Sky review - Feb24

[che5904]

I was on the Sky in Oct 2010 and Oct 2011 and both times it was the "White" Hot Party.

 

I think I read it was just the halloween cruise.

[nclrocks8899]

all 6 of my cruises with ncl its the white hot party

[yoyocruiser]

I have to say we had a great time on this cruise. There was tons of stuff to do--many activities. I did not find it to be a party cruise. For anyone reading this who is going on the Sky I just wanted to add a different perspective. The freestyle really had as many activities listed as for the longer cruises. I expected otherwise but was very pleasantly surprised. For the cost this is just a great little get away. I do appreciate that the OP gave a balanced review--pointing out some good as well as bad. Perhaps Carnival is a better match for what she enjoys. But for anyone going on the Sky, there is fun to be had--and we really enjoyed the food also.

[yoyocruiser]

Oops. I do need to clarify I was on Sky in january--not the very same cruise.

[halos]

This was my first time sailing with NCL - we have traveled on Carnival in the past . And we think that for what we are looking for , we will probably go back to Carnival .

 

This was a reward for my daughter ( 11yrs old ) and her awesome great grades . We did a quick 3 day trip to the Bahamas.

 

We flew in the night before and stayed at the Sheraton Exec. Hotel by the airport . The place was great ! Beds were Awesome !!! My DD thought it was soo cool to be able to swim at 11pm in Febuary !!

 

We took a cab ($24 flat fee ) to the port . ride took about 15 minutes .

We arrived - check in was quick and we were on the Sky in less than a half hour .

 

The photographer was a little rushed , he did not even give us a chance to pose before he snapped the photo . And I ALWAYS buy that photo . We noticed later when walking through the photo area that alot of people did not look "ready" .

 

We were greeted on the deck by the crew , dancing and singing . That was fun !

 

I found it odd that there were no servers there to offer us drinks - we had to stand in a line at a table . - so i passed .

 

we headed up to the buffet as instructed only to find a long line - as we wandered around we noticed a sign on the door of the Itailan resturant- we went in and they had a pasta buffet - with no waiting . My daughter was in heaven . she LOVES pasta .

 

 

Thanks for yout thoughts. I must say that I will tell you the same thing I tell people who sail CCL for the first time on an old, tired ship on a 3 day cruise...A short cruise on an old ship on any line does not best represent the line.

[phyzz]

I was going to ask about that... I plan on packing white, but I can't pull off pink. :)

 

 

it was pink last weekend because they wre doing a breast cancer thing on board .

 

I am surprised about the amount of flack I am getting just because I have an opinion .

no I did not read every little detail about our trip == like cabin square footage . so yes there were things that I was surprised

by .

 

We saw our cabin steward once -- and the first 2 nights the only reason we knew he had been in the room was because there was a new daily on

the bed -- and one was in spanish -- so no I do not think service was up to par - DD was disapointed that he did not leave towel animals for us . we figured maybe NCL does not do that -- but then the last day there was a towle animal demo and they explained how they make x amount of these every day -- so she was really upset then . ( she is 11 )

 

I knew it was an older boat and yes there were some signs of wear - but I over look that . I am talking SERVICE issues .

 

DD and I had a good time on our trip = we just dont think NCL is a good fit for us .

we have done 3 days on the Sensation with Carnival and had a completely different experience . we came home itching to book another

trip -- not so much this time .

[jdvmd]

I think I read on another review that it actually is pink on this ship...

 

I really appreciated OP's comments since we booked the 4 day for DH's birthday in Sept. We booked an inside cabin - no frills - so cabin size is a non-issue this trip. Funny about the photographers and servers - DH and I hate the photographers and don't want to be offered a drink from the "Drink of the Day." I am glad that OP found the pizza - another reviewer of the Sky wrote that they never saw any pizza onboard - they totally missed the italian in the other restaurant venue:)

 

Our children are grown, but I would think that the children's programs would be better on the 3 day cruise - from what I have read, a lot of family's will choose this short, weekend cruise to bring their kids. At this time of year the 4 day would definitely be more for couples and adults traveling together. OP - were there a lot of other children onboard? NCL should investigate the points that she has brought up.

 

Nope, the Pink Hot Party was for the last sailing because of Breast Cancer Awareness.

On our sailing, Feb. 17-20, it was still the White Hot Party. WHP is a signature event on NCL. They have not done away with it.

 

BTW, I paid $8.50 for my son's Virgin Strawberry Colada at GSC.

 

Also, the cancelation policy is always noted in each Freestyle Daily. "Cancellations must be made 24 hours prior to the scheduled dining time or the full price of the cover per guest will be charged to the guest's folio. In the case of pre-paid reservations, no refunds will be issued for cancellations with less than 24-hour notice. Also to ensure guests receive our best service, we can only hold reservations for 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, the reservation will be released and the full price of the cover will be charged."

 

If I wanted a drink, I never had any problems getting one. Found the servers were always available, and quite friendly.

 

Re: buffet. Everyone congregates at the side leading in from the pool. Go around. Better yet, head to The Great Outdoors.

