Glenn's Review of our Bahamas Cruise on the NCL Sky

Norwegian Sky Review

February 15^th, 2013 Sailing

Cabin 8024 – Oceanview

This was second cruise on NCL for me having been on a cruise to nowhere from Tampa on the Star in 2012.  I was travelling with my wife and four of her sorority sisters from college.  My wife’s original roommate had to cancel so I was more than willing to be a late fill-in.  Who doesn’t like to cruise?

We arrived in at the Miami port about 12:30.  Check-in was easy with not much of a wait.  We then made it upstairs where we learned that boarding had not yet started due to a safety inspection.  Since this was just a day after the Carnival Triumph situation, I thought it might be related but no specifics were mentioned.  We were able to board about 30 minutes after arriving (approx. 1:30PM).  Our cabins were ready so we headed there to check them out and drop off our bags.  The cabin was great with a small couch and desk along with the porthole.  Lunch would be in Crossings Restaurant which we found very good.   Spring rolls, eggplant tapenade and mushroom soup were the standouts.  Off we went to purchase our beverage package.

We headed to Deck 6 in Dazzles Nightclub where  they had a table setup for all the beverage package options.  We had decided a few weeks ago that we would definitely get the package.  The main reason is that it eliminates the stress of getting the bill on the last morning.  Going into the cruise, we would know how much we would be spending.  We asked about the Ultimate Beverage Package and were directed to an officer who helped guide us.  He explained the way it worked although he had nothing written down.  Beers up to $5 and wines under $10 were included.  This is most of the beers onboard including 16 ounce Coors Light, Miller Lite and Budweiser.  About 60% of the wines by the glass were included with a very good selection of every style.   We found some a very nice Prosecco and a fantastic Grand Rose by Isabella.  The latter may only be available in the dining room.  As far as cocktails, the information on what was included was a little more mysterious.    Not having anything in writing, my best guess is that any single-alcohol cocktail under $10 is included.  Multiple-alcohol cocktails (such as Ultimate Margarita) were not included even if less than $10.  Frozen drinks (such as mudslideor Bahama-Mama) were included.   We didn’t try any martinis but one of my wife’s friends did have an espresso martini and it wasn’t included.  Bottled water, Red Bull and specialty coffees are excluded.  When you order drinks the bar waiter will have you sign a receipt which has  the normal prices and gratuity.  They will write “BP” on the receipt.  I found this a bit inconvenient. We had tried the similarly-priced beverage package on Celebrity and found it much more convenient since they didn’t make you sign receipts.  This didn’t ruin our experience with the package and I am glad we got it.  It was a great value and we knew ahead of time what we would have on our bill on disembarkation morning.  My advice would be to ask the bar waiter if you are not sure if something will be covered.  Hopefully NCL will start having something in writing on what is included.

We started a tour of the ship and it is a beauty.  This is the ship that had previously sailed in Hawaii and that is quite apparent.  Lots of Hawaii-influenced artwork in the stairways and hallways.   The public lounges all had names with Hawaii themes.  Outrigger Lounge.  Great Outdoor Café.  Longboard Sports Bar.  It is the most beautifully decorated ship I have ever been on.   Large, open rooms – especially Outrigger which has large windows you can look out Forward.  Great Outdoor Café is a huge Aft outdoor space.  Both terrific sail-away locations depending on the weather.  Below is a picture of me at the Outrigger singing karaoke.   Notice the canoe above my head.

Dining tonight was in Crossings.  We would also go here the second night and on the last night went to the “sister” restaurant The Palace (same menu).   The menu changes each night but they have a “classics” section which stayed mostly the same each night.  I only noticed some minor differences on the classic section on the last night.  Each night there was a regional specialty which was some kind of fish dish.  The standout dish from all the nights was a vegetarian patty dish with a chickpea stew (picture below).  Fish dishes and pasta were better than the steaks although the rib eye on the last night was pretty good. 

