Report on the beautiful Norwegian Sky
Hello! I started out making this blog entry all about MY vacation -- but what people really want to know is if they can translate my information into a personalized experience for themselves. I am delighted to report that you can!
NCL runs the Sky out of Miami on 3 and 4 night cruises every week. My husband Steve and I chose the 4-night cruise, which begins on Mondays, so that we could fly to Florida for the weekend before the cruise. Extending a short-cruise vacation with a land stay either before or after is a great way to see and do a lot of things and make your vacation just the right length. We chose a visit to Key West, which is described in a previous post -- please take a look if you are interested in a similar itinerary. If we had had just a little more time, I would also have added a night in Miami Beach at the end of the cruise. Your vacation can be customized any way you want!
Our cruise made stops at Freeport/Lucaya, Bahamas; Nassau, Bahamas; and Great Stirrup Cay -- NCL's private island (it's right next door to Royal Caribbean's Coco Cay). For the weekend get-aways on the 3-night cruises that begin on Fridays, the ports-of-call are Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay.
Now, there are lots of ships that do short Bahamas cruises, so there may another that is better for you, but I wanted to see for myself all the upgrades to the Freestyle Cruising concept. I'm so pleased to tell you that they have done an excellent job, and that the concept is working beautifully on all of NCL's ships!
The Sky is one of their "older" and smaller ships -- so I can only imagine what it's like on one of the biggest and newest ships (NCL actually has one of the youngest fleets of all the cruise lines). They kept the Hawaiian decor from the days when she was the Pride of Aloha, so she has a tropical, colorful theme that's really lovely, not gaudy. I especially like the Hawaiian-themed murals that decorate the stairwell/elevator areas and the "tiki" decor of the Outrigger Lounge.
Things you need to know:
When you get onboard, find the restaurant reservations station near the purser's desk. Get the information about what are the specialty restaurants on your ship (and where they are), and how much they upcharge. Also -- find out which of the main dining rooms is for the more casual diners and which one is for those who prefer more formality. There may be some days you want to just leave on your shorts and t-shirts, and others when you are dressing up a bit more. I would also suspect there to be more children in the "casual" restaurant.
The buffets can be fairly crowded and chaotic, as cruise ship buffets can be, so I would avoid them during peak times. However, if you can sneak in early or late or in-between meal times, you will find excellent selections. I was so thrilled one afternoon when I was passing through and spied huge platters of hearts-of-palm, artichoke hearts, and sliced avocadoes! Then I discovered the GIANT SOFT PRETZEL STICKS -- the best snack I ever had on a cruise! And don't even get me started on the French fries -- I had to stop myself or I would have gobbled them up every day and gained 10 pounds.
The Italian restaurant, Il Adagio, offered free pizza and pastas for lunch, so we ate up there one day and it was really good! I just love a nice thin, crunchy crust, don't you? We also ate there one evening and paid the $10 per person upcharge for a 3-course meal that was very good. [Princess people -- it is not Sabatini's, but it's not as expensive, either. For those of you who have never sailed Princess and experienced Sabatini's -- call me because we need to talk.]
Cagney's Steak House is terrific! I was especially impressed with the wine steward. We asked our waiter about the vintages of some of the wines, and when we were about to choose a lesser quality because everything seemed to be from 2006 anyway, he went and got the wine steward who found us a 2004 Shafer Merlot! Our filet mignon dinners were just perfect. Be sure to order the giant-shrimp cocktail, too!
We did not try the French restaurant, but it appeared to be filling up every night. Instead, we went for the lobster dinner in the main dining room. It was served alongside a cut of grouper with fresh vegetables, but it was just OK. All the desserts and fresh breads were excellent, though.
The wine selection is much improved and reasonably priced, but I thought the cocktails were a bit too pricey. Since I got a bottle of wine as a gift for booking into a group, I just sipped that in the evening before dinner instead of selecting a martini. The soft drink package is a good value at $6.75 per day. Everything gets a 15% tip added, so factor that in and don't add on (unless you get super-above-and-beyond service)!
Speaking of service, we found it to be excellent everywhere onboard and the staff was very friendly. Our room stewards were real troopers -- they brought us fresh towels and ice twice every day, supplied Steve with a bottle of water after he got caught in the shower and the water got shut off for maintenance (!) before he could get rinsed off, and they brought us more beach towels after I brought one back from shore rather wet and Steve accidentally left one at the pool. You have to be careful about this, though, because they do reserve the right to charge you if your towels go missing!
Music and shows -- the shows were very good and the jazz band was awesome! A couple of the other musicians were just OK, but the Caribbean bands up by the pool were good and set the perfect cruising mood at just about any time of day. I have no reports on the casino because we don't gamble, other than to note that it was spacious and not smoky.
So -- I think you would find NCL to be a great cruise experience and excellent value -- no matter what your destination! I've got some specials and reduced-deposit sales going on this month, so let's talk!
Next report -- the ports-of-call in the Bahamas!