Alegeeter Posted December 6, 2018 #1 Share Posted December 6, 2018 It looks like the Sky will be in dry dock from Jan 22 to Feb 8, 2019. Any news or rumors on how big a face lift she's getting? The Sun looks beautiful after her Edge enhancements, I wonder if Sky will be getting something similar or just run-of-the-mill refreshments. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnjones1 Posted December 8, 2018 #2 Share Posted December 8, 2018 I’m interested to know as well! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokidoki Posted December 8, 2018 #3 Share Posted December 8, 2018 me too! I sail the Sky in May Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev98 Posted December 9, 2018 #4 Share Posted December 9, 2018 I've been following this with a fair bit of interest as we're sailing on the 5-night February 13-18 Bahamas route, so the second trip after the scheduled dry dock. In that thread I posted a few of the key dry dock changes for other ships in the NCL fleet from the past year. While I initially thought that the Sun's dry dock was a bit longer (quoted as 3 weeks), this seems to have been rounded up for promotional effect and is listed in a few places as the same 2.5 weeks as Sky is scheduled for. Given this timeframe and what seems like NCL's desire for more consistency across the fleet, I'd expect the same Edge enhancements as on Sun. Other common changes in recent dry docks have been stateroom refreshes (USB ports in bedrooms), new carpeting and flooring (from the photos, Sky needs it especially in the common areas and dining rooms), bar and lounge rebranding, and occasionally another specialty restaurant gets added. The real problem here is that construction on Sun was a complete disaster on the sailing just prior to the dry dock in Victoria, BC. According to news sources (CTV, HuffPo), power tools (including jackhammers) were in heavy use, dust and vapors permeated the ship, and many areas were roped off. NCL initially offered a 1-year-valid 25% future cruise credit for the issues, but continued negative social media and mainstream news attention forced them to offer a 5-year 100% credit. I'm less concerned for my personal trip. I expect that by the second sailing post dry dock, they will have a majority of these things worked out. I'm also hopeful that the negative attention from the Sun will result in a more organized refurbishment, perhaps with not as many paying passengers impacted. For anyone sailing either immediately before Jan 22 or after Feb 8, I'd suggest adjusting your expectations - some venues might not be open and there may be additional noise. It would also be wise to connect with fellow passengers on these trips in terms of roll calls. Then, having good documentation will be key if things are substandard - think high quality videos, photos, written statements and quotes from staff. With all that said - I am very much looking forward to our cruise post-refresh, and I wish everyone with surrounding sailings the best! 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted December 9, 2018 #5 Share Posted December 9, 2018 Aloha to the Pride of Aloha. It will be very, very sad to see the Hawaiian decor end up in a shipyard dumpster. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cnjones1 Posted December 10, 2018 #6 Share Posted December 10, 2018 12 hours ago, ev98 said: I've been following this with a fair bit of interest as we're sailing on the 5-night February 13-18 Bahamas route, so the second trip after the scheduled dry dock. In that thread I posted a few of the key dry dock changes for other ships in the NCL fleet from the past year. While I initially thought that the Sun's dry dock was a bit longer (quoted as 3 weeks), this seems to have been rounded up for promotional effect and is listed in a few places as the same 2.5 weeks as Sky is scheduled for. Given this timeframe and what seems like NCL's desire for more consistency across the fleet, I'd expect the same Edge enhancements as on Sun. Other common changes in recent dry docks have been stateroom refreshes (USB ports in bedrooms), new carpeting and flooring (from the photos, Sky needs it especially in the common areas and dining rooms), bar and lounge rebranding, and occasionally another specialty restaurant gets added. The real problem here is that construction on Sun was a complete disaster on the sailing just prior to the dry dock in Victoria, BC. According to news sources (CTV, HuffPo), power tools (including jackhammers) were in heavy use, dust and vapors permeated the ship, and many areas were roped off. NCL initially offered a 1-year-valid 25% future cruise credit for the issues, but continued negative social media and mainstream news attention forced them to offer a 5-year 100% credit. I'm less concerned for my personal trip. I expect that by the second sailing post dry dock, they will have a majority of these things worked out. I'm also hopeful that the negative attention from the Sun will result in a more organized refurbishment, perhaps with not as many paying passengers impacted. For anyone sailing either immediately before Jan 22 or after Feb 8, I'd suggest adjusting your expectations - some venues might not be open and there may be additional noise. It would also be wise to connect with fellow passengers on these trips in terms of roll calls. Then, having good documentation will be key if things are substandard - think high quality videos, photos, written statements and quotes from staff. With all that said - I am very much looking forward to our cruise post-refresh, and I wish everyone with surrounding sailings the best! Thanks for the detailed info and suggestions! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alegeeter Posted December 28, 2018 Author #7 Share Posted December 28, 2018 Anyone off the Sky recently with any additional updates on what's planned for her upcoming dry dock in Jan/Feb 2019? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alegeeter Posted January 17, 2019 Author #8 Share Posted January 17, 2019 From NCL (from Twitter message): "She will be undergoing a several week dry dock beginning 1/21. All information and details about her transformation will be communicated after the dry dock" *"several week" = two weeks and two days Looks like that's all we will be getting until next month Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev98 Posted January 28, 2019 #9 Share Posted January 28, 2019 One of the posters in our roll call thread (KHL1226) added some in progress photos for the refurb: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokidoki Posted January 28, 2019 #10 Share Posted January 28, 2019 2 hours ago, ev98 said: One of the posters in our roll call thread (KHL1226) added some in progress photos for the refurb: thx for the update!! Looks like shes getting quite a facelift! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pinkie60 Posted January 28, 2019 #11 Share Posted January 28, 2019 Wow those pictures were amazing. I’m booked for July to Cuba. I booked the owners suite 9102. Hope they put in a bigger hot tub on our balcony. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alegeeter Posted January 30, 2019 Author #12 Share Posted January 30, 2019 What additions do you hope to see on the new Sky? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted January 30, 2019 #13 Share Posted January 30, 2019 33 minutes ago, Alegeeter said: What additions do you hope to see on the new Sky? If you look at the deck plans, they have the new venues identified (don’t look at the words, look at the pictures). You see things like Starbucks, La Cucina and The Local (and more). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev98 Posted January 30, 2019 #14 Share Posted January 30, 2019 26 minutes ago, BirdTravels said: If you look at the deck plans, they have the new venues identified (don’t look at the words, look at the pictures). You see things like Starbucks, La Cucina and The Local (and more). Thanks for the heads up! Seems like the following changes, based on the venue descriptions vs. pictures, and comparing the images with older deck plans from https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise/Norwegian-Cruise-Line/Norwegian-Sky/Deck-Plans: Deck 4 and Deck 5 remain unchanged, the names of the main dining rooms are still the same. Deck 6: Dazzles Nightclub replaced with Bliss Ultra Lounge. Stardust Lounge remains the same. Captain Cook's Bar becomes Mojito Sugarcane Bar. Hawaii names dropped from meeting rooms, as expected. Deck 7: Starbucks replaces "The Coffee Bar" (upcharge!). Decks 8-10 don't have any visible changes (passenger cabins). Deck 11 (pool deck): Spinnaker Lounge replaces Outrigger Lounge. Longboards Bar becomes The Local. La Cucina replaces Il Adagio. Breakers Bar is replaced with Topsiders Bar. Body Waves Fitness Center becomes Pulse Fitness Center. Deck 12: Pinnacle Lounge and Sushi Bar replaces Plantation Club. Champs Bar remains the same. Cagney's still in the same location. I'm not super thrilled about the mojito bar - Captain Cook's seemed like it would have been neat. Everything else seems like it's just syncing up the NCL venue branding across ships. Oh, and I guess adding sushi as a specialty dining option. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stormynow Posted January 31, 2019 #15 Share Posted January 31, 2019 ev98, Capt Cooks one of the neatest on the ship. Going to miss the old Sky. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare BirdTravels Posted January 31, 2019 #16 Share Posted January 31, 2019 Ev98, thanks for doing the deck by deck analysis. We, too will miss the Pride of Aloha. Sad to see her turn into a generic NCL ship. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokidoki Posted January 31, 2019 #17 Share Posted January 31, 2019 6 hours ago, ev98 said: Thanks for the heads up! Seems like the following changes, based on the venue descriptions vs. pictures, and comparing the images with older deck plans from https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise/Norwegian-Cruise-Line/Norwegian-Sky/Deck-Plans: Deck 4 and Deck 5 remain unchanged, the names of the main dining rooms are still the same. Deck 6: Dazzles Nightclub replaced with Bliss Ultra Lounge. Stardust Lounge remains the same. Captain Cook's Bar becomes Mojito Sugarcane Bar. Hawaii names dropped from meeting rooms, as expected. Deck 7: Starbucks replaces "The Coffee Bar" (upcharge!). Decks 8-10 don't have any visible changes (passenger cabins). Deck 11 (pool deck): Spinnaker Lounge replaces Outrigger Lounge. Longboards Bar becomes The Local. La Cucina replaces Il Adagio. Breakers Bar is replaced with Topsiders Bar. Body Waves Fitness Center becomes Pulse Fitness Center. Deck 12: Pinnacle Lounge and Sushi Bar replaces Plantation Club. Champs Bar remains the same. Cagney's still in the same location. I'm not super thrilled about the mojito bar - Captain Cook's seemed like it would have been neat. Everything else seems like it's just syncing up the NCL venue branding across ships. Oh, and I guess adding sushi as a specialty dining option. 