Trip Report: 11/2 Sky 5-night Bahamas

[cloudsail]

Introduction:

It has been over eight years since our family last cruised. We are a family of four with two school-age children. We've talked about going on a cruise again for years, but somehow it just never happened until now. This is our second time cruising with NCL, and first time on a small ship like the Sky. We loved every moment of this trip, and hope to share some pictures and experiences with the helpful people here.

 

Day 1 Miami:

Our flight got into FLL super early in the morning. We got some breakfast at the airport then took an Uber to Miami Beach. We strolled around and let the kids play a bit. We were still dressed in warm clothes and lugging around huge jackets though, so it started getting pretty hot. We decided to head to the port early.

[cloudsail]

We got to Terminal C at 9:55 am and were through check-in by 10:15 am. We didn't have any bags to check. There was orange juice and water in the waiting area, and our kids drew in their sketchbooks while we dozed. Boarding began at 11:30 am and we were on the ship almost right away. 

[cloudsail]

We had lunch in the Palace MDR. The service was very friendly but a little slow. They also didn't give us kids menus, and since it was our first day we didn't realize options like mac and cheese existed until we saw the table beside us ordering them. But our kids did enjoy the burger and popcorn shrimp that they got. My shrimp burger was quite good and husband liked his Philly cheesesteak. I also really liked my dessert, though I forget what it was called. It involved poached peaches and some sort of creamy custard. One of the waiters made a penguin for my daughter and the kids enjoyed playing with it while we waited for our food. I forgot to take pictures of the menu for this first meal.

[cloudsail]

The dailies for the first day.

[cloudsail]

After lunch we registered the kids for Splash Academy, then went to our staterooms. We had connecting balcony rooms, 9059 and 9060. The location close to the aft elevators was excellent. We felt close to everything, though with the small ship it was also very easy to walk from one end to the other.

 

When we got to our room we found the beds configured correctly but the connecting door was not unlocked. I phoned down to reception and they told us they would send someone. We showered the kids, then while I was showering the supervisor came to unlock the door, so I would say he got to us pretty quickly. We got tidied up and it was time for the muster drill.

 

Btw, the pictures seem to get uploaded in a random order and I can't figure out how to reorder them.

Edited November 9, 2019 by cloudsail

[cloudsail]

The muster drill was hot and long. They also enforced the no cellphone rule pretty strictly. I really wish people would just do as they're told and show up on time instead of making everyone else wait for them.

 

Our kids were pretty tired from the red-eye flight so after the drill they went straight to bed. Husband and I watched sail away from our balcony. Miami is such a cool city and we really enjoyed seeing everything there was to see until we left shore far behind.

 

Oh, and that new terminal NCL is building looks pretty awesome. 

[dolfan1980]

This is great, we sail next Saturday.

[jaxw17]

following

[disneylover89]

I

1 hour ago, cloudsail said:

After lunch we registered the kids for Splash Academy, then went to our staterooms. We had connecting balcony rooms, 9059 and 9060. The location close to the aft elevators was excellent. We felt close to everything, though with the small ship it was also very easy to walk from one end to the other.

 

When we got to our room we found the beds configured correctly but the connecting door was not unlocked. I phoned down to reception and they told us they would send someone. We showered the kids, then while I was showering the supervisor came to unlock the door, so I would say he got to us pretty quickly. We got tidied up and it was time for the muster drill.

 

Btw, the pictures seem to get uploaded in a random order and I can't figure out how to reorder them.

Great review so far!  In the first picture, is that the connecting door between rooms? Is there enough space to open and close the door?  It looks like the bed is in the way

[cloudsail]

2 hours ago, disneylover89 said:

Great review so far!  In the first picture, is that the connecting door between rooms? Is there enough space to open and close the door?  It looks like the bed is in the way

 

Yes, there is definitely space. The annoying part was that the door is pretty heavy and cannot be kept open on its own. You can see in the picture below that at first we used our suitcase to wedge it open, but later we realized that the little round stool in the room is much heavier and can hold the door open without being so much in the way. 

 

[cloudsail]

Alright, I figured out how to order the pictures.

 

We woke the kids up for a late dinner at the Crossings MDR. Just as we were leaving the room someone came by to drop off the two free bottles of sparkling wine. We don't really drink though; I'm allergic and husband only drinks when it's socially expected of him. 

