MITSUGIRLYS extensive extra Sky review

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

There was a guy that hand made these cute little things from soda and beer cans. My daughter bought a few of them as Christmas presents for the family. He had a really neat one that was shaped like a camera and you actually push the knob down and it moves and pops out. I debated buying it since I'm a camera enthusiast, but couldn't make up my mind. Kendra's bf ended up buying it instead.

 

 

We purchased a few magnets, something Sakari collects

 

 

 

[mickev99]

I can't understand why tour companies that depend on word of mouth to get business act the way this guy did. I have just crossed Paradise Cove off of my list, as I'm sure many others that are reading this (and will read in the future) have done as well. He just lost future business.

Edited December 23, 2014 by mickev99

[mitsugirly]

 

Sakari managed to talk us into buying her a wooden fish that moved back and forth. It has become one of her favorite toys since then and I consider it a good investment. She carries it everywhere and she's such an animal lover.

 

 

 

There was a small little red carpet welcome back party on the way back to the ship. Of course nothing like you get coming back from Cozumel.

 

 

The staff trying to talk Sakari into giving him the fish. She objected!

 

 

 

 

We were back on the ship at 4:15 and all aboard was 4:30pm. We were all hungry again and headed to the buffet. It was closed!!! Yikes. Ok, now what? We headed outside to the back of the ship and managed to find some food. There are 2 sides back there and I guess I didn't realize they had different food at each of them. After sitting down to eat, the kids came back with food I hadn't seen and food I wanted. I went back out and it was now closed. Just my luck.

 

We pulled out at exactly 5pm and on schedule. So much for the theory of the drunks on this cruise. No one was missing and no one came back late.

 

[mitsugirly]

As we sat and ate, we watched the Sky pulled out and go around the Gem.

 

 

 

 

She looked beautiful and I loved her hull art.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The water along the shore looked amazing and blue and crystal clear. You could see all of the rocks down in the water it was so clear.

 

[mitsugirly]

My pictures didn't turn out too bad for being taken through the glass window.

 

 

 

We noticed a beautiful stretch of beach along this side and we all agreed that we wished that we had went here today instead.

 

 

 

I wonder what place this is? Does anyone know?

 

The family eating under the smurf lights

 

 

 

 

 

Sakari wanted to head to the kids club after eating and it had been a full day with her...so we were ready for a break.

 

Off she went...fish in tow.

 

 

When she arrived, they told her she couldn't have her fish there. She immediately had a break down and started crying. They tried to explain to her that they didn't want anything to happen to it or another child to get a hold of it and break it. She didn't care and wasn't going to give up without a fight. She won. They agreed to let her keep the fish, but it had to be put in a "special" place so that no one could get to it. She was satisfied with that explanation and away she went.

[mitsugirly]

We headed up to the sports deck and the kids were playing a little basketball. We joined in and had a blast that night. It was quite comical. There's a lot of things that my hubby doesn't still know about me after all these years of marriage...one is that I can shoot basketball....and actually make it...actually from a lot of different angles to be exact. Needless to say, there's things I still don't know about him...like he can't shoot worth a crap and I would find this out tonight. lol

 

 

 

 

 

After wearing me out in b-ball, Kolins gf and I decided to do a little shopping.

 

 

 

We also decided to stop by the photo gallery to check out our pictures from the port earlier today.

 

Now isn't this just the greatest picture ever?

 

 

We have some construction and a dump truck in the background to remember our day in port. Awesome! What is with NCL's photographers? They are the worse! I think I should become senior manager of photography on the ships. All they had to do was turn us around to take the picture and we would have had the beautiful Sky as the backdrop in the picture. How hard is that? They seriously don't think.

 

Then we headed to the casino. I can't say I did too great on this cruise. I really didn't find "that" slot machine that I loved like I usually do on other ships. I was constantly changing around hoping to find one that was fun and kept me playing for awhile. I had brought $20 with me and my $37+ coupon from the night before...just in case I needed it. Well, I managed to loose it. It must have been one of the many times I pulled my key card out of my purse to hand to the hubby to go get a soda. Sigh*** Just my luck. But at least I walked away with around a $50 winning from my $20 investment. All was good. Could be better. But good enough.

