SKY Review with lots of pics - an experienced Carnival and RCCLer give NCL a try.

[ebandive]

We emerged from our cabin in time for sailaway.

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Kingofthesailaway]

Great review so far! Wow that jellyfish is close :eek:

[ebandive]

 

 

 

 

Even saw some dolphins!

[ebandive]

Great review so far! Wow that jellyfish is close :eek:

 

Thanks! It's fun for me to write it! I really can't explain how close and how many jellyfish they were. I'm really amazed we didn't swim into any of them. If I wouldn't have been so panicked I could have gotten some much better photos. But every time we turned, there was one right next to us. :eek:

[ebandive]

We at dinner at Crossings and had an amazing view. Totally made up for the lackluster food and service. ;) Honestly what surprised me most about the menu was that every day they only had 3-4 options that changed, and the rest of the menu stayed exactly the same.

 

 

 

And, our towel animal:

 

For entertainment that night we went to the Newlywed/not so Newlywed show which we have seen on every ship we've been on and is always funny. We also stopped in on the main show which was a tribute to Gloria Estefan. We only stayed for 5 minutes. In our 5 cruises, this was the only time we've ever actually gotten up and walked out of a show. It was that bad. :eek: But again, we are pretty laid back and just hung out here and there until we turned in for the night.

 

Also... worth mentioning... this was 9-11. The ship had a moment of silence in the morning, but other than that, I believe that was all that was done about it.

[ebandive]

Day 3: Nassau

 

Since we've been here before and didn't make any plans, we slept in until about 10:00. Got up and had a delicious breakfast at the buffet... then took a nap. :eek: Actually, I think I took a nap and DH went and read a book somewhere. Regardless, a couple hours later I got up and we had lunch. I found that I really enjoyed Il Adagio for lunch. They had good, fresh pizza every lunchtime that was quite yummy paired with my soda. j

 

Also, I must say, I was very impressed with the hand sanitation attempts on the Sky. Every time we walked in, we were told "washy washy" and our hands were sprayed with sanitizer. Also, even on the bathroom doors it instructed us to open the door with a paper towel - something I've done for years since becoming a nurse since the bathroom door is usually DISGUSTING, but this is the first time in my life that I've actually seen a sign encouraging people to do so. Way to go, NCL!

 

However... onto the gross. And really, my only real, true complaint. And the only thing I've ever actually complained to the Purser's Desk about, and it took multiple complaints to actually get anything done about it.

 

We ate lunch about 1:00 or so and went back to the room to go to the bathroom and get changed to go do some shopping in Nassau. Well, you already know I'm pregnant, so you can imagine I need to go to the bathroom a lot. Well, I also have Crohn's disease, which also means I need to go to the bathroom a lot, and really, I mean a lot compared to the average person. I've lived with it for years and it is pretty normal for me, but a bathroom anywhere I go is a requirement. And, no matter where I go, usually the first thing I do is eyeball where the nearest bathroom is, because when I gotta go, I gotta go. :o Why must I share this little detail? Well... after, er, relieving myself in the bathroom in our stateroom about 1:30, imagine my surprise when it wouldn't flush. Holy embarrassing. Like, wouldn't even try to flush. So, we call up to the desk and they say they are working on it and it will be fixed soon. Oh well. Nothing to do about it. So in to port we go. (more to come in the bathroom saga).

 

 

 

Also in port were Carnival Fantasy and RCCL Monarch of the Seas.

 

We did a little tiny bit of shopping, just some yummy goodies for our good friends back home watching DS, then headed back onto the ship.

 

[ebandive]

We got back on the ship a couple hours later, hoping by this time the toilet would be flushing and so that we could take a shower and clean up for the evening. Well... still no flush. We called the desk again, and they stated that we would just need to wait, that it was a large portion of our hall that was not working. Hmmm. OK. Well... the bathroom was kind of stale stinky at this point, so we just skipped the showers. :rolleyes: Not the end of the world, but certainly an inconvenience.

 

We watch sailaway and head to dinner.

