SKY Review June 12th - 18th

[Debbie42467]

Just returned from NCL SKY June 12th - 18th. I was originally scheduled to be in Las Vegas this week, but Spirit Airlines cancelled my flight and the other airlines companies priced gaggled their prices, so I decided to look for a last minute cruise deal. I was looking at the SKY, but it was sold out. It was the day before the cruise and I searched again and there was one inside cabin available for $249 pp so I grabbed it. It’s me and my 12 yr. we were assigned to KK cabin 9358.

 

Thumbs Up!

*Perfect weather and the seas were calm the entire cruise.

*Fantastic cruise director Rob Sugar and assistant Archie (I remember him when he was on Peal)

* Entertainment - NCL has the best entertainers, the singer can sing, the dancers can dance, and the comedians can make you laugh.

* There were always some activities going on besides just art auctions or bingo. As a single parent I was never bored.

* Guest celebrity DJ Sneek kept the music jamming.

* Comedian Rich Purpura was hilarious.

* My 12 yr enjoyed the Kids Korner.

* You were not push into buy a drink every minute.

* Longboard had good chicken wings and the cheese cake was delicious, but thumps down too because we had to waited 45 minutes before our food was ready.

 

　

Thumbs Down!

*We had the worst cabin steward.

*No blow dry

*No hand soap in bathroom, you have to use the shower gel in the shower.

* No hand soap dispenser in the public restroom next to Dazzle. There was a bottle that you have to tip over and squeeze.

*No more welcome glass of champagne.

*No chocolate or chocolate mints on pillows at night.

* Odors - Sewer musty smell in hallways. Especially near awf elevators. Fan blowing in the hallways is a common sight.

* Reward Certificate is for 6 nights or more. You use to use it for any night cruise.

* Even thought I ate a lot, the food was not good. Example: there were serving eggplant parmesan, but it tasted fishy. I noticed that they were also serving fried fish that same night.

* Soft serve ice cream was disgusting, but at 5:30 when the buffet opens they service good tasting hand scooped ice cream.

* No umbrellas on Great Stirrup.

* Unconformable deck chairs (not the loungers).

* No Latitudes Memeber Caption reception.

 

 

We had a horrible cabin steward. This was the 1st cruise when our cabin steward doesn’t know your names. This is not a big deal, but it makes me feel pampered/special when you get a good steward. 1st night he came by and said that he was refilling peoples’ ice and wanted to know if I needed some. I asked if he could exchange our towels and he said that he would tomorrow. Most nights it would be 9:30 pm before he stopped bye.

 

In Freeport we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the pool and the onboard activities. I saw the Newlywed show. It doesn’t say that it’s for adults only, but you would think that parents wouldn’t bring there kids Right? Wrong! There was one couple that stood out (Megan & Ryan) they made the show comical, lets just say that she told us an interesting story about what happened on today’s snorkeling exclusion.

 

Nassau we did the Blue Lagoon excursion. It was wonderful. I was there 10 years ago before they got hit with the two destructive 2004 hurricanes. I’m glad that they reopened. It has changed, but it was still a wonderful place. Our excursion started at 10:00 am and we arrived at Blue Lagoon around 10:45. It started off not too busy, but it did not stay that way. It became crowded fast and the water became cloudy. Our excursion included floating tubes, mats, and pail & shovels. It also include lunch which was delicious. I will post some pics later. The 2:00 shutter boat left at 2:30, we caught the 4:00 boat and it left at 4:20.

 

Great Stirrup Cay was our last stop. We took the shuttle boat around 9:00 am and there were only about 10 other people with us. We’ve been here twice before. Where did all the umbrellas go? They had clam shell umbrellas, but they were already filled up. I wanted to get some snorkeling in before the water gets too cloudy. I remember seeing lots of fish near the rocks before, but we had to swim quite a ways out before we saw anything. The water was calm so we were allowed to snorkel out to Susan’s Rock. The Cruise Consulate said that they are building additions and in 2 yrs it will be open and it will be amazing. ??