 

 

 

 

Edited December 23, 2014 by mitsugirly

[mitsugirly]

We checked out the MDR to get a bite to eat again, but it was a no-go. So, we headed up to the non-24/7 bar for some wings. SCORE! They were open!

 

Yea, my family lives on being goofy...

 

 

The hubby follows suit of course

 

 

 

You never know what you'll get out of them.

 

I finally got my wings I was craving and some yummy fries to top it off with.

 

 

 

We looked like we were feeding an army at our table.

 

 

 

Now there's one thing that I didn't mention about the kids club on the Sky. They will give you beepers...that they can call you on and you can actually talk to them through this device, which hangs around your neck. A pretty cool item and I think all of the ships should have it. It would save a lot of trouble of calling every time you changed your location and free up a lot of time for the parents and the staff of answering calls.

 

At 9pm, the staff rang me on my new shiny necklace. They said that Sakari had gotten quiet all of a sudden and went and sat in the corner and wants to leave. They did not know what was wrong with her, but I can tell you when she gets quiet, someone has done something to her. Courtney decided she would head downstairs to pick her up and we could continue to eat. When she arrived, my grandson and his cousin had already left the place and went back to the room. I assumed maybe that was her problem. They left and she didn't. When she arrive at the restaurant, she was tearful and didn't want to talk about it. Then she busted out in tears and let us know that a boy there took a ?bowl? from her and she was upset about it. She didn't want to tell on him and just decided she would leave instead of getting him in trouble. SHE'S 6 YEARS OLD...what 6 year old doesn't tell on another child to get them in trouble? Unheard of. LOL She spared someone else and just shut down. Weird I know.

 

We bribed her with food and she was all better. We convinced her that it's ok to tell the "teacher" if something happens and we will still pick her up if she wants to leave. She was all better after that.

 

I was even nice enough to share my cheesecake with her.

 

 

When we were done eating, I noticed that the tee shirt and cap that I had just bought...one that I have to have on every cruise with the ships name on it, was missing. YIKES! I haven't seen it for awhile.

 

Me and Kolins gf went over with each other where all we had been after shopping before meeting up with the guys. THE BATHROOM!!! I left it hanging on the door in the bathroom down by the MDR that wasn't open at the time. We ran back to the bathroom and it was gone!! Sigh. I'm just not having much luck this cruise. At least it was an item that was replaceable.

 

I told her I was going in the MDR that maybe, just by chance, someone found it and turned it in. I GOT LUCKY. Someone had done just that. My faith is restored in this day and all is good in the world.

[mitsugirly]

We headed back to the room where I knew I would remain safe for the rest of the night. I couldn't risk any more screw ups and I was staying put.

 

We had a rabbit for a towel animal tonight and the room steward had used some of Sakari's animals in her creation that night too.

 

 

I noticed tonight that the water temperature went back and forth between hot and cold. It was very aggravating and I have only experience this on 1 other cruise and that was on the Epic back in 2010 when she was brand new. It would make for an interesting few days of hoping back and forth when it got cold and then back to hot.

 

All the glasses in the room were still dirty and they were the same glasses from the day before. I had only 2 towels tonight and 2 wash cloths. Earlier my daughter had left her beach towels and didn't realize it and I had picked them up for her and brought them back to the room. So, we basically had 5 beach towels. They were GONE and we only had a total of 2 beach towels. So now not only were we down a towel but my daughter was down 2 towels as well...and we were headed to the beach tomorrow.

 

I decided to get things ready for tomorrows adventures and Sakari decided to do some drawings.

 

It looks like a my little pony, but I'm not sure if that's what she was going for or if it's just something she created in her head.