 

 

 

 

 

[eiffeltower07]

Our Cruise director was Richard Matic, and DH and I both agreed he was the worst cruise director we ever had. Nothing in particular about him... but he really wasn't funny or entertaining, and just didn't stand out like past cruise directors have.

 

Richard was our CD on the Sky last October - and we completely agree! His assistant CD, Gio, was amazing and we would love to sail with him again!

 

Loving your review so far! Thanks for taking the time to share your pictures and experiences with us.

[ebandive]

So... we eat dinner. Head back to the room. Bathroom still does not work. It has now been about 6 hours. DH goes up to the desk this time. Still the same answer. "We know. Just wait." Ok... Hmmm... they tell us to use the bathroom on deck 7 aft. (Our room is deck 8 aft). Alright, that will work. We go there. The bathroom is out of order and the toilets near overflowing. Ummm... so nope, that won't work.

 

We take a break and watch the sunset. Which was stunning.

 

 

 

 

 

 

DH goes this time to the desk. They advise us to use either the bathroom on Deck 11 FWD or Deck 6 Mid. So that works... for now. We are both kind of annoyed at this point. It has now been close to 8 hours without a bathroom. We understood that they were working on it. But a simple "We are so sorry for the inconvenience - here are a couple drink coupons, or complimentary reservation to a specialty restaurant, or SOMETHING" would have gone a long way for us. We are easy to please and don't often to complain... which is perhaps why they turned us away again and again. We've never had something like this happen on another cruiseline... so not sure how they would have handled it. I know at a recent hotel stay our room was not ready on time... so without our even asking we received a $50 certificate to dine in their restaurant. A working bathroom is sort of a basic expectation of a payed for room. I understand it was likely not their fault and that some silly passenger probably flushed something they weren't supposed to... but really. The fact that they offered nothing and weren't even all that concerned just resonated poorly with us.

 

So we picked a spot in the atrium and read for a good long while. We had been going to bed by 10pm or so this entire trip, but didn't want to go to bed with a still not-working bathroom, so we waited it out until 11:00. Still the toilet would not flush. At this point I started crying. Without a doubt, I will have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. And I was expected to truck across the ship. Just, really, not acceptable. So, together, DH and I went up to the customer service desk. It's now been close to 11 hours with a stinky, not working toilet. And again, we were turned away with an optimistic "the bathroom on deck 11 Fwd will be available for you to use." Really. You want me to go up 3 decks and all the way from Aft to Fwd just to pee in the middle of the night? And quite honestly, if I have digestive issues, I will not make it that far. So then DH got mad. and explained the Crohn's - and that it was just unacceptable that they thought that a reasonable solution. So they got the manager. And offered us to use the bathroom of an empty room about 8 doors down from ours. And we were instructed 3 separate times that we were to ONLY use the toilet in that room. Fine. It worked. But still... really... DH could have used a drink, and I definitely could have used a decent steak dinner lol. So that was that. We used the other stateroom's bathroom that night. And, no, it wasn't the end of the world. But, being our first experience with NCL, we were NOT impressed. And, really, we are easy to please, and a little compensation would have gone a long ways.

 

That's it. Rant over. But for this reason, we will not sail again on the Sky. We may try a newer, larger NCL ship. But it will not be our first choice. Or our second.

 

Deciding not to go to bed angry, we headed up to the white hot party and ended up staying up past midnight. We just watched, but it was a great party!

[ebandive]

Here's a photo I snapped while sitting in the atrium

 

And our towel animal that night.

 

I will most likely finish up with Great Stirrup Cay on Monday!

[OceanDreaming2]

 

 

 

And again, we were turned away with an optimistic "the bathroom on deck 11 Fwd will be available for you to use." Really. You want me to go up 3 decks and all the way from Aft to Fwd just to pee in the middle of the night? And quite honestly, if I have digestive issues, I will not make it that far. So then DH got mad. and explained the Crohn's - and that it was just unacceptable that they thought that a reasonable solution. So they got the manager. And offered us to use the bathroom of an empty room about 8 doors down from ours. And we were instructed 3 separate times that we were to ONLY use the toilet in that room. Fine. It worked. But still... really... DH could have used a drink, and I definitely could have used a decent steak dinner lol. So that was that. We used the other stateroom's bathroom that night. And, no, it wasn't the end of the world. But, being our first experience with NCL, we were NOT impressed. And, really, we are easy to please, and a little compensation would have gone a long ways.