 

Cabins are smaller on NCL but that is a well-known fact.

[jdvmd]

Found this explanation from another recent Sky cruiser on why the White Hot Party was the Pink Hot Party.

 

Pink Hot

A group on the ship was part of the Susan G. Komen fight for cure. Lots of Pink I fight like a girl shirts, just great group to be on a ship with. Hence "Johnny Cash" and daily called the white hot party the "pink hot party" for this cruise.

[phyzz]

to dalgirl -

 

surprisingly yes , there were a lot of children on this ship . and a lot in the tween age group - we walked down the kids club hallway a couple times and never saw any kids in there . or in the arcades ( just husbands)

most of the kids were in the hottubs because the water in the pools was ice cold .

 

Carnival really reigns when it comes to entertainment for the kids .

 

we found no pizza on the ship except for the one that we ordered from room service ($5.00 ) the pizza was avaiable on the buffet at GSC .

[jdvmd]

to dalgirl -

 

surprisingly yes , there were a lot of children on this ship . and a lot in the tween age group - we walked down the kids club hallway a couple times and never saw any kids in there . or in the arcades ( just husbands)

most of the kids were in the hottubs because the water in the pools was ice cold .

 

Carnival really reigns when it comes to entertainment for the kids .

 

we found no pizza on the ship except for the one that we ordered from room service ($5.00 ) the pizza was avaiable on the buffet at GSC .

I am surprised you didn't see the pizza when you found the pasta at Il Adagio. It's there. Three varieties every day at lunch.

[phyzz]

I am surprised you didn't see the pizza when you found the pasta at Il Adagio. It's there. Three varieties every day at lunch.

 

you are correct . there was pizza on the buffet line in there . my bad - i guess I forgot becuase we had the pasta. :o

[js]

Thanks for your review.

I'm looking forward to trying out NCL for a quick 3 night cruise in May and again on Breakaway next July 2013. We sail RCCL so this will be all new to us.

Thanks too for giving us the pros as well as the cons and as we all know one persons cons is another persons pro LOL

I am very happy if I don't have photogs asking me to pose. That is a plus in my book LOL

I do expect to pay about $8 for a virgin drink on RCCL so this won't be different for us.

Shorter cruises are always different (crew, ship and passengers) than longer cruises.

RCCLS Bahamas ships aren't that great and we are actually trying the Sky since it's newer then the RCCL ships sailing there and seems to get a little better reivews.

We always eat in the speciality restaurants so know about the cancellation fees but it's too bad they didn't try to accomodate you and refund your money...it would have been nice but not something that they did wrong.

We are sailing 3 in a cabins...YIKES LOL....but it is a short girls only cruise with my dd-18, my mom and me so we will have to make due.

That was great you took your dd on a congratulations cruise and sorry it wasn't what you expected. I'm sure you could have gotten CCL a lot cheaper. I know for our Memorial Day sailing I could have gotten a suite for what I booked our B1 but it's good you tried something new. We sailed on CCL Dream for my dd's Sweet 16 two years ago with her friends since it was so much less expensive than RCCL and we were really just cruising for her BD so it didn't matter what line we were on. While my dd had a great time, my dh and I missed RCCL. I think we all tend to compare when we have a line that we like and are comfortable with.

Thanks again for taking the time to write your review.

[smith-krenning]

I have to say we had a great time on this cruise. There was tons of stuff to do--many activities. I did not find it to be a party cruise. For anyone reading this who is going on the Sky I just wanted to add a different perspective. The freestyle really had as many activities listed as for the longer cruises. I expected otherwise but was very pleasantly surprised. For the cost this is just a great little get away. I do appreciate that the OP gave a balanced review--pointing out some good as well as bad. Perhaps Carnival is a better match for what she enjoys. But for anyone going on the Sky, there is fun to be had--and we really enjoyed the food also.

 

I am glad to see this post since we recently booked the 3 Day Cruise for 9/14/2012. We've only sailed on Carnival ships before and I can tell you there is a different experience on each ship. We thought the Carnival Fantasy and Carnival Legend are great ships and the staff was superb. We recently went on the Carnival Victory and even though it had the best itinerary, the ship was difficult for you to get to certain spots because the dining rooms block all passages from fore to aft so you had to go up or down a couple floors. The staff was the rudest staff I've had experience with.

 

We have booked this cruise the cheapest we could to try the NCL experience knowing that a short cruise will only reflect certain aspects of a longer cruise however the food and staff should be standard to the rest of the line. I say that because those people work every day so the cruise length shouldn't matter. What changes is the clientele aboard the ship. I have the ability to either participate with those around me or ignore those around me, so the clientele doesn't bother me a bit.

 

We decided to book a 3 day over a weekend because I will only have to take 2 days vacation and it's cheap enough to get a additional vacation in for the year.

 

No offense to the OP, but since you were treating your 11 year old DD to a cruise to reward her for her grades and I applaud you for that, maybe one of the Nickelodeon themed cruises would have been better suited.

 

I'm excited to be booked on this cruise and looking forward to our extra vacation cruise.