NCL Sky Just off from 5/2 sailing

[larka]

Just off the Sky.

 

Very brief review for now.

Ship is in great condition and well kept. Crew was awesome

We had the All inclusive Drink plan. Worked out well especially if you tipped $1.

Awesome Dining room staff From Mr Collins to Waitress Ni to Asst Waiter Milton.

Great stateroom Attendant

 

Food was terrible. Had three good meals. One was breakfast. The other two were Steak Chimichurry and the Prime Rib.

Embarkation was very unpleasant. They scheduled us for 1030am. Finally started to board at 1150am.

Room Service is $7.95 added charge.

 

For a last minute quickie vacation it was fine. Would not be our first choice. This was our 33 cruise, Fourth on NCL. We booked this because our already booked cruise was cancelled with another line.

 

Comedian was also very good. Other shows - not so much.

[davesgirl51]

Thanks for your honest review. Find it disheartening that with all the hoopla about making NCL's vacations ones you won't forget, that the food was terrible.:eek::eek:

[Love my butler]

Thanks for your honest review. Find it disheartening that with all the hoopla about making NCL's vacations ones you won't forget, that the food was terrible.:eek::eek:

 

The food on NCL has been going downhill for years. Basically they are cutting corners with menus and ingredients to save a couple nickels.

[xeroxme]

I was on the sky at the end of March. The whole ship was all inclusive drinks. You didn't pay extra did you?

[ldl05]

Just off the Sky.

 

Very brief review for now.

Ship is in great condition and well kept. Crew was awesome

We had the All inclusive Drink plan. Worked out well especially if you tipped $1.

Awesome Dining room staff From Mr Collins to Waitress Ni to Asst Waiter Milton.

Great stateroom Attendant

 

Food was terrible. Had three good meals. One was breakfast. The other two were Steak Chimichurry and the Prime Rib.

Embarkation was very unpleasant. They scheduled us for 1030am. Finally started to board at 1150am.

Room Service is $7.95 added charge.

 

For a last minute quickie vacation it was fine. Would not be our first choice. This was our 33 cruise, Fourth on NCL. We booked this because our already booked cruise was cancelled with another line.

 

Comedian was also very good. Other shows - not so much.

 

 

We were on this cruise as well.... I assume you were "Empress Refugees" as well. We met a lot of 1st time cruisers, lots of different nationalities, guests were fun and chatty! The crew was great, we received a lot of really good service. The band Good Ideas from the Philippines awesome! The food was fine with us...our least favorite meal was the dining room the 1st night. We did the specialty Italian and that was great, and sushi was yummy! For not being our first choice of cruise lines or ships, we had a better time than expected...any day on a ship is funner than being at work!!

 

 

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[Clarea]

Nice report, short and sweet.:)

[SuiteRose]

Just off the Sky.

 

Very brief review for now.

Ship is in great condition and well kept. Crew was awesome

We had the All inclusive Drink plan. Worked out well especially if you tipped $1.

Awesome Dining room staff From Mr Collins to Waitress Ni to Asst Waiter Milton.

Great stateroom Attendant

 

Food was terrible. Had three good meals. One was breakfast. The other two were Steak Chimichurry and the Prime Rib.

Embarkation was very unpleasant. They scheduled us for 1030am. Finally started to board at 1150am.

Room Service is $7.95 added charge.

 

For a last minute quickie vacation it was fine. Would not be our first choice. This was our 33 cruise, Fourth on NCL. We booked this because our already booked cruise was cancelled with another line.

 

Comedian was also very good. Other shows - not so much.

 

Just a couple of notes.. the check in time and boarding time is different.. the ships most always start to board about noon... the room service charge has been in place for a year.. food is subjective so I never rely on others comments... I've seen a great improvement in the food over the past couple of years.. if the new menus aren't on the Sky yet, they will be coming... also as a seasoned cruiser you know that most of the staff in the terminal is not from the cruiseline..

[susique]

Just off the Sky.

 

Very brief review for now.