 

That's it. Rant over. But for this reason, we will not sail again on the Sky. We may try a newer, larger NCL ship. But it will not be our first choice. Or our second.

 

Deciding not to go to bed angry, we headed up to the white hot party and ended up staying up past midnight. We just watched, but it was a great party!

 

That's simply not acceptable! :mad: If Jean-Michel Dhelin (the Sky's Hotel Director) would have known about your situation, it would've been taken care of immediately. Sounds as though his vacation replacement isn't up to par.

 

We had a similar situation on our recent Jewel cruise except our toilet would not STOP flushing! Maintenance was called and the situation handled within 15 minutes. And it was midnight when it happened.

 

Try another ship but do come back to Norwegian.

 

Oh, and thank you for your review and photos. :)

[SuiteCruiser]

So... we eat dinner. Head back to the room. Bathroom still does not work. It has now been about 6 hours. DH goes up to the desk this time. Still the same answer. "We know. Just wait." Ok... Hmmm... they tell us to use the bathroom on deck 7 aft. (Our room is deck 8 aft). Alright, that will work. We go there. The bathroom is out of order and the toilets near overflowing. Ummm... so nope, that won't work.

 

We take a break and watch the sunset. Which was stunning.

 

DH goes this time to the desk. They advise us to use either the bathroom on Deck 11 FWD or Deck 6 Mid. So that works... for now. We are both kind of annoyed at this point. It has now been close to 8 hours without a bathroom. We understood that they were working on it. But a simple "We are so sorry for the inconvenience - here are a couple drink coupons, or complimentary reservation to a specialty restaurant, or SOMETHING" would have gone a long way for us. We are easy to please and don't often to complain... which is perhaps why they turned us away again and again. We've never had something like this happen on another cruiseline... so not sure how they would have handled it. I know at a recent hotel stay our room was not ready on time... so without our even asking we received a $50 certificate to dine in their restaurant. A working bathroom is sort of a basic expectation of a payed for room. I understand it was likely not their fault and that some silly passenger probably flushed something they weren't supposed to... but really. The fact that they offered nothing and weren't even all that concerned just resonated poorly with us.

 

So we picked a spot in the atrium and read for a good long while. We had been going to bed by 10pm or so this entire trip, but didn't want to go to bed with a still not-working bathroom, so we waited it out until 11:00. Still the toilet would not flush. At this point I started crying. Without a doubt, I will have to get up in the middle of the night to use the bathroom. And I was expected to truck across the ship. Just, really, not acceptable. So, together, DH and I went up to the customer service desk. It's now been close to 11 hours with a stinky, not working toilet. And again, we were turned away with an optimistic "the bathroom on deck 11 Fwd will be available for you to use." Really. You want me to go up 3 decks and all the way from Aft to Fwd just to pee in the middle of the night? And quite honestly, if I have digestive issues, I will not make it that far. So then DH got mad. and explained the Crohn's - and that it was just unacceptable that they thought that a reasonable solution. So they got the manager. And offered us to use the bathroom of an empty room about 8 doors down from ours. And we were instructed 3 separate times that we were to ONLY use the toilet in that room. Fine. It worked. But still... really... DH could have used a drink, and I definitely could have used a decent steak dinner lol. So that was that. We used the other stateroom's bathroom that night. And, no, it wasn't the end of the world. But, being our first experience with NCL, we were NOT impressed. And, really, we are easy to please, and a little compensation would have gone a long ways.

 

That's it. Rant over. But for this reason, we will not sail again on the Sky. We may try a newer, larger NCL ship. But it will not be our first choice. Or our second.

