 words of English and couldn’t show us basic functions of the room such as the child balcony lock. The cruise director was pretty rough on the Sky. Announcements seemed scripted and of little interest. When she had to make an unscripted apology about a tender issue she sounded completely flustered. Majesty director was much more of a polished cheerleader type.

-I thought the food was slightly better on NCL. Lobster night in the MDR was the night you set sail as so many suggested on here. It was fine, but service was brutally slow in the MDR. 90 minutes to get through dinner. Buffet was very solid and I thought more consistent and of higher quality than on the Majesty. May people forget about the outdoor buffet on the Sky, so give it a chance. Il Daigo (sp?) is free for lunch and has awesome pizza and will make you pasta of your choosing.

-There seemed to be more of a sense of humor aboard the NCL. For example, my trip to the naughty room earned me some free champagne. I thought that was a nice touch. I lost a couple of Rum Runners on this trip, but got plenty on board. Cruisesips.com seems to be a pretty comprehensive site for those looking to do that sort of thing. There was free rum punch at the opening of the casino the first night.

-Great Stirrup Cay was pretty but quite sterile. It’s still under construction, but even when they’re done it’s hard to imagine it’s going to have the authenticity of Coco Cay. There was very little wildlife on Stirrup. Conchs and hermit crabs were all over the place on Coco Cay which was cool to see.

-Freeport was a big letdown. We took a cab to Lucaya, but the walk to the free beach was a good 10 minutes and once we got there it wasn’t the best. The martketplace was just as touristy as Key West which was our main complaint about it last time. All in all, it’s about a toss up. The 20 minute cab ride to Lucaya is kind of a pain when your time is so limited. As you walk off the boat in Freeport you can use the sports bar's internet for $5 an hour. The name of the place is the Seaman’s Rest.

-Nassau was Nassau again. Roadwork slowed the taxi ride to and from Cable Beach, so leave some extra time to catch your ship. Maybe an extra 15 minutes. We do a day room at the Sheraton and love it. Well worth $99.

I’m not a big reviewer, more of a bullet point guy as you can see, so let me know if I can help out if you have an questions about the Sky or ports. I'll get those dailies up ASAP. Let me know if there's a preferred service to use to upload them.

Good info thanks, will def hit up the Freeport Sports Bar for the internet!

Great review and we felt the same way about the CD. She must be new. Our cabin steward was ok. Kept the room clean but wasn't the friendliest. We had great service in the MDRs and the food was great. Always had breakfast in the outdoor cafe. Also felt the same way about freeport. We won't be doing a Bahama's cruise again, anytime soon. We too are RCCL cruisers (Monarch 2x and Adventure of the Seas 1x) and really liked NCL, so much so that we will be cruising with them again next year, probably to the Eastern Caribbean.

Thanks for your review. :)

Here's a link to the dailies http://www.lockerhunt.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=803&Itemid=13

I have some of the Kids' club dailies too if anyone is interested let me know. Although they are still taking 2 year old, it's clear they are phasing them out. If your youngster isn't having his or her best day they won't stay.

Also have the guaranteed shopping papers they hand out.

Great review and we felt the same way about the CD. She must be new. Our cabin steward was ok. Kept the room clean but wasn't the friendliest. We had great service in the MDRs and the food was great. Always had breakfast in the outdoor cafe. Also felt the same way about freeport. We won't be doing a Bahama's cruise again, anytime soon. We too are RCCL cruisers (Monarch 2x and Adventure of the Seas 1x) and really liked NCL, so much so that we will be cruising with them again next year, probably to the Eastern Caribbean.

 

Thanks for your review. :)

I hate to be like that about the CD, but it was 180 from the Majesty trip. Royal was much more polished, but it drove me nuts that their ship seemed to shut down at midnight. Not a soul to be found when I woke up at 1:30 one morning and tried to find a beer or a slot machine or anything to do...

Thanks for the dailies. Sailing the Sky soon.

Wow, a post like this was just what I was looking for! We are trying to decide between SKy, Majesty, Imagination and Ecstasy and I really don't know anything about NCL or RCL.

If I may ask, what category room were you in on each cruise and what were your impressions of the rooms?

Thanks!

Thanks for taking the time to write your review and share with us! :) I enjoyed reading your review!

Wow, a post like this was just what I was looking for! We are trying to decide between SKy, Majesty, Imagination and Ecstasy and I really don't know anything about NCL or RCL.

 

If I may ask, what category room were you in on each cruise and what were your impressions of the rooms?

 

Thanks!

We had a balcony on the Sky. We were able to fit two adults and a two and six year old in it. On the Majesty, we did adjoining oceanview rooms. Both worked out OK. NCL seemed a little easier to get around in. The bathroom layout was a little better. The desk was fairly usable.

My biggest frustration with the Majesty was everything shut down at midnight or 12:30a. No food (you could pay for room service), no drinks, nothing to do from 1-7a. Sky was better about that and had a much more laid back atmosphere. Majesty seemed to be more of a traditional cruise experience, ie formal night, etc.

Both times on the Sky our cabin stewards were fantastic! Also had a different cruise director both times. The Sky is a fun ship. While in Freeport take an excursion or take advantage of the half empty ship. That's what we have done, Nassau and GSC are much more fun.

The SKY is excellent for late night activities, food, dancing, etc. :) Loved it, loved it! I don't give two cents about the Cruise Director, but that's just me. Food on the SKY was surprisingly good--especially since the ship only does the short hauls I really was surprised that the entertainment and food and shows are all up to the same level as on the week long cruises.

Thanks for the review!! I always appreciate getting the perspective of otehrs.

Great review! If you can post some of the kids dailies that would be great. There's a group of about 20 of us sailing this Friday on the 3-day and there will be one 9 year old who wants to take part in the kids program.

Do you know if the lobster on the first night was only served in the MDR or was it served in other venues also?

Thanks so much for taking the time to post a review and the dailies. I am sailing the Sky in October and to pass the time, have been soaking up any info I can get my hands on! I like to hear other perspectives and your post started a nice little conversation! I echo what the poster said about doing an excursion in Freeport - I was there last winter with by bf and we did Paradise Cove and truly enjoyed our day. Great snorkeling and a nice quiet beach to chill out on (and it was chilly in January!)

I am generally an RCCL cruiser and am looking forward to trying out NCL this time around, the last time I had sailed was on the Norway (2x) so that shows how long ago I was an NCL passenger. I love the Freestyle concept and can't say a CD has ever made or broken a cruise for me, though again I appreciate your sharing your thoughts with us!

Here's a link to the kids programs. It's for the 2-5 and 6-9 kiddos I think. Hope it helps. www.lockerhunt.com/images/kids.pdf

I agree with the past couple folks on the CD. I typically tune them out. The only reason I mentioned it was I know it's important to some people. It was probably the most visible confirmation that it was a pretty inexperienced staff. Not saying it was all bad. They were all really nice. Our only issue was the steward was pretty clueless, but I didn't want to cause problems for the little guy. Again, nice as can be.