Sky Review - The Good and not so good

[bonnie voyage]

Just returned from sailing the Sky for four days – April 7 through 11 – thought I’d jot down my thoughts for anyone who is interested; has already booked; or is planning to book in the future. I will omit lengthy details about our flight out of northern Michigan, but let’s just say that I did not anticipate flight delays and missed connections due to weather in April. We did, however, make the best of our unplanned, overnight stay at Detroit airport Westin Hotel; and we were very thankful that Delta was able to book us on another flight bright and early the next morning. Thanks to the sound advice of CC members, we always fly to our embarkation destination 2 to 3 days pre-cruise.

 

Embarkation: What a breeze! We booked transportation ahead of time, via private car with QLS from our Fort Lauderdale hotel to the MIA pier. I cannot say enough good things about QLS. Their service is great (we’ve used them before) – always on time, helpful and friendly, courteous drivers. Our driver, Harold picked us up at 10:30 a.m. promptly; we arrived at the pier at approximately 11:10 a.m., checked bags with the porters and proceeded to wait in line for check-in.

 

Check in (including wait in line) took all of about 25 minutes. We did have an additional 20 minute wait in the “holding area”. Our party of six was on board and making our way to the Crossings MDR for lunch by noon. Even though the ship staff was encouraging guests to head to the garden café for lunch, we chose to eat in the MDR. Upon arrival to Crossings we were told that since each dish would be made to order, the wait time would be much longer than if we chose to eat at the buffet – no problem for us; we were in no rush.

 

At approximately 1:00 p.m., the announcement was made that rooms were ready. Wow, that was quick we thought; we were still in Crossings enjoying our lunch.

 

After lunch we headed to our rooms (aft balconies on deck 9) to have some quiet time and begin enjoying our cruise vacation. Bags arrived at around 4:00 p.m., just before muster drill and in plenty of time for dinner. Note: we never experienced any soot on our aft balcony.

 

Ship: Considering her age, I think the Sky is in pretty darn good shape – all areas were clean and well kept. Room steward, Roy, did an excellent job of keeping our room tidy and well stocked with fresh towels. Although it doesn’t really make or break my cruise experience, Roy made towel animals each night. For those interested in knowing what we tipped; it was $40.00 ($20.00 on day one and $20.00 on day four).

 

Other Passengers: A good mix of passengers; all ages; some families; not many spring breakers at all. No rowdy partiers, just a good group of folks enjoying their vacations.

 

Restaurants: Very good. Most of our meals (breakfast and dinner) were eaten in the MDR. You can probably tell by my signature that we are real NCL fans, and overall we think they do a very nice job with food, especially considering the number of people they serve. We did have dinner at LeBistro one evening – DH had lamb, and I chose the filet – our meals were well-prepared, were extremely good, and the service excellent. We did eat at the buffet twice for lunch….we are not huge fans of buffets, so I cannot speak objectively about the food in the Garden Café; to me it was passable. There were plenty of options on the buffet.

 

Service: Very good. All staff was friendly, prompt, courteous, and truly helpful. Our only downsides were a slight problem with the front desk staff and our OBC – even after showing receipts, we were required to complete a form so that further investigation could be done by NCL (have never encountered this before). It was resolved by the end of day 2 of our cruise. The only other negative, IMO, is that there was not enough wait staff in lounges; we almost always had to approach the bartenders for beverage service (and we always tip extra in cash for our beverages - $2.00 per order for those interested). Perhaps staffing in the lounges is low due to the short length of the cruise – I don’t know. Also, many of the bartenders made a sub-par long island iced tea – only bartender that made it correctly (at least to my liking) was in Long Boards….don’t know what’s up with that. DH’s beverages were well made.

 

Entertainment: Very good. The comedian, Andrew Kennedy, was really funny on day one. Second time we saw him, not so much so. We did not attend the adult comedy show. We did watch the “American Idol” type show which was enjoyable….all performers sang and danced very well. We did not attend the Vegas style show on the last evening of the cruise. Cruise director, Joel was upbeat and entertaining.

 

Ports: Great Stirrup Cay – we’ve been here before and rented a cabana before too, so we decided to stay on board this time around and enjoy the ship.

 

Nassau – island tour with Jermaine’s taxi and tours. Jermaine is awesome! If you are looking for a tour with a lot of history included, book with Jermaine. He took us to the forts; Queen’s staircase; government buildings; churches; U.S. ambassadors home; and the distillery, which is located in an historic home with original paintings from the 1700’s (we had a wonderfully funny tour guide, Bryant who is not to be missed). Jermaine showed us the beaches, and various well-to-do neighborhoods along with not so well-to-do neighborhoods. IMO this tour was a real bargain - $36.00 per person, which includes admission to forts.

 

Freeport – shopping (let’s just say, I don’t think I need to do Freeport again)

 

Disembarkation: Again, a breeze. We decided to do easy walk off and proceeded to the gangway at approximately 7:30 a.m. We were off the ship, through customs, and in our waiting car (QLS transportation) by 8:00 a.m. We arrived at FLL airport by 8:40 a.m. in plenty of time for our 11:00 a.m. flight.

 

 

This trip was a nice little get away for us….I would definitely recommend for first time cruisers and those that want a short escape.

[polySeraph]

Thanks for the review! DH and I really enjoyed our 4-day cruise on the Sky.

[stormynow]

Bonnie, did u try the atrium bar and was the band very good. Also was Rod bartending there? Thanks, glad u enjoyed the Sky. We try to sail her 2 times a year. Live only 2 hrs from port.

[trini_ras]

Thanks for sharing

[NayRN]

Hello fellow Michiganian!!

 

How did you book your tour with Jermaine? I've been to Nassau a few times but I'll have three newbies with me and this sounds like the way to let them see a lot!

 

I agree with you about Freeport! I've already informed the newbies that the only reason I'd get off the ship there is to go to Señor Frogs!! :rolleyes:

 

Glad you enjoyed your cruise! I love the Sky....and I can't wait to board Her again!!

[pandacruisin30]

thanks for the review. I will be on the Sky next March for my birthday and right now I am going solo :( since my parents cant come. This will be also my first NCL cruise which I am looking forward too. thanks again

Pam;)

[KirkNC]

Thanks for the report!

[JLBKL]

Thanks for the review! We very much enjoyed the Sky as our first ever cruise, this March/April! We loved everything about it, what a great introduction to cruising! It gets you hooked for sure!

 

 

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[Keith1010]

I only read this now and thank you for writing it.

 

Keith

[CruisinMaterial]

Thank you for sharing! This information can be quite helpful for those who did the Buy One, Get One free promotion and have upcoming Sky sailings! :D

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Thanks for posting. I'll be on the sky in November.