 

Deciding not to go to bed angry, we headed up to the white hot party and ended up staying up past midnight. We just watched, but it was a great party!

 

I'm sorry you went through this, it would be incredibly frustrating!

 

I know you are aware that they were doing what they could, and under the circumstances it sounds like there wasn't anything they could do about it other than the repairs they were working on. Compensation would not have changed what you were going through, but perhaps would have helped with your frustration.

 

I'm not one to ask for anything in these circumstances, but sometimes it helps. They aren't likely to offer, but if you ask, they might say yes.

 

What you went through is not the norm for NCL, and not even for the Sky. You really can't compare a 4 night trip to a 7 night on a newer ship, so I hope you will give NCL a chance again on a newer ship. I have sailed quite a few times on other lines, and prefer NCL, so normally they do a lot better than what you experienced.

 

Good luck with the rest of your pregnancy and so sorry you had such a rotten experience.

[ebandive]

That's simply not acceptable! :mad: If Jean-Michel Dhelin (the Sky's Hotel Director) would have known about your situation, it would've been taken care of immediately. Sounds as though his vacation replacement isn't up to par.

 

We had a similar situation on our recent Jewel cruise except our toilet would not STOP flushing! Maintenance was called and the situation handled within 15 minutes. And it was midnight when it happened.

 

Try another ship but do come back to Norwegian.

 

Oh, and thank you for your review and photos. :)

 

Thanks for your reply and understanding. Really, we are such "go with the flow" type people, and are really relaxed and don't like to complain. I worked awhile in customer service and it was NOT a fun job... so I really try to be patient and work with them and not say anything unless it is really a bother. I'm half expecting someone to jump in and say that I should have just sucked it up and gotten over it and that it wasn't NCL's fault... and that's OK too. But for us, it was unacceptable. A few hours I understand. I believe it was about 2 AM when we finally heard the toilet flush. Really, not the end of the world, but a large inconvenience that could have been neutralized by a small gesture on NCL's part.

[debnjoe1438]

Thanks for your reply and understanding. Really, we are such "go with the flow" type people, and are really relaxed and don't like to complain. I worked awhile in customer service and it was NOT a fun job... so I really try to be patient and work with them and not say anything unless it is really a bother. I'm half expecting someone to jump in and say that I should have just sucked it up and gotten over it and that it wasn't NCL's fault... and that's OK too. But for us, it was unacceptable. A few hours I understand. I believe it was about 2 AM when we finally heard the toilet flush. Really, not the end of the world, but a large inconvenience that could have been neutralized by a small gesture on NCL's part.

 

I can understand the fustration and inconvenice. My one and only RCCL cruise was Sovergein of the Seas, 4 day out of Port Canaveral. It wasn't the restroom in the cabin which didn't work, it was the public restroom on which ever deck I happend to be on at the time:( (I believe I have the worlds smallest bladder). Anyway on this ship the public restrooms were on every other deck. So I'd have to go up or down 2 decks, or back to the cabin.

 

We haven't gone back to RCCL. Some things just make a difference.

 

As for food and entertainment, I have to wonder if shorter cruises, just don't get the good stuff. Went on a 4 day, Carnival Paradise out of Tampa, Food and entertainment weren't so great.

 

Maybe some day you could try a 7 day NCL cruise on a larger, newer ship.

 

Enjoyed the review and pictures.

[shelly11]

Sorry you had the bathroom issue on your cruise. I've been on the Sky twice and loved it. Hope you give NCL a try again.

[ebandive]

Thanks for the continued responses!

 

DH and I hadn't planned on taking any more shorter cruises since we so enjoyed the 7 full nights on our last cruise... but just can't leave DS for that long yet so this was a good compromise. I am sure that my experience is unique and unusual as so many of you are very loyal to NCL. And as DH says, if the price is right, we will give them another chance. :p Just most likely on a longer itinerary on a bigger ship. The bathroom issue was the big one for us, but as mentioned there were other really small areas that also offered the opportunity to convince us NCL is for us... but when everything is sort of so-so and then you have one bad experience, it kind of leaves a bad impression.