Ship is in great condition and well kept. Crew was awesome

We had the All inclusive Drink plan. Worked out well especially if you tipped $1.

Awesome Dining room staff From Mr Collins to Waitress Ni to Asst Waiter Milton.

Great stateroom Attendant

 

Food was terrible. Had three good meals. One was breakfast. The other two were Steak Chimichurry and the Prime Rib.

Embarkation was very unpleasant. They scheduled us for 1030am. Finally started to board at 1150am.

Room Service is $7.95 added charge.

 

For a last minute quickie vacation it was fine. Would not be our first choice. This was our 33 cruise, Fourth on NCL. We booked this because our already booked cruise was cancelled with another line.

 

Comedian was also very good. Other shows - not so much.

 

You mentioned embarkation, what about debarkation? We are sailing on Monday and really need to be off by 8 AM. Do you think this is possible?

[horseymike]

call it subjective if you wish. good food used to be a staple for all cruise lines, unfortunately it has become a thing of the past.specialty restaurants costing more $$$ are being pushed on cruisers more and more :(

[larka]

In response to some of the comments to my original post:

 

All drinks were free. We did not pay for anything either before, during or after our cruise. Only once was a drink a bit weak. Otherwise they were good pours. We liked not having any charges on our bill. We did tip $1 for each drink and service was superb. Most people did not tip.

 

The food on all ships is not what it was years ago. However, we have sailed NCL before and the food on this ship was not comparable to any other cruises. We ate in the MDR and the Garden Cafe and both were very bland.

 

Disembark was a breeze. We waited until about 9am to leave and just walked off the ship. We were getting a taxi within a few minutes. Very smooth. Not sure how fast early disembark was.

[larka]

The staff in the terminal was fine. I know they are not NCL employees.

My issue was assigning guests to arrive at 1030am and not starting the embarkation until 1150am. The waiting room was over capacity with a lot of people standing. There were no CG or USDA Inspections to delay the boarding process. Just making a suggestion.

[susique]

Thanks Larka. As I live in South Florida, my sister and I book the SKY for a girls only (no husbands or kids) trip once a year. I agree that the buffet is terrible and never have ate in the MDR. When we booked this cruise over a year ago, it did not have the free drinks, so we picked the UBP for a perk. When they changed it to free drinks, my PCC changed our perk to the UDP. We have dinner in the specialty restaurants each night.

[Susie51]

Sorry the food was bad. Dec. 2014 on NCL Jewel the food was very good. We ate in the MDR for dinner 5 of the 7 nights.

[FSNA5861]

In response to some of the comments to my original post:

 

All drinks were free. We did not pay for anything either before, during or after our cruise. Only once was a drink a bit weak. Otherwise they were good pours. We liked not having any charges on our bill. We did tip $1 for each drink and service was superb. Most people did not tip.

 

The food on all ships is not what it was years ago. However, we have sailed NCL before and the food on this ship was not comparable to any other cruises. We ate in the MDR and the Garden Cafe and both were very bland.

 

Disembark was a breeze. We waited until about 9am to leave and just walked off the ship. We were getting a taxi within a few minutes. Very smooth. Not sure how fast early disembark was.

 

We were on the same cruise. Have to agree with the embarkation which was unpleasant.and it was the worst that I have experienced out of Miami. POM should learn from Port Canaveral where the process is much better structured.

 

We too tipped and as you said that $1 tip goes a long way in getting great service. I was in line at the Atrium bar one day with at least 15 people ahead of me an no one tipped aside from me. The barman and bar servers are doing a great job considering that drinks are free and some cruisers were very demanding at times.

 

Food is very subjective. We personally found the food pretty good. Had our breafasts in Crossing with great service. Our dinners were in Palace and we always found something that we liked and with the same friendly service. The free wine provided could definitely be of a better selection.

 

I agree that disembark was a breeze.

