Fantastic 4-Night on the Norwegian Sky

[Cruiser Bruiser]

I took a total of 8 weeks' vacation in 2012 so this year I need to cut back as my vacation days pool is getting low. DH is retired - lucky sod!

 

I was at sea 34 days in 2012, :p so I understand the need to get those leave balances back to healthy levels!

 

I forgot to mention that there were some minor differences on the Sky that really didn't affect my enjoyment of the cruise, but they didn't comport with my earlier experiences on the Pride of America, Pearl and Dawn.

 

1. I did mention there is no Guide to the Norwegian Sky at embarkation. Knowing that, the best workaround is to take advantage of the deck plans that are posted in every elevator lobby. Perhaps that's why they don't give out the guide, as those "You are Here" deck plans seem to be everywhere on the Sky.

 

2. I knew in advance that the Latitudes perks on the Sky were minimized, no parties for instance. However, I was very sad when I didn't get my mint on the pillow the first evening or thereafter. :eek:

 

3. Given that there is no "Sky Production Company" I already had a suspicion, but there is no big crew farewell in the Stardust Theater. This makes sense, because the crew would have to make two of these appearances each week, and maybe three days isn't long enough to bond. But, I missed the heartfelt strains of "you are Norwegian now." :(

 

4. There are no announcements from the captain! :confused: This is the first cruise I ever took where I never once heard the captain's voice or saw him roaming the ship. It really didn't matter, but I did notice and it felt strange.

 

5. There was no Captain's Log and/or navigation channel on the Sky. I suppose we are going such short distances it might look like we weren't going anywhere if it was posted on a map. But I love the weather log, the map, knowing how warm the pool is, all that sort of thing. Not available on the Sky. :(

 

I still loved my cruise very much, but these are a few minor differences.

[jdvmd]

I was at sea 34 days in 2012, :p so I understand the need to get those leave balances back to healthy levels!

 

I forgot to mention that there were some minor differences on the Sky that really didn't affect my enjoyment of the cruise, but they didn't comport with my earlier experiences on the Pride of America, Pearl and Dawn.

 

1. I did mention there is no Guide to the Norwegian Sky at embarkation. Knowing that, the best workaround is to take advantage of the deck plans that are posted in every elevator lobby. Perhaps that's why they don't give out the guide, as those "You are Here" deck plans seem to be everywhere on the Sky.

 

2. I knew in advance that the Latitudes perks on the Sky were minimized, no parties for instance. However, I was very sad when I didn't get my mint on the pillow the first evening or thereafter. :eek:

 

3. Given that there is no "Sky Production Company" I already had a suspicion, but there is no big crew farewell in the Stardust Theater. This makes sense, because the crew would have to make two of these appearances each week, and maybe three days isn't long enough to bond. But, I missed the heartfelt strains of "you are Norwegian now." :(

 

4. There are no announcements from the captain! :confused: This is the first cruise I ever took where I never once heard the captain's voice or saw him roaming the ship. It really didn't matter, but I did notice and it felt strange.

 

5. There was no Captain's Log and/or navigation channel on the Sky. I suppose we are going such short distances it might look like we weren't going anywhere if it was posted on a map. But I love the weather log, the map, knowing how warm the pool is, all that sort of thing. Not available on the Sky. :(

 

I still loved my cruise very much, but these are a few minor differences.

 

We were given guides on our most recent trip on the Sky. I am looking at three of them right now in ziplock bag of receipts etc. Maybe they ran out. Definitely were available at check in and also in the room guidebook.

There was a big map outside of the buffet that showed our positions daily. Not the same as having it on the TV I agree. We also received a summary of where we traveled and how many miles etc. on the last night.

[Fla Mike]

Thanks for the review! We will be sailing her in October and your review helped to fuel my enthusiasm.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

We were given guides on our most recent trip on the Sky. I am looking at three of them right now in ziplock bag of receipts etc. Maybe they ran out. Definitely were available at check in and also in the room guidebook.

 

There was a big map outside of the buffet that showed our positions daily. Not the same as having it on the TV I agree. We also received a summary of where we traveled and how many miles etc. on the last night.