 

We kept hearing from the Captain and CD that to "give us a chance to show you what Freestyle is all about" or something like that. It really made it seem like they knew the Sky appeals to those new to NCL but perhaps not new to cruising. It seemed like they wanted us to be impressed and come back... so I was surprised to find service so lacking.

 

And I know specialty restaurant passes or drink coupons wouldn't have made a difference in the bathroom situation, which is why I just left it as-is with the bathroom down the hall. I am bad at asking for things. But a positive experience would definitely help to shake the negative experience, so I was a little surprised nothing was offered. I thought about taking it to the higher-ups, but honestly wasn't worth the trouble to me at the time. Just tried to make the best of it at the time... and it helped knowing that I would write a full review on here and vent a little. :p

[beachpearl]

Loving your pix and review.

Will be going on the Sky in November for a 4 day cruise.

 

this is my first cruise ever, so I am soaking everything up like a sponge :D

 

Thanks!

[SuiteCruiser]

Thanks for the continued responses!

 

DH and I hadn't planned on taking any more shorter cruises since we so enjoyed the 7 full nights on our last cruise... but just can't leave DS for that long yet so this was a good compromise. I am sure that my experience is unique and unusual as so many of you are very loyal to NCL. And as DH says, if the price is right, we will give them another chance. :p Just most likely on a longer itinerary on a bigger ship. The bathroom issue was the big one for us, but as mentioned there were other really small areas that also offered the opportunity to convince us NCL is for us... but when everything is sort of so-so and then you have one bad experience, it kind of leaves a bad impression.

 

We kept hearing from the Captain and CD that to "give us a chance to show you what Freestyle is all about" or something like that. It really made it seem like they knew the Sky appeals to those new to NCL but perhaps not new to cruising. It seemed like they wanted us to be impressed and come back... so I was surprised to find service so lacking.

 

And I know specialty restaurant passes or drink coupons wouldn't have made a difference in the bathroom situation, which is why I just left it as-is with the bathroom down the hall. I am bad at asking for things. But a positive experience would definitely help to shake the negative experience, so I was a little surprised nothing was offered. I thought about taking it to the higher-ups, but honestly wasn't worth the trouble to me at the time. Just tried to make the best of it at the time... and it helped knowing that I would write a full review on here and vent a little. :p

 

You have a great attitude :)

 

My husband and I took,our kids on an RCI 4 day on Monarch, and it was horrible. The food, the presentation, the state of the ship, you name it. It was bad. It turned us off of RCI, we compared the cruise to our positive CCL cruises at the time and it came nowhere close to measuring up.

 

I ended up on a group cruise a year later on Explorer, and it was much better. Same menu, but food was better and the presentation was better. They redeemed themselves.

 

My first NCL cruise I compared the experience to the other lines as well, but NCL came in with top marks.

 

Happy cruising, whichever line you wind up on :) thanks for coming here and telling us your story, and for all of your great photos too, much appreciated :)

[HUBison2008]

Our first cruise was on RCL Monarch this past May. We also had restroom issues, but it was fixed when we came back and we didn't tell them about it either.

 

Older ships don't appeal to us. Both Monarch and Sky are the oldest class ships for RCL & NCL. Although we would probably not go back on a RCL Sovereign class ship again, we still enjoyed cruising enough that we did a FCC with them. We're also going on our first NCL cruise with Epic for our anniversary next year and we're giving Carnival a try in November on Glory.

 

So as everyone else has said, give a newer ship within the fleet a try.

[patseacruiser]

I had bathroom issues like that on my Royal Panama Canal cruise. Oh it was awful and I guess I didn't ask so didn't get anything for the problem. I think if you wanted some kind of compensation you should have asked for the manager and said exactly what you wanted. It has been my experience that people are not mind readers but when you say I think I should have at least gotten a comp to Cagneys you may have received it.

 

I am addicted to the Sky. It's my favorite 3 night cruise of all the other lines offering the 3 nighters. I love specialty dining. I don't think of it as nickel and diming but rather as great value for the price I pay. I am on the Sky again on 9/21 and can't wait.