 

 

 

Kendras bf was "stuck" at the casino (he plays cards) and she found out he had entered himself in the tournament....which meant he would be out all night and either win big or lose a lot of money. The following day...we would learn that he lost about 2 grand that night. (He's a big gambler and wins a lot and loses a lot...he's always at the casino here in town, so yea, I'd venture to say he has a gambling problem). Just saying...

 

Off to bed we went with a wake up call scheduled for 7am tomorrow. We had decided we were going to Melia in Nassau and since it's not an actual excursion, but a place you just show up to, we weren't on any time restraints for getting there, but yet didn't want to waste the day and money do so. Yea, we'll sleep in until...7am. :D

 

 

[mitsugirly]

Thank you so much for taking the time and trouble to do these reviews. You're awesome for sharing so much. :D

 

My DH did this cruise twice this year, in April and in October. He said it wasn't very crowded so I guess it varies.

 

I have to tell you that not only is Sakari beautiful, her artwork is amazing! I was still trying to keep inside the lines of coloring books with crayons at her age. I'll bet you have a future artist/designer on your hands. Jewelry designer, perhaps? ;):)

 

I'm glad that you didn't have a crowded cruise. You know, I came back and spoke to another person on our roll call that stated that they didn't feel like the ship was very crowded and loved it. I don't know...it certainly felt super crowded to me. Or maybe it was that I just got off the Sun and it was NEVER crowded anywhere you went. We waited in lines for everything...very long lines. Sometimes it was standing room only. You couldn't find places to sit. To me, it was just terrible.

 

Thank you for your comments on Sakari. I think she's pretty amazing with her drawings as well and she just keeps getting better and better. I swear she gets it from me and I was the same way growing up. I loved to draw, maybe not doing as well as she does, but I developed my skills as I grew up. However, I think the last time I actually did a drawing, I did a portrait of myself for a friend that requested it. It turned out pretty good. I was in my 20's and that was actually the last time I ever picked up a pencil to draw. I swore when I was little I was going to grow up to be an artist. If you ask what I wanted to be...I would always reply "I'm going to be an artist when I grow up". I guess things don't always work out that way.

 

That excursion sounds like a trip to hell and back. Lol. Loving your review!

 

I know a lot of people on here seem to like the place. It was pretty. Not beautiful, but pretty enough to spend a day here. But, the people there just were not "pretty" and I didn't appreciate the treatment from the very beginning which put a sour taste in my mouth. I try to see the best in everything we do, even if it's not the best. This just didn't have very many "best" in it. :(

[hpecorari]

Didn't that include transportation? You paid for it, right? Therefore, everyone should have had their own seat....for which you paid for. Besides that.....if only for safety reasons each person should have their own seat. I don't understand that if the bus holds 28 people and 28 people paid then there should be a seat for each paying customer!

 

I'm wondering - was this an NCL excursion? And if it is I'm wondering if they are aware of the 'seating arraignments for that that paid. NCL does, after all, get a nice cut for each excursion booked through them.

 

Also, they should be made aware of the attitude of the people there.

 

That's must my opinion, of course :)

 

Harriet

[mitsugirly]

I can't understand why tour companies that depend on word of mouth to get business act the way this guy did. I have just crossed Paradise Cove off of my list, as I'm sure many others that are reading this (and will read in the future) have done as well. He just lost future business.

 

 

It is never, ever my intent on discouraging people to go anywhere (or to go somewhere) based on my reviews only. I can only say to research the place, see if you like what you see, and what multiple other people say about it. One persons experiences may not be another persons experiences. One thing I have learned during my years of cruising is that 2 families can be at the same place on the same day and have 2 totally different perspectives and experiences...on the opposite side of the spectrum.

 

I never base my decision to go somewhere from what another person tells me. I do a lot of research before picking it. I have been to places that people boast about and go there every time they are in port and highly recommend it...I go there and it's just not the place for me. It goes the other way around too. You never know what you'll get unless you try it out yourself. That's all I can say. :)

 

I am an open and honest person only reporting MY experiences for that day. I tell it how I see it. I don't alter the truth to make things better, I don't alter the truth to make things worse. I tell it the way it happened...good or bad. That's just me. :)

[mitsugirly]

Didn't that include transportation? You paid for it, right? Therefore, everyone should have had their own seat....for which you paid for. Besides that.....if only for safety reasons each person should have their own seat. I don't understand that if the bus holds 28 people and 28 people paid then there should be a seat for each paying customer!