 

Thanks for the heads-up about the guides. I'm outraged I didn't get one! :rolleyes: Actually, I just like to have a copy for my souvenir box. However, I shouldn't complain because the cruise consultant gave me a printed copy of the rarely-seen Norwegian rack guide. :cool:

 

And I never saw the monitor near the buffet that displayed the map. :confused: I was tempted to ask if it was behind the guy with the guitar who plays each morning when I remembered another difference:

 

There was no "Washy Washy!" on the Sky! :eek: It was mentioned a couple times as a joke by members of the cruise staff, but I never heard restaurant staff say it. Now that did ruin my vacation!! :mad:

 

Just kidding, just kidding! :cool:

[meltingmoments]

 

4. There are no announcements from the captain! :confused: This is the first cruise I ever took where I never once heard the captain's voice or saw him roaming the ship. It really didn't matter, but I did notice and it felt strange.

 

May I ask who the Captain was on your sailing? I ask this because we had Captain Ron Chrastina on our sailing and he was VERY visible throughout the cruise and made lots of announcements. He was a lovely guy! We were lucky enough to be invited to coctails with him, and the next day......much to mine and my DD's delight.....he stopped by our table at lunch to chat!! :)

[Cruiser Bruiser]

May I ask who the Captain was on your sailing? I ask this because we had Captain Ron Chrastina on our sailing and he was VERY visible throughout the cruise and made lots of announcements. He was a lovely guy! We were lucky enough to be invited to coctails with him, and the next day......much to mine and my DD's delight.....he stopped by our table at lunch to chat!! :)

 

Honestly, I do not know! This is the first cruise where I never heard the name of the captain mentioned even once. Perhaps is was sleep deprivation from staying up late with an 18-year-old every night, but I can remember Captain Steffan from the Dawn and Captain Gunnar from the Pearl and those were months ago! :confused:

[SMSACE6]

Im enjoying your review very much. You are one very nice uncle!:)

 

I usually do only 7 day cruises, but have parents who are getting older and live with me, and lately even 7 days is hard for me to do. I will do at least one more, next November on Epic, but after that, I may have to settle for 4 day cruises. So I have been considering the Sky or similar for 2014. Thanks again for your review!:)

[whtbearfan]

John,

Sounds like you had a blast. We sail for the very first time in December. I noticed that you did some snorkling at the Cay. I have done soe searches here on CC and haven't foud the answer. Does the Cay have lockers so you can put you valuables away while your snorkling? Thanks much.

[jdvmd]

John,

Sounds like you had a blast. We sail for the very first time in December. I noticed that you did some snorkling at the Cay. I have done soe searches here on CC and haven't foud the answer. Does the Cay have lockers so you can put you valuables away while your snorkling? Thanks much.

No lockers at Great Stirrup Cay.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

John,

Sounds like you had a blast. We sail for the very first time in December. I noticed that you did some snorkling at the Cay. I have done soe searches here on CC and haven't foud the answer. Does the Cay have lockers so you can put you valuables away while your snorkling? Thanks much.

 

Cheers! I hope you have a great time, too.

 

No lockers at Great Stirrup Cay.

 

Thanks for the emphatic answer! I'm glad you knew it. :p I was going to say that I didn't remember seeing any, but that I might have walked right past them. Given that everyone is in the same "boat" with their belongings left out, it seemed pretty safe. Having said that, I wouldn't take anything valuable to the island.

[smiles998]

I posted a little more in detail just above, but we loved GSC!! I wouldn't have known at all that it had been hit by a hurricane just a few weeks earlier. We didn't see any construction at all.

 

Everything is focused on a protected cove that is perfect for swimming and snorkeling. You might also rent a float. Amanda went out on a float with some friends and had a great time. I paid the $29 for the snorkel kit and liked it so much I did it twice. The barbecue was great. And there was a live band and a volleyball pit just behind the barbecue that added to the great atmosphere. Get off the ship as early as you can and enjoy GSC. I hope you have great weather!

 

Thanks so much John for this great review... Can you tell how much it was to rent a float a GSC?

Edited September 16, 2013 by smiles998

[whtbearfan]

Cheers! I hope you have a great time, too.

 

 

 

Thanks for the emphatic answer! I'm glad you knew it. :p I was going to say that I didn't remember seeing any, but that I might have walked right past them. Given that everyone is in the same "boat" with their belongings left out, it seemed pretty safe. Having said that, I wouldn't take anything valuable to the island.

 

Thanks so much for the answers. Bummer they don't have lockers. We were hoping we could store books, sunglasses and the like while we were snorkling. My wife doesn't go anywhere without a book or her Nook. I usually have my iPod for audiobooks as well. I know I won't be dragging my iPad to the island. I guess I could bury it all somewhere and give the wife a map to its location. Might be fun.

[meatball_nyc]

What a nice review. Thank you Uncle John.

