bonnie voyage

For those of you who stayed at the Best Western Seabrook did you go to the Johnson Space Center or know anyone who did while staying at this hotel? We have stayed at Best Western Plus at other port cities and enjoyed the stay we may continue with what works. However since we are flying in and will not have a car shuttle/taxi service will be our mode of transportation.

We stayed at the BW Plus prior to our 3 /28 sailing. The hotel is fine for a night or two; breakfast is okay. if you are looking to save money this is the place to be. That being said, there isn't anything within walking distance besides the subway sandwich shop and gas station.

The shuttle was the main attraction for us, but we ended up renting a car from enterprise. Glad we did as it provided us with much more flexibility, and we didn't have to depend on the shuttle. if I were to sail out of Bayport again. I would likely stay a few miles up the road in Clear Lake. Nicer hotels with lots of restaurant options nearby.

It is important to note that we stayed for 2 nights and were travelling with an 8 year old, so we did a lot of activities....Space Center, Kemah Boardwalk, Aquarium, and Childrens Museum. if you have only the space center planned the shuttle would probably work well for you. Enjoy your cruise!

My PCC prefers a phone call. Says she checks e-mail only periodically.

We love aft balcony staterooms. Never had a soot problem and the sound of the engines is a minor inconvenience to us. We are sailing the Jewel this Saturday in our first midship balcony cabin; I am a bit nervous about whether we will like midship. That being said, we will enjoy the cruise no matter how we like the location of our cabin!

We tip extra for good service MDR, bars, speciality restaurants, room steward.

We enjoy land-based vacations so will plan to cruise only once a year. However we won't retire until 2017....the countdown has begun

I was able to make a promo change after making our final payment. Originally I had selected OBC, but then my spouse pointed out that the UBP would be a far better deal. Sent an e-mail to our personal cruise consultant, and she made the change. Even though we were 59 days from sailing, it was no problem at all. I did request an amenity confirmation/receipt just in case. Oh, and I did not have to cancel and rebook. Good luck.

Our very first cruise on the Sky was out of San Juan. We've been waiting for NCL to sail out of this port, and are booked for 11/6/16.

My understanding was that it is half price - $12.50 - for a child under 12. Our grandson will definitely want to eat the hibachi items too.

Love the Sky. Dislike the current itinerary

We use QLS. Extremely professional and reliable

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.

Bonnie, which post did you have? Or contact info for Jermaine?

 

Thanks for any info!

Here is the link to his website - check him out on Tripadvisor too. Yes there are many individuals that will share tidbits of history at the forts and staircase, but Jermaine has a ton of in-depth knowledge about the history of the island, its people, and historic sites

http://jermainestaxiandtours.com/

I just posted this in response to another Nassau question....Jermaine will take you anywhere you'd like.

We did an island tour with Jermaine. The tour was very informative, and we hit all the points of interest....forts, Queens Staircase, Government buildings, churches, and monuments. The tour lasted for about 2.5 hours; Jermaine is very personable and shares his knowledge of the history of the island, its people, government and agriculture. Admission to the forts is included in the cost, which was $36.00 per person. he will also take you to the beaches, Atlantis, and through some of the various neighborhoods in Nassau- just to take a peak at them. Very enjoyable and educational tour.

Don't know your budget, but we did an island tour with Jermaine. The tour was very informative, and we hit all the points of interest....forts, Queens Staircase, Government buildings, churches, and monuments. The tour lasted for about 2.5 hours; Jermaine is very personable and shares his knowledge of the history of the island, its people, government and agriculture. Admission to the forts is included in the cost, which was $36.00 per person. he will also take you to the beaches, Atlantis, and through some of the various neighborhoods in Nassau- just to take a peak at them. Very enjoyable and educational tour.

Yes, we have always done this. Also tip at the end of the cruise.

We booked our March 2015 cruise in April 2013! Now that's way far out, but we like to choose our cabin and we like the additional points (trying to reach platinum).

Le Bistro's mushroom soup is so yummy - I love it!

At Cagney's I usually get the Lobster - I think there is an upcharge for it, but heck, I'm on vacation so I like to splurge a little

We really enjoy the Italian restaurant too. Neither my husband or I cared much for the Brazilian restaurant - Moderno.

We also like the coffee in specialty restaurants - pressed

Cannot wait to sail on the Sky in three weeks :)

When we cruised last on the Pearl the concierge was Monica....she was great!

Thanks for the review..glad you had a wonderful time! Did you carry your bags off the ship and how long did it take you to debark? Six of us are sailing in April and I am debating on whether to do the easy off route because we are flying out of FLL rather than MIA

I am so looking forward to your review. Our first cruise ever was on the Sky - sailed out of San Juan, PR. We absolutely we loved it (been hooked since then). We'll be sailing again on her 4/7/14. Cannot wait!!

What dates are considered Spring break by NCL? Our group of six is trying to determine if the UBP will be available on our Sky cruise sailing on April 7. I've attempted t search, but can't seem to find a concrete answer.

We always take a stack of dollar bills with us when we cruise, specifically for the purpose of tipping bartenders, and wait staff. We've found that tipping an extra dollar or two is appreciated by staff and also gets us exceptional service.

Congrats and hope it pays off big time!!

Cannot take credit for the pics and information.....those are Gambee's, another helpful CC member.

Frankly I've never tried to spot the newbies, just never occurred to me. But then, I am always excited to board and explore the ship. Love, love, love to cruise. oh and I stll get sea sick at times too, so you just might see me wearing one of those patches too :)