A few thoughts on our 2 day 4/17 Sky Cruise

[Derek King]

My wife and i went on this two day weekend cruise and had a great time.

 

This was our 3rd NCL cruise. Having done a 7 day pearl west carrib and 7 day gem barcelona european cruise.

 

As expected this was a different crowd than the others. I knew from reading these boards that these type of weekend cruises were different. But we had a great time, my wife and i are both in our 30's. Not real party types, just gambled and like to hang out/drink in the bars listening to music, etc.

 

We got a comp Balcony room thru CAS. The casino was packed compared to our previous cruises. The cocktail party for CAS guests was nice. good food and free drinks. they had it in the atrium bar, which was way too small but still nice.

 

After being on two identical ships it was nice to explore a different one. It does seem outdated at times, but very nice and clean. We really liked the plantation bar. Thanks to these boards we knew about the 2 for 1 martinis each night. Funny it wasn't advertised anywhere in either of the dailies. It was pretty empty both nights. Most of the other bars/clubs were full.

 

Ate at cagneys, really enjoyed the food and service. had eaten in cagneys on other ships. 2nd night ate at the itailan resturant. Not very impressed. There are a lot of good italian restuarants here in ny, so maybe that is why. my wife really loved the tirimusu though. Would be nice if they still had the free cappiciano/espresso in the dining rooms, but i did know about this before hand.

 

Didnt eat dinner in the main dining room. Had lunch and breakfast in at the great outdoors. It didnt seem like anyone really knew about this either. the regular buffet was jammed packed. but outside were plenty of tables. food was similar to other ncl buffets we have had.

 

Went to the comedy/magic show one night in the theatre. Didn't think it was too funny or very magically. But just my opinion. But the musicans in the atrium bar and captain cooks were very good. Guitar and piano.

 

Overall a good quick getaway. Service was very good overall. One thing i noticed is that i really had problems understanding the accents of many of the crew. It was weird because on the previous cruises we had foreign crew and had no real problems.

 

If anyone has any questions, let me know.

[drgmedz]

Just got off the Sky. We were also a CAS comped trip. This is our first short NCL cruise after 7 long cruises on NCL in the past 2 years.

The trip was a nightmare. Dirty ship, bad food, disinterested staff.

[rjm11]

Just got off the Sky. We were also a CAS comped trip. This is our first short NCL cruise after 7 long cruises on NCL in the past 2 years.

The trip was a nightmare. Dirty ship, bad food, disinterested staff.

 

that is a strong statement.... can you elaborate? I am booked on the Sky in June for the regular 3 day itinerary, and would love to hear more.

 

OP- did you go ashore at Great Stirrup Cay? What did you think?

[Derek King]

I didn't see anything dirty. Obviously it's an older ship. Thought food was fine, ate in specialty resturants both nights.

 

Didn't go ashore on island. We were actually waiting in line to take tender at about 12:30 PM or so and the people coming back were saying the sky was so dark and it was about to come down. So we switched gears and decided to stay on the ship and just ate and drank at great outdoors. about 20 mins later its started pouring, and we were in the covered area of the outdoors. that worked out well.

 

had been to the island on a previous cruise, was fine but nothing that we were concerned about missing.

 

I agree the service wasn't great, but hardly rude and i think they were pretty overwhelmed since it was a 2 day cruise. drink service was good and fast though.

[drgmedz]

I never cruised before 2008. Since then, I have been on 7 cruises with NCL, 2 seven day, nine day, 1 eleven day, 1 twelve day, 1 13 day, and then the weekend SKY. We always book minisuites (AF) but had a regular balcony this time.

We saw used napkins in the hallway, beer bottles on the hallway floor, a crew member throwing fried fish off passengers dirty plates off the fantail to feed the seagulls. I had a passenger reach in the potato pan on the buffet line, and pick out a boiled potato with his hands and eat it. The buffet line on Saturday at 5pm was picked over and some of the hot foods, cold. Passed a group of drunk 20 something guys who were wasted, swearing loudly and punching the walls. Pretty "Trashy".