 

I'm wondering - was this an NCL excursion? And if it is I'm wondering if they are aware of the 'seating arraignments for that that paid. NCL does, after all, get a nice cut for each excursion booked through them.

 

Also, they should be made aware of the attitude of the people there.

 

That's must my opinion, of course :)

 

Harriet

 

Yes, our price included transportation.

 

No, this is not a NCL excursion. This is a private excursion with the place directly. You book with them online and pay when you get there.

 

The problem is/was that people that are visiting and staying on the island also come her during the day. That's why there were 4 other people there needing a ride to be dropped off at the hotel. So they book with people on the cruise line and also from the surrounding hotels. That was the reason there were extra people.

[mitsugirly]

So my final thoughts on Paradise Cove/Dead Mans Reef.

 

As you all can probably tell, this just wasn't the place for us. It did not live up to what I thought it would be. It kinda sucked that this was our first visit to this island and we ended up at a "not so great" excursion.

 

The beach itself was ok. It was pretty. It wasn't anything I would call "beautiful and breath taking". It was ok.

 

The water was the worse with it being VERY hard to enter the water no matter where you were at. The shoreline is nothing but slippery rocks and does not make for a good place to swim or for little ones to play in the water. So I would call this a not-so-family-friendly place to call a beach day.

 

The biggest draw to this place was to be the snorkeling. Which, IMO it wasn't great. We thought the fake "reef balls" were hideous and actually a hinder to trying to snorkel. While I'm sure they serve a purpose for the sea life, it serves no purpose for the snorkelers and any sea life is hidden down inside of there I'm sure...nothing for you to see. The placement of these without several entrances and exits is just the worse IMO.

 

The reef, it just wasn't what I expected and not what I call a "good" reef. The swim is also exhausting...especially if there are waves like there was with us.

 

I have to mention the snorkeling equipment that you rent. They are the cheapest of the cheap. The snorkels are just a plain pipe with no valves in them. Expect to get a mouthful of water with them. Also, several of ours had duct tape around them...obviously holding some cracked ones together. Just not good equipment.

 

The food was decent and the price of the food was decent...along with the drinks (soda).

 

I don't know if they always have a bee problem, but it was annoying and you didn't dare set your soda down for one minute. You were swarmed the entire time, even if you had a soda in your hand that was covered. They didn't think twice about landing on your hand either.

 

The staff...well, they are probably the absolute rude and nastiest staff I have ever encountered on an excursion or at any establishment that I have done while in port. By far!

 

The seating situation on the bus...just unacceptable.

 

Paradise Cove...far from anything that looked like paradise to me.

 

Dead Man Reef-yea probably because there doesn't seem to be much reef around so maybe it died.

 

Now as I have told others...this is only my experience. That's all I can comment on. Others may go here and love the place. They may have no issues. They may not have the staff yelling at them. They may like the reef. They may think it's beautiful. This is just my opinion and mine only.

 

I do NOT do my reviews to encourage people to go there or discourage them to go there. I simply report my experience. I always suggest that you do your own research. Get multiple opinions. Look at multiple pictures and then decide on your own if it's the type of place, putting all the bad things aside that you may have heard or read, and figure out if it's the place you would like to go to. The one thing I have learned in all my years of cruising, everyone has a different opinion of things and places. Two families can go there on the same day and have two totally different experiences...on the opposite side of the spectrum. This could be the case if you decide to go here. Just take everything into consideration when you decide.

 

Just my opinion, I would personally never go here again. End of story. Moving on to another place if we ever return. :D

 

Oh wait, second opinion, if you ever do go here, please steal and smash the megaphone. I will love you forever. :p

[Medtech2]

Freeport has got to be my least favorite port, ever.

