4 day Sky ... With kids! Owner's suite 8201. Pictures!

[Starflyr3]

GSC day!

 

So, yes, the anchor noise is VERY loud in the owners suite. DH woke up, but luckily the kids slept (they were TIRED).

 

I had a spa appt (hot stone) at 0800, so I got up and took a shower. Then off to the spa. Except that I was still really tired, and I got turned around somehow, and I ended up in Il Adagio. I guess that's a "secret breakfast" place, because it was open with an omelette station and a small fruit buffet set up.

 

Then I found my way back to the spa.

 

Hot stone was good, then I went to the room, collected the kid to go to the concierge meeting spot for priority tendering, and sent DH to his spa appt.

 

C had a meltdown on the way and I literally had to carry her onto the tender, then had another on the walk to the cabana, so one of the guides gave her a piggy back ride. Thank goodness, because I was lugging 2 almost full bottles of alcohol! (We had asked and were told it was fine to take it on the island with us. We wouldnt be able to take it off at Miami, since 2 bottles werent full and sealed). I did tip that nice man who did the ride for C, he deserved it!!!

 

Why do kids get so pissy on vacation??!

 

The cabana was nice. Lots of space, lots of food (I ordered everything in the menu, since I had invited our friends to share it with us)

 

View from the cabana #4:

 

The cabana itself:

 

 

Mass quantities of food (I felt like the coneheads):

 

 

 

 

I took the kids out in the water just a little bit, and while we were basically wading (waist deep), we say 2 stingrays and fish that were so pale, you could barely see them against the white sand. On land, we also saw several geckos, iguanas, and centipedes.

[Starflyr3]

Our friends never showed up, so we did our level best to eat the food we had ordered. It was all good, except for the meat platter (IMHO). The kids actually ate most of it, and DH ate the lobster tails and salad.

 

Then I went to the snorkel hut and got B and I snorkel gear. Not fate of the fancy, just to snorkel around the beach by the cabanas.

 

First I went off by myself, since B was tired (and playing his ipad). I looked all over the place, and saw a BUNCH of jellyfish (comb jellies, apparantly, which dont sting, which is good, because there was NO avoiding them)

 

Off to the right side, there were several big stones in the water that had a TON of fish and some coral. We saw purple comb coral, brain coral, coral that looked like fingers...

 

There were some stones kind of to the right, and they had a TON of fish around them. Holy mackaroli! I took BMG out the 2nd time and we saw grouper, Dory (blue tang), zebras fish, angelfish... I don't even know what half of them were. Oh, and 2 more stingrays. That was cool.

 

I didnt bring my underwater camera, and I really wish I had.

 

DH and Cassie played in the shallow water and chased stingrays over there. There always seemed to be a fish swimming above each stingray. One of them even got stung! it was strange.

 

We packed up around 2:30 and headed for the tender. Unfortunately, it started pouring in line (and the whole way back!). We actually got on the Norway II, which is one of the tenders from the S/S Norway. Interestingtly enough, last time we were at GSC was ON the Norway, 14 years ago. So we used those tenders last time too!

 

We came back to yet another feast (pb&j, tuna salad, and grilled cheese sandwiches, strawberry and kiwi tarts, a cheese plate and a cookie plate. After all the swimming, we were hungry again (?!?!) especially the kids.

 

I had taken 2 of the 3 bottles of alcohols to GSC, and they were both still 3/4 full when we were packing up. I left a $20 tip and held it down with the bottles - I hope a crew member has a fun party (or something!). That last one was untouched (Bacardi white rum), and I left it behind. I dont really like white rum. To be honest, with the Sky being open bar, I dont see the point of the 3 bottles of liquor for the owner's suite. Maybe others who do more parties in the room have more use for it.

 

I called Leo about printing our boarding passes for the next day and he sent Cyril along with them. I guess the airport bombing in Turkey has made security procedures more stringent again, and they were recommending getting to the airport quite a bit early. Our flight time had also changed to 11:05 from 11:45. YIKES!

