Would you like to share your experiences on Norwegian Sky or Norwegian Pearl?

[rycruise]

I have never taken a cruise trip before and I will bring my (almost) 2-year old daughter with me on my first trip.

I read some reviews. It seems that quite a few people complained about NCL’s food and service. Before I decide which one to take, I ‘d like to ask your experiences about the food (variety, waiting time, extra cost, etc) and service, activities, infant care on Norwegian Sky or Norwegian Pearl.

Many thanks for any suggestions and advice!

[david_sobe]

Both are nice ships but very different.

Sky is older, smaller, but very very affordable. The Pearl is a big upgrade from the Sky. It would depend on what you like to cruise to or what is imporant to you. You can have a great cruise on either ship. One great thing about the Sky is that the suites are very affordable compared to the Pearl.

There will be a big price difference for both ships. So decide what is important for you. The Sky does 3-4 night cruises while the Pearl usually does 5-7 night cruises.

The food and service on both ships is excellent

[JerseyGem]

And welcome to the wonderful world of cruising! Either ship would be great. However, I suggest the Sky only because it's not as large (to call any of these ships "small" would be misleading) and therefore would be easier to negotiate (and learn where everything is located).

 

Food and service should be similar for either ship (NCL has a fleet-wide menu). Choose by itinerary, price, convenience of getting to the dock, etc.

 

Have a wonderful cruise- once you decide, join your Roll Call too.

[jswdlw]

I hated the Sky. I had just come off another cruise (Norwegian Dawn) and took a b2b on Sky. I hated the ship due to its size and the rooms. The Sky is older than the Pearl and its evident. The rooms had a much smaller bathroom and the ship was originally not designed for the free style atmosphere. On the good side the Cruise Director, Mark, was awesome and NCL rewarded him with moving him to the Dawn. Another good point was the night time show was awesome. For those who are new to cruising this ship might fit the bill and the size makes it where you won't get lost.

 

This year the Pearl had a short weekend to the private island so we took the chance to see what the Pearl was all about. I enjoyed it much better. Food and customer service was up to par. And I enjoyed my balcony. It seemed that the Pearl had a more diverse group of sailers. Just the right amount of kids and they all were happy enough to stay in their own pool.

[newmexicoNita]

I have never taken a cruise trip before and I will bring my (almost) 2-year old daughter with me on my first trip.

I read some reviews. It seems that quite a few people complained about NCL’s food and service. Before I decide which one to take, I ‘d like to ask your experiences about the food (variety, waiting time, extra cost, etc) and service, activities, infant care on Norwegian Sky or Norwegian Pearl.

Many thanks for any suggestions and advice!

 

I have been on both, but I was on the Sky too long ago to even give an opinion as it has apparently changed a great deal. The Pearl is one of the nicest ships we have sailed and we have cruised over 25 times. As for infant care, unfortunately it doesn't make much difference which line you choose, or which ships, child care for little ones under 2 is almost non existant. They do have mommy/baby play areas, but they do not have child care for kids that young. Also toddlers not completely potty trained are not allowed in any pools. Some people take blow up small pools for the little ones. The crew will help fill and empty them for you.

 

Food is just fine, is it 5 star or even 4 star, most of the time, no, but it is very good and certainly better than cooking at home. In the main dining rooms, as well as specials each night they offer chicken breast, salmon, steak and pork each night. We never have trouble finding something we can enjoy.

 

The advantage of the Sky is it is smaller and the cruises are shorter, the advantage of the Pearl, you will get a better feel for what cruising is like on a little longer cruise. You will need to decide based on what you want and your budget.

 

Nita

[Gatorj]

I have never taken a cruise trip before and I will bring my (almost) 2-year old daughter with me on my first trip.

 

I read some reviews. It seems that quite a few people complained about NCL’s food and service. Before I decide which one to take, I ‘d like to ask your experiences about the food (variety, waiting time, extra cost, etc) and service, activities, infant care on Norwegian Sky or Norwegian Pearl.

 

Many thanks for any suggestions and advice!

 

 

Read my review located here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1298695

 

LOTS of info on the dining situation.

[BIG_Steve]

I have never taken a cruise trip before and I will bring my (almost) 2-year old daughter with me on my first trip.

 

I read some reviews. It seems that quite a few people complained about NCL’s food and service. Before I decide which one to take, I ‘d like to ask your experiences about the food (variety, waiting time, extra cost, etc) and service, activities, infant care on Norwegian Sky or Norwegian Pearl.

 

Many thanks for any suggestions and advice!

 

On the SKY, we found the buffet to be not very good.... Not awful, but we didn't like it. The Main dining rooms on the SKY had acceptable food quality. We went to Cagneys and Le Bistro and both were outstanding. It's our habit to eat early 5~6pm, and we had no lines anywhere.

 

On the Pearl, we found the buffet to be pretty good, and the MDR's were very good also. We went to the Italian and Mexican restaurants, and didn't care much for either. We went to the Janaese steak house also. It was better then the other two, but pretty ho-hum compared to land based Japanese steak houses. No lines anywhere.

 

We found service on both ships to be great. Can't help with childcare questions...........