 

This ship is not glamourous. I could not see spending 7 nights on this ship, but it's perfect for 3 & 4 night cruises. This was a wonderful cruise. I was not bored with all the actives and shows and my son enjoyed going to the Kids Korner in the evening. I wished the food was better especially the cold, dried out, over cooked prime rib , but I found things I liked. I booked this cruise the day before sailing so I didn’t have time to read the NCL message boards. I wish I did. I would properly of packed lighter. I didn’t know that now you can wear jeans or shorts in the dinning room.

 

I can’t scan my Dailies because my scanner is broken at the moment, but if you have any questions I have the Dailies with me. I will post some pics later.

 

Debbie

 

p.s. please over look any typos or grammar errors, I’m still on vacation mood.

[Debbie42467]

Inside Cabin 9358

 

 

 

 

Blue Lagoon

 

 

Blue Lagoon has several Lifeguards on Duty

 

 

Blue Lagoon Beach Day included Lunch

 

[sparks1093]

 

*No more welcome glass of champagne.

*No chocolate or chocolate mints on pillows at night.

* Reward Certificate is for 6 nights or more. You use to use it for any night cruise.

* No umbrellas on Great Stirrup.

* No Latitudes Memeber Caption reception.

 

 

Thanks for the review and the pictures. I wanted to comment on the items from your post that I quoted above. The champagne and chocolate have been gone fleetwide for some months now. I was bummed out about the change in the Cruise Reward certificates, also. Maybe they will come up with a Cruise Reward certificate that's worth half of the current one to be used for the shorter cruises. It was reported on here that the umbrellas were blown away in a storm, FWIW. And the Latitudes benefits, including the receptions, are only available on sailings of 5 days or longer. Glad you enjoyed the trip!

[itgeek]

we were assigned to KK cabin 9358.

*We had the worst cabin steward.

 

I think it was the KK cabin that did you in. In my experience, I've had better stewards in K's on lower decks. Don't ask my why that's the case. My theory is that they put 1 really good one w/ 2 newbies/trainees on the lower decks.

 

My last trip on the Sky was in 8344. Plain ol' K. Main steward was Vermeer. He was always smiling, constantly around, very attentive and he called us both by name in the hallway every time he saw us and whenever he came to the door after the first time we met during embarkation. I saw him on the hall w/ 2 other guys most of the time. they never really said much.

 

Oh and first order of business w/ those split beds is to ask for them to be joined and for a pillowtop to make them softer.

 

8344 was perfect for me. As night their was a very, very soft hum of the engine/generator in the walls. Put me right to sleep.

[SnootieTootie]

Beautiful pictures, makes me long for our next cruise.

[C Cruise Dude]

Just returned from NCL SKY June 12th - 18th. I was originally scheduled to be in Las Vegas this week, but Spirit Airlines cancelled my flight and the other airlines companies priced gaggled their prices, so I decided to look for a last minute cruise deal. I was looking at the SKY, but it was sold out. It was the day before the cruise and I searched again and there was one inside cabin available for $249 pp so I grabbed it. It’s me and my 12 yr. we were assigned to KK cabin 9358.

 

Thumbs Up!

*Perfect weather and the seas were calm the entire cruise.

*Fantastic cruise director Rob Sugar and assistant Archie (I remember him when he was on Peal)

* Entertainment - NCL has the best entertainers, the singer can sing, the dancers can dance, and the comedians can make you laugh.

* There were always some activities going on besides just art auctions or bingo. As a single parent I was never bored.

* Guest celebrity DJ Sneek kept the music jamming.

* Comedian Rich Purpura was hilarious.

* My 12 yr enjoyed the Kids Korner.

* You were not push into buy a drink every minute.

* Longboard had good chicken wings and the cheese cake was delicious, but thumps down too because we had to waited 45 minutes before our food was ready.

 

　

Thumbs Down!

*We had the worst cabin steward.

*No blow dry

*No hand soap in bathroom, you have to use the shower gel in the shower.