 

If you want to see and swim with sea turtles try to snorkel Buck Island while in St. Thomas. I got some really good video there.

 

We went on this excursion (my review) http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147404-d1218364-r234806148-Captain_Nautica_Screamin_Eagle_Mini_Boat_Adventures_Private_Tours-St_Thomas_U_S_.html#REVIEWS

[Medtech2]

Also, I know this place is a manmade environment but you are literally surrounded by fish and rays. It is located in Orlando if you are ever going to be there you might want to check it out. Very kid friendly--Sakari would love it!

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34515-d110173-r133637551-Discovery_Cove-Orlando_Florida.html#REVIEWS

[thedoc29ca]

I would highly recommend making the trek to Gold Rock Beach when in Freeport. It was a bit of drive to get there but it was quiet and not very busy.

[allie3490]

Always enjoy your reviews. And love your family! You guys seem like such a fun free spirited bunch. Would love to cruise with you one day. :)

[mitsugirly]

Freeport has got to be my least favorite port, ever.

 

If you want to see and swim with sea turtles try to snorkel Buck Island while in St. Thomas. I got some really good video there.

 

We went on this excursion (my review) http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g147404-d1218364-r234806148-Captain_Nautica_Screamin_Eagle_Mini_Boat_Adventures_Private_Tours-St_Thomas_U_S_.html#REVIEWS

 

Thanks for the link. It looks like a fun time. I'll have to check into it next time we go back. :)

 

Also, I know this place is a manmade environment but you are literally surrounded by fish and rays. It is located in Orlando if you are ever going to be there you might want to check it out. Very kid friendly--Sakari would love it!

 

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g34515-d110173-r133637551-Discovery_Cove-Orlando_Florida.html#REVIEWS

 

That looks like a lot of fun! I know Sakari would love it. I'm just not sure when/if we'll take a land vacation. It's been many years now since we are so hooked on cruising instead. :p

[mitsugirly]

You might also consider writing a review on the excursion on Tripadvisor or Yelp. That should steer some people away from the place...and the megaphone.

 

Yep, I always do write reviews on every place we go. No worries. :)

 

I would highly recommend making the trek to Gold Rock Beach when in Freeport. It was a bit of drive to get there but it was quiet and not very busy.

 

I inquired about it after finding out about the place and seeing pictures. It just looked absolutely beautiful. However, everyone said with a day in port on a cruise ship, it was next to impossible to have enough time to do it. :confused:

[mitsugirly]

Always enjoy your reviews. And love your family! You guys seem like such a fun free spirited bunch. Would love to cruise with you one day. :)

 

 

Aww, thanks so much. We try to make the best of everything we do, even when it goes wrong....it's still better than being at home or work. :D

[mitsugirly]

Day 3. The port at Nassau.

 

Like always, I'm sure you can guess...alarm set for 7 and woke up at 6:50am. I see that as an improvement...I got an extra 5 minutes of sleep than I normally do. I'm making progress.

 

 

 

 

Upstairs I went to check on the weather. Hmmm, it was kinda chilly outside and very windy. YIKES! I knew right then and there it was going to be an "iffy" day for us.

 

We were passing by the lighthouse at the time I made it up on deck. I hurried downstairs to wake the family. We headed upstairs to the buffet area and called the rest of the family to meet us up there. According to Kendra, her bf was out most of the night playing in the tournament and just refused to get up.

 

The buffet had the same food as always and the runny eggs that I have now learn to hate even more.

 

After breakfast I headed up 1 deck to get some pictures of us in port.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[mitsugirly]

We headed back to the room to get our things. I really don't know when they cleared the ship. They never gave us the "go ahead" to get off, but I started seeing people on the dock around 8:20am.

 

Kendra needed to make a decision...is she going without her bf today or was she staying back on the ship. She finally decided that she would come with us.

 

We got off the ship and had the normal NCL port photos done.

 

 

 

We were in port with Royals Enchantment of the Seas, the Carnival Dream (or who I like to call "glitzy") was pulling in and the Ecstasy would pull in later in the day. Busy port day for us I guess.