 

Went to Bingo and DH won $183 on the first round! No free cruise, though!

 

I stopped by guest services on the way to dinner and added tips for Cyril ($175) and Leo ($100). Was planning on $160/$80, but they were both really spectacular

 

Then to Palace for dinner. I decided to try the surf and turf to see how it is, now that it's an up charge.

 

 

It came out as shown, and something seemed wierd to me, but I couldnt figure it out. Until I took a bite, that is.

 

I do NOT recommend lobster with Bearnaise sauce. YUCK! I managed to catch the server's eye and she brought some drawn butter along (though it did take awhile). Dh had the same thing. The kids had their usual, but this time, they got served ketchup out of a gravy boat. Talk about fancy!

 

Dessert was apple/pear compote with blueberry sherbert for me:

 

 

and Bananas Foster for DH:

 

 

The kids both had chocolate ice cream.

 

We headed for the room after this, as we had to finish packing and get some sleep!

 

Our last towel animal of this cruise:

 

[Starflyr3]

Loving your review.

 

Thanks!

 

Almost done!

[Starflyr3]

I was up super early the next day. The shuddering from docking woke me up (Im a very light sleeper). I got everybody else up and dressed, and started to finish up the last minute packing (wet stuff, toiletries, etc).

 

Cyril showed up with breakfast at 6:35, which was very welcome.

 

The kids refused to eat, so I shoved the 2 boxes of fruit loops in one of my carry on bags and left it at that.

 

We met Leo at Captain Cook's bar at 0715, and were led to the gangway (opposite the regular walk off crowd). That opened at about 7:30, and we were off. Since we carried all our own stuff off, it was very fast. No customs declarations, no issue.

 

We grabbed the Super Shuttle to MIA, and went to Terminal D (American) to check in. The Priority line was insane, both for checking bags AND to get through security. I think it was mostly due to being a holiday weekend.

 

We were at our gate by about 8:30, and boarding was 10:35. I went and bought gummies for C and gum for B, plus Starburst (for me) and some drinks for everybody, and we waited. Our plane was already at the gate when we arrived - and it was ENORMOUS.

 

at 10:35, we got called to board, and we got on. In this plane, first class was to the left of the entry door, and business and economy were to the right. That was kind of wierd, but oh well.

 

I knew it was a 777, but I didnt know which version of 777 it was.

 

OH MY GOSH is all I have to say. I was SO GLAD I spent the extra $300 (total) to upgrade all 4 of us from coach!

 

DH thought it was cool:

 

 

C was in front of me, and was a bit lost in her big seat:

 

 

The seats swiveled and could be laid flat to sleep, also. But if you didnt want a nap, you could make it comfortable with this simple little gizmo:

 

 

Each of us also had our own private screen:

 

 

and a controller that did triple duty as TV remote, phone and game controller:

 

 

This was about the most spoiled Ive EVER been ANYWHERE. There were 3 flight attendants for first class - all 16 of us - and 8 total flight attendants on the plane (I know this because they were 1 short and we were delayed until they found the 8th - someone volunteered).

 

Still had a warm towel, drinks, warm nuts, the same lunch as we had on the flight to Miami, and a warm chocolate chip cookie. That was perhaps the most relaxing 3 hours of the whole trip (for me!)

 

And of course, how else do you end a vacation than by passing out? (C has done this every year - at least this year she waited until we were in our own car, and didnt pass out at Cagneys on the last nigth like she did the last 2 cruises.)

 

Edited July 4, 2016 by Starflyr3

[Starflyr3]

So to recap:

 

The ship:

 

The ship itself was ok, but very limited in kid things to do, which was frustrating to us, especially since B hates Splash Academy. Understandable, though, since it's basically a booze cruise, and is in port every day. DH didnt like it as much as the Jewel class ships we've been on. The open bar was great. I had no issues at all with it.