* No hand soap dispenser in the public restroom next to Dazzle. There was a bottle that you have to tip over and squeeze.

*No more welcome glass of champagne.

*No chocolate or chocolate mints on pillows at night.

* Odors - Sewer musty smell in hallways. Especially near awf elevators. Fan blowing in the hallways is a common sight.

* Reward Certificate is for 6 nights or more. You use to use it for any night cruise.

* Even thought I ate a lot, the food was not good. Example: there were serving eggplant parmesan, but it tasted fishy. I noticed that they were also serving fried fish that same night.

* Soft serve ice cream was disgusting, but at 5:30 when the buffet opens they service good tasting hand scooped ice cream.

* No umbrellas on Great Stirrup.

* Unconformable deck chairs (not the loungers).

* No Latitudes Memeber Caption reception.

 

 

We had a horrible cabin steward. This was the 1st cruise when our cabin steward doesn’t know your names. This is not a big deal, but it makes me feel pampered/special when you get a good steward. 1st night he came by and said that he was refilling peoples’ ice and wanted to know if I needed some. I asked if he could exchange our towels and he said that he would tomorrow. Most nights it would be 9:30 pm before he stopped bye.

 

In Freeport we stayed on the ship and enjoyed the pool and the onboard activities. I saw the Newlywed show. It doesn’t say that it’s for adults only, but you would think that parents wouldn’t bring there kids Right? Wrong! There was one couple that stood out (Megan & Ryan) they made the show comical, lets just say that she told us an interesting story about what happened on today’s snorkeling exclusion.

 

Nassau we did the Blue Lagoon excursion. It was wonderful. I was there 10 years ago before they got hit with the two destructive 2004 hurricanes. I’m glad that they reopened. It has changed, but it was still a wonderful place. Our excursion started at 10:00 am and we arrived at Blue Lagoon around 10:45. It started off not too busy, but it did not stay that way. It became crowded fast and the water became cloudy. Our excursion included floating tubes, mats, and pail & shovels. It also include lunch which was delicious. I will post some pics later. The 2:00 shutter boat left at 2:30, we caught the 4:00 boat and it left at 4:20.

 

Great Stirrup Cay was our last stop. We took the shuttle boat around 9:00 am and there were only about 10 other people with us. We’ve been here twice before. Where did all the umbrellas go? They had clam shell umbrellas, but they were already filled up. I wanted to get some snorkeling in before the water gets too cloudy. I remember seeing lots of fish near the rocks before, but we had to swim quite a ways out before we saw anything. The water was calm so we were allowed to snorkel out to Susan’s Rock. The Cruise Consulate said that they are building additions and in 2 yrs it will be open and it will be amazing. ??

 

This ship is not glamourous. I could not see spending 7 nights on this ship, but it's perfect for 3 & 4 night cruises. This was a wonderful cruise. I was not bored with all the actives and shows and my son enjoyed going to the Kids Korner in the evening. I wished the food was better especially the cold, dried out, over cooked prime rib , but I found things I liked. I booked this cruise the day before sailing so I didn’t have time to read the NCL message boards. I wish I did. I would properly of packed lighter. I didn’t know that now you can wear jeans or shorts in the dinning room.

 

I can’t scan my Dailies because my scanner is broken at the moment, but if you have any questions I have the Dailies with me. I will post some pics later.

 

Debbie

 

p.s. please over look any typos or grammar errors, I’m still on vacation mood.

 

:eek::eek:! I'm booked for the Sky in August. I hope this was just a set if unfortunate mishaps( sorry you had them). This my friends' first cruise and my first with NCL. Ice Cream is one of my favs on the ship. No umbrellas and cold food. Not good at all. I see that you are booked for the Sky in the Fall, will you change the booking as a result of your experience. Thanks' for the review. Looking forward to more pictures.

[Susie51]

Thank you for your review. You pics are lovely. I might book a shore ex to Blue Lagoon.