[rycruise]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and opinions!!

I like the Sky itinerary better, but seem to like the Pearl ship better (after reading all the reviews).…

[rycruise]

Read my review located here: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1298695

 

LOTS of info on the dining situation.

 

 

Thanks for sharing all the info...very very helpful!!

[B40 Tha Cruisa]

I was on the Sky last year and had a phenominal time. I thought the ship was great!

I have been on plenty of cruises on NCL and Princess. I have sailed on some of the newest Princess ships and the NCL Sky and Star so far. I was hesitant because I had never cruised less than 7 days, and had never been on NCL. The Sky was a beautiful ship and I was pleasantly suprised with NCL... as you can see, I have booked another cruise for December on the NCL Dawn.

[HORDOSR]

Thanks for sharing all the info...very very helpful!!

 

hey ry, am also 'in the same boat' regarding the almost 2 year old, i think we are going with the sky on jan 25th, just got to bite the bullet...but would also like to know the babysitting service/kid stuff on there for one that young

[michigan tim]

I was on both in '09. We enjoyed both very much for different reasons. The Pearl because it is larger and modern and the Sky because it is comparatively intimate/quaint. Food was good on both with the Pearl having by far the finest buffet I've experienced at sea (10 cruises on 5 lines). Really like the CD on the Sky... forget his name, but he was a Brit (Aussie?) who really tore up the harmonica!

[BIG_Steve]

Thank you all for sharing your experiences and opinions!!

I like the Sky itinerary better, but seem to like the Pearl ship better (after reading all the reviews).…

 

 

 

So which did you choose?

 

Tim..... The CD you're talking about is Matt Baker. He's off the SKY, on the Dawn now, I believe. Amazing guy who could be in 3 places at once......

[timeforadaiquiri]

I appreciate all this shared information. I loved the Sky and will be sailing the Pearl in March. Looking forward to seeing this great ship.

[hawaiilvr]

We had a great time on the Sky. We found the ship to be intimate and at times it almost seemed like we were on the ship alone. We never waiting for a table in the MDR (we ate in both, as well as Cagney's). We though the Sky was older, but when it was docked in Nassau next to two very old RCCL and three very old Carnival ships, it glistened like a new penny. We lost some money in the casino, ate too much, spent too much in Nassau, stayed up too late, monopolized the soft serve machine, and spent a lot of time topside just looking out over the ocean in a totally relaxed state. It must have been a good vacation!

[victoriasmommy]

We cruised for the first time on the Sky.

Myself and SO and DD who is 3.

SO didn't think that we could have stuck on a ship so we tried the 3 nighter.

We just took it slow & had a great time.

 

The buffet was rather crowded upon embarkation. Should have done the sit down restaurant. Hung out near a live band with nice music playing and DD chased the disco flowers being projected on the floor.

 

The staff was great to DD. One night a waiter made her a frog outta her menu. We found the free food to be very good. I warned SO that it might not be the best in advance and just to expect average (my parents cruise carnival and said it wasnt that great) but everything was very good. portions perfect so you had room for dessert. We did eat at Le Bistro (it was my 24th birthday) and found it excellent as well but in my opinion not really necessary as the main dining room was so good, but they don't have swordfish in the MDR of course. In MDR there are window seats that DD a little girl she met sat happily & quietly on staring out at nassau harbour.

 

There were "free play" activities available for the under 2's for example face painting or just access to the room filled with toys. Course you have to accompany them until they are 3. (btw DD was 3 & extra shy & I didn't think she would stay with strangers... but she told me she went on a pirate parade to find a treasure and didnt need her mommy!)

 

There was a kiddie pool at the front of the ship with waist high water and a waterfall. And a hot tub so you could relax and watch the kiddies play. There were never more than 3-4 kids there (in June) and DD had a great time playing with her new friends.

 

Entertainment. The first show is called Soul Rockin Nights. Its just a variety of music. DD enjoyed watching the cowboys dance, and the "dancing queen". You could try it... The other 2 nights are magic and comedy.

 

There was a small library with a shelf or two of kids books but DD enjoyed going there all the same.

 

I would highly recommend the Atlantis excursion. They have a raging river.. but a lazy river that is fab and shaded for hours of fun. and a cool kids watership and mini waterslide (DD sat in my lap it was only a a few metres long and very slight). plus the sharks/jelylfish/manta rays etc...

dolphins cost LOTS extra.

[rednose83]

There is no sitter service for children less than two years old. Sky does have a small splash pool and an under two zoo that you can take your daughter to (in the am).

 

The service on Sky was roughly the same as all other cruise ships I've been on. Room gets cleaned 2x per day and the take your order at dinner/lunch in the MDR.

 

I'm not a big fan of cruise food (on any ship/line) so I'll leave that to someone else. There are items that you can feed toddlers like mac and cheese, mashed potatoes, chicken fingers, and similar. We brought our own juice/water for the 18 month old. Milk is available at the buffet.

 

Our cabin steward offered a portable crib for the baby but we choose to push the couch against the bed for a makeshift crib.

 

I've never been on the Pearl.

[jdvmd]

Been on both ships and loved them both.