[LadyShiva]

ebandive, I believe "non-working toilets for almost a day" should push a cruiseline into negative territory. In addition, the lack of empathy or offer of assistance is unacceptable from customer service personnel, too. While I can tell you that my experiences on the Spirit and Pearl have been nowhere near as awful, it really doesn't help YOU in this situation. It's you two that were greatly inconvenienced, and I personally think you should have been moved to the empty room with the working toilets with a smile from the front desk and a "Let's see what we can do to make this a more enjoyable trip for the rest of your cruise!" This was a tipping point issue for you, and rightly so!

 

However, on your next cruise, PUSH for an agreeable resolution with the hotel director, versus the front desk. Get the situation fixed while you're ON the ship, versus being annoyed longer because it wasn't resolved by the front desk. This WAS a big deal, and it should be treated as such by you and the front desk. As Prem (the Spirit Hotel Director last June) told me at the Meet and Greet, let him know while you're on the ship so he could fix it; he doesn't want to hear about it after you're gone!

 

Please don't take the above as criticism. I mean for you to take it as validation that you would have been completely correct to take that issue to the Hotel Director to resolve. Escalating your non-working toilets for that long is not being a pest or a bad guest, especially when there were resolutions available, such as an empty cabin with a working toilet.

 

On a completely different note, thank you for the pictures in your interesting review. They're lovely daydream material to make the time pass until my next cruise. :)

[Vyhanek]

I think the bathroom experience is unusual and unique. I hope you can look beyond that experience.

 

But your issues with the food and the food service isn't unusual or unique to NCL. You know food and food service can be better from your experiences with Carnival and RCCL. With NCL Freestyle, you might be able to dine when you want and dress casual but it's at the expense of good food and good service.

 

Your experience with monotonous menus with most items never changing is common NCL....just read the reviews. Your experience with disorganized and impersonal service is common to NCL. Your experience with very slow dining room service....again all NCL.

 

On this board we like to use the term ....... "subjective" That's what boring menus, disorganized service, impersonal service and slow service mean in the food world on NCL......subjective.

 

But if you can get over the expectation of good food and good dining service NCL can be a real contender. I think the entertainment is better on NCL, I think the ship decor is better on NCL, I think cruising in a suite is way better on NCL. That's why I keep coming back. Definitely not because of the food. My experience in 14 or 15 cruises....I'm gold, has always been just like yours. But you know, it's "subjective".

[searoses]

pregnant with chrons(i know that isn't right)......that cabin 8 doors down should have been yours as soon as they knew.....a couple of stewards could have switched you in 15 min..... you were WAY more patient than i would have been....and i am not one to complain or expect heaven and earth to be moved for every little thing.....glad you enjoyed your time together. so important for young parents to nurture their relationship.....makes the long haul so much more fun!

[elhenry]

Toilet problems can *really* upset your trip. We were in a GS on RCCL's Enchantment of the Seas in 2011, and had stuffed up toilets every day for four days. Didn't last for hours, though, they would come and fix it, told us that someone on our "line" was using special toilet paper that clogged the pipes. We've sailed with RCCL six times and would have no problems returning.

 

Richard Matic was our CD on the Jewel in April, and I didn't see anything that elevated or lowered him from any other CD. Then again, I couldn't tell you the name of *any* CD I've sailed with more than a year out; they don't seem to differ much IMHO...

 

I understand Dwight Blake, a pianist and singer, is on the Sky now. We *loved* him on the Jewel, caught all his shows...

 

Better luck next time, and best of luck with your new little one!

 

el henry

[SenatorsFan]

Thanks for your review and the great pictures.:) We're heading out on Sky next July and I am looking forward to a change of cruiselines. Just curious, did you try any of the specialty restaurants?

We are the type to go with the flow, too, but I don't think I would have been half as patient as you with the toilet problems.:eek: Kudos to you for that patience. Your son is adorable and I wish you well with your second baby.

Heather