[Elliegal]

Hi, I have the same question. Am trying to make travel reservations..would like to take Amtrak but would have to walk off the ship at 7:30 to make the train. I did it once before, no problem, on the Oasis of the Seas, but that was 6 years ago.

 

I would like to post a new thread asking people about earliest possible disembarkation, but can't figure out how to start a new thread. Anybody have any idea about early disembarkation from the Sky? Thanks!

[stormynow]

Did the Sky twice this yr and both times walk off with luggage started about 7:30a. Out of the garage at 7:50a. Hope this helps.

[Sir_Randy]

In response to some of the comments to my original post:

 

All drinks were free. We did not pay for anything either before, during or after our cruise. Only once was a drink a bit weak. Otherwise they were good pours. We liked not having any charges on our bill. We did tip $1 for each drink and service was superb. Most people did not tip.

 

The food on all ships is not what it was years ago. However, we have sailed NCL before and the food on this ship was not comparable to any other cruises. We ate in the MDR and the Garden Cafe and both were very bland.

 

Disembark was a breeze. We waited until about 9am to leave and just walked off the ship. We were getting a taxi within a few minutes. Very smooth. Not sure how fast early disembark was.

I am a firm believer that dollar tips go a long way any time you a do an all inclusive. Did you tip bills or just add to the check?

[stormynow]

I am a firm believer that dollar tips go a long way any time you a do an all inclusive. Did you tip bills or just add to the check?

 

No checks to sign, so no choice but cash. Always tip buck a drink and never have to wait. Some times have to tell BT easy on the pour. To good to us.

[trivimp]

Some times have to tell BT easy on the pour.

That's not a bad problem to have!! :D

[easyboy]

I am a firm believer that dollar tips go a long way any time you a do an all inclusive.

Ditto.

[tsavong]

I'm glad I took a look at this thread because I had planned on doing at least $1 tips for the drinks I'll likely order on my first-ever cruise scheduled for October. All-inclusive to me doesn't imply that tipping just doesn't happen even though I had to pay up front a separate fee for what seems to be that purpose.

 

I have often traveled to Reno and Las Vegas, NV to hit some of my favorite casinos and enjoyed immensely the buffets. Especially the breakfast one. I somewhat expect a cruise buffet to be of similar quality (I am not exactly a snobbish foodie). The comments I have read in the last couple of weeks have been mostly negative. I can be happy with an entire plate of nothing but scrambled eggs and bacon or a nice fat ham and cheese omelet. Can I not expect at least that? I've never cruised before and have read bad reviews on food over a wide variety of cruise lines and ship types.

 

Give me at least some decent eggs and bacon..... please?

[trivimp]

You eat breakfast like I do. You'll do fine, it's not too different from a mid-level Vegas hotel breakfast buffet. Best to stay away from the powdered scrambled eggs on the steam tables... go straight to the omelet bar for fresh cooked eggs. Lots of bacon & link sausage, and an array of easy carbs (muffins, mini croissants.)

 

Now, if you want something sit-down, you can get that too... but the buffet is easy, fast, and has bacon :-)

[tsavong]

You eat breakfast like I do. You'll do fine, it's not too different from a mid-level Vegas hotel breakfast buffet. Best to stay away from the powdered scrambled eggs on the steam tables... go straight to the omelet bar for fresh cooked eggs. Lots of bacon & link sausage, and an array of easy carbs (muffins, mini croissants.)

 

Now, if you want something sit-down, you can get that too... but the buffet is easy, fast, and has bacon :-)

 

Perfect. Mid-level Vegas hotel breakfast buffet is my steam! Thanks!

[gobucks_43228]

Did the Sky twice this yr and both times walk off with luggage started about 7:30a. Out of the garage at 7:50a. Hope this helps.

 

 

I am sailing the end of September and flying out of FLL. Do you think I will have issues making a 10 flight from FLL?

[easyboy]

I am sailing the end of September and flying out of FLL. Do you think I will have issues making a 10 flight from FLL?

Weather permitting, yes you can make it. Just do the walk-off or self-disembark and get a private transportation.