Entertainment options were great and varied.  Outrigger had a Latin band.  Dazzles had a DJ (where we spent most of the first evening with some good dance music) and the Atrium Bar had a 5 piece band which was very good – although also very loud so I recommend sitting one deck down on Deck 5 with your drinks.  There was a comedian Andrew Kennedy who I thought was very funny.  We saw his family show at the Welcome Aboard show and his late night adult show on the last night. We also enjoyed Captain Cook's bar with Nathaniel - the piano player. He played a good mix of sing a long favorites and songs that really showed his range. 

On the second night of the cruise they had their White Hot Nights Deck Party. The weather actually cooperated for a couple hours. The DJ was really. The cruise staff dressed in all white - many with angel wings and led us in different dances. At one point, we felt like we were in a Jane Fonda workout video so we treated to the side to boogie on our own. 

One hilarious moment was when one of the Gamma girls leaned on the circular bar. The staff hadn't locked the wheels properly so the whole thing moved. We joked that we were going to grab it and start the world's best congo line! 

  The last night they also had a farewell show with one of the cruise director staff as host.  He performed some magic, the lead singers from the Atrium band performed and then the Jersey Boys tribute group came out.  They were all very good.  Final act of the farewell show was performance from all the cruise director staff.  Very entertaining – but I don’t want to give details or it would spoil it for you.  We went to several trivia events and won twice.  First time was some NCL Frisbees and the second was a free bingo card(sadly it was not a winner!!).  On the last night they had the Quest which was entertaining (no spoilers).  The sorority friends travelling with us had never been to anything like it – and they enjoyed it.  We went to the casino a couple of times. I ended up donating $10.  My wife won about $20.  Large casino for this size of ship.  Not smoky at all. Good variety of slots.

Saturday we headed to Great Stirrup Key.  The weather was not cooperating at all.  Friday was rainy and Saturday wasn’t any different – rainy and cold.  My wife and I had room service coffee and fruit, went for a walk on the covered jogging track and then decided to wait to see if the weather would clear.  We went to the buffet for a “proper” breakfast which I found very good.  They had excellent eggs benedict along with all the other breakfast offerings you would want  fresh made waffles also).  We then decided to sit underneath the overhang in the Outdoor Café bar and see if the weather would improve.  It didn’t. So we decided to abandon going ashore and find chairs near the pool.  We had a couple of bloody mary’s (included in the bar package).  We tried the “Il ADiago” for lunch and it wasn’t memorable.   We thought this would be a sit down place but found a long wait for both pasta and pizza. The pizza was average.   I tried the pasta the last day and it was pretty good.  They had two sauces to choose from (mushroom and marinara) and either fettucine or penne..  Then you could have them add a variety of other items such as chopped onion, bacon, mushrooms and other veggies.    Because of the nasty, rainy weather they added a few more activities onboard in the afternoon.  We went to an impromptu karaoke session in the Outriggers Lounge.  Only two people singing (including me).  I really like the system them have setup.  You search for your song on a touch-screen device, enter your name and it gets you in the queue.  I liked it better than other karaoke where you have to search through large three ring binders and enter on paper. 

The regular lunch buffet was much better.  A lot of variety of sandwiches, burgers, hot items and a nice selection of cheeses.    I really liked the Great Outdoors Café near the back of the ship.  It had a streamlined version of the buffet where you could grab a quick snack while you were having a cocktail at the Great Outdoors Bar. 

Our last day was in Nassau and it didn’t rain!!  It was pretty cold though.  We got off the ship and took a walk down to Junkanoo Beach since we had heard a lot about it but never been. Quick fifteen minute walk and we were there.

 I guess because of the cold weather there was nothing happening there – not that we had any intention of swimming. All the little shacks for beach-related items were closed.    We walked back to downtown for a little while and found many shops closed – probably because it was Sunday.  Back to the ship we went for some lunch and cocktails.  Buffet again today which was delicious.

Overall, this was a great cruise which happened to have really terrible weather.     Beautiful ship which I hope to sail on again – really enjoyed all the venues and the food.    Ultimate Beverage package was a very good value for us.    If we added it up I am sure we each had drinks equal to or greater than the amount we paid.  But the main reason for getting it was achieved on the last day when I got a printout from guest services and we had no extra charges!!   I only hope that NCL makes it clearer what is included.  Written information would be helpful.