Trip Report: 11/2 Sky 5-night Bahamas

[TheTides]

Great review so far!

[cloudsail]

After lunch the kids dove straight into the water again. We were very thankful for our clamshell as it allowed us to keep an eye on them and have some shade at the same time. Husband napped for a bit while I read and nibbled on desserts. Around 3 pm we finally managed to drag the children out of the water and back to the ship. At the checkpoint for getting on the tender, we were offered cold towels, flavored water, and smoothies. 

Back on the ship, everyone showered, then the kids said they were hungry again, even though it was only 4:30. We went up to the buffet, but only the Great Outdoors was open. That's fine, we could still sit in the Garden Cafe. The kids got some burgers, chips and fries. They ate then did homework.

 

At 5pm the ice cream station in Garden Cafe opened and we got them ice cream. We started sailing away from the port. At 5:30 the rest of the buffet opened. We tried the roast pig and some desserts. Kids finished their homework and ate more fruit.

 

A server came by and told us that Kumon is very popular in his native country, the Philippines 😀 All his nephews did it throughout elementary and middle school. Since we are going there next year I guess we will fit right in, LOL.

 

 

Rooms nicely made up on our return

 

Homework in Garden Cafe

 

Whole roast pig. My daughter said, "Poor piggy!"

 

 

Sail away

[cloudsail]

Menu for the Local Bar.

 

 

[cloudsail]

We dropped the kids off at Splash Academy at 6 pm. They were given wristbands which had to be worn for the duration of the cruise, otherwise you incur a $5 fee if it needs to be replaced. However, they were able to attach our son's wristband with a rubber band so that it can be removed. They also gave us a pager in case the kids needed to be picked up for any reason.

[cloudsail]

We walked around the ship a bit then had dinner at the Local. The portions were bigger than we expected. The desserts especially were huge. We loved the wings and ended up getting them for midnight snack for the rest of the cruise.

 

Cobb salad

 

Fish and chips

 

Wings with sweet Korean chili sauce

 

Cheesecake

 

Carrot cake

[cloudsail]

Oh, and they were showing the football game in the Local. On the previous night we saw them showing the hockey game.

[cloudsail]

Some pictures from around the ship.

 

Sunset from the Great Outdoors.

 

The Atrium

 

Jewelry counter outside the gift shop

 

Starbucks

[cloudsail]

The Spinnaker Lounge. It was super cold in here for some reason. Like arctic temperatures.

Edited November 10, 2019 by cloudsail

[cloudsail]

We picked up the kids at 8 pm. Since they ate dinner so early, we brought them to the buffet for some snacks and dessert.

 

Buffet hot dishes

 

Buffet hot dishes

[cloudsail]

Custom crepe with ice cream

 

 

 

[cloudsail]

We showed up at Stardust Theater for the Rock You Tonight show at 8:50, ten minutes before the show was to start at 9 pm. The second floor was pretty full but there were still plenty of seats on the first floor. The show lasted about 40 minutes and we all enjoyed it. It was very high energy and we thought the two female singers were much better than the male singer. At the end of the show cruise director Jasper came on with some announcements and to remind everyone to return to the ship tomorrow before 4:30 pm. 

 

 

[rob111]

I am loving your review. Thank you. Just today I booked this ship leaving this coming Saturday the 16th (2 weeks after you). Was on the Sky about 3 years ago so it will be interesting to see it after the refurb.

 

I can almost taste your chicken wings!

[cloudsail]

Day 3 Nassau

 

The Dailies:

 

 

 

 

[cloudsail]

We didn't book any excursions for Nassau or Freeport. The latter stop was actually supposed to be a sea day, then about a week before the cruise I noticed that it had changed to a port stop in Freeport. No idea why and it originally made me a little nervous because I thought they were planning to cancel one of the other ports. 

 

On Day 3 we woke up to Jasper's "Hello hello hello!" arrival announcement at 8 am. Nassau is a beautiful port and there were two other ships docked beside us, the Carnival Sunshine and Grand Classica. Since we didn't have any excursions and weren't in a hurry to get off the ship, we had breakfast in the Crossings. We agreed to share a table and were seated with a lovely couple from Florida who cruised frequently. I had the smoked salmon benedict which was very good.