[Debbie42467]

:eek::eek:! I'm booked for the Sky in August. I hope this was just a set if unfortunate mishaps( sorry you had them). This my friends' first cruise and my first with NCL. Ice Cream is one of my favs on the ship. No umbrellas and cold food. Not good at all. I see that you are booked for the Sky in the Fall, will you change the booking as a result of your experience. Thanks' for the review. Looking forward to more pictures.

 

.

I booked our fall cruise a year ago. On our NCL April 09 cruise I purchased a reward certificate. At that time the certificate needed to be used within 18 months and you could use it on 3 & 4 day cruises. I booked it because it was during our Thanksgiving vacation time and it was only $169 with $15 OBC. I will have another $100 OBC from NCL credit card. I have already booked the Blue Lagoon Sea Lion Encounter.

 

I also LOVE ice cream. The sky's soft service ice cream was awful, but when the buffet opens at 5:30 pm the hand-scope ice cream and chocolate fountain station opens and is very good.

 

My thumbs down did not ruin our cruises, we had a great time.

Sometimes you get lucky to get assigned to a great cabin steward and sometime you don't. When you get a great cabin steward it just makes you feel pampered and special.

 

On Great Stirrup they have clam shell umbrellas, but they were all taken. Other cruise lines charge for them. I wish they still had umbrellas because I'm fair skinned and burn easy.

 

Have a wonderful time on you Aug. cruise and I would look forward to your review.

 

Debbie

[david_sobe]

I had a great cruise on the Sky in January. I really had no complaints. The service is good but not as great as other NCL ships I have sailed. I have heard that many times on Sky reviews about average service or stewards that are not that overly friendly. I have a theory to why this is.

 

Remember that the Sky is a different kind of ship. The sky has 2 cruises every week. Twice the turn around for passengers for everything. By the time they learn your name, you are gone and someone else is in your cabin. Unlike other ships, the crew get to know you the whole week.

The service is not bad but just not as good as other ships. Someone posted a review here last week on how they had to ask the steward to make towel animals for their kid. That is supposed to be standard on NCL ships. In addition the OP wrote they left Cagneys after 30 mintues seated and no service and this was coming from someone that wrote a glowing review of the ship and cruise.

[Ms belp]

Yeah, we did the Sky on a 3 day and it was nothing to write home about. I'd rank it at the bottom of my cruises on NCL. It left much to be desired. I'll save for something longer and better. We have had wonderful cruises on NCL (see below)

[Debbie42467]

Thank you for your review. You pics are lovely. I might book a shore ex to Blue Lagoon.

 

I booked Blue Lagoon Beach Day on board and I notice that it was cheaper (I was traveling with my 12 son, he gets child fare). If you are traveling with children check out the price difference.

 

Blue Lagoon Beach Day

Online $59 adult and $49 child

On board it was $59.99 adult and $39.99 child

 

Blue Lagoon Sea Lion Encounter

Online price $99

Onboard price is $89.99

 

Blue Lagoon Dolphin Swim

Online price $225 for adult & child

Onboard price $229.99 adult & $189.99 child

 

Blue Lagoon Dolphin Encounter

Online price $149 adult & child

Onboard price $149.99 adult & $119.99

 

They had wonderful Lifeguards. I noticed some late arrivals who wanted an umbrella, but they were all taken. The lifeguards found some and set the up for them. A lady in the chair near me was leaving and a lifeguard took her towel and shook the sand off for her. If you want a good seat they will find or set one up for you.

 

Helpful Lifeguard

 

 

Lifeguard stand and notice they have lots of umbrellas.

 

 

If you book the Blue Lagoon Beach Day you get to use these noodles, mats, tubes, and have lunch free. If your excursions does not include these items the prices are $10 for these floating items and the lunch cost $12.

 

 

At the entrance there is a lookout tower with a cannon.

 

 

I wasn't going to book this excursion since our next stop was Great Stirrup. I though that two beach days in a roll would be too much, but I gladded we went to BL. It was a beautiful day and we had a wonderful time.

 

Debbie