 

The room:

 

The OS was amazing, and I want that balcony at my house. So, to recreate it, we got a blow up kid pool (about a 1-2 feet deep) and a shade for the back patio from Wal-Mart, and the kids play in that now. However, I wish there had been a way to block sound and light from the bedroom to the rest of the cabin. DH and I werent always ready for bed when the kids were, but kind of had to go, because talking and light kept them up.

 

Also, the music/noise that you could only hear while in bed was a bit annoying. And the docking quakes and the super loud anchor sounds early in the mornings.

 

Butler and Concierge:

 

Were AWESOME. Leo was as good as (or maybe slightly better than) Omar on the Jade. Cyril was by far and away the best butler we've had. It probably has something to do with the fact that Sky only has 16 suites, so there are many fewer people to attend to than on Jewel class ships.

 

Dining:

 

Well, Cagneys was always awesome for suite breakfast and lunch. For dinner, the MDR was fine, if a bit slow. The buffet SUCKED (not the food, the organization), and we only ever went there ONCE. Il Adagio reinforced our lack of desire to have italian on NCL ever again.

 

Kids stuff:

 

Not a lot to do outside of splash academy. There is a sort of hidden kids pool up at the bow on deck 12, that we found one day, nobody was there, and as far as I can tell, no one really knew it was there. There was 1 family activity per day, usually right at dinner time (6:15). One was balloon animals, one was cupcake decorating, and I forget what the 3rd was. I think it was actually ON GSC.

 

Pools:

 

Super chlorine-y smelling, and kind of murky. I took the kids once, but I was terrified the whole time, since drunk adults kept diving/falling/jumping into the family pool. We stuck to the suite hottub after that.

 

Ports/exursions:

 

Miami was the fastest embarkation ever. I gather this isnt usual.

 

Freeport: Seemed fine, though we really didnt do much there.

 

Nassau: The port was crowded, and I dont think I'd do a ship excursion again, it was CRAZY.

 

GSC: The cabana was AWESOME. Would definitely do again. Just order less food!

 

Debarkation: Was speedy, but we were suite and we carried off our own luggage, so...

 

All in all, Im glad we did it, but we probably wont do it again unless it's just adults.

 

Im looking forward to our next cruise on the Pearl in September. This time, just the 2 of us, as the kids will be in school.

 

if there's anything else that anybody wants to know, I'll keep checking back!

[tinkr2]

Nice review of food. Now I am really concerned about the Italian. Any pics of the ships pools.,and was there no entertainment?

[Starflyr3]

Nice review of food. Now I am really concerned about the Italian. Any pics of the ships pools.,and was there no entertainment?

 

I didn't take any pool pics, I'm sorry. You can google NCL Sky pool photos and it will show it pretty well. There are 4 hottubs in the middle, with the adult pool closest to the bar, and a family pool on the other side of the hottubs. 2 hottubs (by the adult pool) were adult only, the 2 by the family pool were family hottubs.

 

Up on 12, at the very front of the ship is a small (2 feet deep) kids pool with a waterfall and a kids hottub.

 

There are no slides on Sky.

 

Entertainment- there was some. It's port every day unless missing GSC, so it's not like they desperately needed a jam packed schedule.

 

We did not go to the welcome aboard show, we did go to Showdown (or showtime?). Which is kind of like a cheesy take on the finals of The Voice or American Idol. The singers were good, the songs were fun.

 

The next night was the comedian, which I think I covered. We did not go to the show the last night. We went to Bingo on the last day, and won $183.

 

We didn't really have a chance to sit in lounges/listen to the live music, or bar hop due to having the kids (hence why I wanted more activities for families with kids that wasn't splash academy).

 

As for the Italian... Food is always subjective, I just don't seem to like how NCL does Italian.

Edited July 4, 2016 by Starflyr3

[NancyL2]

Fabulous review ~ And I can't wait to meet you on the Pearl this September. :)

[Leavethekidswithmom]

Can you verify that the three bottles you received were .750 because they use to be 1 full liter? Thank you.