I do not think that I am a fan of weekend cruises. If I was looking for the "Carnival Booze Boat" experience, I would have booked on a Carnival Booze Cruise. I expected more from NCL.

We are booked on the Epic in July...so we will see. Overall, I love NCL...but the SKY experience was a disaster. I have spoken with people who have been on it and had a great experience. I didnt.

[tiyana4]

I never cruised before 2008. Since then, I have been on 7 cruises with NCL, 2 seven day, nine day, 1 eleven day, 1 twelve day, 1 13 day, and then the weekend SKY. We always book minisuites (AF) but had a regular balcony this time.

We saw used napkins in the hallway, beer bottles on the hallway floor, a crew member throwing fried fish off passengers dirty plates off the fantail to feed the seagulls. I had a passenger reach in the potato pan on the buffet line, and pick out a boiled potato with his hands and eat it. The buffet line on Saturday at 5pm was picked over and some of the hot foods, cold. Passed a group of drunk 20 something guys who were wasted, swearing loudly and punching the walls. Pretty "Trashy".

I do not think that I am a fan of weekend cruises. If I was looking for the "Carnival Booze Boat" experience, I would have booked on a Carnival Booze Cruise. I expected more from NCL.

We are booked on the Epic in July...so we will see. Overall, I love NCL...but the SKY experience was a disaster. I have spoken with people who have been on it and had a great experience. I didnt.

 

 

We have been on 4 different cruise lines with the Sky being the only cruise under 7 nts. Yes, the atmosphere is different but I have seen many of the same things you complain about on longer cruises and on other cruise lines. There are people who have no "buffet etiquette" whether you are on land or at sea - neither you or I can change that. Sometimes it takes a while for the room service crew to return and retrieve those dirty dishes from the hallway - why is this a big deal? You're on vacation and you're not responsible for washing them.

 

Weekend cruises are cheaper and therefore attract a totally different crowd. Not only are they more affordable for the younger crowd, but there are also people who take them as a respite until they can get to their longer cruise (as we did in December while waiting for our Mex Riv cruise). So now you know that you prefer longer cruises, I would stick to those. BTW, I loved the Sky - thought it was a great mid-sized ship and prefer its size over the Jewel class.

[mylesf]

Just got off the Sky. We were also a CAS comped trip. This is our first short NCL cruise after 7 long cruises on NCL in the past 2 years.

The trip was a nightmare. Dirty ship, bad food, disinterested staff.

 

My cabin was not comped and this is not my first trip on board this ship. Compared to other cruise lines that sail the very short itin, this is the youngest and best ship in the mass market. My experience on board was the complete opposite of yours. I am wondering if you were on the same ship as me. ;)

[zubee23]

Just off the 4/17 2 nighter on Sky. Great time. Ship was clean, inside stateroom was the tiniest I've ever been in but still clean, had a cute towel animal on our bed the second night - ship met all my expectations. Food was better than other NCL 1 or 2 nighters we've taken. I know, food is always subjective, but what we had was well prepared and tasty. We did not eat in a surcharge restaurant but would have if there had been an Asian Fusion one. I'm not a major steak eater so I'm not interested in Cagney's or Le Bistro. My husband likes the barbecue they have on deck so he's easy. Crew was always friendly and attentive. I had no complaints.

 

We did have one odd thing happen to us. When we arrived we went to the Gold Latitudes (we're gold level) line to check in. The person checking us in took our pictures etc. but then brought us to the VIP Lounge to get our keys. He said we were VIP's! News to us! I asked a staff person in the lounge why we were VIP's but never did get an answer. I let her know we only had an inside stateroom! So we sat there and then went with an escorted group that obviously was heading to suites etc. and were eventually pointed on our way. My husband and I both laughed about it!