 

Pictures of the MDR menu as well as the kids menu below:

 

Free sparkling wine

 

Appetizers

 

MDR entrees that stay the same

 

MDR entrees that change every day

 

Kids menu

 

Recommended wines

Edited November 9, 2019 by cloudsail

[cloudsail]

Stuffed mushroom caps

 

Classic caesar salad

 

Mozzarella and tomato salad

 

New York strip steak

 

Baked Walleye cod fillet

 

Kids hamburger

 

Kids mac and cheese

 

Kids chicken tenders

[cloudsail]

Our waiter was lovely and kept encouraging us to order more food and bringing food that we didn't order, lol. We actually weren't that hungry, but simply couldn't refuse. When I ordered an appetizer and an entree, he encouraged me to add a salad. When my husband ordered a salad and an entree, he encouraged him to add a soup. When my son ordered a mac and cheese and my daughter ordered a burger, he said, "I'll bring chicken tenders for you to share." When they each asked for strawberry ice cream for dessert, he also brought a banana split. The end result was that we all left totally stuffed. 😁

 

Dessert menu

 

Dessert menu

 

Fig and apple cobbler

 

Sherbet

 

Banana split

[cloudsail]

After dinner the kids really wanted to go in the hot tub, so we got them changed and headed up to the pool deck. It was pretty empty. The kids enjoyed themselves and after their swim we got some pizza from the Great Outdoors for them, then finally off to bed.

 

 

[cloudsail]

Day 2: Great Stirrup Cay

 

First the Dailies:

 

 

 

[cloudsail]

I forgot to mention that after the lunch on the first day, we decided to book a clamshell for GSC the next day. At first we tried to use the kiosks, but we couldn't get it to work. Eventually we lined up at the shore excursion desk. It was pretty fast and the lady helping us told us that even though the clamshell only has two loungers, she didn't think we would need more than one as our children would spend zero time in it. She was totally right, of course. Each clamshell was $30, completely covered by our $50 shore excursion credit. It also got us a priority tender ticket.

[cloudsail]

We had breakfast at the Garden Cafe. The buffet breakfast would be pretty much the same every morning, with maybe some small variations. I liked the muesli and the custom omelettes and eggs. My husband and I both enjoyed the waffles with banana syrup. We did the buffet for breakfast most mornings just because it was quick and easy with the kids. 

 

Pastries

 

Pastries

 

Waffles (there was also french toast on the other side)

 

Hot dishes

 

Hot dishes

 

Custom omelette

 

Yogurt

 

Cottage cheese, granola, muesli

[cloudsail]

I could've sworn I took pictures of the drink machines but can't find it now. Anyway, in the buffet there is always water, coffee, and tea. In the mornings there is juice (apple, orange, cranberry) and for lunch and dinner there are flavored waters (strawberry kiwi and tropical mango), lemonade, and iced tea. We brought water bottles but only ever used them on shore. It was always very easy to get water from the bars or buffet (we don't drink soda). We never felt the need for bottled water. 

[cloudsail]

After breakfast we went back to our room to get ready for the beach. We finally made it down to deck 3 at 10:30, then realized that we forgot to bring photo IDs. Doh! Husband ran back and got them. By the time he got back the tender had left so we had to wait for the next one. It was pretty quick though, and we were soon on the boat. Most people sat on the top deck, but it was very hot and sunny. We went down the stairs to the bottom deck which was almost empty.

 

Looks like there are two ships docked at CocoCay

 

 

 

 

[cloudsail]

We got on the island and found where the snorkeling area was supposed to be, past Patron beach bar. This is where we decided to get our clamshell. The Sky was the only ship at GSC that day so the island felt pretty empty. As you can see from the picture, only the first row of clamshells were taken.

 

Map of GSC

 

 

 

 

[cloudsail]

We brought our own snorkel masks, but didn't end up swimming far enough to see much fish. On the last day of our cruise, when we came back to GSC, we rented a cabana and found that the snorkeling was much better from the beach there. You only had to walk out a few steps past the rocks to see lots and lots of fish.

 

Anyway, close to shore there were many of these little silver fish that the seagulls ate, and it was a lot of fun watching the birds dive and catch them. We brought some mini sand toys and the kids loved just being in the water or playing in the sand. 

 

I just love how blue and clear the water in the Caribbean is.

 

 

 

[cloudsail]

A little past noon we had to physically drag the kids out of the water to eat lunch. We were very close to the taco bar so tried that first. They had beef, chicken, and fish tacos, and lots of different fixings to put on them. We each had a taco then headed to the buffet. There were the standard hot dogs, burgers, and pizza, but also various salads, BBQ ribs, and jerk chicken. The jerk chicken was very good, the ribs only so-so. (I can make some pretty good fall-off-the-bone ribs, so these felt rather sub-par.) For dessert, the walnut brownies and banana rum cake (not pictured) were delicious, the coconut bar was too sweet and not to our taste.

 

Taco bar

 

Taco fixings

 

Fish tacos

 

Walking to the buffet

 

Food from the buffet

 

Dessert

[pcrum]

Enjoying your trip report.

[hfweather]

Great review so far, can't wait to read more.  Thank you.

[disneylover89]

15 hours ago, cloudsail said:

 

Yes, there is definitely space. The annoying part was that the door is pretty heavy and cannot be kept open on its own. You can see in the picture below that at first we used our suitcase to wedge it open, but later we realized that the little round stool in the room is much heavier and can hold the door open without being so much in the way. 

 

Thank you!  Loving the review!