6 hours ago, ev98 said: Thanks for the heads up! Seems like the following changes, based on the venue descriptions vs. pictures, and comparing the images with older deck plans from https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise/Norwegian-Cruise-Line/Norwegian-Sky/Deck-Plans: Deck 4 and Deck 5 remain unchanged, the names of the main dining rooms are still the same. Deck 6: Dazzles Nightclub replaced with Bliss Ultra Lounge. Stardust Lounge remains the same. Captain Cook's Bar becomes Mojito Sugarcane Bar. Hawaii names dropped from meeting rooms, as expected. Deck 7: Starbucks replaces "The Coffee Bar" (upcharge!). Decks 8-10 don't have any visible changes (passenger cabins). Deck 11 (pool deck): Spinnaker Lounge replaces Outrigger Lounge. Longboards Bar becomes The Local. La Cucina replaces Il Adagio. Breakers Bar is replaced with Topsiders Bar. Body Waves Fitness Center becomes Pulse Fitness Center. Deck 12: Pinnacle Lounge and Sushi Bar replaces Plantation Club. Champs Bar remains the same. Cagney's still in the same location. I'm not super thrilled about the mojito bar - Captain Cook's seemed like it would have been neat. Everything else seems like it's just syncing up the NCL venue branding across ships. Oh, and I guess adding sushi as a specialty dining option. What am I missing? I c the crew center pics, but where the info about new venues are, I just don't c? Please help, thx Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alegeeter Posted January 31, 2019 Author #18 Share Posted January 31, 2019 A bit disappointing. I was hoping for some new specialty dining options like they added on the Sun. I'm also hoping they swap out their production shows. The Sky's shows are TIRED Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev98 Posted January 31, 2019 #19 Share Posted January 31, 2019 10 hours ago, tokidoki said: What am I missing? I c the crew center pics, but where the info about new venues are, I just don't c? Please help, thx You have to compare the pictures of the new decks on the NCL website (https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-ship/sky/deck-plans) with a site that has the old deck plans (eg: https://www.travelweekly.com/Cruise/Norwegian-Cruise-Line/Norwegian-Sky/Deck-Plans). I've constructed an image that highlights the major differences from Deck 6 - I might go on to do the other decks as well. Click here to view the larger version. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev98 Posted January 31, 2019 #20 Share Posted January 31, 2019 OK, didn't take that long to do the rest. Here are the other deck differences where changes have been made: Deck 7 (International) Deck 11 (Pool) Deck 12 (Sports) 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokidoki Posted January 31, 2019 #21 Share Posted January 31, 2019 38 minutes ago, ev98 said: OK, didn't take that long to do the rest. Here are the other deck differences where changes have been made: Deck 7 (International) Deck 11 (Pool) Deck 12 (Sports) thx!!!! With a new Starbucks, would the NCL card have to be used, as I assume? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev98 Posted January 31, 2019 #22 Share Posted January 31, 2019 9 minutes ago, tokidoki said: thx!!!! With a new Starbucks, would the NCL card have to be used, as I assume? I can't be certain about how Sky will operate, but on Bliss in December, my wife was able to use a reloadable Starbucks gift card (one of the gold ones) after about 2pm on the first day. Not sure about "star" collection or redemption though. It was also a Canadian-issued card, but still worked without a problem. We didn't try the mobile app as we didn't buy wifi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tokidoki Posted January 31, 2019 #23 Share Posted January 31, 2019 23 minutes ago, ev98 said: I can't be certain about how Sky will operate, but on Bliss in December, my wife was able to use a reloadable Starbucks gift card (one of the gold ones) after about 2pm on the first day. Not sure about "star" collection or redemption though. It was also a Canadian-issued card, but still worked without a problem. We didn't try the mobile app as we didn't buy wifi. thx, again! really looking forward to my cruise❤️ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alegeeter Posted February 1, 2019 Author #24 Share Posted February 1, 2019 The Ship section in My Vacation Summary now says: "Refurbished from bow to stern in 2019, Norwegian Sky offers the most inclusive contemporary cruise vacation at sea. From the moment you step aboard, you’ll see that Norwegian Sky offers something for everyone: 11 dining options, 8 bars and lounges, an onboard spa and a casino that has all of your favorite games and slots. The popular Norwegian Sky offers 3- and 4-day cruises year round to the Bahamas from Miami. If you're looking for a vacation like no other take a 4-Day Cuba & Bahamas cruise from Miami. And, if you decide to bring the kids, we'll keep them entertained all day, while you lounge by the pool, play in the casino, or enjoy dinner at one of many restaurants." 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ev98 Posted February 1, 2019 #25 Share Posted February 1, 2019 4 minutes ago, Alegeeter said: The Ship section in My Vacation Summary now says [...] Good find. The main Explore > Cruise Ships page (https://www.ncl.com/ca/en/cruise-ship) is also now updated with the Refurbished 2019 date. Still the old photos though, but I suspect those will only come after the dry dock finishes. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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