[Starflyr3]

Fabulous review ~ And I can't wait to meet you on the Pearl this September. :)

 

Thanks! It can't come fast enough!

[Starflyr3]

Can you verify that the three bottles you received were .750 because they use to be 1 full liter? Thank you.

 

Maybe they were. 1 L, I can't get the pics in enough focus to double check. They were huge!

[BrianSimpsonKY]

I am on the SKY on Sept 19....I also have the OS 8201...I've read all the things that comes with the room! Other then that I haven't a clue what to expect...this is my 4th cruise and the other 3 have been on what I call mega size ships....taking my GF with me and she doesn't know of the OS but does know the ship....from what I've read I have really tried to paint a low expectation of the ship with comparisons to the other 3 that we have been on "Oasis, Liberty of RCCL and Celebrity Reflection". Decided on the room based on the price "I got 15% off" and thought that the room would make up for any shortcomings of the ship. I REALLY appreciated this thread, it is the finest thread of a trip that I can recall!! Any advice you can give to me would be more then helpful!! Can I ask what the price of those cabanas were and food that you had and ordered? It looked really good!! Have a great next cruise and look forward to another review of it!!!!!

 

 

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[Starflyr3]

I am on the SKY on Sept 19....I also have the OS 8201...I've read all the things that comes with the room! Other then that I haven't a clue what to expect...this is my 4th cruise and the other 3 have been on what I call mega size ships....taking my GF with me and she doesn't know of the OS but does know the ship....from what I've read I have really tried to paint a low expectation of the ship with comparisons to the other 3 that we have been on "Oasis, Liberty of RCCL and Celebrity Reflection". Decided on the room based on the price "I got 15% off" and thought that the room would make up for any shortcomings of the ship. I REALLY appreciated this thread, it is the finest thread of a trip that I can recall!! Any advice you can give to me would be more then helpful!! Can I ask what the price of those cabanas were and food that you had and ordered? It looked really good!! Have a great next cruise and look forward to another review of it!!!!!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

Thanks!

 

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, I just saw this.

 

the cabana, I reserved online and the large one was $299, the small was $249. The price varies by the ship(s) at GSC and the season. The food, there is a menu here:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1948175&page=3

 

I dont remember if the prices had changed or not. You do get a $50 food/beverage credit for booking a cabana, and the open bar on Sky counts on GSC as well.

 

I hope y'all have a FABULOUS time!

[dales wife]

Enjoyed your review! And pictures!!

 

We are departing on the SKY this coming Monday...

 

Do you know if Longboard Bar serves food 24 hrs (like O'Sheehans on other ncl ships). Also what's on the menu at Longboard besides wings?

 

And are evening movies shown anywhere on the ship (besides the cabin tv)?

 

Thanks :)

[Starflyr3]

Enjoyed your review! And pictures!!

 

We are departing on the SKY this coming Monday...

 

Do you know if Longboard Bar serves food 24 hrs (like O'Sheehans on other ncl ships). Also what's on the menu at Longboard besides wings?

 

And are evening movies shown anywhere on the ship (besides the cabin tv)?

 

Thanks :)

 

I do not know about the longboard bar ... Whenever went there, and didn't eat at weird times. Sorry!

 

I don't recall seeing any movies advertised anywhere other than on the stateroom TVs. We watched The Force Awakens several time in the cabin, though.

 

Have fun on your cruise!

Edited August 19, 2016 by Starflyr3

[Samstress]

What a great review! Brought back so many memories of our time in the same suite on the Sky two years ago. Thanks for sharing.

[lindawaring2001]

what suites are better 9201 or 8201? Whats the difference?

[BrianSimpsonKY]

8201 easily!!! Main difference is that room has a 6 person hot tub on the patio...9201 maybe will fit 2!! I was in 8201 about 3 weeks ago and it was perfect!!!! It's the best room on board!