 

Now we can't wait for our first NCL cruise this summer. Third cruise with my son. It was a present from me for his 18th birthday.

 

Cheers and Happy Sailing.

 

 

 

~Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

[joteacher]

Thanks for the great review! It sounds like you really had a blast! We're sailing 2/17...now I really can't wait!!:D

~Joanne

[Cruiser Bruiser]

What a nice review. Thank you Uncle John.

 

Now we can't wait for our first NCL cruise this summer. Third cruise with my son. It was a present from me for his 18th birthday.

 

Cheers and Happy Sailing.

 

~Robin

Norwegian Breakaway July 2014

Carnival Miracle 2010

Carnival Legend 2006

Every Day at Sea is a Great Day

 

I hope you have a fantastic time with your son! Be prepared when, after staying up to 1:30, 1:30, and 2:30 you get the rationale that on the final night you have to stay up til 3:30 because it's the final night. That was Amanda's logic. :rolleyes:

 

Thanks for the great review! It sounds like you really had a blast! We're sailing 2/17...now I really can't wait!!:D

~Joanne

 

I hope you have a nice time. I just finished a 7-night on the Pearl with my middle niece, and I have a 7-night booked with my mom in March, my sister and brother-in-law in December on the Epic, and with my youngest niece in June 2015. I thought I could make a TA work (because Isabelle wanted to go to Paris!), but she can't miss school. :mad: So, Isabelle will just have to settle for the Getaway! :rolleyes:

[BryceRun]

Hey great review! It’s almost too positive but the sincerity nails it home!! I embark Monday (1/20) on Sky for my wife’s birthday (KIDS stay with grandparents!!!) and your post just got me all ready to go now!! Just one more day in the cubicle!! I think I will refrain from reading any other Sky related posts until the cruise, thank you!

[trini_ras]

Great review, thanks for sharing

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Hey great review! It’s almost too positive but the sincerity nails it home!! I embark Monday (1/20) on Sky for my wife’s birthday (KIDS stay with grandparents!!!) and your post just got me all ready to go now!! Just one more day in the cubicle!! I think I will refrain from reading any other Sky related posts until the cruise, thank you!

 

I hope you had a nice time on your sailing. If it helps to take a little of the "too nice" edge off of my review, :o the boy my niece met on the cruise moved to Oregon to woo her. And then after six weeks or so she sent him packing. That was kind of a sad end to the good times on the Sky. It's never as good on land as it is on a cruise ship.

[sunflower47]

We did spend lots of time off the ship, too. When we arrived at Freeport, Grand Bahama, all the water excursions were canceled due to wind. It didn't seem that bad to me, but better safe than sorry, I guess. We ended up trading our snorkeling adventure for a bus tour of Freeport that included two shopping stops and ended with a couple hours at Taino Beach. As Freeport is the Bahamas' industrial center, this tour gave us as good a land-based view of Grand Bahama as you can get, I guess. We bought some souvenirs, had a potent Pina Colada, and had two good hours on the beach. It sprinkled for about 15 minutes, but otherwise it was sunny, warm, and gorgeous with some big, puffy white clouds.

/quote]

 

 

Thanks for your wonderful review of the Sky-our first cruise is coming up and we were wondering what to do in Freeport.

 

How did you book your tour? The ships excursion don't seem to offer a tour of Freeport.

[Cruiser Bruiser]

Thanks for your wonderful review of the Sky-our first cruise is coming up and we were wondering what to do in Freeport.

 

How did you book your tour? The ships excursion don't seem to offer a tour of Freeport.

 

Hmm, I know for a fact that we booked the tour through Norwegian. If you don't see it listed on the website, you might call the excursion office and see if they will be adding it. It was a fairly popular tour. Have fun on the Sky! :)

[sunflower47]

Hmm, I know for a fact that we booked the tour through Norwegian. If you don't see it listed on the website, you might call the excursion office and see if they will be adding it. It was a fairly popular tour. Have fun on the Sky! :)

 

 

Thank you I am sure we will!! First time so it's pretty exciting.

 

I found the excursion on their website and I have a question if you can recall-they say they rent chairs & beach towels but do they rent umbrellas?

 

The person that reviewed the tour on the website gave it a very bad review-I think that is why I bypassed it while looking through the first time-I am glad you enjoyed it :)

[barefootbob]

Considering this ship for Nov 10 sailing. I think your review confirmed I am making a good choice. Just sailed Getaway in May (1st cruise) and I'm hooked.

 

 

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