 

 

MDR breakfast menu:

 

 

 

 

Smoked salmon benedict

 

Silver dollar pancakes and scrambled eggs in the background

[cloudsail]

7 hours ago, rob111 said:

I am loving your review. Thank you. Just today I booked this ship leaving this coming Saturday the 16th (2 weeks after you). Was on the Sky about 3 years ago so it will be interesting to see it after the refurb.

 

I can almost taste your chicken wings!

 

Hope you have a great cruise! We are definitely missing the wings! 

[cloudsail]

So my plan for Nassau was to walk to the Queen's Staircase and Fort Fincastle, then the Straw Market. Doesn't sound too ambitious, right? But I underestimated how much our kids have gotten used to Pacific Northwest weather after only a few years. We only got past the vendors on the pier before they started complaining that it was so HOT. I told my daughter that for someone born in California, she really should appreciate the sunshine more

 😜

[cloudsail]

Anyway, we did eventually make it to the Queen's Staircase, though both Google Maps and the tourist map we got at the pier would've led us astray if a helpful local hadn't seen us hesitating at an intersection and told us where to go.

 

Both my husband and I were awed by the sight of the Queen's Staircase. It felt like something straight out of a movie set. Definitely worth the short walk.

 

Walk from ship to port

 

 

Walking in the city

 

Queen's Staircase

 

 

[AshDawn3]

Loving your review ! I wasn't getting off the ship in Nassau since I have been there several times but have never heard of these stairs. Will most definitely be going there! Hopefully I wont get lost since I am going by myself...lol

[cloudsail]

On top of the Queen's Staircase and to the right is Fort Fincastle. It is apparently built on the highest point on the island. There is a small entrance fee of $3 + VAT. There's not too much to see but you get a good view and there are some interesting info about the island's early history. 

 

 

 

 

[cloudsail]

2 hours ago, AshDawn3 said:

Loving your review ! I wasn't getting off the ship in Nassau since I have been there several times but have never heard of these stairs. Will most definitely be going there! Hopefully I wont get lost since I am going by myself...lol

 

The shortest route is to go down Sands Road. The entrance is just before the hospital to the right, you can't miss it.

[cloudsail]

By this time the kids were done and really just wanted to get back to the ship. So we gave up on the Straw Market and took the shortest route back to port. On the ship we changed into bathing suits and played in the kids pool for a while. There was just one other family there, then later on an older couple came by to use the hot tub. I was a little disappointed that the waterfall wasn't turned on.

 

Our beautiful ship

 

Atlantis in the distance

 

Kiddie pool

[cloudsail]

On the days when we weren't at GSC, La Cucina was open for complimentary lunch with pizza and one other food station. At Nassau it was Indian rolls, which were really good, especially the paneer. At Freeport it was focaccia bread with various toppings, which wasn't good at all. They had three different kinds of pizza: cheese, pepperoni, and one that changed (it was BBQ chicken or Greek for us). I found it strange that they didn't offer a pizza with just veggies on it. 

 

 

BBQ chicken pizza and Indian roll

 

Indian roll with chicken

 

Indian roll with paneer

[cloudsail]

After lunch at La Cucina, we got dessert from the buffet then spent some more time in the main pool and hot tubs.

 

Dessert and uh, second lunch?

 

The flans throughout the cruise were excellent

 

[cloudsail]

At 2:30 pm we headed back to our rooms and showered and changed, then headed to Spinnaker Lounge to paint t-shirts for the Glow party tomorrow. You want to get there early for this event because table space is limited, also I believe they ran out of some T-shirt sizes. 

 

So the glow paint is pretty permanent, and the crew member in charge of the event was super worried that we'd get it on the carpets or furniture. He kept reminding everyone not to splatter or place finished shirts on couches. But despite his best efforts, a little bit of orange paint ended up on one of the seats... poor guy, I hope he didn't get into trouble. I feel like the lounge really isn't the best place for such a potentially messy activity.

 

After the event was over, we stayed and hung out in the lounge so that the kids could do their homework. The bar unfortunately was not open.

 

Kids loved this event

 

Carnival Sunshine docked beside us

 

Homework in the lounge

[cloudsail]

After homework we went back to the pool deck. It was almost time for sail away. Husband and kids played ping pong while I strolled around and took pictures. The band was actually quite good and did some very decent covers of popular songs.

 

Introductory ping pong lesson

 

Fitness center