 

 

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[lindawaring2001]

Awesome thanks ,I just switched it to 8201, we went in August in 9002 nice penthouse ! Thought I'd go for the best this time , now I hav to think about this beautiful room until may 2017:((

[Sparkygirl]

8201! We staying in this cabin with 4 adults and a toddler, large balcony, big hot tub. Only catch is you must keep the curtain closed and lights off if you want to go outside on the balcony at night. Also be aware the bow cam can see the front of your balcony and so can anyone watching on the their tv. The bow cam can not see the hot tub.

 

 

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[dsnutz]

We are considering the Sky for a short vacation with our 5 year old but am concerned he'd be bored. How was the SA? Would you bring your lil ones on this cruise again?

[lindawaring2001]

My kids liked it I guess, they were In the splash academy the first night of the cruise to meet everyone, they didn't want to go, but we needed a break! My 8 year old sliced her foot open via a broken door in the supervised kids area and had to get stitches, sooooooooo I guess her trip was ruined because of the non water activities at this point. The other two had way more fun on the carnival boat, but your child is younger so they may like the SA. Due to no water slides, and not a lot of activities at the pool, my 9 and 10 year old were bored. I think you will be fine. We are going again on the same cruise only it goes to cuba now (weird itinierary change) in may. And we are NOT brining our kids this time.

[dsnutz]

Thanks everyone for the input, i think we're going to do a different cruise this go round, but will be back on The Sky where it began for us next time!

[Starflyr3]

We are considering the Sky for a short vacation with our 5 year old but am concerned he'd be bored. How was the SA? Would you bring your lil ones on this cruise again?

 

Honestly, my 5 (then 4) year old loves SA and my older one (8) does not. It does not matter WHAT ship we are on, he always gripes about it. Since this cruise was port-intensive, they had a lot of fun, with the dolphins, and in GSC. In Freeport, we stayed on the ship and splashed in the pool (until too many adults got in), and then in our hot tub. Both had a grand old time.

 

I think it depends on what YOU want out of your cruise.

 

weve done both. And if you want a relaxing cruise where you can party, I would not take your 5 yo. If you want to go explore the bahamas as a family, absolutely there is no reason not to.

Edited January 12, 2017 by Starflyr3

[marcyjane]

GSC day!

 

So, yes, the anchor noise is VERY loud in the owners suite. DH woke up, but luckily the kids slept (they were TIRED).

 

I had a spa appt (hot stone) at 0800, so I got up and took a shower. Then off to the spa. Except that I was still really tired, and I got turned around somehow, and I ended up in Il Adagio. I guess that's a "secret breakfast" place, because it was open with an omelette station and a small fruit buffet set up.

 

Then I found my way back to the spa.

 

Hot stone was good, then I went to the room, collected the kid to go to the concierge meeting spot for priority tendering, and sent DH to his spa appt.

 

C had a meltdown on the way and I literally had to carry her onto the tender, then had another on the walk to the cabana, so one of the guides gave her a piggy back ride. Thank goodness, because I was lugging 2 almost full bottles of alcohol! (We had asked and were told it was fine to take it on the island with us. We wouldnt be able to take it off at Miami, since 2 bottles werent full and sealed). I did tip that nice man who did the ride for C, he deserved it!!!

 

Why do kids get so pissy on vacation??!

 

The cabana was nice. Lots of space, lots of food (I ordered everything in the menu, since I had invited our friends to share it with us)

 

View from the cabana #4:

 

The cabana itself:

 

 

Mass quantities of food (I felt like the coneheads):

 

 

 

 

I took the kids out in the water just a little bit, and while we were basically wading (waist deep), we say 2 stingrays and fish that were so pale, you could barely see them against the white sand. On land, we also saw several geckos, iguanas, and centipedes.

 

Just wondering if the Cabana's are free for the owner's suite guest. we are booked one on sky for 2018 cabin 8201.