 

We went back and forth with whether or not we wanted to head out of port and go to Melia. It was rather chilly and sometimes looked cloudy and like it might rain. We weighed all of our options. Staying on the ship...we would do what? Pretty much nothing but eat and wonder around. It was a little too cold for swimming in the pool. If we went, the weather might get better and hey, at least it was something to do. Kendra struggled with...but if it don't get nicer out, we just wasted a bunch of money to get here. My argument was that it was money that we had already budgeted for the day, so not like we were spending money we didn't have.

 

We had decided to head to Melia Resort this time around. Last time we went to Blue Lagoon and had a wonderful time. We had talked about just going back there again this time. Nassau is not really one of those ports I look forward to doing. But if you are there, ya just gotta find something worth doing. I left it up to the kids to pick if they wanted to go back to the same place or try the new place I had found out. They chose Melia.

 

Now I knew that there was going to be a bit of a walk after exiting the port. We had decided to take the jitney (local bus) there since everyone made it sound so easy and it was CHEAP compared to a taxi.

 

Taxi's were everywhere hounding you to get in the car with them and of course we kept walking. I have to say, there has been so much publicity in the news, online and such about Nassau being a really crime filled area and with all of the deaths lately, I was just a tad bit nervous. (Yes, I know this happens anywhere and especially in the US). But in another country and one you don't live in, it just sometimes makes the matter even worse while thoughts race through your head about it.

 

I can say that walking down the street we were on felt a little "iffy" to me. We actually didn't go down the main front street and then cut over. We cut over first and then headed down the street. Maybe that was our first mistake.

 

We managed to walk right past the bus stop, not knowing and had to turn around after asking someone where (naming the street name) was and they pointed back.

 

The bus was already there and waiting by the time we made it over there. The traffic was a little crazy and with 3 kids with us, it made me feel uncomfortable.

 

We got on the bus and I ask the driver if it was going to Melia (I had already done my research and knew that bus #10 went by there, but figured if I ask about it, he would let us know when we were by it and stop...since I had no idea where it was or what it looked like from the bus stop to tell him we wanted off). He shook his head and we all piled in.

 

 

 

The bus was old and ragged, but kinda what I had expected. It was an interesting ride there. My son is really into cars and especially Skylines and he spotted so many of them along the way and was snapping tons of pictures. He swears some day he'll buy one and have it shipped over.

 

Melia was about a 20 minute ride there, with the stops of letting people on and off of the jitney.

 

The weather was just not looking promising at the moment. I was starting to doubt our decision to go and knew that since I had found this place, if it didn't go over well, I would pretty much take the blame for it...if if I couldn't control the weather.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We arrived and went to the service desk to check in. The staff gave us the price, told us there were absolutely no refunds under any circumstance, put our wrist bands on after we paid them, and all without a blink of an eye or a crack of a smile.

 

[hlb76]

I have to take a moment to comment on your day in Freeport. We did the same excursion a few years back. I also went hoping for the great snorkeling I had heard about. Luckily we had no issues with the transportation or the bus rides. Though Check in and the ticket system was not to my liking.

 

I agree about the "snorkle Speech". The guy on the mega phone was horrible all day. You cant walk there. Dont swim there.. on and on. We did not manage to see much that day at all. It was cold outside the water and worse inside. The wind was horrible and the waves where a force to be reconed with. I spent most of the day on the beach shivering wrapped in my beach towel.

 

We where ready to go long before our return time! My hubby made the best of it an enjoyed a few to many beers waiting.

 

We did enjoy the food (as much as you can at these types of places), I had some very good conch fritters. I dont recall the bees being a issue. We had major issues with little biting something - sand fleas maybe- they where horrible up by the pavillion. I had read about this so I brough spray and it did help. The hubby did not want to wear it so he was polka dot the rest of the trip and they itched so bad. I did not see you mention them so maybe they have resolved that issue??

 

I dont see us going back either.